The Darkness of Dawn

by Braden Michael

  “I’m impressed with everyone in the army,” Vai complimented. “The way you motivated the men, the generals’ tactical and strategic prowess, and how disciplined the soldiers seem to be. It’s nice to see such competence.”

  “Our two choices are to be competent or to die.”

  I don’t doubt the competence of the army, but is it enough to win the battle? Vai pondered. She stood silently for a few seconds before speaking again.

  “Colonel… d—do you think we have a chance?”

  “Do you want my honest opinion?”

  “Please,” said Vai.

  “Yes, but it’s not a big chance,” said Auckland.

  Vai stood silent in thought. Auckland appears confident, so why am I anything but?

  “What if the scouts get captured and get word of our plans?” Vai prodded.

  “That’s a legitimate concern,” he stated plainly. “But that’s why we don’t share important plans with them.” He took a moment to look around for any potential eavesdroppers. “Everything is strictly on a need-to-know basis. And some scouts will inevitably be captured.”

  “Inevitably?” Vai asked.

  “He didn’t say it aloud, but Archard is definitely planning on it.”

  “Planning on it!?” Vai upbraided.

  “As far as the scouts are concerned, you’ll be part of the Royal Line,” Auckland explained pragmatically. “So, when captured, they’ll say as much to their captors.” He looked at Vai with a hint of admiration. “I’m impressed by the body-double plan.”

  “I, uh, thank you, Colonel,” Vai said humbly.

  “That plan alone tells me you have a good strategic mindset, and that you’re quite cunning,” he complimented. “Not to mention your choice to fight instead of sitting in your castle… It shows that you’ve got what it takes to rule.”

  “That means a lot to hear you say. Our affairs have been greatly difficult to handle recently, and it makes me have doubts,” she admitted.

  “Have faith, your Majesty. We’ll avenge Peter, and we’ll make King Hiroshi pay for his treachery.”

  Vai nodded, and Auckland walked back into the camp. She took her helm off and walked up to the edge of the ridge and sat down with her legs hanging off. She looked down at the height distance between her and the ground and cringed. The ground must be hundreds of feet below me, she thought. The fresh breeze soothed as it hit her face, drying the sweat that had been gathering in her hair. She knew taking her helm off was a poor idea, but the breeze simply felt too good. She closed her eyes and meditated indefinitely.

  “Hey, Vai.”

  Vai flinched but exhaled in relief when she saw it was only Nick standing behind her.

  “I, uh, didn’t mean to startle you,” he stammered.

  “You’re okay. Here,” she patted her hand down beside her, “why don’t you sit?”

  “Okay,” he said enthusiastically. He scurried up towards the edge and then sat down next to Vai, his legs hanging off the edge in the same fashion as hers.

  “Where’s Garrod and Tuttle?” Vai asked.

  “Back in the tent, I think.” Nick looked off the edge of the ridge, staring blankly at the orange lights that glimmered through the fog.

  “They don’t like the fresh air, huh?” Vai smiled playfully.

  Nick remained melancholic and stoic, gazing at the view. “Probably not.”

  “Something on your mind, Nicky?”

  Nick paused, seeming anxious and uncertain. “E—even if we win the battle, and that’s a big if, I’m probably gonna die.”

  Vai looked at him empathetically. What do I even say to that? If I say no to that I’d just be lying, right? His face remained mostly blank but with a hint of sadness as he continued to gaze at the view.

  “I understand, Nicky. I’m afraid too,” she said, trying to comfort him.

  “You are? But you volunteered to fight when you didn’t have to. Everyone else seems extremely calm, collected, and brave, but I can’t stop shaking.” He held out his hand, and surely enough, he was being honest.

  Vai grabbed his hand, her action immediately calming him down and soothing him. “Everyone else is even more frightened than you are. But they fight despite that, because that’s what bravery is.”

  Nick contemplated Vai’s words for a few moments before she continued.

  “You know, you remind me of one of my little brothers,” Vai told him.

  “How so?”

  “My brother, Daniel Jr., is well-liked by everybody because of his positive attitude.”

