WAR part I

Melna entered the guild door and called for a meeting. Good times were approaching. The ultimate opportunity for mercenaries, soldiers, and everyone else willing to fight to make money.

'Now that we are all here, we have to decide what to do. The kingdom has declared war on the dynasty. We can offer our services to the army, or we can leave here before the borders are closed,' Melna said without wasting time.

The famine had severely affected the dynasty; they had no money to finance a war, and the situation was so bad in the poor areas that it would be difficult to call enough conscripts in conditions to fight. In addition, by removing the strong men from the agricultural areas, the famine would intensify and aggravate the situation of the dynasty. It was the perfect time for the Kingdom of Veldat to attack them. After much discussion, the king and his counselors made it official, and there was only one word in everyone's mouth.

"WAR."

Wars were good times for mercenaries. The miserable salary paid by the army and the kingdom was not a great motivation, but the war spoils were. In other conflicts, some mercenary groups had extracted complete treasures from the mansions of lower-class noble families. Sometimes enough to buy nobility tittles, land, start businesses, and change their lives; however, most mercenaries ended up pushing daisies; the life of the mercenary was like this, but without risk, there is no reward.

'War is a great opportunity to make quick money,' said Xavier. He had plenty of money, but it was never enough. Working with a group of mercenaries was profitable, and he managed to save twenty silver coins in total after paying expenses and buying better equipment. The mercenaries only paid taxes to the royalty as a group; these days they earned enough, and business had been good with the escort missions.

'We will vote,' Melna offered. 'Those who are in favor of going to war, raise your hand.'

The decision was adopted unanimously. Melna went to the Citadel Guard headquarters and registered the guild as combat personnel. A week later, they met with the army.

'Attention. Captain Leo van Marzu will speak to you. A knight announced.

A few seconds later, a man of about fifty years of robust constitution, mulatto, bald, and covered in a thicc, black armor, climbed up to the improvised stage.

'Men and women of Veldat. Today we march to war. We will face a violent, aggressive, and hateful enemy. Those degenerates of the Poem dynasty have attacked our people for centuries; their greed has cost us the territories of the south, but today we will do justice to our ancestors; today we will take what belongs to us. We will regain the honor of our people; don't think you're going to war to face death. You go to war in search of honor, glory, and fortune,' said the captain in his motivational speech.

In fact, the lands south of the Poem Dynasty belonged to the Kingdom of the South. A hundred and fifty years ago, the Kingdom of Veldat attacked the Southern Kingdom to rob them of their most fertile lands, but before they could establish themselves, the Dynasty attacked them. Veldat was already weakened by the Kingdom of the South. Veldat lost the battle, and the dynasty was left with the spoils. All Humol and other nearby areas actually belonged to the Southern Kingdom; the inhabitants of the villages and towns on the border were the descendants of remnants from the Southern Kingdom who had been used as servitude, although in reality they were treated more as slaves. That explained the poverty they lived in.

The mercenaries did not care at all for which side they fought; many of them were criminals or exiles from the Poem Dynasty or from another kingdom. The mercenaries stared at each other as they thought,

"What a bunch of crap" and "How long will this guy be here?"

They were not as stupid as to believe the army propaganda; they were aware that they were expendable; that was the life of the mercenary. Glory and honor are of no use if you are dead.

Only the young and naive peasants who enlisted as volunteers. The members of the army who had an iota of patriotism, or those who had lost a relative in some previous skirmish against the Dynasty and held great resentment, felt motivated by the speech.

'Think of your triumphant return and the roses that will be thrown at us when we return victorius and covered in glory. Think of the conquered lands; how many of you could become lords and nobles? Are you going to miss this opportunity?'

'No!' cried many.

'Are you going to flee from the dynasty's bullies?'

'No!'

'Brave soldiers, march to battle, and show the enemy what the loyal and proud army of our kingdom is capable of.'

A knight blew on a horn, and the army began to move. After two days of marching and sleeping in tents or in the open air, the passion of the speech was lost. On the fifth day, the most loyal soldiers to the cause cursed the war as they complained of the blisters on their feet. For the most miserable peasants who joined the army, having three meals a day was already a great gain. Although the poor of the Kingdom of Veldat were less miserable than those of the south of the dynasty, they were still miserable. The part of the army that departed from Palm joined the other regiments that came from other citadels. This was one of the largest armies used in a conflict against the dynasty in more than a hundred years. Two weeks later, the army was crossing the border. The main force would launch a direct attack on the citadel of Mennor; from there, they would march to Farpas and thus succeed in separating the south of the Dynasty, leaving all the people disconnected, without support, and ready for the subsequent looting and massacre.

