Alaster crouched behind a bush atop a hill, overlooking the reinforcements from Sicon. He had been expecting to find them sleeping with only a few guards. After all, they were reinforcing an allied force sieging a city with no hope for outside assistance. Very few Monsters would dare to attack a force as large as theirs.

They didn’t need to be wary.

But they learned otherwise.

Alaster didn’t find them sleeping. Instead, he found them desperately fighting against a horde of Drakes.

Drakes were distant cousins to dragons. Appearing as much smaller, wingless, versions to their relative. They were no less hostile, but no more than animals, unlike Dragons. Appearing in an assortment of colors and standing over four meters tall, they were powerful and vicious.

Solitary predators, it was rare to find more than two adults together. They avoided each other’s hunting grounds, not out of inability to conquer, but out of respect.

So to find not two, not ten, not even twenty, but what appeared to be over thirty Drakes rampaging among the Sicon Soldiers, seemingly appearing to have caught them in the midst of their setting up camp.

Drakes were powerful creatures. With teeth sharp enough to carve stone and jaws powerful enough to crush steel. Claws like swords, and powerful enough swipe aside a fully loaded cart.

The Soldiers’ only saving grace was that Drakes were incapable of breathing fire. But while their scales were much weaker than a Dragon’s, it was still perfectly capable of deflecting any glancing blows.

Alaster watched as an entire squad of Sicon Soldiers were wiped out with ease by one of the smaller Drakes. He watched as it leapt forward, crushing three beneath its front claws.

Its tail whipped around, sending another two flying through the air like leaves in the breeze.

It shot forward, catching one between its teeth. It bit down, ending the screams in a gory explosion as it swiped away two more.

The last two attempted to flee, but it hopped forward, its claws digging deeply into the earth as it propelled itself forward. It angled its claws forward, skewering the two before consuming them.

That squad had been one of the more organized of the soldiers and that scene was happening throughout the chaos. There was no organized line. There were, however, two small spots in the flow against the Drakes.

One bunkered in on itself, protecting against the several Drakes prodding it. The other was instead pushing forward, fighting back against the Drakes.

Alaster commended the second group. They were fighting very well, but they were still just surprised and ambushed common soldiers fighting against numerous Drakes. Their losses were immense, and even with the occasional Soldier being dragged along with their momentum, replenishing their numbers, they were still dwindling.

Despite their losses, Alaster watched them force three Drakes to the ground, where several Soldiers jumped on top and began the summary execution, focusing their thrusts into the soft eyes and underbelly of the beasts.

Alaster examined the Mana Streams and saw countless as the Soldiers used Magic to fend off the Drakes or even just survive. However, he didn’t care about those and instead chose to ignore them. He examined the battlefield to be thorough but found what he was looking for exactly where he expected.

A large aura of Mana within the group fighting back, growing denser with each passing second.

Alaster looked behind him at Veo and Colius, “Found her. I’ll be back, wait until my Minions attack before you do.”

Alaster reminded them once more, not wanting to get caught in explosions before he was ready.

Alaster summoned his stallion and jumped on, his Pact conjuring his helmet and halberd, before he galloped down the hill, crashing through the foliage.

The young man understood the value of stealth, it just was not his style. Despite that, he did not roar or scream to announce his presence. He did not need to. Many of the Sicon Soldiers noticed him, though they were too busy trying to survive to care.

Alaster mentally steered his mount towards one of the Drakes combatting the group of Soldiers he was wanting. It was focused on crushing another two Soldiers beneath its feet and did not notice Alaster until he swung his halberd into the back of its rear right knee, severing the foot.

The Monster roared as blood flooded the ground. It toppled, allowing the shocked Soldiers to quickly jump on it, driving their weapons into its eyes and belly.

Alaster slowed his mount into a trot and rode past the Soldiers. They all moved aside, none daring to stop him. Alaster did not spare them a glance, his gaze focused on his target.

She saw him coming, knowing from just that single Drake that she had very little chance of survival if the black knight decided to attack. She should have been terrified, but she wasn’t. She could not help but feel that she knew this man.

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The giant stopped in front of her. He seemed to study her for a moment, as if contemplating whether to cut her down or not. The man rested the butt of his halberd against his stirrups as his helmet seemed to melt back, revealing a smirking face she thought she would never see again.

“Nice to see you again Astrid.”

She should have been stunned, shocked, surprised. But she was only angry. She grabbed a rock and hurled it at his head, which he easily deflected.

“Alaster, you asshole!”

Her friend only chuckled.

“I thought you were dead!” She yelled at him.

“What? You thought a hundred Goblins would be able to kill me?”

“You were a Novice! Not even a very powerful one. Of course, I thought you were dead!”

“I’ll tell you about it after we drive off the Drakes.” Alaster promised with a smirk.

She glared at him, “You better.”

Alaster mock saluted her as his helmet melded over his face once more. He then turned his steed and charged into the thick of battle, where six Drakes were rampaging.

Astrid watched him dive into them without fear or hesitation. She watched as he carved through them, each one dropping with only a few blows. In less than a minute, he had singlehandedly killed five Drakes. The last one, he had left for the Soldiers as he rode past.

One of Astrids comrades stepped beside her, “How do you know that man?” He asked, watching the giant ride towards his next target.