  Nick smiled sweetly. “Where is he now?”

  Vai’s smile quickly evaporated and she turned back to look at the foggy abyss. “If King Hiroshi’s letter is to be believed, he’s dead…” Her voice became stiff. “Along with the rest of my family.”

  “Oh, um,” he began to stutter, “I—I’m sorry.”

  I am too, Vai thought. “I’m looking forward to seeing Hiroshi’s head decorating a spike.”

  Nick smirked. “I’ll put it there myself.”

  Vai lightly laughed, then patted Nick on his shoulder. “Go get some rest. The sleep will calm your nerves.”

  “Sure thing.” Nick got up and scampered back into camp.

  Vai stared meekly at Robinsport for several hours before putting her helm back on and having her last meal of the night. She drank nearly a gallon of water and ate bread and turkey legs, as did the rest of the army. Once her dinner was finished, she went to her tent, where all the recruits were asleep already. When she saw Nick fast asleep, she could not help but smile. You’ll be ready for the battle, Nicky.

  She lay awake in her bed for hours, desperate to fall asleep. Instead, her mind continued to be plagued by Peter: the uncertainty of if she had killed him, or if Hiroshi had. Whatever the case, it was good for her, but she did not feel good. He raped me night after night and beat me because I could not bear his children, so why do I feel so damn guilty!? Vai never thought he was a worthy husband, but Peter was still her husband: she had poisoned him, and that decision could have horrible ramifications she never considered. She had told herself that the world would be better off without Peter, but she and the country were in worse shape than ever. Immediately after my husband dies, the Rocklands fight a war on two fronts. Killing him didn’t defend a damn thing.

  The next morning, right at the crack of dawn, shouts roared throughout the camp, waking up the entire army. Vai rubbed her eyes, seeming unsure of what exactly was happening, when Auckland ran into the tent and shouted a command at the soldiers inside.

  “Wake up! We march in five minutes!”

  Without hesitation, the entire tent scrambled out of their beds and onto their feet, putting their armor on quickly while Vai lagged. Garrod and Tuttle quickly went to help the moment their armor was on. She thanked them, then quickly grabbed her bow quivers. She had no time to think as the archers quickly filed out of the tent before her while Nick, Garrod, and Tuttle waited for her to finish getting ready before they swiftly exited the tent.

  A faint cloud of dirt swept into Vai’s face from the thousands of footsteps in the immediate area. A sea of men filed out of the tents and shouts continued to echo from nearby and farther away. She could not even begin to comprehend the magnitude of the camp, given how far from her the shouts felt. And to think, this army is a third the size of the enemy.

  “Line up in four columns! Just as we drilled before!” Auckland bellowed through a cone while riding on horseback.

  Before Vai could think, hundreds of men within ten feet of her rushed into formation, shouting at one another. She froze, unsure of where to go before Nick grabbed her by the shoulders and guided her to a row that included Tuttle and Garrod. The men were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, in front of and behind their respective rows within arm’s distance.

  Auckland began to trot towards the front of the formation. “On my command, forward march! Follow the men in front of you and lead the men behind you! Maintain the pace no matter what!�
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  The hoofbeats of Auckland’s horse clattered more quietly the farther away he trotted. Shouts directed at the Infantry and Cavalry Regiments were faint, echoing from below the ridge. Just as the dirt cloud began to settle back on the ground, Auckland’s voice echoed from far away: “FORWARD MARCH!” The men were completely silent as the sound of footsteps grew louder and the formation’s movement approached them like a wave. As soon as the row in front of Vai began to march, her feet began to step without having to think. As she continued to march, all the extra thoughts that plagued her evaporated. The only thing to think about was putting one foot in front of the other and maintaining pace. The drums kept her feet in rhythm, matching her step with each pop of the snare.

