Archeologist Warlord: Book 2

by E. M. Hardy

  These raids were not something that people ignored around these parts of the Empire. No, the Renese calling this place home knew all about what happened to the last General of the Black Turtle and his army. They were ready and prepared to leave their homes at a moment’s notice, and there were no Rat agents around to spread false news in these parts of the Empire. Fortunately for the villagers and townsfolk, Martin detailed teams of dolls and cow-boxes to help with the evacuations. The roads his constructs built earlier on connected the disparate settlements together, not only easing trade but providing easy routes of escape. The dolls helped harvest crops, pull along the livestock, while the cow-boxes hauled goods on their wide backs even as they hauled heavily-laden wagons behind them.

  And they brought all these people and supplies to the hilltop city of Gudan—a city that served as both trading hub and citadel for the Empire’s northern provinces. It was already impressively fortified before Martin found himself in Copsis, for it housed the local Imperial garrison. It boasted thick inner walls with wide walkways and numerous parapets, eight towers surrounding the citadel’s smaller outer walls, and a sturdy granite keep right in the middle which housed a few catapults and ballistae. General Lian Lin and her troops were now inside the garrison, preparing for the coming siege. Her tired horsemen rested and recovered while the footmen continued stockpiling weapons and supplies.

  Martin, however, turned the already-impressive citadel into a terrifying death trap. While he sent most of his dolls north to build the little walls, he also tasked a few hundred dolls with adding to Gudan’s fortifications. They dug deep ditches that snaked all around the citadel, filled them with sharpened clay stakes, and covered the traps with a thin layer of stiff mud that would collapse under the weight of a man. They added dozens of towers around the citadel, which were going to be manned by a handful of walkers with plentiful supplies of arrows and rocks. These towers were all connected by small tunnels where dolls could easily bring in useable mud. They’d then shape javelins inside the towers that the walkers could use once they exhausted their stores of arrows. These dolls also dug out larger tunnels leading far away from the city of Gudan where supplies could be brought in—all easily collapsible should they be compromised.

  They also helped expand the infrastructure needed to support a siege as well. The dolls excavated generous root cellars to house refugees and their supplies. They dug out more wells to bring up extra fresh water. They coated all wooden struts and structures with a thin layer of clay to help them better deal with flaming arrows. They even built septic tanks and sewer systems underneath the citadel to facilitate waste management. These sewers were, however, only large enough for the dolls to crawl through; nobody wanted khanate raiders climbing up through the communal toilets.

  All this was why Hobogetur ended up spewing curses and invectives at everyone around him, berating them for their incompetence. He was especially livid at the scouts, whom he blamed squarely for their failure to do their jobs properly. The khans beside him grimaced, clearly displeased by Hobogetur’s outbursts, and Martin witnessed once more the increasingly-familiar sight of arguing khans. Martin couldn’t fly an eyeball close enough to hear the discussion, but he could easily guess that the lack of plunder was starting to get on the nerves of the raiders. They expected to ride south to a depleted Empire, a fruit ripe for the picking. Instead, they only found empty villages and a citadel that was impossible to siege.

  Hobogetur raged and bellowed wildly as he pointed at the citadel then south towards the Imperial capital. Martin grimaced. From the way he gestured, from the aggression he showed, he might lead the khanates against the fortifications of Gudan. They would then exhaust themselves on its walls and fortifications. They did, however, have the numbers to assault the citadel with ladders, rams, and mantlets. Even Martin’s fortifications and mandala-bearing walkers would not be able to whittle down those numbers fast enough. But even if the horde managed to take the citadel, the khanates would end up having to expend so many lives that Imperial reinforcements would chop them up with ease once they arrived.

  Or maybe Hobogetur was planning to ride the horde further down south, ignoring the citadel of Gudan altogether. If the horde did that, they would no doubt come across a few of the less defensible Imperial cities. They would successfully find soft targets to plunder and pillage before Martin and the rest of the Imperial army got there. It would, however, still end up costing the khanate horde in the long run. Pushing too far into Imperial territory, while leaving a hostile force behind the hordes, would guarantee a confrontation from two sides. Martin and the new General of the Black Turtle would be able to pen in the khanate horde, block their retreat long enough for Imperial reinforcements to catch up.

