Chapter 98:

The 100 Days War - Chapter 6

The Children of Eris


The Twin Cities were the crown jewels of the northern countries.

They sat opposite one another with a beautiful crystal blue lake between, a place where many fishermen and merchant ships had once travelled when the two countries had been at peace.

Since the assassination of Duke Louis Cavan, the Federation of Free City States had been at war with the Royal Kingdom of Aangapea and its bloodiest battle, the Battle of the Twins, happened right in the lake.

Some forty-thousand men had been killed or drowned, and now the carcasses of hundreds of ships littered the bay.

Had the Demon Emperor’s army not invaded their borders, the war between the two countries would no doubt have continued for many more bloody months.

Now, the remnants of both countries stood in an awkward alliance together against the tyrant to the south.

However, Abaddon, the Demon Emperor’s general, had easily torn through their countries and forced them both to retreat to the Twin Cities, their capitals and symbols of the prosperous relationship the two countries once shared.

If they fell, then the north-east’s fate was all but sealed.

It had taken Abaddon’s army thirty days to reach the cities and, already, Abaddon was growing restless as he desired a true battle.

All he had done was decimate rear guard battalions and stubborn defenders who didn’t know that surrender was a better option than death.

It had been too easy and the demon desired a greater fight.

He’d heard from Mímir about Herakles, a mortal who managed to go toe to toe with one of the emperor’s chosen and almost killed his fellow general, and that excited Abaddon.

If I could find someone that strong to fight in this place, then I’d be satisfied! He thought.

“If you’re still itching for a fight, I’ll go a few rounds,” Fenrir taunted him, but Abaddon stayed his hand for one simple reason.

The Demon Emperor had repeatedly warned Abaddon not to let his anger and thirst for battle control him, and not to fight with the other members of his inner council.

Abaddon hoped that the attack of the Twin Cities would give him a chance to let loose a little.

Jaeda, the capital city of the Royal Kingdom of Aangapea, was on their side of the lake and it would be their first target.

“Lord Abaddon, we await your command,” one of his vampire commanders said.

“Have the men make camp a mile from the city, and send out scouts and patrols immediately. I want to know where the city’s weak points are and if there’s a chance reinforcements could come to their aide. They may call them the Twin Cities, but Sliva is still ten miles from Jaeda by boat and twenty-two on foot.

“Then, start digging trenches around our camp, with each new trench being fifteen metres apart from the last. I want the slaves and skeletons cutting down trees from the woods to our south, and I want the elves turning that lumber into palisades. I want all of this done by sunset at the latest - is that clear?”

“At once, Lord Abaddon!”

The commanders all left Abaddon and Fenrir to attend to their difficult assignments.

Even though they had arrived at Jaeda in the early morning, it would be tough for them to get everything ready with such strict deadlines, something that Abaddon was well aware of too.

“We won’t be ready to attack if they’re that tired, ya know?”

The demon chuckled. “Fenrir, that’s exactly what our enemies will be thinking.”

“What?”

“Do you think they’d expect us to be ready to strike them the day after we lay siege to their city? Or do they think it’d take us time to build our siege machines and hash out a plan to conquer them?”

The wolf licked her lips. “…That’s why you put in that request with the Dark Lord before we left.”

“Exactly.” Abaddon folded his arms and grinned. “Come tomorrow, our enemies will awaken to see half a dozen trebuchets, ten catapults and thirty ladders. They’ll have never expected us to be ready for an assault so soon and that’s what will lead to their defeat.”

“Unless they can escape across the lake to Sliva.”

“Even then, they’ll fail. After all.” Abaddon activated his magic and flames engulfed his gauntlets. “They’ll burn long before they make it.”

***

By night fall, the war camp had been prepared and Abaddon was with Fenrir inside his tent, reviewing their plans for tomorrow’s attack.

If everything goes well, then I’ll be able to earn the Lord Emperor’s praise and have my fill! 

“What are you grinning about?”

“Nothing that concerns you, guard dog.”

Fenrir cackled. “Is that right?”

Then, from a portal, looking elated and refreshed, emerged Scylla and Charybdis.

