The Gift

Subutai stood on the edge of the platform of the Tongpai Town Dock, he was over looking the calm water of the Lake that was lit from the bright moon in the sky above. The water was of a glittering bronze colour, and he wondered what made it the colour it was. He had made good time in getting here, having had little resistance from the Civilians of Tongpai Town. His Cavalry had done a good job of making everyone want to stay indoors, loudly charging down the streets as the Hoplite followed up and protected the rear. 

Subutai's job was to secure the Dock for Gan Ning's arrival, but worries had started to sink in. In his hand was the gift that his eagle Genghis had delivered, he had tried to get Dom's attention and let him know, but the departure was needed. He would send a messenger once Gan Ning arrived and he had the full story.

There were worries in his mind about what would be happening with Dom's forces, there were some very experienced Warriors in the three Centuries of Legionaries. He also had Tomoe, who was a terrifying presence on her own, as well as of the newly hired Hua Rong, they were both good support for him, but he was used to being by Dom's side. 

"They'll be fine." Subutai heard from beside him, Banas was there, the leader of the Horse Archers that had merged with Riverside, and the reason they knew of Tongpai Town in the first place. 

"Lord Lazarus or Gan Ning?" Subutai replied seriously as he continued to look out across the Lake, the gift in his hands squeezed tightly. Genghis had gone off again across the Lake, to return to Gan Ning that had sent it.

"Both." She said kindly, putting her hand on her Commander's shoulder, a move that most wouldn't dare to have done, especially when he was leading the armies of Genghis Khan. Subutai appreciated it though, the family feel here between the senior members of Riverside made him feel emotions he didn't know he had.

"I hope so." He replied honestly, before continuing, "I just hope they hurry, we might not have much time."

He passed her the gift in his hand, which caused a gasp from her lips when she held it. The Horse Archers who were nearby and guarding Subutai, looked over at her reaction.

"This isn't one of ours." She said seriously, a nervousness in her voice as she looked out across the Lake herself.

"No. It's theirs." He replied, a fire in his eyes at the meaning of the gift.

.....

"We can't be far now!" Himilco exclaimed, the shipwright and former sailor had argued that he should be on the first military voyage of the Galatea. His captaining experience had made the journey much easier, but the downside was that his arm was now strapped tightly by some bandages that had been in the hold beneath them.

"We better not be." Gan Ning replied, his brow covered in sweat as he looked down at the rowers below who were furiously pulling on the oars as they headed towards the Tongpai Town dock, the moonlight leading their way. He looked behind the Galatea, the powerful Trireme of Riverside and saw two of the Bireme behind them, the third having stayed behind to protect Riverside's river.

He was relieved to see the Captain of the lead Bireme, Elon, stood at the prow and directing his crew to keep pace with the Galatea. The Phoenician sailors that Crassus had persuaded to join Riverside had been instrumental so far, the original inexperienced crew of the Galatea having been spread across the three Bireme's to gain experience, where as the Galatea was now full mainly of Phoenician's. 

Gan Ning thought back on their journey so far. It had been uneventful at first, they followed the River to the west and around the Mountain that towered over Riverside in the distance. They went past some interesting locations that Gan Ning had mapped as they travelled, he was quite looking forwards to sharing these with Tomyris when this expedition was over, as the West was her domain. Eventually they discovered a split in the River, a path that went north, and a continuation to the west, based on Tongpai Town's location, they prioritised the northern route. 

"This really hurts." Himilco moaned, interrupting Gan Ning's thoughts. Himilco sat down on the deck and grabbed his arm where his bandage was. "It's definitely going to leave a scar."

"You'll get used to it. If anything, Helena might find you more attractive with your war wounds." Gan Ning replied, looking over the deck of the Galatea and noticing some of the crew who had similar bandages in various locations. There were some crew with them on their shoulders or upper arms, but no one stopped doing their tasks.

"I'm just angry." Himilco continued, before looking towards the back of the Galatea, "This was not the plan."

Gan Ning followed his eyes to the three bodies at the back of the ship, covered with blankets to give them some dignity in death. He agreed with Himilco, this wasn't the plan, things were moving too fast. He tried to work out when things went wrong. They had turned north towards Tongpai Town, where they hoped they could find a wide enough river that would take them to the lake at Tongpai Town, they had followed a positive course, with one of the Bireme as a lead so the Galatea didn't get stuck somewhere with it's deeper hull. Things had began to go wrong when they reached the forest area before the entrance to the lake. The speed of water seemed to increase as the waters of the lake and the river mixed. 

