“Hope to never see you again. Have a good life,” Karn shouted as they mounted and tore away. The horses were going to have a hard day. The path, though had been recently cleared, wasn’t wide enough for the horses to gallop on. Only Dyaus and Arion were strong enough to maintain pace. But with Arion being last in line, Dyaus would often race ahead alone and then Dev had to wait impatiently for the others to join.
Still, they were able to cover a lot of ground. Based on the map, they had already covered 40 kilometers by the end of day, which meant that, potentially, by the end of the next day they could reach the village, or meet the army in front of them. They didn’t encounter any further troops, but they were extra careful in the night. To prevent the possibility of any of the troops in front of them seeing the four, they didn’t light a fire in the night. They rested under the light from the moon and the stars.
On possibly the last day before they could reach the village, Dev really pushed the group and the horses to their limits. Despite the harshness of the path, it seemed like they would make it to the village that day itself. Then the motley group was brought to an abrupt halt. There was another fallen tree, with four more soldiers clearing it. They seemed to be half way done. Dev was surprised as he didn’t remember cutting any tree around this part of the route.
Karn, Elbir and Dev got ready again. As they dispatched their weapons to kill the soldiers, Dev hesitated. What if the soldier he was going to kill was like the one they captured? Did he have a life as well? Parents who cared about him, people waiting for him when he got back? How could he take that from this man, this stranger? He couldn’t do it. Karn hit both his marks. Elbir, with his spear sword, unfortunately missed, getting the man on the shoulder. This worried Elbir—would he ever master this sword enough to be able to hit its target without missing? Karn was worried about something else—Dev didn’t even throw his weapon.
“What are you…?” Started Karn, before he had to duck to dodge an arrow. The soldier who Dev didn’t hit was an archer, who was surprisingly fast. He had notched up another before Karn was up, but he decided to hit Dev. Dev was sufficiently alert despite his musings to block it with his glove, which blocked the arrow effortlessly. Karn reached Dev and screamed at him. “Attack the man!” Dev still didn’t, so Karn tried to pluck Dhronari from Dev’s hands, but let it go with a scream. The hilt had suddenly burnt white hot, burning Karn’s left hand. He was fast enough to let go before he got seriously burnt, but he was still hurt.
“What the…” swore Karn, before he ducked another arrow heading his way. By then Elbir was running over to retrieve his weapon from the injured soldier’s shoulder, who had thrown it to the ground. Then, it suddenly flew to him. Without questioning this, Elbir caught it and threw it at the archer. This time he hit his target. The archer fell just as he released his fourth arrow. The injured soldier was about to attack the defenseless Elbir with his spike sword, when Kazena appeared right beside him, stabbing him through the neck. Through all this, Dev did not move to attack anyone.
Karn, turning around to Dev, shouted. “Are you insane! You could have gotten us killed? What was the big idea, not attacking that man? Was he your cousin? Did you fall in love with him at first sight?”
Dev stammered back, clearly upset at having risked the lives of his friends. “I… I am sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t know… I couldn’t….”
Elbir, though upset, was milder on his young friend. “What happened, Dev? Is everything alright?”
Kazena just gazed at him, curiously. She didn’t say anything.
Dev really didn’t know what to say.
“I… how could I kill that man? What if… what if he also didn’t want to fight? What if he was just an innocent man, with a loving family? I would be depriving them of his love forever... I … I can’t do that….”
Karn was furious. He screamed at Dev at point blank range, pouring out his frustration and the pain from his burn on Dev. “What are you babbling about? He could have been innocent?! He could have been a serial murderer, who enjoyed impaling innocent men like me with arrows! Do I deserve to die? Would you not be deprived of my love if I died?! Did you think of that…? Is it because of that loser soldier we found yesterday? I swear I will ride back and kill him three times over if that brings you to your senses… that idiot was probably lying to get our sympathy! So that fools like you wouldn’t kill him… Maybe he was also a serial killer who liked to fool young morons into not killing his enemies and then watch as that young moron gets killed in battle as he stands motionlessly for his opponents to come and hack him to bits… What the…” Karn’s rant, while amusing to Kazena, was deeply depressing for Dev. Elbir stopped Karn from continuing with a hand on his shoulder.
Elbir spoke instead. “While I don’t completely agree with Karn on the soldier we met earlier… you can’t assume that every soldier is like that. You need to think about whether you want to save your friends in a battle or the life of an unknown soldier in battle.”
Looking at Karn, he continued. “Let that be the end of it. We need to get to the village. Let’s hurry.”
Karn didn’t say anything more to Dev, but grumbled on as he walked back to Arion. “And your damn sword… burning me like that? Why did it do that? … Bloody hot sword.”
That was curious for Dev as well. Why did the sword burn Karn? But that wasn’t the prominent thought in his mind. As he climbed back on Dyaus, he continued to debate with himself, trying to convince himself that the enemy had to be killed. He felt terrible at having let Karn and Elbir down. At having allowed them to get hurt and putting their lives in danger. But no avail. His mind kept popping the image of the soldier they met, who just wanted to go back home.
