Ieros watched as the armies marched to meet one another, only moments before they would be face to face. He also kept an eye on the Vimarisian invasion force that was getting ever closer. He hadn’t studied them too closely before but now, upon closer inspection, he saw a great tactician and three great warriors. Upon the realization of this new information, he decided that he wouldn’t be using his golems and instead created an army of flesh and bone numbering at eight thousand.
Their dark silver armor was not graced with any crest nor did they hold any identifying flag. In all appearance, they appeared to be mere mercenaries. But of course, these dolls of flesh were given artificial souls, souls that were only programmed with the knowledge of following orders, how to protect their body and to kill the enemy. Within them was ten years of training for a soldier, though they were just created now, they had experience equivalent to a battle-hardened veteran.
This army of flesh would be able to draw the fullest potential of their enemy, not an invincible one. As long as there was a vision of hope, these humans will continue to fight, using the last of their wits and resources to achieve it. He wanted to see it first hand, to see how these exceptional humans would make their mark on history. Of course, their exploits will not be known to the rest of the world but that did not matter, the shadows will watch and remember till the end of Time, that will be a greater honor than having a books dedicated to their battle.
He will remember these mortals whose fire burned violently and brightly before fading into the darkness. Their intellect and skills will be recorded and not allowed to be forgotten, their legacy will live forever. But as they would not arrive for a further seven days, he returned his attention to Azemar’s forces and that of the enemy’s also in possession of a genius tactician. He waited, although he could take the intelligence and forces of both generals and simulate countless battles, he could not predict exactly what would happen and that was rather… exciting.
This was something that he could not know beforehand, even if he were to peer into the vast branches of Time, which he couldn’t. Time jealously hid all the knowledge that he had, only revealing it to Darkness because Darkness could take it whenever he wanted if he so chose.
But the fragment soon forgot such things, turning its attention as the armies of Seris and Athera would clash for the first time. General Azemar took a defensive approach, merely blocking the path of the invasion force and waited for their first move. The Serisian force too waited, for its job was merely to be a distraction, not to actually invade. Finally, the one who made the first move was Azemar, commanding his cavalry unit to execute a series of hammer strikes against the enemy, basically hit-and-run tactics.
The serisian tactician responded with archers who brought a rain of death, though the heavy cavalry managed to weather the deadly arrows. They then proceeded to heavily punish the enemy, halberds, lances and warhammers wreaking havoc on the frontlines. But as quick as they came, they wheeled around and retreated, putting their shields to their backs to protect against the hail of arrows. As the cavalry began to gradually chip away at the enemy, Azemar chose to advance two battalions, each of five five hundred men who marched in a phalanx with shields over them to protect against the arrows.
But as Azemar did this, he also sent adventurers to flank the enemy, their orders to use guerrilla tactics and to harass the enemy as much as possible. They would keep the reserves of the enemy occupied while Azemar would continue to pound away at their frontlines. But the enemy commander was no fool, he sent two battalions to meet the ones sent by Azemar and otherwise calmly looked at the battlefield, trying to figure out what Azemar’s next move would be.
As the two generals fought a battle of wits, the four battalions met in the middle of the battlefield, the cacophonic music of war beginning. The harsh clash of metal and the screams of dying men. Ieros paid attention to every detail, seeing as a man was impaled in the gut by a barbed spear, his intestines torn out as the enemy placed a foot on his chest and kicked him off. He also saw a man’s face sliced in two, revealing red muscle beneath. Another had his head bashed in by a mace and so much more death. There were some who weren’t even granted the release of death, only watching in a daze as they slowly lost feeling from the intense pain, unaware if they were whole or if their stomach was torn open.
New recruits saw friends that they had been talking to only a few moments before now lying dead or dying in front of them. Fear gripped their minds and many stood still, their minds blank. They too were killed while those that managed to survive roared their outrage and sorrow, slashing away wildly. They too were killed as they rushed at the enemy only to be impaled by five spears. Others remained aware of their surroundings and stuck to groups for safety, ganging up on one enemy and stabbing away mercilessly. The true nature of man was revealed that day, their instincts taking over, commanding that they kill to survive.