  No matter what choice they made, the Little Walls would then be their doom. Martin’s hidden constructs were ready to move in and retake them at any moment. All he needed to do was wait for the horde to commit to either sieging Gudan or heading further south. He would then seal the gap while his dolls reconstructed the clay fences, shutting the jaws of the trap behind the khanate horde.

  The two other khans, however, offered far more resistance than before. They didn’t back down from Hobogetur’s aggressive posturing this time around. No, they stood their ground, gesturing just as wildly first toward the citadel then toward the south. Martin wished sorely to send one of his eyeballs down low, to overhear whatever was going on down there.

  Hobogetur laid a hand on the hilt of his weapon, a hostile grimace on his face. The two other khans responded in kind, and the horde lines shifted—each army backing its respective khan. The leader of the Shining Horde drew half his blade out, paused, then slammed it back down into its sheath with a thoroughly disgusted look on his face. The other khans let go of their weapons with a sigh of relief even as Hobogetur spent a few extra minutes cursing particular choice words out loud.

  “Oh. Oh, wow!” Martin blurted out loud, as he finally understood the action that the three leaders decided upon.

  “What?” barked Lian Lin, who was too busy planning fallback positions should the horde manage to breach the outer walls. “Did they start their attack!?”

  “No, but you need to come up to the walls,” Martin said breathlessly, more out of excitement than the lack of breathable air. “You should see this for yourself.”

  The General of the Black Turtle set down her lists and sketches, hurrying after Martin’s walker. They ascended the stairs of the closest tower, taking two steps at a time. The cheers of the soldiers and citizens alike rumbled from atop the walls and towers, watching as the khanate horde packed up their cots and cooking utensils before riding away to the north.

  “They’re retreating,” said a slack-jawed General Lian Lin, so shocked she could not do anything else but gape at the sight of thousands of khanate horses slinking away in defeat. “But why so soon?”

  “They must have finally realized that this raid will cost them more than they can gain,” Martin replied, as he squared the hands of his walker on its hips. “I’m just thankful that cooler heads prevailed this time around. We really don’t need another Inagaki Nobumoto shedding blood just for the heck of it.”

  Chapter 23

  “Do you seriously expect us to just hand over these men to you? The same men who not only sacked Yan Bao after it surrendered without a fight, but then proceeded to butcher everyone within its walls to fuel your unholy blood weapons? Is this what you are asking of us, you Shogunate dog?”

  Ishida ground his teeth, barely able to prevent himself from hissing out his reply. “May I remind you, honorable General of the White Tiger, that I was exiled to the Sahaasi dominion precisely because my beliefs ran counter to what the Shogun had in mind? And that I was forced to do so because the Shogun held my family hostage?” Ishida leaned in, glaring at the furious Imperial general before him. “Without my people taking the Isles back from the Shogun, you and your people would be forced to invade like what you did a few gener
ations ago. Back then, you had the support of all your vassal nations backing you up in your assault. You brought two hundred fifty thousand soldiers with you… and you lost almost half of them before you pushed the Shogun off the mainland and crushed him and his allies on Ooshima. All I ask in return for my cooperation is that you spare these survivors who, like me, were forced by the Shogun and his cronies to fight for him.”

  General Shen Feng matched Ishida’s glare before slowly shaking his head. “No. These men will pay for their crimes, Ishida. We will deal with these butchers of innocents, these monsters disguised as men. They will receive the same kind of mercy they showed the people of Yan Bao and the villagers around Wu Er’s countryside.” He crossed his arms, scowling deeply. “And when we are done with them, know that the Empire will return to the Isles. We will not make the mistake our ancestors made last time. There will be no more mercy, no more extra chances. We will come for you blood-sucking barbarians, and we will wipe your threat away one and for all.”

