The once mighty royal caste of Keviel which was a part of the overall defensive structure of the fortress city looked somewhat desolate. The once abundant traffic was no more, and the market looked overall empty. Citizens carried on with their lives regardless, but their lives had been hard. Egria, ruled by Leonhard Egra, had two major cities and one town. Keviel was the capital, and there was Ediva which used to belong to the Siwen. Finally, there was a small town, Rokk, ruled by Isaac Knell. The small petty kingdom was no longer trading anything with anyone, and some essential commodities had long been depleted, making the lives of everyone within it harder and harder. However, for Leonhard himself, he enjoyed his usual luxurious lifestyle. He especially pushed harder for more luxuries to create his own echo chamber and surrounded himself with yes-men, isolating Isaac.
“Lord Knell, why are you here again?” Leonhard said in his throne with a mocking tone, leaning sideways lazily with a wooden wine cup in his hand. There were two women around him in exquisite dresses that were clearly meant to display cleavages who were showering him with sweet words. The hall was rather small with the throne on a slightly elevated stone platform with a long rectangle red carpet decorating in the middle. There were two fire crystal lamps on each wall, illuminating the place adequately. This was his personal hall meant for top priority visits. He had previously dismissed Isaac angrily before when he suggested surrendering. Leaning forward, Isaac replied with a grave tone.
“Milord, you cannot escape from reality for too long. They will invade you if you don’t do anything soon. Should they invade, you will no longer have a choice.”
“Hah!” Leonhard sneered loudly. “He is just a kid. What the hell could he ever do.” His voice carried scorn and complete disrespect for Kamil.
Leaning forward deeper, Isaac made his reply. “Milord, pardon my words, but he is not that much younger than you. I’ve personally dealt with him previously. You cannot underestimate him. He has a bright mind and has surrounded himself with capable people.”
Leonhard’s face stiffened with subtle twitches seen around his left cheek. He stopped swirling his wine cup, and the women around him paused at once, taking a few steps back as if they foresaw what was about to occur.
“Fuck off!” He exclaimed angrily as he threw the wooden wine cup toward Isaac, spilling its content midair. The cup never made it to where he was although it did roll forward enough to reach his foot. “My useless father may have trusted you, but I don’t!”
“Your father is a great man. He has rightfully earned his nickname, the Conqueror,” he fired back. The news of his demise had yet to reach the city. In fact, they had been largely cut off from any outside news. They weren’t even aware that Elsos had been secured, and that Lillian was to succeed the city.
“If you admire him that much, then fuck off!” He shouted angrily, projectiles firing out of his mouth. Isaac would love to “fuck off” very much indeed. Alas, he made a verbal promise to Karsten to look after his son, and it wasn’t exactly easy for him to just leave. After all, he was the lord of Rokk.
“I am your vassal and I have my duties,” he replied solemnly. In fact, he was the only notable vassal under Leonhard. He was the only landed noble left. Unfortunately, that fact kept on reminding Leonhard how far he had fallen and irritated him to no end.
“Go away, Isaac,” he blurted. “I don’t want to see your face ever again.”
As hurtful and rude as he was, Isaac wasn’t ready to give up on his liege yet. Heaving a long sigh, he turned around and was about to walk out of his personal hall. When he was about to make an exit, a guard rushed in, carrying a rolled scroll in his hand. He dashed toward Leonhard and kneeled down at once in a short distance.
“Sir! A formal message from Ceres.”
Leonhard let out a scoff. “Not interested. Throw it away.”
The guard was taken back. It was the first time any official message was sent from them. It was likely a very important message. Unsure of what to do, he glanced back at the only figure in the room. The women around him had long retreated via a back door on the opposite side of the exit, which was connected to a series of private rooms.
“I will see it,” Isaac replied, turning back and approaching the guard. The guard, in return, stood up and walked toward him, meeting him midway.
“It appears to be important,” he whispered to him as he handed it over.
“What makes you think that?”
“A type of an airship I’ve never seen landed a distance away from the city. A group of finely dressed scholars handed this over to a gate guard.”
