It is very common for the disturbed and the anxious to be devoid of sleep. Sleep requires a calm mind and heart. Why? That is unclear. Perhaps our bodies want to remind us that no matter how hectic our lives are, we should always break and bring calmness to our minds and bodies.
Such was the case for Vizier Kaljar. His body became restless upon knowing that the detested Lorope army is hours away from the Castle of Remna. He could not sleep despite forcing its body to do so for more than an hour.
Kaljar knew that once the Lorope army reached him, he will be deprived of sleep for god knows how long. Kaljar did not mind even if he managed to sleep for at least a few minutes.
Kaljar had many worries; taking care of his 10,000 men, predicting and planning against Lorope moves. But more importantly, Kaljar was worried about his single child, his daughter Mirya. If Kaljar died in this conflict, who will look after her?
The snakes who proposed to his daughter Mirya, those who eyed her body with impure lust brought neverending fears to Kaljar. He wanted to stab them, but too bad the law forbade it.
Kaljar's only hope was in King Rajid; his eyes were pure. Should the king marry his daughter, Kaljar would die peacefully.
The next moment proved that the external world of Kaljar overpowered his internal. Just as the sun was about to show itself, a giant metallic ball was shot loudly out of a cylindrical object never seen before.
The metallic ball was accurately aimed at the very top of the Castle of Remna. The target was the room of the unfortunate Vizier Kaljar.
The metallic ball crashed against the sturdy walls of the Castle. The walls were young and confident, but their confidence paled against the might of this ambitious metallic ball.
The ball cracked its way through the wall of the Castle with a loud roar. Thick stones that were once part of the sturdy castle walls fell inside Kaljar's room, and loudly on the grass outside the Castle.
Kaljar jumped in surprise, and his bed was luckily away from the impact. He was thus unharmed but coughed from the resulting dust and debris.
Kaljar stared at the hole in his room. It filled him with amazement and fear.
Did Kaljar's memory fail him? Was there anything that could blow the castle's walls? With such ease and force? Did Lorope invent a new weapon? When and how? This mindblowing weapon would spark a significant change in the entire globe. It would mark perhaps the death of fortresses, thick walls, and castles... And it also meant that the death of the Castle of Remna is neigh.
The bastard Lustratous aimed for my neck from the very start, Kaljar thought. But too bad, my neck is much tougher than what he thinks.
Kaljar left his room and shouted all around the stairway, "Soldiers prepare yourselves!"
Kaljar's shout and the noise of the metallic ball had awakened the soldiers in the Castle. Valik, in particular, did not know what to do. He was not a soldier, and he knew that remaining in his room was dangerous.
Valik opened the door of his room and saw swarms of the Djinn soldiers, fully prepared with their gear and weapons to strike the enemy. They were running down the long stairway of the castle to the ground level.
Valik squeezed himself between the marching soldiers to enter the stairway and ran downward as quickly as he could.
Suddenly another metallic ball struck the Castle. The soldiers stopped their stairway march in surprise, a few whispered as to what is going on. This time it hit the northern gate, but it remained standing.
Lajek stood at the ground level, waiting for the soldiers to finish their descent. He looked frustrated. Lajek did not expect Lorope to possess such a deadly weapon that could topple the castle he was so proud of.
Kaljar, on the other hand, was still at the top of the stairway making sure that all the soldiers had left their rooms.
After a few minutes, most of the soldiers were on the ground level, standing in the standard square formation.
Valik had also reached the ground level with the Djinn soldiers. He noticed that Laiban was at the second row of the army, surrounded by units equipped with a shield like him.
Lajek quickly noticed Valik amongst the crowds because his attire was different from the soldiers.
"Valik what are you doing here?" Lajek shouted. "Run away to the southern gate. This place is not for civilians."
After a few seconds, not one but two metallic balls hit the northern gate at once. The right door of the gate fell loudly on the ground. It fell on a few unfortunate Djinn soldiers who lost their lives due to its extreme weight.
The two armies were now visible to one another.
Valik noticed that Emperor Lustratous was at the very front of his army. His armor was entirely black, with yellow carvings of Salamander on the chest's armor.
The other elite soldiers beside him instead wore white armor and had blue carvings of Salamander on their chest. The rest of the army behind them wore a typical pale grey armor. But they distinguished themselves with a tabard that resembled the Lorope flag.
Emperor Lustratous raised his hand, and both Lorope and Djinn soldiers went silent.
"Soldiers of the Djinn kingdom, I am giving you a chance to surrender," said Lustratous. "You are surrounded in the northern and the southern gates. We outnumber you thrice, and the Castle you are so proud of is useless against our cannons as you have witnessed. Surrender, and I shall guarantee you no harm."
A large noise echoed throughout the Djinn army.
"We are surrounded?" said one soldier.
"How come they reached the southern gate?" said another.
"I thought we doubled them in size!" shouted a terrified soldier.
But before the situation became worse, Vizier Kaljar took charge.
Despite it being a dangerous move, Kaljar stood between his army and the Lorope army to deliver his speech. Kaljar could easily be wiped out by arrows, spear shoots, or even the so-called cannons. But he did not mind for he had to set up an example.
It was in a way similar to what Lustratous was doing, for he had also placed himself between the two armies.
"Stand firm!" Kaljar's shout echoed throughout the castle. "You let an enemy toy with your minds? The battle had not started yet, and you doubt yourselves?"
The tension of the battle was heavy on the Djinn soldiers. After all, they have not fought a single war in their lives and had very few war veterans from previous wars. Almost all the Djinn veterans back in the days of King Justinian the Second had perished under the might of Salamander during the Third-Year-War.
Lustratous had placed the Djinn army at a cage that they can't escape from. The Djinn army is surrounded by enemies that triple theirs. Lorope also had this mysterious weapon called cannons by Lustratous that could collapse the whole Castle with unbelievable force.
Lorope still had many war veterans from the Third-Year-War. Lorope's army was also more confident because they had won the previous war against the Djinn. Thus, it was normal for the Djinn army to feel overwhelmed.
All in all the future was bleak for the Djinn army.
This is why Valik looked at Kaljar with awe; how could he muster this much courage?
"How many times in history did smaller armies beat larger ones?" shouted Kaljar as he looked at the Lorope army. "Countless times. And this conflict will set another example of that. Have you forgotten the fear we brought you in the Third-Year-War? You have forgotten how your armies, your forefathers kept on retreating for their lives? And you think you can win this war? Do not make me laugh!"
Instead of raising the morale of his army Kaljar instead lowered the enemy's morale. This helped ignite the Djinn army at the same time.
Cheers and shouts were heard from the Djinn Kingdom's army.
"Let us piss on them."
"Let us eat them alive."
Kaljar rose his double-sided axe to the sky, intensifying the excitement of his army. Kaljar was the only person in the Djinn army who used axes.
But before Kaljar ordered his soldiers to march on the enemy Lajek, Kaljar's right-hand man shouted, "I surrender!"