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Chapter 6

War!

The Queen opened her eyes suddenly, feeling a sense of being late. She rolled over and looked at Elliot, who was breathing gently in the bed. Despite Elliot's mostly ceremonial duties, he also seemed to remain calm during all situations, even during the invasion of the Crawler.

"Elliot…" she whispered, touching his face. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled at the site of her.

"Hello beautiful," he said, leaning forward and kissing her softly.

"I love you…I want you to know that."

"Don't talk like that, you will succeed. You always have, and you always will. You rescued me, you killed the assassin, hell, you stopped the greatest threat Albion has faced since Jack of Blades. You will win…" Elliot lifted his hand from the warm sheets and touched her face. His naked chest was barely exposed, and his long slender arm was magnificent without its normal princely sleeve he had on it otherwise. She took his hand and kissed it, closing her eyes deeply at the warmth on her face.

"I love you…so much Elliot…"

"Your majesty!" the Queen's eyes snapped open, lifting her mostly exposed form and looking at the closed door. She then recognized the voice as Jasper and sighing, responded.

"Yes Jasper?"

"You have visitors."

"Who is it?"

"A rather annoying advocate of financial responsibility and a certain mage who seems to have become attached to him. They wish to speak with you before the King of Francia and his champion arrive for the war meeting today."

"Alright, prepare the war room." The Queen moved away from her husband and started toward her closet when she heard something.

"What?" The monarch of Albion turned around to Elliot, who lifted himself from the bed, wearing only undergarments.

"I haven't said anything darling."

"I thought I heard…" The Queen turned back to the closet, but then heard the voice, this time much clearer.

"Your majesty…you will fall…"

"What? Fall?"

"Dear…what are you saying?" Elliot said, pulling pants on himself.

"I'm hearing a voice…a…"

"The Hero Queen of Albion! Hah! You will be buried under the force of our great darkness. Your kingdom and lands will cease to exist. Sand will be all that remains, and you will before forced to watch as, at last, Albion is defeated. I will avenge my kin, and your pathetic armies and heroes will be crushed as Varus was…" The Queen heard this from almost inside her head, a pounding thunderous noise overtaking her thoughts.

"What's going on?" The Queen yelled, grabbing her sword from the closet. For an instance, she swore she saw a monster like the crawler, except its upper body was attached to a spider's lower body, but then she looked again and couldn't see anything.

"Are you okay, dear?" Elliot yelled, running to his wife. He cautiously pulled her sword hand down and tried to calm her. She rubbed her head then allowed the sword to fall from her hand.

"Varus…"

"What is it?"

"Something…that I need clarified. Quickly, Elliot, please call another meeting of our provincial leaders. I need the Duke of Southcliff and the Mayor of Bloodstone's full support. I think the plans of defense need a slight tweaking…" The Queen said, very distantly.

"Well, my dear, as you know, I cannot fight, but I will do what I can. I will keep the provinces in line, this much I can promise," Elliot said. The Queen turned to admire the prince, his stately figure, his regal motions, his royal purple and blue cloak. He seemed born for the job, despite his humble upbringings as a child of Bowerstone Market hired to serve her father. Elliot had done everything he could to erase his past, however, and even championed a law declaring that their oldest son, Zachary, had to marry a noble to maintain his title as heir of the kingdom of Albion, or lose it to his brother Lloyd or sister Katharine. Elliot was a sight to behold, and the Queen couldn't imagine spending her life with any other man. Somewhere, a woman Elliot had married during the revolution was alone without her husband or, at least, without Elliot as her husband, but this woman's problems were no more important than those of the rest of Albion. "Without Elliot,"The Queen thought "I don't think I could survive most day to day activities, much less another Crawler attack. Her sacrifice is for the greater good!"The Queen shook her head as she stepped past several servants toward the main hall. "Why was I thinking about her? I haven't thought about her in months."The Queen stopped before Garth and Reaver, who were standing near a painting in the front of the castle, discussing something. "Doesn't matter, I've got a nation to save."The Queen cleared her throat and gained the attention of the two men.

