CHAPTER 9 – THE FALL OF A NATION
The city was in a state of utter disarray after the messenger had delivered news of the invasion.
‘How has this happened?’ were the words repeated in the streets and alley ways of Tarctiania. The Town Square was filled with an angry and disbelieving crowd. The people that swarmed the streets were of mixed emotion, a small group of troublemakers had even turned to riot. The proud people of Tanaria could not believe their situation. After all, had they not paid their taxes that maintained their armies and protected their borders? How had the Aristrian army just managed to march right through the complex series of defences that had served their nation so well in the Border Wars all those years ago? The Mirelands had proved to be a good natural defence in the past, with only a handful of routes that could be traversed without finding yourself up to the waist in mud. In times of peace it was not uncommon for many a drunk to simply disappear on the return trip from a Tavern.
It was inconceivable to the population of the capital that an enemy army was now past their primary defence and could advance up through the open plains and into the heartland of Tanaria.
High above the frantic streets where the crowds’ anger could barely be heard, the chancellors met again in urgent discussion. They had all stood in the chamber several days earlier at a similar meeting.
Then, the hall had echoed to a different sound:
‘I’m telling you the Aristrian troops have crossed the line, they are not just on some practice manoeuvre or large scale exercise, they really are intent on invasion,’ shouted Chancellor Orbath, over the ruckus of the individual arguments that had developed amongst the ‘Council of Twelve.’ Another Chancellor waved his hands, trying to calm the noisy room as he stood up to respond.
‘Come now, it has all been blown out of proportion. My opposite number on the Aristrian government assured me that they were only dealing with an internal issue. One of their generals has turned against the government and ran for the safety of the marshes. The forces gathering in the region are merely there to stop him from crossing into Tanaria and causing a diplomatic nightmare.’
‘Why the massive internal troop movements then?’ shouted another man.
‘A general has supporters and troops; perhaps they don’t know how far their influences have spread?’
The only man dressed in armour in the room stood up, his two swords were handed in to the magistrate before entering the chambers of council, and until now he had remained silent.
‘Gentlemen of the council, you know my position and purpose well, I find myself present in your capital and as the only Su-Katii member of the six that are currently in your service, I can assure you my voice speaks for all of us. It is obvious that war is coming to Tanaria. The alarm has already been sounded, the signal fires have been lit and soon the Aristrian army will be banging at your gates.’ He paused for a few moments to let the true horror of his words sink in to the now silent men, then he began again – every face in the room followed his movements and tried to read his body language.
‘Unfortunately my scouts have confirmed the enemy’s intentions. They have reported that there are thousands of them already making their way through your borders, but fear not the order of the Su-Katii has brought you twenty years of peace and we will bring you twenty years’ more. I have already deployed the five other Su-Katii generals and their units to a state of full battle-readiness and you will find our forces assigned to their form up positions. The Tanarian Lancers, led by General Banok, will be ready to engage the enemy within a few hours. All I require is the Council’s agreement that we can meet in battle and our troops will send the Aristrian scum back over the borders in one swift strike.’ Towards the end his words had become a shout, sending spittle into the air as the force of his speech reinforced his stance.
‘Lord Aden, you are ever the guardian of Tanaria, we will now vote, but we do not want to repeat the troubles of the last war, I’m sure I speak for everyone on this matter when I say that blood may only be spilt if the enemy are on our land.’ The Chancellors voiced their agreement, as they did with their final vote. Lord Aden scratched his stubble on his lean chin. ‘You have made the right decision, it shall be swift.’
An unusual mist had settled over the ‘Great Illustrian Plain,’ yet this did not slow the pace of the Tanarian lancers. As the elite of the Tanaria cavalry, each man was hand picked for his riding skills and a little mist was not about to stop them. The unit pushed forwards determined to be the first to gain battle honours against the enemy. Their pace was not as reckless as it would at first seem, for every rider knew all too well that there were very few obstacles or trees populating the immense grassland that led to the capital Tarctiania. The lead rider gave the hand signal that denoted a watering hole ahead and the two thousand riders continued to ride into the area long after the Su-Katii leader, Lord Banok had dismounted.
