Book I: The Three Dynasties

Chapter II

Longer than anticipated

Hungarian Territory- 478 AD

Alexander Corvinus sat atop his huge grey steed as his captains got his army into formation, he watched as one by one the standards of his infantry were raised, he watched as the cavalry rode in unison to their positions. His conversations were limited, he gave a few commands here and there, however his focus was on his army.

"Are you sure this is the place My Lord?" One of his advisors asked him as he brought his horse alongside Alexander's.

"Yes." Alexander nodded, "We know this terrain, we have the tree line to our backs, this army from Constantinople will not stand a chance."

"Their commander is experienced my Lord." Another commander spoke up "His Legion battle hardened."

"A single Legion." Alexander answered them "Nothing to worry about. Ensure that the men hold their line, we have the number advantage, the only way Constantinople can beat us is if we lose discipline. They expect us to fight like savages, so I want to see soldiers out there, not maniacs."

"Of course My Lord." One of the men answered.

"And see to it that the cavalry are not used to early, I want this Legion decimated."

"There is one problem sir, their archers."

"What of them?" Corvinus scoffed.

"Well our bowmen are hardly up to their standards My Lord."

"Do not worry about them." Corvinus smiled "I have a feeling this will be a most brief campaign."

"Do you hear that?" One of his commander asked.

"Yes." Alexander nodded, as the sound of a roman war drum echoed through the air, soon to be joined by the triumphant sound of the Roman pipers.

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"Corvinus has assembled his army General." A Roman officer reported as he rode to his superiors side "They out number us more than two to one in terms of infantry, and their cavalry is more impressive then we anticipated."

"They are barbarians." General Vorenus reported back "Their numbers are betrayed by their lack of discipline, this day will be ours, their forces will scatter and we will be able to build a Roman presence in this land… a real Roman presence, not some Eastern imitation."

The Legion came to a stop parallel to Corvinus's men, the two commanders could see each other clearly on the battlefield. The Roman army, despite being smaller was certainly more impressive to look upon, more than four thousand men, marching in perfect uniform, their uniforms making each of them look like an identical part of the same machine. They banged their short swords against the front of their shields in an attempt to intimidate the rabble that stood across from them. These men had seen battle before, normally the hoard would just charge at them, falling to their phalanx like formation, it was different today, the hoard did not break ranks as the infantry marched towards them, rather they stood their ground. A few fell courtesy of the deadly Roman archers, but they were using their shields, most were protected.

"What are they doing?" Vorenus whispered to himself as his men marched ever closer to the mass of humanity.

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Alexander Corvinus smiled to himself as the foreign army drew ever closer "Now." He spoke simply to one of his commanders.

"BRING THEM FORWARD!" The man screamed into the tree line. Moments later men and horses emerged from the trees struggling to drag huge wooden structures. "LIGHT THE CATAPULTS!" The commander ordered as the two dozen structure began to glow with flame.

"Fire." Corvinus nodded coldly.

"FIRE!!" His commander screamed. The catapults let loose their deadly loads, as flaming debris was hurtled towards the advancing enemy, not even their shell like defences were enough to halt this deadly reign, many some were crushed, many were burned, and those that were still able to march were left with the grim reality that they would be next for the enemy began to reload.

"Fire." Corvinus again commanded.

"FIRE!!!" His commander screamed as a second deadly wave crashed down onto the battlefield.

"The catapults are working sir, the infantry are breaking rank."

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"Where did they get artillery from?" The Roman General demanded as he watched his men scatter.

"The entire Western Empire is collapsing on itself sir." One of his officers reported "The barbarians are over running our garrisons and selling off our equipment."

"As are some of our own officers sir." Another reported.

"Send the heavy cavalry." Vorenus demanded "This day will yet be ours."

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Alexander Corvinus's eyes widened with anxiety as hundreds of heavily armed horsemen charged towards his front line. He knew they would force their way through the infantry and scatter his line.

"Catapults sir?" One of his officers asked.

"We would not have time to reload." Corvinus said gravely "Send our cavalry to slow their advance, and bring forward the trebuchet, we must continue to scatter their infantry."

