Kontia
Delilah of the Pomi, Soldier of the 111th Company
I blinked away the pain as I threw myself into Imperial lines, trusting my spear fully though the chain vest of an Orc and darting back as one of his fellows turned on me before I could effectively recover it. With the spear lost I quickly drew my blade to cut down a man who ran at me with a pathetic excuse for a battlecry.
For a time I fell into the familiar rhythm of battle, bloodlust thundering from my heart as I slapped aside clumsy strikes with the flat of my blade to respond with quick slashes and jabs into thighs, faces and necks. Soon I had some distance around me as my enemies lay dead or dying and men were unwilling to take their place.
With the glory of the charge exhausted we twin hosts began a slower phase of the clash. Each Lepus kept at least three feet between us with lepus behind us shouting and jumping in place but studiously keeping a good eight feet distance so that we at the front rank had space to dance forwards and back. Only when one was wounded or grew tired would they rush back to be replaced by a lucky fighter from the rear lines.
It was a sensible system I had to begrudgingly admit as I darted forwards to stab at the shin of a terrified orc who battered my blade away with his own and let out a squealing cry for support. Unlike us the Imperials were packed so close together that the men behind them were pushing them forwards with their shields and they had scarcely enough room to swing a blade forward.
I had been in many battles and I understood the frustration of having lesser warriors crowding you and making it impossible to do battle. I had seen more experienced and powerful fighters turn their blade on their fellows for getting in their way. The women of a dozen tribes around me however seemed to be the better, more experienced warriors of the Lepus as they understood not to get in each other's way.
Feeling my limbs burning from exertion I let out an elated roar and sent a foot into the shield of an Imperial sending him and the man behind him rolling backwards with a startled scream. The opening was quickly attacked by women on my sides who still had spears allowing them to jab at the clump of tangled men on the ground.
Taking a moment to breathe, I drew back into the lines around me and tried to look around, but I did not have time to take good stock of the battle as our advance had floundered due to the mage casting some fell magic that had blinded us on the charge. The Imperials had ravaged our assault and many Lepus were among the grim carpet of battle. What I had assumed was the good sense of our front ranks was in fact a slowness of the rear ranks in replacing our dead in the fight.
I threw myself forward once more letting out a scream of fury and vengeance heedless of any dangers as I battered against the slow and untrained defenders. With a startling suddenness the defenders had scattered, all that remained was a confused thin line of fighters looking back at the heels of their comrades before they were cut down.
A cheer went up, whooping and jeering at the fleeing Imperials as the woman at the front of our formation sucked down air and hopped in place to bleed the bloodlust from our systems. I turned my blade and bit down on the blunt side of the bronze sword feeling the battle madness subside and the metal deform, it was already damaged by the fighting and I would have to hammer it back to shape regardless. A familiar chill fell over me as I began to pick through the dead and dying for women that could be carried to the rear and tended to.
Others in our number took the chance to break through doors and windows in the buildings close enough and ravage the families inside for daring to resist or for cheering on the Imperials. As ever the Tanaoi henpecked and rushed about, making sure that our advance into the city was slow and frustrating.
I saw Enya sitting on a chair someone had brought out from a house sitting still as a girl of perhaps fourteen years fussed over a cut on her scalp with needle and thread. Unsure of what to do next and with my company commander nowhere to be found I approached the Brigadier.
"We have seen them off but we do not give chase." I stated bluntly at the woman who admired the severed head of the Imperial Mage in her hands. I did not see her duel with the man but I did not doubt she was the one to take his life, she had been at the front of our charge after all, the Tanaoi fought well when it mattered I supposed.
I spared a thought to the men I had slain just moments ago but in truth none of them were worthy of adorning my belt. I felt some jealousy that Enya crossed blades with the mage but set it aside, she had charged fearlessly into battle at the head of our host and that alone demanded defference from me.
"No, we do not. Your company is exhausted and we shall tend to the wounded, the other companies will advance into the city to secure positions and to keep the defenders separated. Your company will be assigned to maintain our hold on this gate and the surrounding streets." She winced as the girl began to tug at the thread sealing her wound.
"We have the city, just let the women roam freely." I argued, earning a frown.
