“Take care of the prisoners, don’t mistreat them. We will know if you dare to harm those men.”

“I got it, have a great trip, Your Royal Highness. Beware of bandits.”

A few days had passed after the battle of Fort Separ, with the fort opened, the road to the old eastern border of the kingdom was clear. With this, the Latilian Central Army scrambles back to their expedition, hoping to reach the inner desert of the continent by the end of summer.

After saying goodbye to the man they left in charge of the city, the Archprince return to his conveyances, embark on the continuous military journey with their men. From this part of the country, it should take a week moving constantly to get to the border, where they will enter the old territory of Carthagia from, and liberate that country from ELestovakian bondages.

“Make sure that the road is clear, we don’t want any encounter on our path.”

At the front of the line, three riders, one of them is Lily, are doing scout work. Right behind them are the vehicles of the Marine Corp. The main army will march after, then the supply force. Finally as well as very oddly, the far end of the army is the cavalry, both the elite Husaria and the regulars, their task is to protect the supplies, considering how harsh it would be once they enter the desert.

For extra safety, Aurora is placed in front of the first carriage, using her scope to roughly navigate the terrain surrounding them.

The narrow greenfield of Middle Atlasia Meadow, its image looks exactly what a modern person thinks of when they are requested to imagine how a plain looks like, with miles of weed and grass, decorated with some bushes, some flowers and random fields and settlements on the side of their road. It would be a pleasant place for the army to set up their camp, unfortunately the destination of today’s trip is somewhere far from this place:

“To be specific, it would be the entrance of the Northern Plateau of the County of Liston, the former buffer zone between the Kingdom of Latila and the Carthagian Republic.”

“Buffer zone?”

“Well, you see”-Belisari elaborated the plan for Aurora-”Around five hundred years ago, the Carthagians suffered a disastrous famine, which led to many of their people turning into raiders and attacking Latilian settlements alongside the old border. While the Carthagian government was unable to control the situation, our Kingdom took measure by annexing the hilly western part of Carthagia and established a sovereign territory as the frontline to protect the rest of the country from plunderers. Thus born the County of Liston.”

“That sounds very interesting. But doesn't that mean the Carthagians hate the Latilians? For invading their territory?”

“No? As I’ve just said, that was five hundred years ago. The Carthagians forgave us a long time ago, especially after we helped them to stabilize their government right after the annexation. In fact, the two were allies before the invasion of the Elestovakians.”

“Oh, cool. So we do expect Carthagian support once we get there, right?”

“For certain there will be, after all Liston itself is home of many Carthagians who have their relatives on the other side of the border.”

And uncoincidentally, many soldiers from their infantry corps are people who fled all the way from Liston when the Elestovakians attacked, about a thousand or so. They can rely on local support once the army left the former territory of Latila.

Moving on with the journey, they’ve gone half of the goal for today.

The green empty field of the Middle Atlasia Meadow slowly changes. There are flowers, more and more flowers and other types of plants all around, which is the result of the plateau in front of their path. They served as a natural barrier blocking low flying clouds from reaching the other side of the Atlasia, drying the land and thus forming the Carthagian Great Desert.

In exchange however, thanks to the barrier, clouds mostly rain upon this side of the plateau, prospering the soil of the meadow. Though it was a bit unfair that the Latilians held the most gorgeous territory of the narrow field, the Carthagians, the Aeropostalis and the Nosfeturans rarely did anything about it; they wanted to preserve the purity of the Meadow.

“Ah…so beautiful.”

On the sides of the road is a vast flower field.

“Yeah, such a blessing for the eyes.”-Lily at the front overheard that line also agreed.

“Such unfortunate that we are in the middle of a rushed war”-the Prince speaks, widening his eyes onto the view-”Otherwise I would love to enjoy the scene for many more days. Still, there is a forest at the end of the road, where we can establish a proper forward outpost. Not as romantic as a flower-covered camp, but we can have a good logistic base.”

Aurora meanwhile, concerned-“I’ve read many stories about a group of merchants being ambushed by bandits as they enter a wood, hope we won’t encounter any. Lord knows if we are able to fight them off with no casualties.”

“You are worrying nonsense, we have ten thousand troops, with literal cavalry and elite ranged infantry, no sane bandit would try to rob us.”

“I don’t know, our conveyances look like a bunch of luxury chariots. They might mistaken us for a bunch of aristocrats or something”

That is because the Marines hang their painted shields around the vehicles. Ganeoese shields are decorated with bright red and yellow, very majestic and outstanding, but it is a fatal flaw in camouflage. That is not their fighting style though, so perhaps it is acceptable.

