Age of Azmoq_The Valantian Imperium

by Rajamayyoor Sharma

  He took the tall general around his secret village Doyus, named after the god of their forests, Doyuncad. The name was also secret to most of the world. As they moved around, the general started to ask Dag about the alliance.

  “You are not satisfied with the Valantian Imperium,” started Zastraax, in his low rumbling voice. His mask did not muffle his voice even one bit.

  “In fact, from what I understand Dag, the Council has wronged you many times for over a hundred years. Tricking you out of your lands, dishonoring your predecessors. Despite all this, you will never be able to take the Imperium on, due to its size and power.

  But if you join the revolution….”

  Dag stopped him. They were standing in front of the temple of Doyuncad, the only large structure in the entire Doyus village, which was otherwise mostly tree dwellings and small huts. The Yerins did not see the need to build houses any larger than the bed that they slept in.

  “I cannot lie in front of our sacred temple. I have provided you with the hospitality of this village as you are a man who is honored by your followers. But I do not see us working together. You took the trouble for no reason.”

  Zastraax said, in a jovial tone. “Well, irrespective of the outcome, the journey was worth it. How else could I meet the great Dag Heyat up close.”

  Dag was unmoved. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

  Zastraax shrugged. “It isn’t flattery if it is true. But maybe near this sacred place, I can get an honest answer to a question.

  Why do you not want to join us?

  Our cause is worthy, the Yerin objective is allied with ours. I sense that Yerins aren’t too worried about facing tough odds. Then, why?”

  Dag replied, “General. The problem is not our goal, and certainly not the odds. It is you. I can’t trust a man, whose face I cannot see.”

  The general turned to Dag, facing him. The mask was complete, but it allowed for a person to see the man’s eyes. Dag looked straight into those eyes. There was a fire in them that he had seen in select men. Dag felt doubt over his assessment of the general’s trustworthiness when he saw those eyes.

  The general bent down to Dag’s eye level, slowly. “There are things that I can do and there are things I can’t. Removing this mask is one of the things I can’t. If that loses me the alliance with Yerins, so be it. But before I return, let me ask you this. Is there anything that I can do, to make you trust me?”

  Dag knew an easy way. But he doubted the general of such a large army would agree. Dag challenged him to trial by combat.

  The general grinned. “Only on one condition.”

  Dag asked, “What?”

  “While you can aim to kill, I don’t need to maim you. So if I can show with certainty that there is a kill shot possible, the match is over.”

  Dag smiled. “Sure. If you can do that, you would have gained my respect anyway.”

  Everyone moved to the combat arena. A square bit of flat land completely surrounded by the trees, beside the Doyuncad temple. Dag entered the arena with Buuzmeq. The general entered without a weapon. Dag was angry.

  “General, if it wasn’t for your position, I would have killed you right here for the insult. Please enter with your weapon. I have heard it is the reason for your strength.”

  The general seemed nonchalant. “I meant no disrespect. I had left my weapon behind before I came here, not expecting a fight. So if you could lend me a sword, I would be grateful.”

  Dag motioned the blacksmith to get their best sword. He returned with a choice of the heaviest, lightest, smallest and largest swords in the armory. The general chose the lightest of the swords, a swift short sword, which he wielded singlehandedly.

  The general stood there, seeming quite relaxed. Even the sword he had chosen hung loosely is his hand. Dag waited for the general to make his move. The general continued to just stand, relaxed. Dag suddenly attacked, getting impatient. He held Buuzmeq in the center, allowing him better defensive ability at the cost of striking power.

  He slashed the general cautiously with the mighty axe across the middle, checking for his response. The general did not change stance or move a muscle till the last second, when he moved his arm to block the attack, and caught the Buuzmeq by its blade, mid slash. Everyone was stunned. No one was strong enough to lift the weapon, let alone block it with one hand. The general then proceeded to yank the 100-kilo axe right out of Dag’s hand, and point his small sword he had right to Dag’s throat. The entire crowd was speechless. Dag had been disarmed in less than half a minute.

