Cyrona swept down from her northerly position as soon as Simel alerted her to Jagreth's beasts assaulting Emperor Rohmhelt's camps. She thought it was only a matter of time until Omonrel and his followers made good on the fact that Forynda no longer had the means to crush them all. In fact, worse than that, Forynda was now unwilling to leave Ceuna for the mortal world after her power had been so greatly curtailed. Knowing Omonrel well, Cyrona knew there was no chance the Sculptor would fail to take advantage of his opponents' misfortune.
She sped through the Nehal River, calling to her side her own allied creatures and carrying them quickly with her currents. Most important to her plan, she called upon two types of beast that split their time between land and the riverbeds. One was the red and blue-skinned Uroba and the other was the larger green and white Dolic. Both had massive jaws with which they feasted on fish and unsuspecting creatures that drew too close to the riverbanks. Underwater, they swam with their powerful, though stubby, legs pressed against their bodies while their thick tails propelled them forward.
Cyrona looked back at this horde of thousands of Urobas and Dolics that she would bring with her into battle. Not one of them could possibly have understood what they would face. She regretted putting them in this position, but she saw no other option.
When at last she sensed the presence of Jagreth's beasts, she sprang upward out of the Nehal River and saw, in the weak torchlight and moonlight, thousands of varying beasts that clashed together with Emperor Rohmhelt's army as it camped to the east of the capital. In just the few moments she watched, she saw dozens of soldiers and beasts alike fall. An especially large sagging scale-skinned beast, as tall as four men, reared up and brought its feet down upon two soldiers who attempted to stab it with their pikes. Where they stood defiantly before, soon there were only crumpled piles of metal, broken bone, entrails, and blood.
She commanded the Urobas and Dolics to crawl onto the riverbanks while she surged forward, riding a floating disk of water, to engage Jagreth's hordes. She first turned her attention toward the monstrous beast that had just crushed those two soldiers. It pivoted slowly to face her. Its strange small head tilted at her with its yellow eyes flashing. It roared in a deep whine that rumbled through the air, rippling her watery body.
Cyrona sensed that Jagreth had taken possession of the beast, directing its movements himself.
"Oh, Jagreth. That was a mistake," she said aloud.
With a pull of her hand, she rushed all of the beast's fluids up to its head. It roared and thrashed in torment. She felt remorse at having inflicted that much agony upon the creature. With another tug, she pulled all of those fluids out through its nose and eyes. They blended into a single mix of sickening goo on the ground before Cyrona, while the beast, desiccated and vanquished, crashed to the ground before her.
Nearby, some of the soldiers fighting Jagreth's other beasts cheered. A few appeared simply astonished at what they had just witnessed. Jagreth's creatures, however, took from Cyrona's intercession, a clear command. They all headed east, back toward the river. Their stampede was something to behold, even for Cyrona. their flickering outlines in the torchlight and muted moonlight of the evening were truly mesmerizing.
Some portion of the beasts, those trying to ford the river or swim across it, ran into the Urobas and Dolics that had positioned in wait for their chance to strike. Those not the most graceful of predators, her prized creations were able to snatch up many hundreds of Jagreth's own beasts. For those trying to push through her, Cyrona summoned two blades of water that she immediately formed into sharp ice weapons that she held in either hand.
One of Jagreth's huge cat-like creations, this one covered generally in orange fur with black spots, came toward her in a frenzy, swiping its claws at her and growling viciously. Without giving it a moment's thought, Cyrona lunged forward with her ice blades, swiping at intersecting diagonal lines through the beast. The cutting sensation was swift and clean, even through its bones. The poor creature held together for a moment, but then its four constituent pieces slid forward into a pile of meat and bone.
From across the river, she could feel Jagreth's rage building, doubtlessly incensed by her interventions against his beloved creations. Yet, instead of him crossing the river to fight her, his beasts turned all at once and ran at full gallop toward the east. They, however, immediately ran into the powerful quick strikes of Cyrona's Urobas and Dolics, which struck for the necks and legs of Jagreth's beasts and pulled them down into the water, twisting and tearing them to pieces. Emperor Rohmhelt's soldiers cheered wildly, their jubilation almost overpowering the sounds of carnage from the river.
For those of Jagreth's beasts that decided to cross the bridges, Cyrona had another plan. She focused her energies on the river itself, summoning great waves that crested above the bridges. She sensed the terror in those poor beasts before she swept down that terrible torrent upon them, plunging them into the river where her own creations continued to decimate their numbers. Whatever progress Jagreth's forces tried to make in swimming for the opposite shore, Cyrona immediately erased, pushing the river's currents in an unnatural direction to feed them into those terrible jaws that awaited them.
"It was you who made me do this, Jagreth," she said solemnly, her voice carrying across the few miles dividing them.
By the end of the night, the bellies of her Urobas and Dolics were bursting on the fresh carcasses of Jagreth's hordes, though she had not managed to snare all of the attackers. She reasoned that the better part of a third had escaped.
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Emperor Rohmhelt and Empress Evinda came to her as she floated above the battlefield in the early dawn hours. They both were shaken and speckled in blood from Jagreth's beasts themselves.
"We are in your debt, Cyrona," Evinda said in awe. "Simel and Vorlan aided us also, but neither did anything even close to what you did."
Rohmhelt weakly nodded alongside her, but he looked back toward the camp as the carnage from the evening's battle became clear.
