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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 80: The Dark Dragon's Den
Led by Caimlin’s men, the invasion force made its way swiftly out of the Neverwood, and then southwards through Dragon Master territory. They saw precious few people. Most people fled at the sight of the invading army, not bothering to stay and find out which side they were on, or else they were supporters of Del Grakken, and knew that Caimlin’s men, Royal Knights, and Cavaliers together could mean nothing good for them.
A week out from the Neverwood, they reached the Dark Dragon’s Den, the new seat of Dragon Master government. The fortress was manned by some three hundred soldiers, who surrendered immediately. It seemed that they had no will to fight an army of four thousand.
“Where is Del Grakken?” Caimlin demanded when they had taken the fortress, “Where has the traitor fled?”
“For that matter,” said Elbadar, “where is the rest of the army? There should be at least two thousand more soldiers in the Dragon Master army.”
“Del Grakken has withdrawn with the two thousand soldiers who are completely loyal to him,” replied the sergeant who had been left in command of the Dark Dragon’s Den, “He was summoned by BloodVaine to Orion, with as many men as he could trust the loyalty of completely. They were to have met by the Cross Knights loyal to Aezazel.”
Caimlin couldn’t believe his ears. “Two thousand men COMPLETELY loyal to Del Grakken? And less than a thousand loyal to Lord Void, or else unsure in their loyalty? His treachery has been at work far longer than I had thought.”
“I guess we shall not have to spend much time in Dragon Master lands after all,” said Quorandis, taking in all that had happened, “It seems that Del Grakken, having left, no longer has much control over this kingdom. In that case, I think we shall soon be on our way towards Orion, right on the heels of Del Grakken, it would seem.”
Eventually, it was decided that Caimlin’s three hundred, those loyal completely to Lord Void, would remain at the Dark Dragon’s Den, in command of the kingdom, while Caimlin himself would lead the three hundred who had been there before, the three hundred of more doubtful loyalties.
For two days Bernard Quorandis’ army sat at Dark Dragon’s Den, preparing for what he hoped was the last invasion. As a part of this, Bernard Quorandis was seeing to the management of the army.
The army was to be divided into three divisions. The first was the cavalry, composed of the Cavaliers and Club Knights, and it would be directly under the command of Quorandis himself, and with Sir Victor de Graff as second-in-command.
The infantry of Talistrand would form the secondhusa moncloa madrid division. Included with them was Radjar Kath and his companions, as well as Elwen and Sir Jayko. King Kath was given command of that force.
The final force was composed of the Dragon Masters, both Caimlin’s and Targon’s, as well as the Royal Knights who had been recruited on the march. It was, reluctantly, placed under Targon’s command.
In addition to the soldiers, there was also a half-dozen dragons or so with the army, including the Sorceror-King’s dragon, and a few that Caimlin and his men had acquired at the Dark Dragon’s Den.
In addition to ordering the army, Quorandis also had to receive reports from intelligence regarding the state of affairs in LEGOland.
“Things are not good,” he admitted to Elwen that evening. The two were taking a stroll together, but Quorandis couldn’t get his mind off the job ahead of him.
“Their is virtually no army for us to rebuild if we succeed in driving BloodVaine out. The Cavaliers were almost totally destroyed. The Tridentines fled in droves to the Royal Knights. The Cross Knights remain intact, but they have eagerly joined BloodVaine, almost to a man. As for the other orders, huge numbers have died, huge numbers and fled, and those that are left have done like the Cross Knights.”
“So what does that mean?” asked Elwen, although she already knew pretty much what it did.
“It means that we will not be able to draw on local support,” said Quorandis, “We will not be able to gather recruits as we have here or in Royal Knight country. And if -when!- we drive BloodVaine out, there will only be a small number, returning Tridentines mainly, that we can count on to rebuild the country. We will have to start a massive recruitment drive to rebuild the orders. The Cross Knights may not be rebuilt at all.”
“Is it so important that the Empire have a large army?” asked Elwen.
“It is to me,” said Quorandis quietly, “The Empire has been the mainstay of peace in Dametreos for over a thousand years. It is the Emperor who has stopped wars such as these from breaking out in the past. And without the armies of the Cavaliers and the tertiary orders, there would be no way to do that. I intend to see that peace like that returns.”
“What about the Fell War?” asked Elwen, as they passed Radjar Kath’s quarters, “The Emperor did not intervene in that war?”
“True,” said Quorandis, “but I said wars such as these. The Fell War was nothing to this. It was a localised dispute, and although it was bloodly, civilian casualties were low, and it was over relatively fast.”
“This war has been short too,” said Elwen. “It couldn’t even have been foreseen in the spring.”
“I know,” said Quorandis, “I know...hopefully, it will be over soon. Dametreos has seen enough carnage.”
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