VI
It was high noon on the fourth day since the outset of the battle. Captain Gauss Osmeyer positioned his forces in front of the deep expanse of marshland in the southwest of the Turner Plains. There he raised their battle flag, emblazoned with the Valedstorm crest—the symbol of the Eighth Legion. With around three thousand soldiers under his command, most of whom he had previously fought alongside in the many battles they had come through under Olivia’s command in the Independent Cavalry Regiment, there was no question that Gauss’s regiment were elite.
“All the same, it is rather a bold move...” said Gauss’s aide Slash Reis, his mouth twisting. By way of response, Gauss flashed him a savage grin. It was no fit of fancy that had led to his choosing this place, rimmed by hills and treacherously marshy underfoot, for his battleground. On the way, they had engaged in a few skirmishes with the Azure Knights, and his impression was that they combined the offensive power of the Crimson Knights with the defensive capabilities of the Helios Knights. It was only right that they were called the empire’s most elite warriors. No doubt the soldiers of the Azure Knights were better trained; meeting them head-on would therefore be the height of stupidity. The only way to narrow the gap, even slightly, was to hit the Azure Knights where they did not expect it. If they ended up fighting in the swamp, both armies would inevitably get bogged down. Though it meant sacrificing protection, Gauss had forbidden in advance all but the lightest equipment to his soldiers, in order to prioritize ease of movement.
“Will our enemy oblige us by going along with it, I wonder?”
“That’s up to you.”
“Say what? Why’s it up to me, ser?” An even more dim-witted expression than the one he usually wore came over Slash’s face. Gauss glanced at him, then clapped him vigorously. “Ow!” he yelped. “That hurts. What if you dislocated my shoulder, eh? Unlike you, ser, I’m built delicate. I’ll thank you not to go whacking me with that monstrous strength of yours.”
“You know,” Gauss said, “I think it’s safe to say there’s one thing I’ll never outdo you on.”
“You, never outdo me on something?” Slash replied earnestly. “My handsome face, perhaps?”
Gauss cuffed him hard on the head, grinning. “Can’t work it out?”
“If I can’t, it’s only because there are so many possibilities.” Slash kept up the easy banter even as he rubbed his head.
Gauss reached out, pinched his cheeks, and tugged hard. “There you go, that’s the stuff. You be sure and give the Azure Knights a healthy dose of that flagrant disrespect, you hear?”
“I go’ it! I go’ it, sho shtoff tugging!” Slash held up both hands in a gesture of surrender and Gauss released him, letting his cheeks snap back. Slash sighed. “So basically, you want me to goad our foes into following us into these marshes, ser?”
“That’s right. It’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?” A silver tongue with which to provoke an enemy was just another weapon in the arsenal. In that sense, Slash was the perfect man for the job—he might have been born with his tongue wagging. Gauss, however, did know of another who outdid even Slash in this regard. Even I can’t get a rein on that one, he thought.
When it came to being difficult to handle, Slash had nothing on Ellis, who now commanded a detached force of her own. Even Slash seemed to forget how words worked when it came to her.
Slash rubbed his reddened cheeks, looking surly. “There’s a thing or two I could say to that, ser, but I’ll do it if that’s what your orders are. I ain’t taking no responsibility if they don’t take the bait, mind.”
“Don’t you worry. They’ll take it, you can be sure of that. I’ve got a hell of a lot more faith on that count than I do in your sword arm.”
“You’re too kind, ser. I’m so honored I might cry,” Slash replied, making a show of wiping away nonexistent tears.
Sure enough, an hour later—
“The enemy you were waiting for, ser.”
Gauss’s regiment of light infantry rendezvoused with a unit of the Azure Knights.
Colonel Vieth Leda found the Eighth Legion camped on the other side of what looked like a deep swamp. He gave the order for all his forces to halt.
“They’re obviously trying to lure us in, aren’t they?” his aide remarked.
Vieth nodded. It was plain that their enemy desired a battle in the marsh, and that could only mean one thing—they were attempting to use the terrain to compensate however they could for the difference in their forces’ abilities. What they had not accounted for was running into a unit considered elite even within ranks of the Azure Knights.
“Shall we take the bait?” Vieth’s aide asked. Vieth realized the unconcerned tone was a sign of confidence, not an absence of caution.
“While that might be amusing, I don’t see why we should act as they want us to...?”
As he spoke, a sudden stir rippled through many of the soldiers around the camp as they began to point. Vieth’s gaze followed the gestures to the source and saw a lone Royal Army soldier coming toward them. He wondered if they were dragging out the old custom of greeting one’s opponent before a battle, but the man didn’t carry himself like a commander. He seemed like an aide at best. That would have made Vieth suspect a trap, except that they were on the edge of a marsh. If one were setting a trap, there could be no worse location.
Surely not. They can’t be planning to surrender? He gave the stand-down gesture to the archers nocking arrows to the string, watching as the Royal Army soldier came to a halt right in the middle of his own forces.
“I have a message for the glorious Azure Knights!” he began in a singsong tone. “Smeared in mud as we are, we thought a mud-slinging battle would be just the thing. But what say you? No, don’t answer! I know just what you’re thinking! The magnificent Azure Knights, flaunting such gorgeous outfits, you falter! You’d best run back to the capital with your tails between your legs while you can! And to only show your faces on the battlefield now—it’s simply too much! You resplendent Azure Knights should have stayed where you were—quailing before the Royal Army, hiding your faces in the skirts of the ladies of the imperial court! And the best part! The very best part, is then you’d never soil your oh so pretty outfits!”
Vieth felt waves of hot rage from his soldiers wash over him. He realized his hand was sticky and looked down to where his hands gripped his reins to see blood trailing from nail-shaped crescents in his palms.
“I shall say it once more, o splendiferous Azure Knights! Get up off those pretty rumps of yours and run back to the capital! Run back to your master, inciting his pointless wars based on childish fantasies, Ramza the Good—or should I say, Ramza the Fool!” The soldier spun around then, without warning, he dropped his breeches and gave his buttocks a resounding slap. The waves of rage transformed into a raging inferno that threatened to swallow the entire unit whole.
“Do we take the bait?” his aide repeated. Now, however, his expression was utterly changed. He glared over at the Royal Army soldier with a look of such malice he could have sent a demon running scared. Vieth took a handkerchief from his pocket and fastidiously wiped away the blood. He took the magnificent pike proffered by his attendant with a firm grip.
“Toward us, I would endure any abuse. But I cannot sit idly by and permit a mere soldier to insult His Imperial Majesty. Just sending them to hell is not enough.” He turned to his soldiers. “Listen, all of you! The Royal Army stands before you! You will exterminate them!”
The Royal Army soldier bolted and the Azure Knights pursued, rushing forward like a river in a storm. Watching from on high, a flock of death-eater birds circled through the blue sky.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login