Empire Of Souls - Chapter 187

In the Dark Elven command tent beneath the shadow of the slumbering gigantic Broodmother, five beautiful and exotic looking Dark Elven women sat smugly across from Matron Akasha. These were the five Matriarchs who had accompanied the Spider Queen in her advance into the Steppes. Not all the Matriarchs were present, but these were the more hawkish of the Matriarchs and reveled in conquest and battle. Their greed for more wealth, slaves, and land was well known.

“Matriarchs, I see you have finally deigned to grace me with your presence. Let me remind you that our goddess is watching and she sees your failure!”

One of the Dark Elven Matriarchs who was releasing a powerful aura of a Legendary being laughed in a pleasant and alluring voice, “Do not threaten us with the goddess’s displeasure, we are all her loyal and faithful servants. We worship her just as you do.”

Each of the Matriarchs were extremely beautiful and their dark skin was both exotic and unblemished. They did very little to cover their skin and their exquisite curves. No matter how beautiful and alluring they looked, none would dare look at them for fear of being tortured to death. They very much enjoyed the feeling of authority and power that struck fear in all who dared have their eyes linger on their body, but even more so the sadistic enjoyment they received from those who couldn’t help but look despite knowing the consequences.

Akasha scoffed and her hand which held a fragile, but luxuriously decorated cup of tea, trembled. This was her favorite tea set and she was struggling to keep her anger in check lest she accidentally smash it.

“Yes, you all show your loyalty so well, through failure. You all had one responsibility, and that was to hunt down the Dragons and their army, but you couldn’t even do that. Now your armies dare show up here empty handed?”

Another one of the Matriarchs, who also radiated the aura of a Legendary being, grinned and sipped her tea calmly, “Don’t be so angry Akasha, it will only bring you wrinkles. We wouldn’t want to see someone at the young age of four hundred wasting away now would we? You are the pride of our race, chosen to lead the goddess’s armies and of equal status to us Matriarchs.”

“Tch.”

A vein in Akasha’s forehead throbbed, but she controlled her anger.

“Your flattery and your empty words won’t get you anything. You can not avoid battle this time. The goddess has spoken, your armies are to go into battle within the hour. Have your soldiers prepare. Anyone who does not commit wholeheartedly will suffer our goddess’ wrath!”

The Matriarchs eyed each other with displeasure evident, but what could they do?

“If it is an order of the goddess then we will of course comply. We expect to be rewarded well for our involvement however. These are our personal soldiers after all and we have a responsibility to them and their families.” Spoke one of the Matriarchs who had raven black hair and appeared more mature looking than the rest. The others seemed to follow her guidance as she was the oldest of the Matriarchs present.

These traitorous old hags! Asking for remuneration for doing their sworn duty! Akasha thought inwardly, but kept her anger in check.

“Don’t worry, your armies will not be fighting alone and I am sure you will be rewarded by the goddess if you achieve results. You will have the full army of slaves and the Cuirassiers and Rangers will also be taking part this time. The goddess expects a quick victory, is that clear?”

“Fine, that should be enough as far as the army is concerned, but what do we know about their true strength? How many Legendary beings do they have? I am only able to sense one, the commander of their army. If it is just her, then this shouldn’t be difficult. Four of us are Legendary beings, these odds are in our favor. This is assuming they don’t have any other hidden strength among them.” Replied one of the Matriarchs cautiously.

Akasha raised her left eyebrow slightly, “Are you afraid? Even with the goddess herself here, are you that much of a coward?”

“Hmph, watch your tone girl. You may be of an equal rank with us, but you are far from our match. Don’t forget that. We will head out now. There is no need to continue this conversation, let us go, fellow Matriarch and prepare for battle.”

The five Matriarchs rose from their seats and left while eyeing Akasha with obvious enmity. Akasha scoffed and watched them leave while returning to her seat to sip her now cool tea.

“It seems you may require my help after all.” A voice appeared suddenly almost causing Akasha to spill her tea.

“Didn’t I tell you not to sneak up on me like that!” she almost shouted.

The strange human-like creature that lacked any emotions or human-like traits other than its appearance, gave off an awkward smile. It was like it was attempting to mimic a human, but it was plainly obvious that it was not human at all. It was a shell, a failure at mimicry, but not without its uses.

