Choul has come into the service of a strange human from another world, having lost the chance of claiming revenge personally, but no less receiving the gift of justice for the people who raised him; the feldroks. As such, Choul understands fundamentally that, like almost anyone in this world, he is stronger than Daniel, a mechanic out of place in the world of Zenkon. Daniel is not actually impervious to magic, nor can he utilize magic in any meaningful capacity. He achieved most of what he has thus far with his own hands and a fair amount of luck.
He has brought something strange with him to the World of Zenkon.
He brought a perspective that does not view a person through the lens of their group, but the lens of their individual strengths and achievements. The most ironic part of this perspective is that his world is full of only humans in regards to sentient races.
Choul has traveled most of the world in his quest to find spells or other means of defeating Morthybargaron, the former dragon lord. He returned to the keep to lie in wait, since the red lord’s magical presence had vanished from the world.
And, in his place arose a mythical sorcerer known as the Harbinger of Calamity or the Feldrok Sorcerer.
The myth comes from what Daniel really is.
This combination of events has led Choul to a new purpose. Daniel sees people as individuals, and he readily forgives them for their actions against him if they can prove themselves trustworthy. Choul accepted service to him in honor of Daniel achieving revenge against Morthybargaron, ending his tyrannical reign.
Now, Choul is leading a massive army to capture one of the fortresses from the Eastern Alliance, primarily controlled by the Grand Zenkon Empire, due to multiple attempted attacks on the Citadel. Rather than razing the fortress, though, Daniel’s goal is to force the defenders out with as few casualties as possible.
In fact, because of the contract, Choul cannot specifically order combat. But then, the loophole is not lost on him. There is no mention of conspiring to kill in the contract, which Choul has wondered if he should mention. He has no intentions of treachery against Daniel. but he wonders if it was intentional. Daniel is very intelligent, but far from all-knowing or all-wise.
Regardless, Choul’s mission is one he is proud to take on. Especially because there is nothing preventing him from using illusion or defensive magic.
As such, he looks behind him at his colossal army of demon-kin, numbering over 120,000 goblins, 50,000 ogres, 20,000 dattakoriens, 3,000 Uhl’tall, 5,000 Oni, 2,000 Chi’rinnis, and 5 dragons.
Of course, most of these soldiers are in fact golems, but the enemy doesn’t need to know that. The only way they will be able to tell would be close inspection, seeing that the same living soldiers present are multiplied by illusion across the bodies of the golems. It’s a mana-heavy endeavor casting an illusion on over 200,000 soldiers, but it’ll be worth it. Unity among the demon clans is worse for the east than an army of golems from the Citadel.
Hmm… Perhaps I should have had golems as well. Oh well. Our banners are clear.
Bearing the sigil of the feldrok empress herself; a young girl’s silhouette with big triangular ears and a bushy black tail, the army of the Fievegal is ready to make itself known to the world.
Choul’s officers gather in the tent at their staging area. The army is easy to rest and feed, since it’s actually very small, with the golems needing no resources other than mana, which has been supplied by the Citadel.
Ucahote is with Choul, as well as a commander from each of the races. Unlike Daniel’s inner circle, not all of them speak the Eastern Imperial Trade language that Daniel speaks, nor the demon common taught to most races in the west. The goblin, specifically, cheers in a dialect of lorbini, which is different than the dialect Shek and Skloe use, but no less intelligible to most goblins. “[We stand ready to fight! But, we wish to ask permission for treasure.]”
Choul asks in demon common, “{I know you speak the lorbini dialect, but I’m not familiar with speaking it. Do you understand me?}”
The goblin commander, Vahaka, nods. “[Yes, General. Vahaka understands.]”
“{Good. Thank you. Then, to answer your question, we must assess what is necessary for the Fortress’s function, what will be necessary if we take prisoners, and what is otherwise free to be taken. I ask for your patience, but I promise that there will be spoils.]”
