Zachania

by Joseph Henry Gaines

  Tanaga nodded at Arun, tapped his arm firmly and then ran down the hill to join his men on the front lines behind the barricades and trench, he watched as the Imperial army continued their advance into the valley.

  “Wait” he said to one of his Generals as he could see the puzzled look on the Empires soldiers faces wondering why the Zachanian’s had not come forward to meet them.

  Tanaga waited till the very last moment then drew his sword and pointed it into the air.

  “NOW!…..ATTACK!” he screamed.

  Moments later thousands of his soldiers ran from behind their barricades towards the Empire. The two armies clashed together to the sound of screams, in the mud they stood face to face fighting as the death toll increased, Lord Tanaga against the protests of his Generals ran into the battle and joined the fighting. Lord Tanaga’s men fresh and full of energy soon broke the Imperial line; groups of Imperial soldiers were forming trying to defend themselves from the attack. When they could defend no more what was left of the Imperial attack, they began to retreat but this time instead of the Zachanian army retreating with them they followed and attacked them, the rest of Lord Tanaga’s men ran from their positions behind the trench and they took the battle for the first time,

  “Where the damn is Heikan!” the King shouted to his Generals as he noticed his absence

  “Send scouts to see where they are.” he added looking on at the fighting and growing frustrated.

  The plan was for Lord Tanaga’s army to attack the Empire front line with Lord Heikan’s men attacking their flank at the same time but with this rain it was clear that Heikan’s men must have been slowed by the mud which was covering the landscape.

  Lord Tanaga was with his men on the Empires position, the fighting was fierce and they had broken the Empires positions twice already, sixty thousand Imperial soldiers had already been killed, Tanaga ordered his men to keep advancing as he shouted to his Generals where Heikan was.

  “My Lord, we have broken through on their defences on the west but they are regrouping quickly.” shouted back one of Tanaga’s Generals.

  “Where is Heikan? We cannot fight this battle alone.” shouted back Tanaga.

  “My Lord we are taking heavy casualties, we grow tired, what do you want us to do?”

  “We keep fighting.” replied the Lord before raising his sword again and joining the fighting.

  King Arun was still in his position on the hillside behind the Zachanian lines looking over the battle before him; he was also getting deeply concerned why Heikan had not stuck to the plan.”

  “We have to make a decision sire.” General Kanyan suddenly said standing next to the King, also noticing that the Empires initial surprise had now passed and they were re-organising themselves quickly.

  “DAMN HEIKAN!” King Arun shouted in frustration.

  “SIRE!” Lord Kanyan then shouted as he pointed to a group of men who were running back to the Zachanian lines carrying someone.

  “By the gods it’s Tanaga.” Arun replied with his voice and face ravaged with concern as he saw that it was Lord Tanaga covered in blood being returned.

  King Arun and General Kanyan ran down to the trench just as the Tanaga was carried behind the front lines.

  “TANAGA!” Arun shouted as he knelt down besides his Lord.

  Lord Tanaga struggled to lift his arm but he grabbed Arun’s sleeve and spoke through his pain.

  “Where is Heikan Arun?” he mouthed angrily.

  “We do not know.” the King replied almost apologetically.

  Tanaga spat out some blood from his mouth and spoke in a furious tone.

  “We cannot hold the lines unless Heikan arrives soon; my men are dying on their own up there.”

  “It is true sire we have already lost a third of our army.” added a soldier who was with Tanaga.

  “We have attacked and Heikan has let us down sire, we will be massacred if we do not get help.” added Tanaga now coughing blood.

  King Arun gritted his teeth as he listened to his Lord; he looked out at the battlefield and saw the fighting in the distance.

  “Arun!” Tanaga pleaded.

  The King turned back to Lord Tanaga, who was bloodied and hunched in pain on the floor.

  “Break off the attack!” the King mouthed angrily to one of Tanaga’s soldiers.

  “You heard the King, order the retreat.” Tanaga added sounding more urgent.

  King Arun then turned to General Kanyan.