That was the plan; it was always the same. No matter whether the attacks were initiated by Veldat or the Dynasty, every war was fought for the land and the looting.

'We will fall back away from the main attack force,' said Melna to his group.

'Why?' asked Xavier.

'A friend of mine from another mercenary guild has experience in wars. Sometimes, the dynasty prepares ambushes at the exits of the forests. Normally they do not, because in battle it is frequent that wildfires break out of control, and that would aggravate the famine even more, but this time they are desperate; Poem's economic situation is really bad; they will lose this war, and they know it' Melna explained watching the army advance. 'It's better to let others go ahead.'

He was right. The Tide Guild was not the only one who slowed their advance; other guilds were doing the same, and the magician squads did too. Only the recruits and simple infantry continued to advance, but at a slower and more careful pace. On the other side of the forest, the army of the Poem dynasty was waiting for them. A small group of men from the dynasty came out of the trees; these scouts returned to the army lines. They gave a signal to their superiors. The high commanders of the army gave their signal, red flags were raised, and a line of magicians bearing the fire badge formed ranks a few meters from the trees. After them, wind magicians formed rows in turn. The fire magicians began to concentrate their magic energy to launch their attacks, while the wind magicians prepared their energy to overload the fire.

The red flag dropped quickly, signaling the onset of the attack. A line of flames formed in the forest, and air currents blew against the trees, dragging the flames and increasing their intensity. The firestorm had turned the forest into a sea of flames. The soldiers of Veldat's army advancing saw the fire coming toward them.

'Calm down, soldiers,' cried Captain Leo. 'We also have magicians.'

'Earth magicians, Stone Wall!'

The earth magicians took a few steps forward and let loose their earth magic, forming a wall in front of the soldiers of the kingdom, avoiding significant damage.

'Their magicians must be less than thirty meters away from the edge of the forest,' said Captain Leo. 'It is time for the show; shout as much as you can.'

The commanders of Veldat had taken into account this kind of ambush. Given the poor situation of the dynasty, they imagined that they would use fire on the forrest. The plan was simple: they would make the enemy believe that the strategy had been effective. The soldiers screams filled the forest and became even more intense than the sound of the fire. On the other side of the flames, the fire and wind Mages of the Dynasty smiled.

'These idiots of the kingdom never learn. Every couple of decades they fall into the same trap; their commanders should study more,' said a tall, blonde woman with long hair and clear blue eyes.

'Captain Dalila, what are your orders?' asked a soldier.

'We will wait for the flames to be extinguished and send the troops to clean up whats left. As soon as we have the positions of the enemy, we will attack from above with... Take cover!'

The water magicians of the kingdom had extinguished some of the flames in the army way. The Kingdom troops had advanced and had launched an attack with a rain of arrows on the troops of the Dynasty. The earth magicians reacted quickly, covering the other magicians; however, their response was not immediate, and some magicians were wounded. Regular troops suffered several casualties.

'What arrogance? Did they really think we would fall into the same trap?' Leo said as the air magicians prepared themselves.

'Are your men ready, Master Marcus?' asked Leo.

'As ready as they can be,' replied a tall man, about fifty years old, with white skin and blue eyes; his long, black, and smooth hair waved in the wind. Marcus de Lantre was the master of a minor academy in the kingdom of Veldat and, at the same time, the strategist of the army and commander of the mage squad in this war.

Marcus raised his arm, pointing toward the sky. Along with the other high-ranking air magicians, they flew up and climbed on top of the trees. They did not have much time; in that position, they were an easy target. Veldat's troops on the ground were covered in the forest, while those of the Dynasty only had their shields and the stone walls of their magicians. They weren't paying attention to the trees; they were taking cover from the arrows.

Before the archers and magicians of the dynasty could launch their counterattack, hundreds of ice spears appeared in the air. The water magicians had invoked them in front of the wind magicians, who used their magic to throw them against the troops of the Dynasty, increasing the speed, power, and distance they could cover.

