Chapitre 60: The First Commander of The Pelican Guards
"The Pelican Guard command structure was designed for 10,000 men split into 10 sections. Each section is to be commanded by a commander in charge of 1000 men."
"These numbers, however, would shift constantly as the dynasty's power rose and fell if there were more Pelican Guards, then the sections would increase in number evenly unless ordered otherwise by the head of the house."
"If there were less, then for every 1000 men, lower 1 commander would traditionally be removed."
"When House Aurellion escaped from Chavaria, there were 3,000 Pelican Guards minus those killed with Lucius."
"1000 were under the command of the Grand Commander Leon Mantelon."
"While the other 2000 were under both the 1st and 2nd commanders."
"These loyal 3000 men would begin a reputation that would strike fear into the hearts of enemies of House Aurellion."
"For where the Pelican Guard go, death is almost certain to follow."
Levath Rammat, Historian and politician in the Kingdom of Athurus.
….
A series of metallic clangs resounded through the battlefield as metal struck metal, the fighting creating a constant ring as one by one, Pelican Guards fell slowly being overwhelmed by the large number of enemies they faced, but not before taking at least 2 enemies down with them their steadfast determination becoming a sight to behold.
Never before had anyone present seen such loyalty and determination to protect than that which these loyal bodyguards showed. The few nobles who sat at the back while their armies fought looked on with jealousy at House Aurellion's loyal soldiers who gave their all to protect a child who was the heir to the noble house they served.
Leon and Scorpius' swords constantly clashed, each blade becoming a blade of light as each man fought on an equal footing. This is because Leon was only at the grandmaster level with a spear and not a sword, the only significant difference between them was Leon's eyesight and reactions, which remained at the grandmaster level, allowing him to easily see and defend even the most deft and skilful strikes that Scorpius sent at him.
Over the 10 minutes of fighting that raged on after the deaths of the 2 other masters in the service of Chavaria, the remaining Pelican Guards' numbers had halved the night's events, having ended thousands of lives, leaving only 30 around Railius. The rest had selflessly sacrificed their lives for their young lord.
Slowly, Leon's injuries began to overwhelm him as his sweat-filled face had a look of pain on it as the fight continued. Blood dripped slowly every 30 seconds or so from the fresh wounds he had sustained while fighting desperately to keep Railius safe, which slowly sapped the grandmaster's strength. Only Leon understood the strain it took to fend off 3 master fighters alongside 500 elite soldiers while defending a 10-year-old child. Even some of the most accomplished grandmasters would be reluctant to say they could pull off a similar feat to the grandmaster of loyalty, who got significantly stronger when defending an important member of House Aurellion like Railius, who was their young lord.
Leon's Pelican pommelled dagger that had been going around the battlefield had long clattered to the floor due to the grandmaster's loss of magical power. Even Scorpius had to admire Leon's ability to fight 3 masters simultaneously while controlling the dagger with magic to reap the lives of anyone who let their guard down for even a second.
Unfortunately, as Leon's concentration slowly dissipated, being sapped by his opponents, the dagger got less and less lethal until the grandmaster no longer had the ability to wield it. As soon as Leon's magical power was drained, the small blade just fell uselessly to the floor, leading to many a Chavarian loyalist sighing in relief now that the devil-like dagger was no longer flying around, slowly reaping their lives the moment they lost concentration for a second.
Both men had long run out of mana and magical power because the only way Scorpius could keep up with a buffed Leon was for him and the other master-level fighters to use many skills to defend themselves, which constantly drained their pools of mana as a normal attack sequence of a grandmaster was similar to that of a masters that was augmented by a skill.
Also, skills need to hit, and if they don't or are blocked, then they are wasted alongside all of the mana used to cast it unless the skill drastically increases the power of the strike, in which case an opponent may become disarmed if they blocked it as usual.
Scorpius, who had his own passive buffs from being in the imperial guard, faired slightly better, but it was only 10% for executing the emperor's will and for his other skill linked to being an officer, which was half of what Leon got for his grandmaster title.
