2 days had passed since I sent Mo out to retrieve Tabernath but they were yet to return. Hara, the prisoner… Never seemed to get over the mental shock of my display of magic. I doubt anyone did… Though when I wasn't around they all seemed almost too relaxed…
To try and make sense of it they chalked it up to the empire's own mages failing a spell, highlighting why they didn't use magic in our kingdom. As absurd as the theory was… It seemed more believable than me being able to do that single-handedly. There were other theories like I somehow used my dragon's blood to sabotage the spell they were casting. Although, no one dared mention it to my face. And I didn't dare talk about it either…
Every day I found myself staring from atop the battlements… But every day nothing came back from the forest… Monsters had cleaned up the corpses of the empire soldiers, and we had properly reinforced our defenses once again. Even my body was starting to recover, although it was only about halfway there. 'If they chose to fight, Mo should have still come back…' I rubbed my face, thinking about the best course of action. 'Even if I'm weak Fritz is at full strength… I need to know what's happening… I could just go out myself…'
I sighed as the orange sunrise faded to daylight and descended the castle walls to go find Philly. Rounding up what remained of her men we all left the city on horseback.
Once in the woods, it was just a matter of opening my senses. When I did the sound of battle rang in my ears, but it was nothing more than a small skirmish at best.
'I can't see through all these trees!' "Philly! We're heading into a battle, Keep your formation tight and circle around with half your men. I'll take the other half and lead them straight through. NOW!"
She broke off just like I said and before I knew it we were entering the fray. A clearing made by the chaos of war. Trees had been cleaved from the ground and scattered while men lay dead. To my surprise, at the center of it all were the 42 Runeborn soldiers, circled up and protecting Mo, who seemed to have an injured leg, bearing her fangs like a wild dog as she held her knives ready and a mix of white and red blood stained her armor like strawberry milk.
They were surrounded, but in a way that just made it easier to join the fight. I led my cavalry around the right side and we cleaved through the soldiers like peeling an orange. Moments later Philly did the same around the left, having looped around, We joined up and quickly made work of those that were left, attacking in sync with the runeborn advancing out. Sure, one or two made it past as the formation loosened… But Mo with an injured leg was still Mo, and they never stood a chance.
When it was all done I quickly rode up to Vasick. "What happened, tell me everything."
"Tabernath chose to fight against your recommendation. At first, we were winning, but the enemy army received reinforcements. We broke off to return to the castle but were blocked off. We've been fighting for days."
'You've got to be kidding… Days? And not one of you could make it back… Forget it…' "How many reinforcements?"
"A couple thousand."
'Fairy dust…' I gestured for him to move aside and rode up to Mo. "How bad is it?"
"I'll be fine… But I can't run. I'll be a liability in a fight."
I sighed offering her a hand and helping her to get on Fritz's back. "Commander, show us the way to Tabernath's camp. If the fighting is still going on, maybe we can have the undead cover our retreat and still save him."
He sighed. "He'd never agree to that… But I'll show you the way…"
I quickly looked around. 'They killed hundreds of men… And have been fighting for nearly 2 days? Not only are they still going, but they haven't sustained any major injuries either… I'd say the Runeborn division was a success… Though it doesn't seem like they can withstand the pain if they have less than 250 Con.' I relaxed my grip on Fritz's mane and made sure Mo really was ok, glancing over her injuries before starting to move again. "If we won't listen then We'll just have to knock him out and order the retreat ourselves…"
As we grew closer the clashing of steel began to fall silent, but the screams grew louder. As it turns out the monsters of the forest had begun attacking the empire soldiers like they were a virus. By the time we arrived both sides had backed off to lick their wounds and re-assess their standing.
Neither had fully retreated, but they were not eager to continue fighting either… Although, considering the opposing side likely had even more reinforcements underway… We were certain to lose. After finding the commander's tent I dismounted and walked inside, taking a moment to try and catch my breath.
"Commander Tabernath… We need your troops to pull back at once. Follow us back to Kasesh and let the undead cover our retreat… You shouldn't have engaged in battle here to begin with."
He raised his head from the war table and sighed. I thought he was enraged… But his eyes only softened when they saw me. "If General Rokai reaches the capital, and then they are reinforced with the third star, and another sage, and who knows what else, not even the king will stand against it. We need to land a decisive blow here or the capital will fall."
"You can't beat him…"
"Even he will be tired after two days of fighting. If not me, someone else will land the killing blow. I'd gladly give my life to take his."
"Strategically I'd take that trade… But it's far more likely that you will simply die and get nothing for us in return…" I thought I was calm… Maybe it was my dragon form, who knows, but the longer I looked at him the angrier I became, it wasn't his voice, or even just his stubbornness, but something unexplainable. Out of all the commanders he seemed the most sound of mind. And yet he engaged in combat with a legion by himself without so much as sending a messenger back to us…
"We will fight… And I will win… As a Noble, it is our duty to fight every battle as though our heels are on the edge of a cliff. If we retreat even once it will only lead to more death. There is only the battle in front of us. If we win we fulfill our purpose and keep the people safe. If we lose then people will die. The capital will burn and the citizens with it. Our single unified purpose is to give our citizens a safe place that they can call home and peaceful lives away from monsters… Be it invaders or hydra we will not retreat… Never… Let this be my last lesson to you Siya… This is what it means to be a noble."
He moved a single board piece on the table and grabbed his sword before walking right past me as if I wasn't even there, leaving me completely speechless.
"Vash, Rayana, finish consolidation and get ready to march."
'This idiot…' I turned and grabbed his arm from behind, walking outside after him. "You'll just throw away your life! And not just yours, but all of you're soldiers too!"
He turned and looked down at me with a face void of emotion, his eyes only softening further before he put on his helmet. "Better to die in combat… Then to die from backing off a cliff…"
"You'll die!" I shouted. Just repeating myself as the realization slowly sneaked in that he wasn't coming back with me.
He swept his cloak behind him, moving his hand away from his chest as he latched his sword to his back, exposing a gaping bloodstained hole through his chest piece that gave me chills. "No… Are you?"
With a firm clang his fist hit his chest as he saluted me. "Do what you think will save the most lives… And I will do the same." He slowly took off an amulet from under his armor and handed it to me. "It's a shame I never got to see you in a real fight…"
I felt my skin tighten as another chill ran down my arms, but as he turned and drew his blade I couldn't say another word… 'He's undead? He already died?' Tears fell down my face. My mind went blank. I started stepping backward but just before I fell the dragon must have taken control, and the next thing I knew we were back in Kasesh…
Although My consciousness had taken a break from my body, it was as if only a moment had passed. As I looked around I stood in the war room, still crying. Everything was silent. It stayed mostly the same until our scouts reported that Tabernath's army was completely routed, only bringing more tears that I still couldn't explain. It wasn't that I was grieving… Although I was sad to some extent. It was more like I was just confused, and ultimately overwhelmed.
I wiped my tears with my arm. "Without his army… We evacuated the city… They're really is no other choice now…"