Valkyrie's Shadow

Empire in Chains: Act 6, Chapter 6

Empire in Chains: Act 6, Chapter 6

Chapter 6

?That’s far enough, Cheswin.?

Ray furrowed his brow at the delayed response to his order. There were always laggards; always men who wanted to finish off their opponent or ransack another primitive hovel.

As if they’ll get anything out of these.

Not that he could complain. He wanted lean and hungry men, and he had them. Every sortie was an opportunity; every tribe was an achievement; every dead enemy another stepping stone on the path to success and glory. Day after day they rode out and wreaked havoc across the wilderness, driving their savage foes before them.

As time went on, his soldiers became harder and sharper, shedding the shroud of naïveté that came from months of training on friendly soil. It wouldn’t be long until he could take his battalion out into the wilderness.

And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Not only would he be out of targets in the immediate area of the imperial border, but the Sorcerous Kingdom’s liaison officer had moved the Undead forces assigned to the Fifth Legion to their intended positions around the Wyvernmark. Several intercepted incursions definitively proved that the borders could easily withstand Demihuman assaults with few – if any – casualties.

The tentative raiding spurred by Ray’s activities rose in frequency and intensity as the other divisions raced to make up for lost ground, but his lead was insurmountable. It would take them as long, if not longer, to blood their men and raise their readiness to the same level as his. While they did that, his battalion would be pulling ahead by leaps and bounds.

Now that the imperial border had become an infallible wall to fall back to, his strategy would proceed apace. The small, disorganised tribes of the wilderness could be scattered with impunity. If organised retaliation happened, his men could fade to safety. Should no such retaliation occur, that was fine too: they would advance and keep making gains.

In no situation could he lose. All outcomes were to his advantage.

Four shadows crossed over the dry, rocky gully. Ray shaded his eyes as he cast his gaze towards the afternoon skies.

?General, we have our next target.?

?Did you confirm what we’re facing??

?It’s the same as before, sir. Goblins mostly. A dozen Ogres. A handful of mystics and some riding wolves. About a hundred all told.?

?Lead the way.?

The flight pivoted, crossing back over them and Ray led his men back down the gully. Hooves struck over the fresh shoots of new growth creeping up from the valley floor as three companies of Imperial Knights filtered through the sparse trees.

?Five hundred metres, sir. They’ve made a nice big clearing there.?

?The men will await your signal.?

Ray turned his attention to the Imperial Knights at the van.

?Demihumans, four hundred metres ahead. Same signal. Kill them if they stand but leave them if they run. This will be our last target before heading back to camp.?

In the clearing a hundred metres ahead, a sphere of flame expanded amidst the Demihumans who had gathered at the sound of Ray’s approaching cavalry. The shrieking cluster of defiant defenders was silenced as the Imperial Knights trampled them.

His soldiers swept over the camp, coursing towards the opposite treeline in all directions. Ray trotted his warhorse into the field of broken tents and scattered refuse. His nose wrinkled at the odoriferous stench of unwashed Goblins and Ogres, staring down at a three-metre tall specimen of the brutish and stupid Giantkin. The broken end of a lance had punched through its chest, slaying it where it stood.

Demihumans were strong, but their advantages did not make them invincible. With equipment, skill and discipline, Humans could overwhelm foes who possessed only savage strength.

“General Ray,” a voice said to his side, “request permission to burn the bodies and cleanse this camp.”

The voice belonged to the senior Cleric of his battalion, a balding man with a powerful build and seemingly gentle demeanour.

“Granted,” Ray said. “By the way, Bennet – have you heard from Ward recently?”

“Ward…which one? There are three Captain Wards, a Priest Ward and a half dozen others besides.”

“Joachim Ward.”

“I believe he returned from his journey around the Wyvernmark yesterday evening. He said that he was staying at his grandfather’s manor overnight, but I’ve not received any additional word from him since then.”

Ray nodded and motioned for the Cleric of the Earth God to go about his business. Bennet was reliable in many ways, but too reliable in others. In their rapid movements along the border, he would often ask for time and men to ‘cleanse’ the aftermath of their raids. He did so irrespective of whether they were pressed for time. His concern was that the negative energy generated by death and conflict would take hold of the land and give rise to Undead horrors.

