Herald of Steel

The call to war sent the camp momentarily into panic as many were confused to be woken in the middle of the night by their friends, squad captains, or even captain and told them to get dressed for battle.

Some thought the camp had been breached and started spreading panic, especially the Cantagenans, but after a few good punches from nearby people, these people calmed down.

But all in all, the mercenaries were all veterans and so after a small moment of shock, their mechanical training kicked in and they started diligently obeying orders.

They hurriedly put on their linen armor, equipped their bronze-plated wooden shield and iron-tipped spears, and then started taking down their tent in the midst of heavy rain.

They also started filling their leather sacks with drinking water, packing as much food as they could, readying the carts by attaching the mules to them, trying to decide what smallest thing that has the highest value to carry with them, and doing all things within the time frame set by their commanding officer.

The medical clinic also went into emergency mode, as whatever wounded that could hold a shield and spear were forcefully equipped and told to report to their commander.

The women were then all commanded to prepare meals for close to fifteen thousand within two hours as who knew when they could have a hot meal next and all male servants were told to report to Menes.

Alexander also met with his captains, and gave them instructions on what to do next, but didn’t even tell them about the full plan.

He spent some with Menes, urging him to get all the slaves and servants motivated with the promise of freedom if they win.

Then he met his spymaster, “Camius spread among the soldiers that the reason why Adhanians knew so quickly about Ptolomy being here was because there is a high-level spy among us. And also spread the relation about me and Pallidus, what he did and how he treated me.” Alexander’s motto was always to use the best of the worst situation,

Then, because of the time crunch, he gave his stratos the power to choose temporary phalanx captains for their thousand-man formations, though he did recommend some names he thought were promising judging from the inspection he had done the day.

And while all this was happening, time slipped past everyone in a blurry whirlwind of activity, and just as the thinnest thread of dawn pierced the sky, the sky opened its eyes by a sliver as if waking up from its slumber to reassure the world dawn and life was on their way, Alexander got up on the podium, the same podium that was used to elect him as the commander just four days ago, and addressed the fifteen thousand men and women, that were gathered in front of him.

“Men! Rejoice! Because you have me,” The very first thing Alexander did was give a huge hurrah, playing his god’s blessed card.

And this worked, as most of the fear and anxiety that the soldiers felt was washed away.

“Yeah, commander! We have the commander.”

“Gaia’s blessed. The Adhanians are not the only ones who have gods with them.”

“With the commander with us, we can’t lose.”

“Yeah, the commander can see the future. We are invincible.”

Soon, joyful cheers began to infect the crowd, as more and more soldiers joined the celebrations and left behind the doom and gloom thoughts such as, ‘We are outnumbered,’ ‘They defeated us twice,’ ‘Capture means eternal servitude in Aaru.’

Alexander then raised his hand to pacify the crowds, and like a maestro conducting an opera, the crowd’s octaves disappeared the moment Alexander raised his hands.

‘He holds such control over our men,’ Some mercenary leaders lampooned.

But they were also glad to have him as their commander as more control over one’s army meant more obedience and less chances of soldiers breaking ranks and running when things go rough, which very well might go in this situation.

“Men, many of you might know why we have to fight. But for those who do not know or are not sure, let me tell you: The reason for this fight is because Adhania wanted someone from us- someone most of you heard of and many of you have even seen- The rebel Ptolomy.”

Hearing himself be referred to as a rebel and not a king made Ptolomy quite angry, but what could he do but only endure?

‘Be careful that the ship you get on doesn’t sink,’ He cursed Alexander.

But Alexander was absorbed in his speech to know or care.

“And we wished to hand him over to Adhania in exchange for letting us charter ships. Ptolomy had told us if we escorted him to a city just a hundred and fifty kilometers from here, he would help charter ships for us. And we wanted the same thing from Adhania as we did from Ptolomy, To go home. Is that so wrong, men?” He shouted the last sentence.

“No.” came a unified chorus.

“We even offered to pay for the ships,” Alexander exaggerated. “But these stinky Adhanians told us we would get nothing.”

“Booooo,” The crows jeered.

“They also came to me four days ago to hire us. Imagine that! Hire us after what they did to our brothers, fathers, and friends.”

“They think we are just dogs.”

“Revenge. We want revenge.” .𝒐𝙧𝒈

Many felt their fear be replaced with the desire for revenge as Alexander drenched up their sorrow.

“Their real intentions were to lure us out and then slaughter us. Have they not killed us enough,” Alexander fanned the flames of hatred even more.

“Fight! We must fight! Revenge for our brothers,” The crowd was whipped up into a frenzy, their blood boiling, eager for a fight, just as Alexander wanted.

“Yes, brothers. Fight! We must fight! Goddess Gaia had decreed we must fight the devils of Ramuh!” Alexander roared and held up his arms towards the sky, wanting to envelop it within his arms and paste the raining sky into his chest.

