A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 10 - The Battle of Peros

By the year 1865, Melinda had become so assured that Eade would not slip from her grasp that she almost forgot her concern about it. No matter how hard they tried to do something about it, the Maguires could never quite acquire enough power to defy her in any significant way. Throughout all those years, they revolted against her more times than they could count, but even though their state was clearly the more advanced one, Melinda would always find a way to return them to their designated position. Everything seemed hopeless and they were about to give up when one day, they got support from a place they never could have expected.

It was early in the morning and the silence had engulfed the castle, except for the sounds of George snoring in the royal bedroom. Although Hilde found it a bit annoying, she had gotten used to it, especially because it always motivated her to get out of bed faster. While the sun was slowly rising amidst the abundant grey clouds, she was deciding which dress to wear, smiling, as she was wont to do thanks to the immense gratitude of having a choice between countless beautiful dresses. After a few minutes of scouring her wardrobe, she dug out a particularly long one with several layers of dark pink and white, putting it on herself because she insisted on having no maids, albeit with some difficulty.

While she was walking toward the bathroom, a letter surrounded by purple light landed on the windowsill, making her turn to face it with a raised eyebrow. She quickly walked over to the window, immediately opening the letter, reading it to herself in a very quiet voice. It went like this:

Dear Mr and Mrs Maguire,

I have seen your struggle against the Empress, and I am sorry for being unable to help you earlier. It was hard for me to find a way to help you, and during my every waking moment, I remember the damage that has been done to you, and I regret my lack of speed. However, there is no time for such folly at this moment, so I must inform you that at last, I have found enough resources for you to stand a chance when encountered with the attacks of your enemy. I heard that, in the very capital of the Empire, there shall be a battle at noon in seven days, and while I am on your side, you shall not receive another loss. I have prepared an army of skilled warriors and magicians, and my battle plan involves convenient new tactics that the Empress could not expect. If we win this battle, which, again, we will, she shall be depleted of her resources, and thus she will not be able to retaliate, so do not despair, my allies, and make your soldiers fight for freedom with newfound vigour. 

Until next time,

Maria Thorne

By the time she closed the letter in utter shock, George had woken up. A few minutes later, he walked over to her, noticing that she was holding an envelope in her hands. 

"What's in the letter?" he asked, barely audible because of all the yawning that he was doing.

Hilde beamed at him. "I have got wonderful news for you, George! Maria Thorne sent us a letter to inform us that she has gathered enough resources for us to be able to win the battle of Peros next week. Isn't it incredible?"

George's eyes went wide. "I had no idea that Thorne would do something like this. I cannot express my gratitude nearly enough for such a grand favour. Send her our answer soon as possible. We cannot leave her waiting."

She nodded, walking to her study with haste. There, hunched over her desk, her quill quivering in her hand, she wrote an affirmative answer with the most intense gratitude she could put in there, staring at the paper while waiting for the ink to dry, and then immediately packing and sending the letter, which she got instantly. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Hilde went back to her bedroom, and until next week, when she and her husband would have to arrive on the battlefield to observe how everything was going, she only had to wait.

Even though Hilde felt like an eternity had passed, the next week came soon. The winds of cold were blowing at her back while she was standing on the battlefield, which used to be a faraway dream she saw solely in paintings. Rays of the sun shone like gold over the high grass and the armours of soldiers on both sides. Out of all the armours, not more than one stood out. It was the armour the Empress had been known for wearing for over a decade, and in every painting where she was depicted as a knight, she wore that one with all the rose symbols of Obscuria that were there in real life, although no signs of rust could ever be shown. She stood as tall and mighty as she did there, wearing a smug smirk on her face while drawing her sword. With nothing more than a brief glare, Hilde followed her husband to a nearby shelter from which she could witness the battle and from which Maria could be seen, leaving the Empress to smirk to herself while the battle was starting.

In the beginning, her confidence did not wane at all, for she was winning, and it looked like it would stay that way. It was indeed a bit more difficult than she had expected it to be, but it was nothing that she could not overcome. She rode quickly through the battlefield, her magic causing the enemy soldiers closest to her to drop like flies, their eyes turning silver almost instantly, fighting against those on their side relentlessly, the new force in their bodies overwhelming them with rage. Swords, spears, knives, spells and various other weapons violently pierced the unprotected parts of their opponents' bodies, the grass beneath them turning red as a rose mostly from Eadean blood, with some Obscurian and undead Eadean soldiers here and there. A gleam appeared in her eyes from gazing at the sheer beauty of the scene.

Her blood started to boil when she noticed that the other side had a necromancer with them as well, who was slaying her alive and undead soldiers alike with mostly Obscurian zombies, which motivated her to ride faster and find them so that she could pierce their heart. She rode and rode through the piles of corpses on the ground for a while, but she could not see her target anywhere, which angered her even more. Concluding that he had to be commanding his army from a safe distance, she let out a deep sigh, casting spells and stabbing enemies as quickly as she could. Soon enough, the enemies commenced doing the same, and the battlefield was overwhelmed with her ice and their fire, almost impossible to navigate.

Due to their fire, her brain had received an onslaught of horrendous memories while sweat was aggressively running down her body, mildly lessened by the ice around her. Many from her army were heavily damaged by the fire, their skin turning red, screaming for a release from their nightmare. Breathing heavily from the massive loss she was experiencing with barely any advantage and the memories that were eating at her scarce sanity, she shifted her focus to blowing waves of ice mainly at her soldiers with her shaky hands, which only served to solidify her loss because she could not do anything else at that time. Then, she gritted her teeth, preparing herself to shout a feeble command she had not shouted in ages, which she was ready to do upon comparing the number of the corpses on both sides, knowing that hers had many more and that she could not gain advantage again because the battle had gone on for too long:

"Retreat!"

She shouted that command a few more times to ensure it would be heard, and her generals shouted it with her. Her remaining soldiers had begun to run away without looking back, glad to escape the flames at last, riding to the palace to confirm their defeat. She glared at the distance during the ride, unaware of the fact that George, Hilde and Maria were smiling at the scene because everything had gone according to their plan. They may have freed Eade from her clutches, but when she gathered enough resources, which she would find a way to do eventually, revenge would be hers.