This is Me

Chapter Seven: The Mezcal War

"We charge into the lands of the Mezcals today. We bring them down. We fight with all we have got. We use all our fire power to destroy them in this single battle. I want it to be quick." King Roman urges his generals.

"You need not lead my King. I will do that on your behalf. I will come home victorious with less casualties.' General Roy says.

"Do not worry your head. I want to be there. I want to fight as well alongside my men. Victory is sweetest that way. You of all people know this my dear Brother." King Roman says.

"I understand. Your wish is my command my Lord."

The Mezcal mission begins. King Roman himself leads his troop though he is being assisted by General Roy, General Benson and General Stead.

Somewhere in between Alberom and Hudem is a relatively sized territory. These people are so ferocious and aggressive in all spheres. They are carnivores.

These attributes of theirs invites a lot of hostility to their land, people and governance. The Mezcals are selfish in nature. They live in isolation. They only fend after themselves and it makes them prone to external attacks. Mezcals have never known peace in their rich history. They are always involved with wars of different kinds at every stage of their existence. Fresh from fighting a war against the Hudem army who sought to totally wipe the Mezcals in their entirety from the face of the earth. This holocaust attempt failed because of two main reasons. The first of these reasons was that the Mezcals had and will always have a strong and organized army. The second reason is from the Hudem angle. Hudem attacked the Mezcals when King Lucas journeyed through Bora in search of the unification puzzle. Lack of military reinforcements was the main factor that contributed to the downfall of Hudem. The strength of Hudem's army had already reduced because King Lucas took too many soldiers with him for the hunt and he never came back with a single person be it a civilian or a soldier. Hudem hereby did not have the strength in number to attack and conquer the Mezcals. This fact was well shielded by the Hudem Empire. They understood the risk if their rivals found out about the weak state of their army at that point in time. Hudem chose to thread softly because they knew they had a porous defence system.

Magarius is the sole and supreme leader of the Mezcals. He is a dictator. A one man leader that had absolute power. He is so fierce and a perfect example of a fighting leader who puts the interests of his people first. However, he and most of his subjects shy away from social, political and economic interactions with other nearby empires or territories.

The atmospheric conditions seems unfavorable. The wind acts as Magarius' enemy as it is very cold. Magarius is at a freezing point. The weather was in negative degrees. He lies naked, helpless and hopeless on the fields covered in snow. There comes a huge figure approaching him for a final swing of the axe. The contact appears unavoidable and Magarius starts screaming some words and his own name. "Is it over? I refuse to believe what I am witnessing. Magarius! Magarius!! Magarius!!"

"Magarius! Magarius!! Come quickly. We are under attack." says Sagius his deputy.

Magarius jumps up in shock from his dream.

"Who dare attack us?" Magarius says as he quickly gets himself dressed for the impending battle.

Sagius replies; No news of the enemies' identity yet. The reality is we are under attack."

Magarius says; "This is too sudden. Our scouts. What happened to their brief prior to this attack?"

Sagius replies saying; " We gathered they have been killed and some captured. We are in an unfortunate situation."

"Whoa! This is very bad but I am sure we are going to pull through. We overcame several surprise attacks like this in the past. This one will be no exception. We are coming out victorious. Get the men ready. I will lead the defence and the eventual battle myself." Magarius derives deep joy from the act of leading his troops to every battle since he was eighteen. He is now sixty six years of age but his age does not tell on how he looks. He looks younger than what his age suggests. He can be likened to a bottle of wine.

"Ok Magarius. They are already waiting for your charge and order." says Sagius.

"Sagius. You know what to do. You are next in line. Incase I die, you know what to do." Magarius says to Sagius.

"My friend and superior. Of course, I know what to do but you will survive this one. I am sure. We have survived many of this. You are our leader and that will not change even after today's battle." Sagius responds.

In Mezcal, succession is determined neither by family lineage nor by sex. Leadership is attained by might. Mezcals had a female leader before the reign of Magarius. Magious the lioness was a very strong and charismatic leader of the Mezcals who made a lot of reforms. The strongest man or woman is always the next in line and he or she is given maximum protection incase the current leader dies.

