While it was true that Tonar had enjoyed peace for a lengthy number of years they had not seen a major battle throughout the lifetime of the current king’s father – Mosael did not subscribe to the idea of relaxing during a time of peace. He drilled the soldiers like they had an impending battle. Left for him, the battle was something that could spring upon them without warning, given their geographical location. To the north, they had the Berserkers and the Middle Kingdom to the west. Both lands were filled with people who were far more powerful, because of their magical abilities. There were a few magicians among the humans. But in a bitter exchange, they would not be able to hold their own and protect the entire kingdom at the same time. Desperate to have Tonar strong enough to resist the neighbouring kingdoms should the need arise, Mosael paid a visit to the king and his son and proposed a pact with the Technocons.
“Indeed, we’re largely without magic,” he said. “That fact alone makes us weak. No matter how courageous and skilled our men are in combat, we will never be able to survive a face-off with an army of magic users.”
“What do you suggest?” the King croaked.
“That we have a trade treaty with the Technocons.”
“Why the Technocons?” The prince had asked. “We could create an alliance with Berserkers?”
“Allying ourselves with them is not trustworthy,” Mosael replied. “And it will not be an equal partnership on our side. And you know that. A trade deal with the Technocons will offer us magic of our own, and then we will be able to hold out against any foe, magic or no.”
The King and the Prince did not say a word, so Mosael assumed that was his go-ahead.
“To make a trade deal, we’ll have to have something to trade.” The Prince said.
“We have ore,” Mosael replied. “The Technocons often use ore to make their technology.”
The King looked at his son. He did not need his permission; it was more a gesture. The Prince nodded back. Mosael was more trusted. He was the exit strategy when everything went crazy. “You have my blessing, then.” The King informed him. Mosael nodded and walked away with fast steps.
He started the conversation immediately. Making the trade deal with the Technocons had gone relatively easy. The Technocons had the knack for tipping over in favor of people they deemed weak and almost helpless. They wanted to keep the balance. And in a place like Toas, where magic ran deep to the roots, the humans of Tonar were the weakest. But the technology was not the only thing Tonar got when they made the deal. They also got a warning to be wary of the Middle Kingdom.
About a week later, Mosael got word from his spies that they saw an unusually large movement of soldiers and weapons. It was unknown at the time if they were planning on attack on Tonar, but Mosael had geared the soldiers up for battle all the same. Until some days later when it became clear that the Middle Kingdom was planning an attack on them. But that was their undoing, and all the opportunity he needed to turn the tide in his favor. They would think they had the element of surprise, and they would try to utilize it to the fullest, unknown to them that Tonar was waiting like a lioness stalking its prey while lying low beneath the cover of grass. Technocon had outfitted Tonar with such an array of gadgets to turn the prey into a hunter in no time.
Before the attack, Mosael had had his men plant gadgets in the trees that would detect any movement and report it to a magic screen that he held in his palm. And as he had expected, the reports came. These gadgets obeyed no gods and exposed the nature of the technocons as being similar to those of the humans of Tonar who would rebel at the gods at any chance they got. He did not know how many the soldiers were – the gadgets did not reveal that. But he knew that Middle would leave no stone unturned.
He had turned to his men then, knowing that things would get ugly real fast, and ordered:
“Get the shield up!”
There were rod-like devices fixed to the ground at strategic points all around the rampart. The soldiers went about activating each of them. Upon activation, the rods emitted a low whine, and then a spear of light shot out from its tip into the air. With all the rods spitting out the light, they converged together, and then a shield began to grow from their point of convergence until the entire sky over Toas was covered. Once that was done, the shield lost its luminousness, and became invisible. From somewhere behind the fence, a low hum permeated the atmosphere, the source of the energy.
Mosael’s intuition to pull up the shields had been right because not long after, a lieutenant had run to him.
“General,” the lieutenant said, “They’ve launched the catapults, and the projectiles are covered in magic fire.”
Mosael trusted the Technocons technology to do the needful, but he realized that he was not the only person here. He had an entire army under his command, and his duty, aside from commanding them, was to see to their safety. Even if they were to die, it should be for something worth their lives.
“Order the first wave to step off the rampart,” he told the lieutenant.
And then the darkness of the dawn was suddenly filled with a bright red. He saw the projectiles hurtling straight towards the
