The Dragon War (2)

With Lot's death, the war should have ended and peace be restored on these new lands I had liberated.

Morgan was in a state where she couldn't damage anyone with her poisonous words and manipulation, thus ending the last possible threat made by the former controllers of Scotland. It was a time of celebration and relief as everyone felt that the strain of a bloodier war had been prevented by that rushed campaign.

…

I really should have expected for something bad to happen. I just didn't have the capacity to predict such a problem would have been so horribly big. Imagine the very calm that had driven me a hopeful letter to Mya that we were going to be back home in a little more than a week now vanquished at the news that there had been attacks on the rear fortifications.

Vortigern hadn't kept his attention aimed at Ria. The sudden assaults made me think of a suicidal attempt to relocate his kingdom elsewhere in the middle of the war, all for the sake of avoiding getting completely overwhelmed by the simply overpowered army that Ria led. It was my early estimation, based on the notion that the man didn't have any magic to rely on. Then… I was reminded of a piece of information I had heard just sparsely when I studied about him, about his connection with the occult and Hell itself. Of course, I doubted Uther's brother had a pact with Satan himself, but the presence of monsters slamming onto the walls of various fortifications along the main road highlighted how part of the legend was truthful.

I had only descriptions to work with, but I was glad to hear that none of the fortresses had fallen against those attacks. Despite the initial fright given by some of these creatures, the simple but deadly nature of human's unwillingness to die seemed to prevail even more thanks to military discipline.

Sure, I think some of these guys were going to be mentally scarred for the rest of their lives with how chilling some of these encounters were, but for now they were doing their fine job in holding against the offensive while we swiftly moved down to help them. Once we were through the borders of modern Scotland, the plan was to rally a couple of the men that had been left on the closest rear point and then slam the big army through the defenses Vortigern had to have created for his own cities. If there were actually cities within his turf.

Arch-demons, lamias, harpies and even wyverns- the Isles were invaded by a fair amount of mythological creatures, some of which weren't 'natural' to see in this part of Europe. But I still am a firm believer of equality, so I demanded the full extermination of all those fiends without any preference.

The artillery pieces had… fun during the first counterattack. I don't know if it was because of my valiant speech that motivated the men using these cannons to do their best at the job, or the common fear among them all that, if they failed, they were going to get these monstrous pricks. I had to double-check with Morgan if monsters of this kind were killable through explosive rounds. She mentioned that any attack, if capable of handling high damage, was more than able to exterminate these fiends.

For some reason, she also requested a seat to see it unfold with her own eyes. I was suspicious of this offer, but I decided to give her a seat by my tent that allowed her to see what was going to happen. The blonde would then explain, once the spectacle was over, that the reason behind this request was to see another piece of Uther's legacy destroyed by someone that wasn't tied to him. In layman's terms, she was getting some entertaining sight out of something that she was more than happy to see unfold.

The fiends screeched and rushed at the lines of the army that were deployed in anticipation for a battle if the cannons failed. The loud 'drums of war' didn't miss a single shot, the blast caused by each round sending tearing through the demons and the other monsters that had rallied near the original border of Vortigern's kingdom.

It wasn't a consistent force of aggression, so it was easy to mince those apart with simple artillery… yet this proved to be the first of many fights as the descent into modern Wales started as a slow and brutally frustrating new campaign. Differently with Lot, I was facing a threat that I didn't study within the last few months, that I hadn't considered it capable of mustering a formidable legion of mythological creatures, and that was more than easily going to tear through my men despite the way I had set up the army's formation. I knew that there were some competent men serving this highly-moral duty, but I was too aware of what would happen next when Cannons wouldn't have been enough to hold the fiends at bay.

And then the bad news started to come as the next few battles for the conquest of the region of Powys and the capture of the northern section of Gwynedd. Dozens and dozens of deaths started to stack up in the reports as piles of corpses were recovered and given some quick burials within the land. It wasn't a nice thing since I would have loved to have them buried near their homes rather than where they were killed, but at least I gave them their proper funerals by having catholic priests and Celtic druids respectfully handle the rites needed for each of these candidates depending on their faiths.