The goblin and his subordinates cackle as they grin at each other. Normally, goblins are seen as little more than thieves, since they tend to steal or destroy anything in their path, especially when on the warpath. The Fievegal has established specific rules of conduct, and because food and comforts are plentiful for even the goblins, they abide by Daniel’s rules with hopes of being able to claim even more in service to his army. Of course, looting and pillaging is a staple of all military actions in Zenkon, so Daniel made sure to clarify what is acceptable. In the capturing of military fortresses, all claimed property will belong to the Fievegal, and desired loot from the fortress will be either auctioned off at low prices or raffled to allow fairness if something is contested. As for people, all people will be treated with dignity as much as possible, and non-combatants are not to be harmed in any way.
Rolokahr, the leader of the Uhl’tall military forces, points out respectfully to Vahaka, “{Remember this isn’t the Covenant. If there are non-combatants, you are to fend off combatants first and order the non-combatants to gather in the center without hurting them.}”
“[Vahaka knows! Emperor say he name children after honorable warriors! Goblins needed no honor in Covenant. Goblins claim honor and riches in Fievegal.]” The two goblin officers with him agree noisily.
Rolokahr nods his head respectfully with a smile. “{We will all be fighting for honor and our homes. It is nice to know our homes are safe.}”
Choul adds, satisfied that the small discussion is complete, “{Our primary goal will be to capture the commanding officer and work our way through the chain of command until the soldiers surrender. To do that, we will need to overwhelm them and get the gates open.}”
“{Our fire breath alone should be enough, should it not, General?}” asks the young sky-blue lesser dragon male. Lesser dragons are born without the magic capacity of greater dragons, though in Choul’s opinion, the distinction is relatively arbitrary. Generally speaking, they are nearly pure-blooded dragons, but because of at least one non-dragon ancestor, their magic pool is limited greatly to that of the non-dragon parent’s race. But, Choul is considered a greater dragon, even though his own father was an Uhl’tall. This left him ostracized in youth among the dragons, but was not a factor to the feldroks.
Going by the simple name ‘Blue’, since dragons are loathe to share their names around other races, and Daniel hasn’t strictly interfered with the lives of the dragons that aren’t the 3 empresses beyond their contracts, Blue waits patiently for an answer.
“{Indeed. Fire alone should be enough to bring down the gates, and even the outer walls. The problem is the risk of assassins. The Emperor doesn’t want us to recklessly charge in without assessing our options.}”
“{What of the Emperor’s iron drakes?}” asks the young pink dragon, Blue’s mate. At Daniel’s suggestion, she is going by ‘Rose’.
And, by ‘iron drakes’, Choul knows she means the tanks. He has two at his disposal, commanded by fearless and unfeeling golems, but they are certainly his trump card. While it’s not obvious to those who don’t know where Daniel’s real strength comes from, the tanks could likely slay dragons as easily if not more so than his rifles, since the cannon is a scaled-up version of the rifle. He intends it for destroying fortifications, but Choul knows the application could easily change if need be. Of course, the tanks are also full of disadvantages, namely how slowly they move relative to dragons.
Regardless, Choul answers, “{We shall withhold the Iron Drakes for now. If the enemy reveals magic barriers, they will be our counter.}”
Rose nods, and Blue studies the map. The two lesser dragons flew high over the fort to get a basic layout. Like Fort Peony, Fort Twilight is built into a large valley passing through the mountain range, and it restricts passage, with structures rising high up some of the cliff faces.
Blue asks, “{What are our options for conquest? Do we need the fortress completely intact?}”
“{As much as possible,}” replies Choul. “{We may have to defend it from both sides. Potentially simultaneously.}”
Blue nods. He points at the towers on the cliffs. “{We’ll need to do something about these, then. These towers have good field of view, offer archers and siege weapons range, and if we end up defending, are prime targets for being knocked off of the mountain face.}”
“{Easier said than done,}” replies Myralkan, the commander of the dattakoriens. “{Any mages that get in range are heavily targeted, and the rock is extremely solid. I’ve heard others believe the mortar may be made of something resistant to magic.}”
“{Unlikely,}” replies Choul. {That would be a lot of those materials, which to my knowledge, are still prohibitively rare.}”
Rolokahr ponders for a moment. “{Perhaps not. Certain minerals resist mana. They are usually used in alloying for armor, but are less effective than mythril or sharmelkolle. Still, reduced damage can provide an advantage. The human-kin are crafty. It’s very likely they would use it in the bricks and mortar.}”
Choul nods. “{Very well. Regardless, we’ll be more interested in keeping those towers on the valley walls, so we’ll need to consider how to defend them against higher power assailants.}”
Gultuin, the oni commander, asks curiously, “{General, am I correct in saying her Greatness and his Grace, as well as her Grace Ryuogriar attacked the gate once already? If so, what is the status of the gate?}”
The mission Gultuin is talking about happened before Choul met Daniel, so he hasn’t heard about it specifically.
