The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 12, Chapter 1

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 12, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

23rd Day, Middle Wind Month, 1 CE

Il-Enoweli con He’leyia made his way through the mist along the broad stone road that followed the river to the sea. The river’s rushing waters offered the only sounds in the stillness of the morning as he walked past the countless Human farms that straddled its course. At his shoulder, Eneleli – the leader of one of the tribes under his clan and a longtime friend – eyed the surroundings warily.

“What is the point in this?” Eneleli said, “we have a long march ahead of us, and I doubt that the Humans will respond favourably.”

“There is no harm in asking,” il-Enoweli replied.

“I feel my honour chafing with every step,” his friend sighed.

He could empathise with his frustrations. Five months had passed since the discovery of the verdant valley hidden far in the south. With how quickly the Humans in the mountains on the way had given up their territories, he never imagined that they would still be trying to take it nearly two seasons later.

A part of him blamed himself, as the initial results made him confident that the Humans would be firmly under Beastman control before the wet season. Mostly, however, he blamed Sage Khhschlr, who was ‘managing’ their efforts in the Draconic Kingdom since the loss of il-Endratha. The late Warmaster would have probably foreseen the issues they would face and chided il-Enoweli for his reckless optimism. Then he would have dispatched the forces necessary for a swift and decisive conquest.

Two silhouettes appeared in the mist, resolving into a pair of hunters that had been dispatched ahead of them. The two Con jogged up to report their findings.

“We’re clear to the coast,” one of them said. “It doesn’t look like the Humans have left the city since the deluge started.”

“I don’t blame them,” il-Enoweli grumbled. “Any sane person would be at home with their families right now.”VIssịT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n).com for the best novel reading experience

The morning fog dissipated over the next hour, revealing the long bay with the city at its western end. The obnoxiously resilient Human fortress was positioned atop a modest cliff overlooking the bay, with sheer cliffs that ran along its southern side until they joined with the sea. A ten-metre-high wall of grey basalt stretched from the cliffs to the sea. Access to the city by land was limited to a barren defile past the bridge leading to its western gate.

Even the Con, who thrived in rugged, mountainous terrain, couldn’t challenge its natural defences. Early on, an attempt had been made through the water against the harbour nestled far on the eastern side of the city, but the assault had been prematurely ended by the Humans’ hidden allies.

Why would they side with the Humans, anyway? They would see all Demihumans dead if presented with the opportunity.

The bay was inhabited by a clan of aquatic Demihumans whose appearance still eluded them. All that mattered, however, was that il-Enoweli’s forces were no match for them in the water. To make matters worse, the Demihumans conducted trade with the Humans, serving as an unassailable supply line.

In an attempt to sway the aquatic Demihumans to their side, a few of the civilian tribes attempted to initiate trade with them. Those attempts, however, were simply ignored.

For their confederation, it was an unprecedented situation. If the world was filled with alliances between different peoples, then Rol’en’gorek suffered a worrisome disadvantage.

All of their neighbours were some level of hostile. The tribes of the Worldspine to their north were simply savages who saw everyone else as food. The Jorgulans in the east served the malevolent whims of their Green Dragon masters. To their south, the Merchants of the Great Lut only sought to exploit them for resources, squeezing them for everything that they were worth. The Humans of the west sought their extermination.

Hundreds of heads popped up along the city wall as il-Enoweli and his entourage approached. He scanned the battlements, looking for anyone that resembled a Human Lord. Several arrows struck the road a few dozen metres ahead and skipped away.

“I will only say this once,” il-Enoweli directed his voice to the group atop the gatehouse. “A horde of Undead has swept in from your country’s northwest. Half of the Draconic Kingdom has already fallen to their advance.”

“You should stick to trying to eat us,” a Human male in the centre of the group replied. “Your skills as a Bard are dismal, at best!”

“This is no tale!” Il-Enoweli roared up at him, “The Undead are enemies of all that live, and we would have your warriors join us to face this dire threat.”

The Human Lord glanced at the males to either side of him. A low chuckle rose from his throat, which was echoed by the defenders from parapet to parapet. Their laughter grew, echoing off of the cliffs above.

“Is that the best you can come up with, you slithering hairball?” He shouted down at him, “There is no fool in existence who would fall for your preposterous proposal!”

