Gallia 100 C.D

“They’re going to attack us tonight.”

““What!””

Ayu’s statement effectively silenced all the elders sitting in the hall. They had only recently been made aware of the impending attack and had decided to summon the council to discuss countermeasures. During the discussion, news had been relayed that the Legion had been camped two miles from the Veraxes settlement.

“I understand that it is something hard to swallow. Warfare is very hard to conduct in the night, but they are willing to make that gamble. This isn’t going to be a war for us; it's survival that we must aim for.”

An elder stood up in order to address Ayu, “Surely you must have a way to best them Ayu, you defeated those wretched forces only two years ago. That lord of theirs was nearly captured by you.”

“Be that as it may, elder Brahm, we simply do not have enough manpower to even make a proper strategic formation. Lord Emmanuel was very cunning this time around. He did not assemble his troops all at once but sent decrees for them to join the 1^st Legion as they marched towards the settlement. None of our scouts could pick up on their movement until they were too close.”

The elders had a despondent look for what Ayu had stated was correct, and they had been caught completely unawares. The only course of action that now came to their mind was to either put up fierce resistance, in which case all of them would die or flee the battle, in which case only some of them would die.

‘They should have begun to grasp the gravity of the situation. Elder Brahm is a sissy; he will most definitely attempt to run away, followed by elder Kurk and elder Raya. This leaves us with elder Rava and elder Tusk. I can convince them to hand over their personal guards to add into the army, which brings the total men to 4500 and then if Jeeva is successful in getting some men, we might just barely reach 5500.’

Ayu had planned to coerce the elders into handing over some troops. By his count, he was sure that he could do it. The problem would be the elders who would attempt to flee. Their forces, if assimilated, could give a significant boost to Ayu’s men, but Ayu was unwilling to shed the blood of his people just to muster up some forces. Hence he hatched a scheme to willingly get the troops from the cowardly elders.

“Since you now know that they will attack us before dawn, I request all the elders to hand over their personal guards for me to formulate a plan.”

“What!? Ayu, that is outrageous; you want us to let go of our own protective forces in the middle of a Fucking War?”, just as expected, elder Brahm stuck to his instincts.

“If the elder has any alternatives…please do enlighten this young one”, a tinge of sarcasm was present in this snide remark from Ayu. The elder too noticed this, but he could not refute Ayu’s point. Brahm was only interested in his protection and did not care if the world burned for as long as he was safe.

“Elders, you must decide and decide immediately; every second that passes, our enemies grow closer.”

“I will provide the forces.”

“So will I.”

Elder Rava and Tusk acted the way that was expected of them, while the rest looked at Brahm for guidance. ‘These idiots they don’t even know what to speak, having to always spoon-feed them…UGH’, Elder Brahm knew that he couldn’t hope to say no at this conjecture, and so he reluctantly nodded his head towards Ayu. Catching the signal, the other two started to bob their heads as well.

“That settles it then the elders can keep up to 20 guards as protection while the rest must be assimilated into the army at once.”, as soon as Ayu said his piece, he looked towards his brother, who nodded and left the hall. Jeeva returned moments after he had handed out Ayu’s commands to the men.

“If the elders will excuse us now, we must prepare for the impending strike.”, this was an effective indication that he did not want them to know what he was planning. The elders, while reluctant, obeyed his command and slowly departed. Brahm had a look of annoyance on his face as he left.

‘Ayu simply cannot be trusted; I need to make my own preparations.’, elder Brahm was a coward by nature, but his mind driven by this cowardice was like a knife sharp as ever.

As Ayu saw everyone depart, he stared at his brother with a sombre expression; he knew that even with all his planning, something was bound to go wrong. He had to prepare for it, prepare a future for his wife and child even if he was destined to not be in such a future.

“I’m going to ask something very difficult of you now, brother, and I sincerely hope that you will obey. I want you…”

“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT”

Jeeva already knew what his brother was going to say, and he was not going to let it happen. Seeing the reaction from his brother Ayu gave a long sigh; he knew he had a mountainous task ahead of him to persuade his brother to do what he wanted.

“I know you love war, the blood and carnage derived from it are your true home, but for once, I beseech you to set aside your pride and listen to me. This is my last wish from you Jeeva, in our journey to reach here, we have seen many sacrifices, lost many things, but I cannot bring myself to lose you and our family. You must run away so that one day we may have vengeance.”

Jeeva was extremely unwilling; his eyes had a fire in them which wished to burn the entire battlefield as he was bathed in the blood of his enemies. However, his brother’s words brought into vision the happy days of their yesteryears when their father, mother and siblings were alive. A time of bliss when war was an unreal concept to them, reminiscing those days gone by pained Jeeva beyond any bloodshed he could muster.

“I…I will do it; don’t worry about it. I will take care of everyone.”

“Thank you, Brother.”

…

Gallia 100 C.D

“Have you gathered the men, Marc?”

“I have; we can depart within the hour if you so wish.”

“Let us do that then, and don’t try to have any frontal combat, just kill and run away.”

“I understand”

The conversation between Emmanuel and Marcus came to an end as they entered a period of silence. Yet the tension in the air had not subsided for even a moment; death loomed in the air awaiting the beginning of the ritual. One that will see it reap an innumerable number of souls, not ordinary souls but the souls of warriors forged in blood and iron.

Soon Marc stood up and departed from the tent as Emmanuel sat there under the flame, deep in thought of what was to come. Even if a man plans his entire life, he can be played by fate in just a moment. He clearly understood this, which is why he prayed to Varuna to grant them favour over the barbarians.

