The Battle Lost and Won

The history of the events that changed Rubberburough forever has been written and handed down (by word of mouth) to the present age and generation. Having thoroughly investigated the events that took place, having listened to the eyewitnesses there present at the time and having clear understanding of the machinations of the miracles which took place in that time, Oh excellent Mackoson, I write to give you the true account of the events and the order in which they happened so that you may have a full understanding of the things you have been told.

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How it began...

It happened that twenty-five years after the Great War, after Samoson had defeated Mubaro, murdered all the male offsprings in the kingdom, and taken both his daughter and wife as his second and Third wife, peace had completely returned to the land and the inhabitants flourished in farming and trade. However, king Samoson woke up sweaty and screaming every night from a meaningless nightmare that he found it incumbent to summon one-eyed seer.

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Everyone went to see the one-eyed seer in the olive mountains where he lived for he was physically blind. But the king always summoned him whenever he needed to know the outcome of a future war or the auspices or otherwise of some important venture.

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"You are the greatest of all greats, Samoson the first, son of Denji, ruler of the nine kingdoms," the one-eyed seer praised as he bowed in the presence of the king.

"I have nightmares every night and I cannot explain it. Tell me what you see."

Following the King's voice and feeling his way with his hands, he stood side by side with the king, stretched his hand and touched the helm of the King's gown and immediately, a tremor ran through him and he seemed to enter a trance.

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With a voice that sounded distant, he said, "Destruction is coming to the house of Denji and only blood suffices." Suddenly he came out of the trance and when the king asked him what he meant by his proclamation, he replied that he was just a channel and could not recall what was said. Samoson dismissed him.

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It was harvest season in the city of Rubberburough. The people were basically rubber, rice farmers, and merchants. The farmers employed shifting cultivation. They employed this method because it served them three purposes.

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One, theft of grown crops is reduced because the footfall increases the likelihood that a thief would be found out. Two, the fertility of their alluvial soil is preserved by allowing a farmed land to stay fallow for an extended period of time. Three, but less importantly, the people fetched firewood from their farms for use in home heating, cooking and for sales so allowing an unused land to grow a forest ensured that it would provide enough wood when the farmstead is moved there in coming years.

The Fire on the Hill

The inhabitants of Rubberburough woke up to see a blazing flame on the horizon as black smoke formed a fog which enveloped the area. The fire burned around the Koka (King of Kings' Abode) hill which was a hill of the highest vertical extent in the area, thereby blocking the first beam of sunshine from illuminating the city. Apart from the thick black smoke and the fire, the town was as quiet as a graveyard.

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Ordinarily, the King's security forces would have sounded the trumpet to alert the whole city of the fire so that it would be speedily put out communally. The King's castle was located in Koka hill from which the flames and smoke darkened the sky. Since there had not been any sound, the lesser kings did not know what to do.

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Rubberburough was ruled by Samoson, the first. Under his ruler-ship were nine kingdoms each ruled by a king, all of whom swore fealty to the great king Samoson. Each king was either a knight or dependent of a knight who fought under great Samoson during the great war.

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King Samoson only appeared in public once every year when he addressed the whole of his kingdom relating to the direction of the kingdom in terms of its economic, security, tax and other activities. This day usually coincided with the end of August and was a day of pageantry, of camaraderie and merriment.

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Apart from that day, all other leadership activities were entrusted to the lower kings who ruled, presided over criminal and civil cases. Only cases involving any of the lower kings were handled by Samoson. Every such case was frozen until the last day of the month which was designated the King's Day. It was also the day the lower kings reported to Samoson.

The laws of Rubberburough did not provide for the situation that the city woke up to find itself. As the lower kings gathered in the piazza to decide what to do, a large crowd of thousands of men, women, and children had all gathered, each voicing their opinion of what they think had happened when a lone horse galloped down from the hills carrying a wounded soldier slumped forward. The horse rode straight to the center of the piazza and the soldier fell off.

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The soldier had several cuts on his legs but the most severe of his wounds could be seen running from the left side of his temple, across his nose to the lower part of his right jaw. He attempted to speak but only blood came up. One of the lower king guards fell on his knees a held the soldier's head on his laps. Finally, the soldier was able to deliver a cryptic message:

"Mubaro. King. All dead."

As he said these words, his face lost all the pain and his body went limp as he breathed his last. The older of the lesser kings and the army of them remembered the great war against Mubaro's army almost three decades ago and how it ended with Samoson's army slaying every male offspring in the kingdom and taking their wives and daughters as wives and servants.

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It is not possible that Mubaro or any of his descendants still lived, they thought. As they sat deliberating about the meaning of the message just delivered by the wounded soldier, they saw from a distance, two horsemen, flying the Dorco's flag approach the piazza. The smaller of the two carried Samoson's bloody head on a pike. As soon as they approached the piazza, the people saw the head, some bowed and others covered their eyes in fear. The piazza became so still that the silence was palpable. The bigger of the two men spoke.