“I speak no falsehoods!” Il-Enoweli growled, “And I do not believe for one moment that a Lord would give his people up to the Undead!”

“You have no proof of your claim. Even if they were coming, we’re more than happy to have them take care of you first!”

“They will come for you, next!”

“Then let them come!” The Lord raised his longbow overhead, “The walls of Foca Bay will ever stand proud and flat, just like our glorious Queen!”

“Uohhhhhhhhh!”

The thunderous cheer of the city’s defenders rolled over them and up the valley.

“Shouldn’t it be ‘proud and tall’?” Eneleli said.

“There’s definitely something wrong with these people,” il-Enoweli flicked an ear. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

With his task carried out, he led their warbands back up to the valley. Five kilometres to the east, the main body of his forces was preparing for the journey north. As they did, warbands occasionally arrived from the mountain valleys all around to add to their number.

“This call is just too sudden,” il-Enoweli said. “I bet that Khhschlr expects a hundred thousand of us to come up the highway to her aid.”

“The runner never said we’d be fighting as soon as we arrived,” Eneleli noted. “But you’re right: we won’t be able to muster even a third of our forces in any reasonable timeframe.”

Their fight in the mountains of the south wasn’t anything like what had happened in the lowlands of the north. Thousands of skirmishes in hundreds of valleys, ridges, and forests flared up every day. They may have had a hundred thousand between their warriors and civilians, but those numbers were spread out across the southern ranges and couldn’t be recalled so easily.

He made his way through the chaotic preparations and entered a small grove along the river where the Lords were trying to coordinate their impromptu reassignment. Most of them were too busy with one thing or another to greet him, so he was able to go straight to the group gathered around a wide stone table.

“What are we at?” Il-Enoweli asked.

“Fifteen thousand,” one of the Lords answered. “We may have twenty by this evening.”

“Did we at least manage to contact il-Enchawi?”

“No,” the Lord shook his head. “It’s unreasonable to think that we could reach il-Enchawi, il-Enhoorl, il-Envorst and il-Ensaagh on such short notice.”

Il-Enoweli sighed. Not only did they distribute their clans across a two-hundred-kilometre-wide theatre, but the nature of the conflict was highly mobile. The runners sent out to recall the clans could spend weeks wandering around without finding them.

“They’ll arrive when they arrive, I guess,” he said. “How long before we’re ready to depart?”

“Before noon. We’ve sent hunters to screen the way ahead already.”

If they left by noon, they would arrive at the Human fortress guarding the pass by evening. Sage Khhshclr wanted them ‘right away’, but there was no such convenient thing.

A long column of Con snaked out of the camp an hour before noon, and il-Enoweni took his place at the front. After taking a look at their immediate surroundings, his gaze went to the clouds shrouding the mountain peaks in the north.

“How are the conditions ahead?” He asked a nearby mystic.

“Let’s just get rid of them with Wraiths, I guess.”

Four hundred Wraiths swept over the pass, wailing dramatically as they did. The surviving Beastmen had no chance...except for the one at the front, who destroyed all the Wraiths.

“What the heck?” Raul frowned, “How strong is that guy?”

“This one estimates that the target should be in the so-called ‘Realm of Heroes’. I believe that our Adventurer Guild would rate it at ‘Adamantite II’.

That was stupid strong. As strong as the Death-series Servitors.

“A Magic Arrow barrage should be the most efficient means of eliminating the target,” the Elder Lich said.

“Sure, let’s do that,” Raul said. “We have to get back to all those villages or we’ll fall behind.”

The blue-white flares of hundreds of Magic Arrows flashed through the clouds. Their last target finally fell to the ground. The Elder Liches formed up around Raul’s Skeletal Dragon and they flew back north. Raul sighed as the Draconic Kingdom’s riverlands came back into view.

“How many do we have to go?”

“Seventy-five villages, eight towns and one large town.”

“Ugh...”

Back when he had first decided to become an apprentice Commander, the work awaiting him would have never entered his mind. Rather than dealing with their enemies, he spent most of his time dealing with their allies.

His Skeletal Dragon descended toward a town that straddled a small river. At least this one wouldn’t be as bad as some of the others.

The effectiveness of the Beastmen’s efforts to ‘sedate’ the Draconic Kingdom’s population varied depending on each settlement’s water source. Since they were basically poisoning the water supply, the villages and towns that depended on wells were hit the hardest. Dumping Laira into running water was nowhere near as effective, but it could poison everyone downstream. The further downstream a village was, the worse it got.

