Dragon Banner: Rebirth

Chapter 9

After a quick meal of the never changing stale bread. We all set off. I had made sure that I still had my knife on me. It would be my biggest mistake if I were to leave it behind. Who knows if I would be able to get an arrow to use as a weapon again.

As we marched, it was quiet except for the heavy breathing and footsteps of everyone. Looking around, not a smile could be seen, most people had tears running down their faces. I heard a bit more about our previous battle earlier though from some people. The first wave which I was part of was the worst hit. Apparently around seven hundred of us have been killed i'm the initial assault. The rest was made up of the second of, they though encountered many more elite fighters inside of the camp, taking as much damage from the archers we had. The third wave didn't lose a soul though as by the time they had arrived the battle was all but over, making them the most fearful of what is to come.

Our march this time only lasted for two days, each night we stopped in military camps and was fed surprisingly well. Fresh bread and soup greeted us each night. This though made me worry more than anything else. If they were feeding us up, would this battle not be harder than the previous one?

I also heard a rumour though that we were just going to be fighting some bandits again, this wouldn't be too bad...but if it was bandits why were we being fed so much. None of this was adding up at all.

The next morning everyone was gathered in front of a massive opening in the side of a hill. It was massive. Not only that though, there were some fortifications outside of the entrance which looked impressive. They thought we did not attack, but instead I guessed that it was soldiers. On one side I could see around twenty bandits hanging there with ropes around their necks. A sign was next to them as well, simply saying.

"For the glory of the Empire"

I shook my head at this. These soldiers, especially the officers were so loyal or misguided about their duty to the empire that it made them almost fanatical. It was kind of crazy, not only that though the officers especially looked down on us.

It was like they just saw us like bandits and couldn't wait to have us killed and off their hands.

"Your mission this time is simple. Clear out the caves! The horn will sound at dawn tomorrow. Those who do not return will be assumed to be dead or rebels and the soldiers will kill any they find without mercy. Attack! For the glory of the Empire!"

We had been divided into three waves again, this time though I was seemingly lucky and placed into the final wave. If I go by the previous battle, the final wave should in theory not even have to worry about fighting and instead just be greeted by lines of dead bodies.

My relief was short lived however, the second wave was sent in with only a five minute gap to the first and we all in the third wave, were made to get ready to go in.

As I peered inside, it was surprisingly bright for a cave. No one needed to have a torch as there seemed to be natural light coming down through the ceiling. I wonder who made this or if it is natural. If it's man made, just how could they do this?

My curiosity got the better of me, as I looked at the ceiling lost in thought, until we were yelled at to get moving.

Adjusting the grip on my knife I began to move in. Following behind everyone else.

Inside, I found myself on a steadily descending kind of ramp, it was incredibly smooth again making me wonder who had made this. It seemed too advanced for bandits to do and instead seemed more magical than anything else.

As I descended further, I could hear the faint sounds of fighting echoing off of the walls, it sounded intense. This made me shiver a bit and when I came to a fork in the path I chose without hesitation to go down the quietest path of the two.

As I followed it, twisting and turning as I did, I didn't come across a single person or body. It was weird. Some points where incredible dusy like no one had ever been there or at least not for a long time. Other parts though were clean and seemed like it was regularly used.

All of this just added to my growing curiosity, so much so that I had completely forgotten that I was in a battle in the first place. Soon enough I came across a doorway. The writing and designs on it and long faded away not allowing me to make anything out.

Crash!

A sudden loud noise came from inside. Startling me.

I shoved open the door, to see just one man, who was looking down at a broken pot.

He looked up at me in confusion.

"Who are you? Why are you down here? I made sure to say that no one should be down here!"

From his words I could quickly tell that he was one of the bandits or at least related to them. Seeing this as my chance while he had his guard down. I gripped my knife tighter. Bringing it up and thrust it straight into his throat and pulled it out with stabbing into him again.

He fell to the ground dead, his blood spraying all over me.

I went through what he had on briefly, not finding any armor or weapons. Just a small pouch filled with some silver coins, of which I made sure to grab.

After all coins mean money and money is always useful no matter where I am. Then I stood up and looked around the room. There wasn't much to be honest. A massive stone table in the centre of the room and a few shelves with pots on, I guess this was how he caused one to smash.

Walking over to the central table, my eyes opened wide in shock!

It was a map, but not any map that I recognised. It was kind of weird to be honest. There were two large continents separated by a large ocean with a few small island chains between the two. The continents though look like they were in an explosion, well only there were coasts that were facing the other. It looked like an explosion had happened right in the middle of two. Minus the small islands in between them I would have really thought this to be the case. But then I wonder why this map is here in the first place?

It can't be of this world clearly, someone must have made it up, but then why would they carve it into stone. Seeing nothing else here I followed the path back to the fork.

My mind was troubled by what I had seen.