FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A week later, they laid eyes on the battlefield. The orcas had been drawn from the sea and made to traverse the land leading to the bloody ground, and had proven that they could be made to keep formation on land. They weren't particularly good at it, but they weren't collapsing the way that some had feared. Lorenus was glad to see that they were at least somewhat capable, even if there were other species in the army that would probably be able to outmaneuver them. Of course, the orcas weren't part of the army for their speed, but rather their muscle, and that they had in spades.

The column of black and white marched down the road to the lion's camp with the prince of the lions in the lead. Several outriders came to meet them, questions on their faces, but a glance from their leader told them to hold off for now. Lorenus followed in the wake of the prince, already grinning to himself as he imagined what else he might be able to claim in the encampment.

I have their prince. What else can I take?

Many things, he imagined. Many people. The lions were...pleasing bedfellows, he'd found. He hoped to test out more of them and see just how well they suited his temperament.

In the distance, on the other side of the ravine, he could just make out the three skunk camps that were defending the way across. The space between consisted of a sharp incline on either side, easily defensible, but with a steep drop that made attacking difficult. The skunks had scouts within the ravine, mostly on their side of the water but with some moving around on the lion side. None dared come too close to the sandy rise, likely due to the archers that he could see posted at the top, but he imagined that they were just waiting for the right moment. If the lions pushed too hard, overcommitting to an offensive, there wouldn't be enough numbers to hold back any sort of counterstrike from the skunks. If he was in command, that would be what he would wait for.

Of course, now they had more numbers, but even with the orcas and the men that Lorenus was willing to donate to the cause, he imagined that it would be enough to maybe bring their numbers to just about even. He had no hopes of outnumbering the skunks; at best, they both had around four hundred soldiers. Likely, they were still on the back foot, lacking the true numerical strength the other side had...

But that didn't mean they couldn't win.

The lion prince, Jehari, led them to the central tent of the camp. He took command instantly, and the warrior that had been holding forth immediately bowed, stepping back from the hide table in the tent's center. No sooner had the prince settled on the far side than he waved the naga over, gesturing at the table.

"Look."

Lorenus put aside the offense of not being given his proper title - after all, they were trying to keep up an illusion - and looked down at the map. It showed exactly what the Old Hump had told him, plus or minus a dozen soldiers on either side. The lions could not pull back without giving up their one defensive advantage, but couldn't push forward, either. They were locked in place.

That said, so were the skunks, and anything that could hit them from outside the ravine would do wonders to shake up their fortifications. If he'd only had access to them from the sea...

Shaking his head, Lorenus looked up. The lion prince waited for some brilliant idea or other, and the naga smiled.

"My orcassss will handle them."

"How?"

"They march tomorrow, and will feel no pain."

"You can do that?" Jehari asked.

"I am Emperor Lorenusss Adelin. I can do anything."

And at that moment, he truly felt he could.

The naga had expected the lions to protest their prince taking advice from someone else. The whole point of being asked advice rather than merely commanding it as soon as he slithered into the tent had been to soothe some of those egos, but the lions voiced no protest. None asked who the newcomers were, or questioned why their chief was holding counsel with one of the serpents of the north. Either they held unquestioning loyalty to their chief - something that he truly doubted - or they were so hard-up for allies that they would take anything, even someone as odd as he was. Somehow, he imagined that the latter had to be the case; the situation was too desperate.

He looked at the map again. The naga's plan was to send the orcas through the ravine and use their drugged, half-zonked state to punch a hole through to the other side. It was hardly a use one would put normal soldiers to, and he knew it. It risked losing more men than they could afford, and worse, it could accomplish absolutely nothing. However, if they didn't do something to break the stalemate between the lions and skunks, then the battle would go on, and the forces that he'd send up along the landward route would reach the rendezvous point first, and they'd miss the chance to link up. Half an army heading into the Snakelands was an army that faced destruction.

At worst, the orcas would affect the morale of the skunks. They'd start thinking about what else might be coming to join the lions, and why. They'd realize that they might not have the time they thought, that a siege couldn't be held indefinitely. A stupid attack might follow if Lorenus's morning raid failed, which had its own opportunities. It would cost him men, but at the same time -

"Do you need to fix them now?" Jehari asked.

"Hmm?"

"The orcas. Do you need to hypnotize them now, or..."

A half-decent question. He supposed he could. It would be better to have it done, to not have the effort hanging over his head in the morning. A responsible ruler would do so.

And I suppose an Emperor must be responsible...as much as it pains me to be.

The naga sighed, nodding. As he turned to slither away, however, Jehari leaned close, one hand on his arm. The lion leaned up, whispering in his ear so that the other lions wouldn't hear.