“Hoooooo, revelation, this is a revelation, hoooooo!” The soldiers were driven into such ecstasy, over the declared crusade that the very ground began to shake and vibrate under the zeal of fifteen thousand men and women.

‘He really knows what buttons to press to make the soldiers do as he tells them to.’ Menicus told himself that he could do the things Alexander did if he was made commander, and sighed in regret he had not met the kid sooner.

‘Oh, how I wish to see how he will bloom in the future,’ He thought regretfully.

‘He is a better leader than me,’ Petricuno at that moment fully submitted to Alexander.

‘We can win,’ Heliptos seemed to prophesize.

‘I didn’t choose wrong,’ Melodias had a light, content smile plastered on his face.

The soldiers cheering even reached the Adhanian army that was assembling in front of the fates of Adhan in preparation for the battle, who thought the Cantagenans had lost their minds and mutinied.

Thus they were even more eager to attack them the moment the sky brightened.

But mutiny was in fact the furthest thing the soldiers had in their minds for the time.

“Now, soldiers! All who are not cavalrymen, please follow your superiors as they lead you to your battlefield. And do not be surprised by where they are leading you. We have all relayed to them the correct information, so keep calm and follow orders. And the fifteen hundred cavalry please report here with your horses as soon as possible.” Alexander thus finished his speech.

Then, the soaked Alexander, with water dripping out his body, met with the leaders and gave them some last-minute reminders, “Leaders please be sure to hide your troops so that the Adhanians can’t spot them from afar. And be sure not to launch the attack too early. Let the Adhanians in as deep as possible. I will blow the trumpet myself to signal the attack.”

Their plan was to hide behind the slopes of the huge valley, using trees and foliage, and launch a two-prong attack once the Adhanians reached the top of the hill, one from the front left, the other from the bottom right, enclosing the enemy from both sides and destroying them.

“Yes, yes, commander. You have told us this three times already. We even have lookouts to ensure the force is not just a scouting party, but the real army.” Petricuno impatiently answered, a little frustrated at being treated with a greenhorn little no battle experience.

“Well then, life or death, let there be no regrets between us brothers,” Alexander then strongly hugged each of the six leaders, counting Melodias.

With each of the leaders leading a group of soldiers, they then headed to their destination, with mules pulling carts to make realistic tracks on the muddy ground, their tents strewn about, and shiny stuff glittering inside, giving the impression they left in a hurry.

But Alexander did not immediately follow.

He was yet to give command to the cavalry.

The reason the mercenary leaders had no cavalry was because horses did not stay quiet for very long and Alexander feared the neighing of the horse would give their positions away.

Also, horses didn’t like riding in complete darkness.

So Alexander wanted to delay the deployment upto the last second.

Soon the clearing was filled with the braying of a thousand five hundred mares and stallions.

“The one hundred riders of the scouting group come forward,” Alexander ordered and it was very quickly carried out.

“Good. The other fourteen hundred will divide themselves into two groups, And then you will ride down the valley west and then change directions east to hide yourselves in the forest,” Alexander pointed to the woods the Adhanians had used to hide themselves.

“Seven hundred will hide on the left and the other seven hundred on the right,” Alexander detailed.

“Haha, the commander is gonna make the Adhanians eat their own medicine,” Remus could not help himself be excited.

Alexander only smiled and nodded. “Yes,” then warmed, “Be sure to hide yourselves deep in the forest so the sound of fourteen hundred horses doesn’t alert the Adhanians. That would be disastrous.”

“Yes, commander,” A chorus rang.

“Good, Remus will lead the left group and Grahtos the right,” Alexander selected a Sycarian he found very competent at yesterday’s training.

“Now, go, ride through the dark carefully and position yourself secretly. Once you hear the trumpet blown, emerge from the forest and strike behind the enemy lines and if you can kill the king! Don’t worry, I, the blessed of Gaia have received permission from the goddess.” Alexander reassured the group that killing Amenheraft was okay as killing a king was viewed generally as being eternally damned.

“I promise to cleave the head from the body as soon as I get the chance,” Remus promised.

‘For brother!’ He swore in his heart.

“Um, go now,” Alexander then saw off the riders.

Then he turned to command the remaining hundred, “Split into two fifty-men groups and go behind each part of the army to act as a reserve. And remember to keep your voices down.”

“Yes, commander,” Came the obedient reply and the horses rode off.

‘Just a hundred horses over such a large valley won’t likely be detected,’ Alexander reasoned in his heart.

He then slowly made his way to his lookout post, feeling the sky getting brighter by the second, signaling the time for battle drawing in ever closer.

He was both nervous and excited, believing unless the enemy was overwhelmingly huge, he could win.

And with his pep talk to himself, he readied himself to battle, confident in the prey taking the bait.

And so, with all the preparations done, all the men in place, the sky bright and clear, the stage was set to determine the fates of the mercenaries and who knows maybe even Adhania’s?