The Vanguard
Breakfast became an eating race rather than a civilized and well-mannered affair. Kristel had a good look at Frill’s astonished face before leaving with everyone, but all were too eager to get to work they barely had a moment to apologize to the Aria in Red.
For the next five hours or so, Princess Kristel distributed various logistical tasks among members of the Cross Irista to evacuate the main town and spread word to the other towns and villages up north.
She even sent messengers to the unaffiliated villages they were trading with, offering them protection if they did choose to evacuate. She wanted to force them, but she couldn’t afford the time nor the manpower to enforce better security for her locals without spreading her forces too thin.
Orders spread like wildfire from the Cross Irista to the platoons—at least to those that arrived early—ranking under them. Soon, the streets were filled with citizens, contraptions, and various animals as they headed north to the shores of the Great Sea Dividyr.
Princess Kristel made her appearance during the early stages of the evacuation to help and ensure the citizens of their safety. She made no promises of victory, but assured everyone that they had measures and plans to take in case of defeat.
The citizens of Minaveil were strong-minded people. Most of them knew cooperation was of utmost importance and panic would only stifle progress. That in itself helped tremendously since they would quell any rising tension amongst themselves rather than requiring intervention from the knights. It was surely not the first time they had to evacuate their own homes, but this was indeed the first of this scale, evacuating all the towns to Minaveil Port, the northernmost town of the province.
As part of the plan, Master Midan and his crew quickly built temporary evacuation centers outside of the town. They built five huge arenas to accommodate the people while other knights and soldiers organized the supplies.
Minaveil Province as a whole had a contingency plan. The previous leaders of the province formulated this after assessing the vulnerability of their location so close to the opposing kingdom. Princess Kristel made sure all ships were docked and ready for quick boarding and departure in case they failed in repelling the incoming invasion.
“It’s a good thing this place is strictly a residential area,” Flimeth commented. She and the Princess were making one final round on a town nearest to Minaveil Port to make sure all citizens were accounted for.
“It makes movements like these easy to organize.” Kristel responded. They both had their mounts with them, Flimeth’s was an armored saber-bred vork that was a weight class larger than Testra. “Plus, it’s easier for traveling merchants.”
“How do you think Midan’s going to afford to make it on schedule?” Flimeth asked. By common sense, building a fortress in just five days even with Meiyal Arts was unfeasible in so many aspects. The amount of handwork and scale involved needed resources of humongous amounts. Still, the Guard Knight understood that Princess Kristel wouldn’t make such a ridiculous suggestion if not for Master Midan.
“He’s a master architect and a Virtuoso,” Kristel replied. “I honestly have no idea how he does it, but his crew concentrated mainly on creating structures with Meiyal Arts.” She opened her M.O.B.I.L.E. and showed a panel to her friend. “See? Just took them a few hours to finish five evacuation centers large enough for hundreds of thousands. He should be at Alvo’Rindea by now, planning how to go by making the wall. We can go there, see his work firsthand.”
Flimeth agreed.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” she began as their mounts started trotting south. Her voice carried through her Meiyal Arts. “You said Tryvinal visited.”
“What about it?” Kristel kept her head forward, setting up an invisible barrier between them and hoping Flimeth would notice.
Whether or not she did, didn’t matter. “Did he confess?”
“Confess?” Kristel wished she acted well and looked confused.
“That full-of-himself Royal Guard clearly has a thing for you, it’s creepy. And looking at his status in the Monarch’s challenge, I was thinking he might have asked you to marry him.”
“That’s different,” the Princess rebutted. “He asked me to marry him, but that was no confession.” She saw the genuine version of a confused reaction on Flimeth. “He didn’t say anything about liking me, or having affections for me, or anything of that gibberish. Frankly, the way he laid it on the table threw me off. I think he was looking for a chance to use his Blessing.”
“Huh...I see. So, you want the gibberish type.”
“That’s what you got from all that?”
Kristel urged Testra on a gallop, leaving the Guard Knight without any choice but to follow while spouting apologies. Whatever her friend’s agenda was when she brought up the topic, Kristel wouldn’t simply let her have her way.
“I figured ya’d visit, Princess, Flimeth.” Midan rushed over as soon as they arrived at the Alvo’Rindea watchtower. “Finally decided to see us work, yeh?”