  The general then said, with some severity. “Don’t play around with me, Dag. You may have doubts about me, but if you fight like this, I will start to doubt if you and the Yerins are worth my effort.” He then threw the axe back.

  Dag stepped back, looked down to his axe, and back to the general, without any expression. He then proceeded to remove his arm and leg bracers along with a large hip belt that he wore. As he threw them aside, they dropped with a loud clang, making the general straighten his head.

  “Seems like you wear at least 50 kilos of weight daily,” said the general, sounding impressed. “Now you have piqued my interest. Come at me, when you are ready.”

  Dag lifted the axe from its end, with both hands. He was all business now. He then rushed the general, with his speed much higher, giving the general little time to react. He swung the axe at incredible speed, attacking the general’s head, which he blocked with his forearm, no longer attempting to catch it. As soon as the attack was blocked, Dag swung it around and attempted to slash him, which again he blocked with his other arm, but only just. Dag repeatedly slashed the general, from different angles, at such speeds that the general was on his back foot, only being able to defend and not counter.

  With his latest slash on the general’s left, which Zastraax blocked, instead of trying again, he pressed against the general’s left forearm. The general withstood the pressure with one hand, but his forearm was folding back due to it. The axe was close to the general’s head. He dropped his sword, which was in his left, so that he could catch with his right, and attack Dag, to force Dag to switch back to defense. But the moment he dropped the sword, Dag turned his blade so that it slid up towards the general’s head, forcing the general to abandon the sword and use his right hand to catch it.

  At the same moment, Dag let go of the Buuzmeq, pivoted on his front leg and side kicked the general in the lower ribs, making him stumble back. In a flash, before the general could recover, he caught his axe, pulled it back, yanking it out of the general’s grip, and thrust it forward again, directly at the same spot as his kick. It hit the general right around where his kidneys were, making a cracking sound. The revolution’s envoy was up in arms. They had never seen the general hurt. Dag didn’t move.

  The general spoke, although with a certain wheeze, like he was struggling for breath, but in a jovial tone. “I did not expect that, Dag… impressive… no one has ever managed to hit me.”

  With that, the general moved, with such speed and ferocity that Dag didn’t have time to react. He turned, pivoting on his right foot, pushing Buuzmeq aside, reached out to grab the Buuzmeq’s handle with his right, held it and pushed Dag with his back and left hand, relieving him of the weapon. He then swung the axe with just one hand right up to Dag’s head. Where he stopped. “Be glad I honored our agreement,” he said and dropped the weapon.

  Dag smiled. “I didn’t think the great general Zastraax would get perturbed by a mild jab.”

  The general laughed. The revolution’s envoy looked stunned. They had never heard the general laugh.

  Zastraax replied, “Touché” and grabbed Dag by his hand. He had finally found a worthy warrior. Dag was ideal candidate for him, in case the revolution didn’t succeed right away.

  The pact was sealed. Yerins would fight for the revolution.

  Under Dag and with Zastraax’s reinforcement, the Yerins became feared in the battlefield. They won many battles around their terr
itories and contributed significantly to revolution’s cause.

  Then came the battle of the Bloody River. The battle that the revolution finally won, but consequences of which made them loose the war. Here too, the Yerins made their mark. The Valantian Imperium decided to put up one of their best divisions to counter them, the Mastheads. This division consisted primarily of over 1000 elephants, each armored and loaded with arrows and other projectiles. This division identified the Yerin forces and charged at them. With the help of Zastraax’s advance guard, the Yerins were warned as the Mastheads approached. Dag ordered the Yerins to form behind him and wait for his cue.

  As the Masthead division approached, Dag Heyat rushed ahead of the Yerins on his horse, armed only with Buuzmeq. As soon as he was near the Masthead division, he faced off against the first of the feared division, the elephant identified by its white color and its bloodied tusks, Rudraant.

  Rudraant had gained fame for having killed 200 horsemen on its own so far in this battle. It was one of the strongest elephants in the division. It was completely armored, with steel spikes on its tusks and trunk. Its rider wielded a massive whip to take out any spear/arrow attacks on Rudraant. The whip also ripped through anyone who tried to attack Rudraant from the sides. This beast and its rider were expected to give Dag Heyat some fight.

