“Give me that!” his mother snatched stones from the boy’s hands. “What were you going to do with them? Make another one of those?” she was scolding him, for using his powers to create another small human. Amel looked with guilt at his mother, but she knew him better, and knew he was just faking it, in order to get his stones back.
Omega was stopped in place down a hill. Over the hill, thousands of constructs climbed it, and behind them, Femel’s special unit. Femel wanted to participate in the war next to his brother’s shoulder, and while Hran didn’t want for that, since he wanted all humans to follow after the constructs struggled. Amel had personally asked Hran to let his brother join him. Hran tried to argue, but to no avail, as Amel told him that “I should at least get this much, for you assigning me the most dangerous task,” and while that was incontestable, Hran could also feel that this was what Amel wanted. There wasn’t room for further arguments though, so Femel joined the army of Amel, as support units for once they breached the gates.
Before them, in the far distance, the city of Opeldes could be seen. Flames still rising and the smoke with them. They could see numerous flying units above the city, as well as stationed soldiers by the city’s walls. Femel looked at them, standing next to Amel, him on a horse and Amel on a Mover. “About three to four metres, those ones outside,” Amel counted on Femel’s eagle-like eyes. “What will we do about them?”.
“Us?” he laughed, Femel scratched his head awkwardly, ashamed for the assumption. “I already sent some of my troops. They probably have spotted Omega before it crossed the hills, so it's safe to assume those are purposed to make it harder for us to approach the walls somehow,” Amel showed with his hand to his left a few movers that were laying in ambush from the tree line, that was a few hundred metres from the walls of Opeldes. On top of them, from the long distance away they were, Femel could see some other constructs.
“I suspect you already have a clue what’s on top of them,” Eneel came from behind, a leather bag at both his sides, each carrying bottles of different liquids. Femel caught glimpses of what seemed to be large containers. “Me and your brother had a few talks before we arrived here”.
“I must say,” Amel placed a hand on Femel’s shoulder, “you have some gems in there. And you better make use of them, because” his eyes blinked with light a few times, then the Movers, which were twice the normal size, started to rush towards the walls. The monsters placed outside, from below their feet, picked giant spears, too heavy for humans to handle, but just large enough for them to toss them like a human would. From two hundred metres away, they managed to take a couple down. But the constructs adapted in the time between the throws, and were dodging the spears without issue. Those which fell behind, then their containers, made a large explosion, shaking the ground nearby. The realisation of what those were, prompted the monsters to throw more sporadically. But, even though they managed to take half of them down, some exploded near enough where the monsters fell to their backs. Soon, they were watching as those Movers were upon them and with a boom, the ground around the walls went up, a huge noise could be heard from the hills a few moments after the explosion. “They are pretty damn good,” Femel couldn’t speak, witness to the beginning of the siege.
“Why haven’t you used Omega to breach the walls?” Femel wondered, knowing that his brother had intentions for every action he too. Using Omega would’ve been the easier way, but given Omega’s nature, it was hard to stop the construct once it began its rampage. And the kind of destruction it could bring, was more targeted, as even for the construct, it would take a bit of force to open a large enough hole in the walls.
“You use your cards wisely, brother,” Amel’s eyes started to blink with the light faster, and Defender units moved forward, behind, the Offender ones in pairs of two hundred, a hundred of each kind. The Offenders were armed with spears built into their arms, adjustments made months back, with the resources available to him. The purpose of having them built inside was so they couldn’t be lost with ease, and for other constructs to make use of each other’s limbs. In case one fell or lost their weapon, another could make use of the other. And so, the first half of Amel’s army was moving forward, enveloping the southern portion leading to Opeldes. “Take your troops and station them behind the second half, I’ll need them after the attack.”.
“I will stay here, Eneel will take care of it,” Eneel nodded and went back to the unit. “Remember, we’re doing this together, so I’m staying next to you”. He put his hand on Amel’s shoulder as well. Amel looked at him, then at the battlefield again.