“My apologies. I only wished to remind you that I am at your service as per the orders of the one who created me.”

Akasha eyed the strange being thoughtfully. She didn’t really trust it, but if it could help disrupt the enemy army then she didn’t mind making use of it. Her goddess had already informed her that she could use it as she wished. She wasn’t sure of its origins, but she was definitely creeped out by it. It wasn’t apparent how powerful the thing was, but it must be of some use if her goddess believed so.

“Let us wait and see how the battle unfolds. I would rather not rely on outside help, no matter your intentions. If we fail again… then I guess I won’t have any choice but to use you.”

_________

More than an hour had passed since the Dark Elven army had retreated from battle, but it had felt like a lifetime to Lenia who was once more mounted and surveying the battlefield with her aides and guards surrounding her. It was past midday and this would most likely be the last battle of the day unless the enemy decided on a night attack. Of course if they did try such a maneuver, Lenia would be ready for them. She was much more concerned with the impending battle.

“This is going to be tough.” She muttered to herself.

Lenia was careful not to let any of her soldiers see her concern and outwardly she bore the bearing of a mighty general. She exuded nothing but confidence as she ordered her subordinates around and made preparations. She could now see the enemy lines moving forward as an even more massive army than the last time marched forth with horns blazing. There were many banners of a plethora of designs and colors, although five particular ones stood out most of all. It was the five banners of the Matriarchs and the majority of the soldiers were being led by their bannermen.

The dozens of other banners belonged to matrons who were aligned with the Matriarchs and were their vassals. This was a much more powerful army than the slaves, but still not up to the standards of the goddesses personal army. Lenia wasn’t concerned about the feudal army, she was much more concerned with the Dark Elven cavalry. The slave army also once more was on the move. Having already lost more than seventeen thousand, they still had approximately eighty two thousand soldiers. With well over one hundred thousand soldiers participating on their side, this was going to be a difficult battle and Lenia had prepared as best she could even committing all of her reserves.

“Prien, is there any word from Nelay’s shadows yet?”

One of Lenia’s aides, a human, stepped forward and saluted, “Not yet, the Cuirassiers and Rangers have yet to make their move.”

Lenia nodded, “The Cuirassiers are a large threat. Their entire unit consists of Dark Elven males on Giant Royal Scarabs. The Scarabs are faster than they look and have a powerful mandible which they can use to crush their prey. Their shells are as durable as steel and the Cuirassiers themselves are extremely dexterous and are equipped with two curved blades. The rangers are all female Dark Elves with bows made of golden crested yew with blackened salamander sinew for the string, both a specialty of the Evergloom. They have extreme range and power. Make sure all of the Pikemen have their pikes enchanted and the shields that the shield bearers wield as well. The Drakken Steel they are crafted from along with the offensive and defensive enchantments will definitely be able to pierce the shell of the scarabs as well as stop their charge. Have our heavy cavalry flank the Cuirassiers the moment they meet our pike wall. The Shaman are to use all of their magic power to mass summon beasts, as many as possible. Use them to distract the rangers as much as possible. If we can inflict heavy enough casualties on the Cuirassiers they will definitely fall back. I will personally enter the fray at that time. This should bring out the Matriarchs. Get to your posts immediately!”

“Yes commander!” all of the aides shouted and saluted, immediately rushing to pass down the orders.

“All that is left now is to wait. Once they make their move, I will head into battle.”

Lenia was nervous, but she also felt confident in her soldiers that she had trained herself as well as the equipment provided by the master craftsmen her master had given life. There weren’t enough shields and pikes for the entire army of course, but they had been able to supply a few thousand with them. Thankfully, the Cuirassiers and Rangers weren’t large in number. There were only five thousand of each, for a total of ten thousand. Even though their numbers were small, they were elites among elites, each being advanced class beings and their officers were either high advanced class or low master class beings.

This was a powerful force on the level of the Blood Guard and perhaps even slightly stronger because of their mounts. Even Lenia’s elite forces would not be able to match them, at least at the moment. In the future, her forces would surely surpass them. The Barbarians of the Steppes had always been about quantity over quality and usually left the gap in quality to the Dragons. It was how they had been able to keep themselves safe on the Steppes for a long time, but it would have eventually led to their defeat even if Aleks hadn’t come along.

