by Y. R. Shin
But of course, that outrageous height was how they never fell to all the tumult over the years. That was why it was considered impregnable. Jacalrin’s mood took a turn.
Standing right across from him, a knight reported to Paseid. “Sir, the midsection of the march has completely entered the valley. Another one of the enemy’s beacons just lit up, sir.”
It seemed like they’d noticed the infiltrators and were getting ready for defense. As he gave his report, another beacon blazed.
“Hold up your shields.” As soon as Paseid finished his order, the short, alarming sound of a bugle boomed across the valley. “To defense formation!”
The soldiers immediately followed the order without being flustered, for they had already been warned. Jacalrin changed his grip on the heavy shield and started to become more alert, though lazily.
Though they probably didn’t have that many soldiers to come running out, Olzore hid in the shell of the fort and shot arrows at their enemy, as they had done throughout history. Jacalrin evaded the arrows showering down; once he entered the valley, he lost even the slight sense of danger he had been holding on to.
“So, we have to march for hours like this, huh…”
When he was about to start complaining, a knight cut him off with a report. “Sir, the midsection is slowing down due to the narrowing road.”
“No need to cause a havoc by hurrying. Follow the speed of those in front of us.”
All in the rear, slow! Slow down!
All the ivory horns blowing, the signal flags swishing, and the various gestures from various knights made quite an entertaining sight.
By the time Jacalrin got used to the low temperature inside the valley, the sky started to occasionally spit fire. They were fire arrows. Looking up with disapproval, Jacalrin shouted at Paseid, “The supply unit is pulling the gunpowder carriages, sir. I’ll be right back after checking that area.”
Paseid followed Jacalrin with his eyes as Jacalrin increased his speed and galloped into the valley. He then carefully scrutinized the area. Paseid scrunched up his nose at the smell of the fire arrows. Then he raised his eyes and glared at the two lit beacons, irritated.
There were three things that irritated him.
First, the smoke from those beacons would reach Rovantis’s camp. But there were only two beacons. If they could not relay the specific details by sending a messenger, the main force could not move, either, so it wasn’t something to worry too much about at the present moment.
Second, even though this was not an intense battle, only lighting the second stage alarm was as arrogant as the height of the valley.
Third, their attack was suspiciously weak.
A considerable amount of time had passed since the echoes of shouts, the footsteps of the soldiers, the smell of oil and of something burning had covered the insides of the valley. And yet, this was a far weaker response than what he had expected to encounter.
Paseid had even taken the enemy throwing stones with catapults into consideration as a worst-case scenario. Even if they assumed that the Rarkian army had no intentions of taking the fort, they were still passing their range of influence. And this was it?
Evinbur was in charge of commanding the front, and the enemy’s attack was negligible. If they marched to the end of the valley, there would barely be any damage on the Rarkians’ side. Yet, he could not shake off the odd, uncomfortable feeling. With that eerie feeling, Paseid entered the valley under the knights’ protection, away from the falling arrows.
After moving along the winding, rocky trail, Paseid suddenly realized there was an odd vibration. He pulled on the reins to stop Rotsa and closely studied the walls and the floor of the valley.
What is this?
The strange vibration did not originate from the Rarkian army. A small piece of rock rolled down, flew over his head, then bounced off on his shield.
A sudden gush of dirt followed the rock, and Paseid raised his eyes to the sky. The arrows flying across it were nowhere to be found, and there was only clear void without even a single cloud.
Neiiiigh!
The other knights’ horses abruptly stomped on the ground.
He could still feel the ground vibrating. It was getting clearer.
Paseid’s black eyes slid down from the sky to the tip of the fort. A chill ran down his spine.
His lips opened at long last. “Order Sir Chesa to return to his post.”
A knight who heard his order hastily galloped to the midsection of the cavalcade.
And then.
Creaaaaaak.
All the Rarkians froze where they were.
A moment of silence passed as the eerie valley swallowed all the screams and moans.
Creaaaaak.
It’s opening.
Boom.
Paseid instinctually threw aside his shield and drew his sword, Rionac. The gates of Olzore that should not have opened were now opening.
“All in the rear, lower your shields,” Paseid ordered in a low voice.
“Sir?”
His eyes were still fixed on the top of the valley. “They’re coming.”
He spoke with certainty. Almost simultaneously, thousands of enemy soldiers started to pour out of the massive gates with a thundering roar.
A great sound of baaaang! resounded like thunder. At the same time, a fire burst out somewhere in the middle of the Rarkian cavalcade.
Screams and shouts burst out to the sky.
Chapter Eighteen
One, two, three…
Innumerable soldiers started to come down the steep hill. The shouts and footsteps of Olzore’s soldiers echoed threateningly.
Standing at the bottom of the valley and looking up at the grand sight, Reuyen sank into the sick feeling, like she was sitting on a clock hand retrogressing.
Yes, it looked just like this.
Three years. She’d drunk the air here for the last three years of her life.
The queen took the bottom of the valley and the entrance on the hill and looked up at the enemy’s fort, and the one on the fort’s throne dared to look down at her.