"Gentlemen, please go to the war room. I'll meet you there shortly. I plan to invite another guest to our meeting, if you don't mind," Garth nodded in response, then the two men started toward up the nearby stairs. The Queen looked to the castle gardens, grabbing her ponytail with a great deal of anxiety.

"Varus…he must mean General Varus of the Second army, and Drusus's former comrade. Which means I need to speak with the general immediately."

"Saker!" Ben called, running down the thin path from the Mistpeak mountains. Saker had an army of mercenaries, with a column of Dwellers behind it; most armed with knives or shortswords and there were even a few with farm equipment. Ben specifically recognized some of the mercenaries as the lowliest and worst men he'd ever had the misfortune of encountering on his patrols of the valley.

"Ah! Benjamin Finn! Is this not glorious sight? A mercenary-Dweller army, the grungiest, filthiest members of our modern society, marching to save our kingdom from an enemy no other army is brave enough to face. How could life get better?" Saker yelled, grabbing Ben's arm and smiling widely.

"Yes, I see that, but we must pick up the pace. We've got to get as many soldiers as we can to Bowerstone as quickly as possible," Ben said, looking over the army and silently noting its filth and grunge.

"Now, Mr. Finn, this is not one of your trained armies. These men need time and incentive to fight. I've promised them plenty of enemies and a large monetary sum as you suggested, but making them march at that speed will weaken an already shaky morale."

"I…understand, but we've got to pick it up, or well be…the Dueler is going straight for Bowerstone. We've got to get to the city as quickly as we can!"

"And this army will be there, don't worry," Saker said with a nod. Page arrived behind Ben, who was sighing deeply.

"I appreciate your dedication Saker," Ben said through his teeth.

"Ben, he can't go faster. Sabine and Saker will keep the east under control. The Dueler won't be able to use this path to get to Bowerstone."

"Sabine is already on his way to the castle. He transferred control of the Dweller camp to the General of the Fourth Corps…which is you, General Finn," Saker responded, then took a long puff of his cigar.

"The Dweller camp?"

"He said he committed a similar action during the War of the Crawler. He claims he'd rather die as a war hero than a weak, old king on his throne."

"When the Crawler attacked, I was General of the First Corps, not the Fourth. I don't remember this at all." Ben said, scratching his head.

"I was General of the Fifth. I recall a strange transfer of power by Sabine…and he fought with us at the capital, don't you remember?" Page looked at Ben, who was staring into the distance. Page waited a moment, then touched his arm.

"Ben, are you listening?"

"Page, quick! There's a cavalry unit incoming." Ben drew his gun and pointed it in the direction of a dust cloud which was approaching them. Page drew her holy weapon, and Saker lit a bottle of liquor. Ben held his weapon carefully to his face, waiting until he could make out a single unit. As soon as he saw it wasn't an undead cavalry or some other unholy being, Ben lowered his weapon and held up his fist to signal the other soldiers to do the same. Finally, the three hundred and fifty or so cavalry, all wearing long dark grey chainmail and a long purple cape, came into sight. Their horses were covered in the thick chainmail too, giving them the appearing of the ancient hero knights of the Eastern Kingdoms. Which was, as Ben presumed, where they had to come from.

"Soldiers of Albion's army," The captain of the knights said in a harsh but understandable dialect.

"I am a General in the Alban army! Who wishes to treat with the soldiers of our kingdom?" Ben said, standing to full attention and presenting himself in a ceremonial fashion. The captain of the knights dismounted his horse and walked up to Ben. He took off his helmet and revealed himself to be a young man with tan skin and thin mustache, traits of the people of the Eastern Kingdom.

"I am Captain Corada, leader of the Castilian knights. Castile is the autonomous province across the mountains. The governor, known to us as a king, is loyal to Albion and proudly sends soldiers to fight. I am the leader of those soldiers."

"How many are you?"

