Tales of a shattered world - Gold Root Files

16 - Orlet incident

Orlet incident

The following is an account of the Orlet incident, which resulted in the loss of lives and territory.

During the 'Great Divide,' the paramount war between heaven and hell, the presence of the hell hydrages played a crucial role in shifting the tides of battle. During the early stages of the war, heaven had managed to breach into the 8th layer of hell. Fortifications were being made to hold the position, including the construction of 'Fortress Orlet' named after the commander overseeing all military operations in the 8th layer of hell.

Shortly before the construction of Fortress Orlet was scheduled to be finished, a swarm of fully grown hell hydrages appeared. The following is an account of the incident given by Commander Orlet:

"...I figured everything was going a little too well. Once we breached the lines, it wasn't so much that we pushed them back; rather, they retreated a little further back than they should have. Guess that should have been the first sign.

The second being that past the tether that connects the 8th and 9th layers, there wasn't much in the way of defenses or much of anything, really. A few obscure villages but nothing in the way of fortifications. Nothing we could make use of either, so the first order of business is to build up and make sure we can repel any counterattacks...

Now I know what you're thinking. Didn't all that seem a bit suspicious to you? Well, maybe a little bit, but it was the early stages of the war. At that point, it wasn't too uncommon for hell to have a few holes in their defenses. Secondly, I was young, and the victory of breaching through the tether made me let my guard down. A mistake I swore to never make again...

...Anyway, for the first few weeks, it was quiet. Well, minus the construction, of course. Besides that, no enemy attacks, no incidents besides the sightings of a few wild beasts, everything was going well. Until one day, something popped out of the ground, chomped one of our builders, and dragged them underground. I was told it looked a lot like a giant greenish serpent with fangs as vicious as that of a hellhound. Definitely as aggressive as one. Never heard of anything like that before...

...Of course, a hunt was organized. It being underground was a bit of a nuisance, but we had the people who could deal with it. Even had plans to reinforce the ground with a bit of matter magic to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have the time. Maybe only a few hours passed before it happened again. This time, though, there were a whole lot more of them, maybe hundreds of them. It wasn't even just at the fortress. I got reports of these things popping up all along the line...

...It was one of the most chaotic scenes I'd have ever witnessed. One even managed to get their jaws on me. Lucky, didn't seem like they had too much magic in them, so it didn't do much to me. Haha, in fact, it broke its teeth, trying to gnaw at me. Serves it right. In fact, I think I kept one...

...Anyway, sure, a few of us were safe, but they were strong enough to rip and tear at the rest. After a while, once they had their fill, I assume, they stopped. Now, of course, maybe the smart thing to do would be to retreat, but that would have meant giving up a lot of land, and I was hesitant to give the order. Was thinking maybe if we pumped enough poison into the ground, it would kill em.

Well, didn't have much time to consider it.

Didn't even have time to recuperate before we were attacked again, this time by demons. They weren't too aggressive, though. Rather than charge at us, they shot at us from range. Rained down all manner of force spells; fire, lighting, even a chunk of ice. Normally, it wouldn't have been too much of a problem. In fact, we might have even been able to counter and send them packing. After the hell hydrage attack, that wasn't happening...

...Just when we managed to get a decent defense going, they ceased their onslaught. Retreated back to who knows where. Of course, most everyone was celebrating, but a few of us knew they wouldn't have gone for no reason. This all seemed a little too familiar. Call it a gut feeling, but I knew we shouldn't celebrate just yet. And wouldn't you know it, it didn't take too long to be proven right.

Once again, those hell hydrages began popping out of the ground and swarming us. Those demons had to have timed it somehow. They must have known when those beasts would get hungry and attack again. You'd think we would have handled it better the second time, but the state we were in, beaten down and exhausted, those things got a free feast. One of them even managed to chomp at my leg, and having already used up most of my energy, it managed to get a chunk out this time...

...Like last time, they stopped once they got their fill, but I think you can guess what happened next. Couldn't have been more than a few minutes before the demons attacked again. Same as last time, peppering us from a distance while we were too beat down to do much. I knew they wouldn't charge. They'd just keep it up till it was feeding time again. I didn't plan to get caught in a loop, so I ordered a retreat, which was not easy considering the stress we were under. But the demons were easier to deal with than the hell hydrages, so we couldn't wait...

...Now, some people may criticize me for ordering a full retreat back to the tether. Don't think I don't hear the whispers. But I'd learned my lesson. There was a reason nothing big was built on that land, and I wasn't gonna have a repeat. Anyone who wasn't there has no right to whine about what I did. Anyway, we done here? Haven't had a good meal in weeks."

Conclusion

Shortly after, the forcesof the 8th layer of hell overtook the tether. Commander Orlet was demoted afterand assigned to the minor realm (redacted). 

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