Chapter 111: The First Duel of Dragons 6
The fourth day quickly overthrew the third from it’s throne as the most brutal one so far, as a combined twenty five thousand men fell to earn it this bloody crown; fifteen from theirs and ten from ours. But even despite such a high price being paid we failed to achieve anything of true substance.
The fifth day began like all those before it, at the Stone Tables to witness luck’s decree, but unlike before where we did so with the fresh air that carried the slight sent of the wild with it tickling our noses, now it suffocated us with the horrid stench of the death God’s scythe, doing it’s dreadful work.
But that was not all, as my hope for a lucky streak to be made was broken, as luck once again turned it’s back on me, giving the day’s initiative back to Maximillian; much to my chagrin.
The fifth day was not of any particular excitement or value as it was almost an exact repeat of the third day’s events. A few thousand attacked our north and south, while a mighty horde of tens of thousands threw themselves on our center. It only grew interesting when Morgana appeared in the central passes, forcing me to send Abraham to fend her off.
The battle again lasted till nightfall, with both sides losing about five thousand men each; as neither of us wanted a repeat of yesterday’s wasteful butchery so soon, so we held back our men ever so slightly to reduce causalities.
The sixth day then came and my horrid luck, like a persistent curse, came with it, as Maximillian would once again be awarded the initiative.
And much like yesterday, he again mimicked yesterday’s tactics, but I was not content with only defending this day, especially after Morgana showed herself yet again in the center, so I ordered Isaac to lead a few thousand men in a small foray into their territory, which yielded very little, even in terms of simply scouting; not because Sophia appeared and thwarted my plans, as I had expected and hoped, so I could locate both these hidden trump cards of Maximillian, but because that clever dragon had lined many of the passes on his side with black sand, which he quickly detonated, thus blocking many of the roads with avalanches of soil and stone.
The sixth day then ended similarly to the last, only with even fewer casualties, with both of us only losing three to four thousand each.
The next day was finally when the pendulum of luck swung to my side, as the seventh, eighth and ninth days were all to my favour, showing me that elusive side of the coin that had hid from me for so long.
Without hesitation I commanded to attack, for the same reason as before, to force Morgana and Sophia, those damned dragon’s wives, out of hiding; for the moment we remove just one of them from the board, this battle is all but won.
Yet unlike the fourth day where I sacrificed ten thousand men in pursuit of this goal, I could no longer be so thriftless; already near a quarter of my army had fallen in these mountains and I could not afford such extravagant sacrifices, or I risk the crippling of my army and this war’s costs far outstripping it’s initial worth.
So I opted for elite squadrons of five hundred to two thousand men conducting precise raids and attacks on areas we were without a shadow of a doubt sure the enemy was stationed. This resulted in less impressive gains than the full frontal assault on the fourth day, but it was far less costly; having only lost two thousand men on the seventh day.
Though this still hadn’t forced my illusory prey to reveal themselves, another piece of good news reached me that day, as my uncle had finally seriously wounded his rapier wielding opponent after a week of battle. Most likely ridding us of his annoyance for the rest of the battle, thus making it far easier for us to triumph in the central paths.
On the eighth day I decided to continue yesterday’s cost-effective strategy, when that cunning dragon threw at me more of his dastardly traps. Much like how he did in the north, he lined the cavern walls with black sand, before luring my men in with promises of a vital point of his supply structure, before he toppled the mountain side at them. He would then have his men retreat to predetermined kill boxes, where any poor fools who followed them would forever remain.
But those were all schemes that were nothing in comparison to his newest magnum opus, which was truly Machiavellian in it’s machinations.
After eight strait days of unending combat, Maximillian decided to employ a resource that had become abundant and unutilized in these mountains; the bodies of the fallen.
Maximillian littered entire stretches of land with thousands of bodies, where his men laid in waiting among the rotting fallen, braving the incessant buzzing of hungry flies and the revelling howls of feasting predators, all the while ready and eager for their chance to catch their enemies unaware.
He also built macabre walls and towers of rancid flesh to bar my soldiers from entering certain paths, while he planted forests of impaled men on others to terrify them in advance. On and on the creativity of the War Dragon belched out more and more horrendous ways to make use of his men, even in death.
But if he wanted to face me in a battle of cruelty, then he had gravely overestimated the pedigree of his ruthlessness, or simply underestimated the limit of my own madness.
But I ultimately didn’t care for this, as accepting his challenge to a competition of cruelty would serve to further prolong this battle by wasting time defiling corpses, while the Luminous Empire’s raids continue to grow bolder by the day.
’And it won’t be long before they are brave enough to fully tear the previous war’s treaty and invade.’ I thought in concern, as I felt a desperate urge to end this battle already.
