The sounds of arrows hitting wood and iron were accompanied by the shouts from the legions of the Franci Empire. The fortified transport ships mostly ignored the counter fire they received, nearly all of the arrows doing little damage, falling into the British Channel or stuck in the wood of the ships.

The resistance of the defenders broke the moment volleys were returned by the armoured fleet. The famous British long-bowmen scattered without trying to hinder the landing further. The first ships to reach the shores disembarked carefully. The men moved in tight formations and raised shields.

It took nearly an hour to scout the surrounding ground, but not one of the legionaries complained. The terror from close range volleys of long-bowmen still anchored deeply in their memories. The battles of Crécy and Agincourt lost but not forgotten.

A group of six ships made out of white wood, easily dwarfing the rest of the ships, was the last to disembark. The legions foraged the area for wood and food, unloaded the supplies from the ships, build a camp and kept watch over the surrounding fields.

A few dozen white dinghies were launched into the sea and rowed to the shoreline. An elven man cladded in silver armour with silver sword put the first foot on land. He kneeled down, taking the sand in his hand and letting it run down to the ground again. After doing this he turned around to the rest of the people with him.

They all stayed respectfully in their small boots, waiting for the emperor to command them. Well, except for a group of dwarves, which were struggling to leave the boats without getting wet or landing on the shore with their asses. The white elven constructs build too high for dwarven legs.

“Fuck this wooden Mamertino. Your boats are not dwarven friendly Charlemagne”, the blond bearded dwarf said. His companions joining his protest.

“It is Emperor Charlemagne for you Archduke Widukind”, Charlemagne said to his dwarven partner.

“It is Archduke of Raetia and Lord of all dwarves for you”, the man countered.

The perfect visage of Charlemagne crumbled for a moment before serenity was restored to his expression.

“This is a historic moment. I stay here where Caesar himself landed. The first time a legion of the Franci Empire landed on the British homeland. And you just ruined all of it”, Charlemagne said. A fit of faint anger and annoyances audible.

“Yeah, yeah. Ignoring your inferiority complex with the bastard Caesar, I hope you remember our agreement”, the dwarf reminded.

“Of course I remember, our alliance holds. You help us in driving off the Britons from our lands and we will help you in conquering the Northern Alliance”, he repeated the details.

“That raises the question. Why did I need to accompany you to Britannia? My assistance here wasn’t part of our agreement”, Widukind pointed out.

“And that is why most of your legions are already marching back into Raetia. I just wanted you to share this experience with me. Watching Londinium burning to the ground must count for something”, Charlemagne offered.

“I would rather see Roma burn, but somebody read my mind and flooded the city”, Widukind joked and a smile formed on Charlemagne's face.

“Ah yes. It seems the successor of the east can’t even handle subjugating a small nation. They are a sorry excuse for the old empire”, Charlemagne remarked. “And you? Are you scared about the phoenix of the south beating your invasion as well? All your plans destroyed by a house from the most famous deserter in history.”

“Neapoli is weak, now more than ever. My goal won’t even include the conquest of the south. As long as they cede some border territories to us and pay tribute everything is fine for me”, Widukind explained.

“If you think this is how things will play out then I will not disperse your dreams”, the emperor said and turned his eyes to the makeshift base. The men still worked to set up a proper base. The archduke turned as well after glaring at Charlemagne for a moment.

“What did you plan to do here anyway? Well except for sieging Londinium”, Widukind asked.

“Razing the south should be enough. I will destroy as much as possible in the half a year time. Shipyards and villages are our main priority. This country needs to be unable to fight proper wars for the next decades. They should all die”, Charlemagne explained with his face twisted in a cruel expression.

“And then you just leave?”, Widukind inquired.

“We will keep some southern coastal cities occupied. This will keep the Britons in check and stop them from getting any funny ideas. It also destabilizes their empire further”, Charlemagne added and headed for the erected silver tent his retinue followed suit. A group of cursing dwarves jogged behind them.

“Fire!”, a dwarf shouted and trebuchet hurled the stone against Londinium’s walls.

“Fire!”, an elf shouted and the catapult hurled a massive stone onto the city. It stood a lot closer to the wall and did less damage than the dwarven construct.

“Our artillery is definitely better”, Widukind said and waved at the emperor.

“They are expensive and harder to move. My catapults are the better approach for this campaign”, Charlemagne replied.

“And still they are making holes in the walls, while your catapults hit mostly the city behind those”, Widukind pointed out but didn’t get another answer from the emperor.

Both leaders watched how the siege of the last three weeks would end. How the capital of the former number one country in the west would fall and burn.

The city was surrounded by land and sea. The supplies inside not sufficient for all of the population. Being under permanent fire from trebuchets and catapults further aggravated the defender's position. Several parts of the walls were breached. Each had been defended with the loss of many men and women. Numerous dead laid in those breaches, neither side making an effort to remove them.

