274 Blood, Sweat and Tears

Dust misted the air, putting a shroud to the carnage. But Leopold could hear the screams of the dying. Oh how he wish he was deaf.

His eyes trembled in their sockets. A single sweat skidded down his cheek.

Strong hands pulled him from his trance. Rupert. The royal guard led him down the wall. Everything felt a dream. What was that?

The whole picture was revealed to him after reaching the ground. It was more terrible. Debris, chunks of stone the size of a person, buried Vanadians in a dusty grave. A leg here, an arm there, a splatter of meat near his boots.

Leopold grabbed one of the few uninjured Vanadians. The boy was dazed as much as him. "Call for help. Edmund Vanadis is in the western wall. Now!"

The man scuttled away. Passersby had began helping the wounded, lining them in a clean portion of the street. Leopold went to one of them. This man had a mangled arm. The bones were crushed and the flesh was minced. Only the skin held it from the rest of his body.

"We need to cut your arm so we can stop the bleeding and save you from festers. Do you understand?"

The Vanadian shook his head.

"Your arm boy! Your arm or your life. You will die."

He was afraid, Leopold could clearly see that. The Vanadian was afraid of losing his arm. He was afraid of being disabled. Of course he was. Leopold didn't wait for approval. He held the Vanadian's body while Rupert drew his sword against the mangled arm. In one clean slice, Rupert cut it. The Vanadian struggled, screamed, cursed. Rupert took a cloth from one of the citizens and wrapped a bandage.

Leopold didn't wait for gratitude. He instructed Rupert and a few abled bodies to aid the wounded. And then his eyes turned to the greatest problem he was trying to ignore.

The wall had breach. It was wide and the debris was scalable. If the Wismarines decided to attack then the garrison of Holm cannot hold them here especially now that William cannot lead them. Morale was low.

And sure enough the horn blasted the cry of an assault. Leopold felt cold.

"Gather the wounded!" He shouted. He bit his lips as he looked at the pitiful Vanadians. "Leave those who cannot walk."

"Sire..."

"Leave them!" Leopold spitted those words. "Form a defense at once. Get the artillery crew up there. Get everyone here!"

The Vanadians stared at him for several heartbeats. And then they moved. The wounded who cannot walk were left. Those who had slight injuries were escorted to the infirmary. The dying were given a quick peace.

Edmund arrived not long after. The old merchant's eyes were wide as he studied the state of the wall.

Leopold trudged toward Edmund. "Leave the command of all of our men to me. As for you, gather the citizens to the city center."

"We cannot defend this Leo." Edmund said. "The breach is too large."

"Lower your voice!" Leopold leaned forward and grabbed Edmund's shoulder. "There are tunnels beneath the palace right?"

"Leading to the sewers and then to the river, yes."

"Have the royal guards transport the treasury out. The Union cannot continue this war without the treasury."

Edmund nodded to that. Leopold knew that he was aware of the importance of the treasury in this war.

"And," He added. "Please take him with you. I beg you Ed. Take my son with you."

"I will. I promise Leo, I will keep him safe."

"You have my eternal gratitude Ed."

Edmund soon went away. Leopold gathered the entire garrison in the defense of the breach. Some were sent on top of the wall to deter the ladders and hurl the stones and Hellfire pots. He could see the anxiety on every man's face. Even Rupert was afraid. Even Wasp still had his tail between his legs.

The ballistae and catapults began flinging projectiles. Leopold could not see if they hit or not. He had trust in the artillery crew of Vanadis anyway. The battlecry of the Falconheads soon followed. That shrill tone melted his bones. The things soon leapt through the rubble and hit their lines. Several were cut down by both Hellfire pots and crossbows but most did reach their line. The Falconheads fought with the same crazed ferocity, dealing deaths left and right. The rest of the Wismarine force followed. The two lines met in a bloody clash.

The Vanadian side began to buckle. Some of those in the rear were already running. Leopold grabbed one of the deserters and slapped his heavy hand onto the man's cowardly face.

"Defend or you'll hang!"

The deserter looked terrified. He eyed the battle and gritted his teeth. He soon rejoined the combat.

But it was too late. The Wismarines broke through in one portion. The whole Vanadian line melted after. Men were retreating en masse. It was a rout.

"No!" Leopold rattled his throat. "Stay. Do not run. Stay!"

They did not listen. The broken Vanadians were being slaughtered. The runners dropped their weapons for haste.

"Too late now sire" Rupert said as he grabbed Leopold.

Leopold was stubborn. He could still salvage this. He could still make the line stay.

Rupert yanked him hard and he was forced to retreat too. He failed. All of Holm would burn to the ground with this. Thousands of citizens will be put to the sword. No. Part of him refused to believe that this was happening. They were winning, they had defended Holm for days. And now it was all falling apart.

He ran, knees aching, but he ran nonetheless. The smooth streets of Holm stayed silent to the plight of the Vanadians. The Wismarines behind were killing everyone that stayed. They soon reached the city center where the citizens were huddling. They began to murmur after seeing the bloodied soldiers.

Leopold saw Edmund on top of the platform. He walked toward Ed and bent close to his ear.

"Where is William?" He whispered.

"He is being transported by the royal guards along with the treasury."

Good, Leopold thought. At least he would live.

"You should leave Ed" He whispered again "The wall has fallen. The Wismarines are meaning to slaughter the entire city"

"What about you?"

