image [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczO9roe5hreIShFK8JNb8J150Fxc5Uwderin-QWHqGs3Ub6MZ-PrEZyEDkmIkocnaAZa0VhQh980MaqBEW6w50h3wgnWkUuwKNg7OXIctoWBE0sGyecyyy0Oen2lcGp4xVZgdpXlVLDJzGStH0LMHntp=w438-h300-s-no?authuser=0]
62nd of Summer, 5859
Imperial Highway №04-765, Outskirts of the City of Casamonu
As the sun had reached its peak and begun its journey back to the mountains, the hottest hours of the day had begun in Northern Gemeinplatz. Even the cicadas had stopped making noise from how tired they were. The men of the League weren’t doing any better than the cicadas. There was nothing to be heard outside the occasional rustle of grass.
The entirety of the army would have dissolved by now if not for the promise of liberty at the end, and even that barely kept the soldiers together; the weakest or the most cowardly few had already deserted and made their way to Zon’guldac instead. Such attrition wasn’t too surprising for a sufficiently large army. It was even low compared to the average band of levies and mercenaries that one might find in Gemeinplatz. Every day spent out of slavery had made those who were left on the road yearn for more; such seemingly unbearable heat seemed to become bearable when thinking of baring another round of whipping from a master. Either they’d fight and be free, or they’d fight and be whipped, or give up and be whipped. They’d march on, bid farewell to those who gave up and went back, and then march on some more.
“At least marching in summer means we won’t have to gather firewood.” muttered Shinasi, wiping his brown for the fourth time in the same minute. “Summer’s quite nice, isn’t it?” He turned to Ayomide riding next to him.
“I’d prefer endless rain to this nonsense. I’ve already got endless rain coming down on my face already.” Shinasi was polite enough to take a napkin and wipe “Lady Orange’s” brow for her. “I’d rather have it be winter so that I can snuggle under a nice blanket.”
“Do I get to join under the blanket?”
“You won’t if you- pay attention to the road!”
Right at that moment Shinasi’s horse came to a sudden stop due to a stray tree which was so rude as to fall on the highway. “How annoying!” exclaimed Shinasi as he and the entire line of men behind him had to reposition around the tree. From a bird’s eye view, they’d look like ants maneuvering around a fallen branch.
Shinasi looked back at the fallen tree while continuing on. “Urgh. I just want to get some rest.” He yawned, opening his mouth so wide that a mosquito could enter. “Yellowclover should be getting close.”
“Hopefully the village folk accept us staying there.”
“Us village folk are simple. We’ll accept anything as long as you give us food, drink or money.” Shinasi raised three of his fingers. “Preferably all three… Forget that, I’m really dying for a whole lot of the second. And the first. Less of the third. Umm… what was I talking about?” Shinasi erred and paused. There was something strange in the air, things had gotten a bit too hot all of a sudden.
“Sniff… cough! I smell something burning. Burnt wood? Is there a forest fire?” Ayomide looked around her. There was a thick trail of smoke in the distance.
Suddenly John Brown shouted, riding towards Ayomide and Shinasi who were frontmost of the army. “Look! At the ground.” He frantically pointed at the ground in front of them.
“What? It’s a bunch of brick.” replied Ayomide.
“Young lady, look at the earth around the brick road!” Brown pointed less frantically this time, drawing attention to the earth around the edges of the road. There seemed to be foot-sized dents and puddles. “These are new trails, made by people and horses, a whole group of them. This is a group a whole lot bigger than the merchants we’ve encountered.”
“This means?” Ayomide raised her brow.
“This means that we should stop chatting and prepare to make battle, young lady!” shouted Brown as he left for his own company. Ayomide and Shinasi looked at each other in confusion for a second before their brains processed what Brown wanted. They then proceeded to join him in shouting and gathering their own companies. There was general chaos as companies separated from columns and formed distinct squares of men. In the end four squares were formed with around 250 men each, with the squares themselves standing in a line to completely block the road.
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With the squares completed, the captains convened in the middle. Tubman was quick to return with a report. “Me and Kyauta went to take a look towards the source of the smoke. There’s a village there with a small group of knights causing a ruckus. One company should be enough to deal with them.”
“A village?!” Shinasi moved his horse forward without thinking about it. “It’s Yellowclover! Excuse me Captain, I’m not a man if I don’t charge in there myself!”
