The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 101

#101 The Trap
He watched down, the blood dripping on his armor. The black metal had taken a reddish, horrid color of the last few days. Kairen didn’t even have time to wash it. He looked around him. The fight was dying. The remaining eastern army soldiers were all killed or taken as prisoners by his men.
To his surprise, the city people had even helped a bit, providing food and shelter to the soldiers who needed it. This was a first for the Imperial Army. Aside from the Capital, most cities were only terrified by the Emperor’s army. They had never seen military aside from their City militia, and the rumors about the Imperial Family held everyone in fear. However, Kairen himself had been surprised to see how things had changed lately. First, the news of him freeing the previous City was enough to have the War God’s arrival celebrated whenever they reached another one. Plus, he didn’t know how, but the people already knew that, unlike the Eastern Army who did not care, the War God forbade his men from assaulting or injuring any women or children. That was enough to have all the locals support the Imperial Army anywhere they showed up.
Finally, Cassandra’s shadow was also everywhere. Not only the soldiers were delighted by the medical kits that had already saved many lives, but the story of a former slave turned concubine and an Imperial physician was running like a legend in the streets. As soon as they saw the medical kits, the common people treated it like a treasure, looking incredibly grateful when the soldiers used it on the innocent people who had been injured.
Strangely, Kairen was feeling incredibly proud of his concubine’s doings. It was as if Cassandra was there on the battlefield, supporting him with her own strength.
As he walked back to the little buildings where is army had established themselves during this battle, he witnessed more soldiers using the little kits, now perfectly familiar with all the contents. He had even seen some of his men discussing with the accountants and the men watching the supplies about what they were running out the fastest, and use the empty compartments to store food.
“Are you alright, your Highness?” asked one of the Generals as Kairen walked in the building.
vas alright. He didn’t bother to answer and instead, took off his bloodied armor. His bare torso was perfectly fine except for a couple of scratches. Kairen walked upstairs, finding the little room they had prepared quickly for him. The War God could only afford to take short naps, but this was plenty enough for him. He laid on the bed, but, instead of trying to sleep, his hand reached for the little box on the bedtable.
Kairen had kept one of those for himself. He probably wouldn’t ever need what was inside, but having one of those boxes itself was meaningful enough for him. He opened it. The supplies hadn’t moved, but on top of the compartments, he grabbed the letter he had already read many, many times. Cassandra’s handwriting was pretty and delicate. As he was re-reading, he touched her hair tied with his. He could easily imagine her gentle voice saying each word. The War God sighed, imagining his concubine as she wrote those, thinking of him. He could fight a hundred wars, but he never would have imagined that being away from her for so long would be so hard. Back at the North Army Camp, he could see her at the end of the day, so he hadn’t really stopped to think about even missing her. 2
However, now, this was getting too annoyingly long, and Cassandra wasn’t anywhere near. It was better. He didn’t want the fear he witnessed every day in the innocent villager women’s eyes in her beautiful emerald-colored irises. She was so sick just from the smell of blood. This place would have been an utter nightmare for her… .
He tried sleeping a bit, a couple of hours.
He had done most of the job in fighting off the Eastern Army, his generals were competent enough to finish whatever was left in his absence. Most of them were smart enough not to disturb the War God’s few hours of rest.
When Kairen got down, a full plate of food was ready for him. He ate while listening to several reports but, all in all, this City was now free, and they should move on to the next one. Finally. They were about to reach the last City the Eastern army had been able to establish a decent siege on. The final fight would occur soon, and then, he was free to go back to his Concubine. Kairen left the building once he was sated, and his men were done talking. He went outside to join Krai, who was laying in the middle of an abandoned garden of a wealthy villa. That was
one of the only spots large enough for the Dragon to sit comfortably, as most of the City had been ravaged by the attacks.
The large black dragon was obviously bored by this war. The Eastern Army had done great by locking themselves inside the City, where it was hard for him to access in the narrow streets, and unless Kairen and his men pushed them outside or in areas he could reach, the big dragon literally didn’t have much to put his fangs or claws in. Hence, he was looking even more depressed and ignored the Prince walking his way.
“Stop sulking, we’re almost done.”
The answer came as an angry growl. Krai turned his head away, and kept growling, terrorizing the poor soldiers who just happened to be walking by. Kairen sighed and leaned against his big body. Both turned their heads in the same direction, where the Diamond Palace stood, miles and miles away. Kairen promised himself to fly there the minute he would be done with this war. He had already enough.
Suddenly, Krai moved, pushing the War God and hiding his head under his wing. Kairen glared at his wilful beast that was now showing him his rear.
“I miss them too, you know.”
Another pissed growl came. Kairen couldn’t blame him. They were both dying to fly back and meet their babies… His son and the baby dragon. Kairen had a feeling that birth had already happened, from the way Krai was acting. His dragon had acted up all agitated, two nights ago, but they were right in the middle of the raging battle. However, his angry dragon attitude had been even worse since then, and now, Kairen could tell the Dragon wasn’t only missing Cassandra. (1
The War God had enough. After a few more minutes, he angrily walked back to the main building, yelling for the generals to gather. All men assembled in less than a minute.
“We are attacking the next City in two days at dawn,” he said. “Warn all the men we are taking no prisoners.”
No one dared to protest or even raise a single concern. Two days would be plenty enough for the men to rest, and the next City could be reached in two hours by foot. Moreover, one would have been crazy to object to the War God when he had this murderous glare on. He was merciless with his enemies, but his men knew Kairen could be as deadly with anyone who disrespected him too.