Rose answers, “{We stayed out of sight at high altitude, but it looked like a gate was present.}”
Ucahote replies, “{It is likely they have rebuilt the gate. The damage was only to the wooden doors of the gate themselves.}”
Sarm, the ogre commander, chimes in. “{Our first endeavor will be to replace the gate with stone, then.}”
“{Stone doors would be heavy,}” counters Rolokahr politely. “It would delay troop deployments.}”
The goblins cackle. “[Tall ones leave it to goblins.]”
Everyone looks at them, but no one questions it. It’s likely to do with tunneling, since goblins are skilled diggers.
And, before all of that, they need to conquer the castle. “{We have some ideas, but we should capture the fortress so we can properly estimate how to modify it once we see the inner structure. I’d like to begin the siege this evening.}”
“{Evening?}” asks Blue. “{I was under the impression his Grace prefers we battle only during the day.}”
“{When defending, Lord Daniel prefers us to not attack in the night, because repulsion is the goal. When attacking, though, he gave us permission to act with field discretion, with the basic non-cruelty measures he laid out. If a dozen men at night can win the battle, he would prefer that over a hundred thousand fighting in the day.}”
Rolokahr shifts posture, also surprised to learn that the Emperor of the Fievegal is less naive than his defense would suggest. He gave a lot of ground to the enemy only to humiliate and drive them back in a single day. And, he has been using the mana resources of the Citadel liberally to restore the villages to a state better than they were, with temperature control to keep houses comfortable, water distribution, and magic lanterns for every household. He also has the golems helping with farming, though he doesn’t want to replace labor with golems where he can.
“{Many of us will stand out in the darkness, General,}” points out the Uhl’tall commander. “{I don’t disagree that it’s a good strategy, but I am concerned that the easterners will have the advantage.}”
Choul looks at Rose and Blue. “{Do you really think so?}” asks the grey dragon warmly.
Rose and Blue look at each other. Dragons can see just fine in all but pitch-black darkness, and the phase of the moon is a fairly dim waxing crescent. Lesser dragons, lacking the magic potency of greater dragons, will be no more visible than the oni present. They also will be difficult for the assassins to detect. “{You will be in danger if the assassins show up, but I will be leading the assault in hopes of drawing them out. The Uhl’tall will provide offensive magic from range, as well as a recovery defensive point for our troops to fall back to, here.}” Choul points at a spot on the map off the road and out of immediate line of sight of the fortress. It’s a long run, especially for the goblins, who are of small stature. But, with the Uhl’tall creating a sort of mobile fortress with their magic should be able to cover a retreat. “{It’s out of direct line of sight of the fort, so reach the defensive position at all costs if you have to retreat. Those adept at traversing the forests should use the trees as cover.}”
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The goblins and dattakoriens nod. Dattakoriens are generally bigger than gatonines, but still smaller than most of the other races. The ogres will likely be forced to retreat down the road, but they are fairly quick on their feet in an open sprint, so it’s more advantageous to them.
“{Rose, Blue, you’ll be our primary attackers, getting as close to the fortress as you can. I’d like you to break down the doors with physical strength, and then retreat into the air as air support. I’ll charge in and try to draw out their most powerful magic, which you’ll incapacitate with Lord Daniel’s teargas bombs. Are you comfortable using them?}”
Blue and Rose nod. “{Do we need to split up? If one rides the other, it’ll make it easier for us to deploy them.}”
“{Perfect. Just be ready to move fast and avoid incoming fire. I’ll have most of the attention, but once they know you’re dragons in the air, they’ll be far more alert and try to divide their attention.}”
“[Goblins will enter and use demon wands as the Emperor taught. Vahaka capture enemy General himself!]” The goblins cackle and cheer, but Choul reminds them, “{Make sure you don’t get reckless. Worse than dying in honor is losing one of our Grace’s divine weapons to the enemy.}”
The goblins nod, taking the counter seriously, since the weapons grant the power of the greatest known sorcerer in the world to even the once lowly goblins. Choul’s pretty sure there is some kind of defensive measure put on the weapons to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, but he’s not sure what. And, that doesn’t mean they’ll have technological superiority forever.