Magarius rushes out to join his forty thousand soldiers who are armed to the teeth.

"I am aware that some meats await us. They are racing unto our territory in an attempt to take our wives, children, loved ones and economy. They want to dominate our territory. That is their desire. We will not let that happen because they do not know that they are bush meats and we are..?" he seeks his soldiers to complete his sentence.

His men respond to hIm; "Hunters."

"What does hunters do to bush meats my men?"

"They kill them, roast them and have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner." his soldiers respond.

"My people. Food is out there. We are hungry. Let us go and feed our weapons on our road to having tasty meals." Magarius inspires his men.

Every of his soldiers are fired up and are ready for combat. They are determined to put their lives on the line for the freedom and defence of their territory.

Off they matched towards the enemies who have been patiently laying in wait for the Mezcals.

Getting to the battle front, he sees King Roman of the Alberom Empire on the opposite side. Magarius laughs saying; "So it is you. you have the guts to raise an army against us. This is the beginning of the end of your unification quest. We have been expecting you. We will crush you all mercilessly. We will not even waste any time."

King Roman responds saying; "put down your weapons. We can avoid bloodshed."

Magarius is so furious that he says; "Avoid blood shed you say. You intrude my land with your army and you call that avoiding bloodshed? This is an instigation of war and we will give it to you properly. Men! We advance!"

The fight begins as General Roy, Stead and Benson flanked Magarius and his men from the right, left and rear respectively. The Mezcal army of forty thousand were heavily surrounded. Magarius sees he and his men are in real deep trouble so he has no option than to divide his army. Magarius gives his order saying; "Five thousand soldiers forward, five thousand to the left and right, and twenty five thousand backwards."

Magarius knows he has lost the war before it even started. He is determined to fight but can not ignore the real picture as he and his men will have to fight majorly backwards out of the crisis they find themselves in. The idea of battling to the rear is to crush as many if not all of General Benson's men and escape before things get more brutal.

After hours of intense fighting between the two forces, Magarius sees his men will not be able to cope with the pace of the Alberomans who came with around sixty thousand soldiers. He looks around and observes drastic reduction in his army from forty thousand to around fifteen thousand soldiers. He identified the problem and opined to himself he and his men may not survive. Magarius decides to retreat with his depleted troops. He ordered a retreat into one of the forest close to the Mezcal city where he chooses to send Sagius a message on the current situation on the battle field.

"Bous. Take this message to Sagius at once." Magarius orders Bous, one of his well skilled men.

"But I swore to be by your side at all time. I will be here with you till the end." says Bous. "I am your master. Your leader and I release you from that oath. Sagius and Mezcal as a whole need someone like you. You and Sagius are still young and I know what the both of you can achieve. I am old. We have less time. Go and deliver my message. Take with you twelve thousand men. I will engage the Alberomans with three thousand men. Go now." Magarius yells at Bous.

Bous takes the message for delivery to Sagius.

"Sir Sagius. We are in a deep shit." says Bous whom Magarius had sent to deliver the cruel message from the battle field.

Sagius is now very nervous. "What is it?"

"Sir Magarius sends this from the battle field. Our chances are slim at the moment."

Bous says as he hands over the message from Magarius. Sagius unseals the message. He starts reading it;

"My favourite Sagius. I might have joined our ancestors when you get this message. I underestimated our enemies. They are Alberomans led by King Roman himself. You have to protect our territory but not by fighting but by submitting to the Alberomans. Grant them access to Mezcal without further resistance. Give them whatever they want. Let them think we are on their side. We should remain like this until we are strong enough to raise a fomendable army that can retaliate what they have done. Never forget who we are. I know it is going to be a hard time. Now my people will suffer because of my mistake. With you Sagius, I am sure we will rise again. I believe in you. Take care of the Mezcals. Your friend, Magah! Magarius."

Magarius voice could be heard from far and wide when King Roman pierced him with his axe. King Roman had stabbed Magarius on his chest deep into Magarius' heart. Magarius' dream flashes through his mind.