Isaac’s right eyebrow twitched subtly. The fact that the messengers were acting with utmost formality meant only one thing in his mind under the current situation. Grabbing the scroll and unrolling it, he found his answer soon enough. It was a demand for surrender or war.
“So, it has come to this,” he whispered to himself as he handed the scroll back to the guard. “Ask the lord to see it again. If he refuses, so be it.”
“What does it say?”
“It’s a declaration of war.”
“What?!” The guard raised his voice inadvertently. “Advisor, you should tell him right away.”
Shrugging with a sad smile, he replied, “I’ve been told to ‘fuck off’. So, I am leaving.”
The guard was speechless with his mouth agape. Tapping on his shoulder, Isaac took his leave. When he was a short distance away, he could hear Leonhard’s scream and desperate call for him.
“I am not naive enough to go down because of a verbal promise,” he said to himself as he rushed to leave the castle. Besides, he felt that he had done more than enough. Every advice he had given to Leonhard was turned down. If he was given reasonable excuses, he would have understood. Alas, Leonhard’s excuses were often either his inability to act due to laziness or trying to escape reality by drinking. What made him infuriated the most was how much he disrespected and loathed his father. Granted, Karsten had his faults but, by no means, he was a bad ruler. In fact, he was a great warlord.
When he was out of the castle and was walking toward his own airship that was waiting for him, the same guard he encountered back at Leonhard’s personal hall caught up to him.
“S, Sir, please wait!” With his breath at neck, he was gasping for air. “T, t, the lord would like to see you right away.”
Isaac had a distant look in his eyes. If he went back, there was going to be a verbal fight most likely. Leonhard would demand a way out of this situation and, in his mind, there was none. Surrendering would have worked only if he had done so voluntarily. If he surrendered now, it was his head rolling off although that would probably save his family at least. If he persisted and went ahead with war, his whole bloodline would be over. In other words, his own fate was sealed either way. There was nothing more he could do and more importantly nothing more to talk to him about. It was over.
“Excuse me, I have to get going now,” he said as he turned around. But he soon found himself stopped by the guard who grabbed his upper arm.
“Sir, the Lord would like a word with you, now,” he insisted passive-aggressively. Isaac had a strong feeling that, if he went back to the castle and met with Leon hard, he wouldn't come out of the castle unscathed.
“It will be a war council. I need some paperworks to present along with a tactical map.” Then he pointed toward his airship. “It’s all there. You can accompany me if you like.”
While the guard looked skeptical, Isaac did make sense. Besides, he sounded so calm and collected.
“Very well, I will tag along.”
“Good, come with me. Let us hurry. Time is of essence.”
Time was of essence indeed, for Isaac. As the duo approached the airship, a pair of guards at the entrance acknowledged his presence and glanced at the guard right behind him. Isaac gave them a subtle nod along with an eye signal that trouble was afoot. He had prepared for a scenario like this. And, as soon as they entered the airship, one of the guards shut the door at once, and the other seized the opposing guard by twisting his arm and pushing him down at once.
“What - ?!” The guard exclaimed in surprise and panic.
“Lock him up. We must depart ASAP,” Isaac said.
“Yes, sir!” The two guards replied in unison.
“No hard feelings, Mr Guard,” he told him. “I will set you free once we arrive back in Rokk.”
“No, the guard refused flatly. “I am done, either way. Take me with you.”
Isaac could understand why. He was given one job and failed at it. Returning to Keivel would most likely get him executed.
“Very well, so be it. Take off now!”
A moment after Isaac’s airship took off, a group of guards rushed out of the castle entrance. Of course, they could do nothing but watch him fly away. It didn’t mean he was safe, however, since Leonhard had a few airships of his own. Fortunately for him, they were all grounded due to the lack of wind crystals. Wind crystals were one of the commodities that they couldn’t import easily anymore. While they had wind mages, importing quartz wasn’t an easy task. In fact, Cezary had long placed an embargo on quartz. Therefore, Keviel had a very limited supply of wind crystals, thus airships had been grounded to conserve whatever they had. Thankfully, this was enough time for Isaac to get away and maintain a safe distance. It wasn’t over yet because Leonhard could still send an army after him. The man was cornered. Isaac felt that he would resort to anything at this point.
“Overload the airship. We need to reach Rokk as soon as possible.”
