Victory In Vlore

Rupert arrived in Vlore to a subdued army waiting to fight. Unlike the rebels, the Fermion soldiers were full and rested. By now half-hearted rebels had left. Leaving only the staunch rebels remaining.

When Colonel vont Valdez saw Rupert, he was excited to learn of Durre's outcome.

"After the array was disintegrated, General vont Smith's army sacked the port in one day. Only Vlore remains in rebel territory," Rupert said nervously.

"Hurry cancel the array, captains sound the battle bugle. Prepare for war!" the colonel shouted to his min excitedly.

"There is a matter of payment first," Nuvian said.

"Let me tell you a story, I was Major Viscount vont Ballard's commanding officer during the last war when he served as Quartermaster. I know what kind of man he is and isn't.

Young Runemaster, how do you think Will shall act when he hears his employees are begging for money? I suggest you return the money the crown paid you, with interest, and ask your employer, the richest man in the kingdom, for more money!" Colonel vont Valdez scolded Rupert.

"Now look here, that's not why to speak to my disciple," Nuvian shouted back to the colonel.

Rupert's dark skin turned ghostly white when the colonel spoke about Will's reaction. Rupert could count on two fingers the friends he had. Thanks to Will his rise from commoner to noble had been smooth. Thanks to Will he lived in a big house in the noble district with his mother. He didn't want for anything.

He had a fulfilling job and was internationally known for co-creating the first flying airship and train.

Colonel vont Valdez's worlds made Rupert feel like he had stabbed his friend Will in the back. He remembered when Will yelled at Nuvian for overcharging.

"You're Fermion, your employer is in the king's faction, and you want to take advantage of the crown. If you do a good job, your reward comes after the war not during!" the colonel reminded.

"Thank you, colonel, I'll disintegrate the array now," Rupert said and left.

"Now wait a minute!" Nuvian said chasing after Rupert.

"I'm sorry master, but I can't be your disciple if you embarrass my friends. It's wrong to take money from the army when I'm doing the kingdom a service," Rupert said.

"What are you talking about, that's how business works. You get paid upfront before you do the service," Nuvian reminded Rupert.

"I can't embarrass Will! You don't understand. I may be a noble now, but I grew up a commoner. My mother was a laundry maid.

You don't know what it's like to see your mother struggle to do her job, because her master takes physical advantage of her.

Do you know who my father is? He's my mother's rapist, her master, the noble for whom she was employed. That man cared not for me, only for my mother's beauty.

His wife and legitimate children hated us, but he refused to let us go. Once my mother tried to escape only to be caught, returned, and r*ped again as punishment.

That man only cared for me, when it was discovered that I could use magic and his children couldn't. When I refused to accept his last name, be his heir, he cast my mother onto the street. He forbaded the other nobles from hiring his 'used bitch,' and she begged on the streets of Yorkshire while I was in the Mage Academy.

Will was the first person who treated me nicely in my life. I'd never had a friend before him. He's the one that brought my mother out of squalor. His salary is the reason my sick mother is healthy again and smiling. His family treated me more like family than my own family did. I owe Will everything! I cannot tread his friendship through the mud or take advantage of others because I'm his friend.

Master Nuvian, if you ask me to choose between Will and something, my answer shall always be Will, I am his friend, and he is mine," Rupert said crying and showing his frankness.

Nuvian was stunned, he didn't realize the level of devotion Rupert had to Will, nor did he realize how much he and his disciple had in common. Nuvian was a half-elf, born to a runaway elf woman who met an adventurer. He lived in the human world until his father died. Then his mother returned Nuvian to Yllamoira. The day after they returned, his mother hung herself to join her love.

For centuries, Nuvian was harassed because his mother ran away and fell in love with a human man. That's why Nuvian took the opportunity to come to Gadreel and experience human life again. He relished the memories of growing up in a loving, albeit poor, happy home. But he also knows from experience how wicked humans could be to one another.

Nuvian remembered when he gained his first elvish friend, Vaal. Nuvian mistakenly thought Rupert had lived with a golden spoon all his life. Now Nuvian realized the devotion he swore to Vaal, is the same Rupert swore to Will.

"I understand, we share a similar backgrounds. Let's cancel the debt certificate we took from the General when we return to Tirana," Nuvian said.

Not much longer after their conversation was over Rupert got rid of the array. The shimmery dome over Vlore disappeared.

Like a tsunami, the Fermion soldiers raised siege ladders, released trebuchets, and slammed battering rams at the door.

The Fermion soldiers worked aggressively for a month to build two trebuchets, one battering ram, and five ladders. They also brought eight catapults from Tirana.

The first volley concentrated at one spot shook the city walls. The second volley fractured the walls. With the siege ladders and artillery, it was long before Fermion soldiers were fighting for the battlements. The colonel had purposefully spread the five sieges 15 meters apart, to thin the rebel support along the top of the wall.

The colonel was surprised by the rebels' ferocity and numbers.

What he didn't know was that after Durres fell, many escaping rebels reinforced Vlore. The bolstered rebel ranks now amassed 2,500.

The colonel watched as the battering ram knocked on the wooden gates. To his amazement, the door's holes were patched up and the door reinforcements with beams.

"Concentrate fire near the door!" Colonel vont Valdez ordered.

Soon mages began to rain spells on the door, blowing the hinges off a door. The mages continued to support the army attacking the rebels on the battlements and door.

The problem with the battlements was the number of mana-enhanced Marines and zero knights. When the colonel realized the imbalance, he ordered his officers to lead the charge of the siege ladders.

Soon knights fought marines. Neither side is relenting. Even Colonel vont Valdez was on the wall fighting to gain superiority. Following up the wall were the mages. With the Fermion mages behind the knights, the marines were pushed back. It did not take long before Fermion controlled the wall.

With the wall in Fermion's hands, soldiers flooded into Vlore overwhelming the rebels. First, the soldiers fought to retake the gates. Soon the walls and gates fell into Fermion's hands. With the gates opened more soldiers flooded into the city.

The Fermion soldiers fought to push the rebels back to the shore. As they fought, homes were searched for 'rebel scum.'

The Fermion soldiers were trained not to pillage houses or murder civilians; however, there were occurrences.

But by the large, the soldiers were more concerned with fighting the rebels than pillaging.

As the fighting took place across the city, some rebels fled amongst the chaos, and others surrendered. They all knew Vlore was lost, Albania was no more.

After Vlore was captured and fully under his control, Colonel vont Valdez sent a victorious carrier pigeon to Tirana. Soon the kingdom would know battle in Vlore was over, and the war was over. Fermion had done it, they had conquered their long-awaited enemy.

With the battle over, the colonel posted sentries along the battlements, fixed the gates, and posted guardsmen out. Soldiers patrolled the streets in groups of four looking for any remaining rebels.

By nightfall, Fermion soldiers formed a tight city net. Nothing moved in the city, without the colonel knowing.