Deklan Mot, Champion of Nadir, Chosen of the dead mother. currently had a bemused expression while looking upon the gathered elders, and captains of his force.
“Elder Priest Austin Winter, Rise and present yourself to the Holy Champion.” Conrad ordered as he stood to the right of the seated Champion. When Deklan had returned to the fortress he had informed Conrad of his discovery, to which he ordered a meeting of elders and captains of his force. Deklan sat at the front of the hall in a high backed stone chair, in the fortress they had just conquered, 11 men and women knelt before him 6 of them in black mithril armor with closed face helmets upon which a crest of white hair sat indicating their position as captains of the legion, helms similar to Commander Conrad’s which sat upon the commanders head with a crest of striped gold and white. Along with the six captains, 5 Elder priests all in deep black and red robes knelt. Along the walls sat the banner of their god and lord Nadir the Dead Mother, A throne of white on a field of deep red bones. After a few moments of the priests looking among themselves one of them stepped forward, a man of skin nearly as black as the armor the legionaries wore with a long wispy beard of white hair and a head so bald it shined. The man stood, making his way towards the champion only stopping a few feet before the champion. After giving the high priest who stood to the left of Deklan a glance he went down on one knee again, then he began to speak.
“My lord Champion, I am Elder Priest Austin Winters, Elder of the order of Nadir. I have served our lord god, for over a century, loyally and faithfully and have served under your personal command numerous times." Before the man could say anything else Deklan raised a hand in a stopping gesture, before gesturing for the priest to stand. “Elder, I have known you for a long time and know of your loyalty and faithfulness more so than some others here. Yet I find myself thinking back on all those times and trying to find when you went astray.” the elder quickly cut in at those words.
“My Lord Champion, I have not strayed from the teachings of our lord god. I have been faithful and will be so even after I leave this Realm–” the priest was cut off by Deklan shouting in response. “Enough! I have not yet finished. You may speak once I am done”
No more words were spoken from the elder as he lowered his head in submission. Deklan only spoke after a moment to ensure he wouldn’t be interrupted again.
“You informed to me that the royal army of the Rakar kingdom, the same kingdom who has displeased our lord. Was to be a day's march south, yet I find them right outside the gates of this fortress not an hour ride away. If we had moved to the south where you had told us the army would be, we would find nothing. Yet we would be set up perfectly for an ambush that could very well wipe us out had we not known about a force to our north. To what do you say to this Elder Winter?”
The elder looked genuinely confused before his face turned to one of grim realization. At the accusation the captains looked ready to rip the elder priest’s head off for lying to their lord, and master and the only thing staying their hands was their hard-earned loyalty and discipline from decades of battle and training with their Lord Champion. The high priest off to the left of Deklan looked at her subborate then at Deklan in confusion words on her lips before she was cut off by a sharp look sent her way by the Dekland.
“I-we-me” the Elder gulped loudly before he continued “I did not know, I had used a trusted agent whom I have know for decades I had assumed their intel was correct and based on our relationship and friendship I did not double check him as I would normally would, my lord I am truly sorry I was rushed and did not feel as though I had the time to double check so I gave you that information knowing full well it could be wrong yet I trusted the man, and it seems I will have to inform him not only about the situation he put me in but also on his abilities as an agent. Once more my lord I say I am truly sorry.” Deklan’s face twitched ever so slightly before becoming stone once again. He had known Elder winter for centuries; while they were not friends, they were still close after the decades they had spent working together, he had hoped that Elder winter would become the next High priest yet he found himself torn between the normal punishment for this failure and not wanting to damn the man for the first mistake of false intelligence he had ever given, after a few more moments of pondering he set himself with a punishment for his undoubtedly favorite elder. It would be seen as favoritism he knew but no one would say anything to his face or within 1000 meters of him. He then looked around meeting the eyes of everyone in the room before he let the Elder’s sentence be known.
“Elder Winters, the fact that it was your agent does not help you. Your job, your only job in fact is to give me the information I need to fight and win battles and wars, without that information we lose. If I needed to wait a day or more to have said information I would spend that day unhesitatingly. So I can make informed decisions and judgments that win wars. This false information was lucky caught before it was too late yet it was still given and that in of itself is worthy of a punishment.” Lela started to interject on behalf of her elder but Deklan cut her off with a raised hand before he continued giving out the Elder’s punishment.
“Your Elder Winters will be punished, but for now Nadir needs you to continue to do your duties. Until the day comes when you have left this world and entered the realm of our lord, you shall go unpunished” the words brightened the old priest's face. “Yet Nadir still requires some punishment now for this crime. We require the agent who gave you this information. They are to be sacrificed upon the altar of our lord for the high crime of heresy and untruth, their soul shall spend 500 years in the pits of Glenshire for this crime, should they survive they will be brought into the fields of glenshire to life out the rest of eternity.” With a grim nod the priest confirmed his understanding and acknowledgment that he was being let off easy and had the Champion not known him the way he did he would have been the one to receive the punishment his agent would soon receive.