Many Clerics had transferred to the Sixth Legion from the Eighth and the Seventh. There was a higher ratio of divine casters in the Empire’s ‘expeditionary army’ to ensure that its aggressive posture could be sustained, but many of those Clerics considered other aspects of their assignment equally important.

Clerics of the Earth God from the Eighth Legion were particularly annoying: they insisted on taking preventative measures against the genesis of Undead as if every fight would turn the land into another Katze Plains. Hopefully, their open, vehement opposition to the Undead would not offend the liaison officer from the Sorcerous Kingdom.

?Ulura, Cheswin, Dace – see if we can’t clean this place up a bit. Throw all this garbage into the pyre and expand the clearing while we wait for Bennet to do his thing.?

It was a convenient location for an outpost, so he may as well make the best of it. According to the Sixth Legion’s air wing, the valley stretched over a hundred kilometres to the south and they would need to secure their supply lines from potential Demihuman raids coming from the mountains on either side.

If only we had those Death-series servitors at our disposal…

According to the information provided to them about the Undead leased out to the Imperial Army by the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Fifth Legion had force enough to conquer everything from the Holy Kingdom of Roble to the Great Steppe. Ray had to constantly remind himself that this was a test: one that measured the ingenuity and adaptability of the Sixth Legion’s commanders.

If they performed well here, it was likely that they would be able to succeed anywhere. If he stood head and shoulders above the rest, perhaps the Sorcerous Kingdom would ‘recommend’ that Ray be made overall commander of the Sixth Legion. It might even be possible that he was offered a position in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Royal Army.

Ray returned to his encampment, crossing the picket of wooden stakes as the sun lowered towards the rugged peaks to the west. Things looked much as he left them, with companies divided into their respective tasks. A soldier came to take his horse away and Ray made his way to the officer’s pavilion at the centre of the camp. An unpleasant surprise awaited him, however: the familiar face of Joachim Ward.

“Ward…what are you doing here?”

“I-I’m sorry, General,” the young Cleric replied. “I found out just before you arrived.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Baroness Zahradnik, sir. She made her way over to the encampment this afternoon.”

Frowning at Joachim Ward’s words, Ray calmly took inventory of their surroundings. He didn’t note anyone resembling a noblewoman around them.

“I instructed you to attend to her,” he said.

“I was,” the Cleric replied. “I just…lose track of her, sometimes.”

Were noblewomen so easy to lose? They weren’t in the second-district markets of Arwintar – there was probably one woman out of every thousand men in the Sixth Legion and those women were mostly Clerics and air officers.

“Do you know where she is right now?” Ray asked.

“She went to watch the men performing drills out in the field,” Joachim answered. “I don’t think she’s moved from there since checking to see if you were in.”

According to the reports, the Baroness was a woman in her mid to late teens. Ray was somewhat disappointed at the behaviour characteristic of a young woman with far too much freedom and not enough sense. Or was she one of those women who enjoyed watching men sweat it out together as they indulged in perverse fantasies? Ever since Dreams of Red started making its rounds throughout the Empire, it was discovered that there were an alarming number of rotten ‘ladies’ out there who paired its popular characters every which way.

Well, whatever – at least she’s here. Now I can deal with her directly.

“Has anything changed from your reports over the last week or so?” Ray asked.

“Not particularly, sir. She’s been focused on getting the ‘supplementary forces’ out to the Fifth Legion and she’s quite pleased with the restraint that the men have shown with everything that has been going on.”

“What about us? Has she mentioned anything about the Sixth Legion?”

“Lady Zahradnik has spoken with many of the local lords as well as the members of the Fifth Legion, but she appears to be reserving her judgement over the Sixth Legion’s activities until she sees things for herself.”

It appeared that Ray wouldn’t have to be dealing with someone who had been twisted against him by the views she had been exposed to. At least not openly. He had half-expected to be refuting a slew of malignant accusations levelled at him by the local administrators and the Fifth Legion.

“Have the men prepared anything for her?”

“No, sir,” Joachim replied. “She’s caused quite a stir with her presence in the camp, but nothing’s really happened so far.”

“Then let’s get some of the men to take a look.”

“…take a look, sir?”

“Get a few of our best scouts, Clerics, Wizards…get Testania to check for anything strange, too. I want to know as much as possible before I sit down with her.”