"This is the professional cavalry. Our drafted army equates to almost 10 thousand men, of which half are marching to the capital to give relief, with a thousand cavalry men under my command. Castile is going to war as demanded by the Queen."

"Well, two autonomous provinces have fallen into line. It seems we may be more unified than we thought," Ben said thoughtfully. Page grabbed his arm, smiling. Ben looked at her then to her arm, which had a tight cloth representing the holy cloak wrapped from her shoulder to her wrist.

"Death and destruction tends to bring people together, even strange bed-fellows. Captain Corada, do you have spare horses?" Page asked.

"Indeed, two riders have fallen ill. You may use their mounts." Corada whistled and waved. A soldier brought two horses, both covered in chainmail. Page took the first, which had brown hair beneath its armor, and Ben took the second, which he saw was a white mare through the mail. It neighed gently as he pulled it to him, then he hauled himself onto it. It reared up and almost threw Ben off, before he grabbed the reins and got the animal back under control.

"Come on Ben, aren't all soldiers required to know how to ride?" Page, said, pulling her mount to stand next to Ben.

"Yes, it's…just been a while." Ben kicked the stir-ups and the animal took off, leaving Page with the cavalry.

"A long while I see. Captain…let's ride!" Page reared her horse intentionally, then started off, followed the Castilian cavalry. Behind them, Saker's army continued to march, its soldiers fading in the distance.

"Gentlemen, you may be wondering why I invited General Drusus to our meeting," The Queen said. She stood at one side of a map of Albion, with Garth, Reaver, and Drusus on the other sides.

"He is supreme commander of your forces. I see no reason why he would not be included in a war meeting," Garth said coldly. Reaver smiled at the mage, no doubt admiring his ability to remain disconnected.

"Alright, well the reason is that during the war of the Crawler, Drusus was stationed in the city of Southcliff with the Sixth Corps, while his close friend, Varus, General of the Second Corps, was stationed slightly to the north, in the city of Bloodstone, representing the two main armies in the Bloodstone peninsula."

"Yes, your majesty. Varus also had the sizable force of seven thousand men under his command, while I had a much smaller fifty-five hundred soldiers. However, we both thought we had more than sufficient forces to 'resist' the Crawler," Drusus explained.

"Well, General Drusus, I'd like you to describe your account of Varus and his death in Bloodstone."

"…begging your pardon ma'am, but surely you have read my reports."

"Yes, but our new allies have not. If you would…"

"…Yes ma'am…" Drusus cleared his voice, then began to speak, "As most citizens of Albion know, the Second Corps, more commonly known as the Sparrow's Corps, is actually the original army Sparrow used to unify the nation. Therefore, command of it passes only to the most powerful and honorable families of Bloodstone, which, despite King Sparrow's cleanup effort, isn't saying much. Anyway, Varus's family was the best Bloodstone could offer, his wealthy father and uncle controlled half of the city's retail, and his other uncle had been the General of the Corps in the much earlier Castilian War. The point of this is, Varus was the only real choice for the job…or so he believed. However, as you know your majesty, he was passed over for a different kind of general." Drusus turned to Reaver, who looked at him with an unassuming smile.

"Reaver was offered the position first, which, despite his rejection and Varus' eventual ascendance to the position, left the young, new general frustrated and with a need to prove himself."

"Oh dear, I hope I don't carry any blame for the death of this man," Reaver said, as he touched his heart with a fake look of worry.

"Of course not. A general's goal can't be to earn a promotion. Varus needed to deal with his personal ambition properly, which he failed to."

"Drusus, would you continue with the tale of his downfall."

"Ahem, yes your majesty. The point of this is that Varus felt a need to prove himself. As the Crawler's forces crashed brutally onto our peninsula and overwhelmed my forces in the southern cities, it turned sharply north and went right past Southcliff, going first for Bloodstone. Varus saw his chance. He felt quite safe with his huge Second Corps, which was basically untouched by the first assault. However, he didn't like the condition of Bloodstone's defenses."

