Chapter 11
- The Battle for Omerta
Issin
strutted through the ranks of men towards the platform that had been prepared
for him. He climbed the stairs and
turned to face his men. Issin raised
his left hand in the salute of Dewvron, and six hundred men responded in the
same fashion. Lowering his hand, he
spoke. "Today, we go into
battle. This small, poorly armed force
that we face is all that stands between us and claiming the last of Omerta in
the name of the Empire of Dewvron. We
are the hand of the Empire, and that hand must close around what was once
ours. With this victory, we will
complete one step in our path to reclaiming the continent, and returning
Dewvron to how it was hundreds of years ago!
With our victory today, we begin the unification of the world!" Issin returned to his tent through the crowd
of cheering soldiers with a menacing grin.
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The
Omertan soldiers stood ready, prepared to defend the castle against any
attack. Behind them were placed a
hundred archers, arrows ready. They
simply stood, staring at the hill from which their enemy would come.
Finally,
a sharp yell from over the hill broke the silence. "First and second firearm squads! Advance!" A group of
armored soldiers rushed up the hill and fired rifles and pistols into the
Omertan ranks. Soldiers fell left and
right, dying and screaming. The Omertan
archers let fly their arrows into the advancing troops, decimating them.
"Infantry,
advance!" Five hundred men armed
with blades rushed over the hill, with Issin at the lead. Issin formed a large tower shield of ice as
the next wave of arrows approached.
Most of the Dewvronian soldiers with shields came through
unscathed.
The
Omertan archers saw that the enemy charged on, only twenty dead. The archers began an organized retreat into
the castle, the drawbridge closing fast behind them. The infantry stopped just short of the great moat that separated
them from the castle. Issin aimed his
hands at the ground just before the moat and focused. A large ice bridge quickly formed, spanning the moat. Issin fell back exhausted as a small group
of soldiers went across the bridge with a battering ram.
When
they broke through, Issin led the troops into the castle, where they
slaughtered everyone they came across.
Issin led a small squad away from the main force, heading for the throne
room. He burst into the room and rushed
the throne while his soldiers dispatched the guards. Raising his palm, Issin fired an icicle into each of the king's
shoulders, pinning him to the chair.
"Greetings, King Farradai.
I am an emissary of Dewvron. I
bring you a gift." Issin pushed
the king's head upward, baring his throat.
He then formed a small knife and forced it through Farradai's neck. "My gift to you is to spare you the
more torturous death that Selphrin would inflict on you." The king leaned forward, dead, the icicles
still supporting his limp frame. Issin
turned and left the room to rejoin the melee.
The
castle was taken within the hour.