Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

Count Lanz said coolly. He was a small, pale man, with calculating eyes the color of fresh dollar bills. Like Ignas, he was also dressed in a fine uniform, though his was black. “Hyland’s goal is clear enough: conquer the rest of Artana and bring it under his rule. However, his methods are amateurish. A wise strategist would have conquered the rest of the Hercynian nations to form an army capable of facing the combined might of Vlachia and Jeun. Even if he does take Revala, Gilheim is mobilizing behind the mountains. We will pincer him on both sides. He is an untried fool, Tuun. That is the long and short of it.”

“My title is ‘Voivode’. If you can’t pronounce ‘Dragozin’, Voivode Tuun is fine, assuming you really need to keep waving your dick at me across the table,” I replied tersely.

Suri sucked on a tooth and looked away, biting back a laugh. Ebisa snorted into her hand.

“And as I was saying to my people before, don’t underestimate Ororgael,” I continued, gesturing at the diorama. “The guy’s nearly achieved his objective. This isn’t the work of an ‘untried fool’.”

“We have already discussed this somewhat before your arrival,” Ignas said, pretending not to see Lanz’s scowl. “Our conclusion is that he plans to conquer Revala, fortify the Eastern border, then use the nation’s resources to turn back west and take the offensive to Gilheim.”

“Yes. Hyland’s move to the east seems audacious, even reckless, but intelligence reports suggest he intends to seal off the Hercyninan Peninsula.” General Kovacs spoke up. “As you can see, Revala shares only a small land border with Jeun in the north-east, while it is separated from us by the Bay of Swords. He could ostensibly fortify those positions, claim Revala’s resources, then hold us off while he moves west. Cut off from the Alliance, those nations will be sitting ducks.”

“Yeah. And he can do it from behind a defensive buffer,” Suri said. “Revala as a shield, to protect Ilia while he mops up.”

“How many troops is he fielding?” I asked, frowning.

“Roughly a hundred thousand, all counted,” Kovacs replied. “Most of them are, shall we say, involuntary volunteers?”

“Slaves,” Suri said flatly.

The general nodded. “Yes. In addition, he fields approximately two hundred and seventy dragon knights, and a navy comprising about a hundred ships of various classes.”

“And Revala?”

“Revala can call on about two hundred thousand troops, plus a navy of three hundred ships.”

“Then how the fuck did they lose all of this?” I gestured to the field of blue and gold flags. “They outnumber Ororgael two to one. Dragons or no dragons, they should have crushed him.”

Ignas vented a soft sound of frustration and shook his head. “Ebisa, repeat your report.”

“Hyland has made his inroads by two means,” Ebisa recited, in her dry, husky voice. “Land vehicles, the likes of which we’ve never seen before, and the dragons.”

“Land vehicles?” Rin perked up, brows furrowing in alarm.

“Yes. They began the campaign by posturing at the border. Then they detonated shells of substantial size and power at the fortresses, smashing walls that have stood for hundreds of years. They must also have had interior intelligence, because the dragons teleported to precise locations, then wreaked havoc on vital supply points. They did not engage directly. They dropped bombs onto granaries, barracks, and other important production centers. Then Ilia’s land force rolled in, fielding these what appear to be human-made Sangheti’tak walkers. Blood-fuel machines, which consume the mana gained from biomass.”

“Sangheti’tak, in human hands!” Rin covered her mouth.

Ebisa gave her an expressionless nod. “These machines tore up the Revalan cavalry with exceptional speed. With their supply lines destroyed and their retreat cut off, a wave of surrenders followed.”

“So now we know what Ororgael was doing during those first couple of months,” Suri said, looking over to me, Rin, and Karalti. “Building himself a fuckton of death machines.”

“Revala was able to adapt to this strategy and slow them down, at which point, the commander of the Ilian forces changed tactics,” Ebisa continued, reaching out to draw her finger over a now-conquered defensive line. “He began deploying the dragons directly against the Revalan Navy. They targeted troop carriers.”

“Revala’s navy, while impressive for the Hercynian Region, is nowhere as modern as ours,” Ignas added. “Most countries field only a few hundred ships, some of them quite old. The dragons were able to fly rings around the Revalan Fleet.”

“Yes. And their lightning breath weapons are capable of penetrating and overriding many forms of magical shields,” Ebisa said. “Their ships were forced to retreat, while Ilia’s advanced. They began bombing the countryside. They reduced entire towns to rubble, and this Commander, Lucien Hart, made public displays of poisoning wells and executing the captive families of those who rebelled against the invaders. They gave many settlements the chance to surrender, and they did.”

I rolled my eyes and tipped my head back. “Okay, and what part of this is ‘amateurish’ again?”

“My choice of words was not precise,” Count Lanz said brittly. “Ilia’s tactics are sound, if not brutal. But their campaign cannot sustain this kind of energy for long. Not when they are being attacked on two fronts.”

“Then they have a card in play that we don’t know about,” I said. “Allies? The Princeling Nations are embroiled in some kind of conflict of their own, right? Maybe he’s recruited one or more of them. Maybe he’s convinced Gilheim he’s their prophesied god-man in human form. Maybe he’s somehow gotten the fucking Mercurions on board. We don’t know.”

“I have been trying to make this point for some hours now.” Ebisa spread her hands and sat back.

“For the sake of civility, please refrain from cursing at me, Dragozin.” Lanz’s thin mouth sloped down to one side.

“Oh yeah, because my cursing is the real problem here,” I snapped.

“Ebisa. Do we know if Hyland