Of course, Isaac being Isaac, he had a plan B which was already fully set and ready to be executed. He simply needed to give a word.
As soon as Isaac stepped out of his airship in Rokk, A finely dressed butler approached him. Leaning forward, he initiated his greeting.
“Lord Knell, welcome back. Your return is unplanned.”
“Indeed, plan B, execute it.” Isaac wasted no time.
The butler froze for a moment and heaved a subtle sigh. “I see, so it has come to this.”
“We have no time. Get a move on!”
His plan B was simple in concept: Flee to Ceres. He had two airships which were enough to carry his entire family as well as those who were employed at his manor. It was important to include butlers and maids in the plan because they’d be executed otherwise. Because the staff knew that they were also being rescued, they worked extra hard to prepare. Sylwia, having received the news, rushed to meet her husband as he approached the Knell manor. Waving her splendid crimson hair like a wave of red sea, she ran into his arms.
“My dearest!” He hugged her warmly.
“I was so worried. I am so glad that you came back.”
“It is not over yet, Sylwia. Be very vigilant.”
He rarely called her by the name, and it brought her back to the harsh reality they were in as well as reminding her how dire the situation was against them.
“What must I do?”
Normally, Isaac forbade her to do any chores.
“Gather our belongings. Nothing too big. Grab anything of value and load them onto our airship. We must depart as soon as we are ready. The sooner the better.”
“I understand.” She nodded firmly.
“Be strong. It is almost over, but we can never feel safe until we cross the final line.”
He sort of lied. It wasn’t over even if they managed to reach Ceres. Because he was essentially abandoning his fief, his future as a landed noble family was going to be in question. Would he be granted a new land? Nothing was certain. For the time being, however, survival came first.
“Excuse me?” Isaac was alerted by the elderly guard captain, Sir Reiner. When he was cleaning out his study to grab important documents. He was just informed that a sizable number of citizens of Rokk wanted to tag along. “What do you mean by tagging along?”
“You’ve been a very good governor for them, Milord. They cannot fathom working under another lord. Therefore, they are asking to come along wherever you are going.”
Isaac rubbed the bridge of his nose immediately with a frown. “That is easier said than done, Sir Reiner… Just how many are we talking about here?”
There was a brief pause before the guard captain answered, “2,500 men and women.”
Isaac froze at once, unable to comprehend what he was told just now. That was more than half of the current population of Rokk, which was about 4,000. For a second, he thought that Reiner was making a bad joke. Of course, it dawned on him that he was not obviously joking. In fact, he never once recalled him making a joke. Still, he could not resist blurting out.
“Oh, for Goodness' sake, please tell me that you made a joke.”
Reiner’s silence said otherwise.
“I can’t even…” Isaac failed to finish his sentence, looking troubled. He did not want to abandon those who relied on him but he simply saw no visible path where he could take them. Leonhard’s army could hit Rokk soon, presumably within two days. If it was just his family, they would be able to escape with ease with their airships. Then suddenly he realized that Leonhard could very well attack Rokk whether he was present or not, branding the whole town traitors, which would give him the right to kill everyone in the town.
“God damn it …,” he muttered silently, realizing the mountain he had to climb. “Sir Reiner, gather those who wish to leave.”
The elderly guard captain seemed to have been taken by his response because, quite frankly, he did not expect such a response.
“Milord, you don’t mean…”
“Do I have a choice?”
The elderly guard captain had his eyes downcast for a brief moment before asking boldly. “May I be honest?”
“Of course.”
“Milord, nobody expects you to respond positively to their request. Anyone with a brain can see how ridiculous their request is.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Yet they asked,” Isaac replied with a crooked smile and a shrug. “Sir Reiner, do you know what a strategist does?”
He seemed to be taken back by the question. “I … don’t know. Isn’t it an advisory role?”
Isaac beaned a crooked grin. “A strategist makes seemingly impossible feats become a reality.”
He recalled when Gregor took him in when he was just a poor lad who was dying of starvation on the streets. He had to do his part just to survive under his rather careless care, but it didn’t change the fact that he was able to survive because of him. A strategist required an ability to see lives as mere pawns to be used on a chess board, which not everyone was capable of doing so. Isaac was capable of it, thus his mentor, Gregor, took him in. Meanwhile, the guard captain looked flabbergasted.