  As Vai descended the hill, she could see the army beginning to take shape below the ridge. The Infantry Regiment began to form a barrier of two men abreast on either side of the Cavalry and Archer Regiments that had already reached flat ground. As she studied the formation, she laid eyes on what could not be mistaken as anything other than the Royal Line: a massive war cart was being pulled by a dozen horses, and Vai could make out the shapes of a dozen people on it, armed with spears and bows. The supposed Empress must be on it. In the center of the cart, a bench-type platform elevated two people, and although they were smaller than ants from Vai’s perspective, she could make out the distinct helm she had given to Elizabeth. Beside the cart were over a hundred men armed with pikes twice as tall as themselves, the men pounding the butts of their weapons on the ground every fourth step they took.

  Once Vai’s row reached flat ground, two infantrymen stood abreast alongside them. They were distinctly taller than the archers and looked much older. The outer infantrymen wielded heavy shields and short swords, while the inner men wielded long spears, javelins, and daggers. The sheer level of discipline and organization even further impressed Vai. Are all armies this well-disciplined?

  Once they progressed farther down onto flat ground, the pace increased to a very light jog. As the army jogged onward, their footsteps and breathing patterns were perfectly in sync with the pop of the snare drums.

  The fog had cleared, and sunlight began to seep through the sky. Archard’s hill grew larger with each step, and Vai could see men on horseback beginning to storm it alongside several dozens of infantrymen.

  “Halt!” someone shouted.

  The entire army stopped in their tracks in a wave like the one they had begun moving with. They fell silent, and violent sounds echoed from the hill. Steel clashed against steel, horses squealed, and men screamed in pain. Shouts echoed from the hill, then quickly faded over it.

  Another window of silence followed but was cut short by yet another command. “Forward march!” The snare continued, and the soldiers fell into the rhythm. “Go quickly! Now!” The soldiers sped up along with the snare.

  Vai began the ascent up the slope that led to the now-massive hilltop. The ordered formation began to break as everyone filed in. The hilltop was at least a hundred feet in the air, shrouded by jagged rocks that provided natural cover and a somewhat flat patch of ground that covered a vast area that allowed the entire army to fit. The space was much more cramped than the prior ridgeline, but offered better protection, highly defensible from a ground assault.

  “Attention! Attention!” a thunderous voice echoed deep into the crowd. Archard, Vai realized. The murmuring throughout the army began to die down as Archard stood atop a small boulder that allowed him an ample view of everyone. Once the army was completely silent, he spoke. “Take a knee!” Without hesitation, the entire army complied. Vai noticed countless men on horseback scattered throughout the vast ground that made up the hilltop, and various spears and pikes extending from the ground, scattered throughout the area. Our marching line was far more organized than we are right now, she noticed, as she knelt beside a collection of archers and infantrymen.

  “We took this hill from the Headlanders that held it, forcing the survivors to run like cowards!” When the men cheered, Archard held up his hand to silence them. “But we lost twenty-three good men doing it. It’s impossible to overstate the value this hill provides us, and those twenty-three men sacrificed their lives to ensure that we controlled it.”

  I’ve already lost twenty-three of my soldiers, and that’s just the beginning, Vai thought.

  “King Hiroshi will never attack us directly while we control it, this I can guarantee! We will dictate when the fighting starts. This is our country, our turf, so we get to make the decisions!” The men cheered again. He looked down at the men contentedly for a long while before raising his hand again.

  “Now, listen extremely carefully!” Archard continued to speak with gravitas, drawing in everyone’s absolute attention. “King Hiroshi is now under constant threat of a direct attack from us, and we’ll continue to remind him of that! We will sound our war horns intermittently, but this does not mean our attack is beginning. We will be forcing Yamamoto to stay prepared until his men are exhausted. Then, and only then, will we commence our attack. The scouts we sent have reported that Yamamoto has an army over 60,000 men strong.”

  Archard stepped down from the rock and began to walk throughout the army, maintaining his bold and thunderous voice. “I’m certain that I speak for every man here, that you would all rather fight 60,000 exhausted Headlanders than 60,000 well-rested ones, am I correct!?”

  “YES SIR!” The army’s synchronous shout pierced Vai’s ears.