‘Before we meet with the hazards of the Mirelands and anything that the Aristrians can throw at us I would like to address the men so have them form ranks before refreshing the horses.’
‘Is that wise general, so close to the border? I think…’
The officer was abruptly cut short by his general.
‘You are not here to think man. The men require inspiration to fire their spirits. Send out the sentries and gather the men together, we are not frightened of a handful of Aristrian rebels. Besides the men need to be addressed and briefed, for some of them it will be the first proper combat that they have seen.’
‘Yes sir.’ All argument had quickly fled from the young officer and he rushed off ordering the adjutants to form up their men in close order to be addressed by their commander.
Lord Banok cleared the dust from his throat and begun his speech to the men.
‘Proud men of Tanaria, today we will face a peril that has remained dormant for over twenty years.’ The rows of young faces intently followed their commander. ‘You are valiant men like your fathers before you, and I know that you will also carry out your duty for your nation, as they did years before.’
The ground began to tremble and several faces looked at each other with a puzzled expression. The elders amongst the ranks instantly recognized the trembling of the ground; they knew what it sounded like to be on the receiving end of a full blown cavalry charge. Men screamed in panic as the sentries sounded the alarm and they stumbled over each other frantically trying to reach their lances and mounts. The first line of Aristrian cavalry swept out of the mist, ploughing through the terrified Tanarian’ soldiers without mercy. With a smile Lord Banok ceased his speech; the Aristrian riders parted ranks and passed him by. He threw back his crimson cloak drawing his two distinctive Su-Katii blades, and with a war cry he charged into the decimated Tanarians’ fulfilling his bloodlust and completing his betrayal.
The city gate-house sounded its alarm bell as the tower sentry spotted the lone rider approaching Tarctiania. The dusty rider’s weary head was slung low over his horse, but seeing his home walls spurred him back into life again, his pace quickened and soon his shouted words carried to the sentries.
‘Betrayed, he betrayed us all.’
The sentries could now make out the Tanarian Lancers’ tabard on the rider’s chest. A group of the city guards opened the gates and rushed out to meet the lancer. The man was bombarded by questions, and confused, he did a poor job in answering them.
‘Speak clearly man, what happened?’ demanded the Guard Sergeant pushing back the others out of his way.
‘The Su-Katii, they have betrayed us ...I don’t know if any of the others got away from the ambush, but Lord Banok led us directly into a trap, then turned on us, I was lucky to get away.’
‘You lie, man,’ threatened the sergeant, ‘There were thousands of lancers?’
‘The whole regiment was decimated,’ replied the lancer grimly. ‘The Aristrian forces were not a small group of renegades as we were led to believe by our commander. I would say it was more like an entire army group and they are heading this way, I’ve got to find my family, so escape while you can, their army fills the plain.’ The lancer was almost hysterical, forcing the unimpressed sergeant to give the man a slap to calm him down.
‘Now then son, if what you say is true that provides us with a bit of a problem, because I have just marched back from the Halls of Council with the relief guards and the last remaining Su-Katii in the city, Lord Aden, was entering the Chancellors’ chambers.
Towering high above the city stood the Halls of Council, which had been built many years previously on the natural hillside and had a commanding view of the winding and crowded streets of the city below. Lord Aden was delivering one of his regular campaign updates to the gathered Chancellors on how well the war effort was going. Since hearing the distant alarm bells in the city, Aden’s attention had been diverted from his speech and he had manoeuvred himself to a position near the large open window of the chamber that overlooked the city.
‘My generals have reported to me that their initial assault against the Aristrian rebels has gone well and the enemy has been pushed back into the Mirelands, so…’ He stopped his report as he spotted the squads of soldiers filling the streets, marching purposefully up the hillside. There were about sixty men in all, with more falling in individually as they were mustered. ‘So …the war will soon be over?’ questioned the grey haired Chancellor.
