Devourer

Chapter 75: Eve of Ruin

Montis looked up at the soldier reporting to him and looked back down at the chart on the table before him. There was a slight problem with something. They were currently in Averlin and preparing for the invasion. The scouts have reported a full force at the Elysian Gate and Montis would bet his right hand that the Spider knew they were here. 

He had actually lost a few scouts to some rather precise magical bombardment from the Istland mages. Montis had expected such an outcome to a certain extent but still the accuracy reported was concerning. Istland was unique in that its mages were both front line and back line soldiers. While their front line Knight Enchanters were the most famous group considering spell blades were rare professions. However, tactically speaking their back line artillery mages were the most problematic in open warfare.

They must have some really good Mage spotters to have detected his scouts and to so quickly initiate the magical bombardment. It was a difficult feat to pull off, he knew his mages certainly couldn’t pull something like this off. The only saving grace here was that the attack on his scouts had to be quick without any lengthy channelling rituals. So he only lost a few scouts in that strike. In truth this was a good thing, because he traded about five scouts for a glimpse into the enemy's magical capabilities. 

If it was up to him, he would have ordered his mages to hold off from attacking and merely stick to observing. If his mages were this responsive he would not have allowed them to fire like that. This was an information leak, plain and simple. He had just effectively probed the enemy defences by sacrificing a handful of scouts.

“Assign five hundred men from the Third Regiment Second Battalion to the garrison here at Averlin. I don’t want us getting trapped in Elysia when we cross the border, or attacked in the rear by the forces from Averlin.

Post the soldiers at the noble estates and hold the nobles at blade point and I mean all of the houses, not just the major houses. Also assign soldiers with wyvern oil and position them around major population areas in the city. Let the soldiers of Averlin know what will happen if they choose the wrong side.” Montis ordered calmly and the soldier saluted before leaving.

Most of the knights are from the lower aristocracy so their families could be leveraged. The wyvern oil was a highly flammable and explosive alchemical substance. It is commonly used in sieges to coat stones and are hurled at or over the walls. The flames burn long and hot, making them ideal improvements to siege weapons. So if they were placed around the city, he could threaten the general population as well. Technically Averlin was an allied power, but they were as much allies as slaves were. The old texts do say when one is counting their foes, they should first start with their slaves. So in reality the Averlin was a liability but it was still better than having to assault Averlin and then the Elysian Gate.

If the Elysians held Averlin they could mount a defence at Averlin, then fall back to the Elysian Gate. Attacking two heavily fortified positions would be an extremely costly affair that would have prolonged the war by several years at least. That would have left Tralis exposed to the other Volerian states. So making Averlin bend the knee was still the right decision in the long run.

“Montis.” Montis heard his Prince’s voice say. 

He looked up to see Prince Silas enter the tent, his expression sour but that was his natural state these past few weeks. Although Montis did note that he looked significantly less sour now. Perhaps with the invasion close at hand, he thought his vengeance was close too.

On paper this invasion was doable but there were too many unknowns for Montis’s liking. The main issue was how accurate was their information? Was the Great Beast really a mage? Was their information reliable considering Averlon had the best Spymaster in the region?

“When can we move out?” Silas asked.

“Tomorrow, your highness. We give the troops a day of rest and let the officers get their soldiers organised. I issued a small ration of liquor to steel the nerves of the troops since we are assaulting the Gate tomorrow.” Montis replied.

“Very well.” Silas replied with a nod as he took a seat as an Adjutant poured him a glass of wine.

“We need a decisive victory here, it is time to see what my commandos are truly made of…” Silas said after taking a sip of wine.

“What are your thoughts on their ability to hinder the defences?” Montis asked.

“Sceptical. The Beryl Line was filled with incompetents. The Wardens and Knight Enchanters are professional soldiers. If I were the commander I would have them guard the most crucial sections of the wall. The gate controls will be very well guarded. 

Although building siege towers might be an option if we decide to delay. I assigned some mages with concealment spells to examine the wall ahead of time yesterday.” Silas said.

