Zachania (49 page)

“No Ganasis, I
feel prepared, whatever comes over that hill, I will fulfil my
duty.”

Ganasis smiled
at Talon’s reply.

Talon’s
attention was then distracted.

“Look!” he
pointed as he pulled himself to his feet.

“There!” he
added as the Imperial flags came into view, both men stood silent
as thousands of Imperial soldiers soon appeared behind the tall
flags, Talon took a deep breath as now he did find himself feeling
fearful, it was not a fear that would make him run away but a fear
of admiration, more a feeling of awe of how organised the Imperial
soldiers marching before him appeared.

“Remember this
sight Talon, burn it into your memory how prepared and formidable
that army appears.”

Talon nodded
back to Ganasis.

“I know from my
own experiences in the Empire just how strict and disciplined they
are but looking at them now, upon the battlefield, they look
magnificent.”

Talon and
Ganasis looked on with awe as the Empire marched over the hill and
started organising themselves into attacking positions, once they
were in position the cries of their leaders drew them to a halt
where they then turned their shields to face the Zachanian’s with
precise military timing.

There was a
strange atmosphere, an eerie silence only broken by the occasional
orders being yelled by the armies commanders as both armies stood
watching and waiting for each other.

Ganasis turned
to Talon ‘now is the time where they will be preparing the spinal
powder’ he snapped with urgency.

Behind the
front lines of the Imperial army there were soldiers busy unfolding
great sheets of canvas, once the sheets were unfolded more soldiers
wearing protective scarfs began pouring buckets of powder upon the
sheets. The powder was raked to cover the sheets and then the order
was given for the soldiers in the front line to raise their scarfs,
moments later the huge canvas sheets were lifted into the air and
shaken so that the powder caught the breeze and began floating
towards the Zachanian front line.

As soon as
Talon and Ganasis were signalled by their lookouts, Talon turned to
his wizard friend.

“NOW, GANASIS,
NOW!’ Talon shouted.

With haste
Ganasis punched the air with both fists and began to shout in
wizard’s language.

“The cloud is
almost upon us!” Talon shouted as he saw the strain on his wizard
friends face, moments later Ganasis seemed to stiffen before he
turned and away and then turned back towards the Empire where he
clapped his hands and shouted out in his wizards tongue, then
slowly Talon began to feel a breeze coming from behind him going
towards the direction of the Empire.

“IT’S WORKING!”
Talon shouted as the breeze soon turned into a gust and whistled
past him, Talon then raised his arm to signal his own men to cover
their mouths.

“NOW Talon!
ORDER THE ATTACK!” Ganasis shouted.

Talon then
passed the order to attack to his General’s Lagain and Kanyan, who
in turn commanded the men. Moments later two hundred thousand
Zachanian warriors charged towards the Empire who was now clearly
suffering from the effects of their own intended weapon ‘spinal
powder’.

Talon drew his
own sword as the cries of attack from his own Zachanian’s rang in
his ears; he was just about to join the charge when Ganasis seeing
this grabbed his arm,

“No Talon, not
yet, you are needed here.”

Reluctantly
Talon lowered his sword and remained by the wizard’s side just as
he could see that the first line of the Zachanian army had reached
the hill and had to begin to engage the Imperial soldiers turning
the hill into a carnival of massacre. The Imperial army were
dropping in their hundreds and losing ground swiftly from the might
of the Zachanian attack as General Lagain walked over.

“Lord Talon, we
have them on the retreat, shall I order our cavalry?”

Talon gazed
upon the battlefield where he could see the Zachanian’s forcing the
Imperial soldiers to break rank and run away.

“Talon shall I
give the order?” Lagain asked once more but this time more
assertive.

“DO IT!”

General Lagain
smiled then relayed the order to his captains who in turn unleashed
a hundred thousand Zachanian warriors on horseback to engage the
enemy. Soon the Imperial army sounded the retreat as they scattered
in all directions trying to find sanctuary.

Ganasis gave a
slight smile as he turned to Talon looking pleased with
himself.