“{Any other suggestions or questions?}” asks Choul, looking at each of the commanders.
“{Just to be sure, General,}” starts the dattakorien commander. “{We have permission to use lethal attacks to fight, yes?}”
“{Yes. The demon wands are loaded with non-lethal bolts, but the demon staves are lethal. If you find yourself overwhelmed, switch to the demon staff and fight your way free.}” Choul knows the weapons are startling because of how loud they are, and many of the ‘bolts’ -as the others know the bullets- will be wasted in panicked sprays of automatic fire. However, it’ll draw attention and startle the enemies, who will not withstand even a couple of direct hits.
Because he can’t cause harm, Choul will be moving around the battlefield destroying supplies and weapons, making himself available to defend others and cover retreats as much as needed. It won’t be the most efficient battle, but they should be able to come out of it unscathed until the assassins appear. Then, it’s as desperate as the fight will get for either side to defeat the powerful archoneldwyn mages. That they can hide their magic presences well enough to fool even Vaergraes is unnerving.
Regardless, the plan is set, and with only a few more basic notes about supply locations and contingencies for trapped soldiers, they break to rest for the rest of the afternoon.
Once the sun starts to set, the troops form up in ranks, mirrored via the illusion to appear as a much larger force of demon-kin than they actually are.
Choul leads the forces up the road, leaving behind a mere 10,000 golems to defend the camp. There’s little to lose in the camp, and Choul will ensure everyone gets returned home if they get separated.
As the fortress is beginning to become visible, and the land is growing darker and darker with the setting sun, Choul signals for Rose and Blue to go. They’re both in humanoid form with wings thanks to Choul’s magic, and they’ll expend most of their own converting back to dragon form. They have their mission, though, and he trusts them to make intelligent decisions to accomplish it.
Sure enough, they begin to become almost impossible to see at range, thanks to their relatively weak mana. It should make it easy for them to sneak up on the gate, especially once Choul and the oni draw attention for being more concentrated points of glowing in the darkness thanks to their much higher mana. The Uhl’tall, defending the retreat point, will remain out of sight of the fortress, but Choul alone should be enough.
But, just to make sure, he casts a large and flashy spell, transforming to his full dragon size. He’s rather large for a dragon, and he exhales flames with a lax pressure, drawing even more attention.
He can see Blue, now in his dragon form as well, sneak along the wall with Rose jogging alongside in her humanoid form. Blue reaches the gate and whirls, slamming it open with his tail. Rose tosses smoke grenades into the gate to obscure the approach of allies, and then she quickly climbs onto Blue’s back. He takes off into the sky, and Choul roars. He ascends into the air, flying directly towards the wall. His scales crackle and buzz as lightning begins to charge around him. He’s keeping his power relatively low, but it should be chaotic without damaging the wall. He explodes lightning as he’s passing over the wall, spiraling in a midair roll before transforming back into his human form, dropping fearlessly to the ground. He springs to his feet on the ground, ready to dance around blades and between arrows and magic attacks.
There is no one around him.
Roars of the oni soldiers fill the air as they charge through the smoke obscuring the gate, entering the courtyard with Choul, ready to fight as well.
But, as everyone spreads out, there remains no sign whatsoever of defenders manning Fort Twilight.
Choul scans all around. The walls are devoid of defenders. There are no obvious signs of people manning the towers. There are no gongs of battle or rallying cries from the human kin of Fort Twilight.
Choul’s first instincts are that it’s a trap, and he shouts, “Hold back! Don’t advance!”
The oni and goblins storming in slow their spread, looking around, as well as to Choul for guidance.
