29 Kingdom of Aachen (2/2)

By denying access to orcs, Lord William was effectively saying.

”This side of the river and all of its inhabitants belong to Aachen. The orc hordes have no place here what so ever. Handle your business on your own land and we will handle ours.”

On the war to come, everyone expected that the numerically superior orcs would focus on pillaging the smaller settlements since they couldn't challenge the fortress city directly, while the gnomes would attempt to wear down the aggressors with guerrilla tactics, taking advantage of the defensive positions at their disposal.

Victory would be achieved by the side that could withstand this taxing war effort for the longest amount of time.

Each had its trump cards. The orcs had both quantity and quality on their side. But the gnomes had the benefit of being the defenders.

But there was one thing that the orcs had not accounted for. The wizards had just developed a new type of illusion magic and intended to use it with great effect.

Typically illusions were more useful when targeting a single strong foe. That's because one illusionist could only keep under his or her spell one enemy at a time.

So far, this serious limitation had caused this field of magic to be mostly useless on large scale battles.

However, an especial formation was crafted, allowing the illusionist to ”water down” the spell's resilience in order to affect a great number of individuals.

But, as the quality lowered, many countermeasures that would have been useless against the original technique became effective when dealing with the formation.

For instance, the simplest blessing, a spell known by even the most low ranking priest, was enough to neutralize this weapon entirely.

As such the gnomes needed to be really mindful of when to use this trick up their sleeves. For, as soon as the orcs learned about it, there wouldn't be much time before this weakness was exposed.

The hordes were a highly mobile force armed with very competent scouting parties, making the possibility of an enemy surprise attack a failure from the beginning.

But it was precisely on this arrogance that the gnomes intended to prey.

The scouts were the first to fall, being caught off guard by the formations. And them, Williams forces turned to face the main enemy host.

During the night they stroke, while the enemy firmed believed that the gnomes were hidden behind Aachen's thick walls.

Targeting the mounts first was extremely important in order to cripple the infamous orc cavalry.

The attacker's army was a numerically inferior, less experienced and contained soldiers of many different races and backgrounds, some of which held no goodwill towards their gnomic overlords.

Yet, despite all of this, under Lord William's command, they knocked the orcs' teeth out of their mouths, pushing them back.

The cost was great, but Aachen's Victory was still very clear.

On the first day of the year 205 a.t.a., on the anniversary of the Awakening, their ruler was crowned King William I, of Aachen, as the former city-state was lifted to the position of full-fledged kingdom.

It was the first time since 37 a.t.a., when King Alfred I fell in battle and Azov imploded in many independent factions, that the race of gnomes had a true kingdom, even if most of its subjects were not actually gnomes at all.

With the prestige gained from this fabulous victory, the new monarch cemented his position. And, even though he was not a Firstborn, no longer would anyone dare to question his authority.

...

Arda was the first princess from the Kingdom of Aachen and tonight she looked very gleeful.

From the balcony where she stood, it was possible to see the riverbank and several small vessels, some of which were in movement, while most of them were anchored, having finished their businesses during the day.

She had recently bought a map of the inheritance of an ancestral dragon that a strange man in red robes had sold on the market.

Normally she would not give any credits to such allegations. Especially coming from members of other races.

But the evidence just was too strong for her to doubt. Starting by the magic contained in the scroll, which was too sophisticated for a simple human to grasp.

Even if it wasn't a dragon's hoard, judging by the map quality alone, the prize should still be more than enough to cover the expenses.

She had sent forth a group with her finest subordinates to investigate, as well as to settle some other business nearby.

Two birds would be put down with one stone.

Now was the time to show everyone that she also bore the greatness of the royal family.

Why should William, Rumpelstiltskin's golden boy, have all the glories?

”Wait for me brother. As royal myself, I can't possibly stay behind.”

Her eyes glowed with fervent determination.