"The city hosts perhaps fifty thousand humans and orcs... and the Imperials still have the walled palace as well as many other fortified locations to operate from. No, we do not control the city. We will advance where we are able without resistance and secure our position here. It will be just a few days before my Queens force arrives and I intend to have the gate open for her when she does. I have already won a glorious victory in bypassing the walls and I will not risk that. Am I clear?" I grit my teeth but nodded. Enya no doubt had a clearer view of the city, I had spent most of the night standing in a line staring at a wall while she had been organising the assault.
"It is as you say... Brigidear." I moved to turn away but she held up a hand.
"You can read? And you know your numbers?" She asked, I considered the sudden change in topic before nodding.
"I served as bodyguard to the High Queen before her treason. Such things were expected."
"Are you of pure blood?" She asked and I shook my head causing her to tut. "Well, needs must. Congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant. You are now commander of the Hundred Eleventh Company." The young girl whispered something in her ear and Enya nodded before getting to her feet.
"What about our commander?" I asked in a confused tone only for Enya to point at a row of Lepus corpses being collected at the side of the street. The number of fallen Lepus was far more than I expected.
"Lieutenant, second Lieutenants, both of them. The magic that blinded us was too much for them. Twenty others too, your company falls below the number that our Queen considers acceptable for battle now and overnight perhaps more of the wounded will perish. The hundred and eleventh needs leadership and I have other things I must attend to. I saw you at the front, you have fire in your belly and your blade has tasted much blood. I expect great things from you Delilah." She gave me a pointed look.
"I have never disappointed before. I will organise this company to your glory Brigadier." I threw up a salute, arm raised towards the rising sun. Enya looked at it for a while and smiled.
"My Queen prefers it like this." She said, performing a Tanaoi Salute and I gave a laugh before mirroring her. "I will provide a second Lieutenant to you on the morrow. You have served well and as our Queen says, good work is to be rewarded with more work."
"As is to be expected." I said in good humour.
"All of the Imperial towns are built the same way," Enya began, changing the subject once more. "Straight lines and streets like this. You see that well down the street? That is where they have four main roads converging together. I want you to have your women build a barricade blocking off the other three entrances to this street and leaving us with access to that well." I looked down the street at the well she was pointing at and nodded. "Collect what buckets you can if the fires spread in the city, I will consider pulling down buildings close to areas we firmly control."
"We will hold this street." I said with confidence, if the Imperials were unable to defeat us in a battle in an open street they would never dislodge us when we had barricades. As for the fire, if it grew too fearsome then we could always leave the city.
"And be aware that some Lepus slaves might come along, let them over the barricade. They will swell our number but you are not to take them into your company without my consideration."
"Lepus slaves?" I asked.
"The walls were abandoned due to an uprising of our fellow Lepus. Thousands of them apparently, other companies have already encountered small groups of them. They are scattered throughout the city but when they learn of our breach they will no doubt seek us out. I will be using these houses to hold them until the Queen arrives so make sure your girls prepare some of them for lodging. We will teach the Imperials that Lepus are not slaves and the folly of housing us in their cities." Enya said with a cocky grin.
"What do I do about the humans in the buildings?" I glanced around at the buildings overlooking the wide street.
"Force them out deeper into the city, don't bother killing them, we don't want any unnecessary resistance but any Imperials in the areas we control are a risk and I don't want any risks. That goes for your company too, Lieutenant! Keep your women where they should be, no raiding without my direct order. Now, get the Imperials out of the area, take count of the women you have left and tend to the wounded. Oh and dump the bodies outside of the walls. I will have a pit dug." With that she stalked away. Just days after I had joined the Tanaoi I was granted my own large warband. Or as the Tanaoi called it, a Company of soldiers.
Their ways were strange but not totally unfamiliar. The Imperials organised themselves into legions and cohorts and the like. But the creations of the Tanaoi Queen were unique, distant enough that it did not feel offensive. Perhaps that was the intention, to learn from the victorious Imperials but to keep their ways at a comforting distance from us.
I felt unsettled for a moment before I turned about and set about my orders. This was a war for the future of the Lepus itself, I would fight even if it meant subordinating myself to the Tanaoi ways.
Imperial Campsite, Eighty Miles from Kontia
Godasen Graci, Imperial Senator, General and Master Mage
Sitting atop a horse shivering under the oppressive northern winds I cupped my hands together and allowed a flame to dance between them. It had once been a difficult thing to conceive the flames into being and to prevent them from licking the skin, many hundreds of small scars attested to how poor a student I was in my youth.