“The greatest joy of a strategist is …” Isaac had a distant look in his eyes, “is when he makes the seemingly impossible possible.”
Battling against the impossible odds, yet coming out victorious was the holy grail of being a strategist. He was unable to assist Leonhard because he was too stubborn but, on this occasion, he was fully in charge.
“Sir Reiner, gather the people who wish to ‘tag along’ and divide them by gender. Group women and children into one. Men into another.”
“Milord?”
“Give men weapons of any kind. Farming tools or whatever, give them something.”
“You mean to take them along?”
“Yes. Empty the second airship and let archers and our mage in.”
His second airship was going to be used to haul his personal wealth. He was abandoning the plan.
“The first airship, which will have my family on it, will head toward Ceres as planned. I will captain the second airship and command our army along with our folks.”
Reiner looked confused. “Milord, if we are attacked, we won’t stand a chance. By just number wise, we will be greatly outnumbered.”
Leonhard had approximately 7,000 soldiers with 5,000 from Keivel. In contrast, Isaac had 300 men whose equipment was poor. Granted, he wouldn’t bring all of his men to chase him, but it was almost a foregone conclusion that he would bring enough to be able to crush Isaac’s meager force.
“On paper, we stand no chance. However, what happens on paper does not always translate to reality,” he beamed a cheeky grin. “Do it now. Gather men and prepare women to carry whatever they think they should. I will personally address the men.”
Sensing that Isaac could no longer be swayed, Reiner leaned forward to show his respect and departed at once to carry out the order. The next thing he did was call up his wife to inform her of the change of the plan.
“No!” Sylwia shrieked in fear. “No, darling. Please don’t. Let’s just leave. We are almost there!”
In her eyes, the finishing line was right in front of them.
“Sylwia.” Holding her hands, he told her gently but firmly. “I am a noble in charge of a settlement. Nobility is always about looking after people you rule over. They need me, and I would be a failure of a noble if I refuse their plea.”
“Isaac…” Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t care about nobility anymore… You’ve given me happiness I could only ever dream of … I’ve had enough. We can go back to being commoners, and I won’t have any complaints. Please, I need you. I cannot live without you.”
They hugged each other warmly with tears rolling out of her eyes.
“I will not die. A good strategist never dies in a battle.”
Traditionally, strategists never fought on the front line. Their job was to give out orders from a tent or in the rear of an army. A strategist perishing in a battlefield was rare indeed.
“I swear that … I will commit suicide, should you perish,” she said, choking in tears.
“Don’t. Think about our little dearest.”
“I … don’t care. You are all I need and want.”
He chose not to berate her because he was certain that he would survive. In fact, he wouldn’t have decided to go for this if he wasn’t sure that he’d be victorious.
“I will see you soon.”
Gregor didn’t blindly choose him to be his pupil after all. He was confident of his abilities especially when the situation was fully under his control. This was such a case.
Standing in front of a large crowd of men and women dressed in either farmers’ outfit or miners’ attire, he addressed them with his hands on his back.
“Everyone, you have chosen the hard road. For that, I applaud you.”
Reiner and some guards were standing behind him in a line.
“I want you to know about the dangers of the path you’ve chosen. I will not lie to you. Some of you will die. Mark my words.”
Then he laid out a plan for them while explaining the overall situation.
“Soon, we will have an enemy army upon us. The maximum number is five thousand although realistically I am expecting around two thousand.”
Given the fact that Isaac’s army was just in the low hundreds, Leonhard wouldn’t send his full army. That would have been just a gigantic waste of precious resources he had, which he didn’t have in abundance to begin with. Either way, he assessed the crowd. They seemed rather calm as if they expected as much.
“Women will form a group and will depart toward Ceres on foot. Leave ASAP. Waste no time,” he declared. “Sir Reiner.”
“Yes, Milord.”
“You and your men will accompany the women. Protect them from harm.”
