Chapter 216.

PART 1.

Their ship has to do an emergency landing since Raven informed them that the city has been lost. James was brought there, and Raven along with Bajrang came to meet the new king on Kishore’s farm.

Though Kishore is not ready for their arrival, he is still accommodating them. Avinash has recovered somewhat to meet Raven, but Porus is still not ready to talk or stay awake for too long. The battle took a toll on his body, and his old age is slowing his recovery despite his modifications working to heal his body along with James’s treatment.

“Before we can make a plan to retake the city,” said Hatori, “I believe we should choose the next general officially.”

“The boy is right,” said Zeko. “We can’t operate like this forever.”

“I want Raven to have that position.” Said Avinash, enjoying the high of the potions given to him to soothe his pain and repair his bones.

“Are you aware of the political implications—” tried to say Zeko, but Avinash interrupted him.

“I am well aware.” He said, descending from the cloud of his high for a moment. “But he is well qualified, and he can serve our forces for a long time to come.”

“Still, don’t you think we should ask the experienced people in the line?” asked Raven.

“None of them will agree.” Said Zeko.

“How can you say this with such confidence?” asked Hatori.

“Because none of them want to handle the civil war, and get painted in a bad light in the history should they fail to contain this.” Explained Zeko.

“See?” said Avinash. “Even more of a reason for you to become my general.”

“But what about apprentices of Sundar?” asked Raven. “I’m sure he had some who are even older than Bajrang. Speaking of whom, why haven’t you said anything yet?”

“Because I don’t want this position either.” Said Bajrang. “I can’t speak for the older apprentices, but when it comes to me, I am good at keeping things running, or in administrative tasks. But I feel no shame in saying that when it comes to strategizing for war, you are much better than me. I believe as you gain more experience, you will become a great general. Just remember to listen to some sensible advice from time to time.”

“I will.” Said Raven. “And I accept the position of a general.”

“General Raven.” Said Hatori. “Has a nice ring to it.”

“My father will be so shocked.” Said Raven.

Magpie, Raven’s father, did not want him to join the military, because he thought that he would be stuck as a common soldier for the rest of his life. but now, he will no longer have that fear. Of course, Raven has a big challenge. He must establish the dominance of the throne, and win the trust of the older veterans to make sure they will not cause any problems for him.

“Now that has been decided,” said Bajrang, “How are we going to take the city? We need some forces for this.”

“Yeah,” said Raven. “Wasn’t Sindapur asked for some help?”

“They did.” Said Bajrang.

“Then send Josh and Singh twins there with some of our forces. that should be enough to help that city.” Said Raven, and Bajrang noted this down.

“If you need help there, contact with Sannaphulla. I’m sure he will be able to help you out,” said Hatori.

“Good,” said Raven. “I’m sending you with Shin to the City of Hills.”

“Why?” asked Hatori.

“Because that city is an important military base, and we can’t let the enemy take root in there,” said Raven.

“Not that, I’m asking why are you sending me? you know that I am not a soldier.” Said Hatori. “They will never listen to me.”

Raven gets a hard look on his face. “Then make them. we are not drowning in the commanders, remember? Make them obey you, and I’m sure you will retake that fortress city for us. because you are not half bad when it comes to forming strategies yourself.”

“Once these two are healed,” said Raven, looking at Avinash, “We can then focus on retaking the City of Throne.”

PART 2.

Zeko burns from the rage, as he sees Hatori discussing some more necromantic tactics with Kalicharan, as the old man is wishing him luck for his mission, while Shin and Hatori prepare to leave for the City of Hills.

Unable to contain his anger any longer, he roughly grabs Kalicharan and lifts him in the air. “Stay away from my student!” snarled Zeko.

“Make me!” replied Kalicharan, twisting his body abnormally, and kicking Zeko on his face to make him release his grip.

“You!” Hatori gets in the way of Zeko before he can attack Kalicharan any further.

“Master, what are you doing?” he asked, hoping to calm Zeko down.

“That is your fault as well!” said Zeko, attacking Hatori with flames, which he easily blocked with a shield. “You should know better than associating with his kind!”

“What in the hell do you mean?” asked Hatori, replying with his own spells of water, to contain Zeko’s flames, and hoping to get some sense into him by hitting him with the freezing cold water.

“You damn well know what I’m talking about boy!” snarled Zeko, attacking Hatori with even more fury. “He is a murderer. Or why do you think he was put in that prison?”

“You take that back!” said Kalicharan from the side, having been tossed there earlier by the magic of the student and the master.

The prison has left him permanently weakened. If he were to be in his prime, he would have never needed Hatori’s help in dealing with Zeko. “I suffered through that hell because you are the only one who believes that!”

“You lie!” said Zeko, sending the flames to attack Kalicharan. “You killed Sanjaya because you were jealous of him.”

