Chapter 450: Pooling

Imperator was sniffing in the direction of the Red Hare Valley Forest, an eagerness in the Sabre Tooth Tiger to enter the fray himself. Dom could sense that the other Tigers felt the same way, but they were surprisingly well trained and held themselves back. The howl of the Dire Wolves that now rode with some of the Wu Dang Units could be heard in the valley amongst the screams of the dead, and the heavy rain and darkness that crept from the woods sent a cold shiver down Dom’s spine, as did the rain itself. Dom hadn’t seen rain like this since his youth, and whilst he new that Lucius would be grateful for the rains, from the looks on the Warriors faces, they were not.

"I can send some men to direct you through." Centurion Macro offered as Dom looked in to the woods, not wanting to enter himself, the darkness within reminding of his deepest nightmares growing up. Part of him wanted to berate Centurion Macro for the offer, as if he turned it down now, he would seem weak in front of the men. Dom had always been reluctant to play Horror Games, as that was something that Alice and Andrew preferred, but the forest beyond them felt like something from one of them.

"Then let’s investigate." Dom replied reluctantly, as Centurion Macro nodded his head, as if expecting that Dom was a brave King who would want to see, rather than a University Student who liked to play Adventure Games and was suddenly playing as a King in a City Builder. Dom caught the look in Actumerus’s face and could see that even his Germanic body Guard, from a tribe of warriors that fought and ambushed within the mountains, had a tinge of nervousness in the way he gripped his Sabre Tooth Tiger mount.

One of Macro’s Optio’s and another Legionary headed in to the Forest beyond, aware of the safe routes towards the area Tomoe had defined as her Kill Zone and those routes that were riddled with traps and ambushes laid by the Wu Dang and the Skiritae. Dom followed, with Imperator moving forwards, his wide shoulders bulging with excitement as the smell of iron could be detected as they passed through under the first trees.

The canopy of the Trees, the same as those in the rest of the Red Woods to the East of them, gave them random moments of dryness as they travelled. The sound of the crunching of leaves beneath the feet of the two Legionaries and the four Sabre Tooth Tigers, as well as the occasional trickle of water, was a strange break from the screams, shouts and battle beyond. There was the occasional sight or shadow of one of Dom’s wider units within the Forest, waiting for their moments to begin the Battle against the enemies Vanguard that had been forced to take this treacherous route.

"This way." The Optio said quietly and politely as they got closer to the loudest of the screams. They took a slight deviation to the left to avoid some traps that had been laid. To their right a group of Dire Wolves ran forwards, with a group of Wu Dang Heavy Infantry following them, before they disappeared in to the forest beyond and out of sight. Dom had no idea where they had come from and felt like if they won the battle today, those in the forest would not be just a small reason as to why.

After a few more moments, Dom could hear the sounds of the Carnyx, the Celtic Battle Horn that they had replicated across the Units for intimidation and to pass messages across the Battle. The Carnyx of the Lazarus Kingdom had the faces of the different Animals that the units had based themselves on, and a variety of them were spread across the Eruthros Wall.

"The enemy must be at the wall now." Actumerus commented, as Dom realised that he had gotten distracted for his own ego and was now going to be at the wrong part of the Battle. He was sure that his two Wives would prefer he was away from the main fighting, but he planned to return there as soon as he had witnessed what was happening in the Forest, a key weakness in the defensive line.

It didn’t take Dom long to see what was happening, they soon approached a clearing where the Trees had been cut down and used to create a pathway through the forest itself. The enemies entering the Forest from the West side would fall upon traps and ambushes at every corner, with only the pathways to this clearing being the safe routes. The pathways had been built to look like they were created for normal travellers and the enemies were glad to use them and not die the horrific deaths that their comrades had taken.

Once the enemies entered the clearing, they were caught in a wide circle in the middle of the forest, with several entry and exit points, each leading to further traps and ambush points where the Wu Dang and Skiritae were spread about, currently ambushing and slaughtering the enemies that fled in those directions.

The reason they fled was the Woman in front of him. Tomoe held her oversized Odachi sword one hand, a task even most men of the most powerful men would struggle to wield, whilst in her other her Naginata was held at distance. Her smaller Naginata was at her side, also reforged by Ou Yezi for when her Naginata tired or her Odachi needed rest. She swung both weapons as enemies entered her Circle Killing Field, taking heads, limbs and other parts of them as they entered. Those that tried to come at her from another side were taken by arrows from the Wu Dang that were stood in the surrounding trees, or by the spears of the Skiritae that covered the edges of the Circle.

Before her was a field of bodies, broken Warriors of different levels of armour and weapons. Skin tones were lost amongst the blood and rain that surrounded her like a flood of death. She wore her full armour, layer upon layer of folded metal scales that had been reforged by Ou Yezi himself in to an intricate piece that was far above anything anyone else within the Lazarus Kingdom wore, even Dom himself. Her armour was mainly black and red, with the layers of her armour looking like waves as she moved around, the water and blood flicking from her as if it dared to not touch her.

