World Conquest Online

After discussing for a while longer, the Generals of Riverside all headed towards a large building that had been built near the centre of the camp, that would hold the celebratory feast. Dom had left Centurion Banas and Centurion Chen Lu in charge of the camp, where all of the forces kept themselves alert and rotated shifts. Dom didn’t overly worry about the Warriors that were left, he had trust in their current allies and also knew that his Warriors were levels above those around them.

Gan Ning continued to wear his mask, and all of the Generals wore lighter versions of their armour and carried a sword each. Subutai and Xun You had been meticulous in their planning, having arranged all the necessary equipment on the Enyo, with the Calypso having had some thrown in more hastily before they left. Within that equipment were clothing for formal meetings amongst many other things that Meritamen had arranged with Ban Jieyu.

Now that the sky had darkened, the Titanaconda’s had also been let loose between the two Trireme’s with their Spartan riders giving them the chance to stretch and play loose in the water under the cover of some darkness. Sun Ce had arranged with his brother and Zhou Yu to give the Riverside camp some personal space, however promised they would demonstrate some of their strengths in the morning.

Dom and his group soon arrived at the wooden hall that had been built in the middle of the fort, escorted by the ten Batavi Emperors Guards that carried only their swords strapped to their waists. Dom led from the front with Subutai and Sun Ce beside him, whilst Xun You, Tomyris and Tomoe followed behind them, with Gan Ning, Liao Hua and Xiao Qiao at the rear.

As soon as they arrived at the wooden hall that had been built, the armoured guards with their long spears opened the doors. They wore similar armour to those they had seen earlier and even though it looked tough, Dom felt that there was clear weak points in its structure. As the doors opened, they saw that a large U-shaped table was in the hall, with a large open space in the middle and guards stationed in different sections.

Sun Quan sat at the head of the table, where there were two seats slightly lower than his beside him. Zhou Yu sat in one, whilst the seat beside him was empty. The rest of the table was full of the different officers that were part of the the Sun forces, some that were recognisable from earlier where as there was also some new faces that Dom didn’t recognise.

The left side of the table, where the empty seat had been left also had seats available for all of the Riverside Officers, who made their way down there. Liao Hua sat beside a young Sun officer, whilst the others sat together until the empty seat at the top. Sun Quan invited Dom to sit there, which surprised him as he suspected that Sun Ce would have taken it. Xiao Qiao went and sat beside her husband, which Dom didn’t mind.

"A toast, to our welcome guests." Sun Quan announced as he raised his cup towards those from Riverside, Dom took his own cup and raised it in return. "To reunions and conquest!"

"To reunions and conquest!" Dom echoed as he took his drink and sat back down beside Sun Quan.

Food was soon brought out and conversations began to take place across the room, Sun Quan had many questions about Riverside, some answers he had already heard from Sun Ce but wanted more information. Dom happily answered most of the questions that were asked, he didn’t give away numbers of his military but explained that they were a young force that was growing, very similar to when Sun Ce had first started gathering his own forces. He also explained about the geographical challenges they were having and the high quality of both their Warriors and Experts.

Sun Quan was very interested and asked lots of questions, where as Zhou Yu seemed to get involved when he heard mention of Shang Yang. Dom also dropped in the conversation the mention of Ban Jieyu, who Xiao Qiao praised highly. During the conversation, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu shared a look, before Sun Quan turned back to them.

"So Lord Lazarus, it seems like your growing Kingdom has a lot of potential!" Sun Quan praised, "But as a Lord, I assume you have a wife?"

"He does!" Sun Ce replied eagerly, after drinking a few cups of wine. "She is an impressive woman, fierce, but maybe not as fierce as General Tomoe."

Tomoe seemed to hear her name and looked up the table, her eyes serious as if she had been rudely interrupted from her conversation with Tomyris and the Masked Gan Ning.

"She does look fierce." Sun Quan agreed, before returning to the original conversation. "I expect the ceremony was huge!"

"Unfortunately not." Subutai replied with a laugh, sat beside Sun Ce, with Xun You on the other side of him towards the Masked Gan Ning. "It was more of a marriage and dash situation."

"You make it sound worse than it was." Dom laughed back. "We had just won a huge battle and the King of the side we were on proposed that his daughter marry me to cement our alliance."

"It was definitely a power play from him!" Subutai laughed, "Possibly the worst mistake he could have made!"

"Why what happened?" Sun Quan asked with an interested smile.

"We left, it’s hard to explain how, but we did and she ended up coming with us." Subutai explained, "Meritamen has been one of the best things to have arrived in Riverside."

"She is pretty great." Dom agreed, himself having had a few drinks now.

"But no big ceremony?" Sun Quan asked intrigued, "So more of a marriage in name for now."

"You could put it that way!" Dom laughed. Not noticing the look taking place on both Sun Quan and Sun Ce’s faces. Just as Sun Quan was going to ask another question, some commotion erupted from a slightly inebriated Ling Tong.