The elven legion readied themselves for another charge. This time part of the royal guard would lead the attack in an effort to raise morale and piercing power.

“Wave 21, Attack!”, a centurion shouted and the legion moved.

Volleys of arrows and bolts impacted the charging lines. People fell but nobody slowed down. The charge continued to the breaches. This time however their attack wasn’t thrown back. The royal guards didn’t stop until their last breath and passed through a collapsed section of the wall.

Fallen bodies were ignored as the legions of the Franci entered Londinium. Their orders were clear and all the build-up anger from the siege released on the entire population.

The city burned, the Thames river reed and the capital silent. Only the burning and collapsing of buildings was heard when the legions departed with loot and high ranked captives.

“With this, the conflict is over. The empire of Britannia is no more”, Charlemagne said as he watched the burning city.

“The last time I checked most of Britannia was still mostly controlled by them”, Widukind stood next to Charlemagne’s side. “You are far from total victory you. The emperor of Britannia is well and secure further north in Eboracum.”

“I will finish the rest of them when our bargain is fulfilled. I would be planning a five-year-long campaign to conquer and integrate Britannia into my empire, if it weren’t for my obligations to your duchy”, Charlemagne said in an annoyed tone.

“The last time I checked you were the one to ask for my help first. Your grand capital was occupied and your famous cavalry defeated by archers”, the dwarf countered. Charlemagne didn’t answer and both leaders tensed up.

“The pretenders have been driven off from my homeland. This will have to suffice for now”, Charlemagne admitted and went back to his command tent.

“Let me help you with those coastal sieges. The earlier this finishes, the earlier we can focus on the Northern Alliance”, Widukind offered and jogged after the walking elf.

The Franci-British-war seemed to have reached its conclusion.

“Queen Eleonore, news have reached us. Londinium was razed and a few coastal cities conquered”, a human woman spoke to her queen while kneeling before her.

“You may rise. Do you know the next plan of the lion”, the queen asked. An elf, much like Charlemagne himself.

“As stated in their reason for allying each other, we suspect both of them will now prepare for the scramble for Italia”, her subordinate explained.

“I don’t like this. We had an advantage over the other two as the most powerful kingdom, but now with the backing of the lion we are only second place”, queen Eleonore said. “What does Raetia hope to achieve by allying with the lion. This could backfire tremendously. For all of us”

“We suspect Raetia wishes to claim Italia for themselves without giving us our due part”, the woman offered.

“Yes, and he should know that is more than he can chew”, the queen said. “This is getting dangerous. First, the east fails to claim the south and now the empire joins in for the conquest of the north.”

“Perhaps a change in policies might be the answer”, the subordinated said.

“A diplomatic agreement with the united kingdom of Illyria will be possible. It is in their interest as well. The dwarven ruled Duchy of Sardinia will be loyal to Raetia. Neapoli is exhausted and in a power struggle with the republic and the duchies. We are out of possible allies”, the queen lamented.

“What is with Hispania?”, the servant inquired only to be silenced by the frown of her queen.

“I will not cooperate with that snake of a woman. The loss of Catalonia is not forgotten by me”, Eleonore said sternly.

“Then were are pretty much alone now”, the human woman said quietly.

“We are, as we have been most of the time in our history. Aquitania will hold!”, the queen proclaimed. “Just watch the situation and a chance for us to prevail will appear our enemies will make a mistake.”

The queen dismissed her servant and accelerates the plans for the scramble. They couldn’t be outdone by an archduke.

There in the old imperial palace of Ravenna stood a dozen human men and seven women. Currently, all eyes were drawn to the table in their midst. A map and wooden pieces placed before them. All expressions grim and focussed on the newly added pieces.

A man steps forward, old with white hair and beard, he moves one pile of the pieces to the north. This resulted in no pieces in the south and few in the east and west. He nodded to himself and re-entered the circle.

“Old man we can’t leave the south unguarded”, a woman said and pulled a few pieces back south.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about that border if somebody tried to work a bit harder for that alliance between us and Neapoli”, another woman said.

“Who’s idea was it to ask Neapoli for territory? Thank the gods the duchy is exhausted and occupied with their own struggles”, somebody else said.

Again everybody became silent and focused on the map. There were a few changes, but all scenarios ended with exposed flanks. The invasions couldn’t be stopped, the only solution was to beat them one for one.

“Which raises the question, who do we attack first and which of us leads the legions”, the old man asked.

“We will have to attack the biggest force first. We can’t allow the two smaller invaders to weaken our legions”, said one of them.

“No. We should defeat the weakest first and then finish Raetia’s expedition”, another one suggested

“We should pull back and wait for them to turn on each other. Those four nations will be unable to cooperate together for long. The moment they smell victory, is the moment they attack their former partners”, suggested a woman with red hair.

“We can’t risk losing cities to the enemy in the hope they turn on each other. As long as we control the cities behind the Alpes no enemy legion will be able to sustain their supplies for long. I say we turtle up in our towns and burn all food not stored in the cities”, suggested a scarred man.

