Chapter 3

The Gods didn't want men to live happily, that's why they created war alongside peace on the day of Creation. The First Hollumia-Lyria war was one of the bloodiest histories in the ancient world.

On the banks of the Octupus, both sides were doing anything they could to kill their opponents. Lyrion catapults on land and bowmen, boarded on small ships, unleashed flamed rocks and arrows on the west banks while the Hollumian returned the favor by their infamous ballistas. Skirmishing lasted for around 2 weeks before Lyrion scouts discovered that the Hollumians had managed to build three large bridges by rafts and reinforced by wood, ready for thousands of troops to march through 30 miles to the north of the Lyrion camps.

In Lyria, Cicerio had finished recruiting and training his army. After receiving 10000 slave soldiers from Laplace, he left Lyria under the stewardship of his father-in-law and marched west with an army of 25000 behind his back. Jetocius was assigned to command the slave soldiers and lead the vanguard. The King personally commanded the main army while a nobleman and relative of the crown, Florentino, was responsible for protecting the food storage.

Along the way, Cicerio met three envoys from three kingdoms: Narvia, Kalkul, and Jasmia, saying that they had mobilized their armies and coming to help the Lyrion King against King Theodore. Some officers suggested Cicerio paused his advance and wait for the reinforcements but the King simply refused and continued the march.

On the frontline, the Lyrion army had been surrounded. Krato was killed by a stray arrow while Memmus threw himself into the fights with his men to defend. Xenon of Hayster was an old fox and veteran of war; even with talents, Memmus was too young and inexperienced compared to this Hollumian Marshal.

Memmus knew Cicerio was coming to say the day, but his army had completely run out of food and been constantly assaulted by Hollumian troops. Inevitably, to save the lives of his men, Memmus surrendered. When Cicerio's army reached the Octupus, 20 large bridges had been built, protected by a series of camps alongside the river guarded by Hollumian troops.

Seeing the solid infrastructure put alongside the river, Cicerio knew he could not besiege the camp which this number of men. His grandfather was coming with an even larger army, he need to do something fast. If he couldn't gain back control of the river before Theodore arrived, he would lose the war.

After encamping himself 10 miles from Xenon's army's position, Cicerio delivers a letter to the Hollumian Marshal, mocking his family and challenging the Hollumian army to fight in a pitched battle. Anyone with knowledge of warfare could see the letter was only meant to irritate and bait the Hollumian Marshal out of his nest. Nonetheless, Cicerio's use of words was known to be very irritating and disrespectful in this letter; successfully provoke Xenon into a battle on a large field of wheat 3 days later.

Two armies faced each other on the fields which had just been harvested. The farmers had abandoned their homes to seek refugees somewhere else. Due to some papers, the Hollumian army numbered around 30000 men, half of which were infantrymen while there were only around 1000 archers. Xenon positioned the infamous Hollumian baristas on high ground, guarded by elite spearmen and archers. In the center, he positioned 5000 Hollumian Noble Calvary in front of the light infantry while the rest of the infantry was positioned on the flanks.

Cicerio outnumbered his enemy in terms of archers. 5000 archers were positioned behind around 6000 heavy infantry on two flanks while the slave warriors made the frontline in the center. The light infantry was ordered to stay behind the main troops with some special tasks that we would mention later.

When noticing flamed bolts coming toward themselves, the Lyrion raised their shields high and tried to block. Unfortunately for them, Hollumian iron bolts were not something to be messed with. A dozen of soldiers were sent flying with their bodies pierced through like hot steel through butter.

Two hosts of men started to advance toward each other. Cicerio's second-in-command and vanguard commander, Jetocius led the charge of 3000 slave horsemen and 7000 slave spearmen. Before his horsemen met with the heavy-armored noblemen of Hollumia, Jetocius ordered his horsemen to halt in two different directions by a signal from horns. The heavy cavalry of Hollumia didn't crash with the light slave calvary but met with the spear wall of the slave warriors.