  But all those expecting a fierce fight were sorely disappointed. All they got was the proof of Dag Heyat’s fearsome strength. Dag Heyat jumped right before his horse got in range of the whip, 10 feet from Rudraant, up in the air, and landed a skull splitting blow with the Buuzmeq on Rudraant’s head. The axe smashed through the armor and skull in an instant. The brawl was over before it began—Rudraant was dead the moment the axe struck. Before its rider could react, Dag Heyat stepped on Rudraant’s head, pivoted around his axe, swung it, cleaving the rider into two, in one seamless move.

  The Yerins cheered for their leader. The Ozek zipped ahead, charging at the remaining elephants. The Ozek consisted of the top 30 warriors of the tribe, and was made up of three groups. The Speed core with the 10 of the tribe’s fastest warriors, Offense core with ten warriors who were best at offense and the Defensive core with 10 warriors who were best at defense. A combination of these, one warrior of each type, formed 10 groups and each group took on an elephant. They were amazingly well coordinated in offense, defense and maneuverability, bringing down one elephant at a time. They slowly moved through the division, cutting through the beasts.

  The Yerin army soon followed, attacking the beasts and the accompanying infantry. Here the first Yerin blood was spilt. The elephants were able to deal a lot of damage to the common Yerin soldier. It took up to 50 soldiers to bring an elephant down, given its armor and rider’s skill. They had to attack continuously, getting right under the elephant before they could bring it down. But with the Ozek and Dag taking down the center of the division, the soldiers were making good progress along the flanks.

  Dag was wreaking havoc all on his own. He jumped from Rudraant’s head to the nearest elephant charging at him, repeated the process of smashing through its skull and moved on. After about four elephants, the elephants got wiser and started moving back instead of charging at Dag. Dag soon jumped back onto his horse, and rushed the closest elephant. Some elephants then changed tact, moving closer from the side while the ones in front of Dag moved back. The closer ones tried to attack with their trunks, the riders with their whips.

  It didn’t matter what tactic they employed, Dag was too strong and too fast for them. He darted around the elephants, blocking the attacks with the Buuzmeq. He then jumped to his right, landing right in front of one of the elephants charging him from the side. Then, he rotated and moved forward, swinging the Buuzmeq, cutting through the elephant’s legs and its body armor, bringing it down. And then he immediately jumped back on his horse before the elephants could surround him. He was invincible. The Ozek were also proceeding with minimal injuries.

  This battle seemed as good as over. The Yerins were going to destroy the Masthead division.

  Chapter 19: The beast brothers

  Battles are volatile environments.

  Even at the brink of defeat, one can win. The elation of victory can suddenly turn into the fear of imminent destruction. The fierce Yerin tribe had not experienced such fear under Dag Heyat, as usually they were the enemy of legendary might, they were the ones that destroyed their opponents. But they were about to experience something new on the battlefield.

  After having cut through most of the Masthead division in a matter of minutes with Dag leading the charge, Yerin warriors were sure of victory.

  But then the banner with the sign of the “Beast Brothers” rode into their battlefield. These were a trio from the Final 100, with all three ranking in the top 50. They were known to work exceptionally well with their rides, the “beasts,” and with each other. Hence the moniker “Beast brothers,” despite there being no fraternal relationship between either their rides or the warriors.

  All the riders and the beasts had Azmoqian armor and weapons. Their legend had grown during the Battle of the Bloody River, which was why they were chosen by the Imperium to attack the Yerins. They were the first warriors from the Final 100 that the Yerins had faced so far. The Yerins had no Intel from the General on these opponents. No one had. They had destroyed every opponent they had faced so far. All that was known was the names of the beasts, and what type of animals the first two were.