A strong strike from Scorpius forced Leon to his knees, the grandmaster's hands struggling to hold his sword above him, preventing the loyal imperial guard from striking the final blow. The Chavarian Vice Commander had already stuck Leon's back earlier in the fight, causing a gash on the grandmaster's battered body, who was breathing heavily due to the exhaustion of fighting for so long.
Scorpius looked down at Leon, smiling at finally having the upper hand after so long it had taken 2 master fighters and countless of his elite imperial guards to wear down this loyal grandmaster, the metal of their swords scraping on each other.
"Do you regret it now, Leon? You could have become one of the best in Chavaria! Instead, you held onto something as whimsical as friendship trying to protect the line of a traitor!"
Scorpius said scorn in his voice as anger continued to burn in his body, but his gloating did not get the effect he wanted as all he saw in Leon's face was determination.
"We both know that my lord was no traitor."
"But it is that same friendship and comradery that I and my men hold to so dearly…."
"Which will be the reason my Pelican Guards will always be superior to you imperial guards!"
"Even if we are similar in our devotion to our respective lords."
Leon said, his face showing a relaxed smile as his superhuman-like senses heard the clatter of hooves get closer and closer, but this lapse in concentration allowed Scorpius to disarm him and send the grandmaster's sword flying into the ground 20 meters away, as the Vice Commander of the Imperial Guards raised his sword, ready to strike his old friend down.
Just as the steel would enter Leon's tired body, an arrow streaked through the sky like a shooting star and embedded itself into Scorpius' chest, piercing through the man's armour and making him cough up some blood as he, too, was brought to his knees.
In the distance, the crimson and gold banner of House Aurellion fluttered in the wind and at the head of this crimson host of cavalry rode the First Commander of the Pelican Guard. While each commander held an equal rank in the Pelican Guard, it was customary for the more skilled and respected members to have lower numbers.
The rank of First Commander meant that when the grand commander was absent, he had the most seniority and authority. Even if the other commanders did not need to heed the First Commanders' orders, such traditions were still present in the Pelican Guard to help establish a clear chain of command.
'You sure took your time to get here.'
'Aldorus.'
Leon thought as his backup had finally arrived. The remaining 20 Pelican Guards and Nathos looked up at them with smiles, knowing that 1000 more of their brothers in arms had arrived and that the battle was in their favour now.
A loud roar emerged from Aldorus, who led his men from the front, charging towards the Chavarian forces.
"Forth, Oh, birds of prey who fly across the world!"
"Protect our young lord!"
A trumpet then sounded, and The Pelican Guards charged at the Chavarian forces, their horse hooves sounding like the trumpet of death as the Chavarians broke and ran and fell under the steel of these loyal protectors of Aurellion. The remaining imperial guards rallied under their captains, determined to execute their orders, and continued to try to take Railius' head but were held off long enough for Aldorus to arrive, the master fighter severing the head of many a captain with his spear reaping life after life likes deaths merciless scythe.
After being shot by the arrow, Scorpius's eyes widened slightly as in the brief moment that he was stunned by the shot, Leon burst out with strength, taking the stunned vice commander's sword before stabbing him in the gut, twisting the blade, which tore through both muscle and flesh, killing Leon's old friend with whom he had created an empire with as the Chavarian Vice Commanders body fell to the ground.
Around the grandmaster were the bodies of many dismounted imperial guards, making a small black hole around him to prevent the skilled warrior from stealing a horse and escaping. Scorpius decided to dismount and fight him on foot, allowing them to more easily control the experienced horseman, who could potentially steal a horse and break out with Railius, making their job much harder.
Aldorius and the 1000 Pelican Guard that he commanded made quick work of the remaining Chavarian forces, with only a few at the back managing to escape. After killing Scorpius, Leon limped over to the 20-odd Pelican Guards who had survived the battle, protecting Railius using his hand to help stanch the blood that leaked like running water from his body.
"The young master…."
"Is the young master all right?"