None of this took into account the abilities that Lenia possessed though. With her command abilities which could bolster both the offensive and defense power of her soldiers, they could make up for the difference in strength.

Many horns continued to blow and as the large army marched towards Lenia’s army, the light of many spells illuminated them and the bombardment began in haste. Hundreds of spells blasted towards Lenia’s army only to be blocked by the shields of her own magic casters. Enchanted arrows were fired from both sides which could pierce magic shields and casualties began to rise. Most of the casualties were among the slave army as they weren’t being protected by shields or spells.

The Dark Elves of the feudal armies didn’t care about them and so Lenia had her magic casters and archers focus on the slaves. If they could thin their numbers, it would be beneficial. Even if they could kill some of the feudal soldiers with their bombardment, it wouldn’t be that advantageous. Better to kill a whole lot of their meat shields when the moment allowed for such and before they could be used as such.

Lenia’s army was almost entirely protected from the bombardment of spells and arrows. Her soldiers were equipped with durable shields and the majority of magic casters focused on defense so it was rare for any attacks to break through. Lenia held off on using any of her command abilities because she wanted to surprise them at the right moment and was waiting for their true attack to take place.

It wasn’t long before the two enemy armies were within range of skirmishers. Enchanted javelins began to rain down on both sides. Javelins in some cases were much more effective than arrows or spells. They could be enchanted to pierce through the defensive spells cast by magic casters and were much heavier than arrows. In some cases they could pierce through shields, but even if they couldn’t they would at least make the shields useless.

Of course, this was in normal cases. The shields prepared for Lenia’s army were anything but ordinary and the javelins of the enemy were not very effective. Nonetheless, there were still casualties. Before even reaching Lenia’s army lines, the enemy had suffered thousands of casualties among the slaves but the feudal armies were mostly untouched. It was a good tradeoff regardless because Lenia’s casualties were extremely low and they had thinned out the enemy army a bit.

Once the javelins were expended, the slaves charged forward first while the feudal army continued to bombard Lenia’s army with their spells and arrows. They continued to remain behind their magic shields while they waited for the slaves to tire the enemy. They would then take advantage of any openings or signs of weakness. It wasn’t a bad strategy, but Lenia wasn’t too concerned. She could easily tip the scales of the battle if necessary and instead continued to survey the battlefield until the Dark Elven cavalry made their move.

The slaves once more engaged with the defensive lines of Lenia’s army. They surged into the wall of shields and were met with swift blades and the cries of death from those around them. Lenia’s army was like a machine of death, cutting down the enemy in droves but the surge of slaves seemed to never end and the situation wasn’t as calm as it seemed. Lenia’s army was fighting as best it could, but signs of strain were beginning to show after a period of time. It was at that moment that a shadow suddenly appeared next to Lenia who was waiting calmly on her mount.

“We have spotted the movement of the Dark Elven cavalry. They are preparing to charge the right flank as you surmised.”

Without even a word in reply, Lenia kicked her horse and urged it on faster towards the right flank. She rode as fast as she could, not wanting to miss the timing. Her guards and the remaining aides rushed to follow close behind her, but were having difficulty keeping up. As she raced towards the right flank, a surge of glittering Scarabs bounded towards the right flank of Lenia’s army. Their dark shells were so smooth that they somehow reflected the sunlight and appeared as glittering jewels racing across the plains.

Behind them, a dark swarm of arrows soon rained overhead and almost blotted out the sun. Thousands of arrows which weren’t much different from ballista bolts landed upon the soldiers of the right flank like a downpour. These arrows were nothing like any they had seen before and they smashed into the shields, causing many soldiers to be unable to block them. Just one volley had caused significant casualties and blown a hole in the defense which the Scarabs seemed to be veering straight for. If they could punch a hole in the formation, the casualties would be staggering.

It was at that moment that Lenia launched herself off her mount, unsheathed her blade and smashed down into the ground right at the hole in the formation. A shockwave blasted outwards from her body and there was a small crater where she landed. The aura of a commander swept over her army, causing their offensive and defensive abilities to rise. Morale immediately surged and soldiers took the place of those that died, plugging up the hole once more. The pikes were lifted just right at the moment that the Cuirassiers on their giant scarabs came bearing down on them, straight into a bristling line of deadly glowing enchanted Drakken Steel.