"I think I can see Tongpai Town!" Gan Ning heard one of the sailors say, interrupting his thoughts. The sailor was at the front and was looking out over the water's edge to direct the Galatea forwards, with only the moonlight and the faint dots of light in the distance from the fires, that lit the torches on Tongpai Town's water edge. 

Gan Ning left Himilco and headed towards the prow of the ship, also noticing the shape of the land and the outline of the wall that surrounded Tongpai Town in the distance. He looked up and saw the shape of Genghis in the sky, flying down to land on a perch that had been made for him on the Galatea deck. 

"Subutai has received our message." Gan Ning said over his shoulder to Himilco as Genghis descended with a loud whistle. 

"Good, hopefully they can increase the pace and we can move on with the plans quickly." Himilco replied, "We won't have long, they are coming."

.....

"Ships approaching!" Subutai heard from one of the Horse Archers that was nearby. They all had incredible eye sight, which even Subutai was impressed by. His eyesight was fantastic, but he couldn't compare it to them.

"About time!" Subutai exhaled in frustration, there weren't many ships at the Tongpai Docks, and those that were on the Dock were all of a merchant nature, with high hulls and sails. They would be useful acquisitions in the future, and the Hoplite that had joined them had quickly cleared them from any sleeping shipmates that were on them.

He watched as the three Ships approached, the towering Galatea at the front, flanked by the two Bireme that had departed with her. It was a good sign that all three ships had arrived, as part of him worried that they wouldn't have. 

"It looks like they haven't had a great time." Banas commented seriously, "They were only supposed to come as a possible retreat option and a blockade, they weren't supposed to go through this."

Subutai saw exactly what she meant, the left side of the Galatea was full of arrows, protruding from multiple angles. Behind the Galatea he could see a similar situation on the two Bireme's and he hoped that the men on board would be safe. 

"Get a messenger to the gates, we need the Legionaries left behind for medical purposes here now!" Subutai ordered loudly, "Also find out what is going on with Tomyris, she should have taken that Military Camp by now!"

.....

Gan Ning was grateful his feet were now back on dry land as he walked with strong feet towards Subutai that was waiting for him. Subutai had pulled some of the Merchant Ship Crew, that the Hoplite's had kindly rehomed from their ships, and tasked them with tying the three Riverside Ships to the Dock. They clasped arms in greeting and Subutai put his arm around Gan Ning's shoulder, seeing the frustration in his face.

"What happened?" Subutai asked, showing him the Arrow that Genghis had brought him, and pointing in the direction of the docked ships.

"Everything was going fine, we were making good time." Gan Ning started, his speaking quick, not through nerves, but frustration, "We came to the mouth of the Lake and everything just happened at once."

"Slow down and explain." Subutai interrupted as the first wounded were pulled of the three ships in the background. Their crewmates and some of the Horse Archers helping them down. Some of the Tongpai Residents that lived nearby had also come out of their houses seeing the wounded and began to offer their help, unaware of the wider chaos taking place in their town.

"They came suddenly, those on watch didn't notice them, they are so quiet and stealthy." Gan Ning continued after taking a breath, "They are silent when they move and they use their flexibility to stay tight against the trees in the dark. No one would have noticed them."

"The Type 3's?" Subutai asked, his hand on his chin as he listened.

"Yes, it is them based on the Arrows that hit us. We could see some shadows and I am confident it was them. If it was, then they are coming, and they aren't far. I am not sure if we will have impacted their speed by getting away from them ." Gan Ning replied, "We need to speed up here and either evacuate or prepare to fight back."

"How many were they?" Subutai asked, as some crewmates began to remove Arrows from the sides of their ship and prepare them for speedy departure if necessary.

"That's the worst part, I have no idea." Gan Ning replied seriously, "They released two lots of Arrows and then silence. As soon as the first bunch hit us, we ordered full speed and quickly began to enter the lake, the second attack mainly hit our side. Across the three ships, we have lost over twenty men with double that number injured, most in the first attack! The rear Bireme suffered the worst."

"I thought our intelligence from the map was correct, but I still hoped that we would be wrong, or we would have more time." Subutai replied, signalling for Banas to join them, "We will need to start enacting our prearranged plans. They are our ultimate enemy, not Tongpai Town."

"How has Lord Lazarus and Tomyris got on with their tasks?" Gan Ning asked seriously, looking back at his arrow stricken ship, as Himilco headed down on to the ground himself. "We need to take Tongpai Town and then clear the forests from here to home."

"I don't know." Subutai replied frustrated. "I am still waiting on updates from both!"