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29.95% Out of Space / Chapter 201: 201 - Invasion

Chapter 201: 201 - Invasion

The boy was dressed in a faded yellow tunic with sweat stains panted his way up the steep flights of stone steps before he nimbly climbed up the wooden ladder and took a second to catch his breath. He gazed out to the far distance over the fort walls and saw the dark blue squares of infantry appearing over the summer crops, trampling the unharvested yellow fields of grain down.

"Wake the fort!" An elderly sentry yelled below him, "Hurry!"

A tingle of dread, fear, and excitement ran down his spine as he reached under the bronze bell hanging in the watchtower and grabbed the wooden rod tied inside and struck the bell madly.

"TONG TONG TONG TONG TONG~~~!!"

The echoes of the bell woke the guardians of the fort who roused themselves out in confusion before their leaders and officers yelled at them to arm themselves with weapons and don their armor. It took the confused men sometime before they realized that the Empire was here at their doorsteps and they hurriedly sprung into action eagerly.

"TONG TONG TONG TONG TONG~~~!!"

Heavy footfalls echoed up and down the entire fort as the men rushed to their defenses. In less than a turn of the hourglass, the guardians were all up and ready, their sweaty palms gripping spear shafts and clutching shields while others held onto the risers of their bows and fingered the fletching of their arrows, making sure they are nicely straightened to ensure a proper flight.

Their sister fort, a few stone throws away, were the same, it's one thousand defenders rushing to make ready for combat as the Empire forces marched steadily towards the two tiny forward forts guarding the farming land.

The marching Empire forces clashed to a stop well before extreme bow range and the squares and lines of blue armored clad soldiers shook themselves into formations. Dozens and dozens of mantlets or portable shields made from wood logs were carried forward by Empire archers. They hide behind the mantlets as they cautiously advanced to within bow and crossbow range before slamming the sharp stakes of the mantlets into the ground.

"LOOSE!" The guardians of the fort released volley after volley of arrows at the advancing enemy that was hidden behind the mantlets who exchanged bow fire with them.

A horn blown by the Empire cut through the cries and curses of the guardians in the fort and the heavy marching of the Empire troops stormed their way step by step towards the two thousand defenders barring their way forward.

The Empire heavy infantry squares raised their shields to protect themselves from the rain of arrows but here and there, an arrow found an opening, sending a soldier to the netherworld. The archers behind the cover of the mantlets shot back at the defenders with equal results, dropping the defenders in ones and twos.

As the distance closed, mages from both sides started their spells while the defenders having an advantage of magical protection spells and formations carved into the stones of the forts. Bolts of lightning and balls of fire landed among both sides.

Empire mages split their duties in defending and attacking. Half of the mages in the infantry squares cast protection spells to block as much of the arrows and spells that were thrown their way while the other half focuses on attack spells.

A heavy ballista bolt hammered against the closest infantry square and the bolt splintered against the magic barrier. The barrier held for a split second before it collapsed, the mage who expended his mana, fell back as he convulsed from mana burn. The shattered bolt flung splinters as long as a man's arm into the infantry square, fraying any unlucky soldier who was exposed into a screaming bloody mess.

Each infantry square composed of over a thousand troops with its support of mages and other auxiliary troops. Six infantry squares were thrown forward with another thousand archers as ranged support against the two forward forts with a thousand defenders each of the Two Nation alliance.

The forward forts were built to provide a system of early warning for the cities behind them. They were built in pairs, each able to "flank" the enemies' attack on either fort. Should the enemy choose to attack a single fort first, the defenders in the other fort will be able to hit the rear and flanks of the besieging enemy while attacking both forts at the same time will split its forces thin, granting an advantage to the defenders.

Yet the enemy commander could not ignore the forts and skip past them as they can carry out attacks to his rear or his supply lines. Thus the forts had to be destroyed, delaying the main attack to cities, which granted the Two Nations more time and warning to prepare for an invasion.

