Destroy your enemy completely~Myamoto Musashi
*the rout would have finished the Hegemony once and for all, save that two things happened, the first was that the fleeing troops encountered reserves pouring south from their northern conquests. The second was the sight of the massive Foldus desert. And the third was an elf lord named Barta'Lewilon, whose thunderous voice called order for what seemed miles around. The hegemony troops began to ease their panic and restore their discipline, the remains of companies reuniting reforming, the pursuit had eased off somewhat, but was far from finished. Lord Barta'Lewilon gave the order to march, and it was accepted with little complaint, but he did not lead them back to the battle, that had been lost. Instead he gave one man the fastest camel they still had, and sent him off into the desert to give warning to the north that a counter attack was likely on its way. They marched east, along the Foldus border, heading to the sea it seemed, picking up troops when they were encountered, and killing any far flung enemy pickets they could find, though those were increasingly rare the farther they fled. Over and over options turned in Barta'Lewilon's mind as the night closed in. There were many men from many companies and batallions in his remaining force, but not a one of them was anything close to whole, and nowhere near strong enough to launch a serious counterstrike on Empire positions. He did send out scouts to search for other stragglers, mercenaires, traitors, regulars; anything they could find. But what they found, was a village. It was undefended, probably the garisson had been called away to the main line, it was obviously a farming community, and not a large one even. A few fields were scattered about, sown with a small variety of crops, and there was only a small wall around the few buildings, and it was poorly defended. A quick search around its extreme perimiter by a horseman reported the same thing, lightly defended, almost totally unarmed. This would give his men heart again. He raised his sword and ordered the charge. The attack progressed with expert efficiency and the village was caught unawares. Only a few regulars appeared to oppose the attacking host, and they bought just enough time for the villagers to arm themselves, most had a sword or ax or pike, some had bows, but though they fought very bravely, they died very quickly, totally outnumbered. The village was not immediately burned like those in the north were, though the women were not spared the ravishings of the victors, nor were they spared their lives when all was done. What possessions the village had were taken, not a scrap of food remained, and the beasts were butchered for their meat. Only empty houses stood as witness to what was done, and Barta'Lewilon's soldiers quickly departed.
VICTORY OF THE IRONFIST
Gregor watched the interrogation of one of the few surviving enemy officers with great interest, he had much to say, but little of it was understandable. While the language was the same as his own, its inflection was such that his speach was almost totally indecipherable. The pursuit was still ongoing, but he was not needed for that, what mattered now was what information he could gain from the battle. The nobleman had much to say. His society was ruled by the Hegemony. The Hegemony was an ancient enemy of the Godslayer hearth, that had been defeated many centuries earlier. He did not know just how far they had come or how many they were total, only that they were many, and more were coming...
|