Liberation of Kupria
I was eight when it happened, but I can still remember that exact moment when my older brother Rennan returned to Vobranas after the invasion. There was still a war, yes, but at least the Asharians weren't inside our home anymore.
About a year after the Asharians invaded Kupria's capital city Vobranas and killed King Lavin, the Kuprians struck back. A determined task force, led by Prince Rennan, with one single objective - to liberate Kupria from the Asharian invaders.
Assembling An Army
Rennan had not been idle while he was in hiding from the invaders. The scattered remains of the Kuprian army, beaten during the invasion was slowly and discreetly gathered up, together with any who wanted to help the prince to liberate their home. Somehow the Asharians had little to no clue this was happening, though they probably had some suspicions that the hiding prince would try something like this.
When Rennan's task force was large enough, though not as large as he'd hoped, the liberation attempt begun.
Moving Out
The task force reached Vobranas just before midnight on 17D 6M. They moved in silence, trying to get as close to the royal citadel as they could before anyone knew they were there. This was a necessity, since the Asharian invasion force was larger than Rennan's small liberation force. The goal was to kill whomever commanded the Asharian forces placed in Vobranas, and thus create chaos in the rest of the force.
The task force miraculously got all the way up the Slope before being noticed. The Asharians, while somewhat ready for an attack at any time, didn't really expect the attack to come from the top of the Slope. While there were guards up there, most of the army was at the lower parts of the slope and in the citadel. This made it possible for Rennan and his force to get all the way to the actual citadel with minimal losses.
However, it turned out King Lazar of Asharia was in the royal citadel at this exact time. The security was, naturally, heightened due to this. Getting in would be hard.
Liberation
I... can't remember much of the first year of the war. Yet I still remember that feeling of relief I felt when we knew the Asharians were leaving.
There is a saying that one man defending his home is worth ten hired soldiers. The attempt to liberate Vobranas - and all of Kupria, for that matter - from the Asharians showed this. The task force managed to get into the citadel, keeping their own losses low while beating Asharian soldiers wherever they clashed.
King Lazar appeared in the battle himself, and challenged the young prince to a duel. The king was certain there was no way Rennan would win a duel like this. Rennan was sixteen, and much less experienced than the Asharian king.
Maybe it was this hubris that made it possible for prince Rennan to win. Maybe it was Rennan's determination to avenge the execution of his father, King Lavin, at the beginning of the invasion. Whatever it was, Rennan won the duel, dealing a lethal wound to his enemy.
With their king dead, the remaining Asharian forces soon lost morale, and the ones who weren't killed or captured fled back to Asharia. Kupria was liberated from the invasion.
The Aftermath
This conflict is considered the start of the Kuprian-Asharian War by Asharia and most of Shireon. The Kuprians would say the war had already started a year earlier with the execution of King Lavin. No matter who was right about this, the war was definitely in motion after the liberation.
Both sides had now lost their monarch. Soon after, Rennan was crowned Monarch of Kupria, only sixteen years old. King Lazar's oldest son, Erelim, was crowned King of Asharia. As both the new kings had lost their fathers in the war, there was no way the war would end anytime soon.
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