“You’ll still have to lead them, so don’t linger around me too much,” Amel took his hand off his shoulder, information pouring in as the constructs got close to the walls. Omega stood at the side and watched. Amel didn’t want to use Omega for much of anything, he wanted his constructs to gain information of the monsters, and Omega being able to kill them with ease, wouldn’t provide anything of value. The Defenders were soon met with enemy troops at the hole in the wall. They started to push in, while the monsters pushed out and used their natural weapons to try and kill the metal and wood creations. However, they would struggle as their natural weapons were meant to rip and tear, and there was nothing to rip and tear. At best, they were managing to scratch them and maybe break a part of their limbs. But given their lack of reaction and continuous push, the constructs were virtually unaffected by the resistance. Amel found that almost surprising. He knew that the monsters were using animal means to injure humans. And while humans had armour, they were unprotected against the crushing forces of bites and such. His constructs had sturdy, thick materials, especially the Defenders, who had large front portions of metal and wood behind. They were living shields, and the monsters had little to no effect on them. What was worse for the monsters was the Offenders from behind. Pushing their spears inside, they killed them by the dozens each passing minute. There were roughly eight thousand monsters inside the city, and they were all focusing on that one spot of the wall. Some larger ones made their way to defend the captured city, but a different kind of offenderes, smaller ones, about the size of a child, would make their way onto their bodies and stab them with pike-like weapons. The small ones got thrown around a lot, but they were learning and able to land safely, before resuming the relentless attack.
“If this is all they got, then perhaps you won’t have a chance to fight Femi,” Amel told Femel in an almost joking manner. Femel wasn’t surprised by the casual tone Amel was taking, but the way he seemed to enjoy what he did. This was mainly due to Amel having his plans go without issue, and learning that taking over Mouner might be a simple matter. Further, if this was all the Foolish King had, then he could take over both cities and claim all the glory for himself. Becoming the one who saved humanity single handedly, was undeniably worth excusing any crime. ‘Maybe they will even build the kingdom for me. Not that I need it,’ he amused himself.
“Are you sure about that?” he pointed to the sky, the flying units started to descend. Large, grotesque creatures swooped down and took constructs by their heads or their torso, flung them up and let them fall. It wasn’t enough to destroy them, and some were managing to kill the flying units while in the air, but it was weakening the Defender front. The monsters pushing back slightly, the Offenders getting grabbed in by some other monsters that were short and had stronger arms. On both sides, the armies were adapting to one another. Amel found it peculiar. His orderly army, against the disorganised mess of monsters, were adjusting to each other in their own ways. His constructs had to get more creative in their approach, which was a hard task as it was highly circumstantial, while the monsters had to become more organised in order to combat his tactics.
“No, I’m not sure,” Amel said as his eyes blinked faster once more. From behind them, flying constructs made of light wood and bits of metal, started to jump of the hill and glide towards the walls. “I’ll make sure you won’t have to,” the constructs flung themselves across the the fields, and in a few moments, were atop the broken wall. Some monsters took notice of them and tried to destroy them, but they jumped off the wall, a unit of Snatchers. Much like their flying units, they started to take the small ones and drop them around. Unlike the constructs, they were met with the stone ground and their flesh couldn’t resist the impact the same way. The opposing flying units started to attack the Snatchers, but they were taken down by offenders from the back, detaching their spear arms and throwing them at the flying ones. The Snatchers would pick the spear arms and toss them back into the imposing army. While the monsters were adapting to the constructs, their minds weren’t fast enough to match Amel’s system and its ability to adapt to virtually any issues.
It didn’t take more than a few hours, and the constructs started to make their way inside the city. Climbing walls or getting through the force that was trying to block the wall, it didn’t matter to the creations whose sole purpose was to defeat the army. Then, as the constructs started to kill from the front and behind, one of them was crushed in an instant. Amel barely had time to register, but he was sure of it. “The heavy ones,” the monsters which he saw in the battle against Eve, were there as well. Some had six or more limbs, each different from the other, having inorganic materials built into them and something Amel could only describe as “inhuman”, not due to their appearance, or the lack of light, but their nature, which seemed to absorb light. After he lost contact with the construct, he could feel as much, a portion of the light stole from it. If these ones were able to absorb the light, then to Amel it mattered just how fast and much they can. A living being has a limit to the amount of energy it can possess and their body support. Have too much, and your body will suffer its strain, sometimes to the point of death. Have too little, and the same applies, the body dying. But not having the light and being able to absorb it, that was an issue of an unprecedented manner.
Those heavy units, started to move instead of the small ones trying to stop the advancing force. Just one of them managed to destroy a few constructs, which would need at least a dozen of the small units to match. This was an issue Amel didn’t have a suitable strategy against. While his units were able to injure and kill some of the heavy ones, it would take too many of his own to do so. And even when they adapted for better, if they got killed by one of those, the light would be lost and most of the information with it. “Time for your unit to shine, brother,” Amel looked at Femel. His unit had special individuals that were dealing with issues in a diverse manner. If there was a solution in how to deal with those heavy ones, it would probably rely on his brother’s unit.