"I will see you in your tent later...I believe we have things to...discuss."

"...Yesssss, we do."

Cheered by the prince's eagerness, Lorenus left the tent. The orcas, naked to a man, were all lined up alongside the few mounts that the tribal lions had brought with them. They sat and squatted by the water troughs, feeding themselves from it and moisturizing skin that had come close to drying out during the march. They looked up as the snake slithered close, cocks rising as they saw their master.

"Come," Lorenus said. "It issss time to forget."

#

Morning came, and with it began the raid. Lorenus was not part of it, of course - the Emperor was a madman at times, but he was no fighter to risk himself at the front-line without cause - but he stood at the top of the ravine to watch the fight. The naga wanted to see whether the orcas would be worth the fight to take them in the first place, or if they would be better spent here to make room for something better in the future. Accompanied by Prince Jehari and the Old Hump, he took his place at the top of the ravine and watched the orcas as they began their descent.

The skunks leaped up to ambush them, peppering them with slings. The orcas took damage, as expected, but the black and white warriors didn't falter. Even one that took a blow right to the face, all but scouring his eye from its socket, didn't stop his forward march. They were dead to the world, ignoring everything that happened around them save for their current objective.

That set the skunks to fleeing, but that, in turn, set off the next order. The orcas roared at the top of their lungs and charged, chasing after the scouts. They crossed the water faster than anyone expected, and soon hit the base of the other incline. Some skunks were far enough up to be safe, for the moment. The others...

Not so much.

Bloody striped tails were ripped from the bodies as trophies, and the orcas began the climb. From the top of the ravine, arrows fell, and of the dozens of orcas that made the climb, perhaps fifty reached the top. The others fell, pockmarked and pincushioned. Some were dead, some merely disabled, their bodies cut in places to deny them any movement, or drained of blood to the point of fainting. It didn't seem to matter to the group as a whole, however, as their morale didn't suffer the way that normal soldiers might have. They just kept pushing forward, climbing the walls.

They breached the defenses of the center camp, and Lorenus nodded as the warriors of the other two camps retreated. He turned to Jehari.

"That isss your opening."

"I guess it is," the lion prince said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I didn't think..."

"Charge, before you lossse it."

"Yes...right."

The lion prince was obviously a bit shocked if he had forgotten his part in things. He called out, and his warriors joined him in the descent. Veterans of the camp joined with the new warriors that he had brought with him, and they surged across the ravine while the skunks were busy trying to save themselves. Lean, muscular warrior rumps danced for the snake as they ran away, and Lorenus chuckled under his breath.

The Old Hump shook his head.

"They will have the day," he said.

"That isss the point, isss it not?"

"We lost a lot of orcas."

"We have more."

"Not infinite, however. And now that we know that they can fight, and fight well -"

"They will not be rissssked the sssssame way again."

The same hypnotic effect that had sent them fighting to the death was not dissimilar to what the masters of the Snakelands had done with their mercenary armies since time immemorial. It broke the mind, left it focused on a single objective, and ensured that fear would not break the backs of an army as its members died or were ground down into nothingness. It was one of the most basic techniques to upgrade the efficiency of a cheaper force and make it more terrifying.

That said, the drugged orcas had taken that small technique and turned it into something different, something more...potent, for lack of a better word. He'd seen the way that their minds had all but obliterated the other obligations they had. They had not forgotten fear, but forgotten even the concept of being alive. They existed, and they lusted. All he had to do was attach their lust to the objective, and nothing else mattered.

Not fear.

Not pain.

Not death.

All that mattered was getting to the objective, and then getting off. And it was all thanks to the hyper-dose of cukani still coursing through them.

As if reading his mind, the Old Hump shook his head.

"It won't be the same with others. They swam through it, ingested it in every possible way."

"That doessss not mean we cannot find ssssomething ssssimilar for othersss."

"You would break them like that?"

"...If it meant sssseizing the throne? Yesss."

"Take care that your ambition does not kill you."

"It won't."

"Or us."

Lorenus looked down at the camel. The Old Hump looked back, unphased, and slowly walked away. The gait of the old camel betrayed his exhaustion, and he nearly stumbled on his way back to the tents. The naga watched him for a moment, then turned back to the battlefield, curious how the fight would go for the lions. It was in their hands now, after all, and if they wanted to win the day, it would be up to them.

He had every confidence they could, and once they did, the way forward would be open...as well as a chance to claim the skunks.

That was his major goal. If he could have both of them, force the skunks to submit as he had the lions, then he would have a greater force. The losses that he had taken getting to this point would be all but erased, and they could enter the other tribal lands with a much greater force at their back. Anyone that stood against them would be outnumbered, forced to bargain.

And he was very good at bargaining.

The End