Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 51 Escape Erusland

The long nights weighed down upon the many residents who called themselves Morenians. Access to games or crops made starvation a certainty. Mora intended to end their suffering once and for all.

Scouts reported that they've mostly abandoned their positions on the hills, practically leaving the village of Erusland wholly exposed to attacks. These strange actions might stir confusion into the minds of many, but Mora was unconcerned. She did not care for their trickery and tactics. Mora did not care for their diplomacy, their pleas for peace and civility. And she did not care for their lives. Her brother did. Now, just as her brother's life had been taken, so too shall she be the terrible thief of their hopes. The people of Morenians, cowards, and fools who dared side with the southern dog shall be wiped from memory. Neither their names nor their people shall live on past this decrepit little village that far exceeded the grandeur of their pitiful volkf. And the Thirians. She felt a fool for ever trusting them, ever believing their betrayal and lies. They did not come for peace; they did not come to atone for their apparent wrongdoings. On the contrary, they came to lie and deceive them, sowing distrust and confusion. Those cautionary words were made not in solidarity but in an attempt to lower their guards. Upon hearing the news of her twin brother's death, she vows upon the great spirits, upon Zethes himself, that she shall see that prince's head on a pike and his people flayed and frozen.

Atop her dragon, she peered down the flat white plains in the distance, their enemy just on the horizon. The reports were just, as they were preparing for the inevitable retaliation that was to come. Even after devastating encounters before, they still woefully outnumber their trapped adversaries. They now wholly surrounded the town, with nowhere to run if they were gutless enough to try such things. Her brothers and sisters now patrol the skies for any sign of escape. This seige, she intends to be their final encounter. They may not have fancy seige engines or other Thirian means, but from what she saw last of the town, its defenses were far from impenetrable. A dragon alone could destroy their ballistae and tear a chunk into the outer walls to mount an invasion. And if they strike multiple areas at once, they will only be able to respond after their men get into those walls, and the slaughtering begins. So many scenarios played over in her head of how she may get her revenge. Perhaps she will order them to leave the Thirian prince alive and take him to her elders. Maybe he will get those "answers" he wished for at the last meeting.

A scout dismounted from their horse and approached her. He looked somewhat startled, it seemed.

"Speak," she commanded of him.

"The village," he said uneasily. "I don't know how to describe it, but it's been swallowed by the earth. It's completely obscured from view."

"Elaborate," she demanded.

"It's surrounded," he went further. "Giant fangs from the earth surround the village and the walls. Even the dragon riders can not get a decent look inside without risk."

She growled, jumping upon her steed's back and taking off into the sky. Within minutes, she came to understand the bewilderment of her scout. As she descended from the clouds, she was met with a bizarre site. Massive slabs of earth, each easily fifty meters in height, jutted from the ground like gnashing teeth to swallow the village whole. It was utterly obscured and closed to everything except for a single opening at the top. Was this the Thirians doing? She saw him do something very similar, but not to this degree. Curiously, she flew closer to that hole at the top, which allowed some light to shine into the village. There she could see what was truly going on. But as she willed her dragon to fly over it, a ballista bolt soared out of the opening and narrowly missed them. The dragon hastily landed on one of the many teeth. At the very bottom of the whole was a massive amount of canons and ballista aimed directly at the opening. In frustration, she dragged her dragon away from the conflict.