Epic Unearthed

by Thomas Turner

  Chapter XXIV

  Battling the World

  Two hours before sunrise, Aten waits at the Atlantean Great East Wall war chamber, looking over the wall. He witnesses tens of thousands of torches outside the firing range of his archers and artillery; the luminosity seems like daylight. The Sabatheans and Kyrenians ready themselves to attack. Aten orders seventy-thousand Atlantean infantrymen outside his defensive wall to fight the enemy. They march forward and run into formation. As long as the Atlanteans do not go beyond the pyramids, they are protected by the Atlantean archers and artillery. In the shadows, the torches seem to float toward the Atlantean infantry. The sun begins to peak through the mountains, and most of the Atlantean infantry think this will be their last sunrise.

  The Sabatheans march closer with their hand-held weapons, and the Atlantean archers are ordered to fire. Sixty-thousand Atlantean arrows strike the battlefield, killing thousands of Sabathean warriors. The enemy rush toward the Atlantean formation outside the gate. Warriors yell toward each other, then fight hand-to-hand. The second wave of Atlantean arrows kills enemy reinforcements, but half of Ryeland’s assault makes it through. The Sabathean and Atlantean infantry fight, brutally slaying one another. The hatred between the peninsula and continent for the past twenty-seven years is unleashed here at the gates of Atlantis.

  Overlooking the battlefield, Aten witnesses the Continental Alliance’s heavy cavalry rushing to attack the right formation of his infantry outside the gate. The Atlanteans counter fire with all their artillery. Aten orders the catapults to fire at will, killing hundreds of enemy beasts. However, some of the enemy’s light and heavy cavalry barge through the Atlantean bombardment and push toward the unknowing Atlantean infantry. Aten commands his light and heavy cavalry to counter the enemy. Close to the gate, the Atlantean infantry moves out of the way and their cavalry punches a hole through the attackers.

  Within twenty minutes, the tide of power returns to the Atlantean advantage. Aten’s heavy cavalry starts to devastate the Continental Alliance’s Army and moves outside the protection of their archers and artillery. Drawing closer to Ryeland’s trap, the Atlantean cavalry continue fighting deeper into their enemy’s ranks.

  Ryeland studies the battlefield and yells, “Fire!”

  Using artillery, the Ladoneans fire on the Atlantean counterattack and a quarter of Aten’s cavalry is destroyed within minutes. Ryeland’s tactic proves to be a devastating blow to the Atlanteans. The Ladonean artillery is out of range of the Atlantean weaponry. The maneuver is brilliant, and the remaining Atlantean heavy cavalry have to retreat back through their gate.

  Ryeland studies the battlefield, turns to Tito and Melercertis, and says, “The Atlanteans will not let that happen again. They will stay on the defensive for the duration of this campaign. We must deplete their armaments with brut force and high casualties. The next couple of days are to exhaust Aten’s artillery munitions no matter the cost.”

  Tito asks, “How can you be so sure they will not counterattack and go on the offensive?”

  Ryeland replies, “We have just defeated their cavalry, and the Atlanteans know now that people of the continent are not as injudicious as they thought. They will be second-guessing themselves every step of this campaign.”

  The Atlanteans sound the bells, telling Halotropolis to send more reinforcements and ammunition to the front. The Atlanteans’ supplies at the Great East Wall are being quickly depleted. The giant crossbow projectiles require five days to produce. Every Atlantean ammunition factory has gone into full production since the warriors of the continent arrived at their doorstep.

  Four days have passed since the initial attack; there is still no clear victor on either side. Many men from both sides are dead. The Atlanteans are retaining their enemy. However, Aten knows his attackers will not stop until Atlantis is destroyed.

  The next day, five-hundred-thousand men are sent forth from the Ladonean camp to attack one-hundred-thousand Atlanteans outside their wall. The Ladoneans use the Sabathean flag to confuse the Atlanteans and make them think there is only one empire involved in the conflict. At this point, Ryeland uses the elite Ladonean warriors, all under Tito’s command, for the next step into this conflict. Tito’s men charge at the Atlantean gate, but the Atlanteans counter and hold them back. Because Aten’s warriors are fatigued, the Ladoneans kill a great number of Atlantean infantry

  The Continental Alliance is still waiting for Nextear’s warriors to help reinforce the Great West Wall for a full-scale attack on the East. With Laptos destroying the bridges and holding at Bardia, the setbacks are putting the Mantineian Emperor behind schedule.

  The main Atlantean forces are still stationed at Masaba, Halotropolis, and the capital city. The enemy will have to take three cites to conquer the Atlantean Empire. The kings of the peninsula will not let their armies leave their walls. Daygun has to comply with his kings. The Atlantean Prince cannot deplete the cities’ defenses and allow them to be easily conquered. For now, all four Atlantean city-states believe they are safe with their fortifications, weaponry, and armies, thinking there is only one empire to fight.