I looked out over the hill, now and then a pair of long ears and a face would pop up from behind the hill where the Tanaoi host lay. But still they had not deemed to offer battle and continued their movements on the other side of the hill. Several Saderan scouts had skirmishes with their own scouts while attempting to place the movement of the barbarians but the information they brought back was limited. Still it did not seem as if the Lepus had the number, or perhaps the inclination to match my line, offering their flanks to me if they did eventually offer battle.
I doubted that however. In every battle thus far the Lepus had formed ranks with remarkable speed, or perhaps it would be remarkable if the Lepus did not simply form a long line every time. Perhaps this Queen of the Tanaoi was experimenting with copying Imperial formations. It would be fortuitous if that was the case. Inexpert imitation would offer them nothing but defeat, as would anything else they did honestly.
This was a trivial assignment. The great young men of noble houses adorned with steel shirts humming with magic sat atop thirteen thousand steeds. Three great Wyverns recovered from their raid on the Tanaoi baggage train before they were to set upon the rabbits who marched into the valley. The foolish boy had offered me such glory in this battle that could have been his should he merely ride a scant few days across the gentle hills.
But he was perhaps far too taken with his new concubine. He had not even left Fort Tolis as far as I was aware. I sighed, willing the flames to grow hotter as I waited for the Tanaoi to decide on the formation they would die in. It was quite unbecoming for a young Prince to be so taken with luxuries and comfort. Indulgence did little to temper the will of Saderan men.
My control of the flame faltered as a voice was carried on the wind. I looked about at the startled men around me who indeed heard the voice of the Tanaoi queen cast out across the rolling steppe as if she spoke from just a scant few paces away. I grasped the reigns on my horse and signalled to a runner to ride to where the Wyvern Knights waited.
There had been rumours that the Tanaoi had acquired some dark power from Emroy. Or perhaps from blood pacts with demons. That their ways had changed since their Queen had come to power and with her malicious magics that could cause stone walls to vanish in the blink of an eye with the sacrifice of a mewling babe. Others claimed that with a clap of her hands she could blast apart entire buildings. Or that she would bewitch the women who served her and lay with them as if she were a man.
I had studied at Rondal and was sceptical of such claims. Spells that could vanish walls or blast them apart would require power that no one mage could possess. It was an interesting thought experiment however, how many mages would be required to breach a stone wall? Certainly less Imperial mages than barbarous savages who sought what petty power could be gleaned from the evil of blood sacrifice.
Turning my mind away from such thoughts I beheld a marching column of the Tanaoi rising up over the hills and let out a laugh. Perhaps the foolish savages had confused what was a formation intended for travel for one that had use on a battlefield! I turned about to speak to riders who could carry word up and down the line that they were to advance and encircle the foolish Tanaoi only for a thumping sound to echo out across the sky and for the young boy I was addressing to suddenly disappear.
I grasped the reigns of my horse as she bucked and brought her under control as I wiped blood from my brow with shaking hands. I stared, dumbfounded and horrified as a dozen men and horses were felled in a neat line in front of me. My head snapped back to the approaching Tanaoi and I saw atop the hill a Lepus holding a giant golden sceptre in both hands.
I blinked as another loud thump sounded out and the Lepus staggered slightly before some magic loosed from her impacted Equites and slaughtered a score of them. Light and magical energies were thrown up as the Tanaoi spell struck but none of the dozens of enchantments protected them from such terrible power.
"Charge!" I screamed, pulling my horse back from the front and keeping an eye on the Lepus mage lest her attention turn back towards me. "Wipe them from the field! Get around them and slaughter them! Now! Kill them! Kill them all!" Unsettled but resolute fourteen thousand Horsemen thundered across the valley. Slowly at the start, with the courage of our charge radiating outwards from this position.
Still I pulled back, if that Mage killed me with her attack who would command the men?!
"Kill them!" I urged. "Find the mage and cut off her hands! Bring her to me! Alive but slay the rest!" I hunched over my horse and fought to settle my heart as the battle was dominated by the triumphant roar of the Wyvern Trio. They swooped forwards intending to pass in front of the Lepus' sad excuse for a formation and put fire upon them all from head to back of the Tanaoi army.
A full squadron of Wyvern Knights were the equal of an entire legion. But just three were more than enough to put down the barbarian horde no matter what magic the Tanaoi had gained from the lap of a demon or the designs of the mad god.
I watched with horror when another thump sounded out and it was echoed with the agonised roar of a Wyvern.