‘Yes it will,’ replied Aden as he walked towards the door, the Chancellors watched in shock as his elbow thrust out smashing one of the two chamber guards directly in his wind pipe, instantly depriving him of his weapon and pushing his falling body into the path of the second guard who was in the process of drawing his sword. With a quick thrust he finished the second guard’s struggle and also retrieving his blade, he spun around to face the stunned Chancellors whose faces were now white as snow at his savage act. Glaring back at the accusing faces he cleared his throat and with an ironic smile he spoke. ‘As I said gentlemen, for you the war is over.’
The screams of the dying old men brought further guards into the room. Their bodies soon joined those of the Chancellors.’ Once again the rush of battle flowed through Lord Aden’s veins and unbothered by the thought of the mass of men forming outside, he coolly reclaimed his own swords from the weapons’ rack where he had been forced to check them in on his arrival, for not even the Su-Katii were permitted weapons in front of the council. The temple tattoos were now clearly visible on the back of his neck, burning red with magic as he waited by the door for the clatter of soldiers coming up the stairs. He knew that he was already totally surrounded so he would make them work hard for their pay today. In the silence before their arrival he whispered to himself, ‘Wizard, you had better be as good as your promise or else I will find some way to exact my revenge.’
The armed men came running up the stairs towards the waiting Su-Katii, Aden had reclaimed his day sack from the check-in desk. Tucking one of his blades under his armpit he reached into the bag and backed away to the Council chamber’s entrance. The doors flew open to the first chamber and a mass of men flooded into the room, they may have been soldiers but they were not prepared for the scene of massacre and butchery that awaited them. Aden noted the crossbow men in the lead and flung the bag that he carried onto the floor, he then sprang backwards into the chambers of council. Several bolts thudded into the closing door as the bag of red crystals skidded across the floor and amongst the men. Hammering soon began at the door as he slid one of the dead guard’s swords through the handles, creating a temporary bolt, but he knew that this would not hold them back for long. The tip of a sword could be seen already protruding through the thin door as they hacked away at it.
‘Come on, hurry up you bastards, I’ve got something here for you.’ A bright light flickered through the sword-holes and from under the door. Aden almost slipped in the blood as he backed away deeper in the chamber, his sword raised in a defensive guard. The hammering on the door abruptly stopped and silence followed the tortured screams beyond. Eventually curiosity took over and he opened the door a little and peeked through. The mass of naked bodies had shed their armour like a skin and they were now growing, deep red veins bulged and pumped the evil magic through their bodies. As they grew, their skin took on a more craggy and darker appearance, it would appear that this wizard really did have some skill after all. As he watched on fascinated at the transformation, the beasts turned as one and smashed their way back out from where they had entered as men.
Now with his mission completed Lord Aden would easily be able to pick his way out through the confusion and terror that was about to grip the Tanarian capital.
In the streets of the town the Magistrate stood as usual, addressing the crowded market square; his duty was to relay somewhat doctored information down to the population, and maintain the morale in the city.
‘Peace will soon be restored to the furthest reaches of the Kingdom, fine citizens of Tanaria. I have it on good authority that our brave soldiers have almost put down the Aristrian rebels,’ shouted out the fat magistrate.
‘You’re full of lies and shite’ shouted an anonymous heckler, and the town guards eagerly sought to pinpoint the man.
‘Be calm people, please. My word is my bond, the war will soon…’ He never finished his sentence as the stampede of giant Rock-Beasts came crashing through the huge wooden doors that led into the town square from the Chambers of Council. One of the doors, flung from its hinges, crushed three of the bystanders before the beasts had even made it into the mass of terrified people that scattered away from them in all directions. The beasts were heading to the city walls crushing all who stood in their path.