  After the hardest day of fighting, the Continental Alliance starts to retire early. The Sabatheans send a messenger to Aten requesting permission to remove their dead and wounded from the battlefield. Atlantis asks to go first, because they have the medical knowledge needed to save their men. The Atlanteans are given two hours to complete the retraction, and Ryeland’s army has equal time to gather their fallen men and beasts from the battlefield. After the dead have been removed, Aten looks from a tower and sees nothing but a field of blood. The battleground is not light brown, but a dark chocolate color because of blood and dirt. The blood is so thick in the combat zone, the battleground looks as if every man, woman, and child on earth have spilled every ounce of blood at the gates of Atlantis. Aten knows that dust will no longer fly in the air as it did on the first attack from his enemy.

  During the night, Atlantean wounded warriors fill the beds of the hospital inside their mountain fortification. Screams ring throughout the mountain fortress. The physicians cannot see each patient in time to treat and save every life. Many men die because of the shortage of medical attention. Aten sounds the bells to send more physicians to the front.

  After the Atlantean Emperor leaves the beds of his injured warriors, he marches to his generals in the military chamber and says, “We are losing here. I do not know if the Ladoneans have betrayed our empire. We have no way of telling who is attacking other than the Sabatheans. My gut instinct tells me every empire on the continent is a part of this war. If Melercetis is not involved, our enemy will not be able to keep fighting. We can’t ask for any more reinforcements from our cities. If we are fighting the whole continent, we all must die here as warriors for our homeland. I am ordering every commercial ship to evacuate the peninsula.”

  The general replies, “The enemy can’t keep losing this many men. They also have politics to play within their own homeland.”

  Aten says, “There has been much hatred toward our civilization for decades. The war twenty-seven years ago was nothing compared to what we are witnessing here. Our enemy will not stop until Atlantis is destroyed. Five-hundred years ago, Edicus predicted this war. He said that the emperor of Atlantis will give his life for humanity thousands of years from now for the name of God. The manuscripts are almost in riddles and hard to understand, but I feel I am that emperor. Send a messenger to my son and tell him to take Edicus’ tablets to Edrin to be buried there. Do this in secret. If our priests find out about this, it will create havoc. I feel God is giving me the opportunity to fulfill what is in store for the future of humanity.”

  The next day at the Great East Wall, the Atlanteans have almost exhausted their giant crossbow projectiles. The generals of the Continental Alliance see the Atlantean infantry reorganizing outside their walls. To Ryeland, this is the perfect time to attack.

  The Sabatheans and Ladoneans cross the b
attlefield. Aten’s archers and artillery fire repeatedly at their attackers, killing about one-third of the soldiers advancing toward their infantry outside the Atlantean gate. Thousands of Sabatheans and Kyrenians burst through, and the Atlantean infantry surges to meet them on the battlefield. The enemy’s heavy cavalry breaks through. Aten sees that his infantry is in considerable danger and opens the gate. Every Atlantean light and heavy cavalry stationed at the Eastern defenses charge to challenge the enemy. The Atlantean archers and artillery concentrate all firepower toward the Continental Alliance’s light and heavy cavalry. However, the rain of arrows is not enough.

  Ryeland’s attack breaks through and destroys the center of the Atlanteans’ infantry outside the gate, and Aten’s men are forced to fall back. When hope seems lost, they behold the appearance of two-hundred giant rhino and three-hundred Atlantean mammoths, in a spearhead which explodes like a volcano. They charge the enemies’ heavy cavalry dead on, looking for redemption for what happened to them last time they went outside the protection of their archers. The Atlantean cavalry have been trained better and are able to make good ground. With assistance from the Atlantean archers and artillery, the Atlanteans’ beasts break through the Sabatheans’ and Ladoneans’ lines. The Atlantean warriors counterattack, and reclaim the ground they had lost within hours.

  In the middle of fighting, the Continental Alliance has trouble retreating through the corpses of their fallen comrades. Sabathean horses trip over lifeless bodies on the battlefield. Aten’s archers take advantage of their confusion. The Atlanteans’ giant crossbows fire their krample projectiles, with spikes that scatter on the battlefield, giving Aten’s infantry time to reorganize and meet the enemy.

  Ryeland rushes toward Melercertis and Tito saying, “We cannot wait any longer. The Atlanteans are becoming fatigued, and it is time to catch them completely off-guard.”

  Tito replies, “If you think what I’m thinking, I agree. We need a moral victory soon.”

  Melercertis looks at Ryeland and says, “Like I said back in my capital, I trust you. If you say it’s time, do what you must. I am losing face with our allies. If I don’t produce quickly, we will not be the dominant empire here. The only way we can save Atlantis after the confrontation is to take complete control of this war. We will retire for the day. We will ask to remove the dead from the battlefield as the next step in our military campaign.”