“As if.” Said Kalicharan. “You know the truth; you just can’t accept it.”

“Whatever.” Said Zeko, showing some signs of calming down. “I forbid you to speak with Hatori any further.”

A conjured chain wraps around Zeko and pulls him to the ground. He is shocked senseless through the chain, before Hatori walks in front of him. “You might be my master, but you have no right to give me an order like this. Especially because of your own past with this man.”

“You—” Zeko tries to argue, but Hatori interrupts him.

“I’m an adult, dammit!” said Hatori. “And I will not let anyone else control what I can or cannot do, even if I end up ruining myself.”

Leaving Zeko bound in the chains, Hatori leaves the destroyed, and burning camp. Kalicharan drags Zeko outside, groaning all the while. Leaving Zeko bound, Kalicharan sits on the ground, putting his back to the flames.

“You never read the letter.” He said sadly. “It is one thing that you sent me to that hell. but you didn’t even read what I had to say. Why?” he started to cry. “Were you blinded by your rage so much?”

Zeko did not answer.

PART 3.

Dhiraj and Corvus drink tea in Dhiraj’s office, formerly known as Corvus’s office. The office has remained the same, though instead of having visuals of battle magic, visuals of a potion lab adorn the room.

Corvus is proud of Dhiraj. He has handled the responsibilities of a headmaster very well, even though the position came to him on short notice. He has made sure that there aren’t any rats in the institute who can cause unrest, and cause further uneasiness in the students. Four years have gone by since Hatori and his class graduated, and the new batch of students who came into the Academy after they have remained silent, having been affected by the wars going on outside of the Magecraft and Sorcery Institute. And thus, they are lacking in the fire which the students before them used to have.

Of course, not all of them are like that. there are a bunch in this batch as well, who do appear to be promising. But assessing these things in advance is not easy, that much Corvus has learned in his experience of running the Academy for over a hundred years.

Still, the man sitting across from him appears to be worried. Never someone to beat around the bush much, Corvus decides to ask directly. “What is bothering you, professor?”

“The students.” Said Dhiraj. “I’m worried that some of them might cause problems for us.”

“How so?” asked Corvus.

“This is mostly about the older students.” Said Dhiraj. “I think some of them might try to cause unrest or chaos to soften us from inside for another invasion.”

“Do you think you do not have this situation under control?” asked Corvus. When Dhiraj did not answer, Corvus continued. “Some things cannot be controlled. You have to deal with these problems as they come. Trust your instincts, that is the only advice I can give you.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Thank you, Professor Corvus.” Smiled Dhiraj. “Your council is valuable to me.”

“Don’t rely on it too much,” said Corvus, putting his empty cup on the table. “The time of my generation has passed. There is a new king on the throne. Sundar is dead. Now, younger folks like you have to manage this country.”

As he leaves the headmaster’s office, Corvus makes one final thought, which he cannot say to Dhiraj. ‘Let’s just hope you will not trip on some skeleton left behind by us.’

PART 4.

After Hatori left with Zeko, Kalicharan, and Avinash, Subhash’s forces rolled into the city and took over easily because no one in charge could defend it properly. The military forces allied with the throne left the city to regroup outside, and Subhash went into the castle. amazingly enough, no wards stopped him either, though certain portions of the building were still restricted for him.

He would have liked to see the offices of the prime minister and the general, to see whether they have anything alarming for him or not. but it seems he cannot visit any offices, even for the smallest of positions. This infuriates him, but he consoles himself by telling himself that he will get the throne, and once he is sitting on that chair, no one will dare to restrict anything from him.

He has not taken the throne yet. He hears that the kid of the prime minister has beaten Porus. There is a new king, and Subhash will sit on the throne in front of him. As he imagines this scene of despair, his enemies wait outside of the city, ready to attack him.

PART 5.

Inside the camp, Porus, Zeko, and Raven are planning the attack. outside, Avinash is giving a rousing speech to their forces. He is sparing no effort to show them that he is a leader on whom they can put their trust.

They have a lot of firepower with them, but they need precise force in this instant. Laying waste to the city will not help their cause in the slightest, and the public will get angry with them. they will lose all the goodwill they have built by helping them out so far.

After they agree on their plans, Porus decides to ask a question. “Why are you putting me in these safe positions?”

“Because you have not recovered completely.” Said Raven.

“Also, remember master, you are not what you used to be.” Said Zeko, reminding the king of his age.

“Dammit.” Cursed Porus. “It wasn’t that long when I could take you on my knee for that comment.”

“I doubt you will catch me now,” said Zeko with a smirk.

“Focus,” said Raven, bringing them back to their sense. “Our enemy is in the castle. the general died without giving anyone access to the wards, so they have remained inert. This is one of the reasons why Subhash managed to just walk in and take over the city.”

