Orc Dominion: Triumph Ch. 01

Amelie. Jasmara looked over at the Thestan Queen as she cut down a soldier. Jasmara still remembered the day she got to serve as Amelie's squire during the tournament. She had been her hero growing up and she always dreamed of going to war beside her. Now it had found them on opposite sides.

"Keep up the pressure!" Jasmara called out in answer. "Push, push!" This isn't how she wanted to meet with Amelie again, but she had a job to do and a battle to win. The Thestan ranks were starting to waver, and as two soldiers ran up to close a gap in the line she rushed forward to stop them. She slammed the haft of the spear against their shields. It took all of the strength her orc heritage gave her, but she pushed them back.

They didn't stay blocked for long though, and soon both were chopping and slashing their swords at her. The two worked as a team, while one was stabbing the other was slashing; keeping up the pressure and forcing her to dodge and parry instead of going on the offensive. Jasmara knew it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out and one of them scored a hit.

She moved backwards a few steps, then reached out to grab a burly orc who had just felled a foe. She pulled his arm hard and threw him towards the Thestan soldier on her right. He grunted in surprise, and then pain as the Thestan slashed him with the sword.

It hurt to have to do that to him, but she didn't let the moment go to waste. She quickly turned aggressive now that the fight was momentarily one on one. Relying on brute strength, she battered the Thestan's shield until he was turned to one side to brace against the impacts, then changed her aim and swept his legs out from under him at the knee.

The Thestan groaned as he landed on his back and the wind was knocked out of him. A moment of flashing pain later and he gurgled as the Princess' spear went through his belly. The other Thestan threw off the wounded orc and turned his attention back to Jasmara, screaming in rage as he saw his companion had been killed.

Unfortunately, his anger left his guard open, allowing the orc Princess to quickly dispatch him with her spear as she punctured his bowels with the blade of her spear. With those two warriors dead, the gap in the line expanded and more of her orcs pushed forward. The Thestans began to get pushed off to the sides as her company broke through their ranks.

As she muscled her way to the opening she saw Amelie off to one side trying to restore order to her lines. Jasmara tightened her grip on her spear as she considered rushing over to take on the Princess-Knight. But the moment passed, and she let it go. It wasn't that she was scared to take Amelie on, she just didn't want to. If she lost, she was dead. If she won, well, she didn't want to be responsible for killing Amelie.

A great cheer went up as they finally burst through to the other side. The hill was open now, and the archers stationed there vulnerable to her infantry. They were busy savaging the disorganized portions of the army and needed to be eliminated. "To the hill! Get the archers! The archers!" She began to run forward, until a new threat made her skid to a halt. From the north a horde of new soldiers was pouring down on the segment of the army cut off from the rest.

As they charged, a portion split off from the others and began racing towards her, as the Thestan ranks closed again behind her cutting her off as well. Damn it! The ambush was deeper than I thought and now we're truly cut off. Worse, horns began to blow from her brother's army, signaling retreat. We're fucked, she realized. Our only hope is to link up with the rest of the army and fight until we can disperse and hope we don't get picked up.

"Change of plans, follow me, rally and square up!" As she led her company towards the remaining orcs she saw a strangely familiar looking grandfather holding the banner of the new soldiers: a bearded lion; the Bearded Lion of Heste. "King" Henry Ousten has returned.

****

Henry always knew that war would come, it was just a matter of time. But he hadn't thought it would take this long. For nearly twenty years he had been in exile. Twenty years of hiding, of wandering, of being denied his birthright. Now, finally, it was all coming together. Victory was by no means assured, but at least it would be settled one way or the other.

He gripped his sword tighter as he closed with the enemy. The old king of Heste wouldn't have fought with his men, which meant he had to. The northern lords were used to weakness and ineptitude from their Kings. Henry needed to show them strength and courage. Besides, even if I should fall, I've left a son to take my place. Amelie would take charge of the war, and probably come to dominate it entirely. Heste might become a shadow under Thesta, but even that would be preferable to being the orc's brothel.