The Cleric glanced around the camp before hurrying off to carry out Ray’s orders. Ray turned his attention back to the pavilion, frowning at the disorder that had found its way over the furniture. He called his aides over to sort things out before moving to collect the documents on the central table, reviewing what he knew from his accumulated intelligence reports.

Baroness Zahradnik had apparently first arrived in the Empire with her friends to see the sights of Arwintar. They rented a suite in the markets and spent the majority of their time shopping and visiting ‘cultural’ venues. Occasionally, they went to see one of the major national institutions in the capital, including the Imperial Magic Academy and the Imperial Ministry of Magic.

Overall, they appeared to be there for the curiosities offered in the imperial centre and expressed disinterest and even disdain for what might be considered ‘boring’ to a group of teenage girls. He supposed it was to be expected from a group of Nobles from Re-Estize: the Empire was far more advanced than the Kingdom that they were once from, so fruits of that advancement and its effects must have been more interesting than what were to them the unfathomable processes driving that advancement.

Following her stay in Arwintar, the Baroness set off on her first assignment in the northwest, acting in her role as liaison officer to the Second Legion. Ray’s agents in Enz had either been chased off or detained by General Kabein in his general sweep to remove factional agents from the vicinity of the city, which was to be expected. What was left to him were the reports of the Second Legion, as well as any rumours that had made it to Arwintar.

All of the information was broadly ‘positive’ – so much so that it was suspect. He couldn’t blame anyone for doing so; who would dare say anything against the Sorcerous Kingdom or any officials from the stupendously powerful nation? Any doomsayers were likely quashed out of fear of repercussions. The remaining positive reception was at least in part the result of efforts to curry favour.

While it was understandable, it also added a degree of difficulty in discerning the truth. The rumours painted a glowing image of the woman that was more laughable than even the most inept attempts at generating imperial propaganda. With the markedly anticlimactic events that followed the rise of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the social circles of the Empire must have been starved for fanciful gossip.

The official reports distributed to the Imperial Army were scrubbed clean of anything that seemed a fabrication. What he found from them was far more realistic than what the rumours offered, though it had the characteristically sterile feel of anything that went through the Court Council and the capital’s bureaucracy, appearing generally free of problematic statements.

Lady Zahradnik helped to deliver five ‘cavalry squads’ of Death-series servitors and the Second Legion consulted with her over their use. A single company was ‘acclimated’ to the Undead and from there that company worked with other companies to achieve the rapid adoption of the new forces. The same process was occurring with the Fifth Legion, where one company in each division was put through their paces with the Undead squads assigned to them, so that part of the report appeared to be credible.

From there, the Second Legion proceeded with their operation to clear The Blister. The major part of that operation took roughly a week, with the Viridian Dragon Lord last seen being chased towards the Azerlisia Mountains by one of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Frost Dragon slaves. Ray doubted that the Dragon Lord had survived intruding on the territory of their suzerain.

The Baroness was generally well-received by the Second Legion, who noted that, while she was a foreigner who was not entirely knowledgeable when it came to imperial culture, she was still pleasant to work with. Worries over being ordered around by some sort of Undead being were proven to be unfounded and she was very popular with the men.

In short, the Sorcerous Kingdom had chosen a tool suited for the job, turning what was feared to be a difficult process into an unexpectedly smooth and painless one. This should mean that, at the bare minimum, Baroness Zahradnik had a certain degree of charisma and enough knowledge imparted to her by the Sorcerous Kingdom for the Second Legion to figure out the rest.

In fact, that was all she needed. While not the most prestigious assignment, the Second Legion was arguably the most competent army group in the Empire. Be the task Dragons, Undead or whatever else, they would get things done and the liaison officer’s contributions did not need to be particularly noteworthy.

With his expectations set to reasonable levels, Ray nodded to himself in satisfaction. Ensuring that the young noblewoman’s experience with his battalion was a positive one was a priority. He would then do what he could to make his best impression upon her. She would in turn bring word of his quality back to her masters in the Sorcerous Kingdom.

From there, he would at least have a new weapon in his arsenal to employ in the political arenas of the Empire. If things went well, he might be returned to his position as the commander of an army group. In the best case, he would be scouted for his talents by the Sorcerous Kingdom, where he would have all the power he could dare to dream of.