The Horseman of Calamity

Chaper 8 - Flowing Blades

It had been a little over a week since Hung and the knight vanguard had launched an attack on the Mutatas. That week, Hung struggled to sleep, he often laid in bed gazing at the sky and would jump at the sound of a brush moving. He and the knights had gotten back to the castle a couple of days ago, they were being updated by messengers on what was happening on the front. The army's food supply had lasted well so far but they'd only be able to keep fighting for another two weeks at the most. The Hast army was very well versed in the usage of siege machines, in fact, their previous king employed them to expand their territory, however because of the artifact's fragility, the usage of siege machines could not be warranted. From what Hung was told, the Hasten royal army had been locked out by the stiff Mutata defense, as it turns out, the Mutata had purposefully kept its strongest fighters in the back to give the vanguard a false sense of strength. Meanwhile, the number of Hast casualties had been steadily rising, it was unlikely that they'd be able to break through. Cavalry wouldn't be able to do anything, and the battle rams that they brought to break down the walls would be lit aflame or crushed by the oncoming defenders. Unfortunately for the Hasts as well, they had only two mages, the Mutatans on the other hand, had several mages. One of the Mutatan mages was stationed to defend against the Hasts and was hidden when Hung was attacking, they were now wreaking havoc on the Hasten army as well.

"And to top all of that off, due to the vast amount of soldiers dying, we're having a slight zombie problem." The scout reported to the knights, including Hung.

"Zombies? Like the reanimated dead people?" Hung raised his hand.

"Yes, when there is so much death energy being released in a concentrated area, the corpses of the dead tend to be reanimated. They're harmless for the most part as they are slow and noisy but it gives our soldiers an extra problem to deal with."

"If they bite you will you become a zombie too?" Hung with a genuine tone.

"I understand that you are from another world, Mr. Hung, but please refrain from joking right now." The scout lowered his report form.

"I was genuinely wondering but okay. Is there any chance that the Mutatas might use this opportunity to mount a counterattack and invade here?"

"Of course not. The desert rats wouldn't dare to invade our sovereign territory."

The way that the scout said it gave Hung an uneasy feeling. After the report had been finished, Hung left the meeting room and began making his way over to the laboratory. Inside, it was just Dr. Montarche.

"Hey doc, Larie is out on errands I assume?"

"Oh yes, she is, what brings you in?" He pulled out a spare chair.

"Well, I was thinking, and I've decided that I'm not going to be staying here anymore, I felt like I should tell you and Larie before I left but you can tell her for me."

"I see, well of course, do you need help with anything?" He clasped his hands.

"I'd just like some directions to a safe space, just somewhere I can go to safely think about how to get home."

"Hm, might I suggest you head up north? After crossing the Cocao desert, you'll end up in the northern plains, there is a local government there that is under the protection of the Mutata empire. Of course, you can't reveal yourself to anyone."

"Thanks." He contemplated asking Montarche to come with but withheld, "I'll start prepping for the journey then and leave early in the morning in a few days, what about you guys?"

"As much as I dislike the king, I unfortunately cannot just leave. Though given this war, if our kingdom is invaded I will be sure to take myself and the others to flee."