The defenders were all volunteers as they knew that the forts were just a delaying tactic and they are selling their lives to buy time for their loved ones in the cities. The defenders roared as one as the Empire infantry slammed into the spike moat covering the forts and siege ladders slammed up against the stone parapets.

-----

The boy wiped streaks of tears off his face as he clung tightly to the buckling saddle of the sprinting war dragon. The war dragon's two feet kicked against the dirt path as the boy guided its movement towards one of the signal towers behind the forts and away from the madness.

The tower keepers hearing the boy's yells and reports of the Empire forces, turned pale before they quickly climbed to the top of the wooden tower and doused the dry straw and wolf dung with dragon oil and stuck a flint against a piece of stone, creating sparks which set the whole thing on fire.

Soon a thick smelly grey cloud appeared over the signal tower, which soon was followed by another tower and another as far as the eye can see.

-----

"Lord Rock," A fully armored soldier with a motif of a twin-tailed scorpion on his breastplate riding a war dragon, dismounted and saluted, "The defenders of the two forts have been destroyed. We have taken over five hundred defenders and another five hundred wounded."

"Kill the wounded," The bald muscular knight replied on his war dragon mount. "Keep the rest as slaves. Rotate the regiments that fought out and move the rest forward."

"Yes, my lord!" The soldier saluted again and dashed off back onto his mount and charged off to issue the orders of his lord.

The Rock sat upright on his war dragon as he glazed across the smoke tinted battlefield littered with dead and dying bodies. He turned and looked at the rows and rows of silent soldiers clad in heavy armor and touched the bloodstone amulet hanging over his neck.

They have wasted almost a day destroying the two forts, The Rock thought to himself. Its time for them to move before the enemy can react!

He gave a mental command and the silent soldiers moved as one, marching forward without a single word. The other soldiers strayed away from this group, whispering among themselves as they watched the eerily silent regiment marched over the trampled ground.

The Rock gave a wave and a horn blew across the fields and the tired Empire soldiers picked themselves up and formed into ranks before trotting across the broken fields, advancing towards their next objective.

-----

Windkeep Castle, Frontier City, Kingdom of Meccan, Two Nation Alliance

Hurried footsteps echoed down the marble-like flooring of the great hall as the courier half ran towards the Castle Lord's private study. The two guards gave way to the courier who had a red sash trimmed with gold diagonally over his shoulder which identified him as an important messenger.

The courier knocked on the thick double doors and not long the doors were opened inside by a manservant who led the sweating courier inside the study.

"My Lord!" The courier went down on one knee, "The warning towers... they were lit!"

The Grey Lord placed his quill down as he heard the news. "When was this?"

"Just earlier!" The courier, "No more than a turn of the glass! I came as soon as it was reported!"

"You may leave," The castle lord also known as the Grey Lord to the people here dismissed the courier who stood up and retreated from his study.

"Call all the commanders for an urgent meeting now," The Grey Lord said to his servant who disappeared out of the study behind after the courier.

It took less than an hour for all six of the commanders stationed at Frontier City to arrived at Windkeep Castle. The great hall had a massive rectangular table laid out by the servants with some light refreshments.

The Grey Lord sat at the head of the table, his long grey hair tied in a ponytail, while his thick bushy grey beard was combed neatly and tied with tiny gold bands. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with a wrinkled and sun-baked face, and deep grey eyes. Even his simple dressing was in grey-white tones.

The commanders arrived one by one, all dressed for war, as they filled up the seats. Other officials dressed like scholars and merchants also arrived and soon the table was fully filled.

"As you all may know by now, the warning beacons along the border had being lit up," The Grey Lord stated once everyone was seated. "I want all able men to be armed and ready for battle as soon as possible."

"Next, I want the farmers to move all the harvest in and burn the rest that can't be moved. I also want the merchants to provide all the carts and wagons they have to help out," He looked at the group of civic officials and merchants who nodded.