Ieros was satisfied with what he saw, this was a great wealth of information that would never be the same to any other war. And now, with his observers he could analyze each and every participant, down to their last moments as their life faded, the fear and pain giving away to the welcoming oblivion. Then there were those that refused to die, standing up with bodies that physically shouldn’t be moving and continuing to fight on until they could not go on anymore. But these were few in number and rightly so, not many humans can summon that much willpower to continue to fight even when it is impossible for them to do so.
It was this form in which Ieros thought that Man was most perfect, for he did not try to hide behind lies, he became his true self. They let out their primal desires to kill or be killed, casting away the mask that they wore in life upon the battlefield, the mask called Humanity.
But the four battalions would not be alone in their battle for the atheran heavy cavalry charged in, devastating the right flank of the enemy. But instead of hit-and-run, they continued their momentum, pushing through the enemies until they were on the other side, the bodies of broken men left in their wake. Most of the men that were hit by the charge did not die immediately from the lances, halberds and warhammers, instead they were killed by the horses which stomped upon them mercilessly. These were warhorses, unafraid by blood and armed with iron-shod hooves.
Truly a terrifying sight to behold and Ieros witnessed every moment of it, even experiencing the pain of being run over by tens of horses through one recorder. But their charge came at a cost for the serisian commander had a battalion of archers fire upon the enemy. Once more, the hail of death rained down upon the defenseless atherans and many men and horses died in the first volley. The survivors retreated under a shield wall, more than three quarters of the original battalions and half of the cavalry dead. But on the other hand, the two serisian battalions were utterly decimated, only a few survivors returning back alive.
Overall, the two sides had attained roughly equal losses. To lose half of the cavalry was equivalent to losing one battalion and as only half of a regular battalion remained along with the surviving cavalry, their losses was roughly equivalent to the two decimated battalions of the invasion force. But back at command, Azemar cursed the heavy cavalry for taking such a huge risk which didn’t even pay off. Now he had a weaker cavalry while the enemy still possessed a full health one. That would be troublesome to deal with later so he’d have to depend on his pike units. Those pikes would be incredibly useful in fending off cavalry attacks.
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But night was approaching so the two armies went to rest for the night, though they kept careful watch on one another, prepared to defend themselves against enemy attack. But most of the soldiers, especially the recruits, couldn’t sleep until sheer exhaustion forced them to do so, their minds filled with images of the horrors they had witnessed. They realized that this was only the beginning, there would only be more hell to come. Some were rather detached about the whole thing, they knew how horrible the battle was and yet their minds were strangely unaffected b the fact.
But as the first conflict between Athera and Seris was going on, the invasion force sent by Vimaris was nearing ever closer to the Hollowed Pass. They were lead by the pride and joy of the Vimaris Dynasty, the Princess of War. She was one of the greatest of the generals that Vimaris, undefeated in all the campaigns she participated in. She took this chance in order to ensure her position as crown princess for the Vimaris Dynasty only chose the strongest of the Vimaris bloodline to lead, whether it was male or female.
–GENERAL ILARIS–
I stood at the head of my army as we marched to the hollowed pass. It was a stroke of luck that the Bloodstriders had allied with us, providing us with detailed maps and capable guides to get my army to the Hollowed Pass unnoticed. Although I didn’t trust them, I could not deny that their information had been invaluable so far. This war would be over in a flash, there could be no way that Athera could defend itself with an army of ten thousand so near.
Right now, I was in command of a thousand army unit, the plan was to separate the invasion force into ten groups, each of a thousand men. This would better ensure that we go unnoticed and also that if one unit was to be apprehended, the other nine would still be able to move on. It wasn’t a fool proof plan, if one unit was caught then it was almost definite that Athera would catch on and have time to scrounge up another enemy. We just had to reach the pass first, if they could manage that, we were homefree. My unit of course was full of elites, they were my personal army after all. I am the Princess of War, the pride and joy of the Vimarisian Dynasty.
I have been undefeated in all the battles that I’ve participated in and I wasn’t planning on losing this one. The only one possible of defeating me might be Azemar, the Sage of War. It is said that he knew all that there was to warfare, even able to predict the movements of enemy armies before the enemy commander gave the order. A veteran of over a thousand battles, that man has practically lived on the battlefield. I would be lying if I wasn’t afraid of facing him on the battlefield but at the same time, I would have been filled with excitement.