“Once Avinash is in the city, he will be able to activate the wards.” Said Porus. “I’ll tell him how.”

“That’s one problem solved.” Said Raven. “Then we will have to hunt enemy forces in the city, we can’t let them escape among the homes of the people.”

“Don’t worry.” Said Porus. “Those homes are also protected by the wards. Any hostile force cannot enter them.”

“Any other surprises we should be thinking of?” asked Zeko.

“Apart from some other party attacking us in the middle of our campaign, no.” Said Raven. “For that possibility, I will leave some forces to guard our backs.”

“Then we go to war. It has been a long time since I invaded a place.” Said Zeko with a smirk.

PART 6.

As Hatori and Shin arrive with their orders, what Hatori suspects becomes true: the soldiers are openly declaring that they do not see him as their leader.

“Why?” he asked simply.

“Because you are not from the military.” Said one soldier.

“Also, because you have not gone through our tough training.” Said the current commander, named Badri.

“Hmm. Remind me to tell Zeko about you,” said Hatori, causing instant silence in the clearing where they were discussing this issue.

Shin marveled at this reply, all the while keeping an eye on a potential attack with others. unlike Hatori, the soldiers don’t seem to mind him at all, especially since he sang some military songs for them after their arrival.

“You may be Zeko’s apprentice, but it does not mean you can violet the chain of command because some new general said so.” Said Badri, trying to look himself big in front of Hatori, since he cannot loom over him due to their great height difference. “You will not take my position just because you are friends with the general, and are taller than me.”

“Fine. I do remember your magical signature. You were my senior in the Academy.” said Hatori. his magic surged, and Badri was blasted to the ground and landed hard enough to make a crater. “Looks like I need to remind you why everyone was terrified of me.”

And thus, a magical beating began. No one came to help Badri, as they did not feel it necessary. As far as they are concerned, this is the issue among the top brass. Of course, Shin is another reason. while Hatori is beating Badri senselessly, he is easily making several boulders hover over their head with a smile.

“Please don’t move. I might slip. These explode, you know.”

There is no way they are going to move after that silent threat. They all take notes in the back of their minds to use a similar tactic in the future. It is remarkably effective, as they are learning currently.

“Do you yield the command to me?” asked Hatori, twisting Badri’s arms behind him.

“Never!” he declared.

With a snap! Sound, his defiance turns into screams of pain. “I can cripple this arm permanently you know. There is a chance that the healers can fix you, and you will be ready to return back to the field in a few days. But if you insist…” Hatori starts to pull the broken arm further, but before he could cripple the limb permanently, Badri hollers out.

“I give, I give, I give! You can have the command, release my arm now, you miserable wretch!” Cursed Badri.

“Very well,” said Hatori, getting off Badri, and releasing his arms. “Officers, report to me. healers, look after Badri. Badri, report to me once you are healed. Do not think of defying me again, because I swear, they will never find your ashes.”

“Fine, fine!” yelled Badri, as the healers took him away to fix his broken arm, while Hatori went to the camp and learned about this area. Shin follows after him, he notes how they are getting wary looks from everyone now, compared to their disdain before.

PART 7.

The City of Hills is a strong holdout for the nobles. It is surrounded by mountains, and a river flows behind the city, which is the only gap in its natural defenses. As a result, the military made a base here, to house the king should the City of Throne ever be destroyed.

But currently, the fleeing rebels have set up their base here. they have not managed to breach the base, but they have camped in the mountains, and they have made the lives of the people in the city, and the forces trying to retake this area a difficult one.

Varsha Sharma is the noble who has taken over this area. After her cousin, Surendra defeated the rebels, the Sharmas who went against him scattered throughout the country. Varsha saw that this fortress-like city was undefended, so she took over this area to secure herself. With her son Rajat, she has kept a strong grip on the mountains of the city ever since, depriving the people of the supplies and contact necessary to sustain themselves in this mountainous location.

“Mam!” said one of her personal soldiers. “We have gotten reports that Hatori Eagle is in the area.”

Rajat is alarmed to hear this news. “What do you think he might be here for?” she questioned the soldier.

“My best estimation is that he is here to retake this city. But he won’t succeed. He has no military experience, he might be a strong mage, but he will not win this battle against us.” said the soldier.

“Very well. call the commanders. We will capture Hatori, and execute him. This should give us a chance to expand beyond these mountains, and also increase our credibility.” Said Varsha. The soldiers leave to perform her orders.

Rajat knows that his mother does not know the real danger of that boy. indeed, he never came in contact with Hatori directly, but he knows what happened with Swaraj Joshi. He attended his meeting about threatening the boy to join their side, and how badly that backfired. He was there when Hatori led an army of animals to invade the school and made the headmaster turn over his exile.

But he does not dare to raise his doubts to his mother. The woman is crazy. He might end up with his head mounted outside as a warning or something.