Chapter 96
Earlier, Alaric had already sent a smaller group ahead into the rubble. They carried nets, ropes, and thick blankets while hiding themselves behind collapsed walls and shattered stone. Fear was written all over them, but Alaric had chosen them carefully because even terrified men could still obey orders.
The moment the tiger entered the courtyard space within the ruins, the first net flew from the left.
It tangled briefly around one foreleg before the beast snarled violently and tore free in seconds. One unlucky soldier died instantly because he stood too close when the tiger spun around.
Then another net dropped from higher rubble and this one wrapped tighter around the tiger’s legs.
At the same time, slingers positioned outside the arch unleashed stones toward the handlers instead of the tiger because Alaric wanted the beast alive and the men controlling it dead.
One handler took a slingstone directly to the knee and collapsed screaming. Another was struck low in the stomach by an arrow and fell backward clutching uselessly at the wound while blood soaked through his hands. A third tried running only for an Eryndor rider to strike him down.
The tiger sensed weakness instantly and lunged toward the nearest screaming man.
Alaric’s soldiers hurled thick blankets over its head and forced the cloth down hard.The tiger thrashed wildly and another man died beneath its claws as blood sprayed violently across the broken stone.
“Sire, we’re losing men!” the captain general shouted desperately.
Alaric never looked away from the tiger. “Then lose them,” he answered coldly. “Keep it alive p>
The nearby soldiers heard him clearly and several of them hated him in that moment. Still, they obeyed. Because fear of Alaric remained closer and more certain than any value they placed on their own lives.
Ropes tightened brutally around the tiger’s torso and forelegs while the men braced the lines around broken stone and rusted iron buried within the ruins. The beast dragged two soldiers violently across the rubble until the skin on their palms tore open completely. One released the rope screaming while another refused to let go even as the friction peeled flesh from his hands until he fainted.
But the rope remained tight and slowly, the tiger’s movements shortened. It was still deadly, but no longer free.
Alaric finally stepped into the ruins himself then and several of his own men immediately tried stopping him because they did not want him anywhere near the beast.
He shoved past them without hesitation.
Nearby, one wounded Vaelor handler crawled weakly through the rubble with blood bubbling from his mouth. The man looked up as though he intended to beg for mercy.
Alaric stabbed him directly through the throat and when the first strike failed to kill him quickly enough, Alaric stabbed him again with the same calm expression.
Then he turned back toward the tiger. “Bring the cage,” he ordered.
Outside the ruins, the larger battle still raged fiercely and that alone made the situation dangerous because Alaric was gambling heavily. Vaelor still possessed strong numbers and cavalry and had their king possessed even a fraction of courage, he could have launched a full assault while Alaric remained distracted.
But Vaelor’s king did nothing. He remained hidden safely behind guards while uncertainty spread through his officers.
Then the rumor began spreading across Vaelor’s ranks.
Eryndor had captured the tiger.
The moment Vaelor realized their greatest weapon was trapped behind ropes and stone, their formation began wavering badly. Soldiers glanced nervously behind themselves while fear spread rapidly through the line.
Alaric seized the moment instantly. He ordered Eryndor’s reserve forces forward and commanded the cavalry to strike Vaelor’s weakened flank.
And Eryndor only won because Vaelor lost control of fear.
Finally, the reinforced wagon arrived. It was little more than a baggage cart strengthened with lashed spear shafts resembling crude bars. Thick hides covered the top to darken the inside while ropes and chains crisscrossed around it like another prison entirely.
Then the tiger was hauled toward it inch by inch and near the end, one soldier slipped.
The tiger’s paw lashed out instantly and shattered the man’s leg with a sickening crack that bent it unnaturally sideways. The soldier screamed in agony and tried crawling backward, but the tiger dragged him closer.
Two nearby soldiers froze completely, unwilling to go near the claws.
Alaric stepped forward himself.
He grabbed the trapped man’s arm and looked at it with the same look someone might give a rope caught beneath a cart wheel. Then he hacked through the arm at the shoulder with two brutal strikes. The man passed out immediately from shock and blood loss.
The tiger snapped furiously behind the bars and the cage slammed shut.
Alaric stood there calmly with blood dripping from his blade while the tiger remained alive and finally contained.
Only then did he turn toward his second goal. “Where is Vaelor’s king?” he asked.