“Fantastic, let them come then. I want to eradicate raiders before leaving the region.”-calling out loud to the scout cavalry-”Keep an eye on the wood, alert if there is any problem.”

**

The branches on trees shake a little.

“Twenty carriages and more are coming, so far I see just three escorts, we will eat good tonight dad.”

“You heard it, sharpen your spears, we will take down the cavalry then assault the vehicles from all directions.”

“Got it, boss.”

Hiding between bushes along the forest main road, beyond Aurora’s surveillance and cavalry reconnaissance, a company of raiders has had the impression that the Marine Corp is their next victim.

“Are you sure they are merchants? With so little protection I doubt they carry anything important.”

On a tree outskirts the wood, two scouts, one of them is the commander, are watching as the convoy closes the distance.

“I am pretty sure”-whispered scout 1 to scout 2-”Look at their vehicles. The merchants must be among the luxury class, or even aristocrats if we are lucky.”

“I doubt if they are aristocrats, their caravan should be more protected. Fine, must be merchants. I guess you are not an all time idiot.”

And those “merchant carriages” are coming in huge numbers, the raiders should have a proper plan if they want to gain as much profit as possible for this mission. They have forty people, far “outnumbered” the three guards in front of the line. A classic road-blocking flank should work:

“Alright, heavy guy”-scout 2 informs his fellows-”You should be at the front to lure their attention, remember to wear heavy armor for protection, we don’t know if the escorts are something deadly. Spearmen, you will take care of the riders when they are stalled. The rest will flank them.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

**

“I smell something fishy.”

The conveyances had entered the wood’s road. But also in the moment, Lily feels something is wrong.

“What’s the matter, Your Grace?”-asked a cavalryman from behind, concerning something that might've just happened beyond his awareness. He was about to alert everyone, but Lily tells him not to:

“I sensed danger, but just a mild one, no need to assemble the entire army. I will go first, you just keep looking around, stay near the vehicles if needed, they will protect you.”

**

“Dummy, the front guard dismounted…”

Obviously, the Archduchess’s sudden act did not go unnoticed for the ambushers.

“I see, hey…that is a nice long hair, a female knight, and she is…Wow! What a look, I will have a fun night tonight.”

“I care not about your libido, dumbass son.”-scout 2, the father of scout 1 lands a hit on his son’s head-”I think she has noticed our present. Dammit, everybody ready for pursuit. We might have to chase them down, gather ranged weapons up.”

“Oh…and is that a vampire (Aurora)? And she looks young as well, alright I will take them-”

Bonk! “Spunky idiot…grab your spears, we go.”

**

“So far so good.”

The Latilians are moving between the trees. The road is clear, but it is a bit dark due to the density of plants in this forest blocking away sunlight. It also didn’t help that trees here have their branches overgrew, making the forest more obscured as if it wasn’t already, hence it is useless to use scope to look around.

Hmm…Hmm…Hej, tam gdzieś z nad…

Aurora humming along the road, waiting for something exciting to happen.

Her song is pleasant to ears, dozing out several men in the same conveyance into a sense of comfort.

The calm breeze flutters the leaves, merging into a lullaby of the forest sending to the men on the road. Birds sing, insects echoes, those sounds can hardly be heard in Latila, only the Meadow here can provide them such a beautiful resonance of nature.

They haven’t seen any enemy.

Maybe, there is nothing to worry about after all.

“Hey.”

Suddenly, Lily’s loud and sharp voice alerted the Marines and their mounteds.

“Who are you? Occupation? Nationality? Unit?”

In front of the line, a huge man, roughly one and a half of the Archduchess, with full body armor, weapons and barricade is blocking the road. The armor shows signs of damage from multiple engagements, representing no insignia or something similar to tell which country he belongs to, while his sword dripped in dried blood. Everyone seeing that could tell that this is something out of the ordinary:

“Move aside.”-Lily speaks.

But the man stays firm.

“Stop the convoy.”-He says, raising high his sword for everyone to see-”This road is blocked. Turn around or I will slaughter every man, woman and child on the carriages.”

“Such nonsense. I am afraid you are the one who must listen to my command.”-the Archduchess, ignoring all of the odds-”I will consider you didn’t say anything. You may surrender, move aside and we will let you go. I don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed-”

Bang!

