The dark green leather armor adorned by King Gans had protruding boiled leather cover plates upon his upper thighs, shoulders, arms and wrists. Three Guards in their large metal armor swarmed around him as he stood with arms outstretched, passing pieces of glistening silver hued armor amongst themselves from an open gold framed trunk and strapping said pieces onto the King.
"What is the Kolotian doing?" King Gans's voice was oddly calm provided Ishar had just signed their death sentences. A Guard affixed leg greaves and footplates while another tightened the laces of the quilted under padding upon the King's arms that run down his sides.
"We are not to be held accountable for Ishar's actions, he does whatever he wants." Edda immediately answered. Her long blade, gotten from a Talisi soldier turned Ishar fanatic in exchange for her tale of the events at Binoria, remained unsheathed in her grasp. She was surprised that no Guards had assailed her over it as she'd made her way into the King's presence behind Rehny as they answered the King's summon.
"We have played no part in Ishar's current actions and were even on our way to dissuade him from approaching the Binorians when we were intercepted by your Guard." Rehny spoke with his head slightly bowed in the King's direction.
A ring of torches encased in metal rimmed the central pole of the large tent. Shadows shifted and danced upon the Guards surrounding the King as they went about affixing vambraces and preparing the breastplate. King Gans's narrow eyes faced Rehny's direction. "I am not accusing either of you of anything. I only seek to witness your point of view so as to better understand the Kolotian's actions." "I am incapable of understanding anything he does." Edda said.
Rehny nodded at her words. "Ishar's motivations are unknown."
"Where is his friend?" King Gans asked while shrugging into the breastplate.
As if on cue the tent flap opened and in walked Mairek. The young man looked like he'd been through three famines and a divorce. Circles lined beneath each of his eyes and there was a certain paleness to his lips that would have one think of him as freezing. "I am here." Mairek said while dragging himself into the tent. His eyes stayed fixed ahead of him where Gans stood in his immaculate silver armor, returning the young man's gaze.
"You've heard of what Ishar has done?" King Gans asked.
Mairek nodded. "In a breath we shall learn more."
Edda wondered what the young Talisi man meant by that. A short silence ensued that was interrupted by a Guard entering the tent and announcing that a scout with information sought audience with the King. King Gans waved for the scout to be admitted into the tent and a moment later a dark man with a protruding brow knelt before the King.
"Your majesty, I bring news."
"Out with it." The King commanded.
"The Kolotian, he approached what appeared to be a Binorian Commander and provoked the man into drawing his sword-" The scout started but was interrupted by the sound of a distant horn, blown from the direction of the Binorian camp. King Gans held out a silver gauntleted hand at the trembling scout, cutting the man's tale short.
The King faced Rehny. "What does that mean?"
"One horn blast is a call to arise, a second is a call to arms."
Two more horn blasts followed each other in quick succession. Several heartbeats passed then three consecutive horn blasts sounded.
"And what does that mean?" Edda asked from behind Rehny.
The former Commander turned to regard her with a surprisingly grief stricken face. "That sequence has only been sounded once before, during Kolotia's last stand."
Everyone turned to regard Rehny including the Guards who'd finished dressing the King in his silver armor save for the helmet that remained in one Guard's hand.
"We should assume the Kolotian is dead then?" King Gans asked while turning to the scout, his voice held its usual semblance of calm.
"Oh, I don't know my King." The scout said with a sob. He started shaking uncontrollably with each uttered word. "I should... I should have come as soon as I could.. I was waylaid by fellow scouts seeking information.. I should have stayed back and witnessed more.. I should have stopped the Kolotian from approaching them.. I should..."
"Calm yourself, soldier!" King Gans ordered. "Go and prepare yourself for war." The scout stood up and gave a hasty salute before bowing low and departing the tent, leaving all within it to battle a ghastly silence.
"We can retreat to the hills, your majesty. Fight from a position of higher ground. The Talisi know these hills, traps can be set and tactics launched to make the land inhospitable. Raids carried out against Binorian supplies can be done. Their campaign of conquest can be stretched long enough to ensure-" Mairek's voice was desperate. It was as if he knew something, something more than most grasped. As if he was a part of a larger awareness that was just as frightening as what had settled into everyone's minds as the distant Binorian camp's stirring carried out to them.
"Long enough time for what? What are we buying time for? How will our own army survive in the wilds?
Why should we always be the ones on the run? Why is it that it is always us exhibiting cowardly traits?