"I already sent out the messenger wyverns out to the next city and the Capital," The Grey Lord said next, "I expect reinforcements to arrive within two five days week."

"My Lord!" One of the commanders spoke up, "Will we be moving the troops to relieve the forward forts?"

"No," The Grey Lord shook his head, "The border forts could only buy us a day or two of time the most. By the time we muster our forces, the forts would have been lost."

"I want the soldiers to dig in and fight," He continued, "Frontier City has never been lost and we have fought off invaders ever since its founding as long as we stand strong behind its walls. Strong together!"

"Yes, my Lord!" The men echoed. "Strong together!"

-----

The city inhabitants remained calm and went on with their normal activities even as news spread of the coming invasion. The trust the inhabitants had to their city was immense as the city walls had never been breached since it was built a hundred years ago.

The city sat in a mild raise, with the south side facing the enormous inland freshwater sea, the source of all life on this continent, the Source Sea. Large swaths of farmland spread out from the city walls provided food for the sixty thousand inhabitants and soldiers living in Frontier City.

The walls that the inhabitants placed their faith in stood over 20 meters high. Made out of granite and magic, it held against dozens of invasions over the years. Massive siege engines sat on huge square towers covered the approaches to the city while dozens more of ballistas were hidden in embrasures within the wall.

Flags of red trimmed with gold and flags of purple were flying on the walls as soldiers dressed in tabards of either red or purple. The red represented the Kingdom of Meccan while the purple represented troops from the Kingdom of Foral whom both Kingdoms were allied as the Two Nation Alliance.

A grizzly looking soldier with a crude leather band covering his left eye spat over the battlements as he caressed the well-worn wood of the crossbow in his hands lovingly.

"Come on ye bastards! I'm waiting for ye!"


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Neobear Neobear

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It's baaaaacccccckkkkkkk! Thanks for the wait! Enjoy! Gimmeeee all the stones!

Chapter 202: Flames of War

30 km into the Kingdom of Meccan

The land was on fire and smoke. Fields of unharvested crops burned and wilted in the heat as the farmers and soldier laid torch to the fields. The air smelled of ashes as the farmers carried what little possessions they have while the carts and wagons pulled by land dragons and muffalos were piled full of harvest.

Those that couldn't be collected or transported were set to the torch by soldiers to the wailings of the farmers. Yet despite all that, the farmers and their families could only bear it as the threat of the Empire loomed upon them.

The fires were soon seen by the city when night falls while the thick black smoke could be viewed in the day. And scouts raced through the fire and smoke, carrying news of the sightings of the Empire armies.

Behind the fleeing Meccan scouts, came a screen of Empire war dragon cavalry. Long lines of black armor-clad Empire soldiers marched behind fluttering blue Empire banners over the fields, followed by wagons and wagons of supplies and camp followers.

The Empire cavalry rode down on the fleeing scouts and any other civilians in the area, capturing or killing them if they resisted and looted what pitiful processions they had. The Empire soldiers dabbed their blue capes with water and covered their mouths and noses to avoid breathing most of the ash in the air while foraging parties ventured around the countryside in search of food and water.

The retreating Meccans had poisoned most of the wells and torched whatever food supplies they couldn't transport but still, there were some that were missed or hidden away by farmers and their families.

The Empire forces happily pillaged whatever that could be found and filled barrels of fresh water from flowing streams and rivers while constantly advancing towards Frontier City behind the mass of panicking villagers looking for shelter in the city.

-----

Frontier City

The Grey Lord stood overlooking the battlements from the tallest tower in his Castle. The Grey family had served as the city guardians and lords for generations. He watched the flood of refugees streaming across the fields and fortifications towards the city gates and frowned, "Have the harvest from the farms being all brought in?"

"Yes my lord," One of his aide replied while consulting a scroll. "The granaries and storehouses are nearly filled and should have enough supplies to last the city for 3 months."