It was something that steeled the survivors' morale, but it did nothing to lessen the growing disgust I was feeling toward myself. It wasn't because I was angry at my handling of the conflict, I knew that everything I was doing was done with caution, all for the sake of maximizing the wins and lessening the losses. No, I was pissed by my personal reaction to the news.

These deaths were onto my hands and… I felt like I could have done something absurd to prevent those. After what happened against Lot, I had gained a foolish mindset of expecting a way to prevent all possible losses from a direct confrontation. That wasn't the case, and I was only now starting to slowly break through that demented attitude I had developed from recent cases.

I was tired, annoyed, but, most of all, tense with each battle. I was in there, among my men, and I was tearing as much as my arms could by swinging Aurea Mors left and right. The blade cleaved without hesitation, with nothing holding against it. I was assisted by Lancelot and the twins, the four of us representing a form of definitive defense that prevented a higher toll on the army. The losses still happened, but I was relieved to know those didn't exceed or even come close to any of the dramatic scenarios I had expected.

We were doing a fine job but… I was still suspicious as to why Vortigern had thrown a sudden attack when he was still busy with Ria. There was no way she had fallen against him, else I would have heard of these news days earlier, when the 'conflict' really began. Yet I was confident of the girl's impressive army being able to sustain the incredible costs of this war.

My advance was driven by a patient mood compared to the enthusiastic drive that had demolished the Lothians' efforts to defend against me. This was uncharted territories, there were scary fiends at all corners and… there were villages to save. Many villages. The most important of those being Maes Gamon (near modern-day Mold), the settlement that was built to celebrate the victory made by St. Germanus of Auxerre against the pagan tribes from Scotland. The man was also behind the first counter to Vortigern's ambitions decades ago, when he easily tore through his forces and destroyed the man's castle at the time. I wasn't sure what happened beyond that and why Vortigern managed to survive that first defeat, but I knew that something had been left behind by the saint. Something that the church of Maes Gamon were willing to give me as a 'confirmation of my role as Defender of Christianity'.

A gauntlet made of silver. Reached up to the elbow, and the runes here offered an extensive amount of boosts to the user. The first was a greater protection to the limb that was covering, and then… the power of calling forth brief but powerful gusts of winds as attacks. It was the tool used to achieve the renowned 'Alleluia Victory', when Germanus bloodlessly defeated a combined force of Picts and Scots with a small number of Romano-Briton soldiers.

This weapon, albeit a terrible tool of destruction when it was first used, was really not the strong thing I had expected. Sure, the material used gave me the chance of rewriting the runes with new energy within the old one, but I wasn't in the position to improve it the way I really wanted it to be. I wanted to last much longer and to be more resilient, but I didn't have the equipment on myself to get that entire predicament solved.

I dub thee… Gamon Gauntlet!

For now, it was a minor support item that I couldn't use beyond five times before burning out the runes and needing to rewrite those on it. And the process of rewriting was far from easy, which prevented me from doing anything about this during a fight. It wasn't the ideal situation, but it was something that could become important if the situation demanded it as far as I could tell.

The offensive breached through mid-Wales before we were actually stalled. Surprisingly enough, there were a couple of coordinated strikes that tried to flank the army and forced the entire group to take an even slower approach. Two grueling days later, and we were breaching into Buellt (modern-day Builth) with moderate losses considering the sudden intensification of aggressive attacks onto our column. The men were still hopeful, but mildly getting angry at the bastard we were going after.

Gwyr, which was a location that once existed between modern-day Llanelli and Swansea, was our destination. It was the place where Vortigern had built its seat of power and where he was going to die from what I could tell with his reluctance to retreat. I received a message from Ria the day after we captured the next target, Brycheiniog (modern-day Brecon).