“Understood.” He replied promptly as he leaned forward. This meant that Isaac would be left with a completely untrained army of about 1,500 men. The men had pickaxes, rakes, and whatever other tools they could grab. With no armor and training, these men would likely be slaughtered if they faced an actual battle with a trained army.
“Men, I want about five hundred of you to come forth. Make sure that you have the stamina to run for hours. Come forth!”
Puzzled, they looked at each other, murmuring. Eventually, some hundreds of men walked forward. The majority of them seemed to be miners.
“Good. Abandon your weapons and grab brooms instead.”
They looked utterly confused.
“Excuse me?” One of them blurted.
At this point, Reiner and his men were already gone, leaving Isaac completely alone. This was per his direct order to be left alone. He did have a small group of archers for the airship and an earth mage. They were waiting at the airship nearby.
“I want you to head over to the mountain, climb, and keep your eyes on us. When the enemy army attacks us, wait a bit, and then make as loud noises as possible while brooming the ground.”
“What would that do?” One of them asked aloud.
Beaming a crooked grin, Isaac replied, “Create as much dust as you can. In doing so, this may mistake you for enemy reinforcement.”
Some of them seemed to have grasped what he was trying to do and nodded along in understanding. This trickery may persuade the enemy army into a swift retreat, which would give them the time needed to make a getaway. The distance between Rokk and Ceres on foot was about ten days. This plan, even if succeeded, may not provide enough time for them to get away completely, but it would grant them an ability to maintain a distance to earn time until possible real reinforcement could arrive. Yes, he was banking on the possibility that Kamil would send an army after Sylwia’s arrival in Ceres. In a case where no reinforcement would arrive, he was prepared to abandon the peasant army. Some would still survive regardless, he figured. It was never in his plan to sacrifice himself over this. After having briefed the men on what to do, he entered the second airship where a group of archers and a woman in a worn brown robe greeted him at once.
“Milord, we are fully prepared!” The woman said in a powerful voice. Her name was Lembi. She was a woman with very short black hair. With brown eyes, she could be mistaken as a pretty man. She was originally hired to work with miners as an earth mage was capable of manipulating soils to some degree, helping miners to dig faster. Because of the nature of her job, which was crawling underground, she was forced to cut her hair and never had any time for makeup which resulted in her becoming more of a tomboy. Still, local miners treated her as a goddess because she saved trapped miners from cave-ins more than they could count.
“They should be here in two days or so,” Isaac remarked. Having traveled between Keviel and Rokk so many times, he was keenly aware of the distance. The airship was already airborne with another airship carrying Isaac’s family flying toward Ceres. These were the early versions of the airship with the balloon and the ship part separated. Isaac was aware of the latest versions but he couldn’t afford the newer designs. Looking down, he could see the five hundred men moving toward the mountain while the rest were moving in the direction of Ceres.
“So far so good,” he said. “We will follow the main group. Keep vigilant eyes to the Northwest. If the army chooses not to sleep or sleep little, they will be here earlier than expected.”
“Understood, sir,” Lembi replied promptly.
He did internal calculations in his head. If the trick was successful,the enemy army would retreat which could give them between half a day to a full day. Given the fact that they would be two days into the journey by the time they’d be attacked, they would be one third way toward their destination. Sylwia’s airship would have arrived in Ceres by then, and reinforcement would have already left - if everything went according to his plan. Since both of them would be heading toward each other, it would take less than three full days before running into each other.
“Tight, very tight,” he grumbled. He was positive that the peasant army would survive the first encounter due to the trickery. If they met each other again, however, the peasant army would be doomed. “Lembi, tell them to walk faster if they are able. Do not run, though.”
“Yes, sir!”
The airship descended enough for her voice to be heard, and she barked out the order to them. This was a marathon; he could not have their stamina depleted before it would even begin. The men responded enthusiastically with a loud roar. He could hear some men shouting out her name even.
“You seem awfully popular,” he remarked with a chuckle.
Blushing, she scratched the back of her head. “It’s all thanks to you, Milord.”
“Me?”
“You’ve made the town safe enough that a woman can hang out with men without fear. There is a reason why we are following you to likely doom, sir.”
He had a bitter look on his face. A strategist had to see people as mere pawns on a chessboard. But reality was that even pawns had brains. They knew where they were heading to, “likely doom” she even said.