When the enemies bored of looking at the same sight and opened the tightly closed gates, thousands of soldiers poured out just like that.
Guitella was truly a cunning king of the fort.
He stopped the queen’s attack and broke her defense by utilizing his geographical advantage. The day those gates opened was the day the entrance on the hill and the outskirts of the valley flooded with blood in the blink of an eye.
Until she set foot in this place, the queen had not stopped even once. Her competitive nature, blind resolution, and ambition were backed up by her remarkable decision-making skills and her innate talent. So, she walked on the carpet of victory drenched in blood.
Until she stood before this great Olzore, she was an arrogant woman who knew not of defeat.
But that arrogance shattered at last.
The enemy’s walls wore the God-given geography as their armor and mocked Rarke, and the stones, boiling oil, and steel arrows flying from the skies resulted in ever-growing mounds of Rarkian corpses. The queen stood atop the mountain of the dead rising as high as the valley and repeated to herself.
“This is not a defeat, for this was a small sacrifice for the greater good. Once we climb that place, all the sacrificed of Rarke will find their meaning.”
The queen raged, hated, resented, and perhaps came to love Olzore at last. She yearned for the mighty sight as unattainable as the sky.
“If I cannot climb that, what use is all the rich lands of the south?”
Looking up at the silver fort touching the blue sky, she always imagined the grand sight looking down from there in turn. The vision of looking down at all of Morgana atop that place. She filled herself with the selfish determination to undergo anything and everything for that vision.
“You can do whatever you’d like, Your Highness. I will make it so, and I will do so.”
So.<
br />
“We’ll tear down the valley, Peijak.”
The queen made a decision with inevitable sacrifices from Rarke.
“We have set aside two years for the operation, Your Highness.”
While the furtive operation progressed, bodies piled higher and higher.
“It will be done in half a year.”
All those sacrifices and the long wait were for the sweet, sweet fruit to come after the pain.
“It will be finished in three months, Your Highness.”
Then.
“I have been ordered to bring Queen Swan Sekalrid Rarkalia back to the palace, Your Majesty,” said the messenger. “By force, if need be.”
The letter with the red wolf seal on it was thrown in front of her.
“Duke regent’s orders.”
Her trusted husband had betrayed her.
So, she broke down.
Booooo—
The sound of the bugle awakened her. With her back to the icy wind of the valley caressing her cheek, Reuyen looked down at the wolf brassard wrapped around her left arm.
The sigil of a wolf.
She did not resent Brionake, but recalling it was devastating.
She realized her own madness in the face of death. She regretted it. Yet, even so, there was something smeared on her heart like viscid sap. The last deed she had not been able to finish because she was bitten to death by a wolf.
Her past was stirred by the valley’s wind. The regrets and the glory from that era, the madness from that time, all came back and cried like a bird fallen out of its nest.
But a long time had passed since then. The fort wearing the armor of the weight of time in layers like strata had become that much harder and looked down upon them with even greater arrogance. Those who followed the queen had all vanished into dirt, and the queen sitting on the footless throne shut her eyes and ears.
The voice repeating by her ear was the voice of the dead that she could never hear again.
I can’t even imagine my dear sister losing.
Yes, I once believed so as well. But defeat was something as inevitable as death. You were probably disappointed in me for such defeat.
All the advisors were dead, and the queen was now alone, separated by time.
The crownless queen looked up at the fort and shut her lips with crumpled sadness.
You will climb in the end.
You must be disappointed once again at your sister looking up at that sky.
Peijak.
The scene in the valley broke with the footsteps of the enemy. Reuyen snapped back to reality and grabbed Den’s mane as he stepped backward. The soldiers started to get flustered, and groans and confusion broke out sporadically.
“How can this be?” Evinbur lamented.
The response of the enemy was at a speed that made no logical sense. Their sending out armed soldiers who were that prepared meant that they had started preparing five or six hours in advance. It wouldn’t be nonsensical to assume that there was a leakage of information. The shouts and stomps of the soldiers echoed through the valley incessantly.
They continued to pour out. Their speed was not very threatening because they were descending a steep hill, but their numbers were—well, they were entirely impossible unless they brought out every single soldier in the fort.
But that was not what was important right now. A forlorn, sunken voice came from between Reuyen’s lips. “Order the front and rear to prepare for battle, sir.”
Evinbur’s deep eyes looked straight at the side of Reuyen’s face. But Reuyen wasn’t looking at him anymore. She shouted at those who were still frozen.
“If they prepared, knowing that we were coming, we must take an ambush at the exit of the valley into consideration as well. It would not even take half an hour for them to come down the hill from the fort to set foot on the field, sir.”
“Dame Detua.”
“Also, we must first and foremost move the infantry to a place where they can take cover through that trail there and watch the rear, sir.”
The eyes of the knights and soldiers following Evinbur all simultaneously focused on the woman with the red wolf brassard on her left arm.
