AGNOMAKHOS
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 4
"Good day, madam. Are you ready to go?"
A carriage driver sat ready on his vehicle, the two horses blinking in the midday Theros sun. Nearby, Valerie, escorted by three fellows, walked toward the waiting carriage. All four of them wore the cherry-red robes of Agnomakhos despite the day's heat. Valerie tossed her wavy hair when she responded, "Yes. Make it fast."
As Valerie climbed into the carriage with the others, she glanced back at Meletis' vast, stone wall and reflected how easy it really was to leave. Of course, the gods-damned Reverent Army carefully checked everyone who came in and out of the city's entrances, but earlier that day, Purphoros had confided to Valerie a number of secret exits built over the years. Different people had dug those exits for different reasons, and all were hidden and unknown to the general public.
The carriage set off down the dirt road, headed toward a town dedicated to workshops, lumber mills, and artisans. Meletis controlled a number of towns and farms outside its walls, but not this place. Many people, including this carriage driver, had rallied to Valerie's banner, spreading Agnomakhos' influence across the countryside. And the people at this town would listen to her, and the revolutionary plan that she had in mind.
Fortunately, the trip was uneventful and smooth, and Valerie soon disembarked on the town's central road. She and her fellows walked toward the largest workshop, a three-story building with brick walls and large, glass-less windows. Hundreds of people milled the streets, combined blacksmiths, investors, and laborers looking for work. Confidently, haughtily, Valerie stepped into the workshop's shadow and swung open the front doors.
Noise instantly blasted Valerie's ears. Everywhere, men sawed lumber, pounded metal into shape, and put pieces together with both magic and tools. Furniture, carriages, and weapons took shape everywhere.
"Welcome, Valerie," the owner declared, stepping toward her. He wasn't a laborer, like the others; he wore an expensive white toga with blue trim, gold arm clasps, and diamond stud earrings. The man was in power and he wasn't afraid to hide it, and Valerie liked that.
"Good to see you again, Dakly," Valerie greeted him. She extended a hand and Dakly shook it. "I've got a new project for you."
Dakly smiled. "My weapons aren't enough for you? I'm supplying an awful lot of goods to your men, and paying smugglers isn't cheap."
Valerie was unfazed. "I thought this all out, Dakly. That's why I'm in charge of Agnomakhos."
"And I'm in charge of making a profit around here. I have fifty employees to pay, you know," Dakly said, his patience wearing thin a bit.
In response, Valerie drew a rolled-up piece of paper from her robe and handed it over. "How about you look this over first?"
Cautiously, Dakly took the paper, unrolled it, and scanned the contents. His eyes widened and his jaw slackened a bit. He looked up at Valerie, pale. "What... Valerie, what is this?"
Valerie smiled. "The blueprints for our success, Dakly. It's large, I know, but relatively simple in design. I'm sure that your engineers can handle it."
Dakly traced his finger along the design. "This will take a lot of manpower to build. And that will cost me just as much."
"My men will work as volunteer labor," Valerie said swiftly. "Many have already agreed to this. They can saw down trees and help cut the wood into shape, plus any other work that you need."
Dakly pursed his lips. "All right. But what about food? And housing?"
"I have a number of wealthy allies back in Meletis," Valerie said. "Businessmen who hate the council's control over them and their employees. They will pay for food and buy tents to house my volunteers."
Valerie let all this sink in for a moment, then added, "Dakly, I can't defeat the Reverent Army in all-out war with just swords and rogue mages. I came to you because your workshop has the best bunch of inventors and builders I know. You and your men have personal ties to Meletis, right? Your families are suffering under the council's tyranny. This needs to be done."
"I see." Dakly took a deep breath and rolled up the blueprints. "You're quite right, Valerie. This will take a while to set up, but I'll show the plan to my engineers and await your volunteers." He swallowed. "May the gods watch over us."
"Believe me," Valerie commented, "when this thing is done, we'll be able to watch over ourselves just fine."
She turned on her heel and motioned to her escorts. "I'll take my leave. Remember, Dakly... I'm counting on you."
*o*o*o*o*
"Man, I'm hungry. Can't wait to get back to the barracks," Alex complained as he trudged down a Meletis street with his fellows. Six hoplites and three battle-wise mages were with him; Jaina had split her platoon into three groups of ten for today's patrol, while Olivia's platoon patrolled a neighboring area.