While Master Midan was a genuine member of the Cross Irista, the Princess never really had a chance to observe his work. In the past, he had always presented structures and crafts already in their finished form, and she was always impressed by his craftsmanship.
“As long as you don’t mind showing them to us,” Kristel answered out of respect.
“It be a real show fer ya, two. Meiyal Arts like ya’ve never seen before.”
Master Midan ushered them to the top of the watchtower where Kristel had her patrol check just a few days ago. The height gave her and Flimeth a good view of what was going on. Rather than looking south to the Flat Lands, they turned west to Sel’Rindea, the other town across the other end of the valley.
Midan’s crew were already stationed in equal distances, lining the valley from end to end. Kristel estimated about a hundred-or-so people separated a thousand paces each. It was difficult to gauge, since they looked more than just a bigger dot from where the Princess sat.
“Enjoy the show,” Midan said as he left the tower after linking a live feed on Kristel’s M.O.B.I.L.E. so they could get a closer perspective.
The master architect took a short ride down the center of his crew’s formation and began a gesture, slowly raising both hands, his right over his left with both palms facing the ground. His crew followed suit.
Kristel couldn’t believe her eyes. The ground itself began to take shape. Slowly but surely, a huge formation of land the length of the valley’s entrance rose.
Rocks fell, missing practitioners by a fortunate distance.
“Halt!” Master Midan shouted with an echo Meiyal Art. Kristel had the urge to help by at least making sure the falling debris didn’t smash someone’s skull. But the mere unknown and the focused poise of each practitioner, unfazed by all the dangers, kept her seated.
“Repair!” With the master’s order, broken parts of the premature wall began to mend. “Form!” he shouted and the rising continued.
After an hour of rising and stopping, of mending cracks and missing debris, the wall had risen higher than the watchtower, obscuring Kristel’s view of the Flat Lands.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Flimeth exhaled as some of the crew finally relaxed. Others were still at work fortifying the entire wall.
Kristel rushed down the watchtower and approached Master Midan. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” she repeated. “How is this possible?”
“’Nother time for explainin’, m’lass.” Despite the sweat and satisfied smug on his face, the Monarch’s architect opened his M.O.B.I.L.E. and projected a blueprint of Minaveil Province. Due to the small difference in height, Kristel saw the details of the print without much difficulty. Flimeth had to lean down. “First, strategy.”
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Midan’s fingers made a pinching motion and the print zoomed out. Minaveil Province minimized into a small circular indicator and the bigger picture turned to be the Flat Lands and the surrounding ranges of Mount Rindea.
“See here at the very top, Minaveil be standin’ beyond North Valley.” He pointed at the indicator. On either side of it were the ends of Mount Rindea, forming the valley. Kristel already knew all these, but she gave Midan the chance to build on his presentation. “The range, over here, make a close on the Flat Lands.” His fingers traced on both sides of the ranges, highlighting a circular section of the Flat Lands.
Then he pointed at the lowest part. “Then, here be South Valley to the Desolate Lands of Vyndival Kingdom.”
“Right, so this means that in order for them to pass through Irista Nation, they have to travel through the Desolate Lands, traverse the Flat Lands and invade Minaveil,” Flimeth reviewed. “I guess that makes sense since we need to go through the same thing if we want to cross their borders.”
“Aye.” Midan gave a nod. “Especially fer an army that size, ain’t no way they be travelin’ to the Void Region. Nightmare Lands, Void Region, you know what am talkin’ ‘bout.”
“Nightmare Lands sounds cooler,” Flimeth objected.
“To each their own, lass.”
Kristel had gone to the edge of the unprotected zone of the Nightmare Lands once, located at the outer sides of Rindea Mountain Range, and she clearly remembered the difficulty of trying to breathe, let alone Gather meiyal.
If the Vyndival army forced their way through the Nightmare Lands to bypass Minaveil and cross The Great Sea Dividyr through the unprotected zone, they would either all be dead or their numbers would dwindle down too low to even make a dent on the defenses of Southshore, the southern Great City of Irista Nation.
