Chapter 20: Is My Friend
Sakura
“They were not ready for a battlefield,” a familiar voice said through the thick door. It was muffled, but my hearing was keen enough to catch that it was Uncle Raif. It was just him, our father, and mother in the small conference room deep in the heart of the Public Palace.
“Rayce did well, holding the center against terrible odds next to the squad of Immortals we sent.” My father argued. “And Sakura stood her ground on the flank, against a much stronger opponent. She fought the elf shaman to a near standstill, and repelled two counter attacks if reports are to be believed. Without them our warriors would have been overwhelmed.”
“Your son fought a wood drake, and nearly died for the honor. If it wasn’t for his hound keeping the poison at bay we’d be attending a funeral.” Yu interjected. “And my daughter was on the verge of death. If it wasn’t for the grace of foreign gods, her and her companions would have been taken as slaves.”
The conversation lowered in volume to where I could no longer make out specific words.
Rayce sat across from me on stone benches carved out of the hard rock. This place had been created specifically to allow for private conversations, and stood just off the throne room where the nobility and my parents conversed regularly in open council.
Only one other person sat on the benches with us. She had been the most senior captain among the irons. Her three leith silver fox tails marked her as Kin, and she sat waiting to give testimony to our parents.
“Don’t be afraid,” Rayce said.
“Thank you young master, but I am not afraid.” The twitching of her tails told the truth. She was on edge. Almost more than when I had seen her leading her Irons fighting against the wild creatures the Shaman had summoned.
“My brother is right. You did nothing wrong. Speak only truth, and things will . . .” My voice trailed off as I heard a loud clacking noise on the hard stone.
Gamera’s avatar, a withered looking Tortioise man appeared in the long hallway heading towards the throne room. He winced as if his head ached and leaned on his staff for support. Rayce and I both stood, and bowed.
“Welcome master,” we said in unison. But Gamera waved us both away.
“Sit, and think about what you did wrong. What you could have done better in the battle. We will talk in a moment.” I did as instructed and sat back down. I had already considered the fight, and my many, many mistakes. “As for you, young Fox Kin. What is your name?”
“Silvia, honored spirit beast.” The woman attempted to stand and give a proper bow, but Gamera waved it away with a clawed hand. “I am the eldest of nine, and the leader of my band of fifty. My clan is honored to serve as payment for our shelter these last years.”
The way she said her birth order, and family size seemed to carry some importance to her. I hadn’t had much interaction with the Kin, as most cultivators of their kind had volunteered for military service. Those few whose safety had been purchased by others' efforts, or who had been too young to serve when the refugee crisis had begun five years ago, had been the only ones to attend sect schools.
Even among that abnormally smaller group, most Kin perfered Kin centric sect schools. As such places often specialized on growing and improving ancestral blood lines.
All this culminated in me being largely ignorant of the Kin and their ways.
Gamera nodded. “Your service should be up soon, yes?” The Fox Kin nodded in agreement. “Hmmm. You are peak Steel. But I sense there is much farther for you to travel on the path of the dao yet child. Have you attended a sect?”
“No master spirit beast.”
“We will need to see about changing that. I would be,” the doors opened, and Raif leaned out.
Raif gestured towards the fox kin. “Steel Falcia, please attend us. We have some questions.”
“Be honest, and do not fear. If the children let their tempers get out of hand, I’m right out side the door.” Gamera winked at her, and stood and excused herself then joined Raif. The door shut with a thud a few moments later.
“As for you two. Let's start with you Rayce. What do you think you could have done differently, for a better outcome?” Gamera went and sat next to my brother, and the stone seemed to groan under the weight of his body and shell.
“For starters, I should have stayed with the cultivator squad. But they were fast, and I didn’t want to slow them down. That led me to getting ambushed by the Drake as the others straifed the enemy lines. I was taken down near the center of the formation battle which was lucky because it meant that the Steel captains were able to conduct a forced charge and distract the beast.”
Gamera sat there and thought. After a moment, he nodded. “That is the first mistake you made. Always stay with your group if at all possible. There is power in numbers that even a full realm of cultivation difference is often not able to overcome. What was your second?”
