Chereads / The Empire of Arcadia / Chapter 3 - The Dream, III

Chapter 3 - The Dream, III

> heads up, slightly gory by the end.

It was afternoon when Tei'hi and his men arrived at the eastern shore of Arcadia. Stepping out of the boat, he took a long breath of the air as he walked far from the coast. He ordered his men to set a camp where they could rest for the meantime. And so they did.

But Tei'hi feels a bit of peculiarness in his surroundings, looking across the treeline towards the forest, he sees people. Natives, most likely, stalking his men behind the trees.

"What's wrong, general?" Asked Zoroan, Tei'hi's right-hand man.

"Order the scouts to check our area can ye?" He replied, not taking his eyes off of the treeline as the scouts make their way all around.

The people in the trees crept their way away from them, not taking their sights off of the camp as Tei'hi doesn't take his sights off of theirs. "What devils occupy this place, I wonder." He said, carrying his ax towards a tree and with one decisive swing, slashes it down.

A soldier approached him, Tei'hi ordered him, as well as two others to take the tree into the camp to make fortifications for later. "Tomorrow! We make haste." He shouted at his men, "We must leave this shores as soon as we can and find a suitable place to settle. We are weak here. But we must preserve energy."

"Sir!" A soldier raised his hand, "Where do we head?" he asks,

"That is debatable, bu-" A resounding shriek echoes through the woods as both of the scouts come running out of the woods.

"ATTACK! ATTACK!" They yelled out, Tei'hi grabbed one of the scouts and gripped him tightly.

"Calm boy! How many are they?"

"A lot, general! At least six thousand! He yelled out, Tei'hi hears in the distance through the forests the hard stepping of six thousand men.

Their heights vary and their faces are painted blue. Humans, most likely, are less equipped than Tei'hi's men, only wearing leg armor but with massive shields that cover their entire upper body, they carry with them axes and spears.

They started singing and chanting. The deep bellowing of their voices echoing amongst the ocean's waves. As they chanted more and more men appeared from the treelines. They all were considerably bigger than Tei'hi's army and as such, felt to be a much more dangerous opponent.

Tei'hi, trying to play it safe, sent one of his soldiers to them, asking them what they want. The soldier approached cautiously and, as he reached the natives' line. They pulled him in, the sound of his shrieks echoing to the ears of the soldiers as the natives stopped chanting.

The lone soldier shrieked and yelled inside the forest as the sound of swords cutting flesh rattle through the sky. His bones were crushed and, eventually, his vocal cords ruptured. The screaming stopped yet the cutting continued. It did such for an hour.

After that, a terrifying figure emerged from beyond. The lone soldier, limbs cut from shoulder to his upper thighs as his body rests perched on top of a wooden stake. A testament to the foreigners attempting to invade their land.

To Tei'hi, it was clear that they were not welcome there. But he did not falter, he would make himself welcome, either through force or death.

The natives started singing and chanting yet again, one of them shrieking so loudly that the soldiers on Tei'hi's side covered their ears. And then… they started walking towards the army.

"SQUARE FORMATION! OVER THE SHORE, HURRY!" Tei'hi yelled at his army as they started going in formation.

The natives, unfazed, continued their march. And continued.