{"id":411,"date":"2011-01-11T00:21:10","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T05:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=411"},"modified":"2011-01-11T00:21:10","modified_gmt":"2011-01-11T05:21:10","slug":"breaking-an-empire-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=411","title":{"rendered":"Breaking an Empire #15"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fifteenth installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\tTwo days later, their turn came in the rotation of squads to go on forage duty. Rhyfelwyr put Llofruddiwr on point. The man was a ghost when he wanted to be, and could almost certainly find danger before it found them. The other five followed at a distance, with Locsyn having the unenviable job of being the rearguard. The squad’s patrol area was off to the western side of the army, between this branch and the next, and so with the rising of the sun, Llofruddiwr turned his back on the glowing orb and headed off.<\/p>\n

\tThe march took them across a ruined landscape. They had been told that the first few farms and areas had been already picked clean of anything that might resemble food, and so the soldiers had a ten mile march just to reach their assigned area, and that hike saw them pass the burnt out shells of farmhouses, the skeletal remains of barns, the dead bodies of work animals left to rot and die, and fields that had been turned into ruined husks of what they once were. <\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis devastation is unprecedented. I have never, in all my years, heard of a war conducted in such a self-destructive manner. Why, even if they win, the Lianese will be set back a generation by this, if not longer.\u201d Taflen gaped at the terrain they passed through.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThey won’t be the only ones set back a generation if they win. What of Bhreac Veryan? What of us? Our empire crumbles if we lose Niam Liad. It’s the city we use to hold all of the land on this side of Yn Brydio Ad. Without it, the linchpin is pulled from our army, and the other cities will fall away just as easily. We need to win this war more than they do.\u201d Locsyn was feeling particularly sour this morning.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe’ll win it. Did you see that lot break and run at Miath Mhor? They’ve got nothing for us in combat.\u201d Gwyth grinned.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Lianese are well aware of that fact, it is why they are trying to defeat us by lack of food, rather than skill of arms. They are poor soldiers compared to us, but they may have hit upon a strategy which can overcome our superior forces if those forces are weakened and taken from the field of battle before the battle even commences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cTaflen, Locsyn, Gwyth, shut it. We’re here to look for food, not plan out the whole campaign in an hour. We can’t control the strategy, so lets worry about finding the food we’re out here to look for and then haul it back to camp.\u201d Rhyfelwyr had had enough of the argument brewing. \u201cYou lot can just keep it quiet and tag along.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRhocas was the only member of the five who had not spoken, and he continued to march with his head down and his shoulders slumped, looking for all the world as if he would rather be in any other place than where he was now. The battle had taken something from him, and he struggled with that loss. Perhaps he would come out of it; certainly, the hope of this foraging was that Rhyfelwyr and the others could pull him out of that shell that he had built around himself, but there was such a gap in age and experience between the veterans and this novice soldier that perhaps that could not happen, and Rhocas would just wander through the war depressed and uncertain of his position. <\/p>\n

\tA low whistle from up ahead caused Rhyfelwyr to put his hand up, calling for the squad to stop and to hunker down behind a low rise. Slipping back over that rise came Llofruddiwr, making a gesture of ten. When he settled in next to Rhy, the sergeant whispered over. \u201cTen soldier patrol?\u201d Llof nodded, not saying anything. \u201cCan we go around, or is this a case of going through?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThrough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDamn it. Do you have any suggestions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cKill them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThanks.\u201d Rhy gestured for the others to huddle up around him. \u201cWe’ve got a ten soldier patrol up ahead, and Llof says we have to clean up. Gwyth, you take right flank, Locsyn left. Taflen, Rhocas and I will charge.\u201d Gwyth and Locsyn began crawling off to the sides, looking to get into position on the enemy forces. Rhocas leaned over and mumbled. \u201cLlofruddiwr not fighting?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou see him here?\u201d Rhy chuckled.<\/p>\n

\tRhocas glanced around, realizing that somehow Llof had disappeared without anyone noticing. <\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe’s the one who’s going to cause the most trouble. Just wait.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fifteenth installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. Two days later, their turn came in the rotation of squads to go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,7],"tags":[32],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-6D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":424,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=424","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":0},"title":"Breaking an Empire #17","date":"February 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The seventeenth installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. It was then that a great shout rent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=300","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":1},"title":"Breaking an Empire #1","date":"October 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This marks the beginning of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. The crowd roared, a rolling thunder that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":489,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=489","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":2},"title":"Breaking an Empire #28","date":"May 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lianese line began to slacken and turn back on itself on one side of the square, and Rhy tried to look over the combat to see what could steal their resolve, but he could see nothing. The scene resolved itself moments later, as several Lianese soldiers collapsed with daggers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":518,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=518","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":3},"title":"Breaking an Empire #31","date":"June 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lianese line began to slacken and turn back on itself on one side of the square, and Rhy tried to look over the combat to see what could steal their resolve, but he could see nothing. The scene resolved itself moments later, as several Lianese soldiers collapsed with daggers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":395,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=395","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":4},"title":"Breaking an Empire#10","date":"December 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The tenth installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. Gwyth was breathing heavily now, his blade stained\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":473,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=473","url_meta":{"origin":411,"position":5},"title":"Breaking an Empire #25","date":"April 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lianese forces on that side of the barricade were soon finished, but two more Veryan troops had fallen, rending their total count down to nine, now that Llofruddiwr had returned to bolster them. That left those nine against fifteen of the Lianese, and the Veryan forces were exhausted. 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