Saznack’s laughter was infectious and Bellack allowed himself the occasional chuckle as he forced a Rock-Beast to stomp on a crying woman clinging to her baby. ‘Oops,’ he sniggered to himself.
‘Well if you are allowed to squash some of these flies, I want a crack of the whip too,’ shouted Saznack in protest.
‘She just got in the way. Stay focused on the mission, we only have a handful to control this time, so make it quick, destroy the fortifications first not the population.’ Immediately ignoring his own words Bellack made one of his controlled beasts backhand a man through a wooden fronted building, his smile widened. The dozen Rock-Beasts smashed their way through to the outer city walls and began to rip apart the open main gate and surrounding defences. As they went about their work the magicians casually chatted, ‘I don’t know why the Su-Katii were so nervous about us holding up our end of the bargain? Had they any idea of the affront that the Tanarian council has caused us these past few months they would have realised that we would have carried out their work for free. I think that their subjects are actually better off without them – what with their constant bureaucracy and refusals.’ Saznack nodded his agreement as he turned one beast around to attack a group of armed men that had found the courage to attempt to stop them. These few were easy to deal with, but soon they would come in greater numbers as they realised the threat to the city’s defences.
‘To think the chancellors could have avoided their own deaths had they just accepted our offer, the fools. Still, I am glad for their refusal as their pleading cries were far more entertaining in the end. Did you hear that fat one cry for his mummy?’ Saznack spat out his last words with true disgust, remembering the moment when their generous offer for the Moomran crystal had been refused. The beasts worked together to pull down a watch tower as one of their number was skewered by a group of soldiers bearing long pikes. Half of the remaining beasts swung around to hold back the annoying troops, Bellack suddenly recoiled in pain, losing his control as a green-robed Tanarian priest advanced forward with the warriors. His staff was extended high and a green light flooded from its tip, Saznack shielded his eyes and was overcome with a wave of nausea, then turned and vomited as his magic was broken.
‘Dammed priest, where did he come from?’ protested Saznack as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked down in rage at his breakfast coving his precious boots.
‘I don’t know, I have lost control, but I think that we did enough to finish the job,’ replied Bellack.
‘The idea of a priest commanding that sort of power and being left loose in the city disturbs me. The Aristrians’ have no one skilled in magic with their army, it could mean a delay in taking the city,’ retorted Saznack.
‘Very well, for once you have a valid point Saznack; I think that we will get Lord Aden to take a little detour and pay this priest a visit on his way out of the city.’
‘Now that sounds like a good plan to me,’ agreed Saznack.
A household messenger rushed into the chamber, but paused as he saw the displeasure on the faces of the two spell weavers, he nervously interrupted their conversation.
‘My Lords, the Aristrians’ have found her.’
‘Ah, good news at last, said Saznack. ‘Go and summon Marcus at once; we have a little job for him.’
The messenger was relieved that the news was agreeable; his predecessor had not fared so well.
The portal opened in the stale-smelling beer cellar of the Ravens’ Roost, and Marcus, captain of Bellack’s personal guard stepped through. Spooked by his sudden arrival in the beer cellar the group of Aristrian soldiers instantly reached for their weapons. It just took one look from Marcus’s dark eyes to make the young soldiers freeze and rethink their movements. Marcus introduced himself; his tone was flat with no emotion in his voice as he showed his papers. The men had been stationed in the inn, holding the owner under house arrest. They had thought it strange that the inn-keeper should be of any importance in this war, but then what did they care. The posting had been a dream come true to the young men, because while their comrades were risking their lives fighting a war, they were roughing it out in the inn, with clean beds and the hardship of taking it in shifts to drink the ale. Their war was fantastic, but as they say - all good things must come to an end.
‘Where is the bitch?’ Marcus asked one of the wide-eyed youngsters. He pointed up the stairs and Marcus moved off in the direction of his finger. Once out of earshot the young soldier turned to his comrades and said;
‘Man did you see his eyes? I’ve never seen such hate burning in a person’s eyes before.’