The situation was… mostly stable in her front. She sounded 'surprised' that I had attacked Vortigern and that she wanted to discuss with me urgent matters the moment our respective forces ended up meeting each other. I wasn't exactly sure what she was planning to talk about, perhaps something regarding Morgan and her fate, but I merely decided to mention what drove me to join her efforts against her uncle and how this wasn't a decision I had taken without a good reason.

I wasn't sure if this was going to be received well considering how unflattering the peace conditions were going to be, but I mentioned how I would allow her to rule over the land that deemed themselves still believers of her faith, while the Christian section in the north would join the kingdom.

It wasn't a perfect split, but it favored Ria's gains more than mine. And that was hopefully going to be a good enough sugar to bring up the current situation about her sister and her child without making things too complicated for the two of us. It was a hopeless hope, but a hope nonetheless.

Despite that hopefulness, there was also something that I wasn't looking forward to and… that very event decided to manifest even before we could arrive at our destination as the flowery bastard himself decided to pay a visit and… he was as abrasive as I remembered him being.

Seriously, why Ria just didn't kick him out already?!

"So you think that two minutes would be too long?" Morgan questioned with a frown as she stared down at the map I was working on. "Shouldn't you be trying to make sure my foolish Uncle dies early on rather than giving the 'sufficient amount' of explosions?"

"Two things. We don't have enough explosives to shoot at the walls and the castle, and then we need to keep at least the base structure to give the chance for Ria to rebuild the place for the new administration," I explained calmly, tapping at the table where the map was currently stretched in. "A minute of bombardment will surely kill anything that lives in the walls and the inner castle."

The blonde frowned at the paper right where the spot where Gwyr was, the dot circled by black ink. The last objective for this sudden and gruesome campaign and then hopefully we were set to get to Londinium. I really wanted to sleep back in my bed, to not think of the unflattering conditions we had been working with and… to get back to my paperwork.

I was actually missing being thrown on some good and old paperwork to waste my mornings or my afternoons. But for now, I just had reports from scouts, from the rears, logistics, the situation in the north as I had left some loyal administrators to handle the newly-acquired lands that will seriously need some backing with proper troops once I was able to order some of the men in here to move back in the Scottish Region.

But for now I planned for the end of all of this, by setting up tomorrow as the day where Vortigern dies and peace in England, Wales, and Scotland is truly proclaimed. Ireland was going to be another mess to solve… but for now I was content to get every new territory integrated and handled with different solutions. I didn't expect everyone to start speaking the same language, to love the same deity and to accept a single culture, but I hoped that a sense of unity and being part of something greater would have been more than enough to make progress into the creation of a modern state.

The current standing army was definitely going to be expanded the moment things were properly settled and people were able to decide if they wanted to do simple jobs or join it, the economy was pretty much the same all across the main island thanks to the Roman model having been followed so religiously by all petty kingdoms despite decades having gone since the last stronghold beyond Londinium ceased to be, and the set or rules and laws that I had created was one that was favored by the people and it didn't impose specific limitations to different religions or cultures.

I didn't expect things to be perfect, but I had a tremendous advantage as far as I could tell at the moment. It was all a matter of handling any hotspots within the new controlled lands between pagans and Christians. There were also the various forms of Christianity within the region to keep in mind and what kind of settlements they were already working with. It was going to be a paper hell, but it wasn't going to be one I was going to face while sleeping with just a cold pillow, a thin sheet and some nightmarish visions while I was trying to catch some sleep.

Letting out a stressed sigh, I heard Morgan humming. "I'm feeling rather… peckish. I wouldn't mind some apples right now."

I blinked, sparing a brief glance at the woman before moving to pick three red apples off the sack and wash them on the water I had finished cleaning up by boiling it a few minutes ago. It was still a little bit warm, but for now the liquid was meant to get any impurities on the apples removed before I started to prepare some bites for her to eat. Ever since she learned that I could flawlessly peel the apple and cut it in pieces without leaving any seeds in it, Morgan had grown surprisingly attached to this way of devouring the fruit. I was tempted to say it was one of those times the pregnant woman wanted something 'outlandish' for the sake of it rather than her going an extra mile to annoy me.

