Chapter 110: The First Duel of Dragons 5
My words stunned those who heard it, especially my brothers and young officers, who felt as though the true essence of military conflict had been suddenly and unceremoniously unveiled and laid bare before their eyes. Even men like Abraham stared gawk eyed at me, before a small smirk snatched the place of his foolish expression, making me ask "What’s so amusing, lord?"
"Nothing of any substance, sire. It’s just that sometimes you speak in a way that reminds me of those old fellows Darius and Hamilcar." He humorously said, trying to suffocate the chuckle in his throat, but miserably failing to do so.
I said nothing in reply, merely smiling as well, since in all actuality he was not far off. ’Was I closing in on my seven hundredth birthday when I died? Or maybe it was my eight hundredth? I can’t remember anymore.’ I calmly thought, having long since lost interest in the concept of age and the tedious act of counting it.
’...Especially after I lost her.’ I depressingly thought after a moment, as the image of two lifeless amethyst eyes, ones that were once so proud and beautiful flashed through my mind.
"Brother! Does that mean, as you said that if you are correct, then this battle is as good as over?" It was then that Cyrus excitedly asked, pulling me from my increasingly dark thoughts.
His question gave me a momentarily pause, before answering "All I am saying is that yesterday’s battles were a prelude to this one; and today’s massive southern attack is a prelude to something even greater. But victory is still a long way off from being guaranteed, this is especially so against a man such as Maximillian." I finished, shaking off all other thoughts, no matter how intoxicating they may be, especially those of her, as I furrowed my brows and refocused all my attention back to the present, thinking ’Before reminiscing on the past and dreaming of the future, I must first secure the present. Only then can I hope to not repeat my previous faults.’
Meanwhile in the southern passes, Leonid, my newest champion, who’d just received his orders and thousands of reinforcing troops, quickly put them to good use. He began by sending thousands upon thousands of men up the slopes of the green paths, hiding them in the abundant vegetation of the canyon, while he began to slowly withdraw his men on the front lines, surrendering one fort after the next in a controlled fashion, making sure to draw them ever closer, like an expert fishermen slowly drawing in a big catch.
And much like how I predicted, Maximillian’s men charged forth, staying on the heels of Leonid’s retreating troops, like mad hunting hounds under their masters’ command they charged further and further into the hungry maw that promised to swallow them bone and all in these labyrinthine passages.
Leonid lured them as far as it seemed they were willing to go and were about to withdraw, and then he struck them hard, demanding payment for all the forts and lands they had occupied for how little a time. And what a premium amount he charged them, as he forced them to leave behind ten thousand of their friends’ and comrades’ lifeless bodies behind as clearance for their debt.
So ended the second day, Maximillian’s forces suffering another fourteen thousand casualties, mostly thanks to Leonid’s masterful butchery in the south, while we offered five thousand of our own in exchange, another fruitful day, but unease still clawed at me.
I still hadn’t understood why he did what he did, why attack the south so aggressively at the cost of ten thousand men? I couldn’t grasp his intention, which only grew more in mystery when Leonid conducted a thorough sweep of the southern passes and the result was nothing out of the ordinary.
I had him try and try again until the sun had gone and the moon was in the sky, yet he always returned to me with the same words, nothing was amiss, except for a few of our forts that they tore down as they withdrew that need rebuilding; but that was all.
Sleep eluded me that night, my mind as restless as my sword arm, while I trained through the night.
The third day started as the previous two days, at the Stone Tables with acrobatic gold and bad luck. It was again heads.
’Seems like the god of luck is enjoying his torment of me these days!’ I thought in anger as we started this day’s battle.
Maximillian again attacked but this time he sent a paltry few of a couple thousand to the south, another ten or so thousand to the north, while a gargantuan horde of nearly fifty thousand assailed us from the center.
’What in the name of all the Gods is he doing here?!’ My thoughts roared out in silent fury and frustration, utterly confused by Maximillian’s seemingly random attacking patterns.