Another man replied, ‘Yes, somehow I don’t think that our orders, that the woman should not be touched or harmed will extend to him.’ Shortly after a scream coming from the room above confirmed his comment.
Despite the loss of the warlord Thulsa, the Aristrian forces had gained a lot of Tanarian territories during the initial invasion. Of the six Su-Katii generals that had been assigned to the Tanarian side of the peace keeping alliance, only three remained alive. Aden, Algar and Banok had carried out their missions of deceit successfully and had now joined with the Aristrian forces. They had all known the dangers and had willingly embraced their missions. Aden, the Su-Katii Lord, had been assigned to liaise and mislead the Government. He had slaughtered the Tanarian Chancellors and now without the core of the republic leadership at the helm, the nation was slow to react. Amid the chaos he had taken one more life and then slipped out of the city undetected. He was rewarded with the position of supreme command on his return.
Now with only the low and damaged walls to protect the capital, internal havoc and panic raged through the city, the Tanarian relief commander made the hardest decision of his career. He had decided that the capital was indefensible and would have to be abandoned. All forces were to retreat back to the Western coastline, hopefully retreating faster than the Aristrian invaders could advance. Rallying points were decided upon to provide a vital breathing space for what remained of the Tanarian armies to attempt to regroup. Of the other Su-Katii generals that had commanded Tanarian forces in the lead-up to the war, General Maraki, Commander of the Eastern Division, had perished the night before the invasion. His treachery had been unveiled to Tamar as he had followed the trail from Thulsa. In his dreams, the traitor had been identified and, as the general slept, Tamar had him shamelessly murdered by the use of a poisoned blade from one of his more specialised agents. But now the magician realised his miscalculation, he had only uncovered the trail to three of their order so he had not uncovered the real extent of the Su-Katii’s treachery.
As the invasion began, the traitorous commanders’ final tasks had been to manoeuvre the Tanarian forces into tactically unsound positions or to lead them directly into ambushes. Two of the Su-Katii commanders had died in the relentless combat that followed, Algar was one of the Su-Katii survivors, a true mountain of a man, at nearly seven foot tall. Unusually for a Su-Katii he favoured the use of an enormous two-handed hammer rather than the typical twin blades. Once he had lured his force into a dried-out riverbed facing an Aristrian ambush, none of his former troops dared to challenge his waiting hammer. After the inevitable Tanarian defeat and surrender, Algar had found himself oddly sickened by the screams of his former troops begging for their lives as they were slaughtered one by one. He had to walk away after giving the order. He had commanded the unit for the past six years and knew many of the men and even their families well. It was difficult to remind himself that winning a war was not always pretty, but orders were to be adhered to no matter what, the prisoners would deplete the much-needed rations and supplies for their forthcoming campaign.
When the Aristrian army darkened the vast plain outside the capital Tarctiania, the plans for siege were quickly discarded. To everyone’s disappointment, on their arrival the gates were already smashed and wide open. Its only defences were the walls laid to ruin by the retreating army. In fact the only movement that came from the city was from a mad old coot of a man who had refused to leave. Strutting out of the gate, the madman jumped about barking at newcomers. For several minutes the thousands of men just watched with amusement as the malnourished man taunted their army. The mad dog was soon put down.
Of the controlled souls in the east, only the Nordheim mindless ones remained, battering away at the Great Gate. They were to have stormed through it by now to lay waste to the surrounding hillside communities to ease the path for the approaching Aristrian forces and hopefully draw their army east and away from the mines. Unfortunately for Bellack, their mindless assaults had failed to breach the thick reinforced doors and the most seasoned of troops defended the gate. A garrison that had stood for years in a state of constant alert against Nordheim aggression and the mindless ones had died in their hundreds. Soon after one of the major failed assaults, a large contingent of the possessed beasts broke from their serried ranks and headed back inwards towards Nordheim lands.