Once the three fruits had been processed and prepared for her to eat, the blonde didn't hesitate to clean the bowl and hum happily at the delicious treat. I sat down back on the table, my eyes still aimed at the map as I ignored the woman's delightful munching, focusing on the trouble for tomorrow.

But as I did so, I paused the moment I felt a cool gust of wind rush at me and… force me to stare at a new individual in the tent. My teeth gritted and my eyes narrowed in true annoyance the moment I recognized that cheeky expression.

"My, oh my. To think that you would work on such a small setting to hand out your siege," Merlin commented cheerfully. "And hello, your highness."

"Flower prick," I curtly greeted. "It's… way too late right now, can't you come and harass me tomorrow."

"Nope, can't do it. You see, I have… a few things I wish to discuss you. You can say that I come in genuine peace," The mage replied flatly. "It's nothing too big. I want you to hand out Morgan to me."

"Nope."

…

"Joseph, I understand we are not on good terms, but you are dabbling with fire itself if you keep her in a place where she can act and… make messes."

"I'm well aware of her capacity to cause problems. Which is why I've taken precautions."

"By leaving her alive?" Merlin lamented and I huffed. "And what's with that reaction? Shouldn't you be worried that someone so dangerous might hurt your family?"

"As I've said, I've taken precautions."

"I've already swore I wouldn't hurt him nor his pathetic family, Flower prick."

"Gah! Don't call me that you… insufferable witch!" He exclaimed in clear annoyance. "Once again, Joseph… this is bad. Artoria will-"

"Be angry at me. She will be absolutely pissed. But if I give up Morgan to her, then I would be angry at myself for being unwilling to keep my morals."

"She is evil," Merlin repeated. "She killed, she corrupted, she raped-"

"I believe you were the one that set her up to be ready to be loved by Guinevere. I eavesdropped on your conversation… how she was unable to be truly that interested in seeing her wife in that light. That she needed a 'clearer mind' to accept her duty."

"Th-That's preposterous! I just gave her a sight over her desires-"

"Which dignified her clear infidelity. Hadn't it been for me, your lovely King would have fallen from all's graces when the news that she loves someone else is revealed to the world."

"I'm not sparing her for being a good person, you fucking moron," I finally snapped at that senseless exchange. "If you hadn't seen yourself, she isn't alone right now."

"Oh, the child… yes, because it would be right to allow the spawn of a ruler that is your ally and your common enemy to live and become a threat."

"She will not be like her mother-"

"She will become worse as far as I'm concerned. The child of two Pendragons, one blessed with a unique trait with Swords and one powered with incredible knowledge of magic. This combination will not result in a normal child," He stressed with a serious tone. "And here you are, dilly dallying on petty morality when you should do the world a favor and make sure a child like that doesn't-!"

He barely ducked as I took a quick swing with Aurea Mors. Part of his cape was torn apart and he stared in shock at the blade that had come this close from putting him out of his misery. I was absolutely livid at this point- the fact that he could care any less of the chances of this child being different than her parents… was insane!

"If we were to go by your own definition, then Artoria should have turned like her father or mother. Then explain to me why that wasn't the case."

"Where did you get that sword?" The magician demanded quietly while still glaring at the weapon.

"I asked a question, for God's sake!"

His attention snapped away from the dangerous edge of Aurea Mors and back to my face. I was no less deadly than the blade I was currently holding.

"She had Sir Kay to teach her the ways of being a humble person. A model for becoming a king-"

"More like a puppet," Morgan quipped quietly. "A weak-minded idealistic fool that was more than easy to manipulate into becoming your own toy to push and shove at your whim-"

"Be quiet! As if I will accept being lectured by someone like you!"

