“When one had discerned the opponent’s desires, it was child’s play to abuse that knowledge to entrap the opponent.” - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.

Seven months later…

At the north-eastern region of the former Kingdom of Posuin’s territory, around the border between the Duchies of Jonkver and Algenverr, turmoil once again paid a visit. Smoke could be seen rising from many villages on the western side of the area, and sounds of fighting echoed in the others as well, the whole sight encapsulated from above in the eyes of a young hawk in flight.

People who happened to be near the westernmost end of the region, near where the two duchies bordered their western neighbors, might then see a large predatory bird descend into a forest, only to disappear in the midst of the trees within. Even when people saw it, no one had likely given a second thought to the matter, as they had attributed it to a bird of prey on the hunt.

They could not have been more wrong, though also partially right.

The “bird” in question was indeed on the hunt, just that its prey was not the kind most people would have expected. When it descended into the forest, it was not because it had eyed a prey, no, but because that was where the rest of its flock awaited, as they prowled while waiting for their prey to enter their sights. Said prey was even on its way towards them when that happened, if in the distance.

“Report.”

“Targets headed our way as expected, little boss. Around thirty riders, four and a half klicks to the east,” replied Avilla Twin-Feathers, a young hawk-therian who had joined the Company just a year before Erycea did, and served as an aerial scout. The young therian girl - not that far off her maturity celebration when she had joined the Company - had proven to be quick on the uptake on her role as their eye in the skies.

Like the rest of the half-dozen young therians of avian breeds, they had been recruited when Hannah, the Company’s long-standing sole aerial scout, had taken some leave a year and a half ago and paid a visit to her hometown high atop the mountains in Kingdom Down Under, further east of Knallzog. She had brought an unexpected boon of eager youngsters from her tribe with her when she returned to the company.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

While the tribe Hannah came from was a rather isolated one which rarely interacted much with the outside world, youngsters would be youngsters. Hannah herself had run across the Company when she absconded from her hometown as a youth barely past their maturity, in search of adventure and out of a desire to see the wider world for herself.

As such, there were several youngsters who were lured by the promises of adventure and coin who followed her back to the Company when she returned, despite the protestations of their elders. It took some training to get the young therians used to their roles, but they were a natural fit for the job, once they got their instinct to dive and strike under control. Avilla was the best of the newcomers, and she happened to be assigned to Erycea’s platoon for this mission.

“As we planned out, then. Hakim! Are the snares prepared?” yelled Erycea towards the fellow rookie, whose platoon had been merged into hers. Since she was in overall command of the combined platoon, most of the rookies from Hakim’s group had quickly accepted the situation, since they had witnessed for themselves what Erycea’s group were capable of.

“All set up, lil’ boss! Got the pits and the swinging logs prepped as well, just waiting for the targets to come over,” replied Hakim from further away, closer to the sole road that passed through the forest. He had been responsible for setting up various sorts of traps to welcome the prey they had been hunting, together with most of the platoon.

It was three months prior to the current date that raiders from the west - almost certainly people from the Central faction - had pillaged and burned several villages on the western end of Jonkver and Algenverr. Such attacks were meant to disturb the morale of the populace, to show them that the rulers they relied on were incapable of defending them properly, and as such the two Duchies immediately conferred and set up countermeasures to deal with them.

Despite the stationing of guards around the western villages, the raiders were slippery, and still managed to kidnap or kill some villagers only to escape pursuit again and again. As such, Nestor Nunes from Algenverr and Miriam Tovmund from Jonkver had conferred and eventually chose the Free Lances to deal with these raiders, since they were in essence specialized in the same field.

It had not taken long for Reinhardt and Lars to come up with a plan, which was to evacuate most of the villagers from the affected area - save for some brave volunteers - and replace them with disguised mercenaries. More of the Company also hid themselves with the villages in question, splitting up into platoons, while a few platoons, Erycea’s included, were tasked to set up ambushes on the western borders to scoop up any that managed to escape.

That day, the rest of the trap had likely been sprung already - hence the flames and fighting in the various villages - and the Company had likely taken out a good amount of the raiders, given the difference in fighting prowess. Since there were several roads leading out to the west, the four platoons set out in ambushes around them had no contact with others, other than via their aerial scouts delivering messages.

In fact, Avilla took another quick flight to check on the situation from high above as Erycea checked their status with Hakim. The young therian girl took care to make herself look just like another bird of prey on the hunt, keeping her flight and movements natural, while her sharp eyes watched the movements on the ground below. She dove back down into the forest after a few circles, and renewed her report to Erycea.

“There’s nearly forty now. Some others must have joined them along the way,” she said.

“The more the merrier. You heard her, boys and girls! The prey’s about to come our way, so let’s prepare to welcome them warmly!”