  “Find Heikan, get word to him the attack has been cancelled.” the King mouthed sounding angry and frustrated.

  “We could have won this battle today Arun! By Apollo, Heikan will answer personally to me for this.” Tanaga snapped as he was led away to have his wounds attended to.

  The order was relayed and Tanaga’s army retreated back to the Zachanian front, with the retreat the fighting ended for the day as both armies attended to their wounded and tried to get some rest. As night fell the King and his Lords once again met in the King’s tent to discuss the day’s battle. Lord Tanaga was present but was still deeply in pain, he sat fidgeting as tried to get into a position where he felt no pain from the sword wound on his back. Between moments where he cried out in pain he was still furious at what had happened today, he was furious with Lord Heikan and was taking out his frustrations on the King.

  Zumal the King’s wizard had been sitting quietly listening to Tanaga’s rants until he finally lost his patience.

  “Tanaga!…you hold your mouth, remember you are in the presence of the King of Zachania, your friendship with him does not give you the right to raise your voice, you are a Lord of this council, act like one.” snapped Zumal clearly angered.

  “Zumal it is alright, we all share in Tanaga’s frustration.” replied the King.

  “Sire, I apologise if I am sounding brash but I am outraged that Heikan did not make the battle.”

  King Arun bit his lip feeling lost for words as the meeting fell into silence; everyone was deep in thought and wondering why Heikan had not arrived as planned.

  “It must have been the rain, or Heikan met the Empire en route to their flank, I can think of no other reason why he was absent.” the King said breaking the silence.

  “Sire, Lord Heikan is an honourable man who’s allegiance to the crown is unquestionable, there must be a very good reason why he did not show.” added Zumal the wizard.

  King Arun then asked Zumal if Ganasis was awake and if he could join them for the meeting. Zumal turned and went to find out,

  “I will go and see.” he added as he walked from the tent only to be met at the door by Lord Heikan who burst into the room with a look of urgency and anguish about him.

  Lord Tanaga stiffened his posture and stared coldly at Heikan who hurriedly walked over to the King and then dropped to his knees before him.

  “Sire, I am at your mercy, I humbly beg your forgiveness, I have failed in my duty.”

  “What happened to you? We were butchered.” Tanaga snapped.

  “No matter how hard we tried, we could not gain the speed of foot to get us through the hills and mud.” replied Heikan still with his head bowed.

  King Arun reached out and placed a hand on Heikan’s shoulder, the King was lost for words at Heikan’s show of regret, Lord Tanaga also found his anger disappearing at the sight of his brave fellow Lord hunched over, Tanaga rose from his seat sighing in pain as he did so and placed to hands under Heikan’s arms to lift him.

  “You did what you could my friend.” Tanaga whispered as he lifted him.

  “Damn mud! We failed you because of damn mud.” Heikan replied as he lifted his head to look at Tanaga and then scowled while noticing his wounds.

  Lord Tanaga embraced Heikan in a show of friendship until Heikan broke free and turned back towards the King.

  “Sire if the council feels that my actions have brought shame on the house of Heikan then I will stand down so that my son Kraal can take my place.” Heikan said sounding as if he was ch
oking on his words.

  “Lord Heikan, no one on this council is more loyal than you, you have acted with honour and courage, no one doubts you when you say it was not possible to reach the battle, you are a Lord of Zachania and we are blessed and proud that you stand amongst us.” replied the King as he got to his feet and spoke sternly.

  “As always I am your servant my liege.” replied Heikan now sounding more proud.

  “The house of Heikan’s honour and loyalty are true to the crown.” replied King Arun.

  “Thank you sire, may I ask that you send me into battle tomorrow so I can redeem the wrong I have done to Lord Tanaga and his courageous warriors.” replied Heikan looking down at Tanaga emphasizing he was wounded.

  “Lord Heikan, there is no redemption needed, I do not want your men at the front line at the moment.”

  “What is our plan for tomorrow sire?” asked Lord Tanaga.

  “We hold our lines, I want our archers ready, the Empire will find it difficult to advance in this mud.” answered Arun which did not go down well with the other Lords who sighed at the thought of returning to the same tactics.