“And here is yer fortress, m’lass. We makin’ its walls in layers; tall and sturdy.” Midan traced a finger around North Valley, placing a line of meiyal that connected both ends of the flattened peaks. “And then, right ‘n the third layer, facin’ the Flat Lands, we’ll place the fortress proper there.” He traced another small circle in front of the village indicator, marking the area for the fortress.
After seeing how they made the wall, Kristel was confident they could accomplish the plan in a week. But one thing bothered her. “You said, anything made in a rush can’t be sturdy.”
“Aye,” Midan nodded, recognizing the inquiry. “Do ya still remember the Deitars from yer history lessons?”
“God-avatars,” Flimeth replied.
“From before the Divine Severing,” Kristel added. “They’re supposed to be titanic beings, but all we can find now are loose traces of their existences and they’re all outside of the protected territories.”
“They said Northsnow and the Oh’strol Continent were in perpetual snow because of dead Deitars,” Flimeth commented. “Dragon Deitars no less.”
“The history books are clunky on that one,” Kristel replied.
“Well, one prevailin’ theory why Alvo and Sel’Rindea both have these overprotective plateaus was ‘cus of a dwarven Deitar. A favor to the First Monarch, so they say.
“If ya study these peaks, ya’ll find the meiyal in them ain’t natural no more. They’re sturdier, tamed, they’re upholdin’ a command and treatin’ it as their new existence, but it ain’t no Meiyal Art; no signature to be found, see? That’s somethin’ a Deitar can do. Hard to explain anymore simpler than that, m’lass.”
“So, you’re basically replicating a Deitar?” Kristel asked, confused.
“Well, not exactly, m’lass. To say to a Deitar they can only build things, probably the fastest way to get disintegrated, yeh?” Midan was interrupted by one of his pupils. The master was quick to give him instructions before returning to the Princess.
“We’re replicatin’ one of the things they can do, only it takes hundreds of us to match the scale. It’ll also take me and me fellers a year what they can do in a few minutes.
“Ya see, every layer needs a day of fortifyin’ to make it at least as strong as rocks. After that, it needs tendin’ ‘til it stabilizes into a proper wall, else they return to the ground. A Deitar can do somethin’ like that like they’re buildin’ sand castles. Us? A year methinks.”
“But we’ll need it in five days,” Flimeth asked, frowning in confusion. She was trying to chew on everything Midan dropped on them, but the last one was important enough to get her attention.
“Aye, it’ll be ready in a week, lass. It’ll stand, it’ll defend, it’ll stop a runnin’ giant. But it’ll crumble and break apart if we don’t keep tendin’ to the meiyal, ya see. Me and me fellers’ll be behind the wall doin’ the repairs when the battle starts.”
Kristel more or less understood. The wall will serve its purpose. “Will it stop a dragon?” She asked out of curiosity.
Midan’s expression turned grim. “M’lass, if yethinks them Vyndivalians have a dragon, we’re better off sailin’ to Central. Rushed walls ain’t gonna stop grown dragons. The Forest Jaws’ll be a challenge, yeh, but flyin’ ones? Nah. We’re good as toast.”
“Do they have flying dragons?” Flimeth was all worried.
“Don’t worry, that’s impossible.” Dragons that held a threat no longer walk the lands. “Thank you, Midan. This will greatly help us.” Kristel gave the master a smile.
Midan gestured a humble bow as he was dismissed.
The Princess turned to Flimeth. “Now we just need those two to get in here.”
“Ashtine and Smyl?”
“Yes. Those twins with their Sky Knights will be the key in case our enemies flank us from the mountains or approach us from the skies.”
“It’s a good thing we decided to bring them, then.”
Kristel and Flimeth followed the overly confident voice coming from above them. There they saw two flying yumas carrying the twins.
General Sky Knight—a title too old for a twenty-two-year-old—Smyl Solfey was first to land, dismounting even before his yuma touched the ground. He gracefully turned the motion into a bent knee addressed to the Princess.
The twins were wearing simple clothes, shirt and jeans and leather boots, comfortable enough for long-distance travel. Still, the two remembered to wear their mandated epaulets.
“Smyl and Ashtine, and the Sky Knights of Cross Irista, at your service. Our deepest apologies for our late arrival. We’ve also taken the liberty of leaving our ships on standby by the port.” His confident tone brought the slightest hint of apologetic sincerity, if any.