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The heavy Roman cavalry continued to charge towards the Roman line, the swords of the riders poised ready to mow down all in their path, however riding towards them in a desperate attempt to slow them down was the rag tag cavalry of Alexander Corvinus, the hoofs of both forces pounded at the grass beneath as they came closer together with every passing second. As the riders could see the whites of their enemies eyes, their was only one logical conclusion to this battle… a collision.

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The ground ran red with blood, tactics had long since ceased to be an issue, now only brutality would win this day. The infantries of both side hacked away at each other in an undisciplined frenzy, the cries of the wounded echoed for miles. What ever advantage he had was disappearing, his army was being destroyed, Alexander Corvinus knew he had to get his hands dirty. Dismounting his horse he ran into the fray, the enemy hardly knew what hit them, legionnaire, after legionnaire fell to his sword, as he moved about the battle ground with an ungodly speed. He was like a blur as he carved a bloody path through the Roman lines, allowing his men to break through. He was almost halted as a Roman cavalryman managed to disarm him with a well placed sword strike. Corvinus brought his horse down with a single blow, harnessing all of his unnatural strength. Leaping high into the air Corvinus left behind the battle, and landed amongst General Vorenus and his personal escort. With a few swift strokes of his sword the General's men were no more. Showing no fear the General dismounted his horse and stood face to face with Corvinus.

"What are you?" He demanded.

"I am Alexander Corvinus, I am the ruler of these lands. That is all you need to know." He spoke in a cold regal tone. "Your men are outnumbered, you have no hope of reinforcements. You will take what is left of your men, and march them East towards Constantinople, where you will tell your Emperor that Rome is no longer welcome here."

"I have a mission." The General spat, "I must kill you, and I will take these lands."

"Even if you were to kill me, these lands belong to my sons."

The General drew his sword and lashed out at Alexander who caught the blade in the palm of his hand. The General cringed slightly as a stream of claret began to spill on his blade, only to stop a moment later as the wound closed.

"Demon." The General spat. "You may kill me if you want, but others will finish my work, you have not heard the last of the Vorenus."

Alexander wrenched the sword from his hand and clasped a hand around his throat. "Your family will be gone from my lands in a week." He hissed menacingly as he choked the life from the Roman General and left his lifeless body on the blood soaked ground. "This day is mine."

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Hungarian Territory- 529 AD

"When will you people learn?" A cold voice spat as a sword was withdrawn from a bloody wound. "These lands are ours!" The young warrior leapt at a small group of men, his movement were like a blur, as one by one they all fell to him. "That felt good." He smiled as he flicked a long strand of fiery red hair over his shoulder.

"Brother look out." A voice cried, causing the warrior to turn, catching a lethal cross bow bolt as he did.

"Tut tut." The warrior spoke as he inspected the arrow "These things can hurt people." He spoke menacingly to the now quivering bowman. In the blink of an eye the red haired warrior had hurled the arrow like a spear through the heart of its former owner,

"You should be more careful brother." A stern voice spoke out

"Careful of what brother?" He laughed as the other man came to stand by his side "We are immortal after all." The two men now stood mere feet from each other, their flaming red hair blowing in the wind. They were identical in every way… physically at least.

"I mean it William, no one knows the extent of our powers, not even father."

"Oh would you stop your worrying Markus, the day is mine." The two brothers stood alongside their men as they examined the fallen bodies of their enemies.

"Why do they still remain here brother?" Markus asked "The Vorenus have not been loyal to Constantinople for decades, why fight us for these savage lands?"

"This is their home now brother." William reported "Although they pay tribute to the Emperor they want to make a claim of their own… unfortunately they have done that, they're holding onto their territory. Sometimes I wonder if we will ever get it back. Anyway dear brother… what brings you to this battlefield."

"Father sent me… with some bad news."

"Mother?" William asked nervously.

"No… nothing like that, we lost two villages in the North."

"To whom?" William demanded.

"The Teleki clan." Markus reported.

"What!" William exclaimed "Their leader is a senile old fool, he could never take land from us."

"Brother their leader died almost a year ago… they have a new leader now, a younger… brilliant leader. His understanding of tactics and warfare rivals father himself"

"What is his name?" William asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Viktor."