"Hey, we could just find a shop and get some dinner," a hoplite suggested. It was late evening, and the sky was deep orange. Most people were back at home, so the Army soldiers practically had the streets to themselves.
"I don't want to spend too much money," Alex said. "I haven't even gotten my first paycheck yet."
The hoplite grinned. "We can just convince a shopkeeper to give us some grub. We're the Army. We protect them. Why not get something in return?"
Alex's memory flashed back to when two hoplites from fifth battalion had bullied a jeweler, and he growled in his throat. "No way. Those people work hard to make a living. I'll just pay."
The hoplite shrugged. "Suit yourself, kid."
The patrol group was now headed into a tall building's shadow, and by now, no one else was around. Alex still found it a bit creepy to walk in empty streets like this, even after two weeks of ending his patrols in the less-crowded evenings. He just wanted to get back to his bunk in the barracks and read a manual about offensive spell theory. He was halfway through an interesting chapter that -
"Look out!" a hoplite shouted.
Alex skidded to a halt, as did the others. He tensed and look around, then found the disturbance; several people clad in red robes had emerged from an alley, swords raised. A second later, more robed people appeared from behind, carrying clubs.
"A street gang?" Alex asked, summoning up his red mana. He felt it burning at his fingertips, poised for action.
"I dunno," a hoplite said. "Prepare yourself!"
The hoplites drew their spears and held them at the ready, while Alex's fellow mages perpared their blue and white spells. For a few seconds, the two sides glared each other down. Then, the red-robed people charged.
"Ha!" A hoplite thrust out his spear at a charging man, his weapon's reach exceeding the man's measly sword. But to Alex's surprise, one of the other newcomers waved a hand and flooded the scene with thick, ropy blue mana. The mana lashed out like a snake, knocking the hoplites' spears from their hands.
Vulnerable, the hoplites drew back and drew their standard-issue scimitars. Steel clashed on steel as the red-robed people rushed to meet them, and their sheer numbers made up for the hoplites' superior training. Alex saw one hoplite skewer a robed man, only to be flanked by two more. Blood ran on the street as the robed men slashed the hoplite's stomach open with their swords.
Unbelievable! Who are these guys? Infuriated, Alex assumed a basic stance and extended his left hand. A sizzling jet of flame issued from his palm and headed toward three of the robed people. However, the robed mage used his blue mana again and counteracted Alex's magic in mid-air. Blue and red sparks blasted everywhere, obscuring the battlefield.
The robed attackers didn't even slow down. Two of them cornered Alex and raised their clubs to bash his skull in, only to be stymied by a barrier of white mana. The mundane weapons bounced off the shield's surface, buying Alex enough time to get away.
"We've got to pick off that mage," a battle-wise mage told Alex. He and the others had conjured the barrier.
Alex nodded. "Yeah." He raised his voice. "Cover me! I'll take out that mage."
"Got it." A hoplite grimaced as a robed man cut his arm, but the hoplite countered with a sword thrust that sent the robed man running.
The three battle-wise mages raised their arms as one and threw up several barriers around Alex like a coccoon. At the same time, the hoplites placed themselves between the assailants and Alex, so Alex charged the mage with fire on his fists.
I don't have long. We're totally outnumbered! Alex thought. He saw a hoplite succumb to several men's swords, and another hoplite was knocked to the ground nearby, pummeled by clubs.
The red-robed mage saw Alex coming and threw out his hands. Vicious blue mana lashed through the air and clashed with Alex's barriers, and Alex shut his eyes against the blinding display. He heard one of the barriers shatter, but the sheer pressure of the mage's blue mana lessened. He could make it!
"Raaaaaah!" Alex whirled in place, loosing flames everywhere. His fire pushed aside a few blue mana tendrils, and before the mage could strike again, Alex released a fireball.
The flaming sphere raged through the air and caught the mage right in the stomach. The man howled as the spell smacked into him, and he tumbled across the street, his robes and flesh alike charred.
Yes! Alex stepped forward to finish the mage off, but before he could, two assailants flanked him. They filled the air with sword thrusts, determined to slice Alex into pieces. Alex's barriers, weakened by the mage's attacks, shattered at the touch.