“What do you fight for then, even at the risk of your lives?”
Taking a deep breath, Lembi beamed a bright smile. “A better place to live,” she said cheerfully. “We all agreed that the next lord won’t be like you, so we are leaving or following you. Better to die trying to fight for a better future than trying to maintain a shithole that was once Rokk before you came along.”
In truth, everything he did was for his own benefit. He wanted more income so that his family could enjoy luxury, thus he created a new industry in copper mining. He wanted the town to look better, thus he invested in infrastructures such as improving roads and digging more wells for ease of access for water. He increased patrols across the city to crack down thugs which was highly successful in pushing out a smuggler’s gang apparently. Everything he did for the town was apparently what people desired for some time.
“Time to pay back their trust then,” he said weakly, feeling somewhat embarrassed for taking credit for what he never intended to do.
For two days, it was quiet. The men walked toward Ceres at a fast pace, camping for night. Ever since the Age of Darkness had begun, monster attacks at night became really scarce and, as a result, the men weren’t ambushed by werewolves at night which they were all grateful for. Some would have perished for certain if there was an attack. These men weren’t trained for combat after all.
“I see them!” Lembi exclaimed with her eyes clenched and leaning dangerously forward over the edge of the airship. “From the North!”
Isaac and archers rushed toward the direction which made the airship lean slightly. A smile surfaced on his face almost immediately after identifying the enemy army. Sun was rising from the horizon, and the enemy army was arriving just as expected.
“Good…, about two thousand as expected,” he whispered to himself while clenching his fist in excitement. So far, it was going according to his plan. “Lembi, how many big spells can you cast?”
Understanding what he was trying to say, she replied, “Three or four times if I am prepared to pass out.”
“I see. I hope it won’t be four times. Do not cast anything until the fake reinforcement appears. When the enemy army hesitates, cast the earthquake spell on them.”
When attacked or disturbed while trying to make a decision, this induced further panic commonly. He was banking on the possibility of them making a rash decision when they spotted the fake reinforcement and attempted to determine whether it’s real. They’d be hit by the earthquake spell at that point, forcing them to make a quick decision between safety or pressing on. Human nature dictated that they’d choose the former, which was what Isaac was hoping for.
“Yes, sir!” She replied enthusiastically.
The peasant army formed the only formation they knew, the circle formation. This was the most defensive formation, focusing on survival for as long as possible. Meanwhile, Isaac attempted to figure out whether Leonhard was among them. It turned out that he wasn’t present. Again, this was expected. He’d never expose himself to danger unlike his father.
“MEN, FIGHT! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES!” He shouted at them as he ordered his airship to descend enough for his voice to be heard.
“YES, SIRRRRR!” They responded back.
“Archers! Fire at all! Lembi, get ready!”
As soon as the two armies clashed, it became adamantly clear that the peasant army stood no chance. Tens of peasant men were immediately cut down. However, they had grit and fought back fiercely. Unfortunately, with their weapons being primarily rakes and pickaxes, they weren’t doing much damage to the enemy soldiers who had hardened leather armors. Some arrows were raining down from Isaac’s airship but, with just fifteen archers, they weren’t doing much damage.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8422/Oc3FZE.png]
In half an hour, one third of the peasant army was crushed, meaning there were more than three hundred casualties. Bloodied bodies of Rokk residents were all over the battlefield. In such a crushing loss, an army would be routed. However, these peasant men were fighting back with everything they had. They were not backing down. Lembi was looking down at them with her eyes full of tears. She was holding onto the edge of the ship so strongly that her hands were turning white.
“It’s about time…,” Isaac whispered indifferently, and it did. A roar was heard from the nearby mountain with a large cloud of dust forming.
“Reinforcements!” The men from the peasant army shouted joyfully in spite of knowing that they were a fake.
“Lembi, now!”
Streaked with tears, she started her spell incarnation.
“Elementals of earth, heed my cry. Sh-” She choked on tears, and a light gray rocky golem that was the size of a toddler visibly appeared on her shoulder, a slight Isaac did not miss. The earth elemental soon vanished once her spell incarnation was complete. “Show those motherfuckers hell! EARTHQUAKE!”