“{Something’s wrong. Where are they?}” Choul puts up a defensive barrier dome around the troops, ordering the others to hold back. He uses telepathy to ask, “{Rolokahr, are there any signs of a pincer maneuver?}”
“{Negative, General. The dattakorien scouts are reporting no signs of us being outflanked. Why?}”
“{There’s no one here.}” Choul studies the main castle, where windows and ramparts perfect for archers, crossbowmen, and siege bows are located. There is no rain of bolts, arrows, or spears, nor offensive magic attacks. He doesn’t even sense anyone with mana in the fortress. It’s possible to hide the mana of a defending position, such as a building or castle, especially if a team of mages works together. But, it’s strange. If it’s a trap, they’re in an appropriate position to have triggered it.
Are they waiting to see if the rulers will appear? thinks Choul to himself. Where are they hiding? How do I investigate now that they know we’re here?
Choul can’t see everything, and he’s not all knowing, in spite of his many years of life. Revenge was all he thought about for a long time. He wasn’t a soldier nor a commander. Likewise, none of the Fievegal army have very much experience in any military action.
But, it doesn’t take a genius tactician to sense something is terribly wrong. Defending against a siege would already be most of the way to lost by the time the wall is penetrated. That they made it this far completely uncontested is either a sign of incompetence, or something worse.
Choul signals to Vahaka and Gultuin, goblin and oni commander respectively, and they jog close to him. “{Gultuin, send ten men to trade off with ten dattakoriens and send them here. Vahaka, send your soldiers to gather as much firewood as they can. It doesn’t have to be dry.}”
Gultuin nodded as soon as his orders were said, and he jogs to his group to send several oni out to swap with dattakoriens. Ucahote’s voice comes from one of the soldier golems disguised as a goblin. “{General, the search can be completed by golems to minimize risk to our men and women.}”
“{No. Golems have a greater mana signature than dattakoriens and goblins. They can move less noticed than the golems. Plus, the golems have better accuracy and no fear, so they’ll be better if the ambush is sprung.}”
Ucahote’s proxy golem nods, returning to its ranks. Vahaka, having explained the instructions to a large group of goblins, looks up at Choul. “[We gather firewood, but Vahaka would like to know why.]”
“{We’re going to smoke the enemy out without entering the fortresses. It’ll take time, but I have no intention of trying to clear floor by floor.}”
“[But… our treasure!]”
“{We’re not burning the fortress down. I could do that with my fire breath. We want as much smoke as possible, so keep the goblins gathering firewood. Send some of your troops to retrieve axes. Ucahote, please have golems help with chopping down trees for firewood.}”
“{As you wish,}” replies the golem commander. And, Vahaka nods, reiterating, “[Vahaka and goblins still want treasure. We no burn.]”
“{Trust me, we’re not.}”
The goblin commander nods, satisfied, joining his troops to begin gathering firewood and bring it into the courtyard.
The summoned dattakoriens jog up to Choul. “{General, your orders?}”
“{Search the ground level of the fortress in small teams. The size of teams I leave up to you. Use your heightened senses to search for any signs of an ambush. And, I mean any. Stealth is your priority.}”
“{Yes, general.}” While not the commander, the squad leader points out 3 groups without a word, and the dattakoriens split off in those groups to scan the fortress cautiously and quietly. They melt into the darkness using mana suppression techniques, which aren’t the same as hiding their mana, but can reduce the glow significantly, and is a specialty of the dattakoriens.
Gultuin approaches again. “{This is strange, General. If it’s a trap, why haven’t they sprung it yet?}”
“{I wish I knew. It’s too late for us to retreat in force. Whatever’s holding them off is unknown, so we need to be ready to withstand the attack so our less sturdy forces can retreat.}”
“{Understood, General. Is there anything we can do?}”
“{Keep searching for mana signatures of soldiers or mages. I don’t think the easterners have developed Daniel’s weapons or traps, but we need to be cautious.}”
The oni commander nods, staying close to Choul as they both diligently watch all around them.
The goblins begin marching in at staggered intervals with armfulls of wood of all qualities and sizes. “{Take it to the ground floor of each structure. Ucahote, please escort them.}”
The goblins nod, starting with the nearest tower to begin piling wood into the ground floor as Ucahote searches the ground floor.
Ucahote’s proxy reports, “{There’s still no signs of life, General.}”
Choul nods, ponderously silent. He doesn’t like it. He was prepared for a fight. With as many troops as have moved through, footprints aren’t especially useful, and there’s enough scent remaining that it’s difficult to tell where anyone is or when they moved about.