The weight of Binoria's foot is upon us as our reward for our negligence regarding our capabilities. Binoria's foot would not be on our heads if we hadn't bowed low enough to have it there." King Gans interrupted. His words sent shivers up and down Edda's spine, the warmth offered her body by the dark green leather plates weren't palpable anymore. "We seek a different destiny today, Mairek. One that would either end with our salvation or annihilation, but either way our dignity or whatever is left of it shall be preserved."
Mairek sighed and turned his face away from the King just as the tent flap opened and the outside Guard reared his head in. "Sire, there's a procession approaching." Only at the Guard's words did Edda become aware of the sounds, the marching of feet in a cacophony that shared the rhythm of the one in the lead, the hush murmuring that buzzed with a timid hope. It surprised Edda at how easily dread had muffled her training. She should always be aware of her surroundings yet Gans's words had drawn her away from the cocoon of constant awareness. This is not the same King. She thought as she listened to the procession draw nearer.
"We want to see the King." A voice sounded from outside. A voice she'd come to know very well. At Ishar's words the murmuring ceased. "Ask him whether he will come to us."
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Before the Guard opened the flap once more King Gans had already started striding towards it. The rest within the tent followed in his wake with his Guards a step behind him. Outside was filled with Talisi soldiers, a cleared ring before the tent was the only place unoccupied by those with white hair and dark skin. A sea of green eyes regarded Edda and those with her as they spilled to either side of the tent and left the King standing before the only other person in the clearing.
Ishar held a headless body by its arm, or rather a body that had had its head squashed judging from the seeping gore that riddled the path it had been dragged through.
"What is this?" The King asked. His eyes moving between Ishar's stern face and the corpse he'd dragged behind him. Edda had never seen a stern expression on Ishar before and his mouth that wasn't twisted into a smile and brows not furrowed with questioning as he pondered something of little matter, frightened her.
"That armor, that's an acting Commander-" Rehny started.
"Was an acting Commander of the hundred Legions." Edda corrected him. She had her blade clutched behind her back with its tip pointing to the ground. The silence engulfing everyone as they watched the King and the Kolotian was maddening. It reminded her of the dungeons beneath the Inquisition tower back in Binoria.
"Fear rules you all." Ishar raised his voice and Edda was certain the words carried out to the furthest soldier. "A fear grown of complacency and a lack of faith. You have all grown compliant under the guise of inability. You live to serve and that is a lie in itself, life is not to be confined to a singular purpose, it is meant to be experienced without any bounds and today we shall break the chains that hold you all, that once held me."
"What does he mean?" Edda whispered the words, expecting nobody to have heard them.
"He means to share madness." Mairek whispered back. She hadn't noticed him on her other side, she turned to face him and saw sorrow beneath his tired face, highlighted by the soft glow of the two torches set on poles at either side of the clearing. A ring of light engulfed and framed Ishar and King Gans for all to see them and it was in this light that Edda spotted the soft smile playing upon Gans's lips. … share madness. Mairek's words echoed in her mind.
"I do not offer you freedom from fear." Ishar raised the arm he held and the corpse rose with it. He turned in a circle, pivoting on the balls of his feet and the corpse that seemed to weigh nothing to him swung around with him. "This is a man who knows no fear. He came to rape your loved ones, pillage your stores, kill your elderly and salt your lands. What fear could touch him when in his eyes he was already the victor? He'd infected his horse with his belief and neither rider nor steed made a sound as they both fell. The shock of being wrong had clumped their lips shut.
"I offer you a different fear, one you shall know but not understand. One that is better than the one that holds you incapable of action. One that thrives with each act."
"What do you mean? The Binorians are coming!" A soldier from the crowd said, sending the crowd into a new wave of murmuring. "Vayin Vigon!" The name could be heard from the whispers of the Talisi.
"Silence!" Gans's voice carried out into the night but did nothing to quell the frightful tones of the gathered Talisi. Edda felt her sense of familiarity concerning the traits of the Talisi Army being confirmed. Cowardice ruled their hearts, the Remu would never has outwardly shown the panic inherent with the Talisi right now.
"He is making them aware of their fear." Mairek whispered from beside her. "The God he serves knows this dance well."