The ninth day’s strategy was born out of this sense of urgency and necessity, so with the celestial sphere above darkening and the sky being stabbed with thunderbolts, I ordered my most daring attack yet.
I pulled Isaac from his northern post, and then with Abraham I commanded them to lead the men forward; their mission being to finally end this damned battle by finding that bastard dragon’s wings and forcing them out of the game; killing them if they must.
And so it began, with Isaac, Abraham and my uncle at the helm the central position of Maximillian’s forces collapsed like a house of cards, especially after my uncle bested their eighth rank general two days ago, which finally forced Morgana to appear.
Abraham and Isaac rejoiced and quickly rushed at her, lest she disappear again, but then she did something that left all of us shocked. Instead of rushing to a secluded place to have their battle, which is customary when martial masters of such a high level fight, or simply running away into the maze like mountains to lose them, she ran past them and straight into our men’s lines, standing literally in the middle of them. And whenever Abraham and Isaac got close to her, she would use our men against us as obstacles and shields, forcing them to be extra careful with their attacks, while Morgana didn’t care; shamelessly using our own armies as hostages.
This clever yet cowardly delaying tactic worked perfectly for Maximillian, since yet again our armies returned to their side of the board with barely anything being accomplished. But that confrontation between Isaac, Abraham and Morgana had let slip a secret that Maximillian would’ve liked to keep hidden.
’And that was the absence of Sophia.’ I contemplatively thought.
’If Sophia were here and available, then why has she never showed herself even once since the beginning of this battle? If she were here, why had she not aided her sister-wife in such a perilous situation today, where one mistake on her end would have left her at the mercy of Abraham’s glaive or Isaac’s daggers? Better yet, if she were here why hadn’t she taken advantage of the fact that Isaac was in the center and attacked the northern passages? Why has she done nothing since the start of this battle?’ I asked and asked myself, until three answers, each more dreadful than the last came to be in my mind.
’If we were to assume that she isn’t here, then what would be so important for her to forsake her king and husband at a time like this? Something more important obviously! Something that would jeopardize the sanctity of her husband’s game.’ I quickly answered myself, before I began listing the things I could think off.
’The first and best scenario for us is that Sodarus is still causing them trouble in the rear and she needed to go aid of Maximillian’s first wife Eliana as soon as possible...’ I paused my thoughts for a second, ’Or my plan with Valdour had been exposed and she’d gone to deal with it. And though I’m not worried she would be able to stop him, it could also explain the fact as to why I have yet to hear a word from him.’ I frowned as my thoughts reached this point, but then I continued ’But that’s assuming she isn’t here, but what if she was?’
This question weighed heavy on me as a single answer continuously surfaced no matter how long I thought ’She is laying in wait to unleash Maximilian’s winning blow. But when would this blow arrive, and from where?’
This worry forced the sleep from eyes all night long and even soured the joy of yet again winning luck’s favour the next morning at the Stone Tables.
And when I returned to the fortress tower on the tenth day, I simply commanded, even though I had the right of initiative this day, that the men take the day off, while we do some much needed repairs on the arterial forts.
The men obviously cheered, glad to rest their muscles and ease their nerves after nine days of endless combat, but I remained stone faced, rooted to my makeshift throne at the highest floor of the tower fortress, even when the skies also decided to unload their heavy cargo, that these ominous storm clouds had delivered yesterday.
It was well past midnight when I finally concluded, much to my frustration and rage, that I could not defeat this War Dragon unless I pay a hefty price.
’Regardless of whether Sophia is here or not,’ I thought ’I have only three ways to win this battle. The first and least costly one in regards to my men, is to summon Hasdrubal and his northern armies to me and then with their aid; crush Maximillian with overwhelming numbers!... But that would leave the northern border completely undefended, and ripe and ready for those Luminous dogs to stroll right in. My second choice, which is best in regards to time, is to disregard the lives of my men and simply order Abraham, Leonid and Isaac to attack and crush all in their path, but that would mean the sacrifice of nearly half, if not three quatres of my army. A blow that would take years if not decades to heal. And my final and third, but safest and all together best option, is ironically to continue to gamble on the plan me and Valdour had agreed upon to deliver a mortal blow to Maximillian and with it, this rebellion.’ Reaching this point in my thoughts, a deep frown took hold of my eyebrows, as I whisperingly muttered "But it’s been almost a month since I saw Valdour near his city, and still no word has come from him... At this point I’m not so sure anymore who’s blow would finish the other first, mine or Maximillian’s?" I finished with a tired sigh, as I tilted my head upwards trying to peer through the stormy celestial canopy, as if I was seeking to find the answer among the hidden stars.
But before I could think of anything more, I heard a voice behind me.