  Eight days had now passed since Talon had left the battlefield, the Empire had been relentless in their attacks, for the last two days since Heikan’s failed attack, the Empire had sent thousands of soldiers to their deaths. The armies of Lord Tanaga and Lord Krazmos had suffered devastating casualties as the fighting intensified. When King Arun sat for his evening meeting he could see that morale amongst the Lords had hit rock bottom.

  “Arun we will not be able to hold the line for another day, my men are exhausted, I am down to twenty thousand warriors.” Tanaga sighed with his voice full of despair.

  King Arun, himself exhausted struggled to reply, he looked around the room at his Lords and noticed the defeated look upon their faces.

  “Then it is time.” he sighed quietly

  “Sire we must accept the reality that we are on the brink of defeat, maybe it is time to pull our defences back to Death Valley, falling back to Zachania may soon be our only option.” added Zumal

  “I do not accept that option Zumal!” snapped Tanaga.

  “Somewhere there is another option.” he added wearily.

  Lord Heikan then rose to his feet.

  “Sire my army is still strong, we ache for battle, let us fight tomorrow.” he replied

  King Arun looked across at his Lord, the King thought for a moment as he stroked his moustache and then ran a hand over the weeks stubble round his jaw, then just as he was about to answer he was distracted by Ganasis now awake from his two day rest entering the tent who looking full of energy.

  “Ganasis!” King Arun snapped pleasantly surprised.

  “What has been happening?” asked the wizard as he took his seat next to the King.

  “Well” he added after looking at the blank expressions on the Lords faces.

  “Surely you are not lost for words.” he snapped looking at Lord Heikan.

  “Ganasis” then came a voice from the other side of the room, Ganasis turned to see it was from his fellow wizard Zumal.

  “The news is grave my friend, the King’s army, Lords Tanaga and Krazmos army are severely weakened, all we have intact is Lord Heikan’s men.” added Zumal looking distraught.

  Ganasis looked coldly at Zumal and then changed his stare at the King who in turn gave Ganasis a modest nod of his head as if he was ashamed of the truth, Ganasis then looked around the table at all the Lords faces, the old wizard clenched his fists as his face became red with anger at their quiet demeanour and lack of will, Ganasis gritted his teeth as rose to his feet.

  “Rise your heads, you are Lords of the royal Zachanian council, speak! And act like leaders…..the morale I see here grieves me…..I give you a winning position before I rested and now I awake to find you acting like women and children with your heads bowed like you are ashamed…….by the gods you are warriors, all of you, Zachanian warriors, where has your Zachanian backbone gone.” he shouted.

  Again there was nothing but silence so Ganasis enraged grabbed hold of Lord Tanaga’s head and lifted it up and then pulled him to his feet, Ganasis then went to each Lord and pulled them also to their feet screaming at them.

  “STAND!”

  “GET TO YOUR FEET; I WANT TO SEE PRIDE IN THIS ROOM!”

  “Where has your honour gone? So you have been in a fight, you are up against a strong opponent, that is no excuse to act like weeping children.”

  “GANASIS!… you go too far” snapped Lord Tanaga now feeling insulted.

  “Hold your tongue…this is my time to speak, you can speak when I have finished.” replied Ganasis turning quickly to Tanaga and looking at him sternly before walking around the room and looking at each Lord.

  “I look at you all and I feel ashamed, I can remember when I was with Apollo, we fought harder when all was lost. Outnumbered one hundred to one yet the warriors sang as they went into a hopeless battle… we held our Zachanian heads up high and proudly sung Zachanian songs with honour……..so you have had a taste of defeat…so what!…losing a battle is not something to be ashamed of. Defeat is not a sin, but to lower your head and lose your spirit and accept defeat, that is not what Zachanian’s do, we dishonour all those who went before us… I will not stand here and let you shame your men out there in the dark, I did not come here to run back to Zachania at the first taste of blood………..so the odds are stacked against us….good!…then this is the ideal time where we dig our heels in the mud, we sharpen our swords and we refuse to take another backward step, now is the time to show our resolve, now is the time to show our courage and will to fight, and now is the ideal time to avenge our ancestors…..HEIKAN!…..you say your army is ready”

  “Yes Ganasis and we ache to fight!” snapped Heikan full of Zachanian resolve.