Human-kin will sometimes abandon a smaller fortress when it’s known that dragons are going to attack, regrouping together at a larger fortress nearby to try to retaliate when the dragon continues the advance, overwhelming it with sheer numbers.
However, Fort Twilight is one of the largest human-kin fortresses in the world. It should not only have the manning to make a desperate stand against dragons, but the additional manning of around 80,000 of the 100,000 troops that attacked the Citadel most recently, since they knew the Fievegal was coming.
Another idea begins to creep into Choul’s mind. On a continent far across the ocean is a country struggling with a being that makes whole towns vanish without a trace. Choul only heard about it in passing, and there could be many causes. The Devourer was obviously present, but destroyed and consumed everything in its path.
In this case, Choul begins to wonder if the entire fighting population of Fort Twilight vanished or if they actually abandoned the fortress.
As the reports come in from the search, it appears abandoning is the answer, as there are very few supplies or tools remaining, and the siege weapons have been removed.
The dattakoriens return, reporting, “{General, there are no signs of ambush on the ground level. Would you like us to begin searching the upper levels?}”
“{No. We’re going to smoke them out. Patrol the ground and find observation points to watch for movement. If you see anything, try to take them out with staff shots, which will alert the rest of us.}”
“{As you wish, General.}”
Once the kindling and firewood are built up in the first tower, Choul approaches and ignites it with his fire breath, using a steady, weak stream to ensure it ignites. Once smoke begins billowing, he signals for some of the ogres and oni to guard the tower, while the goblins and remaining ogres begin stacking wood in the next tower and the base of the main fortress. With the fortress itself, they’ll need to use barriers to keep the smoke concentrated in the structure to begin choking out anyone that may be inside.
Rose and Blue land nearby cautiously in the midst of the group, and Rose approaches Choul cautiously. “{General… What’s going on?}”
“{We appear to be in the midst of a trap, though there’s no sign of what the trap might be. We’re attempting to smoke out anyone that might be within the structures.}”
She nods, watching the growing fire and the billowing smoke filling the first tower. “{We aren’t seeing any movement from above, other than our allies. Do you think they’re waiting on something specific?}”
“{If they are, I can only speculate that it’s someone specific; likely the Harbinger of Calamity.}”
Rose shifts nervously at that. Like the dragon Empresses, she has already produced one egg, which is thanks to the very same person whose name is tattooed on her chest for a magic contract. Like Choul, Rose and Blue can’t cause harm to anyone directly, which is why their primary role is support. It’s as a result of them joining Morthybargaron’s attack on the Citadel, and Daniel coming out victorious.
That said, Daniel very rarely interferes with or asks anything of the lesser dragons or the greater dragons that aren’t the Empresses, and the Empresses are the ones that avail themselves to Daniel every chance they get.
“{If they were to attack the Harbinger, this entire fortress would be erased,}” replies Rose seriously.
Choul knows that, while Daniel didn’t include the other dragons outside of the Empresses in his method for killing the Devourer, they witnessed the effects from afar, and are certain that what she just said is the truth.
Whatever weapon Daniel made aside from his rifles and cannons truly is a weapon of Calamity.
The group smokes out each structure for a long time, keeping the fires going with barriers to keep the smoke bottled in for as long as possible. But, no one comes running out.
When Choul finally has them end the fires, it takes hours longer for the structures to clear of smoke. He then sends golems in to search this time, since there’s still likely to be very little air inside. They systematically search room by room, finding nothing of note. The fortress truly does appear to be abandoned, as if the Empire not only took Daniel’s warning seriously, but actually accepted his offer.
The only reason Choul can think of for them to do that is…
“{Everyone! Get the tanks inside! Goblins and Ogre teams, get started on those stone doors. Use the mountain face. Oni and Dattakorien teams, secure the perimeters and watch for threats from either direction.}” He calls through telepathy, “{Uhl’tall and remaining dattakoriens, pull everyone into the fortress. We’re going to have to defend.}”
Everyone confirms, “{As you wish!}” “[As you wish!]” They scramble into action.
Something is amiss, and until he knows what it is, Choul has no intention of sitting on his hands.
***