No, I can't think like that. Running into battle isn't a good time to dwell on thoughts of defeat. Henry pushed those thoughts from his mind and focused on the orcs ahead of him. They were ragged, tired, and close to beaten; but not quite yet. He would finish the job.

Ahead of him he picked an orc out of the line. A big, savage brute wielding a massive axe. "For Heste! For the real Heste! For freedom for all humans!" Henry dodged to the side as the orc chipped the axe down and buried the blade in the ground. He slashed with his sword in response, but the orc moved quicker than expected, and his sword sparked against his chainmail.

The orc swung the back of his fist at Henry, only to grunt in pain as Henry blocked it straight on with his shield. Henry brought his sword down in a vicious chop right at the elbow where the orc was unarmored. His heavy longsword tore through ligament and shattered the bone before severing the forearm from the orc's body.

The orc roared in pain and lashed out with his axe one handed, but the move was so telegraphed that Henry was able to nimbly avoid the blow and gripped the blade of his longsword in his gauntlet. He sidestepped around the wounded orc and drove the sword up beneath his helmet and into the base of his skull. The tip of the sword punched through the orc's head, killing him instantly.

Henry pulled it back as the orc dropped to the ground. The ranks of men behind him cheered at the death of the orc and rallied, charging forward to punch a large dent in the square. The once even sides of the formation began to bow and chip away as it was attacked from all sides by the Thestan and Hesten soldiers.

They're holding together too well, he thought, they must still have a commander. Well, let's see what I can do about that. Henry brought his blade down on the neck of an orc, half-severing his head while one of his soldiers put his spear through another orc's throat. He led his core of troops to gouge and carve his way through the ranks to the center of the formation.

To his surprise he found a woman at the center of the square. One of the Bitch Queen's daughters, no doubt. This just gets better and better. The orc Princess charged to meet him, saving him the trouble of cutting through her guards. "Throw down your spear, Princess, surrender now and you'll be treated with honor."

"Forgive me if I don't return the honor, Henry. I think I'll take the chance to kill you and end this little rebellion on one stroke, instead."

"You can try." He replied grimly, and began advancing on the orc woman. He kept his shield up high and his sword at the ready. When Jasmara probed with her spear he deflected with his shield and kept moving, trying to get inside her guard. By fighting in the center of the square her ability to create space was neutralized, denying her one of the great advantages of fighting with a spear.

With nowhere to go, Jasmara fought even harder to keep him at bay. Using the stiff, strong weight of the shaft she punched and hammered, but the damn pretender seemed to make the thrust deflect every time. He's good, she thought, and then took her frustration out by redoubling her efforts. The tip of her spear was leaving long gouges in his shield, and if need be she'd carve all the way through.

Henry had no intention of giving her that chance. "One last chance, Princess. Surrender now and you'll be accorded all the respect due your rank." This time when he deflected her spear thrust he chopped toward her arm, and then slashed backwards towards her chest.

The Princess dodged and slid backwards, but then he knew she would. He was just forcing her tighter and tighter against the orcs behind her. "Your brother has been defeated, at least this day. You're cut off! There's nowhere to go. Your lines are collapsing. It's over, throw down your spear!"

"Never! Die! You're going to die if I have to drag you into the Abyss myself!" She snarled and threw herself at him. If she couldn't keep him at a distance to use her spear then she wasn't going to give him the distance to use his sword.

A grunt escaped the King's lips as Jasmara slammed into him. He had brought his shield up to help absorb the weight of her body, but she grabbed it with both hands and yanked it towards his sword hand and continued forward. By the Abyss she's strong! He thought as they tumbled to the ground.

Jasmara threw her body over top his shield and pinned him to the ground beneath it. With Henry trapped on his side, she drew her dagger and thrust it into his back. She snarled as it struck his armor and failed to penetrate. She stabbed him again, but with the awkward position of trying to keep him stuck beneath the shield she couldn't find the angle she needed to slip it beneath his armor and into the soft flesh of his back.

"Aaaaagh!" Henry screamed and flexed his arms as he lifted with all his might to throw Jasmara off. She flew to the side and he quickly rolled over and slammed his shield into her face. He scrambled to his knees and then slammed it into her again and again. He could hear her grunting in pain, but knew that her armor was absorbing most of the blow.

