A past tragedy repeats itself in this chapter.
Chapter 80 – Blood of the Innocent (Great Tree Moon)
Night began to fall over the small hamlet of Favorsham as some of the villagers looked apprehensively out of their windows, trying not to draw the attention of the 5th Imperial Army's survivors. To their dismay, several of the Imperial soldiers were eying the small farming village as they readied their weapons.
The villagers feared that the Imperials would attack them. If they did, they didn't see any hope of surviving. Favorsham's residents were dealing with some kind of epidemic, yet despite their efforts to treat the sick, there had been no improvement over the past month. If anything, the situation was worsening by the day. And now they had the Imperials looking to attack them while they were sick and had no real weapons to speak of besides pitchforks and cutlery.
Among the tired men of the 5th Army, one soldier said, "Look at them. Hiding away in their hovels."
"Cowards, just like the scum they serve," said another soldier.
Everyone around him knew he had been referring to House Gloucester, as Favorsham was under the protection of the Gloucesters. However, there was no sign of any Gloucester soldiers, leaving the village defenseless. The soldiers in the 5th were angry with House Gloucester's betrayal, and the men closest to the village thought to take revenge by attacking the farmers.
"It doesn't matter where they hide," said a third soldier. "They'll pay all the same."
Other nearby soldiers murmured in agreement as they readied themselves to attack Favorsham.
But just as an officer among them rose to his feet, the soldiers stopped as they heard a familiar woman say, "What do you think you're all doing?"
The officer turned around and saluted as he said, "Commander Ladislava! We were just–"
Interrupting the officer, Ladislava said crossly, "You were about to attack a village full of innocent civilians."
Despite knowing the Crimson Warrior would object, the officer said, "Ma'am, they're servants to the Gloucesters. They're the ones feeding the craven curs who trapped the 11th and handed the Great Bridge of Myrddin to the enemy! Those peasants deserve to pay the price!"
Ladislava continued to glare at the officer, showing she did not share their opinion.
After a few seconds of silence, Ladislava said, "Let me make this as clear as possible to you all. If I hear that any of you laid a finger on that village or its people, you will answer to me. Understood?"
"B-But Commander–"
"Do you understand, sergeant?!"
Now realizing Ladislava wasn't about to listen to their protests, the sergeant said, "Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Ladislava briefly looked around at the soldiers of the 5th Army, who were clearly upset with being denied a chance at revenge.
"Those villagers had nothing to do with the actions of House Gloucester or its soldiers," said Ladislava. "And we do not target civilians. Is that clear?"
Reluctantly, the sergeant answered, "Y-Yes, Commander."
Hoping the soldiers would take her warning seriously, Ladislava turned and said, "Get yourselves some rest. We move out in five hours."
Ladislava walked away from the soldiers of the 5th Army, who were now disgruntled at being denied a chance to take out their anger on the villagers.
…
Fenix lifted his head as Ladislava made her way back to her partner's side. Upon seeing her, the ruby Wyvern lowered his head to resume his nap.
As Ladislava sat down next to Fenix, she heard Zola say, "Not letting them near those farmers, I take it?"
"You already know the answer to that, Zola," Ladislava replied. "I hope you're not getting any ideas yourself."
"Nope. I'm not taking my chances when Her Majesty said she'd cut my head off. Besides, I need some sleep after helping you bury Fleche." Zola paused and then said, "Damn shame about her, you know. She had what it took to be one of us."
"Yes, she did. I never told Randolph that. And now they're both gone."
"War is hell."
Ladislava nodded in agreement.
With a long yawn, Zola lay herself against a tree and said, "Wake me up when it's time to haul ass."
Ladislava did not reply to that as she lay down against Fenix's side. The Wyvern did not move, being used to letting his rider rest at his side.
As exhaustion finally caught up to her, Ladislava shut her eyes and tried to get some sleep.
…
Myson smirked as he and his men readied their ritual. The Imperials, having been told to spare the people of Favorsham, were settling in to get some rest.
The Agarthan Reaver, standing at the center of his ritual, began to utter fell words as his followers did the same. Dark magic swirled among them as the Agarthans directed their magic toward Favorsham, sending a billowing black mist into the houses.
Within minutes, Myson's smile widened as he heard the villagers begin to scream and gurgle as their bodies were filled with unholy might, while their minds were engulfed by madness.
Myson silently gave thanks to his mentor Solon. The Dark Savior had been the one to create the first Felplague strain, but Myson had improved upon Solon's work over the past five years. Though Myson could not compare to Solon's mastery of necromancy, nor to his knowledge of Zahras, Myson was still the best of the Agarthans when it came to blood magic.
