|
Xplayer -> RE: The Games We Play (5/30/2012 17:28:42)
|
The Rational Battle
There were once two rulers, Safed and Kala, which held equal and great magical power over both light and darkness. Both kingdoms saw the other as a worthy adversary, but they knew that true mastery of their power would never come to pass while the other existed. War was inevitable; the world was too small for them. Since both kingdoms’ rulers were honorable and practical men, they decided to minimize the casualties of the war by having it decided through a single battle on a neutral island with a limited number of combatants. Each agreed to use eight infantry soldiers, two mounted cavalry, and two chariots. In terms of magic, the kingdoms allowed the selection of two battle mages, one to use light magic and one to use dark. The rulers and their wives, who were masters of both light and dark magic as well as teleportation magic that allowed them to travel as quickly as the chariots, were also allowed to battle; although the rulers themselves would not be allowed to use magic. The rulers agreed to surrender when it was inevitable that they would be captured, but otherwise the armies were to fight to the death.
Safed was confident in his offensive prowess so he told Kala that he planned to strike first. Kala, preferring a more defensive strategy, agreed. And so the great battle began…
Safed stared at his equal across the open field on the island. For weeks he had been preparing his forces for combat, but it appeared that his mirror image had trained his soldiers to match his every move. Brute force would not be sufficient for victory. Neither side’s infantry could take the other one head on, so he trained them to attack from the side. His mounted cavalry could overcome obstacles, but none of his other soldiers had the same mobility. His wife, of course, was his most powerful asset, so he would be sure to protect her and not take unnecessary risks with her movements.
He started to move his infantry to occupy the center of the field. Kala, on the other hand, decided to hold his soldiers back, having his infantry protect each other, while his light mage and cavalry soldier eyed the center from the flanks. Safed used this apparent hesitance to build a solid presence in the center of the field, preventing his opponent from shifting flanks so easily, and allowing him several options for directions of attack. Suddenly, one of Kala’s infantry leapt forward and struck down the soldier who was occupying on of the center squares with his sword, in the same side attack strategy that his soldiers were taught. Safed angrily ordered the soldier protecting his partner to kill the attacker and occupy the center again, but the flank attack left his position slightly weakened.
Continuing to be surprisingly aggressive considering his passive start, Kala ordered his light mage to attack Safed’s mounted cavalry. The blast of fire from across the field sent the soldier flying off his horse. Safed’s face contorted as he saw another one of his men struck down. He would now have to move one of his soldiers that was critical to the formation out of position. Wondering if he’d made a blunder, he ordered the mage to be cut down by foot soldier that was assigned to guarding the space, and moved to the corner of the field on the other side of the chariot.
Kala was simply biding his time. He had already broken Safed’s plan by sacrificing the light mage mage, and now he just had to wait for an opening. He sat in the corner of the behind his dark mage and three foot soldiers. Safed’s soldier who had killed the light mage was now advancing quickly up the field, intending to create a weakness in the defense. There was little he could do, so he just prepared his forces on the other side of the field for a counterattack as Safed’s foot soldier charged into the defense, sacrificing himself to eliminate one of Kala’s guards.
Then all hell broke loose.
Suddenly Safed’s light mage assaulted the defense, bombarding his soldiers with fire bombs as powerful as his own late light mage’s. Before he knew it, two chariots and Safed’s wife, who had remained inactive for much of the battle, lined up to strike his dark mage and trap him. Kala maneuvered his cavalry and chariot to protect the black mage. Try as he might, Safed was unable to gain enough of an advantage to even attempt an attack on Kala’s defense, so he waited for Kala to make his move.
Kala scanned the field again and again. His wife stood next to him, and she recognized the the reality of the situation as soon as he did. Safed’s wife could be trapped and killed, but it required that Kala’s wife die with her. If Safed’s wife were killed, Kala would almost certainly have the advantage necessary to win. She nodded her head, understanding her duty, for no words were necessary between people of honor. After all, this would be for the greater good. Kala’s wife dashed onto the field and entrapped Safed’s wife with a binding spell that began draining her life force.
Safed’s wife had no choice; she had to move to Kala’s wife’s position to kill her, where she’d be weakened by the spell and unprotected, but at this rate she’d just be totally drained of energy and die. After all, it was the logical thing to do. She took out her enchanted sword and struck down her adversary, only having a second to relish in accomplishment before being trampled by the mounted cavalry.
Broken chariots lay at his feet. Scorch marks blanketed the earth. A stench of blood filled the air. “Was this really the rational choice?” Safed asked himself. “Is losing your closest friends before your eyes truly greater than sending an entire kingdom of faceless loyal subjects to their death? My wife, my trusted ministers, my greatest soldiers, all lay dead because I decided to use them instead of protect them. And for what? A kingdom? Power? There are not nearly enough riches in the world to justify the loss of friends.”
Kala approached his companion with the two foot soldiers he had left. Kala had also lost most of his small army, but was able to retain just enough of an advantage to trap his enemy. “Safed,” Kala addressed him, “you have fought valiantly. You have been trapped. There is nowhere to run. As per our agreement you are to surrender.”
“Like hell I’ll surrender,” Safed replied. “You expect me to live so that I can be flaunted before my defeated kingdom like a trophy, put in a dungeon for the rest of eternity as an example to those who dare to resist the great new ruler of the world? You killed my closest friends, my family, so that you could torture me with the responsibility of their deaths. How can you even fathom that I am willing to surrender to you, you scum of the earth!” He drew his sword.
The first promise that Safed ever broke in his entire life as ruler, for he was an honorable man, was also his last.
|
|
|
|
