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CHAPTER 234
295 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
In the dimly lit chambers of Yohn Royce, frustration hung heavy in the air. He perused the report from the survivors, the account of a disastrous encounter with the druid's beasts. As the details unfolded, it became evident that not only had they lost 35 fishing boats and around 400 fishermen soldiers, but they had once again succumbed to the unpredictable forces wielded by the elusive druid.
Lord Royce, his brow furrowed in consternation, threw the papers aside. The survivors' tale of drifting on shipwrecks and paddling with broken wood painted a picture of crushing defeat. The question that loomed over him was whether this magical display was a signal of the druid's imminent arrival or if, perhaps, the druid was already on the island.
A foreboding thought gnawed at Lord Royce. Could the whirlpool, a force of nature seemingly summoned by the druid, be an indication that their elusive foe was drawing near? The uncertainty gripped him. But was it even possible every corner of this island was seminated with scouts? It was impossible for them to land before they got the news. Even if they landed, he should have intel where it happened.
With a heavy sigh, Lord Royce summoned his advisors. The air in the chamber became tense as they gathered, awaiting their Lord's directives. Lord Royce, with a troubled expression, voiced his concerns.
"What if it was the druid who conjured the whirlpool?" he pondered aloud. "Does this mean he is close to our shores, or worse, has he already set foot on our island without our knowledge?"
One of the advisors said,
"It is not possible, my lord; if they had landed, we would have heard a word about it."
Another one said,
"Some of the castles and holds are a bit late with their reports, but there is no news of an invasion."
The second he heard of this, Lord Royce's heart dropped, and he got up from his place ragingly. His fierce eyes locked on to this advisor and said,
"Point those castles and holds on the map!"
As the advisors pointed out those points, Lord Royce's eyes started to grow. He turned towards the advisor and punched him in the face. Lord Royce was fuming with anger.
"How incompetent could you be! How dare you not inform me when half of this island dropped down their reports! Can't you see they are already here, and I don't know how, but they cut off our communications; they are definitely on this island."
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He turned towards other lords and knights and said,
"Right away... Right in this instant! We need to start marching and send every available scout out in every direction; they are coming for us!"
...
Aermir did the same thing he did on the other two islands; he took every male member of every noble household and offered them two options: iron or black. As always, most of them chose the black, and he sent them to Eastwatch by the Sea right away and betrothed all the female heirs to the Northern nobles who had sworn loyalties to him.
It was a great shame for most men to abandon their own surname to take up their wives, even if it was for a castle or a hold. Of course, there were many men who would do that in a heartbeat, but those kinds of men were not among Aermir's knights and Paladins. They were doing this for service to their Lord, and most of them had the same thought: they would sire an heir and come back to their Lord's service when they could. This might feel weird to some people, but they were never in the service of a man who could regrow limbs, create infernos, and command all kinds of beasts. They were serving the personification of the Old Gods, and you cannot forget about the power he provided to his soldiers; the buff crystals and the honor of becoming a juggernaut were some of the most important things to most of them. If they could become juggernauts, it was a certainty to leave their names in the annals of history.
Aermir was already in control of half of the island, and he was getting ready to march towards the real threat. While conquering the east half, he had only lost 300 men, and 20 of them were knights. Thanks to his healing, enchanted equipment, and buff, his men were fighting like otherworldly monsters.
Like he thought the glory-starved Northern lords asked him to be the vanguard, and he was putting them off to make them more eager. Now it was time to face the main host of the enemy forces; he was going to put them to the center with the Juggernauts.
...
Aerrmir turned into a black dog and walked toward his own tent; when he approached the tent, the guards around him didn't block the dog since he looked just like Berus. He got inside and transformed back. His stand-in was still in his armor, and he kneeled down when they saw him. Aermir said,
"As you were."
They stood up and waited for their orders. Aermir said,
"Osric, take off the armor. The Northern Lord will come for a war council."
Aermir summoned Berus. He curled up in a corner and started sleeping. After Osric, Aermir's stand-in, took Aermir's armor off, he stood in the corner like he was just a personal guard of their Lord. Osric was one of the first graduates of Aermir's military school, and he wasn't even knighted yet, but he was a perfect size to impersonate Aermir. He was a formidable fighter, too, and this helped it when he was fighting on top of Sith.
...
After Aermir told the lords about his plans, they united with Jory Flint's forces and marched toward the enemy. The united army marched in a determined line towards the enemy. The clatter of armor and the steady thud of boots filled the air as they advanced.
Aermir donned his Druid persona, and Osric donned his runic armor and rode at the front as Lord Drasil. Behind him, the lords and soldiers from different houses followed suit, their banners fluttering in the wind.
To reach the island's west side, there were three roads; two of them were coastal roads, and the other one was from a valley. Aermir knew the other side of the valley was a perfect place for an ambush, and as he thought, Vale's army was waiting in the ambush. He had 1200 rangers in his army and called both of their company commanders, Ser Fletcher and Ser Anguy, to his tent.
"As you can see on the map, they are stationed on these two hillsides. We will continue our way slowly so that the scouts sent by the enemy will think that we are coming from the valley road, but you two and your company will use those goat trails and destroy the troops waiting in ambush after the battle begins. Below, we will feint a retreat to pull the enemy army into the valley."
"Yes, sir."
One of Aermir's biggest advantages in a war was his ability to scout and map out the area better than the people who lived there. Thanks to this, he could see an ambush miles away and find alternate roads easily.