The Roamer

Chapter 38: the plan begins

Aeolus arrived at the ruins of Antegria, still shining as much as a dump. He took a seat on the pillar he always sat on, to fully process what Digandry had said, and more importantly, the little whisper that came into his ears after leaving the tournament.

“Was it really Lexor who sent that message, or was it possibly someone else framing him?” Aeolus asked, to which he got no reply.

‘No, it must’ve been Lexor. Though there are many people in the tournament who know my name, not many of them have any thorough relations with me, besides Lexor.’ Aeolus confirmed it within his mind, and began to think of a reason why. Suddenly, it struck him in his mind.

‘Lexor… is it possible this is all just entertainment to him?’ Aeolus rummaged within his mind for all the memories of Lexor. When they were about to battle, he had a demon like smile. In fact, in most cases, he was smiling like a baby who hadn’t experienced the world.

“Well, I can’t conclude the reasons for sending me such a message, so I’ll just leave that until later. For now, It’s about time I follow through with the ‘plan’. Aeolus said to himself, and began floating into the sky. He looked into the distance, and he could see many cities. He picked the one that was closest, or what he thought was closest, and flew to that one.

He landed in front of the city, and walked inside. However, he immediately remembered something, and turned around. He walked into the woods right outside of the city. He then took out most of his undead, and had them split into groups. This was all a part of the ‘plan’, one that would give him a fighting chance when he conquered this city and others invaded.

“I’ve split all of you into groups of eight, and kept the remainder with me. Each group is to find a different city, and occupy it while keeping yourselves hidden. Basically, just stay outside city walls or something. When I send out the signal in my mind, you are to ravage the city you’re currently camping at, so that I can stall for time.” Aeolus explained, and the undead understood the essence of the plan.

Basically, Aeolus would take over a city, and before other cities could begin sending their reinforcements to siege it, his undead would cause a mess in the cities sending reinforcements, stalling for time. That way, even if he didn’t have enough time to evacuate citizens, there was still a chance of him fighting off the enemies, and potentially killing them as well.

‘I’ve been on Pangaea for far too long, I’m wasting precious time here. I need to conquer this land mass and move onto the next one soon.’ Aeolus said within his mind, confirming his motives.

He originally pledged to himself he wouldn’t stay in one place for a long time, and his visit to another landmass was long overdue.

Each undead group went to its own city to camp at, and began preparing themselves with mantra. On the other hand, Aeolus walked back into the city, the few undead that he kept with him in his mid-layer. Of course, he had the mask on.

However, it wouldn’t be that easy to finish the plan after what happened in Antegria. After Aeolus took over Antegria, all other cities raised their securities, and many cities prevented citizens from speaking about Antegria.

Right now, Pangaea was a hot mess on sticks, awaiting it’s crumbling. At least, that’s what Aeolus thought.

He found a bar, and walked into it. From his basic understanding of the world, bars were a place where information could be exchanged. Right now, he needed to find out where the commander of this city lived, and where the armies were barracked. Right now, he couldn’t get any leads on either of them.

He saw some pretty drunk guy flicking off another, and thought that he was the perfect person to ask. He walked up to him, and sat right next to him. The drunk guy looked Aeolus up and down, and then his head hit the table.

Aeolus lifted his head, but he was knocked out cold.

‘Getting a drunk person to tell me information isn’t going to be easy if this happens.’ he thought to himself, and stood up. He wanted to question a drunk person because they were more likely to give away information, as they weren’t in the right state of mind.

Just like that, Aeolus kept maneuvering table to table, trying to find some drunk person who would tell him information. Finally, he found what he was looking for.

“Kid, come drink with me.” some random guy told Aeolus, and Aeolus looked flicked his face towards him. He was definitely drunk, no doubt about it. Aeolus chuckled, and sat right in front of the man. He then took a mug, and began drinking for his first time.

“Tastes like donkey piss, though I don’t know what it tastes like.” Aeolus said, and the drunk guy hollered with laughter. He then smashed his mug onto the table, and pulled Aeolus towards him. He got right in his ear, and whispered this:

“So, what information are you so desperate to get that you’d use drunk people?” came into Aeolus’ ear, and Aeolus immediately radiated his spirit. The man simply giggled, and let go of Aeolus. Aeolus patted his shoulders, and moved on.

“Since it doesn’t seem that you’re that drunk, I guess I’ll just ask you. Do you know where I can find the commander and army of this city?” Aeolus asked, trying to get a confirmation on the locations of the two. The man suddenly had his eyebrows point down, and a frown appeared on his face.

“Why do you want to know where they are?” he said, suspicion all around his face. Aeolus leaned in towards him, to make it more realistic, and then said this:

“Don’t tell anyone, but my cousin is trying to join into the army. He looks up to the commander, and wants to become a commander when he grows up.” Aeolus whispered into his ear, as he had down to Aeolus’ ears. The man took the frown off his face, and put on a smile.

“Well, it seems like we still got some youths who are willing to help Pangaea.” the man said, and stood up.

“Follow me, I’ll show you where they are, considering that you’re probably new to the city.” the man said, and walked out of the bar. Aeolus followed suit, and went right after him. They walked through the city, until they reached some plaza area. There was hole right in the middle of it, and everyone avoided it.

The man jumped right on in, and Aeolus jumped down the hole as well. Once they hit the bottom, Aeolus realized were they were. They were at the underground cavern, the exact one that Aeolus tried to evacuate Antegria’s citizens through. There were humongous buildings, and if one looked close enough, you could see many men and women sitting at many tables, eating something.

“My name is Carnel, and this is my army. Tell your cousin he is free to come whenever.” the man said, and realization struck Aeolus.

“You’re… the commander?” Aeolus asked, just to get a confirmation. Just to make sure that this so called Carnel wasn’t getting suspicious, he had a look of amazement on his face.

This clearly worked, as Carnel didn’t seem to have any guard up.

“That’s right, I'll gladly invite your cousin to the army. Just send him here, and he’ll take the test to join the army!” Carnel said, while laughing heartily. However, Aeolus wasn’t fooled by the laugh at all.

‘You laugh now, but this whole land mass is basically slavery and nothing else. Yet, you still laugh now.’

Aeolus chuckled, and thanked Carnel. He then flew up the hole, but it wasn’t without leaving some string on one of the soldiers. He left the city, and went into the woods right outside it. He sat down on the same log, and sent out the signal that would begin the decimation of Pangaea.

All of his undead at other cities picked up on it, and Aeolus could sense his undead slaughtering away.

‘All of these lives are being lost… no, not again, never again. I will never regret taking lives for what I think is right.’ Aeolus was upset with himself t first, but immediately threw it away. After getting his ass kicked in multiple battles before because he was too naive, he had experienced enough misery.

“This time… I won’t fail.” Aeolus said, and stood up. He walked into the city where his upcoming battle was coming, but surprisingly, unlike every single previous battle he was in, he didn’t consider losing an option.

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ABOUT ME

Name: Abdul Kareem

Age: 13 (Almost 14)

Occupation: Middle school

Goal: Idk, I’m just making a novel for now

Location: Why would I say that?

Relations: I’m not married (duh)

Favorite food: da asian stuf!

Anyway, on a more serious tone, this is my first novel I’ve ever tried writing. Thanks for being with me on this first experience! If you could also somehow get others to read this novel too, I would be pretty grateful!