Five Thousand Boats

The army was assembled, Tyronis had know the army would be immense but he had never fathomed it to be as large as this. In the field, encamped in temporary shelters of tents were a total of one hundred thousand soldiers, not all the best but in this case numbers would do fine.

They began their leisurely training, passing the time before Tyronis somehow found a means to transport this large army to the island. Turning to Symbolsian who was observing the training he asked, " So what exactly can I wish for? Can I wish that they all die and we win?"

Symbolsian grinned at this, it still had a nightmarish effect but Tyronis knew this fiend was on his side now, " No, I can grant any wish as long as I am not directly responsible in the loss of a life, its always been the code but all my people ignored that and, well they’re still bitching about it, you should hear the turmoil inside of me."

Tyronis could see the irony in that, his entire race in one body because they were too generous with their wishes. Symbolsian continued, " So if you want to spy on someone, learn the tango, enchant a weapon, whatever it is. As long as it does not effect humans or any such corporeal entities directly."

It was understandable, otherwise people would have taken advantage and the whole world would have gone off balance. Turning to face the army he made his first wish, " Knowing that here is my first wish, can you tell me exactly what my hybrid demon friends have been up to, and are up to? A spying mission, my scrying powers are not so powerful I’m afraid."

Not even a second passed and he was gone, Tyronis still marvelled at how he could just disappear without even a word or a sign, just there and then gone. Returning in less than a minute he said, " Celestria is leading Adonis to the island of Macknola along with her elf elites and Dominic’s outlaws."

Tyronis interrupted, " So Dominic is there too, I never thought he was actually for our plan." Symbolsian laughed maniacally at this, a chair materialising behind him he sat on it laughing.

Getting up he continued, " Don’t interrupt. Dominic, Ares and Loki have gathered together with Jolene, Constatino and the King of the dark elves." Tyronis frowned at this, Symbolsian continued, " They have gathered together an army of dark elves, Coronian troops and vampires, and I believe Ares has a devious plan up his sleeves to increase that number but I am not certain."

This was who they would be facing, it sounded like a deadly alliance indeed. There was only one way to kill vampires, decapitation. Anything short of that never worked, crosses did not repel them, garlic had little effect on them, the sun light made their skin itch but that was a far cry from the fabled disintegration effect.

And then there was the dark elves to take into account, powerful and meticulous warriors and magic wielders they were indeed. Every one of them tough as nails, as Dominic had bragged about so many times from birth they were put though a rigorous training.

Even the women became warriors, both sexes were trained differently with unique fighting skills but all dark elves were trained from childhood to be the perfect soldiers, they would not kill without reason but if there was even a small reason they would even kill a child.

The reason Dominic had truly been kicked out of the Coronian Empire was not what he had told Adonis, Dominic had nearly killed Krale when he’d come back from a successful sacking only to be reprimanded for having killed all the inhabitants.

Moving on he considered the Coronian troops, they were the least powerful of the three assembled forces but still a force to be reckoned with. They would probably be the most numerous of all, all elites with the best weaponry and armour. How would they get to the island however?

Almost as though he read his mind Symbolsian resumed, " They have already reached the island, crossing a bridge that was built by the International Council of Magic, they were executed afterwards." This was horrible news, they had barely begun their lives, barely begun helping the people and they were now dead.

What would happen to the people, if both their strict dictator and the Council were dead, the people would not know how to handle the sudden freedom. "But they are far less than your force, and as we speak Kulos and Cyranos are speaking with Gomlin’s King on assembling a large force of dwarves. That is your first wish."

Walking to him the Queen who had changed from her beautiful royal dress to Royal Kingdom armour asked, "How goes the training, you do realise we will need at least five thousand large transport vessels just to carry our army to the island, how do you suppose we do that?"

This was a good question, in normal circumstances it would have been quite a dilemma. To find five thousand boats under such short warning was impossible, it would take over a decade to assemble such a fleet. However, Tyronis had something new that made this situation not so normal.

Leaving Symbolsian he led the Queen back, " Just so you know, you look good in that armour, almost as though you were born for it. And I can get us five thousand boats, but can your soldiers navigate a ship?"

Even if they could get the ships Symbolsian could not affect anyone directly, so he could not give them navigation skills. Tania looked seriously, " Yes they can, they have been trained in every way I can think, we may have a reputation for being weak but the Royal Kingdom puts every soldier through rigorous training in all that regards battle."

He could tell by her tone this was the complete truth, and he knew the Royal Kingdom was a lot more formidable than they received credit for. Simply because they weren’t ruled under a strict regime and ruled by a dictator that was their Emperor, it did not mean they were any less powerful.

Although the Coronian Empire had the force and discipline, the Royal Kingdom had the moral and support of all, they were driven by more than just orders and selfish motivations, they fought for freedom and for principals, that motivation made them much stronger than the Coronians.

He said, " Go make a speech to your people, give them some morale support and tell them they will be leaving in a matter of hours and they should prepare to board the ships. Do not ask how, have faith that I can do it."

They gazed at each other for a moment, not having to speak a word as their silence said more than words ever could have said. Turning away Tyronis joined Symbolsian once more as Tania walked on the large cliff overlooking the vast army.