  “Threats now, General, after all I have done to help!?” Ishida snapped, no longer caring about diplomacy or tactfulness.

  “We made the mistake of trusting your people, giving you too much freedom,” interrupted General Bai Yu, his eyes burning with hatred. “The Empire gave the son of the last shogun everything. Inagaki Nobumoto was permitted to rise up in the Imperial Court, eventually making his way up to Sage—a man whose voice helped guide the Empire. And what did he do with it? He killed the very same Imperial family that spared him, nearly crippled the Empire that gave him all the opportunities in the world.” The Imperial general leaned in close to Ishida’s face, his fury unmistakable despite his low whisper. “You might be another Ye Heng in the making, a snake hiding in long grass, and we will not repeat the mistakes we made in the past.”

  Ishida wanted to say something, anything, to refute the man’s words. He wanted to say that his accusations were false and malicious. Yet, in the back of his mind, Ishida knew that this Imperial general had a point. Inagaki Nobumoto had betrayed the trust given to him by the old Imperial family, and the Taiyo people rode along with his grand dreams of rebuilding the Shogunate—even if it meant burning down everything else around them. Ishida could only meet the angry glare of the two generals in silence, unable to reply.

  He retreated into the mandala seared into his memory, taking the time to calm himself before he did or said something stupid. He was just about to respond when the dark-skinned woman wearing strange clothes coughed into her hand. The men at the table turned as one to glare at the interloper, some messenger from some far-away desert land who covered half her face with a thin, dark veil.

  “If I may, General Shen Feng, General Bai Yu,” spoke the woman in flawless Renese. Ishida was surprised at her fluency; his own tongue stumbled with the flowing vowels and consonants of Ren, as he was used to the sharper, harder syllables of the Taiyo language. “You are correct in desiring vengeance, or rather justice with regards to the grievous sins inflicted upon your peoples. It is completely understandable that you would seek such hard measures, especially in the face of the inhumane treatment of your own peoples. We, the League of Merchants, value human life, and spilling the blood of so many would be considered a huge waste.”

  A nearby walker coughed into its hands. Everyone in the room—even Ishida himself—knew that Martin’s walkers didn’t need to breathe, much less cough. No, he was trying and failing to smother a laugh. The men around the table glared at the walker, which shrank into its seat as Martin realized his error. Strangely enough, the outline of a smirk played through the woman’s lips as she gently shook her head. Ishida expected the foreign lady to be offended by such a breach of etiquette. Instead, she seemed to be amused by Martin’s outburst.

  That’s when Ishida remembered that the League of Merchants permitted slavery in its lands, and scowled as he finally understood the ‘joke.’

  “However, you might actually be impaling yourself in the foot if you completely rebuff the Daimyo’s offer.”

  General Shen Feng quirked an eyebrow while Ishida stopped mid-stride, his hand on the knob of the cabin’s exit. “I have been meaning to ask, miss…”

  “Isin,” replied the woman with a slight nod of her head. “Isin Safak, representing the interests of the League of Merchants within the Ren Empire.”

  “Representative Isin, then. Representative Isin… what exactly are you doing here? The Empress in her infinite wisdom may have granted you leave to attend these negotiations, but I do not see how you are involved in the affairs of the Empire and one of its rebelling provinces.”

  The woman nodded, her veil shifting and revealing exotic lips playing at a smirk. Ishida shifted his gaze, reminding himself that this was not the time to get distracted. “A fair question, General Shen Feng. The League of Merchants has had extensive experience with situations very similar to this, and—”

  “Situations similar to this?” interrupted Ishida, unable to contain his curiosity as he turned around and sat back at the conference table.

  “Yes,” Isin replied smoothly, apparently unruffled by the interruption. “Where we assist in non-military suppression of external regimes.”

  “Non-military what of what again?”

  “What she means,” Martin added with a nod of his walker, “Is that her people are good at knocking off annoying leaders, eroding their support base, and eventually getting them to join their side.”