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"I am general Orseta, leader of Mubaro's army, the supreme leader of the Dorco Kingdom, the rightful heir to Colligina. I am here to inform you that we have taken over Rubberburough and deposed her of her King. It is not the will of the supreme leader to destroy lives, therefore the lesser kings are hereby issued a two-day ultimatum to pledge fealty to the supreme leader or face death," he said, then turned his horse around and rode uphill with his companion on his heels.

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As the enemy soldiers ride back to the hill, the lesser kings left the piazza and proceeded to the lower court for deliberations with their army generals. After discussing for three hours, it was unanimously agreed that it was not in the tradition of the people to surrender to enemy forces. It would not only endanger her citizens but would also ruin the kingdom's most profitable export: mercenary fighters.

Army too great

They agreed that they could not make a correct decision on how to deal with the situation without reconnaissance and development of a strategy to defend the rest of the kingdom. Or whether the best decision was to throw in the towel. A reconnaissance group of six warriors was sent to infiltrate the King's castle and report the strength of the enemy army and if possible find out who is leading the army.

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The reconnaissance team returned at nightfall to report that the army they found on the hill had a strength of at least a hundred thousand soldiers. They couldn't get close enough to learn who led the army but the rumor was that the king was just a child.

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The army of the nine kingdoms were greater than one hundred thousand but their numbers had been depleted due to the attack on Koka hill and soldiers lost when the kingdoms had sent their soldiers to foreign governments that were at war as a way of making money.

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However, the people of Rubberburough were proud and brave people and they were determined to defend what was left of the kingdom, against the forces of Mubaro or die trying.

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Without their king, all the lesser kings were left with a difficult decision: should they take their army to war and possibly to their death or should they accept defeat? Eight of the nine kings decided to face the formidable army in defense of their Kingdom or die honorably than become servants to a foreign king.

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Only one man rejected this idea. He was Andanon, the son of Donga, King of the Tambal. He was a brave soldier that fought side by side with Samoson in the great war. His decision not to fight, perplexed the other kings. He instructed his servants to prepare his horse and informed the head of his army to prepare the army. He led his army as they rode westwards to the Olive mountain.

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Meanwhile, the army from the other kingdoms rode to the King's hill to seek a way to breach the wall. The Dorco army had laid an ambush and was ready when they arrived. They killed more than twenty thousand Rubberburough soldiers before the order came for them to pull back.

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At the Olive mountain, King Andanon instructed his army to wait outside the cave where the one-eyed seer lived. He walked alone through the dark, wet corridor. Before he could reach the chamber of the cave a voice sounded from within.

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"Andanon, Son of Donga, what do you want with me?" the voice said. King Andanon stopped because he could not see any further into the cave.

"I want to win a war!" he replied.

"The war has been lost and won. The blood of twenty thousand Rubberburough men flows when all that was required was one," the seer said.

"Oh wise one, is there nothing that can be done?"

"One thing. One of the lesser kings must sacrifice his son, heir to his throne so that others may live."

Andanon and his army quickly rode back to the city to inform the other kings of what he had been told. He found them wounded and discouraged. All were ready to give in to the foreign king. Andanon decided that it was up to him to win the war so he rode back to the cave with his only son, Dagar. The seer was at the mouth of the cave waiting when he arrived.

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"Have you come to do the needful, King Andanon?" he asked. Andanon's opened his mouth to speak but no words came. His heart knotted in pain, he nodded. With unusual agility, the seer moved towards the boy and touched his temple. His legs immediately grew weak and he slumped.

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The seer ordered Andanon to cut the body into pieces and fill the giant mortar sitting at the entrance of the cave. And anon could not bear the thought so he brought out a bottle of wine he carried with him and drank it in one long gulp. Then he used his axe to sever his son's head.

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They poured the flesh from the mortar and packed it in a bag. The seer instructed the king on how to use the potion to achieve the victory he sought. King Andanon rode back to the city. No one but him and the seer knew what had transpired. When he arrived, he called the head of his army to assemble his men. They went to the road and surrounding bushes leading down from the King's hill, mixed the body of the King's son with water and poured it on the ground, using it barricade themselves from the hill.

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And the battle was lost and won...

The ultimatum issued by the foreign king elapsed the next morning. Andanon assembled his army of five thousand and they formed a long line where they had poured the fresh of the young boy the night before. As the foreign army charged with all their glory, all hundred thousand men, the soldiers were tempted to scatter but Andanon instructed them to hold the line.

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The army rode closer and closer to the Andanon army when the ground began to shake as if under the weight of the marching soldiers. Then to the amazement of all present, the ground opened along the line where the potion was poured and swallowed up the enemy army. Not one of them was left standing. All who witnessed it were shocked it took a long moment for them to recover their composure.

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"Charge!" Andanon commanded. His army charged up the hill and retook the King's hill. They discovered that the foreign king was the bastard son of Mubaro that was born in a neighboring Kingdom during the great war.

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This became the second great war. King Andanon lived many more years after the second great war. He and his army moved to King's hill and ruled over the land. His brother became king when Andanon went to rest for the king never dies. The kingdom has remained under his family leadership until this day.

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Only King Andanon knew exactly how the war at the King's hill was lost and won until this day but these are the true order and account of the events that took place in Rubberburough, oh excellent Mackoson.

Fiction authored by: @churchboy