“And I’m not a woman if I don’t come alongside!” shouted Ayomide, drawing her gem out for combat.
“It’s best if you don’t charge forward and…” Brown gave up upon realizing how spirited they both were. “You’re quite the honorable winesop, young man. Godspeed! Me and Tubman will lead the men forward.”
The old man could only watch as Shinasi and Ayomide became naught but a blur in the distance…
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Shinasi had almost no experience in horse-riding, yet he was racing the wind. Right next to him was Ayomide who, despite struggling with the pony she was on, was somehow keeping up. He was surprised by how quiet he was despite the circumstances. Shinasi always thought that’d he’d be screaming his lungs out, but there he was. In his heart there was nothing but worried solitude, thinking of what could be going wrong. What if he was on time? What if he wasn’t? Thinking wasn’t going to solve anything, neither was it his strong suit, so Shinasi charged forward without thinking any more.
Forward, forward, only forward until he saw a roof. Then another. It was Yellowclover. There was his neighbor’s house, on fire. He didn’t want to look any more lest he saw their corpses. There were screams. There was blood. There were corpses. There was Dikla the Tall, once childhood friend, forgotten in adulthood until their chance encounter in Casamonu, now dead with a sword in his hand. Next to him was his wife, slumped over him and unmoving, and their only son who had met a similar fate to his parents.
Shinasi had no time to dwell further. He’d have to assist in burying the dead later. He had to worry with the people he hoped to not bury. The young man jumped off the tired horse and began using his own legs to run, spear and shield in hand. He was faster than the horse, he had to be. There was his house. There was where his entire life had been built, where all his memories were. Little Shinasi training with a wooden sword, little Shinasi facing his first love, little Shinasi facing his first rejection… Shinasi found himself screaming ferociously as he rounded the corner into the garden. “Father! Shirin!”
There was his father, slumped on the ground. His head was bleeding. He wasn’t moving. Then there was…
“Brother!”
“Shirin!”
…his sister…
“That’s your name, huh?!”
…and a heavily-armored knight grappling her. He was covered head-to-toe in steel, utterly impenetrable by Shinasi’s spear. “Get off, don’t make I, Sir Jonathan Brown, angry.”
Despite the man’s warning, Shinasi ran towards him with his spear. Jonathan quickly let go of Shinasi’s sister and grabbed his own spear from the ground just in time to parry the strike. She swiftly ran to Shinasi and Ayomide’s side. “See, you let the loli escape.”
“She’s a child, you fucking nonce!” screamed Shinasi, charging again without hesitation.
“And you’re darkfucker from the looks of it.” Jonathan tried to block with his spear again, though this time Shinasi went through and chipped his shoulder plate which did nothing but remove some polish off it. “I won’t be having mutts unlike you degenerates. Or, well, you won’t be having mutts when I’m done with you. We’ll be equal, huh?” The knight laughed at his own idea of a joke.
Shinasi was tired. He had marched all day, and he had run all the way here. He was panting, his face was flushed, and he was facing an armored opponent.
“Stay back, Shinasi.” Ayomide stepped forward and beckoned Jonathan with her hands. “Here’s a catgirl. Don’t you Awmereighkans love catgirls? Come get me!”
“How admirable, protecting your master. I’d love to add another one of you to my harem!” Jonathan put his spear down, pointing the blunt end towards Ayomide. “Nekocchi will be a bit jealous, but she’ll get over it in a day or two.” He swung his spear around to knock Ayomide down, only to be met with a green gem to his face which went “[Flash Bang]!”.
Jonathan fell down, Shinasi prepared his spear to pierce through his visor to finish him, only for Jonathan to recover and jump onto the roof of Shinasi’s house with one jump. “Oh, easy there. I’m here for some looting, not for dealing with some annoying pests.” He put his spear down, mockingly smiling at the people down below who couldn’t strike him on the roof. “I’m guessing that you are men of the Demon Lord? Peh, we’ll be having an easy time if his vanguard is this lousy.” He waved to his opponents down below. “You gave me some interesting news to deliver. I’ll be coming back for your sister later. Her Aryan features are too precious to miss. See you soon!”
Jonathan Brown jumped from roof-to-roof, disappearing from Shinasi’s vision in a flash. Despite him being gone however,
“Father!”
Their troubles were only beginning.