Empire Of Souls - Chapter 186

Contrary to the scene of Lenia calmly mounted on her horse as she watched the battle taking place, the scene at the Dark Elven encampment was not as calm. Matron Akasha was furiously smashing things as she whipped one of her male slaves in her tent. Reports were streaming into her command tent as the battle progressed and each was more bleak than the last.

“It’s as if that bitch has a counter to every move we make!”

The fact that their spiders were discovered before they could ambush the enemy and the complete failure of their assassins infuriated her. She had never expected to win the first exchange as her enemy’s army was formidable despite the inferior numbers. However, she expected there to be some damage. She wanted to give her opponent a serious set back in the hopes of pressuring her into submitting. Unfortunately, not only had her plans so far not been effective, even the slave army was barely making a dent in the opponent’s forces.

Some of Akasha’s aides flinched at Akasha’s scene of anger, but there wasn’t much they could do. They also didn’t care to stop her from beating her male slave. She eventually tired and took a deep breath.

“Have the Cuirassiers and Rangers focus their attacks on the right flank. The reports have stated that there have been some gains there. They aren’t holding as strongly as the other positions. Have we any word from the Matriarchs? Have their armies returned yet?”

One of the female Dark Elven aides replied, “Matron, the feudal armies of the Matriarchs will soon return. It seems that the Dragonmen army they were chasing escaped their pursuit and they are returning empty handed.”

“Useless! How could they let twenty thousand Dragonmen escape? Did they all teleport? They had more than twice the numbers of the Dragonmen and they couldn’t even finish a simple task! Every one of those Matriarchs is an embarrassment to our goddess. Most likely they let the Dragonmen escape on purpose to avoid losing any of their soldiers. Traitors, the lot of them!”

Once more Akasha was filled with rage and struck the male slave who had just risen from the ground. There was a small pool of blood forming from how badly he had been beaten.

“Hmph, if they think they can get away without taking any risks they are only fooling themselves! Summon the Matriarchs immediately, and carry out my orders. Let’s see how they respond to our cavalry!”

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The sound of a bugle horn blasted through the din of the battle and the slave army began to recede as quickly as they had come. They pulled back to their own battle lines, weary from the extended and bloody melee. Mortals who did not possess a class normally could not fight for too long without tiring, but those possessing classes could fight for much longer periods of time. The more powerful the being, the longer they could fight.

There were exceptions to this of course and it depended on how well they could conserve their abilities or spells while fighting prolonged battles. Those who continuously used their skills, abilities, or spells without using them sparingly could easily tire themselves out quickly. Normally this wasn’t done, but if someone was in a tricky situation where they were in danger, they might quickly blow through all of their Vitality or Magic Power without holding any back. Nonetheless, even beings with classes could only fight for so long before they became too weary to continue.

Lenia watched the enemy fall back. She hesitated on whether she should have her army pursue, but ultimately she decided to be cautious. They had an advantage in the terrain and if they pursued the enemy, they may become vulnerable to an attack by cavalry. She didn’t want to take the chance.

“Get me the number of casualties as soon as possible. It might be necessary to reinforce the right flank, they were lagging in the battle and I am concerned about the enemy taking advantage of this. Hmm.. maybe sending more Shamans there would be wise just in case. It would be suicide for them to attack the center formation with their cavalry, but the flanks are vulnerable. The right flank especially.”

Lenia turned to her side and called out, “Nelay.”

Nelay soon appeared from somewhere hidden, “I am here.”

Lenia nodded and gave a rare smile, “Thank you. Your assassins lived up to my expectations.”

Nelay snorted but she was inwardly pleased with the praise, “It is as it should be.”

“I need you to watch the movements of their cavalry. We can’t take any chances, they are too powerful and are the only force I am most cautious of. If we had the Dragonmen Chevaliers I wouldn’t be so concerned, but we truly lack a sufficient force of cavalry.”

Lenia frowned as she considered her plans, “No matter what, we can only hold them off as best we can.”

“If you are trying to save everyone, you might as well give up that notion Lenia. In war, soldiers die, that is their purpose. There is no need to concern yourself too much with their lives.”

Nelay’s words were callous and Lenia was not pleased, but she also knew there was some logic in it. She couldn’t bring herself to accept those words though.

“That is easy for you to say. You do not have the weight of their lives on your shoulders. You are someone who lives in darkness, what could you possibly understand about the responsibilities of a leader? It is my responsibility as their leader to bring as many of them home as I can. They may not be like us, but they also serve our master.”

Nelay grinned, showing her teeth, “Don’t worry. Whether alive or dead, they will serve our master well.”

Lenia only stared at Nelay without saying anything more. It was pointless to argue with her. She had no empathy at all and this was something Lenia already was aware of. It wasn’t as if Lenia was a saint or anything, but she wanted to at least protect the lives of her own soldiers.

“Just go.” She finally said with cold eyes.

Nelay didn’t mind and disappeared once more. She always thought that Lenia was too emotional and cared too much about things that were irrelevant to their purpose. In Nelay’s mind, there were very few who were worthy of her care and consideration. Lenia’s feelings didn’t matter, as long as she fulfilled her master’s expectations.

It wasn’t long before the Dark Elven army reformed and began its preparations for a new offensive. Only a few hours had passed since daylight and there was still plenty of light left until nightfall. Of course, even nightfall wasn’t a surety that there would be no fighting. An army couldn’t fight continuously all day though and would eventually need to rest, that went for both Lenia’s army and the Dark Elves. It would become a matter of endurance to see who could hold out the longest, but the battle wouldn’t end in just this one day of fighting.

