37 Chapter thirty-seven: What are cities facing the tide?
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~~~Third person, seventh moon, 276 AC~~~
A huge caravan of people was moving along a large cobblestone road, which Azrael was creating with the help of the block of structures, a road capable of allowing ten mammoths to pass side by side, one that would soon connect the place where Meereen used to be and would reach the place of Yunkai.
Azrael had decided to create his version of the Valyrian roads, only these were much larger, much like an eight-lane highway in size, with stone posts at every certain distance, which had a large block of a glowing stone, called a glowstone, the glowstone was suspended at the top of the stone post, protecting it from possible future theft and, offering enough light to illuminate the road at night.
It was because of this that the progress deteriorated a little, but not enough to stop the large caravan from moving forward.
This time, many had to walk, since the absurd amount of horses or camels that would be needed was ridiculous, in the caravan, taking out the 220 thousand Dothraki riders, along with the more than 50 thousand women and children who accompanied their husbands or their parents, also traveled the more than two million slaves brought from Vaes Dothrak, which added the other slaves of Meereen, adding 800 thousand more people.
That gave a sum of more than 3 million people, and as much as Azrael wanted, spurring such an amount of horses or camels was extremely delayed, even with the help of the creature generators.
During the journey that Azrael used to create the road, he also thought about what he could do to integrate all those slaves into his city. Many of them only had the thought of being slaves, since that was what they learned all their lives; however, many others wanted a life full of freedom.
The fact that they followed him, wanting a better future for themselves and their acquaintances, made Azrael think of ways to help them integrate better.
One of them was to take them as citizens of Xandar and give them the necessary tools to become familiar with their new way of life, while at the same time learning to live by their work, as almost most had learned a profession in their time as slaves.
Whether it was a fisherman, bricklayer, translator, weaver, shoemaker, blacksmith, cartographer, or even a bed slave, so it would not be difficult in that sense, what would be difficult was to show them the way to a life outside of slavery, since years as a slave could not be erased out of thin air.
However; just as Astapor's slaves managed to adapt to a new life, so would these.
That may be where Daenerys failed. Sure, her vision of a world without chains was noble, but her mistake fell on how she chose to take care of the slaves once she freed them, basically taking crutches away from a man without a leg, without even teaching him how to stand and balance.
And yes, she was a child at the time, a child inexperienced in knowing how the world moved, but it doesn't take away that her actions were not the best in that situation, causing the very slaves she freed to seek the shelter of their former masters just for the simple fact of moving their world without warning and without the necessary measures to prepare them for the change.
"How will you proceed here? Your Majesty," I met Essino, who was wearing his netherite armor without his case on.
I observed the city of Yunkai from the hill we were on; thanks to the spyglass, I could see how men occupied the streets, while several tents of possible mercenary companies were seen outside the ugly and almost destroyed city walls.
"The witches have a plan in place ready; when the signal is received, have a legion ready to take the city," I said, to which Essino nodded and went to tell my orders to my Ko.
Soon, one of the nine legions that made up the improved imperishable horde was ready for attack, this being the one led by Ko Bharbo.
"Ko Bharbo" I greeted the man, who, despite his forty years, was still an imposing figure. His almost two-meter-tall muscular body and long hair full of bells made the man a strong sight.
"My Khal" he returned my greeting, his voice full of devotion and piety, which made every time that happened to give me a little hedgehog on the back of my neck.
Not because I played for the other side, but to see and feel how those men, warriors in their own right, would revere me in such a way, one very much akin to fanaticism, was supremely strange.
I thought that the enchantment of loyalty shown by the incantation books was a powerful and deadly force.
"Your legion will be in charge of Yunkai's downfall; spare no lives of any mercenary, master, or soldier who will not surrender. Protect the slaves or merchants from any danger and take the city."
I instructed him with complete seriousness, and I did not doubt that my orders would be followed to the letter. However, it was not superfluous to make it clear to him how important it was to follow them.
Bharbo nodded and bowed, "So shall it be, My Khal."
"Fiuuu!" The distinctive sound of fireworks being released was heard while watching a small projectile soar over the buildings of the ancient city of Yunkai.
"Boom!" The projectile exploded after reaching a reasonable height, releasing black sparks into the sky. Immediately, Bharbo brought his horse to stand on its hind legs, his arakh aloft, as he shouted to his legion to advance.
In a cacophony of hooves clattering to the ground, and the neighing of the thousands of horses, the third legion advanced at a rapid pace towards Yunkai, in the direction of the nearest gate, which had been opened thanks to the work of the witches.
The strong armored cavalry came down the hill like a tsunami, kicking up dust and stones, while the sound of the horses' hooves could be heard as they stomped hard. Though somewhat surprisingly, the legion did not produce a single scream, which is very different from how the Dothraki hordes did when engaged in combat.
That had been changed by Azrael, after feeling that those headless chicken-like screams only made the order dissolve, and while it was a good way to instill fear in the enemy, at the end of the day, that practice dissolved.
The mercenary companies in front of the walls of Yunkai had already noticed the incoming enemy, but most of them were infantry, with low numbers, if anything, reaching seven thousand men.
So when they saw a superior force, better armed and better prepared, they decided to break their contract with Yunkai and flee. However; The third Legion had strict orders not to spare the life of any mercenary, resulting in the legion splitting in two.
One half followed their path towards the fleeing mercenaries, while the other half headed for the open city gate.
The Dothraki who pursued the mercenaries, would get up and stand on the backs of their horses, while taking their bows and firing, killing several men long before they met in melee.
Undoubtedly, from the savage reputation associated with the Dothraki, their handling of a horse was exceptional and brilliant, accomplishing such things as firing bows while standing on the back of a galloping horse.
It didn't take long for the Dothraki to close in on the mercenaries who had already stopped running, as they saw that their retreat from the 'battle' would not save them, initiating the real fight.
Thousands of blows of swords against arakh were produced when the ten thousand horsemen crashed against the mercenaries, taking them ahead and cutting heads left and right. Many of the mercenaries defended themselves; even so, their clothing, which only had chain mail or boiled leather vests, did not do much to protect its user from the sharp weapons of the Dothraki, something that did not happen on the side of Azrael, who, thanks to their full armor and the use of cavalry, were better versed in such combat than their enemies.
As for the other half of the Legion, it had already broken through the gate of Yunkai opened by the witches, entering the city without pause and killing every slave master, soldier, or slave soldier who raised his weapon.
All this was happening while Azrael was enjoying a good view on the top of the hill, surrounded by his blood riders and wolves, while the other legions were watching everything with envy, wanting to join the fun.