I, the Princess vs the Sage, who would win? Such thoughts had plagued my mind after particularly hard battles with generals who had all been defeated by Azemar. It just makes me understand the power of this man who was called the Sage of War and how inexperienced I was compared to him. Although I have talent and a great amount, the Sage of War had talent and experience, a blade forged with the fires of his genius and tempered with the experience of countless battles. I, I was still a young sword, hardly tempered at all compared to him. But that just encouraged me for if I was to defeat him with my talent alone, that would mean I would be undefeatable in the future.
Just thinking about it made my heart tremble with excitement as I rode on my horse, my thoughts high in the clouds of the titles I would receive upon my victory. But I was brought back to reality when my lieutenant said,
“My lady, we are stopping for the night.”
I nodded, “I understand Sebastian.”
I dismounted from my horse took a walk among the men, boosting their moral by speaking to them. Night soon came and by then, the tents had been set up and food was about to be distributed. I ate with my men, having a good laugh about wars past and funny stories. But soon it came time for us to rest but before I did so, I took a walk with Sebastian at my side. But as we walked, I heard a strange sound, Sebastian did as well. We went to investigate, our blades drawn, Sebastian taking great care to mark the trees so we wouldn’t get lost.
Finally, we got close enough to see the figure properly and what I saw was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen in all my life. It was a humanoid figure of darkness, well, more like a human figure cut into that certain space and was filled with light-devouring darkness. It was surrounded in the silver light of the moon, making it stand out even more and gave the clearing an ethereal visage. It’s head was the same height as the trees around it, making it a good ten feet tall and it appeared to be the source of the noise, which now that I was closer, was a song. It was a strange song, ethereal, inhuman and somehow brought back nostalgic memories of my childhood, back before I ever entertained thoughts of war.
Without knowing it, a tear streaked down my face as I listened to the song. But Sebastian’s voice brought me back,
“Those who dare to make the Princess cry must die! Name yourself creature before I run you through with my sword!”
The singing stopped, although its mysterious words continued to reverberate through the air and slowly, the figure turned to face us, its faceless head staring into my soul. Within its eyeless gaze was the presence of a being so ancient that my mind wouldn’t have been able to grasp its age much less the power that it had accumulated over eons of its lifetime. It then raised a black arm and pointed at us and then pointed down. Immediately, Sebastian was attacked by some sort of great pressure which flattened him against the ground. It then turned from us and walked into the shadows, melting into them and disappeared from the clearing. The clearing suddenly seemed more darker because of its absence, the aura of light disappearing, leaving only the normal light of the moon.
The pressure that affected Sebastian apparently disappeared along with him for suddenly, Sebastian began to breath heavily, it seems that under the pressure his lungs weren’t strong enough to breath. He sat on one knee, leaning on his sword as he recovered.
I knelt by him, “How foolish of you, my servant.”
After a few more moments, he managed, “I will do anything for you, my lady.”
I asked, “Even fight a god?”
He nodded, “Did I not do just that?”
I chuckled, “I am blessed to have a servant as loyal as you. But next time,” my voice turned stern, “do not sacrifice yourself for me against the might of a god. You interrupted him first, he was in his rights to kill you. Why he chose to spare you I do not know.”
He protested, “But he made you cry.”
I shook my head, “No, the song merely brought back nostalgic memories. But it was our fault for intruding, we should at least apologize.”
I then turned my attention to where the god had disappeared and bowed my head, “My deepest apologies, ancient one. My servant is just very loyal, please do not fault him.”
There was no answer but I did feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders, though I had never noticed it. Taking this as a sign that it had accepted my apology, I left with Sebastian at my side. Even if I apologized to it, it was not wise to dwell where a god once stood. We returned to camp, keeping silent of what we had witnessed. It was best to keep such things silent, especially with the might of the Luxian Theocracy which deemed all deities not of Light to be servants of the Devil and we were already at odds with them. Perhaps they may even get on its good side and have it help them once the Luxian Theocracy inevitably declares war on Vimaris.
But of course, such a thing may be impossible, it seemed to be a god so ancient that it didn’t even know the language that Sebastian spoke, only perceiving it to be an annoyance which it promptly quashed.
I decided to stop thinking about it, it was best that the matter of gods remain to gods alone. Many mortals have been struck by divine lightning for delving into godly matters and I am determined not to have my glorious future cut short because of a stupid mistake.