  “That is why, under no circumstances are you allowed to leave this rock. Not until you are ordered to! The war horns are not the cue for war, however! We will order you to battle, and you will do so quietly. Sound good!?”

  “YES SIR!”

  “Hiroshi’s men will not be well-rested, but you will be! Take your time to rest and prepare for this battle, your battle! Not Yamamoto’s!” A massive roaring cheer erupted from the army, one the Headlanders could no doubt hear.

  Every couple of hours the war horns roared, and the incredibly distant sound of the Headlander army shouting themselves into formation faintly echoed into the hilltop, followed by the Rockmen laughing. Not only was the hill of great strategic value, it was great for morale. Vai never remembered seeing the men laughing and smiling so much. We’re in a safe location, and we’re controlling this battle, Vai reflected. She could not help but feel relieved and relaxed with the rest of the Rockmen.

  The war horns continued to blast through the night. The Headland soldiers could no longer be heard.

  “Do you think they’re still in formation?” Tuttle asked.

  “Maybe they’ve caught on to our bluff and are just resting in their tents,” said Nick.

  “No, that’s just stupid,” Garrod contended. “If they were fast asleep then we would’ve attacked already. They know we’re here, and they’re staying in formation, shitting their pants waiting for us to attack.”

  “If that’s the case, then Archard is a fucking genius.” Nick looked up at the men holding the war horns, laughing as they sounded them once more.

  OOOOUUHHHHHHHHHHH. When the horns had been sounded off dozens of times, they had become white noise to the Rockmen. Despite the persistent blasts, they had a night’s sleep better than any other in recent memory.

  CH 26 – Asher VII

  The army had been marching for weeks, and the daily schedule had become a ritual: wake up at dawn, eat breakfast, march until dusk, train for two hours at dark, sleep, then repeat. If the army ever passed a farm, they paid the farmers handsomely for most of their harvest, and the farmers happily obliged. A brick of gold in exchange for one’s livelihood seemed a good deal. Much better than the Winterguard’s methods, from what I’ve heard, Asher reflected.

  The Emberland host at Steeltower had regrouped with the rest of the army, which was now over 100,000 men strong, with a near majority of armored cavalrymen. When Asher asked Miles how the other host had arrived so far east so quickly, Miles informed him that they sailed to Ashguard then marched east to rend
ezvous with the main host. Seeing the full might of the infamous Emberland cavalry intimidated Asher. I’m glad they are fighting for me, he reflected.

  The day the two hosts made their rendezvous, Asher had summoned the entirety of the army’s leadership into a crowded war council meeting. He stood above the war tent’s table, addressing the Emberland leaders: General Miles and Colonel Schafer, Lord Tandon of the Greenhold, Lady and Colonel Stafford of the Black Hills, Lady Wilkinson and General Loomis of Lumen’s End, Lord Bronson of Ashguard, Alfred Fiskman of the Blackwell Fortress, and the new faces of Lord Daniel Eckman and General Damian Heartsburn of Fort Chadswick, Lady Rebecca Collingsworth and General Don Collingsworth of the East Front. More names for me to forget, Asher thought.

  “I want to thank all of you for assembling our host in such a speedy manner, but now we must not waste any time. We are marching between the Midlands and the Headlands, and we need to decide how to approach this.” He looked down at the map sprawled over the table, and the officers and nobles shifted their eyes over it as well. “Have there been any new developments?”

  “One of my trade captains informed me that he spotted just over a hundred Headland ships headed westward during his return voyage from the Rocklands,” said Lord Bronson while taking half of the Headland’s ship statuettes and placing them towards the Rocklands. “But he informed me that he did not see any more than that.”

  “What might the other half of his fleet be doing?” Lady Collingsworth chimed in.

  “If I were Yamamoto, I would first disable the fleet at Kaiyotan,” said General Collinsworth. A sense of mild guilt occupied his face when he looked up at Asher suddenly. “Um, sorry, your Majesty.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Asher said firmly. “I’m aware that the Emperor is likely dead or captured. I can handle talk of a few burnt ships.”

  “Of course, your Majesty,” General Collingsworth said humbly.