Epic Unearthed Page 5

{Eleven-Thousand-Five-Hundred Years Ago}

  The day is rife with the fear and pride of warriors. Summer is approaching and the sun is starting to rise. Eighty miles northwest from the border of the Empire of Atlantis, an Atlantean division is waiting on the Valtearean Army to attack.

  King Tulless, ruler of Valtear, stands six feet tall, with blue eyes, and blond hair. His family has ruled the kingdom for three generations, and soon leads his men onto the battlefield astride a mammoth. While only thirty-three years old and young for a king, he is ambitious to drive the Atlanteans out of his realm.

  The main concern of the Atlanteans is going to war with the Ladonean Empire. This is one reason to take Valtear under its rule. Ladonea is outside the Atlantean peninsula, east of the Alber Mountains. The inhabitants of the peninsula has previously gone to war with empires on the continent more than once since the beginning of their civilization, and now becoming fearful of another conflict.

  On the west side of the Alber Mountains, Valtear borders the empires of Mantineia, Sabathea, and Kyrenia. All have strong militaries. In the past, King Tulless has been able to prevent war with the neighboring civilizations through diplomacy and trade. However, the empires on the continent are becoming greedier for more resources and land, which is a major concern for Atlantis.

  The earth trembles with one-hundred-thirty-thousand men and beasts riding and marching toward the Atlanteans’ fortification. The Valtearean Army is composed of different factions and tribes from throughout their kingdom. Tulless’ army has assembled from across their sovereign land, putting their differences aside. The kingdom takes great pride with their strong diverse culture, but is still in the early stages of becoming a centralized government. If the Valteareans were more organized, the tribes could unite and become as powerful as the Atlanteans; however, bad politics from splintered groups and religious leaders are hampering their progress.

  For hundreds of years, the Atlantean Empire has traded with Tulless’ realm. The Valteareans’ main export is iron ore. This commodity is the main component in making steel, and the backbone of the Atlantean war machine. Lately, the Valteareans’ mining output has fallen short of keeping the Atlanteans in full production for making military weapons. Trading the natural resource began the Valtearean economy. Before, people lived in villages, with small communities answering only to themselves.

  In Valtear, the Atlantean army is the elite of their empire. The army consists of fifteen-thousand infantrymen, three-thousand cavalry horsemen, or light cavalry, five-hundred heavy cavalry, (including giant rhinos, elephants, and mammoths), five-thousand archers, and fifteen-hundred artillery personnel.

  The Atlantean defensive perimeter is heavily fortified, standing on a hill with valleys below. Their highest technological weapons are ready to wreak havoc on their adversary. The Atlanteans are outnumbered more than six-to-one, but are confident in their weaponry, tactics, and generals to defeat Tulless’ army.

  Leading the Atlantean division into Valtear is Prince Daygun, the son of the Atlantean Emperor. The Prince understands only too well the necessity of resources in Valtear, knowing it is a matter of time before the Eastern Empire knocks on the Atlanteans’ door for conquest. In two years, the Ladoneans could reorganize and attack Atlantis. At the present moment, the Eastern Empire is having trouble with their Northern states, and a great deal of their military is there to control those troubled lands. The domestic turmoil is buying time for Atlantis to strengthen their military.

  Before encountering the forthcoming battle, Daygun, Quentoris, and Laptos have each had twelve years of training from the elite military school. All three generals have specialized skills, and the division they lead marvel at their abilities. Because of prior military engagements, each knows the others’ weaknesses and strengths.

  Daygun, astride his giant elk, examines the battlefield, fully attentive to his adversary’s advancement on the horizon. The Prince stands six feet, two inches tall, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and is a natural leader. The beast he is riding stands seven feet at the neck and has antlers that spread over twelve feet. The elk’s muscular physique gives the impression of power. Because these animals are on the brink of extinction, only the rich and high-ranking officers may obtain such exquisite beasts.

  Laptos rides beside his brother and asks, “What is the best way to defend our position? Moreover, how do we counter their attack?”

  Laptos admires his brother and wonders if he will be as gifted. Daygun has always been a skillful leader and has helped with their father’s military affairs. Even though the two are twins and look similar, their personalities differ. Laptos was born only minutes after his brother, but it hampered his abilities as being a leader. Daygun has a great deal of common sense and personality. He can envision a battlefield and make things happen to his advantage. Laptos, on the other hand, has been overshadowed by his brother’s accomplishments.

  Daygun pulls on the reins to command his great beast to stand still and replies, “You can always have an idea of how to attack and how to defend, but until the battle starts you will never really know.” The Atlantean Prince points toward their rival and says, “A good general has one-hundred ways to defeat a challenger before the battle begins. Those one-hundred ways may not do the trick. A good general will always make the enemy come to him on his own terms. Furthermore, glory and death go side by side. If an army doesn’t take a chance, that army cannot win. If a general can remove the fear of dying on the battlefield, courage will take over and destroy any adversary. You may be emperor one day. In the future, I might not be with you, and you will be the one to lead our men into battle.”

  The Valtearean Army is approaching. Daygun is fearful for his army, but not for himself. The Atlantean Prince would rather die here than retreat to his father. He realizes he is about to conquer a kingdom for their empire, but taking Valtear under control is only for the survival of his civilization. The Prince thinks about the enemy soldiers that are about to oppose him, understanding they have families as well. For the most part, Daygun is opposed to this war, but understands there is no choice. Ladonea is growing stronger, and the Atlantean Empire needs iron ore to produce weapons.