Before the Archduchess got to finish her sentence, the armored man swung down his sword upon her standing place. However, having prepared her sprint earlier, Lily easily dodged the hit:

“I see. All men ready for ambush-”

Just the moment the order was given out, coincidentally from the bushes, many dozens of projectiles flew out and collided with the vehicles. Then, bandits with swords and daggers jumped down from surrounding trees, effectively besieging most of the carriages at the front of the line. It was at this moment that the Latilians realized that they were being ambushed by a group of mysterious origin, not Elestovakians. The soldiers pick up their weapons, are about to go, but:

“I have an offer.”

Out of nowhere, probably from a safe place on the trees, a voice comes talking to the Latilians. Hearing that, Belisari secretly ordered his troops to not engage right away.

“I will let you go, but you must leave everything valuable here for us, including gold, silver, spice, dyes, women and your own carriages.”

(I understand the others, but women? Disgusting)

Belisari says. Taking his helmet off, he pokes his head out to negotiate:

“Why should we? How many men do you have?”

“A hundred, compared to just three of yours. I dare say you have no other choice. Fine, I will let some women go with you, but the vampire and the dismounted knight must be left. I deemed that it is generous.”

The “a hundred” was a big exaggeration, but to intimidate the target into yield, inflating the number is a fine option. Plus, they also have the element of surprise on their side.

(Lily must be bursting with anger right now, while Aurora…yeah she is loading the flare gun.)

“A hundred?”-Belisari continues-”That is a big number, I can see, we ought to be severely outnumbered and surrender…”

But the Prince’s voice manifests a calm attitude. That does make the commander of the bandits feels uncomfortable, and so he pushed:

“Enough dragging all around, surrender now or we will attack. I give you ten seconds-”

“Our answer is no”-Belisari cuts it short, wearing back his helmet and jumping off the vehicle-”It was your bad luck for attacking a military convoy. Aurora, fires a signal for the cavalry. Liliya, take down the guy. Everyone else, follow me.”

“What-”

From every single of the conveyances, the Marines swarmed out with loaded crossbows. They quickly take the shields of their carriages and rebuild a barricade around the convoy, all to the surprised faces of the bandits around, now aware that they’ve made a great mistake.

“This is Archprince Belisari Flarius Latila of the Kingdom of Latila, I demand your total unconditional surrender right away. Your fate shall be decided by the Commander in Chief of the Central Latilian Army, Archduchess Lily Sobieski Voyage, the one who is dismounted over there…”

that is (probably just imagination) having her only eye glowing in red.

So…they’ve made far more than just a big mistake. Upon realizing such, the commander almost falls from his hide spot. He was fortunate enough to hold dearly on the branch to not fall down, but the jiggle of the leaves disclosed his position.

“So you are there…”

Belisari, with a very gentle gesture, handed out an offer:

“I give you ten seconds to surrender, like you do, all of you. Starting-”

“Goddammit, attack!”

In the chaos, the commander doesn’t care of it anymore, he desperately orders an attack:

“Foolish…”

A volley of spears came into collision with the Marine shields and were stopped right away, and were returned by arrows from powerful Ganeoese crossbows, those that deemed armors easy to be penetrated, much less bandits with little leather wears. As a result, many raiders immediately fell just half a minute into the fight.

“R…run!”

To make matters worse, a couple of men who saw what happened to their colleagues chose to flee the fight, leaving many holes in the encirclement allowing more soldiers to flood in to help their allies. The bandits were so quickly overran, that they didn't even have enough time to take out more spears for a second attack, many just being cut down in the process:

“God is punishing us.”-the commander sweats a bucket, seeing as his team is being crushed one sided-”Heavy, at least make your way out, we have to withdraw.”

He screamed to the armored man at the front, who had had some more swordsmen gathering with him to take down the Archduchess and was too focused on it he couldn't hear what his commander said. Instead:

“I will at least take your head, fag.”

The voice was heavily distorted, but still recognizable, that is the voice of fear, anger, barbary and anxiety, and even somewhat blaspheming the one-eyed knight. She doesn’t really mind it though:

“That is very impolite, but I will forgive you if you surrender right now.”

“NO, you didn’t hear what I said!? Bitc-”

“Now that crossed the line.”

“AS IF I CARE.”

The man dashes forward with a firmed blade, welding at the Archduchess hoping to land a hit, followed by several with the same intention. The movements were heavy, not one of professional troops, but swiftly enough to wipe out inexperienced escorts. So that is how so many convoys here had disappeared without any trace.

Danger is close.

Still, Lily stands there, waiting for them to get into her range:

“Goodbye.”

A great red horizontal split suddenly appears midair, trailing behind the famed black sword. As its welder embedded it back to the ground, what was left of the raiders were multiple pieces of limbs covered in red mist.