“I should have backed off once I realized my mana typing was off against the drake. The creatures' earth and wood mana alignment made it more difficult to damage it.”
“True.” Gmaera nodded. “But that was not your mistake, merely a happenstance you could not control. No, your second mistake was in misunderstanding what your goal should have been. What your purpose was on the battlefield. It is, coincidentally, the same mistake Sakura made. Though hers was of a greater degree by far.”
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Gamera’s eyes landed on me. “And what was your first mistake, Sakura?”
“I should have stayed with the group, much like Rayce suggested. If I had, instead of showing off with my Sky Snake companion we would have had an easier time dealing with threats. A group of silver immortals would have easily taken down that Shaman I encountered. Instead, I was overmatched, and was too stubborn to fall back.”
“That is good. You recognize part of the problem.” Gamera scratched the scaly skin under his chin. “But you still miss the main point. Understandable I supposed, given you both came directly from the sects without so much as a single skirmish under another's careful guidance. You misunderstood your purpose on the battlefield. It was not to remove a beast that was creating a threat, or to win a duel against the enemy forces war lord. Your role was a simple one. Support the warriors and soldiers, and help them return home safely. You both found useful objectives on the battlefield. Things that if you could accomplish them, would have a dramatic impact on the overall battle.
“However, you forgot that it was in fact a battle.” Gamera grumbled. “You do not have to, nor were you fighting alone. The grace of others is why both of you survived. Rayce by the brave Steel captains of the central line who pushed to rescue you. And you Sakura, because a member of the crown prince's hunting party happened to be a priestess and a healer. Extremely lucky on both accounts.”
I considered his words for what felt like a long time. Mulling over what I could have done differently. “I should have joined the Iron line first, sent King to shore it up and build it out to the north. The enveloping attacks would have run into a hardened spear line supported by Kings might. Rather than find King alone, and unsupported.”
“Yes. And?”
“Sky and I should have joined the line. Engage with the shaman only when necessary. Hold out for reinforcements.”
Gamera considered what I said, and then nodded. “Yes. Though the stratagem of taking out the head of the flanking force you faced is a wise one. It is not always possible. What you did in attempting to take her by surprise with Sky’s attack, was a high risk high reward gamble.The problem was, you were thinking like a dualist rather than a soldier. In battles, you need to think as a member of a larger body. Your individual actions hold little sway unless they are matched with the behavior and actions of those around you. Working together you can minimize risk to self and your fellows while maximizing damage to the enemy. Understood?”
I nodded in agreement. “Yes master.” I did, at least to some degree. I had been thinking like this was some sect school fight, rather than a proper battlefield. And as I searched my thoughts I realized I had little in the way of proper tactics training.
Perhaps that is what the silver lords were getting at? I should focus on working with groups going forward.
Gamera sighed. “Your parents are ready for you. Come on.” He stood, and walked towards the door as they opened. Revealing Raif ushering out the Fox Kin. As she stepped aside for Gamera’s bulk he placed a single claw on her shoulder. “Seek me out when your term of service is over. A talent such as yours would be a shameful thing to waste.”
She bowed, and hurried out of the anti-chamber. I caught the wisp of her three tails as she turned a corner almost faster than would be polite.
Gamera winced and put a hand to his head. “Gah. Being in two awake bodies at once, is painful. Let us get this over with quickly. In, children. Quickly.”
***
The door shut behind us with a heavy thunk. The inside of the room was lit by several floating magical lamps conjured by Yu, who sat next to Ren on the far side of a small table. In one corner sat a figure I hadn’t expected to be there.
“Hello,” the golden armored warrior sat with a gray cloak draped over his shoulders. His strange style of armor still shown through despite the cloth. “Good to see you’re walking around alright. No ill effects I hope?”
“No. I am healthy enough,” I shook my head as my confusion cleared. “Thank you for your concern, Prince Tarvad.”
The Golden warrior, or rather Prince Tarvad of the Central Kingdom, as they called themselves, had an easy smile and a quick laugh. His hair was golden blond to match his armor, and his eyes showed a piercing almost unnaturally deep blue.