“Is that so? I was not aware of this.” Montis said.

“Yes, it was just an extra precaution. It was to confirm the strength of the wards on the Elysian Gate. They just returned, the wards are faded. Siege towers are on the table now, the Flame Repulsor wards are now gone. So our siege towers won’t be torched the moment they touch the walls.” Silas said.

“But their…” Montis began.

“Yes I know, their mages will blast the towers to bits. At least they would blast the ones we can put up here. We can’t starve them out so a direct assault is our only option. I am having some Mithril Clad Towers shipped over, I would suggest we do a probing attack and if the resistance is too much we pull back and wait for the Mithril Clads.” Silas said.

“Yes, that could work. However, how many Mithril Clads do we have?” Montis asked.

“At the moment three, so I would rather we save them for the siege of the cities. Averlon is a fortress city, we will need the towers if we want a swift victory.” Silas said as the adjutant approached Montis with the jug of wine but Montis waved him off and poured himself water instead.

“We would most certainly lose at least one if we use the Mithril Clads.” Montis said.

“Indeed, but if we can press our advantage it will be worth it. The Elysian Gate is an all or nothing fortification. It's difficult to break through but it’s also difficult to retreat from. If we breach the wall, we can inflict significant casualties on the Elysians.

Our soldiers on average are better armed, better trained and more experienced. If we overcome the fortifications the only problems will be the Wardens and the Knight Enchanters. Besides, no matter how good they are, they are only human. They will tire before long…” Silas replied.

“Very well, I will send out the orders to prepare for a probing attack.” Montis replied with a nod.

“Good…” Silas replied with a nod as he took another sip of wine.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Arias grimaced as he checked his sword, he could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He was terrified, they would be assaulting an ancient and famous fortification tomorrow. He remembers the stories his mother told him, how the ancients were master architects and enchanters. Their walls would stand for a hundred thousand years while the walls they could build now would be lucky to stand for a thousand. 

The walls of his hometown had to be rebuilt every hundred years or so, meanwhile the walls of the Capital were timeless. Every time he saw it looked exactly the same, the same gleaming white walls with the banners of House Tralis adorning it.

Arias was seriously cursing his decision to join the army. He was stupid and naive, when the army recuiter came to his town him and bunch of his mates decided to sign up. The promises of glory, a fine uniform and the adoration of the girls was too much of an enticement. Not to mention war was arguably the best way to have a swift promotion track, or so the recruiter said…

He could still see his mother’s tears when he told her that he had signed up…

He was assigned as a replacement to a veteran regiment. At first he was overjoyed at the assignment. The glory and honour of it, some of his buddies were assigned to reserve units or garrison units. He remembered how proud he was but now as he looked around he couldn’t help but feel something was very wrong.

The Veteran Regiment had lost a quarter of their unit strength, he was using someone’s old sword. The past owner of this sword was most likely dead… or at least so badly maimed he was out of the fight…

“Still cleaning that sword boy?” Arias heard his senior say from the side.

Arias looked up to see Conte, a veteran soldier that was stuck as a front line infantry man despite having served in two wars. The first being a border war with Jaria and the second being the Beralis campaign.

“Helps keep my mind off things…” Arias replied softly.

“Maybe this will keep your mind off things…” Conte said as he reached into a pouch and took out a bottle of expensive looking wine.

“Where the hell did you get that?” another one of his fellow soldiers named Lars asked.

“The captain wanted us to get some liquor rations, but judging by how much we got I think we would be getting one shot each at best. So I… borrowed this from a local inn…” Conte said with a laugh.

“Better not let any of the officers see that. They’ll chew your head off for it.” Lars replied as he opened his ruck sack and took out a cup.

“Yeah and they probably will take it back to drink it themselves.” Conte replied with a snort as he yanked the cork out of the bottle.

Arias watched as Conte took a swig from the bottle before letting out a satisfied sigh. Then he poured some for Lars and the rest of the soldiers sitting around the fire.

