In the outskirts of the city, the avadons scrambled about. They retreated back toward the protection of the city. Some of them made futile attempts at throwing debris toward the oncoming army.
As the Eluan Army neared the entrance to Myrus, the front line began to spread out around the buildings. Many of the avadons had made it to safety, but some were trampled and cut down by the men. They jumped into the air only to land into the mass of soldiers. The men cheered at their early victory.
The front line then came to a halt as the dust settled. They stopped fifty yards from the first few buildings. It was the beginning of the city. The men behind them continued to move. They turned and spread out to the left and the right.
The Eluan Army began to build a barrier around Myrus. The men lined up, company to company, across the land, each one only fifty yards away from the city.
The army raced around the entire city. The avadons could not escape in time. The city was too cluttered for any to make their way through it, and those at the other end had no idea about the approaching army until it was too late. The avadons that did try to run only met a bitter end by the soldiers charging towards them.
Finally, the Eluan Army completely surrounded the city of Myrus. Then all the men held their positions. Their orders now were to not allow anything to cross the line. There would be no escape for the avadons.
Heric watched with pride as his plan came together. The avadons were trapped. He could see them scurrying back into the city. They hid within the safety of the buildings, looking out through windows and, around past corners.
Heric urged his horse forward. He turned to address his men.
“This is where you hold the line. No avadon will leave Myrus.”
“Yes, sir,” echoed into the air.
“Nothing gets past you.”
“Yes, sir!”
“We are the Eluan Army. There will be no enemy that we cannot vanquish. There should be no enemy we have to face. We are one world with one flag. It’s time to take that back.”
“Yes, sir!” they all yelled.
Forman signaled for the next wave of their plan. The first line of soldiers stepped forward. They came into formation at the entrance of the three major streets leading into Myrus.
These streets led directly into the heart of the city. They touched every borough and connected to every street. The Eluan Army would systematically close in and kill every avadon that stood in their path.
Chapter 51
The gates at the Capitol were wide open. The guards and soldiers stood outside ushering in the surge of people from Myrus. The narrow opening at the gates had created a bottleneck for the people outside. Everybody was rushing to get inside, to reach safety.
Others watched from the walls or from their own homes. They kept their eyes on the streets filling up with more of the lost, and they kept their eyes out on the horizon. The avadons were approaching.
Lieutenant Francesco de Seres held his men outside the city walls. They remained off to the side, out of the way of all the refugee traffic. He ordered his men to stay put. They had to insure the safety of the people outside, and protect their own city. His army was only half its normal strength. He could not fully protect the Capitol with what he had.
Marina Arraw had given him instructions on how to fight off the avadons. She recommended they stay behind the walls and begin with archery attacks. He admired the strategy, but it would do them no good here. There were too many people on the outside. They could not wait long enough to get the avadons within range of their arrows.
The avadons kept their distance. They were purposefully not moving as fast as their prey. Seres waited and watched for his chance.
The people of Myrus kept filing into the city gates. Their screams of relief echoed through the streets.
“We should charge them, sir,” said a soldier near Seres.
“Not yet,” said Seres. “They are still too far away. If we charge, they will attack the people. They will have killed hundreds before we get into the fight.”
“They are getting closer, sir,” said the weary soldier.
“That’s the idea,” said Seres.
He watched as the avadons kept inching forward. They stayed in a relatively tight formation the whole time. One avadon would move forward, swaying in the wind. Its jumps would swerve, causing a slight adjustment in the entire group of avadons.
“There’s a leader,” said Seres. He smiled with this realization. He urged his horse forward while giving the signal to the rest of his men.
“Attack,” Seres yelled. The sudden movement caused more panic on the outside among the refugees. There were still hundreds of people forcing their way through the gates. They began to push harder. The people inside were running out of space to move forward.
The avadons saw the soldiers coming their way. The leader roared and pounded the ground. The surrounding avadons did the same. Then they jumped into the air.
The crowd of refugees tumbled as the avadons landed in the middle of the running mob. They struck out, slashing the unlucky ones nearby.
Seres broke away from his men. The rest of the army continued to charge toward the main group of avadons while he and three of his captains raced into the crowd of people. Their horses parted the crowd and trampled some unfortunate few. Seres was going for the leader.
Chapter 52
Every building in Myrus had to be checked. Heric and Forman followed one of the groups as they made their way down the city street. They stopped at every building and waited until their men returned. Sometimes there would be no avadons inside. Sometimes the soldiers would come out bloody with smiles on their faces. Sometimes not all of the soldiers would return.
Every soldier had a partner. They kept to the fighting techniques learned from Louson. Some avadons remained out in the streets. They tried to fight the Eluans, but found swift death by the sword. The avadons in the city were too scattered to put up a proper fight. Given enough time, Heric knew he could win this fight.
As they pushed deeper into the city, the buildings were getting taller. It took longer and more men to hunt through each building as they moved down the street. The sun would be setting soon. Heric was going to have to make a decision.