Alarmed, Alex bobbed and weaved to evade the blows, but a sword thrust sliced into his side and pierced the armor. Alex felt the sword's cruel edge cut into his flesh, and hot pain blasted from the wound. He stumbled, shocked. His red mana faltered.
A hoplite had recovered his spear and skewered one of Alex's assailants with it, making a horrible crunching sound as the metal tip punctured the man's flesh. The other assailant backed up, wary.
Galvanized, Alex gathered up his mana and released a thin jet of flame that blasted the man off his feet and threw him aside. He whirled around and, ignoring his wound's stinging pain, fired off another fireball. Fatigue filled Alex like lead and his mana reserves were growing thin, but the fireball was worth it; the spell hit the hostile mage and vaporized the man on the spot.
Alex huffed from exertion and felt sweat running down his face. "I don't think I have another one of those in me," he admitted.
"That's fine. Look," the hoplite said, pointing. At last, the assailants had broken off and now retreated into an alley, vanishing into shadows. Not long after that, the rest of Alex's platoon arrived, plus Olivia and a few of her men.
"Casualties?" Jaina asked sharply as she walked onto the scene. Her eyes were hard, her expression meaner than Alex had ever seen it.
One of the battle-wise mages did a quick check. "Three dead, two wounded," he concluded. "We've got to get the wounded back to the barracks ASAP." Indeed, the two wounded hoplites lay curled on the street, bleeding heavily.
Silently, Jaina knelt and took a roll of bandages from her belt and treated the two men. Then, she stood and said, "I will report this to Kulla and the council of Twelve. I saw those assailants from afar... they had a uniform, those red robes. Something's going on, and I don't like it."
"Are they a cult?" Olivia asked uncertainly.
"Could be. That... or we've got a full-scale rebellion on our hands," Jaina said grimly. "I suppose we should have seen this kind of thing coming." She whirled around and marched off, her captain's cape fluttering behind her. "Let's go."
*o*o*o*o*
"Madam!" announced one of Valerie's assistants. The man entered Valerie's makeshift office in the abandoned warehouse, and he tried his best to keep his tone and expression neutral. "I've received reports from the ambush parties."
Valerie perked up, and she stood from her chair to face the man. "Results?"
The man checked a paper that he carried. "We lost twenty-eight men, fifteen Reverent Army hoplites were killed, and three battle-wise mages were killed."
Valerie smiled. She had lost more men than the Army, yes, but Agnomakhos' numbers grew every day. She needed the Army off-balance, and if she could kill off more battle-wise mages in the future, that would ease the conflict in the future. "Good. But I'm going to make sure that more mage-heavy squads are attacked in the next few weeks. We don't have as many mana users as the Army, so we need to balance that out."
"Today's attack squads did make sure to target Reverent Army mages," the man pointed out.
"And that's good. But we need to try harder," Valerie argued. "What kind of mages were killed?"
"They all used white mana to create mana barriers. They were in a platoon from the third battalion."
"Were any... unusual mages encountered?"
The question took Valerie's assistant by surprise. "Unusual how?"
"Like mages who use magic other than barriers, counter-magic, or illusions."
"In fact, yes. A mage from the first battalion could use fire magic, and he killed one of our own mages." The man squinted at Valerie. "He was reported to have red hair, kind of like yours."
Valerie felt her stomach lurch. She clenched her fists. "My brother is in the first battalion and uses fire magic. His platoon was attacked?"
"Yes."
"Spread the word that no red-headed fire mage is to be attacked," Valerie said sternly. Her heart raced in her chest. "His name is Alex, and I want him unharmed."
"Personal ties are affecting your judgment, madam? Some of us might not like that."
"My brother can be an asset to us," Valerie argued. "I know him. He thinks that joining the Reverent Army was right, but it was hard for him to leave me and our parents behind. He must feel conflicted about the council's oppression, and I intend to sway him."
"Even though our people attacked him?"
Valerie made a dismissive gesture. "He was attacked in error, and I'll make that clear to him. I'm his sister. He'll listen to me." Even if he didn't listen four years ago. Oh, Alex, you never really know what you want, do you? The Army is foul. I'm sure that you've realized that by now.
"Very well, madam."
"In the meantime," Valerie said, "I'm going to find some more allies soon. Dakly and his engineers are hard at work on my project, but I need more skilled warriors on my side."
The assistant's eyes widened. "You mean..."
"Yes," Valerie said firmly. "The mercenary recruitment center."