When attacking fortified positions, it is the norm to focus your blows on hammering a single point until it cracks under your relentless pressure, but he isn’t following that age old doctrine, with each day his blow coming in increasingly chaotic placements, leaving me scrambling to make heads or tails from all this nonsense.
The third day was the longest and bloodiest day by far till now, with my uncle once again facing his mysterious rapier opponent, who now wore the armour and weapons befitting of his rank, while even Morgana, the second wife and wing of Maximillian, made an appearance this day on the central paths, forcing Abraham to abandon my side to face the berserk woman in combat. Only when the sun withdrew from the skies did Maximillian’s forces do as well.
Today’s death toll numbered in the ten thousand for both my own and his, for the first time catapulting my casualties not only to the five digits, but also matching my own losses to him, meaning for the first time, we could only claim this day as a stalemate.
There was one piece of good news this day though, Horus had finally awoken, but he was still bedridden, unable to effectively move for the next few days, much to his displeasure, which only grew when the priests and alchemists insisted that he avoid fighting or any form of strenuous physical activity for the next couple of weeks. An order he would’ve utterly ignored had it not been for me firmly commanding him as his emperor to follow, or he’d have already pushed himself to rise and re-join me on the field.
The fourth day finally broke the routine of the past three days as I finally beheld the smile of luck on the Stone Tables; it was tails, today we finally attack.
I didn’t wait for even a moment before issuing the orders to advance through the central and northern passes, but when it came to the south I hesitated. That eerie feeling of something I couldn’t grasp was still there, and growing ever stronger whenever I looked in that direction, so I eventually decided to discard the idea of a southern attack.
But the difficulties of attack became quickly apparent to me, even before my men stepped foot outside of the paths we control. These concerns mainly being my complete and utter ignorance to the state and position of his own diffences, as well as my confusion as to where his two most mighty trump cards lay, the positions where his wives had been stationed.
Morgana had appeared in the central passes yesterday, but two days before that she had appeared in the north, while Sophia has not been spotted even once since the beginning. This was quite the conundrum for me as I feared that sending Isaac, Abraham or Leonid alone in an assault would only lead them to face both those frightful women simultaneously, which would most certainly mean their injury or worse yet, their death.
But joining them all together was not something I particularly liked the sound of, because say I joined two or even all three of them on the northern front, and then not only do they not encounter both his wives, but none of them, that would leave the other two fronts utterly undefended against their assault.
Yes, we would still most likely win using such a plan, but I would suffer a blow to my army that would take years to heal, something that I could not afford right now, when I’m still so weak and the Luminous Empire is preparing to invade the moment I am weakened enough.
’No! I must secure victory in this battle with as little damage as possible, I have no other choice, unless I want to throw all my other plans into the dumpster.’ I coldly calculated.
Eventually I decided to dispatch my uncle with thirty thousand men to test the fortifications of that damned dragon’s center, while Abraham would stand nearby ready at a moment’s notice to rescue him from any harm.
Meanwhile a force of twenty five thousand attacked from the north, with Isaac himself leading them from the shadows, with orders not to reveal himself unless one of the dragon’s wives appears. And finally, even though I wouldn’t have done if I had any other choice, I pulled Leonid from his command in the south to stand at the ready in the center to quickly reinforce any position that need it, whether it be the north, center or south.
’He would take a while to reach the various battlefields from here, due to the long and convoluted distance he would need to cover, but it would still be faster than if he were still in the south.’ I thought in contemplation, trying to ease my worries for this day.
Yet despite all my meticulous preparation and the mind numbing amount of counter measures I had prepared, it all amounted to nothing more than overthinking on my part, as his wives didn’t show their faces even once the whole day. No matter how hard I pushed and prodded, how many men I slaughtered or how far back I threw back their lines, they never once revealed themselves.
Even when today’s staggering toll crossed the ten thousand mark for their forces and then the fifteen thousand mark, they never budged. "These stubborn ghosts!" I furiously roared at the end of the fourth day.