"I would like to perform a sword dance for our guests!" Ling Tong exclaimed, as he stepped in to the middle of the room and began performing some movements with his unsheathed sword. Everyone watched in interest as the young General performed close to the Officers sat around. Dom would have felt nervous but he seemed to have been aiming to perform near his own colleagues, however the Batavi Guards did all take a step forwards from their positions behind those from Riverside just in case.

Ling Tong swung his sword and performed several different positional changes as he alternated between stabs, slashes and the occasional minor form of acrobatics. As he continued, on a couple of occasions he got dangerously close to the Younger Gan Ning who was sat down. In frustration the Young Gan Ning stood up.

"Seeing Ling Tong’s exceptional skill, I would also like to perform a dance for our guests!" Young Gan Ning declared as he unsheathed his grabbed two small Ji’s which are a type of halberd and began to dance in a similar style, the two of them passing by each other with the occasional clang of weapons as they passed.

Dom turned to look at the Masked Gan Ning, that seemed to be hiding his embarrassment as he whispered to Tomyris. Dom wasn’t sure if this was something that had happened in the past during this battle, but it was clear from Gan Ning’s embarrassment that it most likely happened at some point. Subutai also seemed to have noticed and grinned.

"We should do this in Riverside sometime!" Subutai laughed, which Dom, Sun Ce and Xun You mirrored.

The demonstration of techniques continued, with more clashes happening between their weapons as they continued. Sun Quan seemed to have a disappointed look appear on his face, whilst some of the other officers began to show worry.

"If you do not mind, I would also like to join!" Lu Meng stated to Sun Quan, before stepping forwards, grabbing a shield from one of the guards and a unsheathing his sword. He stepped between the two of them and blocked both of their weapons so that neither of them could continue doing what they were doing.

"I think that is enough for now." Sun Quan declared loudly, slight anger appearing on his face. "I understand the differences between you, but enough is enough."

Ling Tong fell to the floor and apologised, whilst Gan Ning bowed slightly in apology. The two were then taken back to their seats after Sun Quan told them they needed to sort out their differences. As Lu Meng also began to take his seat, he was interrupted.

"That was an interesting display." Tomoe said loudly, her voice echoing across the room. Subutai grinned as she spoke and Dom realised that she had just followed their plan without having to do anything. "I would enjoy if you could demonstrate some more of your skills against me."

Lu Meng was a calm and composed Commander, who was initially a warrior before being trained in martial skills. He would eventually become one of the top supreme Commanders of Sun family, however at this stage the warriors blood in him was still strong. Tomoe was an exceptionally beautiful woman, as well as a deathly warrior and Lu Meng couldn’t refuse.

"It would be an honour." He replied after Sun Quan nodded his head in acceptance. Tomoe grinned, before leaving her seat and walking around the table until she entered the floor. She unsheathed her sword slowly, revealing it’s sharp and deadly edge. Lu Meng looked at her as he held his sword and shield, watching her stance and preparing himself.

Tomoe didn’t give him the chance to attack first, and swung her sword strongly in a downwards direction, forcing Lu Meng to block the strike and take a step back. His shield rang as she quickly pulled her sword back and prepared for her second strike. All of the Generals watching suddenly put their drinks down and sat forwards with intent eyes.

Lu Meng decided he didn’t want to be on the defensive, so charged forwards with his shield first to put pressure on Tomoe. As he approached, she elegantly turned her body away from him, before striking at his exposed side. He quickly adjusted and used his sword to deflect her. As she grinned and prepared to attack him again.

"One moment please." Lu Meng asked, pausing the exhibition fight. Tomoe waited as asked, whilst Lu Meng put his weapons down and grabbed a long halberd. A weapon he was more comfortable using. He got himself in position and asked to continue. The Generals that were all sat around were watching intently as the two of them clashed.

The two exchanged several more blows, with Lu Meng fighting valiantly against the skilled Tomoe, who seemed in control of the fight, even if she had to make some quick evasive manoeuvres at times. When it seemed that Lu Meng was about to struggle and that Tomoe’s eyes began to shine with excitement, Sun Quan stood up.

"Thank you very much both Warriors." Sun Quan announced loudly, "Your demonstrate has got the blood flowing in all of us and it is clear that our enemies will suffer against us in the coming days!"

Everyone cheered them on as Tomoe and Lu Meng bowed to each other in respect, before taking their seats again. The feast then continued with some dancers arriving at one stage and then the Generals began to move around and talk to different groups around the room.

"Thank you for going easy on him." Sun Ce said to Tomoe with a grin.

"I just did what I was told." She replied happily, "He is strong and powerful, but he over extends and to the trained eye he leaves clear openings. I understand why he is now taking the command path rather than the warrior path."

"Maybe you should teach Lord Lazarus some techniques?" Liao Hua said from beside them.

"I am pretty sure I defeated you didn’t I?" Dom threw back at him with a laugh.