It was chaos as horses cried out in pain thrust by the spears. Hollumian noble riders were thrown into the ground and had to deal with formidable foes who fought to escape their fate of being slaves, under the promise of being set free by the King of Lyria. But the noblemen of Hollumia were also formidable fighters. They were recruited from wealthy families with warrior traditions and a legacy protecting the Hollumian Kingdom for generations.

After his horse was killed by a spear, Xenon managed to land on the ground and easily slayed the surrounding spearmen with his sword. He mounted on the horse of one of his companions and continued to advance with his finest warriors by his side. The light infantry of Hollumia quickly join the fight and soon, the spear wall of slave warriors broke and they fled the field.

The light slave calvary, led by Jetocius circle the host of Hollumian infantry and charge against the position where ballistas were positioned. Bloody battles followed as Lyrion riders were met by Hollumian troops, outnumbered but securing the high ground. The heavy infantry of Hollumia and Lyria crashed into each other not for long after the central engaged. Lyrion archers moved to the flanks of the battle and loosed arrows after arrows toward Hollumian ranks. The casualties of the two sides piled up significantly for the next two hours. The only sounds hummed in men's ears were screaming, metals clashing, war drums, and trumpets.

The result of the battle was still indecisive at this point. Cicerio and Xenon were true generals, they dived into battle with their men, fought where the battle was hardest, and appeared to raise the morale of their men where they needed to. The Lyrion slave cavalry had succeeded to destroy all the ballistas with heavy casualties. Cicerio sent his orders through a messenger, asking Jetocius to charge into the right flank of the Hollumian formation. Nonetheless, the messenger was killed by a Hollumian archer in the process and the Lyrions lost a chance to win the battle.

In the middle, even with Cierio's effort, the slave warriors' morale plunged facing the noble calvary of Hollumia. They fled the battle, throwing their weapons to the ground. Cicerio's companions had to drag him with them as the King was overwhelmed by bloodlust and did not notice his men fleeing. Seeing the chance, Xenon did not notice his troops, even winning, had their energy worn out and exhausted from the fighting, ordered to continue pushing. He wanted to completely break the Lyrion center and then finished off the Lyrion armies on two wings.

When the Noble Calvary and infantry of Hollumia broke through the ranks of Lyrion slaves, they witnessed an unexpected scene: behind the dust, Lyrion light infantry was stationed on and behind large wagons, which made a semi-circle line surround Xenon's men. Before they could react, javelins were thrown against them and the famous Hollumian mail armor could not protect their wearers. Lyrion infantry uses long spears forming from on and behind the wagons, creating an impassable zone for the Hollumian troops to pass.

From afar, drums could be heard and new hosts of men appeared on the field. The banners of the golden mermaid from the harbor city of Narvia, the white iron shield and swords on the black field of the city of Kalkul, famed for their military tradition, and the heraldic banners of house Gwinburn from the city of honey wine, Jasmia. Vicious, healthy, and skilled cavalrymen from three cities appeared first. They charge menacingly forward Hollumian ranks, killed men by thousands, and sent them to flee.

Xenon's companions fought without caring about themselves to bring him back to their camp, hoping they could seek safety there. Before marching into battle, Xenon had left 1000 men to guard the camp. In case they were defeated, they could just flee into the camp, where their trenches, ballistas, and watch towers system would destroy their foes. However, the flags flying above the camp were not of Hollumia but the four-eye lion of Lyria.

Before Xenon could react, he had been surrounded from all sides. His companion groaned in pain as their chest was pierced by arrows, their throat slashed like lowly animals. Knowing his fate was doomed, Xenon gave up fighting and committed suicide after giving the command to surrender to his men. Around 80 men were chosen to become the Marshal's companions, and none of them threw their swords as they see their general's death. They fought with a rage that we could just imagine in our minds. No Lyrions, Narvians, Kalkulians, or Jasmians dared to get close to the corpses they had carved to protect the dignity of their general's remains.

But the Hollumian Companions were few and with a few volleys of arrows, they died. Yes, my son, they died but none of them fell to the ground. They kept standing, tall and strong as a 100-year-old maple tree after they died, fulfilling their vow of protecting their general even after their deaths.