With these thoughts in his mind, his pace reduced. Dev just wasn’t pushing Dyaus. Often Elbir’s horse would bump into Dyaus, prompting Dev to move ahead. Dev was lost in thought. Now, he wanted to both get there fast, and not get there fast. If he got to Villasboro fast, they would have to fight, and he didn’t know if he had it in him to kill. He wished Grim was here for some advice. Despite all his friendship with Karn and Elbir, Grim was still the one he would look to for any advice.
Then he felt something. In his mind. A warm, powerful tendril of thought was knocking at the edges of his consciousness. He first wondered if it was Karn. But he knew Karn could only read thoughts. This was different. It was as if someone was trying to talk to him. He was wary, not knowing what to do. But the warmth of the push was not unfriendly. He slowly felt himself allowing that tendril of thought to enter.
“Why are you so confused child?” said the voice. It was a normal voice. But it somehow seemed ancient, full of wisdom.
Dev was curious. “Who are you? And how are you able to enter my mind like this? Why are you entering my mind?”
“Who I am is not of any importance. I am a friend. Here just to help you think.”
Dev was wary of this stranger in his head. If not for his experiences in the last few months, he would have freaked, thinking that he was going mad, having voices in his head. But after meeting the Elliaichi, seeing Karn read minds, he was open to the idea of someone communicating with him directly in his mind. But it was still a stranger. The idea might not have been a surprise, but there was still an unknown person moving around in his mind.
“I am sorry, but if I don’t know you, how can I trust you?”
The presence was silent. And then everything around Dev changed. He was sitting on a large rock, in the middle of vast open meadow, with the sun setting. In front of him was an old man, wearing strange robes. He was facing the sun set, away from Dev.
“I am Rishyadh. As I said, I am a friend. I have been around for a long time, observing your beautiful little village. As you returned to your village, I felt that you needed some guidance. I hope knowing who I am helps you open up.”
Dev, despite the wonderful setting, wasn’t convinced. “You have just told me your name. That doesn’t tell me anything about you. Who are you
? How did you find me? How did you do… all this?” pointing to the environment around him.
The man did not turn. “Who am I? I am no one… I am Rishyadh… I have been around for a very long time my young friend… I am someone who has taken keen interest in Villasboro since long before you were born… I am usually content observing this curious village of yours. A village that is isolated and cut off from the world. I fear that this marvelous village will soon be in trouble. So I decided to see if there was help on the way. That’s how I found you. And then I saw that you were conflicted. So I am trying to help. Now, tell me, what worries you?”
That really wasn’t too helpful. But it seemed like this man was a friend of the village. So maybe he could help.
“I am conflicted, Rishyadh. I was riding to save my village. I was riding to fight the army that was sent to attack it, to kill the soldiers that were going to kill my fellow villagers. Now, I don’t know. Many of those soldiers are innocent, sent against their will, to fight someone who they might have been friends with, had the situation been different. How can I kill these people?”
Rishyadh took a deep breath. “Well, it is heartening to know that your dilemma is such an ethical one. Let me try to solve it with you.
What is choice? Choice is when you are free to decide between various options that are presented to you. Does it imply that the consequences of those options are equal? No. It just implies that there is more than one option. Each soldier out there had a choice. Between attacking an innocent village, full of people they didn’t even know, and, well, not attacking them.
The consequence of the first option for a soldier, is that he might kill an innocent person or die in action, but it would ensure a steady pay and possible honors. The consequence of the second option vary depending on when he exercises it. He might be thrown out of the army, or worst case, he might be executed. But by picking the second choice, the soldier could potentially prevent the death of an innocent person. So what he has to decide is this—should he risk his life to kill an innocent or to save one? And if the man chooses to kill an innocent, then that is the choice he has made, consciously. He might not like it much, but he has only those options and he has made his choice.
Now, similarly, you have a choice. Do you ride into battle, and not kill the soldier who is attacking you and your friends? He might be a good man, who was doing it despite disliking such a task. Or do you kill that man, to save your life and that of your friends? That is the choice that you need to make. You might not like the options, but those are the ones you have, and along with them are the consequences I laid out. Now you need to choose.”
Dev felt better listening to Rishyadh. He felt his mind get clearer. But he still had doubts.
“Thank you. Your words help. And I agree with you. I need to make the choice. And it seems simple. But for the man in front of me—what you said is not entirely true, right? I mean, it is not that he is choosing between taking an innocent’s life and saving it? It is between him taking an innocent’s life and someone doing it in his place? He knows, if he refuses, he will die, and someone else will take his place.”
Rishyadh replied, without turning back. “True. But then, all choices are dependent on the choices of others. The soldier feels that way because the other soldier is going to make the same choice as him, while assuming the same about him. But if he chose, independent of the other soldier’s choice, then he might think differently. If then, all soldiers decide to make the same choice, independently, which is not to kill an innocent, then no one would do it, and the innocent life would be safe.
It is similar to your choice. If you decide not to kill the soldier, you know that one of your friends would probably step in and save you. But if you all decided the same thing as you, many people, including yourself, would die.”
