Thos looked at the table as paper soldiers swept inside the town and the beasts made lines against the charging Xiongnu and Scythian cavalry.

“They won’t be enough,” said the child, not understanding how Nikola could be so calm.

“Remember the false retreat I told you about?” Asked Nikola, and he winked at the boy. “The army will be safe behind the walls of the town while I execute it. But you are not safe here. Come, let us go to the town with the rest of the army.”

Nikola took Thos by the hand and led him out. The boy watched as infantry marched. The two of them slipped behind a marching column and matched their steps. The Commander did see them, but he didn’t stop the march on the town.

Zhao Xin Town was…not a town. This is what Thos realized when they entered it, their retreat covered by dragon fire, a herd of Aoyin waiting to crush any horsemen who made it pass the line of never-ending fire.

Zhao Xin Town was one open space with a couple of buildings and yurts. Yurts that could easily catch on fire. Now, Thos regretted preventing the lowering of the temperature. He had thought it was the noble thing to do.

Ten prisoners of war were going to die if he hadn’t done his best. Not to mention that everyone would have suffered if Nikola had made the already cold weather much colder.

Now Thos was not so certain. His hand was in Nikola’s warm one, and the man looked down on him to smile gently.

“You did well. This was your first time commanding troops, right?”

Thos nodded. They had passed by the ruin of his making. All those burned humans laying down on the ground, and Thos had planned it all.

“It will get easier. You will be challenged many times during your reign. I have to tell you your cousin managed to trick your uncle. He took the bait for the false retreat.”

Nikola was tired, thou. War had this effect on him. He had sent Victor to sneak on Bartu Chanyu and to goat Thos’ uncle into the open field and most importantly on a horse. He ran a hand through the boy’s hair before giving the command that no looting and killing was going to happen. The Commander closest to him relayed the news.

Nikola had gotten carried away. He had sunk into his old habits. The boy, his future son-in-law, was looking at him with fear in his eyes. It was masked, but it was there. The trial of the Furies and Cas’s curse had really shaken him.

He had everything he needed now. He had a phoenix for Wei Caihong. His children were well, either in Chang’an or in that Cultivation Sect of Dai. Maybe the Emperor didn’t truly need to die. He was mediocre, at best, but he wasn’t really standing in Nikola’s way.

No, he was going to do better. He was going to get a decisive battle, both with himself and the Xiongnu-Scythia alliance. They waited until dawn the next day for news on the battlefield, with Nikola asking the commanders every so often how it was going.

Morale was high as Thos’ uncle was reported dead. Nikola held the boy in his arms as he cried. For everything that had happened, the man was still family. Then Victor limped into the town with Bartu Chanyu’s head, which he threw at Nikola’s feet.

“It is time I rest,” said the Wuzhiqi, preparing to lunge, even with the bond that bind him to Nikola.

“It is,” agreed Nikola, and he released Victor from his spell. Then he commanded the Chinese army to give chase to the enemy. In the town all weapons of the civilians were taken away, but they were given water and rations, Nikola having repaired the town wells.

The fighting didn’t last long. With Bartu, Chanyu’s son, a boy of eight years, proclaiming himself Chanyu thanks to his sister and fleeing. The morale of the defenders was finally crushed.

Leaving behind his most trusted general, Nikola rode into the Scythian camp and presented the men with their prince. With a little help of Nikola giving the boy the holy mandate of the name, he was immediately followed, and he rode with his people back towards Scythia. With the promise that once Wei Liling became of age, he would come back for her.

Back in Chang’an, Nikola got an Emperor’s welcome. His first business was to embrace both his husband and his wife. Then he presented the phoenix, and it burst into flames, being reduced to ashes.

It was painful for Wei Caihong, but he ate the ashes. But he gave Han Fengfan some too, so she could be with Ryota forever. The little girl didn’t seem to be as affected by the ashes as Wei Caihong, as she said she felt a slight warmth and nothing more.

The Emperor came back a month later and the Wei family gladly left for Gangcho even though Emperor Han didn’t want them to. They spent the remaining fifteen years in their home, and then they left to search for Atlantis. Try as he might, Nikola couldn’t remember where it was, but when he did find it, he made a barrier field around it.

Nowadays, the island of Atlantis is known as the Bermuda Triangle and many people live there under the rule of their Emerald Emperor.

The End.    

doravg

Thank you for reading until the end. I recently, 13.5.2022, fixed all the mistakes in the style, grammar and punctuation that the story had. Or, most of them, at any rate. When I was writing this, my first original work, I was just a novice. I had no idea that 5k word chapters were a turn-off, or what the best paragraph length was. Not to mention, I thought that just reading the chapter after writing it was enough to catch all the mistakes and that I didn't need a grammar checker. 

In a sense, this was my first finger painting, and, like anyone, I would always cherish my first effort. But it needed a facelift. And I gave it one.