Sweat stung Artek’s eyes, but he didn’t dare blink. His opponent was a mountain of a man whose face and posture gave away nothing. He was a canny foe and Artek had been unable to get the upper hand thus far. To make things worse, his body felt leaden. It was as though he was wrapped in chains. Unnerved, he let out a mighty roar and swung his weapon with all his might.

His opponent shook his head in disappointment as he sidestepped Artek’s blow. Caught off balance, Artek stumbled and attempted to regain his footing. However, searing pain engulfed his buttocks as his opponent landed a clean blow with his weapon. Artek’s legs gave out and he tumbled to the ground where he writhed in agony.

“Pathetic,” Erini smirked.

“Ignore her,” Stediun sighed. “I’ve told you a dozen times that you don’t need to swing your whole arm. It doesn’t take that much strength to cut through flesh, especially with the sword you have.”

Artek hurled his practice stick to the ground petulantly. “Perhaps I could better learn that if I was actually allowed to use said sword.”

“You still need to learn the basics, and this is the best way to teach you,” Stediun said patiently. He was the Vermillion Company’s second in command, and his hair and beard had long since turned grey, but he was powerfully built, and he moved with cat like grace.

“I don’t know how you’re so patient with him,” Erini called out. “He’s like a child throwing a tantrum.”

“It is because the Captain ordered me to teach him,” there was an edge to the huge man’s voice now as he stared at her pointedly. “This is your first year with us, but you should know that the Captain’s word is law.”

The colour drained from Erini’s face. The Vermillion Company had been on the Peace Breaker’s trail for months which had led them to the ambush at the Crossroads. Erini had mistaken Gainan’s thugs for their quarry and leapt into the fray. When Artek had explained the situation, the Captain had ordered Erini to meditate on her actions while he made a courtesy call to Lord Filern’s. Artek had gracefully declined the opportunity to accompany them.

“I apologize, Lord Stediun,” Erini’s voice was barely a whisper.

“What happens if someone disobeys the Captain?” Artek ventured.

Stediun gave him a withering look that turned Artek’s stomach.

“There is no punishment if that’s what you mean,” the huge man said at length. “Serving the Company is a great honour, and everyone knows the importance of our cause.”

“And our Captain is incredible, even for an elf,” Erini chimed in. “He has been alive since the Second Age and has devoted himself to preventing those violent times from ever returning.”

“I thought I told you to meditate on your impetuousness,” a melodious voice rang out.

“Captain!” Erini gasped and leapt to her feet as Stediun and the other members of the Vermillion Company snapped to attention.

“How was your meeting?” Stediun ventured.

“Illuminating,” Ereldred replied. “There was a peasant uprising five miles to the north just two weeks ago.”

“That’s the eighth one in this region alone,” Stediun breathed.

“Yes, the Enemy has been busy indeed,” Ereldred nodded. “We will depart at once. Send word to the rest of the Company to meet us at a village called Drendire.”

Stediun gaped at his Captain. “Forgive me, did you say everyone?”

Ereldred nodded. “This is the first time we’ve been able to discover an uprising so soon after it’s happened. It is vexing how some of your lords try to keep such things secret from us.”

“It undermines their authority,” Stediun pointed out.

“And for good reason,” Ereldred sighed. “If they can’t be trusted to maintain the peace, then it is for the sake of the greater good that they be replaced.”

A wry smile crossed the old man’s face. “We humans tend to have a shorter term view than our long lived brethren.”

“If only you were able to catch even a glimpse of the chaos of Ages past,” Ereldred sighed. “Though I suppose we work so hard to prevent just that.”

“Indeed, Captain,” Stediun agreed and paused. “If we’re hurrying there, does that mean there are survivors?”

The elf let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, there are survivors. Lord Filern told me that a village with no villagers pays no taxes if you can believe it.”

“I suspect he will not be Lord of this province for very much longer,” Stediun remarked.

“Indeed, I shall report this matter to the Council of Heaven,” Ereldred said with a shake of his head. “As though we weren’t busy enough as it was.”

“I’ll ready the men,” Stediun said.

“You look troubled,” Ereldred observed.

Artek jumped He had been distracted since he found out they would be travelling back to the battlefield and had heard little of the conversation. “Oh, no, it’s just that… if it’s down in Drendire… well, I fought in the subjugation of that uprising.”

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A puzzled look crossed the elf’s face. “Does that elicit bad memories?”

“No, it’s just that I…” Artek began. “Well, I probably killed some of their relatives, you know? It will be… awkward.”

“They rebelled against their lord, which is the same as rebelling against Heaven,” Ereldred declared. “You meted out divine justice and have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Artek frowned. Does that mean stealing from Lord Filern was stealing from Heaven? He quickly decided that the question was best left unasked. His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden feeling that something was amiss. He whirled around and saw a red clad man reaching for his sword that he had left leaning against a tree.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he demanded as he rushed over and snatched his sword away.

“I just wanted to look at it,” the man growled. “There’s no need to treat me like I’m some sort of thief.”

“It is wrong to touch another man’s property without his consent,” Ereldred chided.

“I very much doubt he came in across that sword legitimately,” the man sniffed.

“All the same, it does not belong to you,” the elf pointed out.

The man stiffened and bowed his head. “Please forgive my impertinence, Captain. You are right, of course you are.”

Ereldred nodded, and the man took his leave. Meanwhile, the bracelets chafed against Artek’s skin, and he attempted to adjust them to a more comfortable position. “Do you think I could get these removed?”

“No,” Ereldred replied. “Not yet.”