“When do we retreat back to the line?” Forman asked.
“We’ve got the avadons on the run. They are all gathering toward the center. We can’t retreat now. We’ll lose all the ground we’ve gained today,” said Heric.
“We will regain it tomorrow,” said Forman. “There will be fewer of them to fight.”
“We have come too far. I don’t want to lose it. We should stay in the city. We can holdup in a building,” said Heric. “We’ll keep watch. We need to hold the line right here.”
“It’s too dangerous,” said Forman. “Fighting at night in the city is insane.”
“The buildings will help us hold the line, just like now. When the morning arrives, we’ll wipe out the rest of these vermin. It will be one final push. The closer we are to it the better.”
“That’s your decision?” Forman asked.
“That’s my decision.”
“Alright,” Forman agreed. “I’ll spread the word. There is a building coming up. It looks defendable. We should stop there. When it gets dark, we should not all be out here. We need to hunker-down soon.”
“Good,” said Heric.
Across the Eluan Empire, the Capitol continued its defense against the avadons. The ground was soaked in blood. Many of the Myrus citizens had fallen- caught in the middle of the fight. Seres continued his pursuit of the leader of the avadon horde. Every time he tried to engage with his enemy, the avadon would jump away. He could not catch him, and his captain was no help. They could not double team the avadon. There were still too many people in their way.
The crowd had thinned, but the avadon managed to stay in the midst of the group. It had stopped attacking the people. It was using them as a shield. Seres would charge through the group,
without care of harm or injury to the innocent.
He could see out of the corner of his eye, the sun was beginning to lower below the horizon. The gates were open longer than he had wanted or expected. The people were just not moving fast enough.
The Eluan Army kept up their fight in the back. They engaged the mass of avadons keeping them from gaining any ground on the fleeing crowd. It was about all they could do. They were outnumbered, and unprepared. Their Eluan training had taken over in place of the more recent Louson training. Their strategies only held back the avadons. They could not make any true strikes to eliminate their enemy.
Then Seres made the call. He signaled for the gates to close. Reluctantly, the guards followed their orders. The gates began to slowly close in on themselves. The people still on the outside grew desperate. They screamed and pleaded for the doors to stay open a little while longer.
The crowd began to move faster. Inside the city, people were climbing over each other to get deeper inside. Fights were breaking out amongst the people. There was too much fear and anger in the moment.
The gates finally closed. Dozens of people remained outside. They clung to the walls, pleading for the doors to be opened again. Seres gave another signal. Guards on top of the wall kept their aim on the avadons surrounding the remaining crowd refugees. They were all huddling together to get away from the avadons that had been attacking them. The guards released their arrows or threw rocks to keep the avadons away from the remaining refugees.
Seres now had the opportunity to attack the avadon leader directly. He and his captains attacked, but the avadon kept escaping their grasp. It was now on the run.
Abigail watched from a palace tower as the battle raged on. She looked down at the streets in horror. A riot had broken out. Buildings were being destroyed as vandals and thieves stole from those refugees around them. There were too few guards to handle the situation. Everybody was concerned with the avadons outside; they forgot about the people left inside.
The sight caused her stomach to turn. Feelings surfaced that she had never dealt with before. Distant memories from her childhood began to form in her head. They were fuzzy, and did not make any sense. She was too young to remember much of Prial, and the battle that destroyed her city, or so she had always believed.
The door to the room opened behind her. A sudden rise of panic hit Abigail. She turned around expecting soldiers to charge in. It was only Marina and her guards, Kastor and Tyeche.
“There you are,” said Marina. “I was beginning to worry about you.”
“Sorry,” said Abigail. She calmed her breathing. “I wanted to see what was going on out there. It’s horrific. Are you okay?”
“We are fine,” said Marina. “These riots are not surprising. It hasn’t happened in a number of years for Louson. The commanders make sure to have plenty of guards on the street. Whenever the avadons come close to the city, people tend to think it’s the end of the world. Avadons have a way of inflaming emotions like that.”
“Why did you not warn us about this?” Abigail asked. “Seres could have spared a few men to keep order. Those people are killing each other down there. They want the refugees’ meager possessions and food. They don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s horrible.”
“It’s an amazing thing to see what happens when battle breaks out. Those unaccustomed to fighting tend to do the most damage. They don’t know what they are capable of until they have to fight for their survival,” said Marina coldly.
“You should have warned us,” said Abigail. “That is your duty as our future Empress- to protect the people.”
Marina chuckled. “I’m not Empress, not yet. And I fear that I may never see that title, if you have anything to say about it.”
“What do you mean?” Abigail asked. She was shocked at Marina’s accusation and tone. She and Heric had been so careful.
“I know about you and Heric. I know you plan on pushing me aside. He loves you. I see it in his eyes whenever you are in the room. He would do anything for you.”
“Marina, no, it’s not what you think,” Abigail pleaded. Kastor and Tyeche came up behind Abigail and grabbed her arms. She tried to fight her way loose, but they were too strong for her.