Listening to the corrupted villagers as they were reduced to zombie-like husks, Myson said, "Go, you beasts. Kill the Imperials. Do not stop until either you or they all lie dead."
Myson then chuckled loudly as the villagers, grabbing what makeshift weapons they could, began shambling toward the Imperials.
…
"Commander! Ladi, wake up!" shouted Trauare.
The water mage was about to put a hand to Ladislava's shoulder when Ladislava snapped out of her slumber. It had barely been an hour since she dozed off.
Ladislava looked at the bluette as she said, "Ladi, it's the villagers!"
Immediately incensed by this, Ladislava said, "Dammit! I told those men to leave them alone!"
"No, it's not that!" Trauare said as Ladislava got up. "The villagers are attacking US!"
"What…?!" Ladislava said after a moment of shock.
…
"KILL! KILL!" shouted an infected farmer as he brandished his pitchfork.
"RIP! TEAR!" shouted another as she held a kitchen knife.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" said a young farmer's daughter as she shambled forward with no weapon at all, laughing maniacally as she advanced toward the Imperials.
The soldiers of the 5th Army, unnerved by the hundreds of advancing peasants, hesitated to fight back against them. The villagers of Favorsham had clearly gone mad, but they feared Ladislava's wrath if they killed any of them. The eyes of the villagers had gone pure white, and their veins bulged all over their bodies with pure white blood.
One of the Imperials who had failed to get away from the attackers screamed as two insane villagers pulled his arms in opposite directions. After a few seconds, they tore his left arm from his body. The screaming soldier fell over, allowing the villager who held his severed arm to start bludgeoning him to death with it while the other stomped repeatedly on him.
The captain who led what was left of the 5th Army waved an arm at the villagers and shouted, "Fire!"
The archers under his command fired their crossbows at the villagers. The bolts found their mark, but the villagers continued to advance, despite their wounds. After another second, the villagers began rushing toward the soldiers in a frenzy.
As the captain began ordering his men to fight back, Ladislava and the other Black Eagles arrived on the scene.
"What the hell?" said Ladislava.
"These villagers were terrified of us earlier," said Salia. "What's gotten into them?!"
"Hell if I know," said Trauare. "But we've gotta do something fast!"
"What is your command, Ladislava?" said Setiawati as she drew an arrow from her quiver.
Yet to the surprise of the other Black Eagles, Ladislava was silent.
The Crimson Warrior could barely believe what she was witnessing. These villagers, who had farm implements and kitchenware for weapons, advanced as though possessed toward the 5th Army's remnants. Despite that they were hopelessly outmatched, they attacked without fear of pain or death, imbued with some unholy strength that let them survive mortal injury. She saw one Imperial lop off a peasant's arm, only for the woman to ignore her severed limb and bite the soldier's neck in return.
Yet, despite the carnage she was witnessing, Ladislava hesitated to act. These were still civilians. And though she had fought militia before, these people weren't fighting of their free will. Something or someone was controlling them.
"Commander? Aerin?!" shouted Salia.
Just as Ladislava began trying to think of a way to subdue the villagers, she heard one of the Eagles shout, "Commander, look out!"
Snapped out of her thoughts, she saw two insane villagers rushing toward her and the others. They were both young teenagers, a boy and a girl, who couldn't even have been older than Fleche.
Before Ladislava could react, a single swing from Zola's axe cleaved through them both.
"Zola!" Trauare said in shock as Ladislava watched the blonde Skraeling ready her axe.
Without turning to her comrades, Zola said in a tone of utter seriousness, "Aerin, how's about you let my boys and I handle this one? Wouldn't want Her Majesty's champion getting farmer blood on her hands."
"Zola…" Salia said, surprised at the blonde murderess showing such consideration.
Just as Zola was about to rush off to deal with the villagers, Ladislava stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Zola," said Ladislava. "But you're not fighting this battle on your own."
Zola, knowing that Ladislava had finally made up her mind, gave a respectful "Heh" to the Crimson Warrior.
Taking a deep breath, Ladislava shouted, "Eagles, take them down! It's them or us!"
As the rest of the Black Eagles moved to engage the crazed villagers, Setiawati drew her bow and fired a long shot at one that was rushing toward an Imperial soldier with a kitchen knife. Her shot went right into the villager's forehead, sending him to the ground. Zola drew a hand axe and threw it at another villager, hitting him in the face with the axe's blade.