"I think they did what they wanted, though," Rohmhelt muttered. "I have no idea how many we lost, but it was a disaster. I've got to believe we're going to have a hard time keeping all of our men with us after that."
"Why?" Cyrona queried, genuinely confused by the Emperor's assertions.
He shook his head mournfully.
"Men can only handle so much. These are mostly soldiers who we drafted by the thousands and they want to go back to their farms. Being attacked in the middle of the night and ripped to pieces isn't the sort of thing they'll take easily," Rohmhelt lamented. "I say this because, if I weren't Emperor, I'd think about doing it myself."
As much as Cyrona wanted to berate her mortal ally for his sentiments, she understood. More than a small amount of mortal blood flowed down the slopes into the Nehal River from that evening. With how Forynda had damaged their faith in the larger cause with her act against Zarmand, this was probably more than the men could take. Omonrel, I have always hated how clever you are.
~~~
With the stragglers who returned from the raid, Duronaht could feel Jagreth's rage build all morning. The Beast Master's horde was still considerable, numbering well into the thousands, the losses it sustained were far more than Duronaht, or anyone else expected.
"Cyrona," Jagreth cursed as he stood to Duronaht's right. "I will make her suffer for that. I swear it."
Omonrel, who floated above the ground to Duronaht's left, formed a clearly affected frown and moved to put his hand on Jagreth's shoulder. Duronaht watched the spectacle and rolled his eyes.
"It was a terrible thing she did, my friend. I will be proud to aid you in your quest for vengeance," the Sculptor declared. "Soon, she and her allies will be running. The losses you sustained last night, terrible as they were, did serve a larger purpose."
As one of Jagreth's larger fur covered beasts approached, its right ear missing and dripping in blood, the Beast Master approached it. The creature stuck its tongue out and licked Jagreth's hand. Returning the gesture, Jagreth gently stroked the beast's mane.
"After what you convinced me to do, you owe me, Omonrel," Jagreth grumbled while continuing to pet the creature.
Omonrel pivoted toward Duronaht and formed a broad smile, his crystal blue eyes sparkling in clear satisfaction.
~~~
"Lohs, how many did you say?" Rohmhelt asked as he put on his riding boots in his tent.
"Marshal Agrehn told me that it was at least twenty-six thousand dead, about as many wounded, and then some missing because... well..." the old man gloomily recounted.
"They were eaten," the Emperor finished the thought. "Or otherwise mangled."
Lohs nervously rubbed the top of his bald head and nodded. Rohmhelt, fastening the last of the straps on his boots, sighed and grunted.
"There are also some desertions, as you feared," Lohs added. "At least another twenty thousand based on just fragmentary reports from the commanders."
"Mmhm," Rohmhelt grumbled and stood. As he took in a deep breath, he could still smell the charred fur and flesh of the beast Evinda had slain in the tent the night before. "Summon Agrehn and the rest to the command tent. I want to make sure that everyone hears what I have to say."
Not ten minutes after he instructed Lohs to arrange the gathering, Rohmhelt entered the command tent where Marshal Agrehn, Empress Evinda, Lohs, and all of his other top commanders were assembled around the map table. Cyrona, Simel, and Vorlan were gathered at the opposite side of the tent, yielding the better positions to the mortals.
"It's clear to me that we can't stay here," Rohmhelt declared to start the gathering. He could feel the shock coming off the commanders and even his wife. "So many of our men from what had been father's armies were angered when the High Angel destroyed Zarmand. With her powers diminished, we can't intimidate our foes into submission. They've proven that. Our men are deserting in massive numbers each day and even going over to my brother's forces. I..."
"With respect, Your Imperial Majesty," Agrehn interjected to try to offer a consoling note. "I don't think that it's..."
"No, Marshal Agrehn. It's bad. Very bad," Rohmhelt sighed. "I think we should retreat back to the capital itself first and gather up our loyalists as quickly as we can. Then we need to start working our way back to our homelands, to Karmand. We will fight them on our own lands with our shorter supply lines and stronger support."
"You mean to cede them all of the central empire?" Evinda gasped, her eyes squinting.
"Yes," Rohmhelt replied strongly, eliciting gasps and whispers. He saw on Simel and Vorlan's faces that he was in good company regarding his decision, however. "I won't be stuck here in an increasingly hostile land with our forces fraying so rapidly. I understand that this will be a painful retreat, but I see no other way. If we stay here and continue to bleed away, we might not have enough left to get us back to Karmand. I know some will lose heart when we do this, but I've made my decision."
Marshal Agrehn clicked his boots together and saluted his Emperor.
"I agree, Your Imperial Majesty," he boomed. "I will begin preparations straight away."
The commanders all soon left and barked orders to the messengers standing around the command tent setting the plan in motion. Rohmhelt was left in his tent with the three angels present, the Empress, and Lohs.
"You are correct," Simel said, puncturing a brief silence. "I have felt the spirits of those in these lands rapidly slip away from you."
Evinda shot the angel a surprised look, only to see Cyrona and Vorlan concur. Rohmhelt felt grief at the fact that such a terrible reality was inescapable.
"But how do we win this war with this strategy? We'll be on the defensive the whole way back," Evinda protested.
"I've come to realize that we are no longer just fighting for the Methrangian Empire," Rohmhelt said. "This is for the whole world. We will need those peoples not part of the Empire to prevail. Bohruum, Nitandra, Osilintis, and so on. Father would have considered it disgraceful, I'm sure. But then again, I'm not father. His mistakes are why I'm Emperor."