“Very well,” he firmly hit his brother’s chest with his fist, “watch me as I clear the path for us.”. He took his leave, Amel still thinking on ways to deal with the heavy ones. After an hour, the special unit started to move forward. In order to ensure he could make full use of them, Amel sent more Movers with explosives on their back. The Movers had little resistance, as the bulk of the monsters were preoccupied with his two and a half thousand assaulting the hole. And with a boom and blast, another hole has been made through the wall. A portion of the monsters fell from the impact, so did many constructs, but the constructs didn’t take long to get back up, and started to push harder. Around two hundred heavy monsters showed up at the hole prior, and another hundred at the new one.
The explosion was the signal, and the hundred unit led by Femel and Eneel, with the support of five hundred defenders and five hundred offenders, rushed for the opportunity. Soon, a melee took place at the place, and the small monsters with the large ones, were fighting viciously against the force of constructs. Femel’s unit stood at the back, in order to analyse and prepare counter measures. Some were willing to simply rush forward, as they were better at making suitable counters to the attacks on the foot, while some were trying to find ways to make the most use of their environment and even debris from the fallen wall. Amel stood on his horse, glaive in hand, looking for any opening through which he could lead his troops inside. There were none in front of him, so he looked up instead. The monsters on the walls were throwing spears at the constructs, which were barely scratched by them. They weren’t focusing on the current hole, probably confident that the large ones could handle it. Amel saw a few Snatchers flying above his head. Some were smaller, some were larger.
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“Erneel, take care of them, I’m going to open a path,” Erneel looked at Femel curious, not sure of what he was going to do with their path blocked like that. Then, standing on the horse, tall and mighty as he was, he squatted down, and with a wind behind his leg, he jumped high above. About twice his own height, and reached two Snatchers, glaive in hand. Amel let out a short burst of laughter, seeing his brother making use of his constructs in such an unsightly manner, but couldn’t deny the cleverness behind it. Femel saw the grass below his feet become gray bricks, and then flesh of different colours and bricks. He let go of the constructs, that had their path altered, and dropped on top of the monsters, crashing down on two and breaking their spines in place. He didn’t wear armour, it wasn’t to his taste, the glaive restricting his movements enough as it was. The monsters immediately started to attack. Fangs, claws and needles, they were all aimed at him. From both sides, Femel was surrounded in a blink by dozens of grotesque creatures. Then, with moevements that of a dancer, he stabbed, slashed and kicked at the monsters. As many as rushed for him, as many would be cut down or thrown off the wall into the sea of deadly creations below. After he could catch a few moments between the attacks, he cried below “Erneel!”.
Erneel watched the whole time, and could tell what he wanted. He threw him a couple of bottles. Femel caught them with his left hand. Femel jumped off the wall into the city, crashed the same way on top of some monsters, and once down, he was at the front lines of the monster resistance. He threw the bottles below their feet, and ran deeper in the city. The explosion wasn’t large enough to cause massive losses, around a couple dozen of small monsters, but enough to allow the constructs to get through, and behind them, his units. Once deeper inside, Femel was quickly surrounded by heavy and small monsters. His troops were fighting the monsters however they could, but the numbers weren’t in their favour, as inside the monsters had taken down the houses, and would prove disadvantageous for their over a thousand troops to try and fight the remaining seven thousand monsters. Even so, by distracting a good portion of their army onto them, Amel would gain the opportunity of focusing his ten thousand strong and allow them to push through. This would take a while, Femel knew, so they had to hold them back. The heavy monsters proved highly troublesome, blasting through their already small numbers, affecting the constructs. His unit, at an individual level, were managing to kill around a large monster each, but some would get injured in the process, getting carried back by Movers. In just a few short minutes, half of the large monsters and sixty of his troops were injured or dead. He had managed to kill three large ones by himself, while resisting the small ones’ continuous assault.
Amel watched it all from his Snatchers. Femel was performing well, but his unit was dwindling in numbers fast. And amongst those he had, there were a few really valuable ones, which Amel didn’t feel like losing in this battle. So, he sent his Primas into battle. It became clear to him that the large ones would be an issue no matter what, even Femel struggling a bit with some. And since he couldn’t afford to lose valuable people nor too many of his own, it was only natural to proceed.