"Issue an order to the merchants to limit the sale of grain and other necessities, I do not want the people to hoard supplies." The Grey Lord said. "Have the scouts returned?"

"No, my lord," A military aide replied, "they are expected to return before nightfall."

"Close the gates before it gets dark," He ordered, "Turn the refugees away."

"B-but, my Lord, there is at least a thousand or more people still out there!" The military aide cried. "We can't leave them all out there?"

"The city is full," The Grey Lord said without any change of expression, "Tell them to head towards Winterfall instead."

"But my lord! Winterfall is at least a week march away!" The aides were looking at each other in confusion. "The refugees won't make it with the number of supplies they have!"

"Close the gate by nightfall," The Grey Lord repeated before he turned away from the view and headed towards the stone stairs. "I will not repeat myself."

"Y-yes, my lord..." The aides bowed as they watched the disappearing back of the castle Lord disappearing down the tower.

The aides looked out towards the crowd and shook their heads, "Those that can't make it in by the time the sun sets is doomed ..."

-----

Frontier City Eastern Wall

The setting sun had painted a purple-red hue over the city walls which beauty was lost to the one eyed soldier dressed in a mix of leather and plate mail as he shoved his way past the crowd of mingling soldiers who had gathered before the gate commander's room.

"Back to your posts!" Several nobles and officers yelled at the gathered men. "Back off!"

"Why do we have to close the gates?" The gathered soldiers called out, "There are still many people out there!"

"The Grey Lord gave the order!" The Gate Commander stormed out of his office cursing, "Now get back to your posts or I have you whole lot whipped!"

The one eyed soldier pushed his way to the front and said, "I didn't sign up to let helpless folk die!"

"Captain Borse!" The commander frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"My men want to know why are the gates closed?" Borse the one eyed demanded, "The city can still hold the refugee folk, why are we abandoning them out there? The Empire army is almost upon us!"

"It's the Grey Lord's order!" The commander retorted, "He wants the gate closed! Now back to your posts! And you too, Captain!

The gathered soldiers grumbled among themselves and slowly dispersed back to their post leaving Captain Borse glaring at the Gate Commander who lost in the staring match and retreated back into his office.

"Captain," A scrawny soldier dressed in oversized leather called to Borse, "What do we do now Captain?"

"Back to the men," Captain Borse frowned as he walked back towards the walls. "Call the squad leaders together."

"Yes, sir!" The scrawny soldier saluted and ran off ahead, leaving Borse alone with his thoughts.

Borse came from one of the many micro kingdoms dotting the continent, the small and peaceful Kingdom of Dawn before it got embroiled in a war with the expansionist Empire of Bluewood.

His kingdom destroyed and the remanents enslaved, he and his surviving company of soldiers fought on desperately for many years. His original company of over a hundred slowly grew to a thousand as soldiers and refugees from other defeated kingdoms joined up with him over the years.

They conducted hit and runs attacks, lightning raids on supply convoys of the Empire but eventually were forced back and with over two thousand civilians, Borse had to make a choice of retreating or risk having the non-combatants killed by Empire troops hunting them.

Hence Borse gathered his men and the refugees and marched towards the Kingdom of Mecca when word came that the two remaining kingdoms have formed an alliance. Upon reaching Frontier City, the Grey Lord recruited him on the promise that the refugees with him were to be taken proper care of.

Borse nodded at the two sentries at the gate of a simple fenced off campsite next to the Eastern Wall. In the darkening skies, several braziers and torches were already lit, casting their orange glow to the surroundings.

Rows of mismatched tents were pitched up as neatly as possible in the hard-packed earth while the company's blacksmith and quartermaster had their stores and smithy set up against the city wall with a couple of simple wooden lean-to covered their supplies and the smith was at work sharpening and grinding blades.

"Captain," A small group of rough looking soldiers appeared before Borse gestured them to follow him. They entered a large tent in the middle of the camp and the men gathered around the only table in the middle of the tent.