…

"Yet she is kind of right, isn't she?" I asked with a serious tone. "You might say that's not the case, yet Ria said that she has grown to resent you over a couple of things. You are no longer a person that enjoys her absolute trust."

"That's… that's more complicated," Merlin replied with a quieter tone. "It's… it's not that simple."

"I believe it's only complicated for those that want to make it complicated," The blonde rebuked calmly.

"I was trying to save their friendship. This will… break everything apart."

…

"I will still do this, despite this grim ultimatum."

Merlin actually gave me a shocked look, but this time, there was a sense of disbelief behind my words.

"Friendship that is so unique and pure- the love you both have for each other… how can you even accept giving it all up for a single horrible woman and her unborn child?"

…

I sighed tiredly, feeling like this explanation was going to be a tough one to convey.

"Because I refuse to condemn a child before it can do anything. I refuse to find someone guilty before they have the chance to prove their innocence. I refuse to be Uther and the 'Ideal King' you have for so long tried to make Ria," I muttered tensely. "Ria… she will never be like that, no matter how hard you try. She might be special, but she is still a good person. No good person can ever become what you wish her to be. The ideal king- an abstract idea born from someone that just can't accept that we all have limits. It's the beauty of life itself, the capacity to find a reason to improve and become even better, but to still accept that we are flawed beings."

…

There was a pregnant pause after my words, but I decided to add something more to this.

"I can't say for certain that Mordred will grow up to be the best of women. Maybe she will be as bad as you are saying she will be… but I know for a thing that, despite how much you try, no one can say for certain what her future is. Fate can be changed, destiny can be broken. If there is a solid line we have to follow, then we are doomed to eternal damnation. And I refuse to accept this."

…

"What about your friendship with her? Don't you care what is going to be lost?"

My eyes narrowed at him as he kept on asking about it. "Why do you care about it? Why do you think for a moment that I will just ignore the fact you are not the person that cares for others. You are a curious being that lives by surprises and new thrills. You are an intellectual without emotions," I replied. "You don't mind the sorrow people have to go through, the suffering they have to endure, all for the sake of a prophecy that nobody can say it will ever come to fruition."

"I'm not heartless."

"Quite the contrary. I believe you have a heart that… sometimes works. It's just that I know you will never stop for a moment and think 'maybe I am wrong and I need to evaluate the situation'. Right now, I've broken two of your predictions. I can tell you were expecting for me to hand out Morgan to you, else you would have just waited for tomorrow and strong-armed that demand together with Ria. You didn't do it because you were sure I was going to submit to that request."

"That's not-"

"You are lying," Morgan scoffed. "Even I can see the foolish logic behind your behavior. You might be elusive at times, but you tend to be railroaded in your plans that you barely alter your decisions when things become too troublesome for anyone you support and 'care' about."

…

"I suppose you have taken that stubborn choice," Merlin pointed out. "I… I guess you are indeed a mysterious lost cause."

"Spare me this chiding, Merlin. I'm not in the mood."

He merely nodded and… disappeared in a brief blue flash. No 'byes' or anything like that. Except a lot of stress that I wanted to sleep my mind away from. Now that we were alone, I expected Morgan to say something to interrupt the quiet and… her next words were received with some surprise.

"I will allow you to rest in peace. For today," Morgan commented flatly. "I believe you have suffered enough to handle Merlin at this unholy hour. I praise your strong will."

…

I could tell she was being serious for the most part. I could tell the motivation was different, but… maybe there was a serious reason behind the original answer since she was known to hate Merlin with a passion. So I decided to still accept this and roll with it.

"I will take your word on that."

"I would be furious if you didn't," The blonde rebuked an… the day ended with that note. I was indeed sparing of any nagging that Morgan would have usually employed to interrupt my sleep and… it felt nicer than usual.

Tomorrow was a big day, and I really needed to be awake and aware for the battle to go well for us.