Leon asked his men, deeply concerned over the fate of the 10-year-old boy he had been charged to protect. The Pelican Guards made way, and Leon saw a smiling small boy stare back at him with only a few scratches on him but mostly unharmed. The Pelican Guards had done a stellar job in protecting their young masters as only 25 men had survived of the 300 who had originally accompanied the Grandmaster of Loyalty, making Leon sigh with relief before falling back to his knees, his wounds starting to overwhelm him, but the few survivors showed how close and bitter the hard-fought battle was.
"Grand Commander!"
After he had finished dealing with the remaining Chavarians, Aldorus cried in alarm when he saw Leon's body littered with wounds, both big and small. Many places in the large grandmaster's armour were pierced through by spears and swords wielded by House Aurellion's enemies, seeing the man he respected so much on his knees due to injury.
A few of the nobles had managed to escape due to being at the back and watching the battle from afar, and then quickly fled when they saw the battle going against them.
Officially, for the last 10 years, the Grandmaster of Loyalty had been only a butler, with only a few in the Pelican Guards and the old members who were loyal to death knowing of the Grand Commander's true identity. It was mainly these people that Lucius stationed to protect his family anyway, as they were the most skilled and loyal of them all, allowing Leon to command them a lot easier.
Unofficially, Leon was the Grand Commander of The Pelican Guards assigned by his lord Lucius Aurellion to protect his heir and family in dangerous times like these.
Lucius was politically astute enough to know that while he was away from the capital on assignment or military expedition, his family was vulnerable and so asked a favour of Drusus, who worked with him to expel Leon from the Chavarian Army so that his loyal friend could be assigned discreetly to protect his vulnerable family.
Even if Lucius' wife Thorilsia was a master-level fighter and gave them a layer of protection, who knew if Lucius' enemies would send multiple masters or even a grandmaster to attack his family so assigning Leon as a secret protector gave Lucius and House Aurellion a hidden trump card. When Leon managed to break through to the grandmaster level, it only strengthened Lucius' resolve to keep him as a hidden card. The lord of House Aurellion even changed the emergency plan, putting Leon instead of Thorilsia in charge of Railius' protection in the event of an emergency like this, as before this, it would not matter much as both were master-level fighters and equally capable of protecting his heir.
It was only now when House Aurellion was declared traitors by the Emperor, that he had been forced to make a move as no sane person would offend one of the most skilled and powerful generals of the empire who had the power to rebel if he wanted.
Seeing their commander's poor state, Pelican Guards immediately went to support their respected Grand Commander. Many of those unaware of Leon's identity recognised their founder now that he was in full armour and not in more civilian attire.
Aldorus's hands glowed with a bright golden light as the light began to envelop Leon's kneeling form, who would almost certainly die if he was not treated within a few days. Even a grandmaster with an excellent constitution was only slightly tougher than normal mortals, as such grandmasters can die as easily as a normal soldier. It is only their experience and battled hardened bodies that make any difference in the constitution between a master and grandmaster.
The wounds closed in a similar way that Lucius' had 12 years ago at Brunag when Scorpius healed him, though by now, both would be reunited in the underworld as both had passed from the mortal plane of existence, though he was spared the extricating pain of having poison removed from his body.
The more minor wounds were slowly closed as fresh skin replaced that which was broken and flesh healed and reconnected, the larger wounds, including the one that was inflicted by Scorpius' steel sword that ran down his back, were turned into new scars that decorated the war-hardened warrior's body joining the countless others that he had suffered on his long and distinguished military career for one does not become one of the best cavalry vanguard generals in Chavaria without talent.
Aldorus could even see a red line of dried blood running down Leon's back from where blood had dripped slowly from his open wounds. It was amazing to Aldorus how Leon could fight through the pain and do such an excellent job at defeating 3 master-level fighters and 500 imperial guards in such a condition.
One must remember that the Imperial Guard represent the most powerful military force in Chavaria, and even master fighters would not be confident in taking 500 on at once alone, let alone backed up with master-level fighters. All this displayed Leon's extraordinary martial prowess.
With all these injuries, it was no wonder that the Grand Commander of the Pelican Guards was feeling weak, yet even in such a state, all the Grandmaster of Loyalty cared about was the fate of his young lord and best friend's son Railius.
"You really overdid it general."
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
LaziestDragon
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