“
They are an intractable lot. They won’t surrender and they refuse to parley whatsoever.”
“
Hmm, so what are your plans?” The general shrugged.
“
Simply keep up the siege until something happens.” Wollfen shook his head.
“
No, that won’t do. I’ll go see their leader and talk some sense into him.” Arafin blurted out,
“
Are you crazy? They will cut you down once you get in the gates!’
“
I don’t think so. Let’s see what sort of reaction we get shall we? It can’t hurt to call at the gate.”
Wollfen started to walk off outside to mount his horse, the general watching on.
“
Aren’t you going to come along?” The man shook his head.
As far as he was concerned it would be a fight to the death, no one in that room had any intention of allowing the enemy general or the officers live even if they did surrender. There was the question of the civilians slaughtered in each of the conquered villages and towns of the south, could that very well go unpunished?
Wollfen wasn’t thinking that far ahead though, he was simply trying to save some lives.
“
Very well, I shall see you soon.”
Wollfen turned and made off in the direction of the castle. The ride turned out to be very uncomfortable, he chafed all over. He put it to the back of his mind as he approached the inner walls. At the gate Wollfen shouted out to the Isogorrean sentries.
“
Look upon me! My name is Wollfen and I be overlord of this army! Tell your commander that I wish to talk!”
At the mention of Wollfen’s name there was chatter from behind the wall. These men had heard rumors from Isogorr after Wollfen had done his voyage there. They knew of this man and his exploits. A few minutes went by and a voice rang out.
“
Do you give safety of passage to our General?” Wollfen called back.
“
I do swear!”
“
Then he shall meet you in front of these gates. There under the watch of his men he will talk to you.”
“
I agree!”
The gates unlocked and parted a little, Wollfen watched as a man in full dress armor strode out in front. Wollfen got off his horse and left it behind as he walked to the man. General Marcellus watched on as Wollfen neared.
He could see the man approaching was full of confidence and carried himself not with arrogance but the self-assuredness of someone who knew his own strength.
“
Greetings Wollfen, I have heard much about you. You have quite a reputation.” Wollfen smiled, it wasn’t often you got compliments from your enemy.
“
Good afternoon General. You will forgive me for not knowing your name?” The man bowed his head a little.
“
It is General Marcellus. Now how is it that I may be of service to you?”
“
That’s simple General, I just want to save some lives here, not only my own men but yours too.” The general looked at him for a bit.
“
I have heard you have merciful ways about you. I really don’t know what to make of that.”
“
Make this point of it. I offer you this, if you lay down your weapons and walk out of the castle grounds, we will give you free passage to the coast. Also I will make sure that you will have enough provisions to see you there as well. Once at the coast we should be able to arrange some transport to Port Cholandra where enough ships will still be there of yours to carry you home.”
The general quietly considered Wollfen’s words for a bit.
“
You make it sound like the war is already lost by us and that we are simply going to meekly go home now. This has only been one battle.”
“
Actually, it’s two battles, one in the east where you lost ten thousand men to one of my lieutenants and here where so far you have lost twelve thousand to date. I see no reason why more should be added to that tally.”
“
We are holding out though.” Wollfen countered.
“
That’s only because the majority of my army now rides to destroy your main force at Oceania. It will not be pretty over there, your army this time will be out in the open and hit from the rear, they will be decimated.”
“
It matters not, we have many more men down south.”
“
No you don’t Marcellus, my eastern army rides to Port Cholandra and is double its numbers that defeated the army to the east those many months ago. On top of that I have another force coming up from the south of similar numbers to take Cholandra from the other side. In addition to all that I have the Oceanic navy as well as the southern navy that will attack Port Cholandra. That effectively cuts off all your supplies.”
Wollfen paused for it all to sink in.
“
General, surely you can see. Now that we are organized it is only a matter of time to defeat. You can save many men’s lives here which we will be happy to send back, not only for your sake but ours too. We get to save our own men and your men will return to talk of what has happened here. That too will also convince your King not to wage war again.” The general’s shoulders slumped a little.
“
I am supposed to believe you? Just like that?”
“
Look around General. I am in a position of ascendancy here and that isn’t going to change. You have been holed up in this castle for close on a week. You started off with maybe eight thousand men in there, how many have you lost since then? I know the elves continue to pick off soldiers from these ramparts all day long with their arrow fire. You are running out of food fast. It is only a matter of time before we take your position. All I’m offering is a little mercy. Now it's up to you to decide whether to accept it or not.”
The General stood there for a time in silence contemplating Wollfen's words, then made a counter offer,
“
I would ask that I be given the rest of the day to consider your offer. Could I ask that you stop for that same time the killing of my men?”
“
Granted, your men have amnesty for the rest of the afternoon.”
Marcellus turned on his heel, returned to the main gate and was let in. Wollfen mounted his horse and rode off.
When he returned to General Arafin and spoke of his offer Arafin was not pleased at all.
“
How can you seriously offer safe passage to all of those soldiers knowing the crimes that they have committed in this land?” Arafin wouldn’t sit quietly back this time, this was outrageous.
