Chapter 454: Remedy

Imperator charged in to the enemy lines, his giant paws swatting the enemies aside like they were flies. His sharp claws cut in to enemy flesh and armour, ripping them apart as they were pushed to the side, his armoured maw crunching through necks and exposed limbs. Dom swung his Zhan Lu Jian blade, cutting those that hadn't been killed by Imperator. Head rolled, whilst limbs flew.

Dom's face was wet from blood and Rain as they created a deadly wedge that cut through the enemies formation. Beside him Actumerus did the same, his own Sabre Tooth Tiger only slightly smaller than Dom's, but just a vicious. It roared loudly, causing the enemies in front to cower in panic as he cut them through with his own sword. On Dom's other side, Tomoe swung her Naginata, the weapons blade still sharp after hours of massacring. Her Red Hare Horse was used to the Tigers and unafraid of their Roars, as if a king in its own right, as it's heavily armoured chest pushed enemies aside as they were crushed by those that followed or under it's heavy hooves.

The wedge of Dom's Cavalry cut deeper in to the enemies lines, causing panic and confusion as no one dared to fight back. Dom didn't care though, his anger was raging at the news of Gan Ning's situation and anger from his youth at the loss of his mother and his home seemed to be resurfacing. Dom had pushed his pain down, but the Lazarus Kingdom and Riverside especially, felt like a new home to him and the potential loss of a friend and the fact someone had dared to invade his new home, unsurfaced those regressed emotions.

The fight amongst him seemed to disappear as he cut through the enemies in front of him, the majority trying to flee but a thick mass of their own men restricted their movement as Dom's men had hit their flank. They had initially pushed through after the Legionaries had cleared them a gap, before exiting from the wall and then doing a small semi circle in the open ground before driving in to the enemy. Those on the flank had seen the Tigers and had been unable to react as the creatures that in their minds should not be a mount, cut in to them. Even the Elephants would have ran had such a mass of Carnivores charged at them.

Further down the line, Zhao Yun, Masistius and Subutai had split the Cavalry in to three of their own Wedges, each hitting in to the enemies lines. The Navy on the other side had began to unleash what ever Bolts and Arrows they had left in the River Flank, whilst the Titanaconda's and spear holding Marines stabbed down in to the water and killed any that fell in.

Dom had tuned out the Battle at this point, his body acting on emotion alone as Actumerus and Tomoe protected him from the sides. His eyes were blurry from the rain and the blood, whilst his arms burned with the constant striking. His body ached from trying to stay mounted on Imperator who moved on his own, jumping, clawing and biting at everything in front of them.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but at some point horns had been blown as the enemy had began to retreat on mass. The Legionaries behind him creating an enclosure from everything from the South to the North, with their only escape back to the West where they had come from. Xun You had signalled for their men to chase for now, cutting the enemy down as they fled, with Subutai taking the lead in finally being the chaser for the day.

Enough time had passed that the rain had stopped and the clouds had parted by the time that Xun You had signalled for them to return. Two long blows of the Carnyx that echoed across the Battlefield, being repeated by others who were closer to the lines where the chasing forces were. Dom had wanted to continue chasing, with Imperator currently biting in to the back of a fleeing Spearman who was unfortunate to be at the rear of the fleeing formation. Bodies lay for miles from Eruthros to their current location, open plains that seemed to continue from the border of the Lazarus Kingdom for miles on end.

"It's time to stop." Tomoe's commanding voice repeated for the third time as the Sabre Tooth Cavalry under Centurion Chen Lu stopped, unsure if they should continue with Dom or stop as commanded. Chen Lu made the decision to stop, whilst Actumerus bravely grabbed Imperator to hold him back. The rest of the enemy continued to run, what was left of them.

Around them the Cavalry of Subutai, Zhao Yun and Masistius also stopped, pulling back the wide range of horses with Riders who began cheering in celebration at the victory. Subutai could be seen riding towards Dom's location as he closed his eyes and released a large exhale.

"Give the King space." Tomoe ordered, as everyone began moving away from heir position, allowing their tigers to feed on the flesh of the fallen enemy, whilst the Warriors themselves dismounted and went through the work of making sure that the enemies were definitely dead, dispatching any that were in some form of life. Only Tomoe, Actumerus and two of his Batavi Guards remained as Subutai approached. Dom still mounted with his eyes closed as he slowed his breathing down.

"The men will remember this. Their King leading from the front, riding a Sabre Tooth Tiger and striking fear in to an enemy that out numbered our own." Subutai commented as he came beside Dom. The tone in him of a proud father, than of a General under his command. He put his hand on Dom's shoulder, whilst Imperator continued to feed on the dead spearman in front of him.

