2 Chapter 2: The Will of The Emperor

Chapter 2: The Will of The Emperor

Andrew O'Kelley

andrewokelley.com

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In an otherwise empty tent, the heavily calloused hands of the warrior Emperor Ironstar riffed through reports and status updates from units in the field. Trivial data, essential data. Casualties, sickness, troop strengths, and incident reports. But it was the last few reports that caused him to pause the most in concern as he contemplated the implications.

The number of incidents with Elves spotted on the Imperial side of the border had tripled within the last two months. Still, spies within the Elven Enclave reported no notice of troop movements. The Orcs and Ogres were launching attacks against frontier villagers towards the East, and he had been given a covert casualty report that an Ascended Mage had been killed during one of the raids by the Orcs.

He found himself disheartened by the news, there were not enough of them, and so few born to replace those lost. The Emperor made a mental note. He would need to send an order soon, recalling almost all who were stationed in various outposts to try and consolidate the strength of the Empire. He might even need to recall into active service some of the Ascended Ones who had gone to gray.

The report about the monsters amassing in the West was equally troubling as the rumors of wars brewing on the other borders. Their numbers were growing out of control. The Emperor had allowed members of the forcefully disbanded Soldiers of the Sword and Shield to remain on the Western Front to curtail those numbers with a promise of complete and eventually pardon them for their efforts.

Ironstar had hoped to prevent an outbreak of monsters, but judging from the sheer number of reported monster sightings, he had failed in that goal.

The Emperor put the reports down and leaned across the table in the middle of his command tent, carefully examining the map of his domain that was spread across it. The entirety of the Empire of Magic precisely summed up in a series of sharp lines and miniatures denoting troop presence. He braced himself against the table and sighed. The weight of his people on him. Even an Emperor could feel tired and overwhelmed. Slamming his hand into the table in frustration, the map and the miniatures on it were flung throughout the tent.

No matter how many times Ironstar looked at the map, nothing changed. He couldn’t change the numbers. They didn’t have enough Ascended Ones, they didn’t have enough Essence Weavers, they didn’t have enough Mages in general. They didn’t even have enough Scouts and Soldiers. The only thing they had more than enough of was the hungry mouths of the commoners. Ironstar needed a distraction from the pending disaster.

The flap of the tent pulled up and in walked his Chamberlain, an Ascended Mage by the name of Michael the Frostbane, who had served him faithfully for almost three decades. Of the people Ironstar relied upon, none measured up to Michael.

"What is it, Michael?" the Emperor asked, standing up straight, cutting an impressive figure in his etched leather field armor. "Please tell me you’ve brought me a spot of good news. We’ve got reports of monsters massing in the West, incursions by the Elves in the South, and Orcs to the East raiding our villagers. The only thing we seem to have going for us anymore is Zachariah’s trenches, for all that mess was worth. We just don’t have the manpower anymore to keep up."

"I understand, sir," replied Michael with a curt bow, noticing his Lord’s current frustration. A look he had come to quickly recognize due to the many years he had served him. "Unfortunately, I’ve no news to report on any of the fronts or the Western Theater with the amassment of the monsters. I have made arrangements per your orders for a contingent of Scouts to travel to Quincy and supplement the guard force to investigate the source of the monsters."

"Good, good. Thank you, Michael. I regret I’ll never be able to tell anyone publicly, but between us, you’ve long been the left and right hand of this Empire. I don’t know what I would do without you. The contingent leaves at dawn correct? Install the Doppelgänger in my stead; I’ve got a mind to join the caravan," responded Ironstar, completely ignoring the horrified look on his Chamberlain’s face. "Was there anything else, Michael? Otherwise, I need to get back to obsessing about our situation."

"Yes, sir, there was one other thing," replied Michael as he handed his Emperor a set of black robes. "I came to inform you the preparations are being finalized as we speak, so long as it is still your desire to attend. If we leave now, we should arrive before it starts and without having to announce ourselves."

"Let us be gone then," came the simple reply from an Emperor ready to relieve himself from his burdens for a moment.