Battle of flames and walking corpses part 1

The next day Rufus's led allied army was caught by a welcome surprise to many.

The imperial forces were in battle formations on a flat field with plenty of room to maneuverer. The army was formed into two battle lines. At the left flank was Cixilo who was in full possession of Leia Cassia's corpse. The right flank had the black company aiding them. The cataphracts were led by Samanilde who seemed eager to prove her skill.

Markus decided to stay at the center behind the first battle lines along with Gadaric and the reserves. Berig himself was close as the commander of the entire force. He stood on top of a battle altar, where he could have a good view of the entire field.

He himself didn't participate at the frontline, even though he was vastly powerful.

"Why isn't he at the front?" Markus asked Gadaric.

"His powers are too strong. If he would fight at full strength, he would harm our own troops. Why are you here and not with your own rabble?"

"I think I am just fine here...." Markus said with a smile.

The imperial army was waiting for the Alliance forces to reach them. They could have been in full formations for a long time. This was no feat though for the well-disciplined and orderly varangians.

Before the allied force decided to go into battle formation, the army decided to have one last battleplan discussion. This time it was not Flores who was in charge, but the king and Raja, Rufus Fairfax.

He had proven himself to be the only choice in commander after the Soul Watchers had assassinated many of them. Rufus's friends, especially Doreen, had later also consolidated the Fairfax kingdom's power in the Etnian system. Every state now knew their only hope in survival lay with Rufus, his army and power.

"The basic varangian is stronger than any of our basic soldier. They fight in groups of five and work in unison. Two of the group use axes and work as a shock troop to break the lines, the last three wield large halberds and push in after the line has been destroyed," Doreen explained.

"We then cannot fight them head-on?" one of the mercenary commanders asked.

"It would probably be suicidal….." Ximena said.

Rufus was staring at the battle map where small pieces were placed to represent different units. The battlefield was large and flat, perfect for cavalry movement.

"Are the cataphract cavalry how strong?" Rufus asked.

"They could be considered one of the best in the entire Aesis world. I would try to avoid them," Doreen explained.

Rufus got an idea.

"I actually have this time a plan. it's a bit risky, but it also has high reward," Rufus explained and looked at everyone.

Everyone felt terrified and doubtful, except the friends of Rufus or any other of the royal army.

"High risk and high reward is kinda our thing though," Edward said and smiled.

"Are these other soldiers too scared, that they rather would retreat from the battlefield than fight with us royals," Doreen said and looked around.

Everyone else felt insulted.

It was clear now. They would go with Rufus's plan.

~ ~

The next day during the morning, both of the armies were in battle formations.

The varangians had not broken rank not once with servants running from one soldier to another, serving cold water and bread to them to keep them energized through the night. This show of force and determination was to intimidate the less disciplined allied soldiers. Some were, but the grey skin warriors' insults and laughter relieved many and encouraged them. For the practical grey skins, this kind of showmanship was considered stupid and unuseful.

Rufus was on top of his own black yak, with the cavalry and black yaks of the royal army close by.

The imperial and Alliance army were both around eighty-five thousand strong with an equal amount of artillery pieces.

The battle started with the cavalry of the Fairfax kingdom starting to ride toward the left. Their movement caused a large dust cloud that could be seen from the other side.

As they did, the cataphract cavalry led by Samanilde stared at them.

"What the hell are they doing?" Samanilde thought to herself.

A man rushed to the child in purple.

"Lady Samanilde! Commander Berig orders you to follow the cavalry and not let them out of your sight," the soldier reported.

Samanilde's eyes glittered. She then yelled to his men and started to shadow the royal cavalry.

At the same time, the first battle line of the imperial army started steadily to march toward the enemy. With the beat of the drums, the varangians marched in near-perfect battle formation. With every drum beat, the varangians stepped forward.

Cixilo was eagerly waiting to take his new body for its first test run. The body was harder to move as it was still a corpse and limped forward like an undead. Its jaw was open and the grey dead hair flapped in the wind.