…

Deep into the night, when the moon hung over the heads of every man, woman and child, a black mass of sorts could be seen moving in the forest. The soldiers of Junia were sneaking closer and closer to the Veraxes settlement. They were not wearing heavy armour in order to not hinder movement; instead of carrying spears, they only carried their short swords for swifter attacks. The troop was beginning to look more like a bandit army than a regular one.

Marc, who was at the head of this bandit force, signalled a stop at the very edge of the forest. There was only a 100m distance between them and Veraxes settlement. It was clear that they had anticipated a night attack which is why they had found no barbarian soldiers on their way towards the Veraxes.

As Marc looked at their walls which were wooden made at a height of 15 feet, it was easily scalable and not meant for enemy incursions. Guards were still standing on the arrow towers looking for targets, yet the night made for poor visibility. Marc had two hours to wreak havoc, and mass hysteria among these barbarians, for at the first ray of dawn, Emmanuel’s legion will descend on them.

Marc ordered the killing of the guards on the arrow towers. One bowman came forward and shot his arrow; it struck true.

““ENEMY ATTACK””

The Veraxes who saw their fellow man fall immediately shouted for attention. The call had been made now. Marc needed to attack before they group up or prepare any further.

“MEN…READYYYY YOOUUUR AAAARMMSSS”, a long pause entered after this announcement and then, like thunder, came the voice of the war beast.

“ATTACKKKKKK”

““GLORY be to JUNIA, GLORY to VARUNA””

A torrential mass of men fell on the walls of the Veraxes, and the frail wooden wall was simply unable to match their strength. It cracked within a whisper leading to all the soldiers entering the settlement.

They immediately attacked the soldiers that came towards them. Bows fired arrows in rapid succession, and swords cleaved men in two. After culling their immediate surroundings of enemy warriors, the soldiers began to enter the lines of huts that lay before them only to find them mostly empty.

‘Hmm…they evacuated the outer regions…wise. They must have concentrated somewhere in this settlement. Even Ayu cannot hope to evacuate the entire population within such a short time’, Marc commanded his soldiers to keep looking as they slowly moved towards the backend of the settlement.

Like a tide that submerged anything that came between it and the shore, the bandit army killed what minor warriors it encountered on their march forward. Soon Marc was able to pinpoint the location of the populous; they were hiding in a large hall at the very corner of the settlement. The hall was surrounded by a mass of soldiers. Marc’s men still outnumbered them 3:1, so he ordered a frontal assault to kill them.

These soldiers that protected the hut did not seem to be refined warriors as his soldiers were easily able to deal with them. ‘While I can see Ayu leaving these lanky soldiers to protect the people, something just doesn’t feel right about this’, Marc was beginning to get suspicious of the circumstances.

“Legionnaire Torvez, take 100 men and enter that hut and beware of enemies.”

“Yes, Sire”

Legionnaire Torvez and 100 men separated from the main troop as they entered the hut. What lay before them were many women and children shrouded in darkness. Torvez signalled an all-clear to Marc as more and more soldiers started to enter the hut escorting the women and children out.

Just as Marc was about to relax, blood was sprayed right below his feet. He immediately looked up to find the blood of Torvez; looking about; he found his men to be fighting men dressed in women’s clothes. The man that led them had a large frame and beside this man was another large man though shorter than the former. This man looked towards Marc and smirked as blood reigned supreme around him.

“Ayu”, Marc would recognise that face anywhere; he had been played by this man many a time. This, too, was no different; Marc ordered his scrambled men to assemble so that he could face the forces Ayu brought with him. By this time, the women and children who had been hiding with Ayu and his men had run away from the battlefield into the hind gates of the settlement. There Jeeva stood with his men as he took them away.

“You made a mistake coming to me without the protection of Jeeva, Ayu.”

“That wasn’t a mistake, old friend; it was by design, and you will not be leaving today, not this time.”

“I’ll be the judge of that ‘old friend’, and it is you who shall not leave” Marc started to run towards Ayu, short sword in hand. Seeing him run, Ayu also entered battle position to parry his attack. Marc had now started to channelise his power, the short sword was dyed in blood, but an orange light started to emit from it. Ayu knew that this attack was going to be a true strike; he also started to channel his energy.

Marc had finally reached Ayu, and he thrust his sword right at Ayu’s heart but was parried by Ayu’s sword at the very last moment. Both their energies collided, and they were pushed back meters as their feet continued to thrust into the ground.

“You didn’t possibly think it was going to be that easy, did you?” Ayu taunted Marc.

“You have progressed, Ayu, almost on the level as me…almost”, after saying this, Marc took a forward stance, and the orange energy that was only covering his sword started to cover his entire body. As the energy began to build up, Ayu also began to create more distance between them, but right that moment, Marc swung his sword.

*Swish*

Only a gust of air passed through; no earth-shaking sound or blood-curdling cries followed the swing of the sword. Yet a deathly silence hung over the settlement; as Marc’s soldiers looked towards Ayu, they saw an unbelievable sight. Ayu stood there with his arms crossed as blood trickled down from his arms while his clothes had multiple cuts on them.

Ayu heaved as he looked behind him to find almost all his men had been chopped in half and lay crying as blood and guts oozed out of them. They were slowly dying; only a few of them who saw the attack coming were able to intercept it from touching them; the rest had not been so lucky. Their blood and entrails fell on Ayu feet as Ayu’s eyes began to grow dimmer.

Silence dominated the settlement after that, death had enjoyed its first meal, and it was waiting for the main course.