Mighty Hammer Down (52 page)

Uritus crossed his arms. "There will
always be people who hate their superiors. You cannot let the voice
of the people deter you from your cause. You already know what is
best for them, so continue to do the things that make this world a
better place to live in. People are lazy. Force them to unite and
work towards a common goal."

The man with the moustache was silent
for a moment as he stared reverently at Uritus. "You are truly a
great man. You have a vision and you inspire me. I would follow you
if you asked it of me."

Uritus snorted a laugh. "And what
would your Red Master have to say about that, my
friend?"

"Uritus, you are speaking with the Red
Master of Vindyrion. My name is Duncan."

"Is that right? Well if you are
willing to follow me, I am willing to lead you Duncan; you and your
men."

"It seems as if you have a better idea
of your agenda than we do. And if it is true that Inshae has chosen
you to wear his robes and take orders from him directly, I don’t
see how we could refuse to follow you. We will do as Inshae
commands, and if it is through you, then so be it."

"Good. I am glad to hear that you are
so willing to join with me. Right now I just need those two men
dead. Nothing else matters. Send all your men to find Rommus
Tirinius. Kill him on the spot."

"How will we know where to find him or
what he looks like?"

"Rommus is tall; taller than most men.
He is strong and well-built. He has the dark hair of the Medorans
and dark eyes. He carries with him the sword of Arius, and he is
most likely traveling with an attractive Vindyri woman. His father
is even easier to spot. If you should happen to see his father,
kill him as well. He is much taller than any man I have ever met,
and he wears all black, even though he is Medoran. He wears no
armor at all, and he has a black sword.

"I must warn you though,
both of them
¾
especially Tannis
¾
are extremely
dangerous. Both of them were trained as soldiers, and neither of
them are fools. While Tannis is the deadlier of the two, Remember
that Rommus has that sword. If he touches you with that blade, it
will send you directly to the void. Even the smallest cut will
destroy you.

"Rommus is somewhere between here and
the Land of the Gods, but he is most likely not spending a lot of
time on the open roads. Tannis is obviously to the northwest of
this city with the rest of the Medoran army."

"So it is true. The Medorans are
coming to fight in the war?"

"Yes they are coming. There are two
Legions remaining in Medora though to protect the cities and people
there, but no protection is really needed. There are no plans to
attack Medora."

"How can you be sure of
that?"

"I am sure because I have had a part
in planning this war. Have you prepared for the war in any
way?"

"There is nothing that we can do. We
are doing the same thing everyone else in Vindyrion is doing. We
will leave the city as soon as we know the Bhoors will attack
it."

"You fools. The Bhoors are not here to
attack you. The Bhoors are secretly working with the Vindyri army.
They are waiting for the Medorans to arrive."

Chapter 35

The roar of the men fighting almost
overpowered the sounds of the steel blades clashing. Nearly all of
them were screaming; either in rage or in pain. For as far as the
eye could see there were Bhoors stretched in front of them, filling
the enormous valley with a flowing mass of violence incarnate. Many
among them had no armor at all, and some only had weapons when they
pried them from the clenched fists of their dead companions. But no
matter how poorly they were equipped, there was no doubt that the
Bhoors were determined and fearless. He didn’t admit it to anyone,
but Tannis felt like this might be his last battle.

The Medorans had rushed in to the
plains at the south side of Burnhamheade, only to find the Bhoors
waiting on the other side of the River Aeden. The bridges had been
destroyed, and the Bhoors had placed traps in the water. When the
soldiers tried to cross, many men were impaled on sharp sticks
placed underwater. Eventually the traps were cleared and the men
could move across the river. That was when the war
began.

Even under the bright sun there was a
heavy feeling of doom that filled Tannis’s heart. The Bhoors
covered the land for as far as the eye could see, even to the
blurry horizon. He watched his men struggling to advance, only to
be cut down mercilessly at the enemy line. The bodies had piled up
from both sides, and soldiers from both armies eventually realized
that they could not fight well standing on the dead. The front line
was constantly shifting so that the men could avoid trampling the
dead and dying.

Tannis saw that the regular infantry
who had crossed the river first was not prepared to meet the enemy.
They had rushed in without orders, and death at the hands of the
Bhoors was their punishment. After raining down endless arrows on
the Bhoors, he decided to try something more aggressive. He had
ordered the remaining infantry back and called for the phalanxes,
which were groups of tightly-packed soldiers carrying no swords,
but instead long spears and tall shields. The men at the edges had
armor that was painted to look like flesh, tempting the enemy to
attack from the sides. When the enemy realized that attack from the
front was nearly impossible, they swarmed into the gaps
intentionally left between the phalanxes. They were met by the
savage Medoran infantry.

Even though he watched his men do all
the right things, they did not gain any ground. The Bhoors did not
have any sort of structured plan, but their numbers were just too
great. It did not matter if the men were not skilled warriors,
because another man was always directly behind him, ready to swing
his sword for his cause. Tannis shook his head as he
stared.

"Sun Legion! Star Legion! All
phalanxes to the front line!" he shouted as his horse reared in
excitement for battle.

The command was called down the line
and the soldiers began to move. The men at the front saw what was
happening and retreated when they saw the long lines of spears
coming to the front line. The Bhoors seemed to hesitate when they
saw them, and were clearly struck by fear; even if it was only
temporary. The phalanxes pushed into the Bhoors and drove them
back. The line got longer as more spearmen reached the front, and
soon the Medorans were overpowering the Bhoors.