“You may all leave us, and prepare the legion for battle. We march before dawn to meet our enemy.” As the captains and elders stood to leave, including high priest lela, and commander Conrad, Deklan spoke once more. “High Priest Lela stay a moment” the high priest turned a confused glance his way before nodding “of course, lord Champion.” Conrad started to turn as well before Dekland waved him off. After a minute the hall cleared and the only ones who remained were lord Champion Dekland and High Priest Lela. As Dekland rose he said “I understand your willingness and loyalty to your elders, but if you ever try and undermine me in the middle of something like that again. Then we will be finding ourselves a new high priest is that understood, Child?” Dekland Asked in a deep voice that radiated anger purposely emphasizing the last words. At the offended and near hostile look that the high priest gave him before storming off, Dekland sighed, and prayed to the dead mother to help his new high priest understand that she wasn’t the all-powerful being high priests show themselves as, that they are only as strong as the champion of their gods allow them to be and no more. Their roles after all were to steer the population in a certain direction and convince people to buy into their order, well into their cult to help further the goal of him and his god, the sooner she learns that lesson the better and less death will happen.
A few hours later, Dekland found himself seated atop Abyss, overlooking an army camp 12 thousand strong. As the rest of his army came over the hill behind him they were sighted by watchers of the camp and the camp started to explode with activity as they attempted to make a hurried defense. Behind Dekland stood an army, with four columns of a thousand dismounted legionaries with curved blades at their hips, and larger tower shields at their sides. Hidden slightly out of view over the hill to either side of his formations stood another column of a thousand mounted legionaries riding atop the beasts of Glenshire; they all rode beasts similar to their Captains. One column with boars of war, and another with dire wolves nearly as large as any horse’s. As the double rising suns casted their orange morning glow upon the hill, the light hit his army casting them in an orange glow. Dekland soon spotted Commander Conrad returning to him after he had finished his inspections of their formation, he sat atop a drake of deep golden skin of around Ten feet in height and five in length. Conrad sat in a saddle on the drakes back in full armor with curved sword on his hip and spear in his left hand.
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“Well commander, are we ready?” Dekland asked with a questioning glance past Conrad towards the legions. As his commander and the drake came within feet of him and Abyss, he saw Conrad nod and say “yes, my lord we are ready to attack at any time.” Dekland continued to look over his troops and their formation for a moment before looking at the enemy's camp and the wall of bodies as they tried to assemble into formation ,most half dressed and unprepared. After a few more moments he looked back towards Conrad and gave the man a nod. “Send them” Dekland spoke before he turned his horse towards his own position on the left flank.
The main unmounted formation started to move slowly, swords drawn shields raised as they marched down the hill towards their foe. On the left flank Dekland and Abyss stood in front of one of the 2 thousand man cavalry legions he had brought with him, waiting and watching. As the main force reached an invisible line in the dirt a war horn blew from somewhere to the right of the main force. Dekland looked towards Captain Grymir Brightblade, a dwarf of 5 feet in height who sat upon a bore as tall as himself, wielding a massive hammer 4 feet in length made of blackened steel. “Shall we Captain?” Dekland asked before he turned back towards the battle and started his horse off towards the enemy, behind him he heard the dwarven man shout. “To arms brothers, let's show these cunt’s how the 46th legion of Nadir fights.” With a soft smile under his helmet Dekland at the dwarfs' antics he felt more than heard the thousand boar’s of the 46th legion charge after him and towards their enemies. As they slowly got closer to the enemy lines they were met with the lowering of spears and pikes, a feeble attempt to stop their charge. With his hands free from the reins allowing Abyss to guide him, he willed long magical chains around his wrists and forearms letting them fall to the ground dragging behind him, as he reached within 20 feet of the spear wall he whipped his chains in a cross in front of him clearing his way, before sending them to the left and right helping clear the way for the rest of his men. As he broke through the lines he turned as he passed behind their lines before he drew his twin swords letting hard won instinct and skill guide his hand as he claimed life after life. His first victim was a half dressed ax wielding man who charged him and Abyss as he broke through, with a vertical slash he took the man's head clean off. As he advanced down the line taking life after life, he heard the pounding hooves of horse’s, he turned towards the sound, finding a dozen heavily armored knights charging him and his men. “With me.” Dekland shouted as Abyss charged the knights. As Dekland connected with the first knight his first swing was blocked by the knights shield as Dekland swung with his other sword Abyss was taking her own pound of flesh, bitting clean through the horse’s armor, ripping its throat out, killing the horse slowly. As the knight blocked once more his horse slumped from under him, giving an opening Dekland abused the moment it happened, sending the knight's helmeted head flying into the growing mass of bodies. As he moved on to the next knight a force of mounted dwarves slammed into the remaining knight, warhammers, maces making short work of their armored opponents. Dekland once more turned towards the rest of the enemy's lines. After minutes of slaughtering their foes they began to buckle, break, flee. Seeing that they had accomplished the task of breaking the left flank he soon found Captain Brightblade and gestured him over. The heavy breathing Captain was stained in blood, his warhammer soaked in blood. “Yes my lord?” Brightblade asked. Dekland faced him and sent his next commands for this battle. “Captain, send a cohort with me and lead the rest to help the other legions finish the battle. I'm going after whoever they put in charge of this army.”