"The Grey Lord gave the order to close the gates," Borse spoke. "The people are trapped outside."

"Is there no way for us to open the gates to allow those poor folks in?" One of the leaders asked. "We can't just let them be slaughtered out there?"

The rest of the men nodded and agreed, "Yeah, we seen too many of our own people dead! We must find a way to save them!"

"I say we storm the gate and open it!" Someone yelled, "The Empire army is still not here yet!"

"I will seek an audience with the Grey Lord," Borse slapped his hand on the table, silencing everyone. "I want no one to do anything rash while I am gone! Is that clear?"

The gathered leaders grumbled but they nodded in acknowledgment. "Now, I want you all to check on your men, make sure everyone is ready, the Empire..."

"Captain!" The same scrawny soldier burst into the tent in a hurry. "The Meccan scouts are back and they report the Empire is here!"

-----

The bells in the entire city toiled and rang as news of the Empire army is within sight of the city. Soldiers were ordered to their posts in the walls, while the citizens of the city flocked to the tallest buildings or towers to catch a glimpse of the invading army despite it being at night.

Screams and frightened cries sounded from the gates as desperate refugees hammered at the gates, trying to force their way into safety. Those at the rear that was smarter quickly make their way away from the city, knowing that the Empire army's focus will be on the city instead.

In the distance, hundreds and hundreds of fire lights slowly emerged as the Empire army approached. The Empire army stopped at the very edge of the city defenses and made camp before the whole city where the citizens were watching with a festive mood.

-----

"My lord, we should launch a night raid while the enemy is still making camp and in disarray!" The commanders advised the Grey Lord who was observing the pinpricks lights from torches and campfires in the distance with a magical scrying spell.

"Do you know who the commander of the Empire army is before us?" Grey Lord asked mildly.

"I heard it is The Rock," One of the aides responded to Grey Lord's question.

"Ahh yes, the Scorpion King," Grey Lord sighed, "And you want to lead the cavalry out on a night ambush against one of the Empire's greatest generals?"

"Why do you think he parades his army before the city and sets up camp before your eyes?" He continued.

The commanders looked at each other with frowns on their faces, "Because it's a bait to trap any forces silly enough to attack them?"

Grey Lord nodded, "Rotate the men on the wall and make sure everyone had a good rest and ample food, it will be a busy day tomorrow morning!"

-----

Black Scorpion Legion I Camp

"Have the men rest," The speaker in heavy armor removed his helm, exposing his bald head, "Half the sentries too, give the men a good rest."

"But my Lord, won't the Two Nations launch a sneak attack tonight?" One of the armored soldiers gathered in the richly decorated tent asked.

"Knowing that bastard in that castle there," The Rock gave a grin, "He won't dare to move his forces."

"I want scouting teams out tonight," He continued as he took a flagon of wine from one of the serving maids, "Map the terrain around the city and also set up distance markers for our troops tomorrow."

"Should we prepare for a preemptive attack before the sun rises?" One of the Black Scorpion commanders asked.

"No, I got something better," The Rock grin went wider, "Prepare the Bronze men, when the moon is at its zenith, send them in to attack the city."

"But my Lord, the Bronze men..." The commanders looked uneasily among themselves, "We do not know their capabilities..."

"Do not worry," He assured the commanders, "I know what they can do, and I have my plans. Get the engineers to work on building the siege weapons and ladders. Now go carry out my orders!"

"Yes my Lord!" The gathered commanders and leaders saluted and bowed before they left the tent.

The Rock finished the wine and tossed the flagon away before he picked up the soul stone controlling the Bronze men and grinned, feeling the souls conscious of the ranks and ranks of turned people, that stood in silence at the back of the camp where none of the other soldiers were willing to approach nearer.

"The Two Nations wouldn't know what storm is coming for them!"


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Neobear Neobear

Advance chapters are available on Pat-reon

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