A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor
Chapter 1739 - 1739: An Iron Curtain - Part 9

General Tavar was there to stop King Germanicus when the man reached for the ladder again, throwing men out of the way so that he might get there quicker.

"I think that to be unwise, King Germanicus," Tavar said, stopping him.

Germanicus did not hide the fury. Not even from Tavar. The aged General was forced to face the full brunt of it, as Germanicus towered over it. It was enough anger that it seemed very well like he might strike the man. "And why wouldn't I do that, General Tavar? Tell me. After I have been so humiliated. Tell me, why I would not tear apart the man that did it?"

"I will give you three reasons," Tavar said. "Firstly, the state of your hand."

He pointed to the misangled fingers of King Germanicus' right hand. Three of them, at the very least, seemed to have been well and truly broken.

Germanicus grunted at them, as if only just realizing that they were the way they were, but even when he realized, he did not seem to care. He was determined to go back up towards the wall, and fetch the warhammer that he'd left up there.

"And the other reasons?"

"Blackthorn himself will be withdrawing," Tavar said. "For the wound that you dealt him."

"Nonsense. That man would not withdraw," Germanicus said. "Not even the heat of battle. He has the same smell as me."

"And third – for the sake of that which you seek. A worthy challenge, is it not? Now you see the worth of them. These men that you have looked down on. The Generals of the Stormfront. Indeed, Blackthorn stands amongst the most mighty of them. Perhaps none can match you in single combat. But they have other things, do they not, that can so bridge the gap between you and them? At least, to the point that it would prove entertaining."

"Are you telling me not to eat all my meat in one sitting?" Germanicus asked.

"I am asking why it is that you feel the need to rush?" Tavar said. "The enemy is not going anywhere. They are trapped inside their castle. You do not need to be reckless. There is still much room for you to grow, and to learn."

Germanicus realized something then. "…You expected me to fail, Tavar," he said accusingly.

Tavar did not deny it. He shrugged. "I did not expect it to be as easy as you supposed it to be. There are some forces that even the mighty need to bow to. And look – there are the forces of strategy that seek to surround you."

He pointed again to the top of the wall, where other mighty men had set to moving. King Germanicus saw Gar and Oliver rendezvousing with their wounded Commanding General.

It was yet another thing that Germanicus had been too busy to realize. He didn't suppose he had to focus on anything other than what was in front of him, within the reach of his hammer. Why would a man like him need to fear anything of that sort?

But there it was – a problem that he had neglected to consider. Two men that carried the stench of mighty men. If they had arrived when Blackthorn was busy with his efforts, and had managed to catch King Germanicus off guard, what would the results have been?

That question was quickly answered, as Oliver and Gar assisted General Blackthorn and his bodyguard with the task of cleaning up that which King Germanicus had left behind. Those good Fourth Boundary and Third Boundary men that had been left wasted for King Germanicus' failure.

It brought a frown to Germanicus' lips to know that he was the cause of their deaths, when they had been so willing to fight beside him. Half of them were Treeant men, eager to serve the new King, and certain in their devotion. The other half had been given by Tavar, and they were no less certain in their loyalty and their willingness to carry out their task.

"You feel for the loss of your men," Tavar noted, a little more gently this time. "You are young, Germanicus. But in time I do believe that you shall make a good King. You do not know everything, despite your strength. I assure you there is room for more still. This battlefield, and the ones that follow it will show you strength that you would never have found in the forests that you kept yourselves to."

"…I will get my fingers tended to," King Germanicus said. "And when I come back to fight, you will tell me how to get close to General Blackthorn, in the way that you know how. You will not throw me into a trap again, for the sake of a lesson. I will be angry if you do."

Tavar dipped his head. "You were ever so eager to cross blades… But very well, I shall promise you that. Go then, and see yourself tended to."

Atop the wall, as Oliver and Gar helped General Blackthorn polish off the last of those men that King Germanicus had left behind, General Blackthorn said something very similar.

"I will be withdrawing," Blackthorn told Oliver. "You have command in my absence."

It was bluntly delivered, and when he said it, Blackthorn was already set to moving away, looking for the nearest stairway in which he might make it back down into the city, and towards one of the nearby buildings where they had set up treatment centres for their field medics to run.

"W-wait!" Oliver found himself shouting.

Blackthorn turned to look back, irritated. "What? More questions? My ribs are broken. They need wrapping. What more do you want?"

"Uhm…" Oliver paused. Like Germanicus, he hadn't expected Blackthorn to be the type of person to step back from a battlefield, even temporarily, if he was injured. He thought somehow that he was the sort of man that would rather fight to his last breath than do anything like that. "My men are without a Commander. They're left in my absence…"