Soon, the Primas, all nine of them, made their way to the battlefield. They stood taller than the normal constructs, and were more versatile in their movements. They climbed and moved between the other constructs with ease. Any monster in their path, they cut down without a moment wasted. From the top of the wall and between the constructs, they assaulted the city. Femel saw them and realised that Amel was preparing for the final push, and that he wouldn’t let him fight any longer. Pressed by the fact that he wouldn’t achieve enough, he urged his troops to make it forward. If they raised the flags before Amel’s constructs swarmed the city, then he and his troops could get some of the credit for taking over the city. Not the blazing glory he was following, but for someone who had never led troops into battle, the battle achievements weighed more than pride and honour.
Amel saw his brother acting rashly. He didn’t like it, but he would have to let him be for a while, as he was dealing with the heavy monsters. The Primas were dealing with them swiftly, targeting them specifically. The issue were the others, those which were flying and those small ones with strong limbs. The large ones fought alongside both those kinds, and made it harder and harder for the Primas to kill them. Amel grew tired of those primal tactics, so he grouped the Primas into a group of five and one of four. Together, these machines were eviscerating the monsters by the hundreds, the large ones by the dozens. Femel managed to gather his remaining unit, and looked towards the centre. In order for the other armies to acknowledge that the city has been captured, a fire should be built, with smoke to raise higher than the rest. Erneel had prepared some materials, extremely compact, to the size of their palm. If they could light three or four of them, a pillar of smoke would rise.
Femel started to cut at a path for his troops to advance. The further they went, the thicker the lines of enemies got. Soon, they were surrounded by enemies, amidst a sea of monstrous flesh. His troops were quickly reduced to only twenty people, the realisation of the death sentence he set upon them, washing over him. It was rash from any point of view. It was too late, so he had no choice but to try and regroup with the constructs. Amel watched the foolishness his young brother was showing, starting to regret allowing his unit on the battlefield. He could save him no issue, he could save himself too, but losing so much of the special unit on their first battle, and putting at risk some of the more skilled and valuable ones, was something Amel found himself enraged with. In order to scrap what was left of Femel’s troops, he sent the Primas and Snatchers raging down upon the monsters. The Snatchers took up and left with those Amel wanted the most, while the Primas carved a path of flesh and blood for the other ones to make their way, Femel at the front.
Femel saw as the masses of wood, steel and iron went against those of flesh, bone and more. He felt useless where he stood, as he only managed to kill most of his unit, while accomplishing nothing. The sudden realisation setting in, that maybe, he couldn’t stand next to his brother’s shoulder, not like he was. The Foolish King was just the beginning of their path towards the greater world they hoped to create. And for him to be left behind so much, was a crushing thing to him. Even though he trained hard against Hran II and managed to get a unit of his own from the first battle, they were all small compared to his brother. Who managed to fight and even defeat one of the First Six, threatening to become stronger than all of them combined. Femel on the other hand, couldn’t even measure up to one of their children.
Amel would give the final orders to his army, simple commands to wipe the city clean. And in a matter of hours, with the help of the Primas, by the end of the day, Opeldes was freed from the monster army. Some tried to escape, flying units and small monsters, but were then hunted down by Snatchers and Offenders riding Movers. The day would end with a thousand constructs destroyed and three thousand damaged. The damaged ones made use of the thousand destroyed, and would only take a few days to fully recover. The thousand lost were on the low predictions for losses. Amel knew his constructs would be highly suitable to fight the monsters, but he expected more trouble. It all made sense given that they had no leader to organise them. Amel expected for the Foolish King to assign some sort of generals or at least commanders, but he either didn’t have any or chose not to. If the latter was true, then in Mouner, the fight with its armies might prove much more dangerous than initially believed. Much like his battle in Opeldes, the Foolish King would fight an army without a general or commander. And while it's true he can get the information from his constructs, his constructs were relying on a different kind of vision. Even if he placed some to watch the battlefield from above, their vision was only a few dozen metres in depth. So, it meant that he would have to push them all inside, aided for what’s ahead by scouts and little constructs. His constructs were already atop the mountains, if they could, from where they were, they would see the Mouner city. Once a beautiful city with tall, towering buildings and one of the largest main structures, a castle which could fit a whole town, then became a horrendous fortress. Tall walls built in places, with the purpose of leading invaders in random patterns, weapons of war on top of the repurposed buildings as structures to resist any assaults, monsters hiding in each building, not one outside for enemies to gauge their numbers, and the tall, thick walls. The walls were the main strength of this then fortress, once city. Made from a stone found deep inside the earth, stronger and heavier than folded steel, and behind it, the one thing which wasn’t available to any other country: livingwood. A type of wood from Ilianor’s trees. The wood, subjected to thousand of years of light from the Lightborns living around and inside of them, manifest unnatural methods of growing. Even if one small piece is taken from a tree, it would grow into a full adult tree by the day’s end, which measure anywhere between forty and fifty metres.
