Burdened by Legacy: Chapter 1 – Ambition Incarnate

Chapter 1 – Ambition Incarnate

Transforming into a dragon, I fly to the uppermost floor of the castle where the king of the orcs awaits. I revert to my human form, land on the balcony where he is, and immediately cut his head off with my jian sword before he can bring his two-handed hammer onto mine. The king’s body lifelessly falls backward while his subjects cower in fear, so much for the boundless bravery of the orcs. I allow the cowards to run away and those who still want to face me rally themselves before charging at me. One by one they fall in a single cut just as their leader did with their heads coming off or being cut in half.

Moving into the hallway, ten or so elite guards see me exit the room and charge me all at once. I transform into my dragon form to quickly clear the room by swiping at them with my tail and crushing and cutting at them with my four arms. Once the room is clear, I revert into my human form and continue cutting my way through the orcs, transforming into a dragon when necessary until I reach the barred front door of the castle that I break open as a dragon before reverting. Outside the castle are a horde of allied orcs and my knights behind them. The orc commander, Helmut, leading them from the front looks at me in amazement and the many dead orcs behind me.

“Is he dead?” Helmut asks.

“Yes. I wouldn’t be here if he weren’t,” I say.

My allies and forces cheer for our victory here today. They spread out throughout the city cleaning up the bodies, caring for the wounded, and sweeping away the destruction caused by the conflict.

“How did he die? Did he have any last words?” Helmut asks me while we walk out of the courtyard of the castle and through the ruined streets of the city.

“He died in a single cut and didn’t say anything,” I say.

“Good. That piece of trash didn’t deserve an honorable duel to the death or a final word.”

“Can you be a bit more respectful toward your king?”

“King Kurt was not respectful towards his people, the Church, and especially towards God, so he doesn’t deserve it. All he’ll get are minuscule prayers for his soul before he’s buried and forgotten about.”

“Since I won our competition, I trust that you’re fine with me having this city and a share of the cities I’ve helped you conquer?”

“Yes, of course. An orc never goes back on his promise. Speaking of our competition, will we still have a yearly competition sparring in this city with the winner of three years claiming control over it? It is the Holy City of Constantinople after all. You’ll still have a home here and your people won’t be forced to move out if Bernhard manages to win.”

“Yes, we’ll have that competition, and Draco will win every year.”

“Haha! We’ll see if that happens, friend. Bernhard will bring their best. Oh, and one more word on competition. Will you be supporting me in my fight to be the next king?”

“I will and you’ll receive the armor you asked for in your sparring matches against the other possible kings.”

“Yes! I’ve always wanted to try the armor that’s made in your kingdom, especially after seeing it transform along with you when your people turn into your bestial forms. Will you be joining the men and me for drinks and our celebration?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Understandable. Well, thank you again, Emperor Jianyu. It’s been an honor fighting with you.”

I bow my head and return my thanks before wandering the streets to find my son, Quon. Looking for him amongst the crowd, I see him helping the wounded who are being carried off to be cared for. My men around us move aside and bow their heads as I make my way toward Quon who notices me after seeing what the other men are doing. It is said that my son is the spitting image of me since we both have long black hair, thin mustaches, our deep voices sound similar, and a stern face though we differ in that I have a fuller mustache than Quon and he wears a long ponytail. We also differ in that I have red and black eyes while he has blue and black and he can transform into an ox.

There isn’t a single scratch on Quon nor is there any kind of mark on his grey armor and skull helmet other than the faint stain of blood. He looks up at me expectingly and the noise around us has ceased.

“I expected to see you when I exited the castle,” I say.

“The men outside of the city and the citizens within it needed help, so I protected them as they were escorted out of the city, and by the time I secured their safety, I heard that we had won, so I thought there was nothing more for me to do than to help out around here,” Quon explains. “Excuse me for saying that. I have no excuse for not acting completely according to plan.”

After considering Quon’s words for a few seconds, I say, “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Keep in mind next time that you’re a frontline soldier and not one of the medics.”

“I will, father.”

“Walk with me. Men, resume your duties.” My men do as they are told while Quon walks with me. “Have you done as I have asked?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. That task you asked me to do has been completed. I still do not know why you had me do it. I’m not as sneaky as Min or her friends.”

“You must learn some subtly if you wish to succeed me and accomplish your personal goals while helping others at the same time. My predecessor, Emperor Guo, had no subtly about him, paid for it with his life, and made us pay for it to this day.”

“I know.”

“And remember it again. Repeating history’s lessons in your mind is how we stop repeating past mistakes.”

“Yes, father.”

