*Knock*"Young master, it is the time you had asked me to wake you up" Sebastian"s calm voice entered into the sleeping Caesar"s ears abruptly waking him up.
"It"s already morning??" Caesar grumbled and sat up from the bed, he ma.s.saged his temples and walked into the bathroom.
*splash*
Caesar splashed water on his face and brushed his hair… "the enemy should arrive in two days…" Caesar muttered while looking at his reflection.
After Caesar was done grooming himself he walked to his closet and put on his late grandfather"s military outfit and put the cap on.
*creak*
Caesar stepped out of his room and walked to the main hall, the entire manor was empty besides Ahri, Edward and Sebastian. The rest had gone to wait at a protective shelter in the palace in preparation for the upcoming battle.
*screech*
Caesar pulled out a chair and began eating breakfast. "Young master, I will be accompanying the rest of the civilians to wait in the palace tomorrow so I won"t be here to make breakfast and dinner tomorrow," Sebastian said apologetically.
"Don"t worry about it Sebastian, I am sure the civilians will love you cooking for them"
"I just hope I can do what I can young master… I also wish you good luck in battle, I will not see you again until this is all done"
Caesar nodded his head slowly and sat up from the table when he finished eating, the silent Edward and Ahri also sat up and followed Caesar out of the manor.
Caesar stepped out of his residence and headed to the outer walls… The normally bustling city was dead quiet and dreary, only the sound of three pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the desolate street.
After walking in silence for 30 minutes the three finally arrived at the outer gates, Knight"s were helping lift and pull ballista"s to the walls and blacksmiths could be seen constantly forging armor and weapons.
Right as Caesar made an appearance a captain from his knight brigade walked towards him and saluted.
"Reporting sir, almost all ballista"s are loading up on the kingdom walls and the necessary amount of weapons and armor have been prepared"
"That"s good, how is our food supply?"
Suddenly the captain"s face turned troubled and replied "Unfortunately because of the upcoming war no merchants have been willing to trade here so we are severely lacking, we are relying on our farm crops, however, that supply is very limited" The captain said in a slow tone
Caesar stroked his chin "As I thought... if they turn this war into a battle of attrition we will suffer"
Ahri and Edward both looked at Caesar concerned "this isn"t looking good, what are you going to do marshall?"
Even Ahri and Edward started referring to Caesar as the marshall in front of his soldiers, hearing their words Caesar just smiled unaffected and answered back… "we will just need to end it quickly"
"But how?" Ahri asked back quietly.
Caesar just shook his head and walked up the stairs along the side of the kingdom walls… Caesar soon reached the top and felt the breeze flutter his clothes as he peered down.
Caesar gazed at the nearby terrain, a forest to their east and a hill to the north… Rahvin kingdom was surrounded by mountains to the south. Caesar walked over to a nearby a ballista and followed the firing trajectory with his eyes.
"They are perfectly level with the top of the hill," Caesar said while smiling, he looked back towards Ahri and Edward and said in a confident tone "Although they have much more numbers than us, we will win with quality and wits"
"Are you sure?" Edward and Ahri both asked with doubt
"One of the main arts of war is circled around morale, do you think soldiers that have been traveling for two weeks nonstop will have the same level as our soldiers who are determined to defend their families and homes?"
Caesar paused for a second and continued
"I will lead us to victory, trust me"
Both Ahri and Edward nodded their heads and asked: "what can we do to help?"
"I want you to command the archers Edward, and Ahri I want you to use your flames to kill any wyvern riders that make it pa.s.sed our ballista"s.
"Ok, I can do that" Ahri said with determination
"I will do as you command" Edward replied shortly after
Caesar nodded his head and shifted his attention back to the outside of the kingdom… The moat that he and the knights created was now filled with water hiding the sharp wooden spikes under it.
After observing for a few more minutes Caesar finally turned away and stepped down the stairs. He walked down the steps at a slow pace and made it back to where the knight"s and blacksmiths were.
Suddenly a captain came to report to him "Marshall, the last ballista has been lifted to the wall"
"Good, gather all of the troops here"
The captain nodded his head solemnly and went to gather all of the knight"s and archers that were apart of the military.
*step*
*step*
Knight"s and archers rushed to Caesar and lined up in front of him… their normally calm faces were now tensed and serious.
Once the last soldier lined up Caesar stood at the forefront of them…
"You have all worked hard and prepared heavily for the battle…we will not lose!" Caesar said with a loud and soothing voice.
"You are all dismissed for today, spend time with your families… write your will"s and make sure you come back here tomorrow with no regrets…" Caesar continued
The knight"s all started shaking slightly and tears threatened to fall from their eyes…
"THANK YOU MARSHALL!" they all roared and quickly left to spend time with their families
Caesar looked at Ahri and Edward… "you two as well should go write a letter to your families"
Edward and Ahri both nodded solemnly and left Caesar there standing alone.
Caesar looked up at the sky and thought about his brother in his past life "although you were one h.e.l.l of a b.a.s.t.a.r.d I never thought I"d someday lose you" Caesar whispered to himself.
If someone was here watching they would be shocked to see the normally smiling marshall having a lonely back…
--and like this, a day slowly pa.s.sed by--
The next day Caesar was standing in front of his troops again in the same position but this time all of their faces were not tense but instead battle-ready. The knights were oozing out killing intent.
Seeing this Caesar nodded and roared…
"REMEMBER MEN, A TRUE SOLDIER DOES NOT FIGHT BECAUSE HE HATES WHAT"S IN FRONT OF HIM BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES WHAT IS BEHIND HIM"
"For the KINGDOM!" The Knights roared back in response.
Soon a huge cart of armor and swords were brought to them by the many blacksmiths and engineers…
"ARMOR UP" Caesar roared to the knights
The cloudsteel armor the knight"s put on was full body, no skin was showing. The shoulder plates were somewhat sharp and the helmets had two eye hole sockets. There were tiny holes on the visor to make it capable of breathing.
Suddenly a totally separate cart was brought in by the lead blacksmith "Marshall this one is for you"
The armor on the singular rack was thin and colored black, it was red on the edges and was engraved with black and red intertwining dragons on the chest plate. The greaves were long and reached his knees. It came with a long crimson cloak.
Caesar nodded thankfully and put the armor on… Soon all of the knight"s were completely armored up including Caesar.
The knight"s in full body armor now looked extra menacing… Caesar didn"t put on his helmet because he didn"t like how it restricted his vision.
"Get in position!" Caesar ordered
"Yes, Marshall!"
The knight"s immediately got in a formation behind the large gate and the archers ran up the walls.
Caesar picked up a long silver spear and walked up the stairs and stood at the very top of the city walls peering down at the hill.
They all waited for what felt like days until finally, what looked to be a singular spec of dust appeared on the hill, then another and another.
Soon a huge army could be seen marching at them from the hill…. Caesar squinted his eyes and roared out "Blow the horn, The enemy has arrived!"
Suddenly another army appeared right beside the first one. The archers and captains on the wall started sweating and looked towards the marshall.
Caesars gaze sharpened as he looked at the army of roughly 10000 elves marching alongside the 15000 humans. "I"m never going to trust my d.a.m.n scouts again," he said to himself