Unlike most of the people I had met in this world his skin was a pearl white. Similar I knew, to Rayce’s two friends back at the sect school. They looked like the stereotypical scandinavian or northern European people in their physical description. And that included in Tavad’s size. The man was clearly close if not over two meters in height, broad shouldered, and heavily muscled. And his spiritual sense was one of radiant, welcoming authority. Similar in many ways to my fathers, if a little less in potency.
“Sit children. We have something we want to discuss with you.” Ren said, his expression was troubled. Yu on the other hand looked at peace with whatever was about to happen. Rayce and I both took chairs next to Raif, who looked about as angry as Ren did concerned.
“Prince Tavad. You know we are refugees from the Jade Empire.” Yu said, as she pulled out a small map and placed it on the table and pointed to where the Empire sat. “What you do not know is that we are merely the tip of the plow. We are heavily armed and armored for the express purpose of clearing away elven threats as we pass by their northern border. There are at least half a dozen, if not more, Kame’s with hundreds of thousands of people that will be following in our footsteps.”
Tavad went from confident, to concerned at this news.
“We knew there would be an influx of refugees considering the growing tensions and risks of civil war in your country. We did not realize that there would be so. . . well, so many of you.” He explained. “We were prepared to assimilate you into the Kingdom if that was your wish.”
“That would be a generous thing, your grace.” Raif said. “What's the catch? There’s always a catch.”
“The catch would be exactly what I just described. Assimilation. Culturally and religiously, if possible. But legally at a minimum. And we were prepared to do just that. It's one of the many reasons I launched this hunting expedition of mine into the forest when I did. I hoped to run into groups of half starved refugees I could escort back to civilization. But . . . that might not be a possibility any longer.”
“Too many of us?” Yu asked.
“Yes, and too organized. Many lords and ladies in the Eastern Duchy, where you will enter in just a few short hours, are leery of foreigners from the east. Whether they have sharp ears or not. And while they would look on half starved peasants being chased by slaver elves with sympathy, I do not think they would see such an . . . organized and well armed exodus with such sentiment. We may be forced to divert you to the south, along the western edge of the elvish forest, just to keep my own nobility from revolting.”
“So you would just send us on our way?” Raif demanded. “No aid, no letters of introduction? Nothing?”
Tavad’s smile returned slightly. “I did not say that. There are several sparsely populated coastal regions ruled over by small city states along our southern shoreline. Most we have good relationships with, but a few are hostile to anyone not born in their streets. I am sure you could find open land and half decent neighbors in those wild lands.”
“You mean here?” Yu pointed towards where the Great Forest ran along the southern shoreline of the western human kingdom. There were a handful of small cities listed, but most of it was either heavily forested, or abutted the forest directly. “We would be within immediate threat range of the forest at all times. Even if we built along the coast line, the elves could easily sally forth and attack us. There’s nothing there to stop them, or even slow them.”
“What if we passed through your lands?” Ren asked. “All of our people are organized, and mobile. Gamera here is by far the largest of our Kame. If we can find a safe path through your nation for him, then the others could easily follow it. We would only be in your kingdom for a handful of weeks, and on the other side in the . . .”
He looked at the map and read the name of the area just past the Western Duchy. “Wild lands quickly. We wouldn’t need food, and might even be able to enrich your people with trade along our way. And you’d have a new neighbor amenable to good relations, and recently in your debt.”
“Would you be willing to submit your sovereignty to the Kingdom? Maintaining regional control, but giving allegiance to a new throne?” The prince asked, his expression interested and intent on the map.
Yu and Ren shared a glance, and something passed between them. Ren nodded, then turned back to the prince. “If it was needed, we’d be open to an arrangement. Taxes, service, or trade.”
Tavad took a long moment to consider. “That . . . might be possible. I’ll have to speak to my father about it.” He leaned forward, and moved his finger across the map from where we were, to the far end of the kingdom. The last city in the line was a high walled oval shaped city labeled ‘Vlane’.
The land around the city was empty. For all intents and purposes, Vlane was the only large city in the entire region of the country. Smaller cities dotted the place, but it was clearly not nearly as heavily populated as the rest of the Kingdom.
Oddly, a large spire was drawn in the heart of the city rising above like a needle pointing towards the heavens.
“But I might have another idea entirely.” His finger tapped on the spire. “Tell me, what level of education have your children received?”