“It doesn’t matter. There is no way all three invasions will fail. There are rumours about a few cities wanting to secede towards the enemy to avoid looting. Some southern cities even want to join Neapoli. We can’t hold the realm together without help from outsiders”, another man said and silence ensued.

“Who do you have in mind?”, asked a woman.

“The only two offers we have and can accept. Hispania, the Visigoths, and the governor of Syria”, the man answered.

“Syria wanted money and uncontrolled access to our markets. What did Hispania want again?”, somebody inquired.

“A seat in our council and shared control over the western cities. The queen plans to use us against the Kingdom of Aquitania. We are fighting them already so no harm done”, came the answer.

“We should discuss other options, but all are in agreement that we need help to survive this crisis?”, the old man asked.

Some made grave and angry expressions, but nobody objected. The realm was already claimed by their neighbours and failure would mean the end of their houses and the end of one of the two remaining human nations.

Jagu was running from the lobby of his mansion, up the stairs and through the door of his and his wife’s office. A letter was held firmly in the left hand as he entered the room.

They had rented a mansion in Syracusa. Their temporary capital to oversee the war and all other affairs from there.

Serenity looked up from the document she was working on. Looking questioningly between the letter in her husband’s hand and his smiling face. Jagu blurred out the answer before she could ask anything.

“He is well and fine. Lucius survived and your not gonna believe what happened to him in his absence from Alexandria”, Jagu practically shouted.

“Finally”, Serenity said and hugged her husband fiercely just to steal the letter and sit back down. Jagu stood there a moment, looking a bit disappointed before he sat next to his wife.

Serenity read the letter, while Jagu explained his own conclusions about some of the more vague points in Lucius’ message. Their son seemed to hide details and neither of them liked it, even if they understood why he did it. They had done the same with their parents.

The part with the elven girl was assigned to the doings of Queen Galvalla. The elven girl Helvallia identified as the first princes Helvallia. Next followed a discussion of Niloticus’ failure to protect their son.

Their own mistakes to think their son would be safe in neutral territory was also reviewed. In the end, they decided against calling him back home. This should serve as a lesson for all of them.

“Did you read the part where he asked us to not prepare for war? Lucius is finally showing interest in governing”, Jagu exclaimed, happily turning to an also smiling Serenity.

“Our boy is growing up. His plan to build up influence will likely succeed if we help him with his promises”, Serenity said. “Maybe our parents were right in giving more responsibilities to him.”

“Look Ren, I am going to help my son to the best of my abilities but the only thing I can do is to grant his allies free access to our markets”, Jagu said with upholding hands. “The rest he will need to figure out himself, but with his education, he should indeed succeed at least partially.”

“What do we make with his advice on our policies. I told you another war could be dangerous for us on numerous levels”, she reminded him of her own worries.

“Perhaps you and Lucius are right. I will again discuss this with the others. The rebuilding of the nation may come first, but the rebuilding of our military and plans to conquer lost territory will stay second on our list”, he compromised. Serenity just smiled at him.

“Of course”, she said.

“He seemed to also have found his own familiar. A black wyvern, but there is something he is hiding from us. Maybe the next letter from Niloticus will shed a bit of light on it”, Jagu added. Again worried by secrets kept.

“Could he not have chosen another animal. Wyverns are dangerous as familiars”, she said and crossed her arms.

“The creature seemed to have saved his life so judgement will have to wait until he shows us his familiar”, he said and his wife nodded slowly.

“We will have a lot of things to talk about between us and him, but for now it is enough to know he is fine”, Serenity said. “We should write an answer.”

The next hours were used to write a long long letter with many questions to their son. There was also a ‘little’ extra included to be delivered with the letter.

“You are destroying our house with your actions!”, Maxiana Caesar screamed at her brother in law.

“I defend what is rightfully mine. I will not be undermined by a kid from a foreign land!”, Caesarion shouted back and shut the door to the mansion behind him. Too many disputes with his late brother’s wife and niece these days. Too many political losses.

He went to the garden to escape his sister in law’s emotional outbursts and to relax from all that stress. The garden was beautiful and nothing, except the sounds of insects and a few birds, was heard as he strolled through his garden. It was soon to be dark and the view from the bank was amazing.

Caesarion Caesar, former governor of Alexandria and brother of the deceased governor of Aegyptus stared at the reflection of the sunset in their small lake. The lake was four-meter times four big and a present from his late brother. To celebrate his position in Alexandria.

Caesarion switched his sight between the real sunset and the reflection on the lake before his feet. He closed his eyes and sighed.

A crocodile leapt out of the lake and pulled the man underwater. The action happened too fast for him to even scream. His departure was a silent one. The water turned red and the lifeless body floated in the middle of the lake minutes later.

The body of Caesarion was found the next morning by a servant. The official statement was that the governor took his life by drowning himself. The servant disappeared on the same day.