Evinbur turned around his horse in silence and glared at the rear. Paseid was at the section near the entrance on the hill, but he couldn’t not worry at a time like this when at least a couple thousand enemies had suddenly appeared.
Then.
Bang!
Flame burst into the sky with a great thundering noise. It came from somewhere in the middle of the cavalcade and blocked Evinbur’s view. Startled by the explosive sound, Reuyen yanked Den’s reins. Den raised his front legs and jumped. Had Evinbur not grabbed Den’s reins, she would have ended up in a much more embarrassing situation.
A knight opened his mouth, flustered. “The midsection of the cavalcade is where the supply unit is, sir. There must have been an issue with the gunpowder carriages.”
“Of course, it never rains, but it pours. Sir Vasar, check what the situation is in the rear immediately.”
The fire was great enough for those in the front to see clearly. Before she could even be embarrassed for being so startled, Reuyen was completely absorbed by the fire.
She had heard about the gunpowder from the travelers and merchants passing through her town, but this was the first time she ever saw it bursting into flames. She could almost feel the passage of time with her skin. Judging by the sudden smell of burning flesh, a considerable number of people must have ceased to be in a heartbeat.
Dazed for a moment, she came back to her senses and repeated once more, “We must move this instant, sir. When we do not even know what is happening!”
“If you do not wish to be further distrusted, stop acting on your impulses and wait for an order, Dame Detua.”
Evinbur cut her off without even thinking twice about it. Reuyen opened her lips to protest, but chose to remain silent upon looking at his face.
His face was already swallowed by a glum worry. Olzore’s army had appeared out of the blue, and Reuyen’s claim sounded quite convincing at the unexpected appearance of the enemy, so he couldn’t blindly advance forward, either.
Evinbur gave the order. “First, search the exit of the valley and report back.”
Two knights galloped ahead at lightning speed. Evinbur’s eyes turned back to the rear. The enemies were coming down the hill slowly but surely, causing dirt and bits of rock to crumble down.
Not long after, not-so-delightful news came.
“I cannot confirm the situation in the rear, sir. Two of the gunpowder carriages have caught on fire and exploded.”
“I will go there myself and check.”
“Sir Haldroff, Sir Chesa has ordered everyone not to approach the area until the fire is under control. Even so, that area is completely in flames right now. Additional damage may occur due to unexploded gunpowder, sir.”
“Is Sir Chesa with the supply unit?”
“I heard that he returned to the rear at Sir Calandok’s orders right before the gunpowder exploded. I think the only way right now is to wait until the fire is under control, sir.”
Evinbur tightened his grip on his sword.
Then, the pale Reuyen standing behind him pushed Den’s head in between the knight and Evinbur and blocked them.
“Sir Haldroff.”
“What insolence is this?”
“If you would, I can guide you to the rear, sir,” Reuyen calmly continued. “Estimating the distance from here to the entrance, it would take over an hour for the scout to return, sir. The most important thing right now is to inspect the enemy’s actions, sir. If a battle transpires…”
Evinbur’s eyes focused on Reuyen with question, not suspicion.
Why does this woman think and speak like a commander? Why does she not wait for the command of a commander? Such questions arose, then washed away in the crashing waves of urgent situations.
“I do not need your guidance to go throu
gh the flames, Dame Detua.”
“I know…a safe route through the front, sir.”
A short silence fell between them. But she silently looked back at Evinbur’s eyes carefully scrutinizing her.
“Is the fire under control now?”
Upon Evinbur and Reuyen’s appearance, the extremely tense Jacalrin brightened up and looked back at the valley. But the flames had only diminished by a little, not completely out yet.
“There still has been no encounter?” Evinbur asked. Jacalrin didn’t even have time to relay the situation or give his greetings. Paseid was already standing at the entrance to the valley with the knights and soldiers prepared for battle. Without waiting for his answer, Evinbur immediately ran over to Paseid.
“Sir Calandok, what has happened?”
Motionless, Paseid was sitting on Rotsa and gazing at the enemy.
Instead of pressing for an answer, Evinbur stood behind him and looked at the enemy, now at the foot of the hill. There were at least a thousand or so knights and several thousands of soldiers standing proudly.
“The command of the front,” said Paseid.
“I left Sir Basan in charge, sir. I deemed it too risky to blindly advance when we have no knowledge of how much of our operation plan the enemies know, so I ordered the men at my own discretion to stay in place…and I ordered a scout to inspect the exit of the valley. What is happening, sir?”
Paseid rubbed the hilt of Rionac instead of answering. He wanted to ask the same question.
It had been nearly half an hour since the enemy came down the hill. The gates of the fort had just closed. But the enemy did not attack. Instead, they stood in formation at the entrance on the hill and slowly but surely increased their size. The chaos on the Rarkians’ side slowly subsided as well. Thus, they were standing in an odd confrontational stance.
Why not promptly attack?
A strange sensation unpleasantly pricked Paseid’s mind with its thorns.
The actions of the enemy were not appropriate. The Rarkians were in disarray at their quick dispatch. Unless the lord of the fort was an idiot, he would not have missed this boon.