Dev felt at peace. There was clarity now. And suddenly, he was back. On Dyaus, riding towards Villasboro. There was no meadow, no sunset, no Rishyadh. He felt Rishyadh’s mind leaving his mind. But Rishyadh’s work was done. Dev knew what he had to do. He mentally thanked the strange wise man.
He bent down, and raced ahead with Dyaus. Elbir and the others were surprised with his burst of speed, but they followed him. They covered a lot of ground. They encountered a couple more broken trees, but dispatching those soldiers wasn’t an issue at all. Karn and Elbir were sufficiently satisfied that Dev was back. The only curious thing was the number of trees that had been cut. Dev was sure that he hadn’t brought down these many trees.
They covered almost the entire distance by nightfall. They had about 10 more kilometers to go. All of them got off their horses, and decided to walk a little ahead to check if the army was still in the woods or had already attacked the village. In an hour’s time, they could hear sounds. The Valantian army was right ahead. The forests were extremely quiet, so none of them could say if the troops were a kilometer ahead or five, but they definitely still hadn’t attacked the village. The four of them decided against pressing their luck in the dark. They wouldn’t be of any use. And 500 men waving their swords could kill the four of them in the dark just out of sheer luck.
At the first break of dawn, they started again. They didn’t race ahead, they proceeded with caution. They did not want to ride straight into the troops. This narrow path prevented the troops from attacking together, which was their only advantage. They had to wait till they could get to the Northern exit and attack together. They continued to proceed with caution, until they heard a war cry. The army had reached the village. With a burst of energy, all the horses were pushed. They reached the opening at the Northern exit of the village. The battle had already begun.
Chapter 38: First battle for the man with an unknown name
As we entered the battlefield, I couldn’t believe I was back.
I was back in the village of my birth. I was back before the timeline I had promised Grim. I was back a different man. I had returned to save the village.
Not that it needed saving, from the first look. I was surprised with what I saw. It took me a while to realize it was the same village I had left six months back. The troops had split up. There were the archers who had taken various positions in the woods, firing from their entrenched positions. The horsemen were in the open, charging at the village in groups of ten. The archers were covering their charge. The infantry seemed to be waiting, right beside the tree cover, near their archers. What the horsemen were charging at, was something I had never seen.
There were fifty large wooden boards on the ground. They seemed rather thick, as the arrows being shot by the Valantian Archers barely seemed to make a dent. They were about 10—12 feet wide and about five feet tall. Three to four men could easily hide behind each board. They were positioned in groups of 10, arranged in semi-circular rows. Some of the boards of the semi-circular defensive line were within an arrow shot from the Northern exit, which had forced the Valantian archers and infantrymen into the woods. The northern exit, where the four of us were observing the battle from, was strewn with troops killed in the opening salvo.
The charging horses were being targeted by two to three arrows fired at a time from behind each board. They had to cover about half a kilometer from the forest to the boards. The Valantian archers were trying to provide cover to the horsemen, but to no avail. The boards were protecting their bowmen quite well.
The village bowmen seemed familiar. I soon saw a bunch of known faces popping up from behind the boards, firing arrows. I saw Fiona, Forman, Finester and those were just the names starting with F’s. I realized that the villagers were defending themselves quite well! The Valantian archers and infantry were out of their range, but behind the boards, the village bowmen were able to effectively attack the horsemen. The horsemen were attacking in 10 groups of ten, each targeting one board. The bowmen were able to take down four horsemen before they reached the board. There was no way the board could help the archers take care of the rest of the horsemen. I moved to help. But I couldn’t have gotten th
ere in time. The horsemen had almost reached. They split themselves into two groups of three, to attack from each side. The first board was surrounded.
Suddenly, two large scythes emerged from each side of the board from within. The horses closest to the board had their legs cut, causing them to crash into the ground. Two men emerged from behind the board to club the fallen riders to their death. The archer was able to take down one more at close range. But the three remaining horsemen made quick work of the men with clubs. They then charged at the archer. One of them was shot down by bowmen from other boards not being attacked. Two managed to kill the archer. They then tried to quickly join another group of charging cavalry and were successful.
Some other cavalry attack groups fared better. Some escaped the scythes, and cleared the board’s occupants easily. But then there were other groups that fared far worse. They were completely annihilated. The overall fate of the first charge of the Valantian cavalry was grim. Of the hundred that charged, only 50 survived to clear 10 of the boards. The attrition was clearly too much. They retreated to beyond the range of the bowmen of the second line of boards, losing five more during the retreat. But the injuries among the villagers were also plenty. There were at least 15 archers killed, along with at least 20 other men with various melee weapons.
But there were four more lines of defenses, which meant there were about 150 defenders still alive. We could help them, with Kazena and Karn clearing the archers out and Elbir and I taking on the infantrymen. We had to be careful, because they hadn’t noticed us yet, as we were out of the army’s field of vision. We were flanking them, something they could easily remedy by unleashing the entire infantry unit at us. With the village archers out of range, we would have a tough time surviving that assault as behind us was the narrow northern trail. We had to get to open ground, which would allow Kazena to work her magic.
Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium Page 41