“Report, commander!” a messenger came rushing towards Lenia as she considered her options.

There were many aides nearby and also Lenia’s personal guards who never left her side. They were mostly decorative though as any enemy Lenia couldn’t handle would mean all of their deaths anyway. It was necessary to keep up proper appearance so Lenia allowed for a personal guard to be formed. One of her guards grabbed the report from the messenger and handed it to Lenia. Lenia quickly opened the report and after reading it, the report burned up and turned to ash.

She dismounted from her horse and motioned for her aides to approach. They followed her into her command tent where she immediately approached a table with a map of the terrain on it. It was sparsely furnished with only the bear necessities of what one would need while on the campaign. She was not one known for her ostentatiousness, and instead was quite spartan.

“Casualties were low for our first exchange with the enemy. We had an estimated two thousand casualties, of which approximately three hundred are dead and another four hundred are heavily wounded. The rest can return to fighting after some rest and healing. From our initial reports, it would seem that we inflicted more than fifteen thousand casualties on the enemy and have taken more than two thousand prisoners.” said Lenia proudly to those around her who cheered.

For all intents and purposes, it was an impressive first victory, but they all knew the battle was far from over. It was still just a drop in the bucket and the enemy were mostly slave soldiers and not the elites. Most of the casualties had been on the right flank which was clearly the weakest of Lenia’s army formations.

“Even though this was a victory for us, we can’t let down our guard. We surprised them with our tenacity, but they will learn from this. The next engagement will be much more brutal, so we need to be cautious. I believe that they will target the right flank, but we also can’t rule out a feint. They may fool us into believing that the right flank is their target, but attack us on the left. I am not worried about the central formation. Since we can’t rule out a feint, we will split our reserves evenly between the right and left flanks as reinforcements but send more Shamans towards the right flank just in case. Make sure the pikemen are prepared for a potential cavalry charge. Also, prepare additional enchanted stakes and try to prepare a few more fortifications at the base of the hill as a precaution as well. I have already asked Nelay to observe the enemy, so we shouldn’t be caught unaware.”

After a bit more thought Lenia added, “Also, move the cavalry from the central formation to the right flank as well. I am a little worried that they won’t be able to hold the line.”

The aides noted Lenia’s words and nodded. They quickly left to carry out their orders and preparations while Lenia remained to study the map of the terrain and the temporary blocks that were being used to represent military pieces. She couldn’t help feeling uneasy about something, but there wasn’t anything else she could think of. She didn’t think there were any mistakes in her plan.

Lenia sighed, “I only want to make you proud master but the burden is so heavy.”

A shadow slid into the command tent and quickly stepped to Lenia’s side. The shadow hadn’t escaped her notice of course, but she wasn’t alarmed. She already knew it was one of Nelay’s shadows.

“Commander, there is another army of Dark Elves approaching the Dark Elven encampment. They appear to be reinforcements, but they are different from the Dark Elven army already present here. They do not have unified equipment and carry many banners.” the Shadow whispered at Lenia’s side.

“They must be the feudal soldiers belonging to the Matriarchs. They are not part of the Spider Queen’s army and serve the various Matriarchs. I can only guess at why they are only just arriving now. It must have something to do with the Dragons. This will make things a bit more difficult, but not entirely out of my expectations. Have any of you found any signs of the Dragons yet?”

“Not yet commander.”

Lenia slammed her fist on the table, “What are those damn reptiles doing!? Keep looking for them. It will be difficult to win this battle without them.”

“Yes commander.”

The shadow quickly left the tent and faded away. Lenia rubbed her temples gently while she thought. The movements were accompanied by the sound of her armor. She stayed like that for a short time and was unaware of the large figure which entered the tent and came to stand behind her.

“Something worrying you?”

A voice suddenly came from behind Lenia causing her to jump slightly in surprise.

“Ugh, Anathema, don’t do that!”

Anathema chuckled, “Don’t worry. Anyone who could sneak up on you without you knowing could easily take your life. At least you would go peacefully.”

“That is not reassuring and yes, there is something worrying me. I can’t help but shake a strange feeling of danger. The Dark Elves have also received a large amount of reinforcements and battle will soon break out again as soon as they are done with their preparations. I can only imagine that we will soon be facing much more dangerous foes.”

“You should trust those instincts, they are a powerful aid to any warrior. There is an unknown variable. I wasn’t going to mention it since I was uncertain exactly what it was, but I have an idea now. Just continue with what you were planning to do and don’t worry about the rest. Have some confidence in your abilities. Your master wouldn’t have put you in charge if he didn’t believe in your ability, remember that.”

Lenia calmed down and clenched her fists, “You are right. I still don’t like you, but thank you.”

Anathema gave a toothy grin with her sharp teeth clearly visible, “That’s fine, just do your job. You wouldn’t want me to look down on you now would you? There is nothing more that I hate than useless beings.”

Lenia expected it would come, but the sudden blare of horns caused Lenia to tense up. It was the call to battle.

“Looks like it’s time. I will be watching, don’t disappoint.”

Anathema left with those words. Lenia stood alone in her tent and collected herself. She was the commander and she needed to have the bearing of one. After taking a moment, she hurriedly left the tent to prepare for another battle.