Leopold looked behind. The citizens numbered more than a hundred thousand. Most of them would be killed if he leave them.

"I will try one last thing. Go Ed."

Edmund looked around and then centered a glare at him as if realizing his plan.

"This is foolish Leo. They are citizens. They cannot fight. We should just escape. Take everyone we can take with us."

"There wouldn't be enough time for that. Besides, I need to buy time for you and William to escape. I I could even annihilate all of the Wismarines with this. Take Wasp with you and take care of my son." He held his arm out to Edmund. "You better be grateful to me."

Edmund grabbed his arm. "You are one crazy old man."

Edmund soon left with Wasp. Leopold turned to Rupert. "Scour every soldier you can find. Go to the barracks and gather all our weapons. All. Axes, knives, spears, sticks, swords, all the armor too."

Rupert looked at the citizens of Holm. "You mean to arm them?"

"I do. We have numbers Rupert. Holm would fall soon, these people would die. And they are doing nothing, just waiting to be killed. Go now. Do not waste time."

Rupert nodded and went straight to his task. Leopold was left with Wasp and the fearful citizens. Most of them were women and children but a good number were fit men. The women could fight too as long as they can hold a weapon. The children... well the children could stay.

Smoke rose from the harbor area. Leopold realized why the Wismarines were not attacking them now. They were burning the city with the stockpile of Hellfire. If left, the whole city of Holm would burn to ashes.

He instructed all the remaining soldiers to herd the citizens closer. It took a while but it wasn't easy to sway a terrified flock. The citizens of Holm, once probably the richest people in the whole world, were shaking and awaiting their deaths.

Leopold cleared his throat. He wasn't Timothy. He wasn't Lucia. But in his own dishonest way he would try to put courage in them.

He stood on the platform. All eyes were him in a second. Those eyes were begging to be saved. The murmurs and cries vanished into silence as he raised his hand.

"The harbor is burning!" He shouted. His words were repeated by the soldiers for all to hear.

"The great harbor of Holm, the largest harbor in the whole damn world is burning. And yet you are here, doing nothing, wallowing in your fear. Your languor will be the death of us all. You talk and talk and murmur and worry. And yet you bastards do nothing! They are burning your city. They would soon murder you."

Finally Rupert arrived with the weapons after a while. It took faster than he thought. Different kinds of weapons were laid on the ground, scattered.

"If you want to live then do something. Life is not a gift, it is earned. Through blood and sweat and tears it is earned. Grab those weapons and follow me to the harbor. We will destroy them all and we will live. Stay here and your will all die."

Leopold grabbed one of the spears. It felt heavy to his weak arms. He stepped toward the direction of the harbor, not caring if the citizens were convinced by what he said.

Rupert followed him. And then the Vanadian soldiers. Finally the citizens picked up the weapons and moved. Leopold smiled.

The streets were filled with a sea of people. All alleys and main streets were crowded. All of Holm was moving as one.

When the harbor was in sight, they charged. It was a scattered charge- ineffective, broken- but the rush of the mob surprised the Wismarines. Leopold wanted to run back to safety. But the rush of the mob pushed him to the front. His legs moved, propelling him to the waiting arms of the Wismarines.

***

William opened his eyes. The stench of the sewer forced him to wrinkle his nose. It was dark and he was being carried. And he cannot feel his two arms.

He looked and had a tinge of dismay. His arms had been cut just above the elbow. The stumps were bandaged but still bleeding. And then it occurred to him that he should be in bed. Why in the Omniscient was he being carried in the sewers?

A familiar face met him. Edmund.

"What happened?"

"Your arms needed to be cut off."

"That's not what I'm asking about." He noticed that Wasp was with them, also waddling in the sewer water. He transferred the look on Edmund. It was dark but Edmund's face was easy to recognize. "Tell me everything. And where is my father?"

Edmund was silent for a while until he told William everything. William was panting when it was over.

"Fool!" He shouted. "Fool!"

He jumped from the stretcher. Wasp barked to his sudden movement.

"William!" Edmund shouted but he did not listen. He ran back and Wasp followed.

***

Leopold crawled to the side of one of the unburnt buildings. He leaned back. A dagger was on his belly.

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I am going to die, aren't I? No, I can't yet. But I am dying.

The battle was won. The Wismarines were slaughtered and despite the great casualty in their side, he was happy with that.

Rupert was dead. He saw his old friend stabbed by a Falconhead earlier. He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to Rupert. Leopold grimaced. His breaths became short.

I am going to die. Omniscient. I don't want to die. I want to see Timothy again. William. Ivan. We will visit Margaret's grave in spring. My sons. I want to watch them for a while. Omniscient, I don't want to die. Not yet.

The falling sun was orange in the horizon. The sea was calm. The breeze was cool. The harbor stretched beautifully to his front. The waves were battering the harbor gently.

I am really dying. So this is death. I don't have a choice, do I? My time has come.

He closed his eyes. In a moment he was back in that tree with Margaret. Gone was the sorry sight of Holm, the sad tone of sunset. The day was bright. It was spring. He was young. Margaret was singing to him.

At least I am going to meet you again. If there is an afterlife I will. Oh how I longed for you my dear. Our sons. We have three sons. Timothy the king, William the warrior, Ivan the fool. I love them all. The Omniscient blessed us with three beautiful sons.

Oh Margaret. He reached into her. She smiled.

I must tell you about our sons.