The Strategist

The Strategist is about the story of Ca'ler Garan Bloodclaw, Gardon Bloodclaw's eldest son. This is a part of The Heirs of Zyainor Volume One.

## Synopsis

Ca'ler Garan, chasing unselfish vision of seeing his dad reign supreme, did his best to achieve it.

## Story

February, 18 Z. R.

"What is the boy doing here?" This question had been asked so many times that Commander Haraz had declared that anyone who would ask again would be cleaning the latrines for the next two months. After this announcement, the soldiers didn't dare to ask again. Captain Tornet couldn't blame her soldiers for asking that question. She hadn't known herself that the firstborn son of the Ca'laer and Ca'lea would accompany them until a few hours ago. You wouldn't expect the young prince to be in a place like this. You would expect him to be inside the palace, then again, considering who his parents were, it shouldn't be that surprising. They were in a problematic situation. A host of undead warriors had taken control of a ruined casle in Toran and had ravaged the countryside. The soldiers had been sent to deal with them, but their attack on the castle had failed. The Undead had rebuilt it and had cast their deadly magic from its walls. the Zyaise were forced to retreat. The Undead followed them and now the camp was under siege. A group of Ca'rach, the dragon knights, had broken through the siege - with them came the young prince who was now going to take command. Captain Tornet wondered how the boy was supposed to be of any help, he had no military experience and even if he turned out to be a good fighter, one soldier wouldn't make a big difference. A larger number of knights would have been prefered. Yet, Commander Haraz had quickly bowed to the young prince and accepted that he'd take his orders without any protest. This was unusual, normally Haraz hated giving up command, no matter the situation. Maybe it was the Ca'rach who had forced him to do so? It mattered little. Tornet was on her way to a meeting. The Undead would attack soon. A plan would have to be made. Little did she know that the young prince had already finished the plan when he first entered the camp. "The morale is low and the Undead outnumber us severely. They have us completely surrounded, all three entrances to the camp are in danger. When they attack, they will break through and flood the outer areas. The palisades will not hold for long. Then, we will be encircled behind the second palisade while they add the fallen to their ranks. We need a good strategy to prevent this from happening. We must prevent the outer defenses from falling." Captain Tornet finished her report. Commander Haraz and the other senior officers had listened to her attentively, the Ca'rach seemed uninterested and the boy prince's glance was locked on the map of the camp. "I suggest dividing our army into three groups, each of them defending one of the gates. We need to prevent them from coming inside our camp lest we all be doomed. We will completely focus on the gates and retreat only into the inner defense if the Undead managed to break through. There is also a small chance that they may break through the palisades on a place away from the gates, so a few riders should patrol along the outer palisade." Commander Haraz said. The other officers nodded and mumbling their approval. The young prince raised his head. "No." he merely said. The officers looked at him, both surprised and irritated. "Excuse me, Ca'ler Garan, but Commander Haraz's tactic sounds good enough to me. Would you like to explain what is wrong with it?" one of the officers dared to ask. The prince raised his head in his direction.

"In 531 E. F., the Demons attacked the Derryn outpost by having their slaves open a portal behind the lines of the Imperial defense. The outpost had only one entrance. The Demons stormed it with all their might and all defenders rushed to defend it. Meanwhile, agents of the Demons inside the outpost opened more portals inside, behind the walls. The Demons used them to enter, attacking the defenders from behind. The defenders stood no chance. Have you not wondered why the Undead haven't attacked you right away? They expect you to act just like you suggested. Then, when all of your defenses focus on the gates, they will use the tunnels they have been digging for the past few hours to attack us from the inside." the young Garan explained. Commander Haraz looked at him, fascinated. He had heard that the boy was studying military strategy, tactics and military history. The rumors seemed to be true. "Then what do you suggest, my Ca'ler?" Captain Tornet asked, still baffled just like the rest of the officers. The young prince looked at her directly. "We will mostly forsake the outer defenses, only a few soldiers will stay to defend them. We will allow the Undead storm in. The second defense lies on solid ground, they will not have been able to make them all lead up here in this short time without causing too much noise. They will enter the outer part of the camp both from the underground and from outside. We will allow them to meet only little resistance, but enough to make them storm further. Apart from the few soldiers whom we leave in the outer defenses, our entire force will stay behind the second palisade." Ca'ler Garan said. "The soldiers who are unlucky enough to be defending the outer camp will be slaughtered." Captain Tornet's comment was short and bitter. Garan nodded and looked back on the map. "Yes, they will. But their sacrifice will allow us to defeat the Undead. The only alternative is that we all die. They will be the only ones who will have to fight today." he claimed. Commander Haraz raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Ca'ler?" he asked. He received no response. When the Undead attacked, they also attacked from the inside. It was just as the Ca'ler had said, they had dug tunnels inside the camp. The few defenders of the outer camp inside were quickly surrounded, but they fought on bravely. The camp filled with more and more Undead. Then, it happened. A big, black dragon rose from the ground and flew towards the outer camp. The undead prepared for its attack. Then, when the dragon spit fire, it caused huge explosions and fire. The entire outer camp was suddenly set ablaze. It had been filled with barrels of oil and explosives by the Ca'rach at the behest of the young prince. The Undead, but also the few soldiers still left standing, were burned alive. The remaining soldiers watched as the fire devoured all. A few hours later, under the command of Ca'ler Garan, they conquered the ruined castle and completely destroyed it.