Amel kept the constructs on stay until he had discerned whether or not it would be worth waiting. The worth was based on the amount of time it would take to both train the constructs and bring the city down to its knees. Since this only took a day, outside of his estimated three to five days, then he would keep them on hold, while transmitting the battle information. The constructs over Mouner, able to fight much the same as those in Opeldes, while being in perfect condition and ten thousand strong. He was sure that the Foolish King had some tricks up his sleeve, and given that he didn’t know what those could possibly be, beyond the fact that the city was protected by an unknown number of monsters and under his leadership. He also wanted to see the Foolish King die with his own eyes. He wanted Femel to drive the blade through his heart or skull, as his constructs held him to the ground, pinned and unable to do anything, much like they couldn’t do anything when Umshaow destroyed their home.
Before any of that, he had to deal with the failure of his brother, and the following steps given that he took the city in just a day, and another fight was in sight, with Eve’s army still fighting the ten thousand monsters in the fields. Hran, Uel and Kinak made their way to the hill once they got word it was over. And true to the word, the saw their sister’s city in flames, but theirs once more. Femel’s blunder was overlooked by those three, given the great results they got. But Amel wouldn’t.
Once everything was settled, the soldiers inside the city and his constructs helping with the reconstruction efforts alongside Mou’s own, he made his way to Femel’s camp. Passing through, he could see the last of his soldiers in a spiteful mood. When he passed though, they would get up and thank him. He didn’t like it, his people lost faith in him and instead looked at him as their saviour. Amel finally made it inside his tent, Femel having an empty cup of ale.
“Did you know, Amel, there was this girl, her name was Harneia,” he took an empty gulp from the cup, threw it away. “She wanted to make a small shop inside of Thranes once this was done. Her parents, much like ours, were killed when she was young, and had this shop, they would sell clothes,” he looked at Amel. “She’s dead because of me, and her shop can never be.”.
Amel came with the sole purpose of lecturing him, but seeing as he was devastated as he was, there was no lecture necessary. Unlike Amel, Femel grew attached, learned about the people around him. It was what made him more suitable to be a king than Amel, but not a good general. If he was to lead an army into battle, he would need the kind of relentless drive to not back away no matter what. In the battle of Opeldes, while him running away was his only option, it didn’t change the fact that he took a decision which he wasn’t ready to follow through. “And? What are you going to do about it?”, Amel’s words cut through.
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? She’s dead! What can I do?! Cry? Maybe build a small monument in her name? There’s nothing I can do!” he stared blankly at the floor. “There’s nothing I can do…” Amel approached him, placed his hands on his shoulders.
“You can make a small shop for her,” Amel looked him in the eyes while saying so. “If one of them wanted a farm, you’re going to make a farm for them,” Femel started to see what his brother was getting at. “You’ll do it all for them, in our kingdom,” Amel stood up and helped his brother too. He stood even taller than before, his large body barely fitting in the tent. “Carry their will, their wishes, and make them true. Even if you fail, don’t cast aside their lives. Make them your own and push forward with all you got,” he pressed his fist on his chest and then his head. “I can’t have you mop around so early. I still need you to defeat some greater foe.”.
Amel started to sob, then cry. He hugged Amel and kept him tight to his chest. “I’m sorry brother. I’m sorry for being so weak,” Amel patted his head and hugged him tight.
“Don’t worry Femi, when you’re weak, I’ll be strong for you instead,” with those words, he reassured his brother like he always does. Femel felt pathetic, to still rely on his brother’s strength after all he had done for him. He wasn’t weak by any means, but compared to Amel, he was just a bit better than a normal human. He started to set a will upon his body, one which would allow him to move forward. ‘I have to be stronger, better,’ he thought. His tears have stopped and his face is serious.
He pushed back from Amel, a determined look on his face. Amel liked what he saw, so he said no more, he could tell his brother understood what he had to do, and nothing he said would do much more from that point on.
As Amel made his way back to his tent, Hran, Uel and Kinak awaited him. “We should talk, kid” Hran said. Amel looked at their light, there was nothing like ill intent behind those.