“It’s a long story. He saved my life when I had lost all hope. He taught me almost everything I know.”

“Didn’t the army do that?”

“Not a chance. They taught me a few things, but he taught me how to survive. But we can’t let him take all the credit! Let’s go men!” Astrid cried out, rallying the nearby Soldiers, they surged forward.

The fighting was intense and bloody. Many Sicon Soldiers fell, but the Drakes were soon driven away with only eight of them remaining. None of the Soldiers had the energy to give chase, none except for those that had prioritized defense. Even when Alaster turned the tides, they had remained interlocked, refusing to move.

Only after the Drakes had vanished into the forest did they unravel, revealing the reinforcements’ Officers. They had taken to hiding while their men and women fought off the Monster without orders.

And yet, they immediately began shouting orders. As if they had been the ones fighting. Unashamed of their own cowardice.

Alaster walked his horse beside a much bloodier and exhausted Astrid, “These are your Officers?”

Astrid huffed, “No. They are the Kingdom’s Officers sent to command the Sicon Soldiers into battle. Pompous cowards, the lot of them, and the General is the worst.”

The General was a large man, not quite fat, but certainly not fit. He was a man who had come by his size from birth and was used to using his natural strength and name to get what he wanted. He stepped around the bloody mud, as if it was disgusting and below him.

Alaster was glad to see Astrid still speak her mind. She had never been one to just sit back and allow things to happen to her. He admired that about her.

At that moment, the General took notice of Alaster.

“You there! Dismount and identify yourself immediately!”

Alaster’s eye twitched at the arrogant tone directed towards him. He did, however, dismount. Stepping into the mud, his sheer weight and size sinking deep. He marched through the mud towards the General. To his credit, the man didn’t flinch or step back, though the other Officers did, shaking as they did. However, Alaster suspected that he didn’t flinch because he was so used to getting his way that it never even crossed his mind that he ought to be fearful.

Alaster was only slightly taller, but it was enough to make him look down as he was right in front of the man.

“Kneel down peasant!” The General shouted.

All the Sicon Soldiers were watching quietly. What would their savior do? The man who had defeated over a dozen Drakes by himself? Their minds struggled to grasp the concept of commoners acting against Nobility. And the General was part of one of the Higher Noble Families within the Tarian Kingdom.

His family ruled over a large percentage of land and economy. His father was a direct advisor to the King. To disobey him was to court death.

Alaster didn’t flinch. He didn’t move. He only said one word.

“Kneel.”

One simple word, said with such force and authority that many of the Soldiers obeyed without realizing. Even without the word being directed towards them, the power that single word held was enough to make them obey.

The man the word had been directed towards faltered for a moment before he collapsed in the mud, splattering mud and blood all over himself.

Alaster growled in satisfaction and turned to address the entire Sicon Force.

“This is the man you take orders from? This pathetic excuse for a man? This worm, crawling through the mud? I thought the men and women of Sicon had pride! Have the Sicon People been cowed to be slaves? Well?”

Those who had knelt stormed to their feet and as one, all the Soldiers cried out, “NO!”

“Prove it! Prove that Sicon will not just bow! Prove that you still have pride! Strike down those that would call themselves your masters!”

Alaster’s speech wiled the Soldiers, driving them into a frenzy. Without hesitation, they charged forward. The Officers attempted to defend themselves, but there was nothing they could do against such a wild force that outnumbered them so drastically.

The Soldiers were so frenzied that they refused the use of their weapons, beating and pulling at their prey with their bare hands.

Astrid watched in stunned silence from beside Alaster, “Why did you do that?”

“Because they ignored me.” Alaster hesitated for a moment, “I’m sorry, by the way.”

“About what?” Astrid turned away from the gruesome sight.

“For leaving. And for what I must do next. I will guarantee the safety and well-being of them.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ignoring her, Alaster climbed onto his Skeletal Stallion, “Soldiers of Sicon! Do you care at all for the siege of Onigas?”

They looked up from their blood frenzy and cried out, “No!”

“Then lay down your arms! Refuse to join a war you have no care for and you will return unharmed once it is over!”

To the Soldiers, Alaster had earned their respect and trust. He had saved them, fought with them to drive off a powerful enemy, and then allowed them to seek revenge against the ones that forced them into such a situation.

Only a few hesitated, but none refused. Hundreds of weapons and shields fell to the ground. As they did so, an army of Undead and Saboteurs walked out of the surrounding trees.

“Be at peace Sicon. You will be treated well so long as you do not fight.” Alaster announced.

Astrid looked up to Alaster, “Is that why you came back? Just to capture us?”

“Not quite. I was already defending Onigas. The only reason your force wasn’t completely wiped out was because I heard that the reinforcements were from Sicon. I came to make sure you weren’t a part of it, and if you were, to ensure you didn’t die.”

Astrid sighed, “Now what?”

“Now? We take you back into Onigas. Your fellow Soldiers will be treated well. We will spread word that we captured the reinforcements before they even arrived, which will demoralize the main Tarian army even more. And I guess we can catch up, I might even be able to introduce you to the people who took care of me until I was fifteen.”

“Alright, I’m trusting you.”

Alaster bowed from atop his steed, “And I will do my best not to betray it.”