The sun shone down and caught the
armor of the Medorans; the dazzling points of light looking like a
great ocean moving before him. He watched the Bhoors stumble in a
panic, fearing the sharp tips of those Medoran spears and swords.
Although the majority of the Bhoor army was unaware of what was
happening at the front line, the fear would soon spread among them.
He could see his men jump at the opportunity to strike at the
Bhoors, and at the same time the Bhoors recoiled and began to break
away from the battle, relying on the men behind them to fight in
their stead.

Suddenly, out in the distance he saw a
man in silver satin robes. He saw some kind of light or fire near
the man, and then a terrible explosion in the ranks of the Bhoors,
killing hundreds of men in an instant. A few seconds after the
blast, a loud boom shook the ground. Shortly after that, the
ghastly smell of cooked flesh met his nostrils. His eyebrows came
down as he considered who this man might be and how he had
accomplished such a feat, but before he could take a moment to
think on the matter, another explosion decimated the Bhoors on the
other side of the battle. His eyes narrowed as he searched the
field, and he was amazed to see that there were in fact many of
these men in silver robes spread throughout the Medoran army. None
of the Medorans seemed to be bothered by their presence, and the
fighting went on as usual, but still he could not understand who
these men were. As he watched the Bhoors panic even more, he
thought that perhaps these men were the last of the Vindyri army,
uniting with the Medorans and fighting their common
enemy.

He started moving towards the front
line, and as he looked around him for more surprises, he was amazed
to find one. Off to his left were three riders coming at the army
at full speed. They were partly hidden by the shadows thrown from
the buildings in Burnhamheade, but something about them was
strange. He couldn’t make out who they were or even how they were
dressed, but he felt something in his stomach when he looked at
them. There was something important about these riders, and he
could not tell what it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think it’s too late Master
Rommus?" Vohl yelled over the thundering hooves.

"Yes it’s too late. The Medorans have
obviously reached the river by now. I can hear them fighting even
from here. I only hope that there were not too many casualties on
our side from the spikes."

Alana looked over at him from her
galloping horse. "Do you think that we have a chance at winning
this war?"

"There is always a chance. I can’t see
the size of the Bhoor army from here, but I know it’s large. The
Medorans are intimidated. I can feel it."

"Is that part of your power? You can
feel what the army feels?"

"I don’t know anything about any kind
of power. All I can do is summon the armor and swing this sword.
For all I know, the gods have taken all my powers from
me."

Alana’s chain mail rang with a chorus
of tiny clicks as she rode. "Do you think you’re safe Rommus? Are
you immortal like a real god?"

Rommus shook his head as his horse ran
beneath him. "Alana, I have no idea. I don’t intend to let anyone
stab me to find out."

"Shouldn’t you put that armor on
Master Rommus?" Vohl yelled.

Rommus didn’t answer but instead just
called the armor. A bright red flash filled his vision and
temporarily disoriented the horses. They eventually regained their
bearings and continued towards the Medoran army at lightning speed.
Rommus felt a cold chill in his stomach as they cleared the city
limits and saw the immense battle taking place on the south side of
Burnhamheade. If the helmet didn’t hide his expression, the other
two would see a look of fear. He was not afraid of dying, but he
feared that the Empire of Medora was about to fall before his eyes.
His jaw hung open in amazement until his teeth were jarred together
from the violent motion of the horse.

"What will we do when we get there
Master Rommus?"

"We do the only thing we can do. We
kill."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There are men of magic on the field
Zidaoz. What will we do about them?"

"Where are they? How can you tell they
are using magic?"

The soldier pointed. "At the front
line of battle. They are using some sort of fire against us. The
men down there are panicking."

Zidaoz rolled his eyes and focused on
the battle far off in the distance. He saw a great ball of orange
flame and even felt its warmth on his face. He crossed his hands
and held them out towards the battle. When he called forth the
magic, a great beam of darkness came forth and shot towards the
horizon. In the split second it took to conjure the beam, it stole
every bit of sound and light from the battle. When it was over, it
had stolen the lives of every man before him. Thousands of his own
men died from the terrible magic.

The soldier stared at him with wide
eyes. "Zidaoz, you have slaughtered your own men."

"No, I have killed some of the
meddlesome Mages who pester my army like bees. The other men I
killed were simply standing in my way. They served their purpose.
The Medorans now know that I do not care how many of my men die. We
will win this war at all cost."

"But those men had wives and children.
How could you do that to them?"

A sneer came to his face. "If I hear
another word from your mouth I will do the same to you. Make
yourself useful and find Lohken Dirujen."

When the man ran off his sneer slowly
twisted into a smile. He could feel the fear in the air and it was
more intoxicating than any wine could ever be. His men fought
because of that fear. The Medorans trembled before him. Soon the
enemies of Rohni would be destroyed, and all would bow to the
Zidaoz and his god. He watched his soldiers picking through the
armor and weapons of the men he had killed with his magic. He was
absolutely delighted at the fact that they did not falter or miss a
step. They were all dedicated to the cause. They were all fighting
for god. He remained silent a long time, dizzy with his power as
the battle continued.

"I am here Zidaoz. What did you
need?"

He turned to the voice behind him. "Ah
Lohken, I am glad that you could finally make it to the
battle."

"I have been here all along and you
know it. We have been tending to the beasts."

"Yes, yes." he said as he rolled his
hand at the wrist. "Where are these things? I do not see or smell
them."