"Ung!" She tightened her grip on the dagger and swung it around at his leg, but he blocked it with his greave, and then lashed out, kicking the blade from her hand. All around her the battle was ending as the last of her men were cut down or surrendered. Time was running out, and soon Henry would have allies joining in to subdue her.

Henry wasn't going to give her another chance to surrender, no, that time had passed. As the orc princess lunged for the dagger at his belt he swung the shield again, smashing it across her jaw and knocking Jasmara to the ground, unconscious.

All around him men cheered as the banners of the orc king retreated into the distance pursued by the banners of the falcon guard. And over the battlefield was raised the Bearded Lion.

****

Amelie sat down in the chair in the command tent, trying not to show how tired she was. Her arms felt like lead, and she could only hope that she didn't have to do much pointing on the large map that was spread out over the table. At almost fifty, she just wasn't as young as she used to be. But this might be her last campaign, and it was the one everything was riding on, so she wouldn't let fatigue become an issue. She had to save Thesta, for her daughter Anne, and for all her people.

"The Falcon Guard pursued the orcs and mauled their rear guard badly, but the bulk of the orc army was able to retreat in good order. Our estimate is that they'll head for Dromstadt to reinforce the garrison, and then continue south towards the Warne river, as that it the next most defensible point." Phillippe traced the projected path across the map with his finger, thankfully sparing Amelie the need to.

We need to pursue the army, but Henry isn't going to agree, Amelie thought.

"We need to march on Dromstadt. The sooner I legitimize my rule over the country, the larger the rebellion will grow. The best way to do that is to take the capital and sit on the rightful Hesten throne." Henry thumped the map with his finger.

"We need to eliminate their army. Right now the Sandoran army has half their forces blocked at the Hades Pass. We need to drive them out of Heste so that we can cut the Zentaran army off from Ruar and trap it between our armies." Amelie leaned forward. "Henry, your reign will be best served by sweeping out the orcs instead of getting bogged down in a siege."

Henry shook his head. "Defeating them in the field isn't the answer. My uncle shattered their army during the second war and it split into a thousand fragments and caused no end of trouble behind the lines. We need to systematically clear them from Heste, to burn them out root and branch. The Sandorans can hold the Pass indefinitely, so there is no danger on that front. The longer the war goes on, the stronger our position. We have the food; they are the ones who are going to be starving come winter."

A lot of the assembled shook their head in agreement with that, and Amelie had to admit they had a point. Thesta and Sandora were the breadbaskets of the Western Kingdoms, and Zentara relied on them for food. The longer the war continued the weaker Zentara would get.

"Heste and Zentara outnumber us now, and they haven't even brought the elfs in yet. Zentara has the manufacturing base and the ore to equip a much larger army. We need to defeat them before we find ourselves hopelessly outnumbered."

"They could have ten times our number and it won't help them storm the Lsykean or Hades Passes; and once they start starving they won't be able to support an army of that size anyway." Henry countered.

"And if they march into the Angrian March and bypass The Seven Forts? What then?"

Henry just scowled at that. Clearly the two of them were not going to agree.

"Well, I'm with King Henry." Black Pete, the grizzled leader of the Catabrian contingent said. "The damned orcs did plenty of damage to my people, as you know Your Highness. It's time for payback. They've left a good many villages behind, unprotected. And there's more orcs in that city of theirs. It's time to burn them out!"

More cheers to that. Here was another old argument: how do they handle the prisoners? The Hestens and Catabrians believed that no quarter should be given, and again, Amelie had to admit they made compelling points. It still seemed wrong to her to engage in wholesale slaughter though. "We've been over this; if we kill indiscriminately, and take no prisoners, then the orcs will never surrender. It will be a fight to the death, and it could take a generation or more to hunt them all down."

"That's still better than the alternative, Amelie. Jeanette will never willingly abdicate the throne. She needs to be removed. And no orcs can be allowed to remain in the Western Kingdoms, or we'll be fighting another round of wars in a generation." He held up a hand to stop her protest, one that he had heard before and expected. "And if we throw them back into the Angrian March, we'll have hundreds of thousands of orc raiders spilling over the border. That mess will take generations to fix. Now, admittedly, that won't be a problem for Heste. It will be Thesta and Sandora that bleed, and Zentara too. Do you really want that?"