“You want some kid? Helps keep your mind off things. I was going to bring a wench back but the officers said they would hang anyone that touches any of the women here. Something about us getting fucked in the ass or something.” Conte said as Arias reached into his bag for his cup.

“They probably don’t want the Elysians in Averlin pissed off at us considering they can attack us from the rear…” Arias muttered as he handed his cup to Conte.

“Read about that in one of your books, did ya?” Conte asked as he filled up Arias’s cup.

“You could say that, I liked to read about the old knights and wars.” Arias replied as he took the cup back.

“Ah, hear that boys? We got a dreamer!” Conte shouted and the surrounding soldiers all let out loud booming laughs.

“Let me tell you something, dreamer boy. The stories ain’t true, the shiny armour doesn’t stay shiny for long. You cut someone’s throat and you end up with a face full of blood. An open throat is like a fountain.” Conte said as he made a gesture at his neck to mimic blood spurting from his throat.

“War isn’t like the stories, boy. You’re lucky you know, we are in a flanking unit. The line boys are the one that gets it rough. The spells usually land on them first, all they see is the barrier flickering and then fire. At least here, if you are good with a sword you can control your own fate to an extent.” Conte said.

“Yeah your job is to kill anyone not dressed like us who is holding a weapon. Doesn’t matter if it’s a baby with a butter knife in one hand and its mother teat in the other. You kill them all the same.” Lars added.

Arias nodded as he took another sip of the wine. The idle conversation continued and Arias just silently sipped his wine trying to think about what was going to happen tomorrow. He could be taking his leisurely walks with his fiancee now but no, his stupidity brought him here sitting with all these men on the eve of an invasion. He had no idea if he was going to go home…

It only really struck home when he saw the state of their equipment. The veteran units had good armour but it had lost its sheen. The blue fabric accents on the armour all had dark stains on them, he was told those were blood stains. Then there were the stories the soldiers told. How one of them cut down some farmboy with a pitchfork in Beralis. How the mother and the daughter were raped soon after…

How when someone dies you smell the faeces as the dead shit themselves. How when you cut open someone’s stomach you smell this sour and foetid smell. Like vomit mixed with shit…

Just thinking about it made him nauseous…

“You ever been with a girl boy? Had some wench warm your bed?” Conte asked, suddenly snapping Arias from his thoughts.

“Erm… yes. I have this girl waiting for me back home.” Arias replied.

“You were from the Mithril Mile right? Or Mithmil if you wanna talk oldy. The border town west of the capital?” Lars asked and Arias nodded in response.

“Damn, heard they make some really nice swords there.” Lars said.

“We get a lot of Mithril from Ironhammer passing through, our town supplies a lot of wargear to the army. We even have some dwarves working the forges.” Arias said as he felt a little pride in his chest. He was proud of his hometown, they made the best swords in Tralis, it was one of their staple products. 

“Yeah I heard about those Dwarves. Moon Gazers, that’s what you call them right?” Conte asked.

“Yes… how do you know that? Not many people do.” Arias asked in confusion, Conte didn’t strike him as a particularly educated man, so knowing this little snippet of knowledge was quite surprising.

“Border War with Jaria, remember? I stayed at the Mithril Mile for a bit, there was this great whore at the brothel. Blonde hair, dark eyes, biggest tits I ever saw with an ass to match.” Conte said with a loud laugh.

“Conte loves his cunts.” Lars added with a laugh.

“That I do Lars. HAHAHA!” Conte replied with another boisterous laugh as he raised his cup in cheers. Lars met Conte’s cup with his own and the pair took a deep drink from their cups.

“On the topic of cunts. You should wet your dick when we get the chance in Elysia, I heard they have some mighty fine wenches in Elysia.” Conte said.

“Erm… I have a Fiancee back home so…” Arias replied hesitantly.

“You got no idea if you are going home kid… nor do you have any idea what is going on back home either…” Lars said as his tone became more serious.

“What?” Arias asked in confusion.