'Land troops, attack!' cried Leo as the troops of the dynasty covered themselves from the ice spear rain.

The Kingdom soldiers came out of the trees, taking the Dynasty by surprise. Although strategy was important, what would decide the battle was the number of soldiers. The Kingdom wanted to seize the opportunity, and for that, it had used more troops than it generally used for its usual conflicts against the Dynasty.

Xavier was engaged in battle; his short sword had just sunk into the abdomen of a Dynasty soldier; the man was obviously a recruited peasant. Xavier shuddered for a moment.

'Be careful, boy!' cried Juan, shouting at Xavier. An arrow passed near his face, cutting part of his upper lip.

'Thank you,' said Xavier as his lips bled and he returned to the battle. His short swords collided with those of his enemies. His training with the Tide Guild was worth it. Unlike Vralia, they had trained him well.

'Pull back,' ordered Leo.

After hearing the orders, the soldiers of the Kingdom began to retreat. This worried Dalila; the Kingdom was planning something.

'Attack!' commanded Marcus.

The fire and air magicians combined their attacks to create fire tornadoes. The land troops' attack had limited the response of the dynasty's magicians and had even managed to eliminate some. But their purpose was nothing more than to bring the army of the dynasty near the edge of the forest. The kingdom did not want to take risks; the order was to attack the enemy with all the wind and fire magic available. The magicians exhausted their energy. The dynasty troops had been decimated by the brutal and surprising attack.

Leo sent the kingdom's land troops over the exhausted troops of the dynasty once again. The difference in numbers was obvious. A few minutes later, the troops of the Poem Dynasty surrendered. Veldat's army marched directly towards the citadel of Mennor; Dalila had made a grave mistake in underestimating the number of troops the kingdom would use. The troops left in the citadel were insufficient to repel the attack, and Mennor fell in a few hours.

Dalila was tortured for hours until she finally became useless. After being used as a toy and after the endless abuse of the voluntary soldiers of the Kingdom, they hung her at the gates of the citadel. Brutal murders, looting, and all kinds of crimes were committed during the afternoon and night. The citadel had been taken almost intact. The magicians of the Dynasty were executed; they were too dangerous to leave them alive. The other citizens of the citadel who had not escaped in time and the recruited soldiers of the general population were taken prisoner. Some were used as entertainment until their deaths; many soldiers were forced to fight to death against their own compatriots to entertain the troops of the Kingdom.

Xavier contemplated brutality, greed, and degeneration with a mixture of repulsion and disappointment towards himself.

"This is what we are," he thought as he looked at his hands stained with blood. He had done or seen many regrettable things with Vralia and his gang, but not on this scale. Juan had already treated his wound, and now the whole mercenary group was devoted to the looting of houses, shops, and the belongings of corpses. They stole everything in sight.

When the news of Mennor's fall reached the citadel of Farpas, it scandalized the dynasty. Mennor fell very quickly, and they did not have time to gather consistent information about the number of enemies.

'Habdlan, the situation is serious. We really need the funds from the De Furrier family. You must show your father that if Farpas falls, his family will fall too,' reiterated the citadel lord from his seat.

'I know, Tamalor, but my father becomes even more stubborn with age. He repeated that in every war you say the same thing, and still the miserable troops of the kingdom never manage to pass from the woods.' Habdlan apologized with a sigh.

Someone knocked on the door.

′ Come in,′ authorized Tamalor.

'Leader Tamalor, I bring an urgent report from the front,' said the guard, who entered the office and approached to deliver a sealed envelope.

'You can wait outside,' said Tamalor to the guard, who went out of the room.

Tamalor opened the envelope, and his face became pale and sweaty. He re-read the letter a couple of times to confirm that he was not dreaming. Habdlan looked at him with curiosity.

'Mennor has fallen. Dalila is dead,' Tamalor said, while taking a bottle and cups out of a closet and serving two shots of rum. The two men took their drinks at once.

'I'm going to talk to my father. I'll take control of the family from his hands if necessary. You will have your capital for the war,' Habdlan assured, rising up. His face reflected Tamalor's concern.

'This is going to be a disaster,' said Tamalor with a sigh, and then he called his servants and began to write letters and give orders.

As the pillage and depravity spread in the citadel of Mennor, the three leaders of the offensive forces of the Kingdom of Veldat met.