The ground, no, everything was shaking. Even those on the airship were feeling the vibration somehow.
“Woah, woah!” An archer almost lost his balance as the airship violently swung left and right.
“SHOW THEM!” Lembi pointed down at the enemy army and bellowed. What occurred afterward was “insanity” as the men would later describe. The ground below the enemy army exploded upwards, launching chunks of soils upwards along with enemy soldiers. The earthy explosion was so violent and wide that it was even affecting the peasant army.
“No, no! Stop!” Lembi exclaimed in dismay. “What’s going on?!”
Isaac could see that the spell was empowered. She was an earth mage with an affinity level of six. The gravity of the spell shouldn’t have been possible for her level. It was pure chaos down there with cracks forming and soils shooting up.
“Milord, an incoming fireball!” An archer alerted urgently.
Snapping out, he looked at the direction the archer was pointing at. A ball of fire was flying toward them fast.
“Evasive maneuvers!” he shouted but felt that it was too late. It was going to hit. He could see that the fireball was flying toward the linen balloon part which was flammable. At this rate, the ship would go down.
“Stoneskin!” Lembi shouted suddenly, casting a spell that covered the linen balloon with soil-like substance. The fireball did strike the airship balloon and it did knock the ship strongly sideways, but the linen didn’t burn.
“Two archers fell, Milord!”
Lembi looked bewildered meanwhile. “That… shouldn’t have been possible…,” she mumbled.
Stoneskin worked only on living beings, but she had just cast it on an inanimate object. She did so out of pure desperation with no expectation of it working. Isaac knew this as well. Something was amiss; Something fundamental changed.
“Get us away from here!” He barked out an order regardless. “We can’t get hit the second time!”
In the end, Lembi’s earthquake spell inflicted a significant amount of damage to the enemy army. Over five hundred soldiers were ripped apart by the spell, and the reeling army made a hasty retreat. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones reeling. The peasant army lost roughly half of its men. A few tens of miners had been killed by her spell as well. Isaac’s airship landed to assess the damage and decided what to do.
“Oh, my God…” Lembi fell to her knees as she walked out of the airship. Bodies of men she once knew so well were laid down on the ground. With no medical supplies in hand, there were little ways to treat the wounded, meaning anyone mortally wounded were not going to make it. Meanwhile, he could see that the rest of the peasant army was no in condition to travel. They were heavily demoralized and shocked. They may have bit their teeth and fought on initially, but the hundreds of casualties were too much for their hearts.
“Head toward the mountain,” he told them. “Travel slowly and ration however you can. I will bring reinforcement to get you out of there.”
“Could we … bury the dead?” One of them asked with his shoulders sagged heavily.
“No time for that. You must leave here. The enemy army will come back. Half a day at the earliest.”
Some men started sobbing, stating that their friends were killed. Their conviction had weakened, and single men voiced their desire to go back to Rokk. For married men, they had their family sent toward Ceres, thus they had no option but to follow Isaac.
“You knew what you signed up for. This is the price. If you wish to go back, fine, but know that Rokk may have already been decimated,” he replied firmly. In the end, what was left of the peasant army was enroute to the mountain to merge with the five hundred men. He ordered them to keep on moving toward Ceres however slowly. They had to keep on moving since such a large number of men could easily be tracked by their footsteps. Should the enemy army choose to track them down, they would need the distance to earn time.
“Let us head for Ceres,” he said to Lembi and the archers after turning away from the men.
“I, I don’t know what happened,” Lembi tried to explain herself. “I didn’t mean to cast such a large spell. I can’t even cast such a powerful spell!”
“This is not the time to think. We must move. Good news is that your spell may deter them from chasing whatever is left of them.”
Losing one fourth of their army may indeed force them to go back to Keviel although he did find that chance to be slim. Time was of essence still. There was no time to mourn for the dead because those who were still living had to be saved. In his mind, the loss so far was within expected range. The fact that they survived the first encounter was crucially important. In his mind, they had a firm chance for survival.
“It is time to talk to the Duke,” he whispered to himself as he entered the airship while beckoning others to get in. Lembi was clearly shaken and wasn’t going to recover anytime soon.