The Course of Empires Chapter 4: Destruction
By the following summer, the city was burning, and no amount of rain from the passing tempest could douse the flames.
In the interim between this summer and the one when the new emperor had come to power, the rebel factions from the southern provinces had struck a bargain with the barbarian armies that haunted the northern woods. Both sides had their reasons for putting this vainglorious nation to the sword, neither of which was necessarily harmonious with the others. But the chance to smash this hedonistic regime into the dust and take its riches for themselves was far too good to pass up.
Now the fleet of warships that brought the enemy up the river and blockaded the harbor had sealed the empire’s fate. But the emperor himself was having none of it. As all the chaos unfolded around him, he argued with the general in charge of the city’s defenses.
“Who gave you the authority to abandon your post?!” he screamed. “You are in charge of defending this city!”
“What city?” the general scoffed. “All I see is a smoldering ruin!”
“I am the one who orders this army to retreat! I gave no such order!”
“I had no problem giving the order to the men under MY command. There is no need to sacrifice their lives for a lost cause.”
“Lost cause?! LOST CAUSE?!!! This empire is going to last for a thousand years! These heathens will not change that! We will drive them off and save this empire!”
“GODS DAMN YOU, EMPEROR!” the general snapped, his patience strained to the breaking point. “Don’t you get it? We’ve lost! The city is overrun! Do you not see your citizens’ blood running in rivers down the streets? Do you not hear mothers weeping as their daughters are raped in front of them? Oh, but what do you care? You have no family or loved ones, just your gold and your whores and your throne. You selfish bastard! You didn’t care a whit about how the empire would fare under your rule! You just cared about power and dominance. Well, I have a wife, children, and thousands of soldiers under my command to worry about, your highness! You can stay here and try to reclaim your thousand-year rule, but I’m going to do my damndest to get the ones who depend on me upriver and away from this nightmare.”
The general vanished into the fleeing crowd, leaving the emperor to reconsider his options as the rain soaked through his scarlet robe. He looked around at the destruction surrounding him. The burning buildings; the invaders hacking and slashing at soldiers and civilians alike with swords and axes; the statue erected in his honor standing headless, decapitated by ejecta from an enemy catapult. He tried to catch a glimpse of the lonely boulder but could hardly make it out with all the smoke and storm clouds blocking his view.
He also saw the bridge over which he had been carried after his first victory. A section in the middle had collapsed, and a makeshift wooden span had been placed over it. The span was top-heavy with screaming crowds struggling to escape enemy soldiers from either side of the river. Ultimately, their struggle was in vain, for the wooden span snapped under their weight, sending them into the river to drown.
The emperor’s train of thought was cut short by a forceful blow to the legs that caused him to spin once in the air before landing on his belly. The barbarian soldier raised his club to bash the emperor’s skull in. But the emperor, no stranger to combat himself, was quicker. He whisked out his sword, slashed his assailant’s stomach open, and removed his head with one clean stroke. More barbarians and a few rebels, identifiable by their green uniforms, came out to avenge their fallen comrade.
The enraged emperor hacked and slashed at them, screaming all the way. “You will not destroy me!” he roared at his enemies. “I destroyed you once! I shall do so again!”
But it was not to be, for a rebel archer had spotted the emperor and loosed his arrow. The arrow lodged in the emperor’s neck, reducing his impassioned ranting to a croaking choke as blood filled his punctured trachea. The barbarians took advantage of the opening and slaughtered the emperor, as they had countless others on this blood-soaked day.
Author’s Commentary
And so the end of civilization comes, taking countless innocent souls with it in its death throes. But what will remain of this ruined city for future generations to explore? Tune in next time to find out with the conclusion of “The Course of Empires.”
As always, compare with the original painting above to see how well I did.