'We have shaken a wasp nest; this could escalate into a bigger event,' Leo said as Brosma and Marcus looked at him with a face of not knowing what he was talking about.

'The woman the soldiers just tortured and killed was Dalila Van Roquert, the daughter of a magician from the royal court of the Dynasty. She belonged to the Van Roquert family and is said to be the mistress of the second prince of the dynasty. We just found out that she was not only the girl of a noble family with a powerful lover; she had also built a good reputation as a warrior and commander. This was his first mission in charge of an entire army and in a large-scale war.

'This is serious; no one cares very much if a nobleman of the lower class or two dies, and nobody cares at all how many peasants die. But it's another story with the members of the court. How important are the Van Roquert's to the crown? How much power do they have?' asked Brosma.

'As far as we know, this is probably the third most powerful family after the royal family. This is going to escalate into a total war,' said Leo. 'Our spies report that they are about to start a massive recruitment; they're going to crush us with numbers and reconquer Mennor.'

'What does the kingdom say?' asked Marcus.

"They are not interested in a large-scale war. The purpose of this war was to take the people from the border as slaves and loot the citadels. The dynasty may be weakened by the famine, but its territory and population are still far superior to ours. This was not part of the plan,′ said Leo. 'The Kingdom will not send any more troops. They will strengthen their position at home in order to repel the dynasty's advances.'

'What is the plan?' asked Brosma, concerned.

'Break our army; attack the villages in small skirmishes,' replied Leo. 'We will use the mercenaries, attack all the villas we can without touching the citadel, reduce the population, and, at the same time, force the regular army of the Dynasty to divide. The plan is to do as much damage as possible. We have to limit the dynasty's ability to recruit troops and disperse those that they already have, so we reduce their effectiveness if they want to advance to the Kingdom.'

After the looting, some mercenary guilds devoted themselves to drinking and celebrating the victory. Melna and his group had acquaintances among the other guilds; the Tritons of Frances and Tide guild sat down to drink in front of a fireplace. The conquest of the citadel had not been very profitable for these two mercenary groups. They did not know the location of the noble houses well, so the army and other mercenary groups looted the most important areas.

'Aleum, this is Klum; just like you, he is a dual magician,' Melna introduced.

Klum was low in height, with black hair, ripped eyes, and light skin full of scars. He had a thin moustache. From time to time, he coughed. The miasma disease affected him.

'Melna asked me to teach you some things, so let's get to the point. I'm a dual mage, shadows and fire. What degree of affinity do you have?' Klum looked upset.

'traces of fire,' replied Xavier, bending his head.

'Oh!' said Klum, 'traces are not of much use; I have one percent affinity for fire, and it is not enough to make decent magic.'

'I know. I can only use it to heat the tea or to light the fire if I touch the wood,' said Xavier.

'Yes, but you don't have to touch anything,' said Klum. 'Do you know why shadow magic is the most common among dual magicians?'

'Because it's compatible with all varieties of magic. Everyone knows that, don't they?'

'Yes, but what they don't tell you is that shadow is also a great conductor of other magic,' Klum explained, moving his shadow and making it change shape. His shadow extended to a nearby piece of wood. A few seconds later, the wood was burning. 'You can use your shadow magic to unload your fire magic directly on your target.'

'Why don't they teach that anywhere?' complained Xavier.

'Generally, they teach it in the second year at the academies, but with your afinity, it doesn't matter; this is just a cheap trick; it will not be useful in battle. And that's all I can teach you, boy. Your affinity is too low, and I don't like wasting my time. Are you satisfied, Melna?'

'Thank you, Klum,' replied Melna. Klum just nodded and took a bottle of rum as he walked away from the fireplace.

'What a bad temperament,' said Xavier once after Klum had gone away. He didn't want to sound ungrateful, but Klum wasn't very friendly.

'Well, he doesn't have many years to live; he has miasma disease, and most of his body is roasted. Did you see the scars?'

'Yeah, what happened to him?' Xavier had seen the scars, but a mercenary with scars wasn't a novelty.

'He used rare potions to force magic affinity.'

'Did it work? Did he increase his magic affinity?' There was a tone of hope in his voice.

'No, he ended up burning from the inside; he barely survived'.

Tide mercenary guild members drank in silence and slept by the fireplace for the rest of the night.