Artek was about to demand when they could be removed but was interrupted by the arrival of Stediun, who carried a red robe in his hand.

“My Lord we should be ready to leave in an hour but…” Stediun paused and glanced at Artek. “He has not said his vows yet but…”

“He is travelling as one of us,” Ereldred said. “He should wear our colours.”

Artek grasped the cloak gratefully. The last thing he wanted to do was stand out. However, he was well aware of the disapproving looks he was getting from the others.

“All of us have made huge sacrifices for the right to wear this sacred cloak,” Stediun warned. “You will not get off lightly if you dishonour it.”

“Your Captain invited me,” Artek shrugged. “You can take it up with him if I do.”

Stediun’s face coloured and Ereldred stepped between the pair. “The boy will be indoctrinated and take his vows when we return to the Divine City. However, our priority now is to track the Enemy down and end their threat.”

The large man glowered at Artek, who stared back defiantly, confident in his ability to defeat the man now that he was carrying his sword. At length, Stediun backed down.

“You’re right, Captain,” the large man conceded. “Of course you are. My apologies.”

Artek’s eyes widened in surprise. Stediun had the air and swagger of a noble if he’d ever seen one, and if there was one thing nobles never did, it was apologize in front of the lower classes.

The Company had travelled light, and they were soon marching south in two disciplined lines. As the two junior most members of the Company, Artek and Erini found themselves marching side by side at the very rear of the column.

“You march well,” there was a goading tone in her voice.

“I fought in Lord Filern’s army for a spell,” Artek replied, suppressing a sigh.

“You fight like a complete amateur, though,” Erini remarked.

Artek scowled. There was no malice in her voice, which made her words sting all the deeper. “They just gave us common soldiers sharpened sticks and sent us in the first wave.”

“That’s a sound strategy,” Erini opined. “No sense in wasting steel on untrained conscripts… Hey, I’m talking to you.”

“We’re being followed,” Artek observed.

Erini turned around and grunted. “There are just two of them. They could be travellers.”

“No one uses this road,” Artek replied. “No one. Not since the battle.”

Erini shrugged, still unconcerned. “Well, it’s not unusual for the Vermillion Company to be followed. We are the Keepers of the Peace, after all.”

“Perhaps where you’re from,” Artek snorted. “But no one’s heard of you over here.”

Erini’s eyebrows shot up. “Listen, just because you’re an ignorant…”

“The boy’s right,” Erini and Artek jumped when Ereldred suddenly appeared between them, seemingly out of thin air. “They are tracking us. I believe they are Lord Filern’s men.”

“What are their intentions, Captain?” Erini gasped.

Artek clicked his tongue irritably. She had scoffed when he suggested it, but when it came out of the Captain’s mouth, she believed it with all her soul.

“I believe they intend to ambush us when we are sufficiently far from the town that there won’t be any witnesses,” Ereldred replied.

Artek tasted bile. They and their pursuers were the only ones on the road, making this the perfect place for Filern to deal with them quietly. However, there wasn’t an ounce of worry in the elf’s voice. Perhaps that was borne out of ignorance.

“Lord Filern can summon a hundred men at arms ready for battle within two hours,” Artek warned. “And conscript another three hundred within a day.”

“He wouldn’t dare,” Erini gasped. “We march under the mandate of Heaven.”

Ereldred nodded thoughtfully. “He won’t send peasants against us. He needs to keep this quiet. He will only send his most trusted bannermen.”

“That’s still at least a hundred against the fifty of us,” Artek pointed out. “And they’ll have horses!”

Erini laughed out loud and Artek glared at her. “Don’t underestimate battle, woman!”

“I’m afraid it is you who are underestimating us,” she replied confidently. “We are the Vermillion Company.”

Ereldred held up his hand, demanding silence. A moment later, he called out. “Ready the men, riders are coming from the rear. Eighty in all. It appears as though Lord Filern wishes to silence us to prevent his indiscretions from coming to light.”

The column came to an abrupt halt. The men moved with perfect coordination, and before he knew it, Artek found himself towards the rear of their semicircular defensive position with Erini. To his surprise, both the Captain and his second in command were in the first row. Behind them, their two trackers had come to a stop and observed them impassively. After a few tense seconds, one of them pressed a horn to his lips and blew.

The horn’s high pitched note echoed over the rolling grasslands. Moments later, an answering horn could be heard, sending a chill down Artek’s spine. It was the horn of Filern’s cavalry. The peasant revolters hadn’t stood a chance against Filern’s heavy cavalry, and the common soldiers often wondered why they had been called up in the first place.

“Shall we don our veils, Captain?” Stediun asked.

Ereldred shook his head. “We are just travellers defending ourselves.”

“As you say, Captain.”

After a few tense minutes, Artek felt the ground tremble underfoot. Then he heard the rumbling of hooves as the Filern cavalry appeared over the rise, forming a broad line that was only two riders deep. Both horses and their riders were clad in heavy steel, but unlike at the battle at Drendire, they bore no markings of House Filern. When they saw the red clad men, in their defensive formation, they came to a stop three hundred yards from the Company’s formation.

“Steady men,” Ereldred ordered.

Artek swallowed. The men of the Vermillion Company were armed with swords while the horsemen carried lances, putting them at a significant range advantage.

“Stay here with me,” Erini hissed into his ear.

Artek could scarcely hear her over the thundering of his heart as the two opposing sides eyed one another in silence, each side seemed to be daring the other to make the first move.

“And be sure to stay out of everyone’s way,” Erini added.

Artek was about to retort when another horn blast shattered the air. As one, the horsemen began to charge.