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CHAPTER 297 The Weight of Command
297 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
As Aermir stood amidst the chaos of the siege, a sense of indecision clouded his mind. Should they risk breaking through one more gate, risking further damage to the castle, and gaining an advantage by losing fewer men? Or should they consolidate their forces, concentrating their strength at one gate and minimizing damage to the castle but losing more man as they forced their way in?
After mauling over it for a few minutes, a plan began to form in Aermir's mind. With resolve hardening in his heart, Aermir made his decision. They would combine all their forces at a single gate, sacrificing some of their men but gaining an advantage when the time came to defend the castle. Aermir imbued his voice with mana and shouted, "Dolf, Tormund to the south side!"
The voice traveled through the battlefield like thunder. Dolf and Tormund couldn't understand why the Druid was calling them off when they were almost through the walls, but after what happened to the Redsmiths, there was no one in the Mountainman army to second-guess Aermir's orders.
Aermir didn't only call the Stone Crows and Howlers. There were some other smaller clans working under Dolf and Tormund. With this, he had 1500 men with him. Pulling that many men from the other side was going to hurt the effort on that side, but he just needed them to keep the defenders busy while they attacked from this side.
...
As Ulf's forces stormed through the breached gate, the air filled with the sounds of clanging steel and the shouts of men locked in combat. Dust and debris swirled in the air, kicked up by the frenzied melee unfolding within the castle walls.
On the ramparts, you could hear the grunts and curses of the fighters locked in mortal combat, and occasionally, someone would fall from the ramparts as the number of people on top of the walls raised. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air as part of Ulf's forces tried to take over the walls from the inside, but the majority of his forces were pushing towards the keep.
In the courtyard below, bodies littered the ground as the battle raged on unabated. Warriors fought tooth and nail for every inch of ground. Their faces contorted in pain and determination as they fought and bled.
...
Ulf was having a hard time moving forward. Even the 200 warriors buffed by the Druid were starting to have difficulty marching, and 20 of them were hurt badly. They were only able to fight with sheer will. They were fighting for a better future and would rather die than fall back.
Even an indestructible willpower can only carry a person so far. As they started to lose their momentum, more than a thousand men started to burst in through the gate, and they were provided with much-needed support.
Aermir was at the forefront of this reinforcement as a mountain warrior and charged through the Vale forces like a beast. He had used the Transmorphation spell to exchange his casting for superior physical power. He doesn't remember who said that, but Aermir remembers reading someone saying, "No plan of operations reaches with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main force."
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Aermir sighed and thought this commander was so right. His plan for this siege was to conserve strength and slowly whittle them down while he healed his men, but that plan was thrown out of the window in the first hour of the battle. Now, they had to take some damage and finish this battle as fast as possible.
...
Aermir and his army decimated House Hercy in one hour without leaving one member. He didn't want to kill babies or small children, so he decided to give them to childless noblemen in his army. They were too small to remember any of it, and those who were old enough to remember would be taken to orphanages he created and trained according to their talent, and employment opportunities would be provided to them in the future. They were no longer nobles; in the records, they would be written off as dead.
If he didn't do this, their relatives in other houses would ask for them as their wards, and Aermir couldn't allow them. The first thing those Vale houses would do is marry those children and continue the bloodline so they could have claims in the future.
Some of them might never forget who they were, but he didn't care what they might have caused in 10 or 15 years when they grew up since they would be living in different castles as non-nobles. Even if they claimed they were noble, they wouldn't have any way of proving it.
...
It took them 6 hours to get ready, and they didn't fix the gate since, in Aermir's plan, they needed that gate broken. Aermir pulled almost all of the flying scouts to the castle. He needed to know even if a bug passed his perimeter. His plan depended on whether he could create the illusion of an ongoing siege.
The Lynderlys and Coldwaters army was just an hour away from Newkeep. The scouts started to enter the perimeter. Aermir had readied some fast-moving forces and informed them to follow the ravens and kill all of the scouts but leave one of them. Aermir was going to take care of some of the scouts himself, as he could move faster than any cavalry.
...
The Vale scout group approached the castle cautiously, their eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of danger. Captain Harold surveyed the landscape as they reached the base of the hill, his expression grave. The castle was still on the other side of the hill. The hill was covered with grass but didn't have anything to hide behind, so the scout captain Harold said, "It is too exposed. We should go around it. We'll split into two groups,"
He announced, his voice low but firm. "You two go that way, and Elric, you're with me. Remember, safety first. We need to gather information, but not at the cost of our lives. Less information is better than no information at all."
He shook hands with the other group and continued, "We need to live through this to work more and bring more information." The scouts nodded, their faces tense, as they got ready to go on their way. Now, they were at the most dangerous part of their work. They could come across patrols or enemy scout groups in those parts.
...
As they approached the location of Newkeep, Harold couldn't help but notice the nervousness in young Elric's demeanor. After all, it was his first mission, and the weight of responsibility seemed to press heavily upon him. That was why he chose him so he could keep an eye on him and teach the young guy some useful things.
"Just beyond those shrubs," Harold murmured, his voice reassuring as he gestured toward their vantage point. "We'll be able to observe from there. Stay close, and remember to keep your wits about you. In this line of work, you need to have eyes at the back of your head and..."
He pointed towards his ears and said, "... Always listen for footsteps; listening could save your life." Elric nodded, his expression a mixture of apprehension and determination. With Harold's guidance, he steeled himself for the task ahead. They started to slither toward the other side of the shrubs, and Newkeep was in front of them.
The distance was still great because of Newkeep's position since the lands around it were wide open. They needed to keep their distance if they wanted to continue being invisible and collecting intel. The castle was visible, but it was impossible to see any of the details. If their lords were not cheap, they could have Myrish far sight, but because of how expensive those things were, only a few houses could afford to give their scouts those things; House Coldwater and Lynderly were not one of them.
From the looks of it, the castle had not fallen since thousands of armored mountain men were around the gate trying to get inside. The gate was broken, but the screams, shoutings, and fighting sounds could be heard from the distance.
Harold turned towards Elric and said," Let's try to get a closer look." Just as he said it, arrows landed right in front of Elric. Elric's eyes grew so big that they looked like they were going to pop out of their places. Harold jumped on top of him, and they rolled on the ground.
Right as that happened, several arrows landed where Elric was. Harold shouted, "Patrol group! Run, don't look back. We will meet up at the rendezvous point." All Elric could do was nod his head and start running back.
As he ran, Harold acted like he was running in a different direction, but as he got up with great hardship, you could see an arrow sticking out from his back. He was wheezing because it was too hard for him to even breathe. "Ru... run, kid. You need to pass the information."