“
General, I know that under ideal circumstances that it would be normal to take into custody all those that are guilty of the slaughter down south, but we do not have that luxury, this war may be in our favor right now but it is not decided, we need to end hostilities where we can with a minimum loss of men and if that means giving amnesty to some right now for the greater good then we have to do it.” Arafin was not impressed at all and it showed,
“
I cannot condone your actions in this Overlord Wollfen, I am sure the King will not be impressed when he hears and there will be consequences for your actions, mark my words on this.” Wollfen looked on with a grim look,
“
I understand your anger General Arafin I was there when the first of the towns were attacked and destroyed, I too have felt the anger and pain of what happened down there but I cannot consider my own feelings in this, I must always do that which is best for the greater good. You may not see it but this is the only way.”
Later that evening it was reported that the main gates to the inner castle walls were opened and the Isogorrean soldiers filed out unarmed but of General Marcellus there was no sign. An inspection was done after the soldiers had been taken into custody. He was found slumped over a desk in his makeshift headquarters. Marcellus had taken his own life by shoving a dagger into his heart. A scroll was left on the desk which was transferred to Wollfen for him to read.
‘
To Wollfen, I thank you for giving my men the opportunity to live on even though we failed at our given task. May I also give thanks for the services you are offering to see the men back to Isogorr, they will greatly appreciate such a gesture and I am sure it will have a profound affect on them and those back in my own country too. But for me I cannot accept the disgrace of surrender; and as such cannot return to my homeland under any circumstances.
yours in all humility,
General Marcellus’
Wollfen sighed, it wasn’t such a strange outcome. Many leaders did as Marcellus did, but to him it seemed like such a waste. He handed the scroll over for Arafin to have a read before it was returned to him.
“
I am going to teleport to Oceania. I expect you will see me back here sometime soon. I will bring back word from Prince Fitzgerald when I do.”
They bowed to him as he left. Wollfen wasn’t looking forward to another slaughter as had been seen here.
Wollfen returned to Dark and told her of the success with the siege, they were free to move on to Oceania, Dark gave a smile and nod of approval. Wollfen didn't waste any time as Dark gripped his arm with Vaughn in tow. His fingers laced around the teleport crystal and they were on their way.
They appeared next to Commander Amdur at the front of the ranks of elves in an open field. Wollfen got his bearings and then looked to Amdur.
“
Good evening Commander how goes the campaign?”
The commander for his part, was unperturbed by the appearance of Wollfen, Dark and Vaughn by his side.
“
We fell upon them late this afternoon just as they were launching their attack on the walls of Oceania. I have to tell you. I have never seen so much confusion before in my life. They had no idea we were here and once they did they didn’t know how strong we really were. Bowmen did our first wave of attacks from the rear. This was followed by a horse attack using crossbows, then swords, after that we retreated. The Isogorreans made a quick counterattack into the treeline that we were hiding in but we already had ranks of men ready with spears and shields which they fell upon under heavy fire from our bowmen. Our lines did not break and the enemy paid a very high price. In effect the attack on Oceania ground to a halt very quickly.” Wollfen took it all in.
“
So what of their forces now? Where are they?” Amdur raised an arm and pointed.
“
Beyond that line of trees lies another open field where they have pulled up and drawn into defensive positions. We have been spending our time sending in elven scouts to harass them and test for weak spots. At dawn we shall have a good plan in place to deal with them in one final battle. They have Oceania beyond them there who would be well aware now of what is happening out here. We hold them to the other three sides using our elven archers. The Isogorreans have no answer for them.”
“
Has there been any attempt by them to break out?” Amdur nodded.
“
Yes they have tested our lines too but each time we have eliminated their probes.”
Wollfen got to thinking on the situation. Was there a way of stopping further bloodshed? He could but only try.
“
Where are the generals quarters Commander?” Amdur turned and pointed again.
“
It will be found in a tent not far from here. They are currently organizing the morning’s campaign. I will provide a soldier to take you.” Wollfen thanked him and they moved off following their elven guide.
In the large tent Wollfen walked in and stood tall. The others there looked up and parted a little to let him in.
“
Greetings Wollfen, we expected you to come earlier. You have news of Kassandrea?”
“
Yes, I negotiated with the last of the Isogorrean army there to lay down their arms which they did. But unfortunately their General committed suicide.”
“
All of them lay down their arms? That’s incredible, I wouldn’t have thought they would have surrendered so meekly.”
“
I have given them safe passage back to Isogorr in return.” The Generals thought he was going a bit too far.
“
Don’t you think that will cause trouble in itself? It only means that if the King of Isogorr wants to try and invade again he will be bolstered by the return of his troops.” Wollfen wasn’t thinking that would be a problem.
“
I doubt the King would think it so easy to do so again. The Kingdom will not be so easily invaded in the future. I don’t think it will be a problem.”
“
Well that is for the King to decide don’t you think? Never mind it's not for me to argue politics. Right now we are engaged with how to defeat the remaining army here. We will be launching an attack first thing at dawn.” Wollfen decided he needed to put forward an alternative.
“
I would wait for now, lets try and parley again, it worked in Kassandrea.”