“You said so yourself, everything is about showmanship. You kept up a good face. You have helped me so much since my arrival here. I have learned so much of the city because of you. I do thank you for that. But I wonder, have you been laughing behind my back this entire time?” Marina glared.
“Marina, please don’t do this,” Abigail pleaded.
“You are going to marry Heric and become his Empress. What were you going to do with me? Send me home? Let me live here while I watched my position go to somebody else? To some unworthy household servant? I don’t think so. I am to be Empress, and I will not have you stand in my way.”
“Please, Marina, don’t do this. You can’t kill me. Heric will never stand for it,” Abigail cried. “He loves me. He would never marry my murderer.”
“I gathered that all too well,” said Marina. “He hasn’t even touched me since I’ve come here. How many times as he been with you?”
“I’m sorry,” said Abigail.
“You are a whore,” said Marina. “You are not royalty, and you have slept your way to becoming Empress. I would almost congratulate you, if it were any other reign. But I am royalty. I am born by birth-right to rule, and I have been promised this Empire. You... you are a whore.”
“Plea—” Abigail begged again. “Let me go.”
“I’m not going to kill you. No, Heric would never stand for that, and I can’t, with a clear heart, lie to my future husband that way.”
“Do you know one of the beauties about the chaos down on the streets? There are so many opportunities to be taken. People die. People disappear; people go missing all the time during these riots. It’s just a fact. Somebody is caught up in the chaos and is swept away, never to be heard from again. They are lost to the vultures of the city.
“It will be a sad moment when I tell Heric that is what happened to you. ‘She went out to try to help the people,’ I’ll tell him. ‘I told her not to go, but she did anyway. I haven’t heard from her since.”
“No!” Abigail screamed. “No, please, don’t do this!”
“I have already made the arrangements. There are so many people interested in your beautiful orange eyes, and that lustrous skin of yours. You are a whore after all. It’s time to start acting like one.”
“No!” Abigail pleaded. She pulled against Kastor and Tyeche, but it was no use.
“We all have our rightful places: I have my seat at the throne, and you have your seat at a man’s lap. Get her out of here,” Marina ordered.
Kastor and Tyeche began to drag Abigail out of the room. She fought back, kicking and screaming, but she could not escape. They lifted her into the air, holding her in place. Tyeche gagged her and tied her hands behind her back. They carried her away crying.
Marina looked out the window at the riot in the streets below. She smiled. This was her Empire.
Chapter 53
Night had fallen over Myrus. Heric and his men were huddled inside a building. He had guards set up across the street. No avadon would get past their line during the night. A fire still raged in the heart of the city. It lit up the streets, and the light bounced around the shadows of the buildings.
The men could not settle in for a meal and a proper night’s rest. Every sound outside caused a stir. Even with their torches, an avadon could come soaring into the area. They were always at attention.
The battle raged on at the Capitol. Night had set in. Arrows lit with fire were scattered all across the field. Seres would not call for a retreat. He circled his men around the city walls. They continued to hold the line, but every hour they lost ground. The avadons were slowly making their way to the walls.
Seres had not given up his pursuit of the avadon leader. He chased him across the battlefield. They danced ar
ound the fire. Whenever Seres was able to catch it, he would make a strike, but the avadon would still get away, laughing each time. Seres was growing frustrated.
He needed a new strategy. His men were growing tired, and the avadon leader was merely taunting him. He would not stand for it anymore. There was only one thing left to do. He had to retreat with his men. But Seres wanted to wait. He had to time it right.
On the other side of the Capitol, a lone figure climbed his way down the city wall with a rope. Nikali had arranged for a horse to be waiting for him. His money was well spent. A horse waited patiently on the ground, stocked with supplies. Across his own shoulder was his own personal stash of Tamor Blood. It was all that remained of the supply he had stolen from Alexus’ quarters.
He made his way safely away from the Capitol under the cover of night. After he had traveled a fair distance, he stopped to look back at the city he was leaving. He could see the torches and the battle going on across the way.
Nothing was drawing him to go back. He turned away with no remorse. There was something calling out to him from the darkness. He kicked his horse and left Eluan to its fate.
Francesco de Seres continued to chase the avadon leader. He forced the avadon to keep moving. It kept jumping away, as Seres chased him down on his horse.
The avadon’s laugh was diminishing after each jump. Even it began to grow weary of the dance he and Seres were doing. After his last jump he waited to swat at Seres with its claws, in an attempt to strike him down. Seres was able to defend himself and keep up his attack. The avadon jumped away again.
Seres was now ready to put his new plan in motion. He looked back toward the city gate. It would be easy enough for him to run away. There was nothing behind him but an open path. Instead, Seres waited for a few more jumps from the avadon. Each time the avadon waited for Seres to draw nearer to attack. Each time Seres watched as the avadon tried to catch its breath. They always kept away from the main battle.
The avadon leader landed once again. It slumped over, breathing heavily. Seres yelled out his command.
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