“Do forgive us for interrupting your ‘night of passion’, Lord Abaddon,” Charybdis mocked whilst Scylla laughed. “His majesty, the Demon Emperor, has sent us here to assist you in your upcoming campaign for the north.”

“What night of passion?!”

“Oh, do forgive us again, oh great Lord Abaddon. I merely believed that you and Fenrir must have been engaging in such activities to help quell your, ahem, thirst.”

Abaddon’s face twisted in anger as heat generated around his fists. Fenrir, for her part, was bemused and simply smiled as the twins teased the general.

“Do I need to remind you of whom was one of the first three chosen by the Lord Emperor?!”

“Do we need to remind you who it was that first failed our Master?” Scylla shot back.

Abaddon clicked his tongue, which made the twins cackle again. “Shut up! Why did the Lord Emperor send you here?”

“Like my sister said, to help you.” They smiled thinly at him. “That great big lake of theirs still has lots of ships on it, doesn’t it? Not to mention a nice, long river leading all the way out to the open seas. Our job is to do what we’ve been doing since the Holy Empire fell; control the seas for our Master.”

Abaddon grinned. “I see. So, you fish will just do what-”

A dagger zoomed at his face, but the demon caught it and shattered it in his fist.

“Master instructed us to get along with you, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just let you insult us,” Scylla warned.

Charybdis dislocated her jaw and let her inner mouths emerge, snapping at Abaddon madly.

The general still remembered how the two girls had attacked him so quickly in the throne room and grimaced. He had been caught off-guard at that time, but it still shamed him to this day that he’d been beaten so easily.

Abaddon sighed and sat back down on his chair. “’The Dark Lord wants us all to get along, yet we all keep finding ways of biting at each other’s throats’.

“Huh?”

“Mímir said that to me back at the Dread Keep, the day before we took Themis. All of us are disappointing the Lord Emperor by going for each other’s throats like this, but we can’t help ourselves.”

Charybdis relocated her jaw and folded her arms. “Lord Mímir is right. However, it’s difficult to do so when we’re all competing for our Master’s affection and praise.”

“Well, I don’t need one of those things.”

“Are you sure? Is that why you didn’t make a move on Fenrir?” Scylla mused.

“Scylla, shush.”

“…Yes, sister.”

Charybdis cleared her throat and continued. “Perhaps then we can use this campaign to try and strength the bonds between ourselves in this room then?”

“I don’t care either way,” Fenrir finally said, yawning a little. “As long as I can keep doing what I want, then that’s fine.”

“If you keep that sort of attitude up, Master will throw you away.”

Fenrir relaxed onto the sofa a bit more and grinned. “I’m a guard dog, Chary, and don’t expect anything more than to be treated like one.”

“Chary?!”

Fenrir laughed. “As long as I can eat some good food, fight some strong people and keep my head, that’s all that matters to me.”

“I didn’t expect the Wolf of Ragnarök to be so laid back.”

“Well, what can I say? I didn’t get to enjoy my last life all that much, so I want to have as much fun as possible in this one.”

“…Well, as long as it makes you happy.”

“And keeps you serving Master!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fenrir said with a dismissive wave. “I’m not going to upset the boss-man, so rest easy.” She yawned again and curled up onto the sofa. “Night.”

Then, the wolf began to snore loudly.

“…Perhaps it’d be best to continue this conversation another day.”

“…For once, I agree with you…Chary.”

“Never call me that, Lord Abaddon.”

***

In the early hours of the morning, minutes before dawn broke, Scylla and Charybdis opened their portals back to the Dread Keep.

Then, the Machai dragged the siege weapons through with the Hysminai behind them, pulling carts filled with large rocks and barrels of pitch and oil.

Once all the war machines were through, the demons bowed to the generals and returned to their posts at the Dread Keep; then, the portals closed and everyone knew it was time.

The attack would begin.

However.

“Wait.”

Abaddon stopped them all from moving into place.

“Charybdis, Scylla, Fenrir, I thought about what we discussed last night and have an idea I’d like you all to hear.”

Curious, the three women looked at the demon and, confidently, Abaddon said, “Why don’t we take this opportunity to get along with one another?”

When Abaddon explained his plan, they all smiled at him.

Jaeda was going to fall, but not to an army.