315 Chapter 31In the morning when the surroundings were already bright enough for Ounephes and his remaining soldiers to be able to see the enemy camp from where they are, they saw the Drakhars who were busy piling up the corpses of their enemies on one corner while carefully gathering their fallen comrades. From far to the north, the Drakhars who acted as bait to lure away the Ereian cavalry came into view as they brought along with them their fallen comrades.

The Rhakaddon and Warghen cavalry made themselves scarce as they took a detour far to the west when it was still dark and only decided to swing south during the crack of dawn. Both cavalry groups remained at full force after the clash or perhaps better to be termed as the slaughter of the enemy cavalry since their allied infantry took the brunt of the attack of the enemy riders.

Ounephes can’t comprehend on how their foes managed to slaughter all the infantry units that he had sent forward during the dark with their low numbers, ‘They are hiding a bigger army inside their camp…’ that was the first thing that came into his mind after seeing the obviously few numbers of the enemy army who are busy dealing with the aftermath of the battle during the darkness. He was even more convinced of his thought after remembering his scrying spell failing all the time when he tries to peer into the camp of their foes.

With the remaining number of soldiers available for him to field unto the battle which wasn’t optimistic for them, he decided that he won’t respond to their enemies’ next call for battle and just take refuge inside their camp where they would have a better chance of repelling their foes with the help of the fortifications of their base. He then ordered for more sentries to be on the post as to keep an eye out in all directions to prevent any surprise from their foes if they decide to mount a raid of their own against their camp.

Ounephes then gathered his remaining generals inside his tent for a meeting on how they should proceed with the upcoming battles. “I recommend that we should strengthen the defenses of our fort less it fails during crucial times.” The general who was in charge of their right flank recommended as he pointed at a few spots of their camp which needs to be prioritize with the strengthening of its defenses.

“That’s already given since we no longer have the capability to fight the enemy army in a pitch battle with the number of soldiers that we have left.” Ounephes responded as he nodded his head in agreement. They had no choice but to fight in a siege battle against their foes with them being on the defense since they are lacking in number of soldiers, “Any other suggestions?” he continued.

“Brother, I’ll go in person to father and convince him to send us reinforcements and more supplies since it seems like we will be stuck here for a long period of time if we can’t destroy the enemy army that bars our path.” Suphis turned to look at his brother who was lost in his thoughts as he drummed his fingers from both hands upon the armrests of his chair which was a telltale sign of him being troubled.

“And what will you say to father? hmmm…?” Ounephes shifted his gaze towards his brother as he doesn’t trust his choice of words whenever he speaks and he might just screw him over to their father if he choose the wrong words to say to their father. Suphis gave it some thought then he realized what his brother meant and he went mute for a few moments, “Well, you can give me a script for me to memorize on what to say to father…” the little brother suggested while giving out a sheepish smile.

“Any more suggestion?” Ounephes turned his attention to his other remaining general who was still yet to make a sound. “Maybe we can make use of the river to launch a surprise attack onto the rear of the enemy camp but it would require us to have numerous boats that are big enough to ferry our soldiers downstream.” Khait the younger one between his two remaining generals suggested which made Ounephes halt his drumming on the armrests of his chair upon hearing the suggestion.

…..

“Maybe we can have the reinforcement travel by boats to reach us…” Rathos the other general suggested after taking a look at the map that was on the table in front of them and noticed the snaking figure that runs through the kingdom. “We will go with your arrangements… Suphis…come to me during noon to get your script which you would need to go over as you travel back to inform father…That’s all for now and if there is no emergency that requires my attention, don’t disturb me…Dismiss…” Ounephes stood up from his chair and headed out towards the rear opening of his tent to head towards his playhouse.

The two remaining generals shivered after seeing where their commander was heading to as they knew of the fate that would fall upon their fellow general who was in command of the archer units of the army. Among those inside the camp only the two of them knew inside the camp of the horrors that would befall upon anyone that would earn the ire of their commander with the exception of the commander’s brother who had no interest in the hobby of his brother but knew of it.

Back towards the camp on the side of Khao’khen, his warriors and their allies were having a small feast to celebrate their recent overwhelming victory and also to honor their fallen comrades. A slightly festive atmosphere engulfed the camp and everyone was enjoying themselves.

Gur’kan had a grin on his face as he waved towards Trot’thar who was up in the tower by himself to keep an eye out. Trot’thar clicked his tongue in annoyance as he devoured the meal that was sent to him by the chief which had no booze include with it as the chieftain specifically ordered for him to remain sober less they miss the movements of the enemy army.

The day passed with the side of Ounephes firming the defenses of their camp while the side of Khao’khen was busy with their celebration. Another day passed and there was still no action from both sides but Suphis already headed out early in the morning with a script to memorize and a letter for their father while being escorted by half of the remaining riders of their army.

The next day, Khao’khen ordered for the Drakhars to be mobilized and form their ranks. A loud booming sound from the battle horn reverberated through the plains down below and reached the ears of the Ereians who were inside their camp. An hour passed and there was still no response from the enemy camp as the gate of their fort remained firmly tightly shut and. After few more hours and realizing that their foes have no plans of answering their call for battle, Khao’khen had the Drakhars stand down since they had no choice because with their numbers alone, they wouldn’t be able to launch an effective siege onto their enemies’ camp.

Khao’khen could send in the Yohan First Horde to assist the Drakhars in laying siege unto the enemy camp and they would surely destroy their enemies’ defenses with their help but the information about his kin being allied to the House of Darkhariss would be known to their enemies and he didn’t want that to happen, at least not this early. He still want to keep their foes guessing of what or who they are really up against and have an edge over them.

Days passed with nothing eventful happening except for the spies from the Ereian camp still attempting to get inside the camp of Khao’khen to gather information from time to time which would always be thwarted by Trot’thar and the sentries who were on post. The two armies began a battle in shadows which was no different from playing a game of cat and mouse with the side of Khao’khen being the cat while the Ereian side being the mouse.

True to his words, Zaraki headed back towards the City of Alsenna to inform the lady of his resignation from being the commander of the Drakhars. On his journey to the city, he brought with him the wounded who are no longer suited for battle even after they recovered from their wounds because of the injuries that they had sustained like missing some of their limbs. The Rhakaddon cavalry accompanied Zaraki on his journey as they returned to patrol the route between their camp and the city and to make sure that no enemies would be able to threaten their supply line while the Warghen clan returned in patrolling the areas to the north of their camp.

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