A scout pointed immediately. “Back there, sire, still guarded”
Alaric gathered his household riders and formed a wedge of cavalry before driving straight toward the guards protecting Vaelor’s king. Vaelor’s men tried forming up against the charge, but exhaustion and fear had already weakened them badly.
Alaric hit them anyway.
The collision became a brutal storm of steel and horseflesh as spears punched through shields and swords carved through exposed throats and faces. Horses screamed while fallen soldiers vanished beneath trampling hooves.
Vaelor’s king tried turning his horse away and that was his mistake.
One of Alaric’s riders hurled a hooked spear that caught the king’s bridle and yanked violently. The horse reared wildly while the king grabbed desperately at the reins like a drowning man clutching at air.
Alaric rode directly through the remaining guards, striking one down and then another as they were nothing more than obstacles between him and his target.
The king shouted desperately for help, but terror had thinned his voice and his dying guards could no longer save him.
Alaric finally reached him and seized the front of his collar before ripping him brutally from the saddle. The king hit the ground hard and immediately tried crawling away which only made him look smaller.
Alaric planted a boot against his back and forced him into the dirt.
The king turned his face slowly to Alaric, streaked with sweat, blood, and dust while terror filled his eyes completely. “Bind him,” Alaric commanded coldly. “And break his fingers if he tries to speak p>
The soldier hesitated briefly before obeying. The king sobbed openly as his wrists and ankles were tied tightly together while Alaric watched without the slightest emotion.
Then he turned away, riding back toward the ruined gatehouse where the tiger’s wagon waited while behind him Vaelor’s army finally collapsed completely into retreat because they had lost both their king and their beast at the same time.
The battlefield was littered with corpses. Eryndor’s corpses too.
The captain general finally rode up beside him, his face pale. “Sire… the cost was heavy p>
Alaric looked over the field carelessly. “They died for something worth having,” he replied. “And if they didn’t want to die, they should have been born in another kingdom p>
The captain general’s mouth tightened, and he remained silent.
Alaric stopped beside the tiger’s wagon and rested a hand against the rough wood. Inside, the beast shifted heavily while chains clinked in the darkness.
A smirk slowly touched his lips.
It was alive and now it belonged to him.
Then he looked toward the bound Vaelor king being dragged across the dirt behind two horses like useless baggage. “Bring him closer,” Alaric ordered. “I want him to hear it p>
The soldiers dragged the king nearer to the wagon. Inside the darkened cage, the tiger shifted again and the sound of chains alone made the king jerk backward fearfully despite the ropes binding him.
Alaric dismounted slowly and walked toward him without rushing as he wanted everyone nearby to see exactly how calm he remained.
He crouched beside the king and grabbed a fistful of his hair before forcing his face upward toward the wagon. “You sent men to die for your comfort,” Alaric said coldly. “And you watched them die p>
The king’s lips trembled weakly, but no words came out.
Alaric leaned closer. “So now you’ll pay for it and everyone will know you paid for it.” His eyes darkened. “You wanted a tyrant like me dead, but you forgot something. I am the strongest man alive and men like me do not die at the hands of cowards p>
Then he stood and drew his sword. With one brutal motion, he yanked the king’s head backward by the hair and sliced hard across his throat. Blood spilled rapidly onto the dirt while the king kicked violently once, then twice, before finally going still.
Alaric held him upright for another moment simply to be certain. Then he released the body carelessly onto the ground.
“Cut off the head,” he ordered.
A pale soldier stepped forward obediently and carried out the command while the tiger thrashed once inside the wagon as though sensing fresh blood nearby. Several men flinched from the sound, but Alaric never even looked back.
He lifted the severed head by the hair. “Vaelor is finished,” he declared loudly enough for nearby soldiers to hear clearly. “Their king is dead and their beast belongs to me p>
Then he tossed the head toward one of his riders. “Wrap it and send it to their capital p>
Alaric mounted his horse once more before riding beside the tiger’s wagon. “Move out,” he ordered.
And so Eryndor began its march home with a tiger in chains while the plain behind them remained buried beneath the countless bodies that had paid the price for Alaric getting exactly what he wanted.
The battlefield slowly quieted after the chaos, though groans of wounded soldiers still lingered in the distance while some crawled weakly across the dirt searching for help that might never come. Blood soaked into the dry earth and mixed with dust beneath trampling boots and horses while flies had already begun gathering around the bodies left beneath the burning sun.