Wasting no time, Koronos takes his men on a war campaign, they seize the village of High Point pass easily enough, without a battle. This is an important position for the army of Koronos for supply and communication logistics. They move swiftly, before Octavius knows of the defeat of Lord Stone.
When they reach the scattered men that remained in Castle Ridge, the men surrender without a fight once they see they are far outnumbered and with Koronos astride their former lord’s mount, Abyss, and with a giant black pantera beside him. Shelove is always close to him, she finds the world of men curious and frightening also, she conveys to him that she may or may not fight beside him, but she is interested in this strange warfare behavior of men, fighting over land that is free for all. Koronos tells her, “you are wild and free, you can fight with me if you wish, or watch from afar, the choice is yours.”
Although the Citizens of Castle Ridge are proud, they are also far from the seat of the empire and its cultural influence. They have heard the stories of Koronos, he was even known from before as a hero of the empire, and now he is marching against it, this has them conflicted. However, they form no real resistance against the occupation. Koronos makes sure his men understand this isn’t a normal war, so no raping and burning settlements, some of the soldier's kinfolk and families are here in this area.
Inside Lord Stone’s keep, Koronos and Captain Korvax discuss the next move, the former lord’s captain, Halicarnassus, was amongst those that surrendered and joined forces with Koronos and is present at the meeting. Captain Korvax is straight forward with his council, as per usual, “As soon as the emperor gets word that Castle Ridge has been seized, he will send four or five legions to take it back, that’s ten times our current numbers, it will be a massacre. Even in a siege, they will still take the city in only a week… or less. We simply don’t have the numbers to hold back a host of that size, sir.”
“Still, it will take time to recall, form and mobilize a host of that size, then more time to march to here, our advantage is our mobility. I have a plan, captains, I won’t reveal it yet because there may be spies of the emperor in our midst, it would be naive to assume otherwise. You must trust me, my only order that is to be known to you and the men is that we march south to Octavia,” Koronos says to his men, he is a powerful and mighty warrior but is also just as cunning as he is mighty. As he speaks, Shelove lounges on the rug and cushions, watching but not looking like she is paying attention, but she is always paying attention, she misses little. She is starting to understand their words because of her intelligence and her connection to Koronos, and through him she is learning quickly. “Also, send a small group of men south, moving fast, their orders are to intercept and interrupt the supply lines of the legions, this will slow them down considerably, this is necessary for my plan to work.”
“Aye, sir, I’ll send my best man, Sergeant Xavion,” says the captain, in a proud tone.
Over the next two weeks, they march straight down the central valley of Omegaland, seizing all the small villages and towns along the way. Koronos is being sure to let it clearly be seen by all in what direction the army is moving, knowing full well that this information will be heard by the generals of Octavius. They reach the great city of Titans Forge, the place of industry and makes most of the armor and weapons for the empire. Koronos gives them a choice, surrender and open the gates in unconditional surrender, and all will be spared, otherwise the city will be razed in fire, and no one will be spared. This is a bluff of sorts because he isn’t sure if they can break the city with a siege before the legions reach them. The city lords and leaders do not dare call his bluff though, and they surrender.
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Once Inside the city, they burn all the industrial facilities, destroying off the military targets, cutting off any chance for resupplies to the legions of weapons and armor.
This city was a strategic target for several reasons, the Helfire mountains are a day’s march from the city walls, and he knows the mountains better than anyone. Normally, soldiers don’t go through the mountains because they don’t know the passes and it’s too dangerous. In the cover of night, on the full moon, he takes his army into the mountains and pushes hard to the south with the plan of slipping past the imperial legions and dropping out of the mountains upon Octavia city, far behind them. But first, there is a stop off.
Koronos rides into the edge of the largest and most powerful Kazarian village of his clansmen, the Thunderfel Clan, the chief is the mighty Kilokovo, the greatest warchief and warrior of these times. Shelove is beside him, like always. He shouts to them in their native tongue, “I am Koronos of the Thunderfel Clan, I wish to speak to Kilokovo.”
Now, Koronos is a big man, even amongst his own people, but Kilokovo is a half a head taller still and weighs in at twenty-eight stone. As the huge man walks into the clearing, to meet Koronos, the tribe gathers behind him. His bodyguards are uneasy about this meeting but have been ordered to stand down, no matter what occurs.
“After all these years, look what the cat dragged in; behold, it is our lost brother, Koronos,” Kilokovo says with a flat tone, while slowly shaking his head in disappointment. “We thought you were dead, we mourned you, we had rituals to honor your loss, yet here you are, very much alive… Why, why did you leave us?” Some of the kinfolk of Koronos start to advance but they are stopped with a hand gesture from the chief.
Koronos looks a little hurt, “it’s not so simple, I wish it was…” And he goes on to explain the events of the past few years. He does not hold back that he is an Everliving, that would be dishonorable.
Once he finishes explaining, Kilokovo replies, “so, because of you, we are now all in danger of this emperor?”
“Yes, I am sorry for this.”
“And you want us to help you fight him?” Kilokovo asks, with his arms crossed, obviously displeased.
“Yes, without your help, and I fail, he will set out to destroy the Kazarian clans systematically.”
“Then I shall see if you are worthy and test your mettle. But know this Koronos, honor dictates that it will be to the death or submission, and if you should fail, you are not worthy to follow. It will be with a spear and shield, so this shall be.” Kilokovo says this in a loud voice so that the clansmen can hear.
“So, this shall be,” says Koronos in agreement.
A few minutes later, they are both in nothing but loin clothes, spear and shield, squaring off against each other. Shelove doesn’t like this, but she reluctantly agrees to stand aside, no matter what events transpire. She conveys to him, “try not to die, man-friend.”
In a flurry of spear thrusts and swipes and blocks and dodging they fight, Kilokovo is nearly as fast as Koronos but is clearly more powerful in strength, making it an even and deadly match. Kilokovo says, “before you left, you were never a match for me, it seems you’ve learned some things in your long absence, I am impressed.”
Koronos tries a maneuver and misses, this leaves an opening for his foe to crack him in the side of the head with the back of the spear shaft, knocking him to the ground. Kilokovo wastes no time, tosses his shield aside and jumps through the air with both hands on the spear to gain more power to drive the spear into his chest. Koronos quickly rolls to the side as the spear drives into the ground, then he rolls back the other way, snapping the spear head off. This surprises Kilokovo long enough for Koronos to take advantage of the moment and hits him on the face with a headbutt as hard as he can, stunning his combatant long enough for him to get behind him and put him in a chokehold. He knows the chief will die before he will ever submit, but he doesn’t want to kill him either, so he chokes him out, Kilokovo finally loses consciousness and slumps to the ground, but is still alive.
“So, this shall be!” Koronos shouts to the tribal clansmen.