Within seconds, the Black Eagles began to clash with the insane villagers of Favorsham, and the battle quickly became a slaughter. Despite their unnatural might, the villagers' movements were clumsy and uncoordinated, which allowed the Imperial elites to strike them down with ease. Yet with their sheer numbers, the villagers continued to inflict casualties on the Imperials, primarily on the men from the 5th Army.
Trauare, without saying any of her fancy incantations, sent a wave of water crashing into a group of four villagers, breaking the limbs of two of them from the force of the spell. There wasn't any point in her trying to show off at a time like this. As she readied another spell, she heard another villager rush toward her with a pitchfork. She swiftly struck aside the man's farming tool before delivering a quick stab to the man's chest. The villager, despite being fatally wounded, snarled as he reached out toward Trauare's neck, despite being half a meter out of reach. Trauare channeled some of her Mana into her weapon, blowing away the villager with a blast of water.
Salia, who had mounted up on Alektra, threw a javelin at an old villager who was trying to bite the neck of a panicking Imperial soldier. The javelin went through the old man's head, and he slumped over as the panicked soldier pushed him away. Salia readied another javelin, knowing she couldn't use her fire magic in such close quarters without hitting an ally. In any event, she doubted setting the villagers on fire would get them to stop.
On the ground, Zola snarled as she split an infected woman in half from scalp to pelvis. She then whirled around, punching another villager to the ground before burying her axe in the man's chest.
The blonde Skraeling didn't laugh at all while doing this. Normally she enjoyed the thrill of battle, but nothing about this fight left her with any mirth. She had raided farms before as a bandit, but this wasn't anything like those past battles. These people, who should've been terrified of the Imperials, attacked them as though possessed, despite that they stood absolutely no chance of winning. It was more like killing those who were already dead.
Setiawati, on the other hand, showed no remorse as she shot down three more villagers in quick succession. To her, these people were little more than rabid animals at this point. They were clearly driven mad by some disease or illness of the mind. The huntress knew they had to be put down so their insanity could not spread.
She just hoped that whatever had infected these people wasn't contagious. If it were, they'd be losing a lot more men before this was over.
As the Brigid huntress drew another arrow, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a group of hooded figures in black robes in the distance. They were watching the massacre unfold, and she saw at least some of them were channeling dark magic.
"Setia, right side!" shouted Ladislava, snapping the huntress back to the fight.
Setiawati whirled around to see one of the villagers charging toward her with a woodcutter's axe, too close for her to ready a shot. The huntress dodged the villager's clumsy swing and drew her tribal knife, stabbing it into the back of the man's head where his skull connected to his spine. The villager toppled over as Setiawati ripped her blade out of his head.
Sheathing her blade, Setiawati turned to Ladislava and said, "Terima kasih, Ladislava." She then pointed toward the hooded figures and said, "Someone is watching us from afar."
Ladislava turned to look where Setiawati was pointing. She quickly made out the Agarthans as they continued channeling their dark sorcery.
"They may be responsible for this pembantaian," said Setiawati.
Nodding in agreement, Ladislava put two fingers in her mouth and whistled for Fenix. The ruby Wyvern quickly swooped down as Ladislava leapt up and landed on his saddle.
"Eagles, hold your ground!" shouted Ladislava. "Trauare, Zola, Setia, follow me!"
The other three aces quickly rushed to their mounts and chased after Ladislava as she flew to attack the Agarthans.
As the Crimson Warrior approached him and his minions, Myson grinned as he let out a wicked chuckle.
Man, writing that one left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
It's strange that after Solon perishes that the Agarthans don't try a repeat of the Remire Calamity. While it could be justified as Solon being the only one capable of pulling it off, I don't find that to be a good reason. As such, I've made it so Myson repeats the tragedy in Remire, seeking to improve what Solon started with.
As for Ladislava hesitating, it's not just a case of "deer in the headlights". In militaries all over the world, rules of engagement are taken very seriously. This is what was going through Ladislava's head. The people of Favorsham would be considered non-combatants, which are normally off-limits. Even if these villagers were attacking them, Ladislava was struggling with the decision to either try and subdue the villagers or to kill them. She'd be justified either way, as typical military rules of engagement allow soldiers to fight back against non-combatants if said non-combatants attack them first (i.e. soldiers are allowed to use lethal force if it's in self-defense unless high command absolutely forbids it).
Let's just say that this battle is going to have a lasting effect, regardless of the outcome or justification.