The moment she stood there she did not even need to speak a word as all the soldiers went silent, sheathing their weapons and grouping together, all looking up at their Queen. Talking in a voice that conveyed throughout the entire prairie, " Oh most respected soldiers, I begin by saying how it is an honour to lead such principled men and women as yourselves into battle."

There was a general applauding at this, one thing that was consistent with humans was that they enjoyed getting compliments. Even the most humble monk appreciated hearing that they were good people, that they did good work. It boosted morale, and although their enemies believed in no such things, morale was key to victory.

She motioned for the soldiers to silence, " We will be leaving within the hour, you have all trained exceptionally well as I would expect, and now we will soon be going to battle. It will be the largest battle of our age, many will die on both sides that I will not hide, if any of you wish to back out and return home do so now. After we get on the ships there is no turning back."

" Now, lets kill those sons of bitches who think they can screw with us! Lets teach all of those unprincipled bastards that the Royal Kingdom is much more than a band of weak soldiers, but a force to be reckoned with!" Finishing her speech on that note the soldiers cheered enthusiastically.

As she went to join Tyronis she was shocked to see five thousand large transport ships where it had previously been empty, with newly constructed docks leading to every boat. How he had done this was far past her but she was thankful for his help, the soldiers began to board the ships, chattering loudly about the upcoming battle.

Making bets between each other on who would kill the most, on who would get what if they were to die, unwritten contracts being made, new friendships formed all in that one moment. The person sitting beside them might become their best friend or their worse enemy, but when the battle came they would fight in unison and they would conquer.

The Queen frowned seeing one soldier among all the others who stood behind, looking at them all board with a large grin on his face. She walked to him and asked, " You do not wish to go to battle soldier? I gave the option but may I ask why?"

He looked at her, same smiled on his face, " I’m no idiot, this battle is going to be the biggest thing we’ve ever faced, you got that right. And anyway, your not my Queen, I serve the Emperor." Before she could react he was gone in a haze of smoke, now they would know of their approach, she only hoped Tyronis had another trick up his sleeve.

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They made good progress, however the winds were not strong. Turning to the ocean Tyronis began to pray to Prometheus, so far the weather had been good but the wind had not come, and if the Coronian Empire knew they were coming they would need to make haste.

There was one way they could do it, but Tyronis had not wished to use remaining wish in this matter. Symbolsian had congratulated Tyronis on his wishing skills, how he could make him help them. If he’d admired that wish he would definitely admire this one.

Summoning Symbolsian he said, " So what happens when I use my last wish, will you leave and resume your life, manipulating us into some sort of plan you’ve made?"He grinned, this time the terror was stronger than ever before, sending chills through his entire body he even backed away without even wanting to.

Regaining some control Symbolsian said, " No, you make your last wish and I will move on to another person, I will grant another three wishes and move on to the next person. That’s all I live for now, if I grant enough wishes someday my race will become formidable again, within me. Each wish I grant increases my own power, until eventually I will have no need for the laws because I will be more powerful than the law maker,"

He was talking about becoming a god, joining the Olympian Gods, possibly overthrowing them. He would be a cruel god, but Tyronis truly needed his help. " I hope your plans go well, I guess we will be concluding our business because I make my final wish. Can you make the wind come to our favour, make it as strong as possible without becoming hazardous to us, do this and then I suppose you go to your next customer."

Symbolsian looked up at the sails and said, " I’ll make a show for you, being the last wish and all, I love theatrics after all." Muttering words of ancient origins everyone went silent as his voice filled the entire fleet, filling everyone with terror.

The atmosphere became that of pure terror, as the words got louder the fears got stronger and stronger. Some of the soldiers pissed themselves in fear, they all shook in fear as the wind began to pick up. The sails went forward as the force of the wind pushed the mighty vessels to speeds ten times faster than even a normal windy day.

He was gone, who he was going to serve next was a mystery to him but he was glad he’d met Symbolsian, without him they never would have made it to the island. Now only hours away , the feeling of that fear was now permanently within every one of them.

They would need that fear if they wanted to survive, Tyronis knew this battle would mean the difference between saving the world or letting it end, it was important to have fear because this would be the most pivotal moment in history.

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This was a curious strategy, even Symbolsian found this to be quite inventive. Tyronis had wasted all his wishes on getting to the island, and yet this army had devised their own way. He had met Ares once, but this time Ares would be able to see him and this time he would get his three wishes.

Materialising in front of the army they stopped, looking at him strangely they continued, intent on ignoring this strange looking man. However they were forced to stop as they hit a giant invincible barrier.

He said calmly, using the same terror filling voice he’d used on the others, " Ares, only you can cross the shield that blocks your army, come forth and meet with me." Ares walked out through the group, everyone giving him room for they feared his power and cruelty.

Now facing Symbolsian he said, recognizing him for his strange attributes as a doppelganger he said, " Have you come to kill us or to grant us your assistance? Oh that’s right, you can’t hurt us."

This taunting was good, Symbolsian had not been taunted in this fashion in a long time, no one ever dared anger him although they should know he could not directly kill them, but he knew many ways to indirectly kill a man.

He bowed in mock respect, " Three wishes, and luckily for you, you already know all you need to know and have a means to reach the island, I cannot wait to find out what three wishes you will come up with."