  Isin chuffed at that, a predatory smile appearing from underneath her veil, but she quickly recomposed herself. “A crude, oversimplified explanation, but nonetheless true.”

  Ishida’s neck hairs straightened up at the woman’s words, his hands instinctively reaching for weapons missing from his hip. Isin noticed his reaction and gently chuckled, shaking her head. “Ah, please do not fret, Ishida Daimyo. If we can come to reasonable terms with the General of the White Tiger and the General of the Azure Dragon, you and I may actually end up working with Martin to secure the Isles of Taiyo.”

  That little revelation caused all three men to widen their eyes. “What do you mean?” asked Bai Yu, his earlier fury cooled and replaced by curiosity.

  The woman smiled again, apparently pleased by his reaction. She turned to Ishida, her eyes crinkling in mischief as she favored him with a smile. “Ishida Daimyo, am I correct in assuming that you and your allies hold sway over three out of fourteen islands? That your forces occupy the other islands, but are spread thin and are at risk of reprisal once the other clans overcome their shock of defeat?”

  Ishida frowned. This woman, this foreigner, knew too much. He considered his response before nodding reluctantly.

  “Out of all those islands, out of all the disparate clans in the Isles of Taiyo, only you decided to return to the mainland to negotiate the return of your captured warriors. Many warriors who, if I am correct, are not affiliated to your clan in the first place?”

  Ishida hesitated before nodding once more. “I do not know where you are going with this line of discussion, but—”

  Isin ignored him as she turned to the Imperial generals. Ishida’s blood rushed to his head at the insult, but he forced himself to stillness by tracing the mandala in his mind. He already burned the lines and swirls into his memory, and its never-ending loops helped calm him down before he lost even more control over himself. If the woman spoke the truth, then her roundabout way of talking could convince the two stubborn generals to rethink their positions.

  “Generals Shen Feng, Bai Yu… I cannot find a way to phrase it gently, but the simple truth of the matter is that your Empire is weak right now.” The two generals scowled at the League representative’s words, shooting her a glare, but they held their tongues and waited for her to finish. “According to the reports I’ve reviewed, more than two million people inhabit the Isles of Taiyo. You barely have sixty thousand soldiers left, and you have the Sahaasi Dominion and the Khanate Hordes knocking at your doors. You will need every bit of hel
p you can get to keep the Isles of Taiyo in order, to close one front and allow you to focus on the other two.

  “Not only that, but the economy of your Empire is in absolute shambles. Disasters such as plague and floods ravaged your lands while internal trade is only just picking up once again. Through years of planning and deceit, Inagaki Nobumoto used his position to sabotage the Empire and strengthen his influence over the various rulers of the Taiyo clans. While he soured the Empire’s relations with its vassals to the north and south of its capital, he secretly siphoned funds and arms to his allies. He murdered the royal family, leaving a young, inexperienced, and frankly impetuous child he thought he could manipulate, and—”

  “Now you hold your tongue, you foreign worm!” spat a livid General Shen Feng, no longer able to contain himself. “You know nothing about—”

  “Yes, a spoiled little royal who thought it would be a wonderful idea to betray her newest vassal. A royal who was willing to sacrifice her best general in an ill-advised attack against said vassal. An attack that, if successful in destroying her vassal’s newest pyramid, would have stripped her of the only help she could obtain to prevent Shogunate blades from bleeding Imperial cities dry. Do any of these sound like the decisions of a wise royal making measured decisions for her empire, or an impulsive brat that lashes out at every threat that frightens her?”

  Ishida’s jaw dropped not only at Isin’s brash words but at the revelation she so casually dropped. Shen Feng turned his blade against Martin, at the Empress’ command? Didn’t Martin pledge himself as an Imperial vassal? It made no sense! Yet, one sideward glance at the general’s pale grimace told Ishida all he needed to know about Isin’s accusations.

  “That secret was not yours to share,” whispered Martin through his previously-quiet walker. “And how in hell did you manage to find that out, anyway? I certainly haven’t been going around shouting that little nugget of information from the top of my lungs.”