Chapter 97: Chapter 97
Prince Ramez wanted so bad to close his eyes, rub them and open them again, so maybe the unbelievable scene he was seeing would change, but he couldn’t, he didn’t even manage to get himself to blink as he watched his forces being wiped down, exterminated.
His eyes which were filled with confidence were then filled with terror, he didn’t understand what truly happened, not an hour ago, he was the one with the upper hand, the Taghit king was fleeing away like a dog with his tail between his legs, his armies were scattered all over the camp, his archers were shooting at the Manrast troops aimlessly, but right in the next second, the earth cracked, ice spikes emerged from under the ground, bordering the Taghit front line, demon wolves showed up from the forest and the scattered soldiers aligned themselves into perfect formations, led by non-other than the Yoren lad.
Was it a trap all along? Ramez asked himself, was he so careless to lead himself and his army into a trap? To attack blindly and be brought where the Yoren dog wanted? the prince clenched his teeth, his knuckles turning white and his face paling the more he watched.
"Those Katara bastards, where are they? Why haven’t they arrived yet? Why aren't they attacking from their side?" The prince asked his generals, the Katara army didn't show up at all, they fired up their signal back! which meant that they got the attack signal, so what took them so long? Another scary idea ran across the prince's head, what if the Katara army had betrayed them? What if they had bailed out of the fight? Or if they were just waiting for both the armies to consume each other and then finish them both and claim victory? So many thoughts were running in the prince’s head at once, so many emotions in his eyes, terror, anger, fear, bewilderment, irresolution, hesitation, not knowing what else to do next, he ordered those with him to lit up three fire signals, the one to let the cavalry know that the main troops were in danger and needed their assistance, the two infantry soldiers answered in union and ran toward the main tent to set the sign ablaze.
Minutes passed with the prince holding his teeth, and then the signature sound of the fire sign created by the Manrast’s alchemists resonated, but instead of three fires, only one was set, the Prince waited for a few second to hear the other two but nothing came, there were only one sole shot and nothing more, the prince felt like he was about to explode with rage because of this deadly mistake, one shot was the sign for the cavalry to head toward Katara's capital, it meant that the main troops were able to defeat the Taghit army and finish what was left of the Kararian troops, with the sign set ablaze the cavalry was heading further from the main battlefield, leaving the main troops to be demolished, the prince started screaming hysterically at his two generals for the stupid unforgivable mistake the lower soldiers had made when he noticed something about them, none of them was moving, they were still with their heads bent awkwardly.
Ramez didn’t need to approach them to know, and even was too terrified to approach them for he knew.
They were both dead.
The prince looked at them in panic, wondering what happened to them, they were alive not a minute ago replying stupidly to his questions, enraging him more, he didn't see or feel anyone approaching nor heard anything happening to them.
"Surprised, My Prince? You look a little pale, do you want me to fetch you some water?" Prince Ramez turned sharply toward the owner of the small childish voice, he knew that voice, and that face, he knew it far too well, but the weird glint of malice and confidence radiating from his little servant was strange, the slave girl his soldiers found roaming around the camp was nothing but a scared rat in front of him, seeing her talk and stand that way scared him to his very pulp, something wasn’t right about her, she looked as if she was possesses, he looked at her cautiously, trying to understand what was he dealing with.
"What is the matter with that stupid look on your face, My Prince? I bet you don't feel so tough right now!" The little girl sneered at the man, a dark chuckle following, making his blood run even colder, her frame was very little, the dress she was wearing was nothing but a rag, her limbs were as thin as dry twigs and her hollow face looked emaciated, but still, didn't have the bruises it had not hours ago.
"Oh, for how long I have waited to give you what you deserve, you filthy pig..." The girl said with an evil smile, her shadow then started growing and changing, it was no longer that of a small kid anymore but of a grown woman, standing proudly just like the girl was, the prince's horse started huffing in panic, until it managed to drop his rider off his back and ran away, as fast as he could, for his instinct have caught the predatory presence and the prince was left alone with the little girl with red eyes.
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Henry got off his horse and gave the reins to the steward who was waiting for him near his tent, The plan had worked better than expected, the Manrast armies fell right into the trap, just as the black-haired girl expected, they planned to capture him alive in order to blackmail his sister into submission, so once he made sure that the Katara army got the news about their allies’ schemes, he pretended to be escaping his own camp to persuade the Manrast armies to attack, Unfortunately for them, the Katara army which was supposed to attack the Taghit camp from another side received a letter from the Katarian capital saying they were under attack, from none other than the Manrast’s cavalries, the Manrast army was left alone to deal with the Taghit troops whom at first acted surprised and at loss, but once the enemy was on their ranges they showed their real colors, the shadow demons emerged from the forest and attacked like hungry beasts, the ice demons didn't spare their efforts either with the spikes' barrier they formed, it was not easy for them without their queen around and was the only contribution they could give but it was more than enough to destroy the Manrast first lines and to terrorize the ones that followed, the rest was for the Taghit soldiers to deal with as they demolished the rest of the troops, Henry thought a little about how young and scared some of the soldiers were, ones that he killed with his own hands, it was unfortunate for them considering the fact that they were so young, to be sent to battle and meet such a fate was sad matter, but he was a king, cruelty was something he was more than willing to commit in order to defend his kingdom.
And while the Manrast army was being demolished by his troops, the Katara army left their camp secretly to return to their capital and ended up meeting Manrast cavalry midway, a battle started between the two, and the Katara army overnumbered the cavalry but that cost the old general most all of his men, by the end of the battle there were barely three thousands of them left, most of them injured heavily, the old men led them to the capital thinking he will find it the way he left it but he was very wrong.
Henry sighed in relief before entering his tent, everything went according to plan, His kingdom was now safe, the borders were secured, He knew it won't be long before Taghit restored it glory, and this time, without any kingdom daring to go against it, smiling slightly, he walked into his tent but nearly ran out the moment he did.
Inside, sat the naked demon lord lazily with only a small cloth to cover his privates, at first his eyes were empty and sad, but seeing his good friend’s shocked face, a small smile made it way to the shadows lord’s face.