“They are
defeated!” he boasted before looking back onto the battlefield
where he could see that the Imperial army had now lost all its
shape and discipline and had become a dishevelled group of soldiers
running in all directions trying to escape being put to their
death.

“We have done
it.” General Lagain added.

“Ganasis your
plan has worked and we have won our first battle” added Talon only
for Ganasis to grab hold of his arm and reply coldly.

“Yes it worked
but it will not work again, we have shown the Empire that we are
aware of the spinal powder but believe me they will not be fooled
so easily again.”

“That goes for
us as well Ganasis” replied Talon just as General Lagain called
over one of his captains.

“Send the order
that if we find any Imperial wizards then we want them alive for
questioning captain.”

“Ha, Grarlin
will not be found” added Ganasis which made Lagain turn to him.

“The moment his
plan with spinal powder failed he would have left the battlefield;
he would have known that he was defeated on this day.”

“And sacrificed
his men.” replied Lagain.

“Grarlin would
have sacrificed them just to get a good look at our tactics, do not
for one moment believe you are facing an adversary who cares for
his men Lagain.”

There was a
strange atmosphere upon the battlefield as Talon and Ganasis walked
across it flanked by their captains and Generals. Only a few hours
before this place was a chaotic frenzy where thousands of men
committed untold acts of horror in the names of survival and
victory. Now all that was here was the stink of death where
thousands of bodies scattered the hillside, the Zachanian’s were
busy helping their wounded and the occasional scream could still be
heard from soldiers who were wounded and still in agony. Talon and
his group surveyed what they had just been responsible for but
remained silent as each man tried to take in the horrors that were
under their feet, this was except Ganasis their first real taste of
battle, they had prepared themselves for the fighting but you can
never prepare yourself for the cold reality of thousands of dead
and mutilated soldiers.

“General, the
enemy are re-organising themselves to the north.” said a soldier
who had walked over to General Lagain which had the effect of
snapping Talon and his group from their private thoughts.

“What are their
numbers?” replied Talon.

“It is hard to
say my Lord but I would guess a quarter of their original
strength.”

“They are being
given to us to slaughter.” added Ganasis which made Talon look at
him a look of concern.

“What?” asked
Talon still waiting for the wizard to finish what he was
saying?

“A sacrifice!
They are a sacrifice so that the Generals and the rest of the army
can retreat safely” added Ganasis.

“Then s
sacrifice they will be, Captain Send in the cavalry and murder them
all” General Lagain then snapped.

“And what of
their wounded sir, shall I make provisions for prisoners?” asked
the Captain.

“No prisoners!”
replied Lagain in a stern tone of voice.

“Hold that
order!” Talon suddenly interrupted which made everyone’s attention
turn to him.

“We are not
cold bloodied killers.” he added.

“My Lord, we
have them at our mercy, I say we send a message of our intent.”
replied Lagain where Talon felt the other General’s and Captain’s
agreeing with him, after a short pause where Talon quickly looked
each of the faces amongst his group he replied.

“Thank you
General Lagain, we will send them a message; we will send them the
message that any Imperial soldier who lays down his arms will be
given his right to be treated as a prisoner.”

“Lord Talon if
we are to be victorious then we mus” replied Lagain only for Talon
to raise his hand and stop him in mid-sentence.

“The order
stands General, and let it be known that if I hear of any unarmed
men being brought to the sword then I will personally kill the men
responsible, now relay my order that prisoners are to be
taken.”

“As you wish”
Lagain replied before relaying the order where Talon noticed the
resentment on his face.

“You heard Lord
Talon, prisoners are to be taken!” he snapped to the Captain who in
turn saluted him before walking off to carry out the orders, once
he was out of sight General Lagain turned angrily to confront
Talon.

“My Lord I do
not take kindly to being reprimanded before my men.”

“The order was
wrong.” replied Talon.

“Even so my
authority should not be undermined to the men I command.”