  “Good….GOOD!….then ready your Zachanian warriors, tell them of their importance, tell them to show the Empire how Zachanian’s fight! Let the history books say that at dawn tomorrow we went onto the battlefield singing death or victory, now who is with me, who is a Zachanian!” Ganasis shouted

  The room suddenly burst into cheers as Ganasis did not wait for an answer and just made his exitwaith a spring in his step and the poise of someone determined, the Lords just looked each other and smiled as they saw the new found sparkle in their eyes from the speech Ganasis had just made.

  “Look at us now, Ganasis has shown us how to be men again, let us swear that we will never again lower our heads and speak of defeat at another meeting.” said King Arun sternly.

  “No more plans…no more trying to outwit this cunning enemy…..from now on we just fight... We just attack and we kill.” the King added as he pulled his sword and raised it into the air, Lord Heikan joined him and moments later the other Lords all did the same.

  “HONOUR, REVENGE, AND ZACHANIA!” the King shouted.

  “AND VICTORY!” added Heikan.

  Fires were burning high behind the Empire’s front line as the men warmed their drinks and cooked their supplies but morale was also low amongst Imperial soldiers, they had entered this valley eight days ago with nearly one million soldiers but were now down to two hundred thousand weary and injured men.

  General Krustov having witnessed the past eight days was feeling sickened and disgusted by this battle. This was not how he wanted to fight, this was being witness to massacre on both sides, there were no great military plans, no acts of genius or heroism, just an order from Grarlin for the men to march to their deaths with the hope they kill a few Zachanian’s before they died.

  “This is not war….this is no place for a General.” Krustov whispered to himself as he sat warming himself besides a fire only to snap from his thoughts by Grarlin walking towards him.

  “Krustov! Where have you been?” shouted the evil wizard as he got closer.

  “I have been thinking your highness and I wanted to mix with the men.” replied Krustov as he pulled himself to his feet.

 
; “What about?”

  “Battle.” answered Krustov.

  “Leave the thinking to me Krustov.”

  “Yes your highness.”

  “My Degrain’s will arrive tomorrow, at dawn I want you to attack the Zachanian’s with every man we have.”

  “You want a full frontal assault your highness.” Krustov replied trying to hide his anger.

  “I want the Zachanian’s weakened and tired by the time my Degrain arrive, then we will destroy them once and for all.”

  “Yes your highness.” Krustov replied lowing his head “destroy them once and for all, but at what cost.” Krustov thought silently to himself.

  As usual the night passed very slowly for both armies, men on both sides struggled to rest as they knew what lay ahead for them when morning broke, occasionally the silence was interrupted by the screams of wounded men or the sound of the occasional alert where men’s minds played games with them making them see movement upon the battlefield. But this night in particular seemed more stressful than the rest, there was a scary feeling that tomorrow would be the last day of battle, a feeling of relief, fear and terror all mixed into one.

  King Arun stared into the nights sky for most of the night as thought of tomorrows battle over and over again in his mind, just before he fell into sleep he told himself that tomorrow he would join the fighting, it was his time to stand shoulder to shoulder with his men and fight as a King should.

  When morning came and the sun rose over the hills to take away the nights chill, King Arun was already awake and full of optimism, the King made his way to the Zachanian front line where he saw Lord Heikan shouting orders to his men, Arun looked at his Lord and thought that he had never seen him look happier. Heikan saw the King approach and walked over to him.

  “I smell victory.” Heikan boasted proudly as he sniffed the air loudly.

  “Tonight we rejoice Lord Heikan.” Arun replied confidently as he tapped the Lord on the shoulder and then gazed out onto the valley.

  “We are ready.” Ganasis announced as he joined them.

  King Arun pulled Ganasis to one side and then whispered to him.