“He’s saying you might die out here and never see your girl again. He’s also saying your girl might be getting drilled by someone else right now.” Conte said as he refilled his cup.

“What? No that’s…” Arias retorted, sputtering at the thought. His darling wouldn’t… would she?

“Listen here kid, you have no idea if you are going back. She has no idea if you are going back. You were training for what? A year?” Lars asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, about a year…” Arias replied through gritted teeth.

“You go back home anytime during that time?” Lars asked.

“Yeah… six months in, they gave us a week of leave.” Arias replied.

“So when you got back, you fuck your girl?” Lars asked.

“What?” Arias sputtered in response as he felt his face heat up and he averted his eyes.

“That's a yes, Lars.” Conte said.

“Yeah I know Conte, he couldn’t even look me in the eyes when he replied to me.” Lars replied with a snort.

“Now then she seemed more… eager? Did she make more noise than usual? Bounced on you a little faster or harder? Was she a lot wetter than usual?” Lars asked.

Arias didn’t reply as his mind wandered back to about six months ago. Yes his darling Rosie was more eager… the two of them were like a pair of rabbits in heat when he was back home…

“That’s a yes too.” Conte said and Arias saw Lars roll his eyes at those words.

“Yeah, so let me break it down for you boy. If we are lucky this war will be over in a year. Elysia’s a big place, marching and waiting alone will take months if you add up all the time. If we aren’t lucky this war could take two years or three years depending on how long we have to sit on our asses between fights to repair our shit.

Then when we win, we are going to have to garrison Elysia. You might be stuck in Elysia for another few years after we win. So you are looking at the very minimum a year away from home, so that’s a year and half of you not being in your girl’s bed. Worse case, six to eight years, home leave may not be on the table.

So your girl is going to be lonely up here…” Lars said as he pointed at his head.

“Over here…” Lars said as he pointed at his heart.

“And most of all, down here.” Lars finished as he pointed at his groin.

“So in six months she was already so eager, you think she can last years? Not to mention other guys will be making moves, those pissants who didn’t sign up will be buying her flowers. They will definitely be buying her wine, and what do you think a drunk girl who is horny out of her mind is going to do?” Lars asked as he tapped the side of his head.

“She wouldn’t…” Arias replied as he clenched his fists.

“Yeah she probably won’t at first. But at some point she’s going to crack, she’s lonely too. Then the first time she spreads her legs for someone else, it’s going to feel so good for her. 

Then the other guy is going to get in her head, he’s going to tell her that you aren’t coming home. That you’re probably dead. Her bed is going to go colder and colder with each passing day

Then before you know it, your girl is now his girl. So if you sit around here trying to be all faithful, you are going to end up looking like the biggest ass in Terra. You’re going to wade through all the filth and muck while your girl is getting drilled by some limp dick pansy that couldn’t find the stones to fight for his country. 

So I suggest you avoid being the biggest ass in Terra by getting some ass. Besides, even if by some miracle, she holds it in. You don’t have to tell her that you bedded a few wenches. You can go back to your little happy ever after. 

It’s called covering your bases kid, you feel me?” Lars said and Arias couldn’t even muster the strength to reply. 

Rosie wouldn’t… she couldn’t…

“Alright that’s enough of that. If you want your miracle I suggest you get some sleep tonight kid. Put it out of your mind, the last thing you want is you dying tomorrow because you couldn’t sleep.

If you die tomorrow then your girl will really be riding someone else’s dick. She isn’t going to become a spinster for you. You think she’s going to be loyal enough to meet you on the other side?” Conte said.

Arias still didn’t respond, so shaken he was by what he heard. His mind was racing, the thought of his darling Rosie shouting someone else’s name in bed was driving him crazy. His head was lowered and he was so distracted he didn’t even notice that Conte had gotten out of his seat and walked over to him. He only realised when he caught a glimpse of his boots on the ground beneath him. Arias looked up and he saw Conte offer him the bottle of wine.

More wine?