The Light of Miera: A Guard's Request (Book 1)

1- Chapter Two

Today Drazah would make history.

He drew a deep breath, the warm breeze smelling only of the elephant he sat upon. Behind him, the drumming of one thousand Sudran soldiers marching against the sands spurred him on as he directed them towards the Fields of Carcarus.

These fields were once host to a battle between Sudra and Dura. A skirmish lasting six days, with thousands slain and ramifications lasting decades. He could still taste the bloodshed.

Today they would debut another momentous event. Of that Drazah was certain.

For Drazah, Summer usually meant tournaments in the coliseum. He would sit with his Queen and sons, pride of place, as gladiators faced off against each other in spectacular displays of strength and agility. Rarely did he ever join in himself, but on occasion, an over-confident buffoon would challenge him for the crown and he would get to stretch his wings a little.

However, over the last few months tension between Sudra and the Empire had been rising. Drazah was beginning to fear invasion when they received a Duran messenger. It invited him to meet The Emperor on the battlefields of their ancestors to negotiate an alliance between Sudra and the newly formed Duran Empire.

Drazah didn't think it necessary, but Nymati was insistent on him taking as many men as he could manage, keeping up appearances as always. Each of his one thousand men were given a sword and shield, but they didn't have the supplies to clothe them all, most wore only parts of the full uniform. They looked ridiculous, but two children and twenty years was hardly the time to wait before questioning his Queen.

He reined in his elephant, taking in the view of the battlefield. Tents with red roofs had been propped up all over the fields. There were pens holding horses, carts filled with supplies and campfires surrounded by waiting soldiers. The army boasted a mix of Dura, Estra and Puwhar, tens of thousands of bronze-clad soldiers covering the landscape, the sheer volume of them making Drazah's single battalion seem rather feeble.

Drazah could only hope their reputation deterred any ideas The Emperor had of attacking them head-on. A fully powered Sudran could take most Dura ten to one.

After all, The Emperor didn't know their secret.

* * *

Drazah dismounted, meeting The Emperor with confidence.

"I didn't expect you to bring your entire army for a simple negotiation, Gabris," Drazah chided, feigning amazement. Having received word by crow, he was unsurprised at the display but would have expected as much regardless.

"Fear not, Drazah, I thought it only right I show you what I was offering," returned The Emperor as he gestured over the masses of soldiers around them.

Emperor Callius Gabris was a demi-god of a man. He stood over a foot taller than most of his Duran soldiers, a giant in every sense of the word, his muscles hulking out from under his armour. On his chest, he sported a polished bronze chest-plate, embellished with an extraordinary amount of muscles, his once peachy complexion bronzed by the sun.. Upon his head, he wore a brightly polished bronze galea which came down over his cheeks, framing his square face, highlighting piercing violet eyes.

"Oh? And what is it that you're offering?" asked Drazah, raising a single, sceptical eyebrow.

The Emperor smirked in response. He continued to walk them down along the front-lines, his thick crimson cape draping off his shoulders to drag on the ground behind him, the golden embroidery glittering in the bright sun.

"To be a part of something bigger than yourself. The chance to save your people from poverty." The Emperor spoke profoundly, but Drazah thought him no more convincing than a two-bit salesman; cocky, desperate and peddling false promises.