Ishar dropped the arm of the corpse causing it to tumble to the ground. He raised his hands before him and started clapping. His claps silenced the murmurs and all turned to him once more. "Can a famous warrior, a warrior whose life determines the fate of a battle, fall to a stray arrow? The answer is yes. That is indeed possible." Ishar turned full circle while glaring at the questioning faces regarding him. He settled his eyes on Mairek and Edda saw the Kolotian's friend shake his head twice in the negative. Ishar flashed him a smile before settling his eyes on King Gans. "I am that arrow, I will take down King Vayin Vigon but there needs to be a battle so as to ensure the arrow is deemed as stray." He turned to the mass of the Army. "And for that to happen, numerous arrows must fly."
"We will die." A Talisi soldier said. No murmurs followed his statement as all awaited Ishar's reply.
"Yes, most will die." Ishar said. "But majority will live."
Edda tried to make sense of Ishar's words to no avail. King Gans turned around and faced his Guard, with a hand signal the Guard departed back into the tent before emerging a moment later with double edged twin axes in hand. The King took said axes in either hand and walked over to Ishar.
"Will we kill him? Stray arrow you said, but will it be enough to kill him?" The King's question was loud enough for all to hear. To Edda's perplexing Ishar turned his head to Mairek who returned the gesture with the negative shake of his head.
Ishar broke into a smile and reached out a hand for one axe. The King laid said axe in the Kolotian's hand and the latter lifted it with a war cry that was answered by the gathered Talisi. The King raised his own axe and reinforced the cry with one of his own.
It was as if the Talisi became possessed. They jumped up and down, roaring and swinging weapons about. They clasped each other's arms and joined heads while screaming in unison. A soldier ran towards Ishar with a long bow and an already notched arrow. Ishar took the bow and arrow while tucking the axe to his waistband. He aimed the arrow in the direction of Binoria and pulled on the string till it threatened to snap. With a shout he let loose the arrow and the shouts of the Talisi doubled as they watched the arrow sail away. Edda wondered whether the exultation she felt as she watched the arrow fly was a side effect of Ishar's infectious madness.
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It was about time he added to his title. A mere Highlord was too small a label for the great Cebru to go by for the rest of his life, no, he wanted more, he wanted it all and sure enough with the death of the insolent interim Commander, his hunger for more was rewarded. The great Vayin Vigon who'd honored him all those years ago by making him the Highlord of the North Local had once again raised his pedestal by appointing him acting Commander of the Hundred Legions.
Cebru was now the first person in the history of Binoria to hold both titles of Highlord and Commander. A prestige he was guaranteed to maintain with the acts of genius he was set to display against the distant screaming Talisi. He shook his head from side to side upon his white steed as the sounds of the Talisi carried out to him, proof of their descent into madness under the weight of Binoria's shadow.
Cebru's steed was at the forefront of Binoria's Legions facing North towards the Talisi camp. The Seventh Legion was directly behind him, awaiting the King and his Telinete beast. The Legions waited in silence and Cebru had taken advantage of Vayin's need to make an entrance by distancing
himjumpeseveral paces before the bulk of the Legions. He had to engrave the image in their minds, they had to remember so their tongues would spread the word of the day a Highlord led them into battle beside the King.
Cebru couldn't see his right side due to the wound dealt to him by the Kolotian but he was certain a Legionnaire stood with a large horn, ready to blow for the Legions' charge once the King arrived. The wound where his eye once was itched and he fought against raising his eyepatch to scratch at it. He needed to maintain his current portrayal of valiance and drawing attention to what the Kolotian had done to him would serve the opposite purpose. Soon, I shall have his eyes and his hands. Cebru promised himself and smiled with glee revealing yellowed teeth under the moonlight. Commotion from behind him made him aware of Vayin's approach, he did not turn to regard the King, what was the point of doing so if the Telinete was coming to halt beside him?
The Legionnaire to the right of the Highlord turned to look back at the path formed by the Legions who'd collectively parted to form a wide gap running from the back to the front of their bulk. In the distance walled by Legionnaires was revealed an approaching Telinete Rhino with a gold armored rider upon its back. The Legionnaire judged that it would take the King several breaths to reach the front of the Legions so he decided against immediately blowing the horn in his hands till the King arrived. A thump followed by a grunt from his left had him turning to face the Highlord of the North Local who had been appointed Commander. Something protruded from the Highlord's face, the Highlord Cebru turned his head to the Legionnaire and the horn dropped from the man's hands at the sight of the arrow sticking out of the Highlord's left eye. Cebru grunted once more before nodding forward and falling off his horse to lie dead upon the ground.