“HOLD YOUR
TONGUE GENERAL!” Ganasis suddenly snapped angered at the tone he
was addressing Talon.

“It’s alright
Ganasis.” Talon said holding out an arm to calm his wizard friend
which had the effect of making Lagain realise his place.

“What I am
saying sir ,is have you thought of the resources it will take to
feed and keep prisoners, thousands of Zachanian warriors will be
used to keep these men under control, warriors who will be better
used fighting for us on the battlefield.”

“My word is
final General, if the King feels otherwise then I will abide with
his command but as of now it is my wish.”

General Lagain
shook his head looking frustrated and turned away realising that he
could go no further with Talon on this matter, Ganasis then pulled
Talon to the side and spoke quietly to him away from the ears of
the men.

“Reluctantly I
find myself agreeing with what he is saying Talon, his words make
sense, even Apollo never took prisoner’s my friend, Apollo showed
mercy when it was needed but on the battlefield he was
merciless.”

Talon shook his
head slowly at what he had just heard.

“I oppose that
notion Ganasis.”

“Why do you
disagree Talon, what’s in your thoughts?” added Ganasis.

“I disagree for
two reasons, one is because we must be better than the Empire, we
fight for our freedom and not for the lust of blood, and secondly
in the long run it will work to our advantage.”

“Advantage?”
interrupted Ganasis.

“Yes, if you
have a thousand Imperial soldiers fighting against five thousand
Zachanian’s then on most days certain victory will be with us. Any
soldier upon the battlefield knows what the probable outcome will
be if he finds himself vastly outnumbered. If the Imperial soldier
knows that the only fate is death then he will fight till he meets
his death, in this battle Zachanian life’s will also be lost but if
he knows that we do not kill unarmed men and that he has the option
of surrender against overwhelming odds then the battle could be won
without a single drop of Zachanian blood being spilt.”

“I see what you
are saying Talon but the reality of war is that we will lose men,
sometimes we must face the fact that we may lose two of ours to
kill four of theirs.”

“That I will
not accept Ganasis, I do believe in the ancient ways of sending an
army against an army where the last man standing is the victor, if
I lose one Zachanian son on the battlefield then that is one too
many. Zachanian life should always come first, in this war which is
upon us we must find ways to win, and win without sacrifice, our
love for our kin will be the reason that we will be victorious in
this war.”

General Lagain
who had been growing impatient suddenly walked over to Talon and
Ganasis and commented on what he had just heard.

“Are you saying
that we should send our warriors onto the battlefield and then
command them to have the hearts of women!” he snapped angrily which
made Talon take a step forward to meet him.

“Lagain I will
not defeat a callous Empire only for another callous Empire to take
its place, we are Zachanian’s and we fight with honour and chivalry
in our hearts, we must never lower ourselves to cowardice and
tyranny.”

Added Talon to
the General who was still not listening to what was being said to
him, whether it was adrenaline still pumping through him from the
battle of just foolish blind courage or stubbornness still he would
not yield to Talon’s demand, then he turned to Talon and answered
him in a totally unexpected way.

“I was told you
was a brave man, the Zararhakzar is what I have been told, but..
But all I see before me is a fraud dressed in warriors uniform”
snarled the General before stepping back and placing one hand on
the butt of his sword as if to challenge Talon.

“I will not
obey your weak orders and I challenge your authority to command
this battlefield!” he added now with a scowl on his face.

Talon stiffened
and grimaced at the words he had just heard and felt his heart pump
as his first thought was to pull his own sword and run the General
through but he composed himself as he remembered his days as a
Pangkor.

‘Discipline
must be used when your emotions begin to overwhelm you, your
feelings must not overcome your wisdom and belief of what is true’
he thought silently to himself.

The two men
gazed intently at each other as Talon strained to hold his tongue,
he could feel himself wanting to insult the General but he resisted
as he knew that to answer him at this moment would be to reply to
him as a worthy adversary ‘my future and destiny must be more
important than the words of a foolish man with little stature’ he
thought to himself just before looking at Ganasis and turning away
from the General.