An advisory had been issued to all of the towns and villages along the Oriculon to the west, as well. Captain Zahradnik said that there was no way that such a huge river in the middle of the rainy season could be poisoned by so little, but the Draconic Kingdom’s government wanted to play it safe.

The Elder Lich cast Invisibility on the Skeletal Dragon when they got within a few kilometres of the town, and they landed on a muddy road a few dozen metres away. He straightened his outfit and took a deep breath before walking up to its broken gate. A man with a staff barred the way.

“Who’re you?” The man asked.

“My name’s Raul. I’ve come with a message from the Queen.”

He waited patiently as the man with the staff ran off. When he first started visiting the villages, he introduced himself as a member of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Royal Army. That, however, only invited suspicion. Speaking in the name of the Queen, on the other hand, was like casting a magic spell.

The ‘sentry’ returned with five girls and one boy, who were in turn followed by a small crowd. Raul examined each, but they were all pretty much dressed the same.

“Did any of your Nobles survive?” He asked.

They shook their heads. Raul was pretty sure that would always be the answer, but he was instructed to ask just in case.

“Then, are there any temple staff?”

Three of the girls raised their hands. Raul looked at the other two.

“Who are you?”

“We’re with the Merchant Guild,” the boy said. “Well, the Merchant Guild hasn’t been working for over a year, but...”

“That’s fine,” Raul said. “I just need people who can help coordinate the citizens. How many were poisoned by the stuff the Beastmen put in the water?”

The group exchanged glances.

“A bunch on the north side of the town are acting sort of funny,” the boy said, “but I think the rest of us are alright? I don’t feel poisoned, anyway.”

Raul looked at the three temple staff.

“Those people on the south side were poisoned,” one of the girls said, “but they should be okay after a few days. Why do you ask?”

“Queen Oriculus wants the people to move west just in case the Beastmen try something funny,” Raul said. “Some of the villages out there are poisoned really bad, so we’ve been trying to figure out how to get everyone where they need to be.”

“We can help,” the girl said, and the others nodded. “Just tell us where we need to go.”

They were good people. If it was Re-Estize, half of them would be trying to screw the other half over. And that was without anything like Demihuman raids or famines going on. In the Draconic Kingdom, they got raided regularly and had been treated as livestock for over a year, yet their first thought upon being freed was to help others. He wondered why things were so different here.

After delivering his instructions, he made his way around the town looking for anything he might need to report. Though a lot of things were ‘simplified’ due to the Beastmen banning metal tools and things that might be used as weapons against them, the town was kept in good condition. That simplification extended to the townsfolk as well, with their clothing being well-tended, but lacking in any sophistication or colour. Everyone wore straw sandals and Raul stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Hey, how many girls are you married to?”

Argh, this again...

He turned to find a girl his age standing behind him. She took a step back, clutching a thin shawl in front of her in an effort to hide her swollen belly.

“I’m sorry,” Raul said in a clear voice. “I’m not from this country.”

“Oh.”

The girl turned away, as did two dozen others who had been stalking him down the street. Raul turned back to his work, feeling like a jerk for some reason.

Every village and town he had visited was filled with pregnant girls. Followers of The Six didn’t get married until they were twenty, so it was just weird to see. Yet, all he could feel was pity. They would be kids raising kids, and most of them were still apprentices. How would they even be able to take care of themselves and all the babies? The Elder Liches said something about a ‘one to fifty male-female ratio’ as well, so raising a family in a remotely normal way was pretty much impossible.

They came to him hoping for at least something, yet he couldn’t provide it. Every time he turned them down he felt powerless and inadequate, like a twelve-year-old failure of a man.

Once he completed his rounds, he returned to the spot on the road where he thought the Skeletal Dragon was. The Elder Lich dispelled its invisibility and helped him back up.

“Report,” the Elder Lich said after they took to the skies again.

“We’re close to the mountains,” Raul said, “so the Laira poisoning isn’t severe. Just some people on the south side of town. The town leadership said that they can assist with the surrounding villages.”

After completing his report, Raul stared down at the countryside as the Elder Lich relayed the information. Even with so much martial might at his command, there was so little he could do. He could only pray that someone could figure out how to fix the huge mess.