She wanted to curse him, but couldn't. Amelie had fought campaigns in the Angrian March. Yes, she'd won, but that was with the orc Hordes depleted from migrating into Zentara. If they migrated back, their numbers would be overwhelming and her borders would never know peace. Reluctantly, she relented. "I know, and you're right. We're making it harder for ourselves, but better to fight it here and now and get it done with, and not drag it out over the next two hundred years." Amelie pulled herself up to her feet. "But that doesn't mean we should kill all of the prisoners."

Despite the Hesten and Catabrian rhetoric, prisoners had been taken after the battle. Amelie had insisted that they be questioned before being executed. Then there were the special prisoners. "Some of them are noble, after a fashion. We can use that. Which brings us to the Princess." Henry stiffened at the topic. "I would like to ransom her to my custody. I know her, and I believe I can use her against Jeanette. Despite her age, she is still running the war from Ruar, and threatening her daughter with the Abyss could paralyze her strategically."

"I agree, but she doesn't need to be in your custody for that. I defeated her, she is my prisoner. I'm not going to ransom her."

"Then I trust you at least plan on treating her as befits her rank. Such a high ranking prisoner should be kept under watch in a castle, not dragged around in an army camp." Though they were on opposing sides now, she had fond memories of her and didn't want to see her mistreated, which was a near certainty in a camp full of Hestens and Catabrians.

"She had plenty of opportunities to surrender and be treated according to her rank. She refused, and persisted to try and kill me. Even after the battle was clearly lost she refused to surrender. As for her 'accommodations', when we seize Dromstadt I'll see that she is kept somewhere appropriate." Henry paused for a moment. "All the laws of war say that she is mine to dispose of as I wish. I consider the matter closed."

"Very well." Amelie sighed. Before they continued, a Thestan soldier entered the tent.

"Your Highness, letters from Sandora." The soldier handed Amelie two scrolls.

Amelie took the letters with a smile. The use of carrier pigeons had revolutionized communications in the Western Kingdoms, and warfare with it. Now strategy could be coordinated over much longer distances. "Thank you. Excuse me a moment, I want to see what the news is before we continue planning our next move."

She rose from the chair and exited into the night. The first letter was from The Duke of Lisene, the General in charge of the Sandoran forces. She quickly put that one away to read later. The second was from the King's youngest daughter, Brigitte. She had served in Amelie's court as a young woman, and had taken a liking to her bold, forthright nature. Bridget became good friends with Anne, and Amelie knew that her letter would cut right to the heart of the matter.

Your Highness,

Things are getting interesting here and I think you need to return. We repulsed an attack from Zentara, but it wasn't the massive victory that Lisene will tell you it was. He is starting to try and convince father that we need to go on the offensive and invade Zentara. I know that this isn't the plan and would be a disaster. I have an alternative that I would like to broach with you. Please send word that you'll be returning; that will keep father from approving anything that Lisene suggests until you arrive.

Regards,

Brigitte

Well! She had always known Lisene was a bit of a buffoon, which is why she arranged for the Sandorans to maintain the static defense. Amelie had hoped that it would keep him out of trouble, but apparently that had been over optimistic. It seemed like she would have to return after all. But that will leave Jasmara with no one to protect her. She brooded on that for a moment, but finally pushed the feelings of regret away. Nothing to be done. She is the enemy, after all.

A moment later she returned to the command tent. "Gentlemen, the southern front is now officially active. We're holding, but Lisene is starting to get some great ideas and I am needed to keep him in line. I'm going to take the Falcon Guard with me, and leave Phillippe in charge of the Thestan forces." This was going to leave Henry in de facto command, but it couldn't be help. He may not run the war the way she would, but at least she could trust him not to get his army destroyed. "Your Highness," she turned towards Henry, "I wish you good luck and good hunting. Phillippe, I have a few things to go over before I depart."