“As you command my lord.” Brightblade said with a nod of acknowledgment before he yelled for Lieutenant Regmin stormblade and his men to follow the Champion before he rounded up the rest to continue their slaughter.
As Lieutenant Stormblade and his men, all blood soaked with weapons ranging from axes, warhammers, maces, swords, and crossbows, came towards him he turned towards the center of camp with a shout for the men following him. “On me, dwarves of Nadir.”
It took Dekland and the Cohort a few minutes to reach the general’s tent where they started to spread out looking for whoever was in command of this army, as Dekland came towards the entrance of the tent he commanded, “two dismount and with me, the rest search the surrounding area.” Without waiting for a reply Dekland dismounted Abyss and asked her to stay close but keep a lookout, with a disgruntled nay from her, he entered the tent with his two dwarven Legionnaires. As he entered the tent the first thing he noticed was that it only held two people, neither of which were threats, more due to them being shackled and chained inside tiny cages in one of the corners than anything else. The next thing he noticed was the wealth that was on display, the wealth of a king or a prince he should say, it would make more sense as to how that young boy had been able to get past this army with his secret message if his prince was in command of it. “Spread out, search everything, find out where the bastard went.” Dekland ordered as he moved towards the two girls chained in the corner. He looked over them with an experienced eye, searching and finding the marks of youth, the signs of abuse, torture, the malnourishment the two girls had experienced. The younger one of the two with black hair and white marble like skin wouldn’t meet his eyes, she was shaking and breathing heavily. Yet the other one was different while the first girl looked like she had been broken, the second one a girl who looked slightly older than the first one but with the same hair and skin. looked, no she openly glared at his helmeted form with a fire in her eyes similar to that of a raging flame. Despite that fire when he moved his hands towards the cages they both flenched, her anger turned to fear but was still there. Before his hands had fully reached the cage one of the Legionnaires called to him. He looked back to see a taller than normal dwarf at 5 and a half feet holding an opulently dressed young man with one hand on the man's neck and the other hand holding a short dagger to the young man's throat. “And he is legionary?” Dekland asked, he figured he knew but it was better to ensure he was right then to assume. The helmeted legionary looked from the man to his champion and spoke the three words Dekland had been waiting to hear since he saw this army. “The crown prince, my lord” Dekland could feel the rabid grin on the legionnaires face. Dekland looked back towards the cage as he slowly took his helmet off to place it on the cage when he saw the renewed fire and hatred in the second girl's eyes, not towards him but towards the crown prince. As he set his helmet down on the top of the cage with a soft clink the girl looked up to him, freezing as she saw his face. Dekland gave her what he meant as a soft, reassuring smile before realizing he was still covered in blood and gore. He felt as though the girl still understood him.
He turned towards the crown prince before he looked at the other dwarf in the room who was standing near the door now that they had found their quarry. He spoke to the dwarf guarding the door. “Legionnaire, go inform Lieutenant Stormblade that we have found our prey, then send two of them to find Captain Brightblade and get me a report on the battle.” with a low nod the dwarf left to carry out his orders. After the departure of the dwarf Dekland turned his best most hospitable and noble smile on the young man before he nodded at the legionnaire holding him and gestured to one of the comfortable chairs in the room. “Tie him down, let's get some answers out of him shall we?” Dekland told the dwarf. After a few moments of slight struggling to get the prince tied down the legionnaire stepped back. Dekland looked back towards the girls once more before he looked at the tied up crown prince and the legionnaire. “Legionnaire, free those girls, feed them something then wait outside with them, I would like a moment alone with the dear crown prince.” Dekland told the legionnaire. “Of course, my lord, as you command.” the legionnaire responded before moving to carry out his orders. Dekland then walked behind a regal looking desk where he threw a cursory look over the papers on the desk before pulling the throne like wooden chair out from behind the desk and sat it in front of the prince who was tied down just in front of the desk. He sat after moving his helmet from the top of the cage to on top of the desk. Dekland Willed a mythical knife into his hand made of pure magic, he sat down looking the crown prince in the eyes while spinning the knife in-between his fingers. He sat there for a few minutes, more so testing the patience of the prince then waiting for something. After nearly five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact, the prince broke and looked away asking “what do you want you monstrous bastard?”
“Nothing really, what I do not already know is either unimportant or will become known to me within the next few hours.” Dekland responded, continuing to twirl the knife in his left hand.
“Then why tie me down.” the poor prince asked. Dekland laughed, not a fake laugh, a genuine laugh as if that was the funnest thing he had heard in the past decade. After a few more moments of laughing he took control of himself before he spoke, as if it was the most obvious answer possible. “Simple, because it has been far to long since I have had myself a good torture session.” the prince’s face grew pale, as Dekland stopped twirling the knife and used his will to float the knife along with a dozen other random object around the tent including a few quills, a sword, the tooth of a bore rug, and the princes own torturer tools Dekland had sensed hidden behind a curtain near the cages. “Shall we begin, oh and remember dear prince don’t die on me too soon or it won’t be any fun for either of us.” Dekland said with a psychopathic grin on his face.