It didn’t bother Kristel though. She was glad enough to have the twins arrive sooner than actually anticipated.
Sky Knight Ashtine Solfey landed beside her brother just a moment later, following the same smooth genuflect. “We’re here to assist the best way possible. Monarch Denis also sent everyone the High Palace could spare. They’ll be arriving in a few days. Supplies are also underway.”
“I trust you left Central in good condition?” Despite the impending war, internal conflicts must also be addressed properly.
“Yes, Princess.” Both stood and smiled.
Kristel nodded in satisfaction. “Good. I expect a full report. Let’s return to the manor for now. We’ll discuss our strategies from there.” She mounted her yuma and rode off with strong and high morale.
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Two weeks quickly passed. Kristel’s scouts confirmed Vyndival’s approach and their arrival by nightfall.
“Their late arrival be a blessin’,” Midan said. Indeed, it was. It gave him and his crew more than enough time to strengthen and complete the massive defense line now named as Minaveil’s Vanguard.
Every Guard Knight of Cross Irista had knights of about one to two thousand each under their command. Ashtine and Smyl both had a following of five thousand sky knights. All of which had the common core of military discipline laid out by the Irista Nation.
The elders also commanded about ten thousand footmen in total, and also contributed a number of siege contraptions strategically stationed all around the Vanguard, with the exception of Master Midan whose crew focused on defenses and repairing the walls.
Banners of the Cross Irista riddled the Vanguard and the soldiers’ armors, two white swords intersecting downward with each other, forming a cross on a black canvas. A golden flower rested atop the intersection of the two blades.
The stronghold featured three layers of walls; each five stories higher than the other. At the center of the tallest wall stood the throne room doubling the mighty structure as a fortress. The gaps of each level were purposed for fast transition of troops while traps were prepared for deployment if they ever needed to bottleneck potential breach.
The walls held not even a single gate. Each fighting unit of the Vanguard had undergone a recognition Meiyal Art to allow exit and entry through the walls, removing any potential weak spot that could be exploited. But just in case, Midan taught Kristel a simple Meiyal Art to create entry points should the need arise—most likely after the siege.
Battle, more like. In truth, there was almost no chance for a siege. Vyndival had no reliable way to press on Minaveil’s supply lines. Even if infiltration were an option to burn their towns or farms the High Palace Network would be quick to alert them and the Sky Knights could dispatch and get rid of the intruders within the hour.
There would be damage, sure, but not enough to hurt Minaveil as a whole. Not to mention reliable supplies were expected from Southshore via the Great Sea Dividyr.
Ironically, thanks to the Nightmare Lands, trying to come up with a force strong enough to break that supply line without getting noticed was just simply impossible.
So, the Vyndival Kingdom’s only option was a straightforward invasion. If King Urzic really was determined enough to throw enough bodies to barrel through Minaveil’s Vanguard, then Kristel would be forced to initiate their escape plan.
The scary thing was, Urzic possessed those numbers.
“There they are.” Flimeth gasped at the sight of the invaders.
They could see most of the Flat Lands from the throne room. Half of the vista was filled by Vyndival soldiers, filling more and more with each passing second.
“It’s like they brought the entire kingdom.” Frill mentioned.
Kristel began to contemplate.
In total—including the reserve force provided by the High Palace—her troops counted to around a hundred thousand, give or take a few thousand, all of which were meiyal practitioners. She had a total of one hundred meiyal-crafted cannons and catapults and trebuchets loaded with ignition and sieging ammo.
The Flat Lands could easily accommodate twice Kristel’s army and it wouldn’t even take a quarter its land. The Vyndival Army only showed its infantry and already the Flat Lands looked suffocated.
Doubtless, further behind the Desolate Lands were monsters. Some of them might be flanking from the mountain side, but Kristel was sure to have the Sky Knights ready to intercept.
There was no denying, they were clearly outnumbered.
“I guess,” the Princess started, exiting the throne room. She placed a hand over an embrasure of the third wall, observing and relaxing her nerves and masking her fears with confidence and trust on each single soldier ready to die for their motherland.
“We’re in for a fight.”
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