  Daygun stands behind his artillery with Laptos and Quentoris. He notices the Valteareans readying for their attack. As the Prince examines the battlefield , he sees five-hundred Valtearean heavy cavalry lining up to his right, and three-hundred mammoths and elephants lining up to his left. In the middle are Tulless’ giant rhinos and the majority of his infantry, archers, and light cavalry, ready to engage the center of the Atlantean formation. Over seventy-thousand Valteareans are about to attack right up the middle of the Atlanteans’ defense.

  Daygun says to Quentoris, “Order our twenty-five giant crossbows to fire projectiles to our right and the catapults to fire at the enemy to our left.” Daygun turns to his brother and says, “Order three-thousand archers to remove the threat to our center, take one-thousand archers on each side to reinforce our artillery.”

  Each Atlantean giant crossbow projectile’s warhead is filled with a flammable liquid. A projectile’s base is made of hollowed thin steel, while its head is mainly composed of pottery. In the air, projectiles are stable and can withstand the powerful thrust from the large crossbow. Upon striking the ground, the warhead explodes into flames, destroying anything in its path.

  As his enemy attacks, the Atlantean artillery moves into position, and Daygun orders, “Fire!” Horns blow from the Atlanteans, ordering their infantry and archers to form their final defensive position.

  The Atlantean artillery hit their designated points on the battlefield, and one quarter of the field is blazing from the giant crossbow projectiles on Daygun’s right. From the first round of the Atlantean artillery, many Valtearean cavalry are on fire or crushed by boulders. Daygun’s archers are able to prevent the first line of Valtearean cavalry from breaching their formation.

  After the first round from the Atlantean artillery, the Atlant
ean giant crossbows are reloaded with the krample projectiles. The warhead is full of sharp steal spikes. When the weaponry shatters on the battlefield, it throws hundreds of spikes that pierce through the hooves of attacking light and heavy cavalry. Daygun’s catapults and giant crossbows load the krample.

  At the last possible moment Daygun yells to his artillery, “Fire!”

  When the krample strikes the battlefield, hundreds of Valtearean light and heavy cavalry fall to the ground, and the Atlantean archers fire their arrows. The men riding on their beasts are injured or killed by being thrown off at high speeds. After ten minutes, the Valtearean cavalry are starting to lose significant numbers.

  In the center of the Atlantean formation, the Valtearean and Atlantean infantry become engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Valtearean archers in the rear of their infantry are moving closer to the Atlanteans’ fortification. Desperately, Tulless looks at his archer commander and yells, “Fire!” Tulless’ archers do so, but their arrows fall short of the Atlantean defensive parameter.

  Daygun can see that his plan is working except at the center defenses. In the middle of the Atlantean formation, his infantry and archers start to lose ground. The Atlanteans’ left and right engagements are stabilized, but Daygun’s center infantry and archers are in trouble.

  Daygun says to Quentoris, “Take our light cavalry and go around to divert their attention. After you engage, I need twenty minutes.” Daygun looks at his brother and says, “You want glory? Here it is. Take our heavy cavalry and hit their center. Order all our warriors with giant rhinos to strike their center thrust. You lead the charge. I will command our military resources here, and together we will accomplish our goal within thirty minutes.”

  With most of the Valtearean heavy cavalry destroyed, Daygun’s archers are ordered to concentrate on Tulless’ light cavalry. The Atlantean infantry in the center of the conflict start to stabilize their position, but are still in trouble from the overwhelming number of Valteareans.

  King Tulless’ infantry breaches some of the Atlantean center lines, making him feel he is about to make a breakthrough. He looks at his archer commander again and orders, “Fire!” Being closer to the Atlantean perimeter, the Valtearean archers start hitting their marks. The Atlantean infantry and archers are getting bombarded, and Daygun’s main army has to fall back, allowing Tulless momentum.

  Daygun looks at his artillery commander and yells, “Fire at will. Give them everything we have!”

  Quentoris is six feet, two inches tall, lean and muscular, with black hair, and brown eyes, evades the main battle and engages the Valteareans’ rear flank. Leading his light cavalry, he begins confusing the Valtearean Army.

  When the Atlantean center is about to break, Laptos’ heavy cavalry explodes through the ranks of their adversary, allowing Daygun’s army to regroup. Once the Atlanteans gain ground at their trouble spots, Laptos and his heavy cavalry repeat the charge, mowing down the enemy even more. The momentum on the battlefield changes in minutes. Laptos has no competition on the battlefield except the Valtearean archers.

  Since Quentoris’ light cavalry is swift, the enemy archers have difficulty countering Daygun’s diversion. The Atlanteans also have better range because of their superior bows, and remain out of range of the Valtearean archers. The Atlantean light cavalry meets the Valteareans head on two fronts, bringing even more chaos to the enemy.

  Because of constant bombardment from the Atlanteans’ archers, artillery, and Quentoris’ light cavalry, Laptos’ heavy cavalry breaks the ranks of the Valtearean infantry. At this point, the Valtearean warriors are doomed. The battle is over. The Atlantean captains can handle the rest of the conflict with ease.

  After Daygun witnesses his center regaining the ground they lost, a white flag appears from the Valtearean side of the battlefield and Daygun orders a ceasefire. Tens of thousands of men back away from the battlefield for a summit between the two leaders.

  While only ten percent of the Atlantean soldiers are dead or wounded, the Valtearean Army is destroyed. The Atlantean Prince understands the battle was ultimately for the greater good of both civilizations.

  Daygun will go home a hero, but feels remorseful about the casualties from both sides of the battlefield.