"The Crawler struck the Bloodstone Peninsula?" Garth asked, pointing to the peninsula on the map.

"Well, this map is slightly inaccurate in the exact placement of Aurora. Really, Southcliff is a short trip from Aurora. It's even shorter from the tip of the Auroran desert to the tip of the Bloodstone peninsula. Anyway, as the Crawler prepared to attack Bloodstone in force, Varus suddenly demanded Bloodstone be evacuated, sending a quarter of his army with the civilian population into the Bloody Mountains. He left the rest of his army in Bloodstone, where he assumed he could fight without restriction as long as the civilian population was gone. This is a reasonable theory, but the Crawler could obviously see what was happening, and turned some of its dark paths toward the mountains, in pursuit of the civilians, while pointing others toward Bowerstone itself."

"The dark strategic genius is impossible to predict in these creatures. Many in Samarkand thought brute force could defeat the Life-Eater. It took several terrible tactical blunders and thousands of deaths to prove how wrong that was," Garth said, shaking his head.

"And Varus made his greatest one here. Once he had sent his citizens to the mountains, the Crawler did not have the commitment nor time to search out these civilians in the mountains. The commanders had ingeniously split their army and civilians in many small groups and had them move throughout the mountains. The Bloodstone Range was covered with civilians, each seemingly moving in a different direction. The Crawler may have picked off a few groups, but could not have tried any serious offensive against them. However, Varus did not agree, and moved his army out of the safety of the city and engaged the darkness. In a show of tactical skill, the Crawler actually allowed his dark creatures to be defeated in several skirmishes, ultimately feigning a rout, which Varus followed like a fool in the dark."

"And once the Crawler lead him into Wraithmarsh, the Second Corps became easy prey," The Queen finished, looking back Reaver. The immortal put his hand on his heart again.

"I hope you aren't blaming this on me either! I foresaw a lot of things when I destroyed Oakvale, but certainly not one of the corps becoming trapped there."

"No, you don't own blame for this. But once the corps was surrounded in such poor terrain it was wiped out."

"And Varus was not just killed. They claim that Varus was replaced by a false version of himself, who transformed into the monster and slaughtered his own men. The real Varus eventually fought this false monster and was slain by the monster's hand, or so a distraught survivor explained to me," The Queen recounted.

"Yes…the tale is horrid."

"And only getting worse. This morning, as I awoke, the Dueler contacted me, and said I would fall as Varus did."

"It spoke to you?" Reaver said in shock, drawing back ever so slightly.

"This has occurred to me as well. I had many a discussion with the Life-Eater," Garth said, rubbing his forehead.

"I believe however, that the arrogance of the Dueler has given us the advantage. He has revealed his plan by calling me Varus. I believe he means to attack the peninsula again, and this time, I think he hopes we'll be less ready than we were before."

"Surely he wouldn't attack the exact same place?" Garth asked, turning to Reaver, who rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Of course, your majesty! Why had I not seen it before? They will certainly attack again because it is the opposite of what we'd expect. The Dueler and its kind are both arrogant and tactical geniuses. Such a plan is easily believable. We must prepare!" Drusus started to leave the room with the Queen.

"No, you are reading too quickly into this!" Garth tried to stop the two. The Queen turned to Garth quickly.

"What do you think he means?"

"…perhaps he means to have you evacuate Bowerstone in response to a siege, and trap you at Mourningwood." Garth said after a moment of thought.

"No, that is too simple. Maybe a foolish general would commit such an error, but not her majesty. Besides, the darkness cannot commit such a move, for it cannot use siege engines."

"You are likely right, but this threat could have many interpretations. We cannot jump to such a conclusion!"

"You're right Garth. Drusus, take half the first army and make sure nothing comes into Alban territory through the peninsula. The rest…" The Queen turned to Garth and Reaver, "will go under the command of the Generals of the First and Fifth Corps, if they accept the promotion." Reaver, obviously on the edge of refusing turned to Garth, waiting his response. Garth sighed and saluted.

"If it is her majesty's will…"