Hence, just as the War God had ordered, the Army arrived at the next City exactly before dawn, two days later. Just like the Black Dragon flying above them, the soldiers were actually quite excited. This was the last battle, the last City to be freed, and they had come here victory after victory. Even if this one would probably heavy consolidated, the mere thought of ending this war soon was enough to energize the troops. Just like Kairen, many of these men had families or lovers they were all dying to return to. 2
As Kairen stood forward, lines and lines of soldiers behind him, an eastern soldier, probably some general, appeared on top of one of the City’s walls.
“Imperial Army! You have fought brilliantly until now, but we won’t let you win this city! Our great Eastern Republic won’t submit to some barbarian country who…”
“Shut the fuck up.”
The man stopped talking, shocked by the War God’s words. Kairen hadn’t yelled, but his voice was powerful enough to be heard all around. Some men snickered behind him, making fun of the poor soldier.
“We… We are not going to s-step down in front of the tyranny, and…”
“I said, shut the fuck up.”
Some of the men behind Kairen laughed at the man’s baffled expression, but the War God wasn’t laughing. Instead, his glare was absolutely terrifying. The poor spokesperson tried to stutter something, but it came more as some pitiful squeak than any word. It was indeed hard to dare open his mouth when being glared at by the
most terrifying black eyes in the world. The most spine-chilling beast wasn’t in the sky.
“W… We… d… don’t…”
Kairen silently took out his sword, and, in a silent deadly movement, sent it flying. The distance should have been hard to conquer, even for an arrow. However, the blade went right into that man’s head, in the perfect middle. He fell backward and out of sight. The large door stood in front of them, surely barricaded, but this was the twelve door they were facing in those few weeks. The soldiers knew exactly what to expect. Kairen glanced up, waiting. The Dragon kept circling lazily until the War God clicked his tongue.
“The sooner we’re done, the sooner we go back,” he muttered, still glaring at his dragon.
Just then, Krai finally flew down, apparently headed right in the door and, a few meters before, finally spit his fire. The door melted in seconds against the pressure of the heat. Even the men started sweating under their armors, but they watched the gate disappear and got ready to fight.
“All men, ready!” Yelled the Generals in unison.
Kairen took out his second sword and, with one swing of his hand, all the soldiers started moving at the exact same moment. The Imperial Army was perfectly trained to do what they had to. The Generals alone were enough to guide the men, while Kairen marched in front. Anyone who got on his path wearing the wrong armor was killed instantly. Many men tried to fight him, as it would be the ultimate honor to be able to kill the Dragon Empire’s War God, but they were greeted with their death instead.
It was like a machine. He didn’t stop, didn’t flinch, and kept going with nothing to stop him. Krai, too, was flying over the City, looking for any spot where he could attack and bite a few enemies. The Dragon was only too happy to have an opportunity to end this war as soon as possible. He even wandered off to chase some men who were trying to flee the City, and he had no pity for deserters.
On the ground, Kairen was leading his men silently. They were barging in a building, making sure the inhabitants were safe and the enemy was killed and moved on to the next one. It was harder to progress because the Eastern Army had no remorse in taking hostages. Somehow, they had to find a way around any situation, but after twelve cities of the same scenario, all of his men were trained to act accordingly.
The War God didn’t even have to yell any orders, the Imperial Army was the best of the Empire. Instead, Kairen focused on the larger buildings, or the houses were many hostages could be held. One was particularly barricaded, and he kicked the gates open. Something felt strange inside that place.
It was… too silent. No one had progressed that far into the City yet, but he was almost surprised no one had raided such a big mansion. Was this a possible trap? That thought wasn’t worrying him one bit. He had faced countless traps and rendered all of them useless. His enemies were smart, but his strength and stamina were hard to overcome. Not only that, but his Dragon blood made his enemy cry in frustration, for any injury that barely managed to inflict to him was absolutely useless.
However, his instincts were telling him something was wrong with this place. The large rooms would have been perfect to store men or weapons, but it seemed empty… The ceiling was strangely high, too, as if one of the floors had been taken down. From the outside, the roof seemed robust, so why…?
The answer came a couple of rooms further in. Kairen’s instincts warned him first, and he placed his sword in front of him. Another trap, surely. When he kicked another door open, however. There was quite a surprise behind it.
Two young dragons, facing him with their yellow angry eyes. The two beasts stood still, but they were not restrained in any way. Kairen frowned. The Eastern Army shouldn’t have any Dragons. Those two were unknown, he had never seen those before… They were young, two, obviously not adults. He swung his sword around. Finally an interesting battle.
There was no record of a man able to single-handedly kill a dragon. Let alone two dragons. The War God had a smirk on. They had really worked hard at trying to kill him…
One of the dragons suddenly growled, and they both jumped on him. The room was big but just enough for those two to attack. No adult Dragon would be able to sneak in there, but those Dragons were the size of three or four adult men, not even half of Krai’s size. They really had prepared the perfect trap.
Kairen barely dodged one of their claws, and the other dragon furiously growled, jumping next. The War God didn’t have time to think. He raised his sword and, at the right moment, stabbed one of their flanks, making the dragon screech in pain. However, right next to him, the other jumped, and tore Kairen’s armor off his chest in a loud metallic bang. The pieces of metal fell, with holes from those close in it. The War God frowned.
He jumped to get on one of the Dragon’s back, using it as a stepping stone, and attacked the other, aiming for its jaw this time. He barely missed it, but his sword still opened a large cut on the beast’s neck. Both dragons were now injured and furious, and they attacked back. The War God fell a sharp pain, and his blood flowing from the injury. He glanced down. How long had it been since he had seen the color of his own blood? The injury was large, and strangely, at that moment he was reminded of Cassandra, Something about the pain, maybe. He looked up, and both dragons got ready to jump again.