"I'll help you down." Tomoe stated kindly, as she took Dom's Zhan Lu blade from his tightly gripped hand and passed it to Actumerus. Actumerus held it close whilst the two other guards turned their backs to the conversation, making sure that no one approached. Tomoe helped Dom dismount as he opened his eyes, some tears seeming to peek through the blood that stained his face.

"I'm sorry." Dom replied, knowing that what he had done had been dangerous and stupid. He had let emotions take over him and put himself and those around him in needless danger. The emotions of his past losses had taken over him and he had become a person he had never been before, as anger controlled everything he did until his body was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

"There is nothing to be sorry about." Actumerus stated, without even thinking. "I am not sure what you have gone through in the past, but you are young and moments like this are important to allow yourself to remember that you are a man and not a beast."

"You were quite bestial though. I have never seen you fight like that before, or so well. The Warriors will speak of this, and your reputation as a Warrior King will increase." Tomoe stated, all semblance of rank disappearing as the three spoke to him as if they were long time friends or family.

"As long as you are aware of what has happened, you can control it again in the future. You are young, I have done the same thing." Subutai commented, "Temujin did a lot for vengeance, and some things never left us. Some things can't be forgiven, and other things we learn from."

"The men will believe you did this because you are fierce, that is all that matters." Actumerus added, whilst Subutai looked at the guard with a commanding look, as if saying to him that he should probably not be involved in this conversation. But, Actumerus stared back, his eyes showing his loyalty to his king as his guard in all matters.

"Come, let's return and see if we can find out who attacked us." Tomoe said, breaking the tension that was growing. Beyond them, some of Zhao Yun's men had encircled some enemies who had thrown down their weapons, whilst Masistius was doing something similar.

"And see how General Gan Ning is." Subutai agreed as he whistled, a loud voice in the air responding as Genghis circled above them.

...

Gan Ning was unconscious when Dom arrived, wanting to check on his General before he looked through what he had brought with him. Prisoners were being gathered from the Ships as well as what had been captured by either the Infantry or the Cavalry. Most were being placed in temporary pens, and in what Dom thought was a cruel move, had been stripped of everything they wore. Xun You had explained it was a safety measure, but the temperature was cool and everyone was still soaked from the Battle.

His own forces were currently warming themselves up around fires that had been built, or eating the food that was being provided to them by the logistics teams that were currently in Eruthros. Ptolemy, Xun Yu and some of the Generals walked around the large camp that had been formed, checking in with different units and making sure that they were all being fed.

Some Logistics personal were bringing round spare clothes and blankets for them men to make sure they were dry, whilst the Warriors themselves were cleaning their armour and weapons from the fight. Xun You had prepared some outlying scouts to make sure no enemies were returning and some of the units that hadn't been involved heavily in the fighting were on guard or putting in temporary repairs in to the wall.

The bodies of the Elephants were also being pulled away by units of Cavalry, or the giant Shire horses that supported the Farmers and Logistics teams across the Kingdom. There was a lot of work that would be needed in the following days to clean up the Battle, and Xun You had already explained that the prisoners could work on building large pyres for the enemy to be burnt on, whilst the losses of the Lazarus Kingdom would be buried.

"The Arrow had lodged itself between his ribs, just missing his heart. There was a lot of blood and we have been able to retrieve the arrow. My main worries are infection to the wound, he was moved a lot to bring him here, and the rain and blood of enemies may have spoilt the wound." Hua Tou explained, his tone serious. "He is currently unconscious, but he has a temperature and this is not a good sign."

"What can we do?" Subutai asked, as Dom looked down at the pale General who lay on a table in the Town Centre of Eruthros. Ling Tong sat by the far wall, a bandage around his own head where he had been caught by some falling wood on a collapsing ship. He had worry on his face and Dom knew many of the Generals in the Kingdom would be worried.

"Normally I would say we wait, if he can fight it then he will survive, if he doesn't then there is little that we can do." Hua Tou replied honestly. "I have provided him with some remedies and covered the wound with medicinal herbs. I have also applied a new type of remedy that has been mentioned to me by some of the new arrivals with Kai."

"A new remedy?" Tomoe asked, her armour replaced with a white Kimono with flowers embraided on it. Somehow she had cleared the majority of the blood from her and had changed in the time since they had returned. She still had lines of dirt in the edges of her hair, that had been tied up and pinned.

"The mould of some of our outdated food has been showing some interesting results with some illnesses. Kai explained that this could help with infections in Battle. At this stage I will try anything and I am sure that General Gan Ning would be happy to be a test subject." Hua Tou explained, as Dom looked at him with wide eyes. Kai or someone else had brought something from reality to the game, and it could have huge impacts on the Kingdom's health going forwards.