Dom caught the sight of her Menpo Mask as she turned at one moment to swing her Odachi and take a man across his spine, cutting his body in half as the top half wailed in agony with flailing arms, the legs themselves taking another step before falling in to the ground. The upper half fell, face first, if the man did live he would be drowning amongst the pooling water and blood below. Her Menpo was that of a red Demon, with large teeth that Dom recognised as those from the Skeletons of the Type 2’s they had found in the Tomb Cities below the Lazarus Kingdom.

One of her Centurions must have noticed Dom’s arrival, the sight of him on his Sabre Tooth Tiger appearing catching the eyes of some of the Skiritae on the edge. One of them blew a tone with his own Carnyx. The men quickly getting in to formation and blocking the main entranceway to give Tomoe a few moments rest. She cut down one of the stragglers that hadn’t been dispatched by an Archer or a Spearman, taking his legs with the blade on her Naginata, before stabbing him through with her Odachi.

She turned to Dom, only the brightness of her eyes peering through her mask as she stepped over the bodies, crushing them beneath her in to the soaking ground. The rain still seemed to be avoiding her as she walked towards him, one of her men quickly running with a bladder of water for her to drink.

She handed her Naginata to one of her own Batavi Guards who seemed to have the most pointless job in Riverside, before removing her mask with her free hand and passing it to the Optio who was with Dom. She took a swig of her drink and wiped the back of her gauntlet, leaving a streak of blood across her pale cheek.

"Have you come to join us?" She asked with clear happiness in her tired voice. As more screams could be heard throughout the forest. The large howl and angry barks of Wolves as they tore apart some enemies that had taken the wrong path in to the forest. Dom dismounted for a moment, allowing Imperator to dive in to the feast with the other Sabre Tooth Tigers as his guards dismounted.

"I heard the commotion so came to inspect." Dom replied seriously as he looked around, the Skiritae cutting down the enemies that entered in the distance whilst Tomoe had a moments rest. She looked behind her, seemingly eager to re-join. Dom noticed one of the Sabre Tooth Tigers disappearing in to the forest, before screams beyond the Skiritae could be heard as he expected the giant Carnivore had dived in from the flank to tear them apart. Dom could see one of his Guards shake his head, knowing that it was his Tiger that was up to no good.

"This is the Red Hare Valley Forest Maze." She explained to Dom as she took another sip of water, before handing it back to her Warrior. "The invention of myself, Centurions Macro, Strabo, Meng Ai and Zhang Sui. There is more I would have liked to have done, but with the time we had this is it. The name is a bit long, but that is what it is."

"It is impressive." Dom agreed, as she nodded in agreement, putting her Menpo back on her face and her beauty being replaced by the the Demon that she naturally was on the Battlefield. Dom had played games and read stories of Warriors who were known as one against a thousand, Men that could take on an army single handily, and to him Tomoe was clearly one of them. Dom would have felt fear, if not for the fact that Tomoe was possibly the most loyal person in the whole of the Lazarus Kingdom. Instead, he felt excitement when he looked at her, knowing that with her he could win any Battle.

"After this Battle, I intend to keep the Skiritae. Centurion Macro is already my lead Centurion. I believe they call them Primus Pilus. But Strabo and his people are joining me. I also want the Wu Dang but I know we do not have enough so I will speak with Subutai afterwards." She stated calmly, as if the hundreds of people dying behind her wasn’t happening. Dom just smiled at her in response, knowing that if he said no she would accept it, but she was right, these were the perfect Warriors for her. Warriors who lived to fight and Warriors with the brains to use small numbers to destroy bigger forces.

"If he says no, send him my way." Dom replied to her, he couldn’t see her face, but from her eyes he knew there was a genuine smile there. She gave Dom a small bow as she took the Naginata from her Batavi Guard.

"Thank you." She laughed from behind her mask, excitement within her voice. "It has been nice talking to you, it feels like it has been a while. It means a lot that you came to see me during the Battle. But I best return to my post. If you return before me, send my regards to Meritamen and Sun Shangxiang."

Dom watched her as she walked away, one of his guards whistling so that the Sabre Tooth Tigers returned, even the one who had departed. He felt there was meaning behind her words, but he felt it best to not get involved. When ever he looked at Tomoe, he felt strange and wondered if the situation would be different with them if Meritamen hadn’t arrived, he decided it was probably a good thing Meritamen had arrived. As Dom mounted Imperator, he watched as the other Tiger returned, dragging a corpse with it in excitement as the Skiritae around it shook their heads and smiled, their Morale slightly higher, most likely due to the Tiger’s arrival and not Dom’s arrival.