  Guarding the flanks of the Yerins were the famous Cekic Ortaq or “Brothers of the Hammer.” These five brothers were second in fame only to Dag, being known through the burning plains as the five sounds of death. Their claim to fame, as evident from their name, were their hammers. The Cekic Ortaq were extremely effective in guarding the Yerin flanks as they could move extremely quickly across their army and with their hammers inflicting great damage on multiple opponents—they would pound through the incoming attack with such brutality that the enemy would inevitably slow down their attack, giving the Yerins enough time to reorient.

  With the banner of the beast brothers in sight, the signature metallic clank of five hammers warned Yerin of some danger. With Dag at the center of the battle with the Mastheads, the Cekic were the best bet to hold the beasts at bay till Yerins could change their battle formations to face them.

  The eldest of the Cekic Ortaq, Boyuk and the youngest, Kicik started the attack taking on the foremost rider, while the other three formed a triangle behind them to deal a second blow to whoever took the first hit from Boyuk and Kicik and could still move. At the front of the beasts was a massive black horse, holding up the banner. The horse, known in the battlefield as Keshin, was over eight feet tall, clad in light armor, which covered its entire body.

  Its rider seemed as tall as Dag, if not taller. Despite their size, the rider and the horse were surprisingly fast. Instead of taking on Boyuk and Kicik, the rider just planted their banner, sped up and jumped over nine feet in the air and rode straight for the Yerin formations. The speed of its movement was astounding—the massive horse was gone before any of the five had a chance to move.

  Before the Cekic Ortaq had a chance to regroup and for one of them to pursue Keshin and its rider, they were face to face with the second beast, Gajanakra, a massive rhino and its rider, the hammer wielding Ukko. Ukko let the Cekic and the Yerins remember what fear was, for the first time in years.

  Gajanakra charged at Boyuk and impaled him on its horn as he swung at Ukko. Ukko, just continued to sit on the massive rhino’s back, not even flinching from Boyuk’s hammer swing. Before he could complete the swing, the impaled Boyuk was flung aside from his skewered position by the beast.

  Without stopping, Gajanakra charged ahead and pinned down the second of the Cekic Ortaq, Garmik, and crushed him. The difference in power was so much that Garmik, who was able to hit the beast just above the base of the horn with his hammer before he was crushed, didn’t even faze the massive rhino. It was almost as if Gajanakra had absorbed the energ
y of the blow. The Cekic Ortaq had never been seriously injured for the last 15 years, and suddenly two of them were dead in under a minute.

  The remaining three brothers, quickly surrounded Ukko. Ukko, without dismounting, slowly started to turn around, sizing up his three opponents. Kicik, standing behind Ukko, was painfully aware of their predicament. He had seen the first two beasts in action. Famed as a key strategist of the Yerins, he saw what strengths they possessed. It was impossible for the three of them to defeat the second beast. They needed Dag and the Ozek. He could also sense that the shadow of the third of the beast brothers was approaching them. If Ukko was this strong, they did not have a chance against the third, which, based on its shadow, seemed much larger than the other two. They had to retreat.

  The Yerins were rapidly reforming, but they would have to deal with Keshin and its rider, Azrial before they could reach the Cekic. Kicik, shouted to his brothers. “Retreat brothers, we need to... Ugggg.”

  He was almost torn into two by an invisible force. This was the power of the third rider, the one who rode Zilonis, the largest of the three beasts.

  Kicik, as he fell, saw the third beast and its rider. As the last breath escaped his torn body, he shouted. “Habladexteds….”

  The last two brothers heeded Kicik’s dying advice. Not giving into their rage and need for revenge, they quickly turned their horses and rushed towards Dag and the rest of the Yerins. Everyone needed to work together if they were to have a chance to defeat the beasts. They knew something that Kicik had discovered in the last seconds of his life.

  They raced to where Azrial was creating havoc, outpacing the rhino and the third beast. Azrial and Keshin were racing up and down the sides of the Yerin ranks, and before anyone could land a blow, slashing soldiers with his serrated spear. He seemed to disappear for fractions of a second as soon as a weapon came close to touching him. He seemed to be blindingly fast in his defense and offense. As soon as the crimson eyed Azrial, saw the two brothers rush towards the Yerin, he charged towards them to stop them.