A week and a half passes and thanks to the help of the orcs and my people, Constantinople is mostly repaired and cleaned and my people and family move in. The neighborhoods are divided between orcs, their brethren from the fiery kingdom of Canis, other kingdoms, and my own with each area of the city being distinct with each kingdom decorating their neighborhoods in their own way. My family moves into the primary castle in the city and today, during dinner, we plan our next moves. My wife, Daiyu, a jade beauty with long black hair, black and green eyes, a green right arm, and a long black and green dress happily sits beside me on my right while Quon and my daughter, Min, sit beside me on my left and are talking about their recent deployments and their personal competitions.

“How is your progress with the ratmen, beastmen, and refugees, Min?” I ask.

“It’s going well! They have our trust and thanks for everything we’ve done for them,” Min says in her usual cheerful tone.

“What of the St. Dismas guild?”

“They still don’t trust us completely, but they aren’t distrustful of us either. Regarding their skills, they’re decent thieves and assassins, but nothing compared to our Odollam.”

“Quon?”

“The orcs trust me as if I were one of their fellow soldiers, especially since I’m blatantly honest with them. As for the knights from the other kingdoms, they’ll trust me more once we’re deployed together for more fights,” Quon says.

“I’ll see to it then.”

“We are in good standing with the elves of the Holy Land and our closest allies in Phasianus,” Daiyu says. “Our requests going through the proper channels, however, they are slowing down a bit too much for my liking.”

“Good. Intervene only when you suspect it is going skeptically slow and hints of foul play.”

“I’ll give them foul play if that’s the case. We shall know soon enough. Oh, and I haven’t heard anything new from our allies in the United Kingdoms of the Americas nor in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.”

“Those fish people who live on those wreckage ships in the Atlantic and Pacific are so boring. None of them fight nor are there fights or conflicts happening out at sea and the only interesting thing that happens out there is the appearance of the big sea monsters that pop up every now and then,” Min says. “Why do we even bother with them?”

“They can be a source of valuable knowledge since they know of most ships passing from here and Europe to the Far West and we can use their floating cities as safehouses. Do the St. Dismas guild know of them?” I say.

“They know less than we do, but to be fair, there’s not much to know about them. The men I have stationed out there treat it as a vacation rather than the scouting assignment that it is.”

“Remind them to take it seriously or reassign men who will.”

“Yes, father.”

“What of the unease in the other Asiatic states and Phasianus who want more independence? Will we be doing anything about them?” Quon asks.

“They have as much independence as they need, but I will listen to their concerns. Why? Have you heard any news of more riots?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Quon’s face seems to darken as if remembering his experiences when I sent him to quell the riots in Phasianus and Asiatic states. I don’t blame him since killing revolutionary civilians is different than killing bandits and traitors.

“I’ll keep an eye on it while you keep your mind on your next deployment. Politics is my and your mother’s realm while yours is the battlefield anyways.”

“Yes, father. I will.”

“So, what’s my realm then?” Min asks.

“Troublemaking,” Quon says.

“Hehe! It’s the good kind, right, father?”

“Yes, Min. It is.”

Later in the day, my family and I head out to see Helmut in his sparring matches to be the next king of Bernhard. Many of the competitors are too old, too young, or too ambitious for their own good. The lack of good fighters is due to the fact that most of them died in the battle taking Constantinople. This was Quon’s secret mission. He convinced the most experienced and deadliest orcs to attack the most well-defended parts of the city. It wasn’t too hard to convince them to do this since the glory hounds trusted Quon because they fought with him for so long and because they wanted the challenge and glory that would’ve come with overcoming the defenses that could’ve been used to convince the superiors in Bernhard that they were worthy of being king.

Those who died were also the least likely to give us some of the land we helped win and exclusive discounts in trade. Even if they didn’t die on the battlefield, I had other methods of weakening them before the fight to become king or just making them too sick to fight to begin with, but I like to save the less moral options for last. As a result of our plans, Helmut wins the fight and the crown as king of the orcs, none the wiser that we helped him win with more than just the armor we gave him. We are also guaranteed the land that we helped win and now control forty-five percent of Eastern Europe or Unser Sieg, as the orcs call it. We are on the same level of relations with Bernhard as their close brother kingdom of Canis and have exclusive access to the materials in this region that can be used to further enhance our weaponry and armor.

This victory is something that my predecessors could only dream of as Draco has now become the largest kingdom in this region of the world and the most powerful, the thought of which puts a smile on my face. Now, we can better enact our plans for the world. Thank you, God, for this victory, and may we do Your will on Earth as it is in Heaven and let Draco’s reign bring peace and harmony to the world.