The Great Warrior Biao had spent most of his life wandering the vast expanse of the Hielands. His days consisted of fighting, sleeping, eating, and defecating. He had done these four things so many times that eventually, the Hielanders bestowed upon him the title: 'Wandering Beast.'
In his nomadic life, Biao had come across many times, met many people, and experienced many different things. And while he did not know how to read or write, his knowledge and wisdom did not fall behind the most learned of Hielanders. Furthermore, Biao possessed an ability that no other Hielander possessed; instinct.
This 'instinct' of his had saved Biao on many occasions. Be it from the threat of Wild Beasts, the ruthlessness of Mother Nature, the trials of the Great Baal, and the treacherous machinations of man. Biao owed his life to his 'instinct' and trusted it with all of his heart and soul.
It was only that, in these recent years, there had not been any occasions where his 'instinct' could be utilized. Or at least, that had been the case until 'that' day: the Day of Iron Rhino Tribe's Heresy.
On the day of the incident, Biao had set out with a war party the very hour he received the message from the forward scouts. He sent a messenger to inform the Mountain King, knowing that she would be able to catch up before his war party reached the Iron Rhino Tribe's Camp.
At the start, everything went well. However, just as they approached a mountain crossing halfway to their destination, Biao and his war party ran into trouble. A Horde had been triggered, causing thousands of Wild Beasts to run wild and besiege them. Biao's war party met with battle even before they had managed to arrive at their destination.
Being the excellent warrior and experienced commander that he was, Biao quickly remedied the situation by choosing not to engage in battle and instead carve their way out of the horde. He used the favourable terrain to his advantage and led his party out with minimal losses. However, the sudden encounter cost him some time.
When Biao finally managed to arrive at the Iron Rhino Tribe's camp, he witnessed the ruined devastation that had decimated the town. All 'human torches' had finished burning and the blazing bonfire had also quelled to become flickering embers. It was when the great warrior arrived at the campground's centre that his 'instinct' triggered.
Biao saw the unconscious bodies of his master, the Mountain King, and her disciple, Alexandros, lying still with peaceful expressions on their faces. Next to them sat a bandaged, sickly-looking scholar, who was roasting some sort of meat atop the remaining embers of the fire. Upon his arrival, the scholar turned around and waved at him with a brilliant smile on his face.
Biao felt his body chill at the sight of that smile. His 'instinct' roared crazily at him to leave this place and hide from the sickly scholar as far away as possible. Muscles tense, Biao stood petrified; a wave of unadulterated fear crashed against his heart.
Evil. That scholar was 'evil' itself! This thought appeared within his mind and echoed endlessly. Biao could not understand why.
For an instant, Biao recalled a memory from his earlier days; it was of a time when he had fallen into a snake pit as a little boy. There, a child-like Biao had come face-to-face with a massive, hundreds of feet long snake with scales as dark as the night. He distinctly remembered the creature's blackened eyes gazing at him, evaluating his worth. Fortunately, Biao had been small and lean as a child. The creature had quickly lost interest and had granted him pardon.
To this day, Biao recalled that memory with great trepidation knowing that it was the closest that he had come to death. No matter what happened, he could never forget those eyes.
This sickly scholar possessed those same eyes. And much like in his memory, those eyes quickly lost interest after scanning and evaluating him. The haunting feeling receded and Biao felt relief in his heart.
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The events that had followed had moved too quickly and whirlwind-like for Biao to fully comprehend; the scholar introduced himself, described the events that had occurred before their arrival, detailed the Iron Rhino Tribe's heresy, expounded on the Mountain King's sacrifice, and before he knew it, the scholar had earned the 'Great Warrior' title. The scholar had then convinced the Hielander tribes to participate in the war for unification in the Lowlands.
To speak the truth, Biao always felt suspicious of the sickly scholar's words and motives. However, he did not dare to speak his mind. The pair of eyes that had been haunting his dreams for many years had returned; only this time, they were silver.
His 'instincts' had saved him an innumerable number of times. And this time, it would save him once again. He would keep his head low and obediently accomplish his instructions.
---
It was the dead of night. The sky was overcast and the winds were still. Winter had arrived in the northern reaches of the South Aislan Continent, enveloping its inhabitants in its bleak and chilly embrace.
The Cloud's Break Mountain Ranges stood to the north of Lorden City and filling this distance between the city and the mountain ranges was a vast snow plain kilometres in size. The plains were absent of any sort of life, be they trees, plants or local wildlife. If one were to view this plain from the walls of Lorden City, one would find a vast expanse that was as white and unblemished as a fresh sheet of paper.
With zero possibility of attack from the northern side, the guards distributed to patrol the northern wall were few. Confident in their safety, these few guards spent their nights playing cards and having drinking parties; shifts in the northern wall were viewed as 'vacations' by the patrol guards.
Usually, two squads, each containing five men, were posted on the three-kilometre-long stretch of the northern wall. Today, however, only three men showed up to their guard duty and even they were reluctant in their duties.
Why were they reluctant? It was because they had lost their spots to participate in the grand party, that was being thrown in the city, to the guards of the southeast wall!
"Dammit! If only I had called out 'small' instead of 'big!' I wouldn't have lost my spot to that yellow-teethed bastard!" complained a middle-aged guard. He then turned his head to his companion, a junior soldier, and asked, "What about you, kid? Why haven't you joined the party?"
The young soldier blushed and quietly replied. "I-I didn't want to avoid my duty."
"My, we got somebody with a stick up their arse!" scoffed the middle-aged guard. Shaking his head, he advised, "Listen well, kid. Ya've got to take every opportunity to slack off. That's the only way to keep your sanity in this god-forsaken place. Now, tell me, have ya got a girl?"
The youngster blushed harder and frantically shook his head.
The middle-aged guard frowned and asked, "Ye'r a virgin?"
The youngster nodded his head.
A look of realization and pity appeared on the middle-aged guard's face. "No wonder," he said. Just as he was about to advise the youth once again, he was interrupted by the sound of fireworks.
Both the middle-aged guard and the youngster turned their heads towards the fireworks exploding in the sky. A sparkle of colours lit up the dim night sky, adding some much-needed life to the still night. Roars of uproarious laughter and song faintly echoed in the distance, evoking a sense of envy and jealousy in the middle-aged man's heart.
"Bah!" he spat. "Curse that yellow bastard! It should've been me over there not him!"
"Listen to my words, kid. You need to stop being an uptight prude and start living life. Only then can you—!" The middle-aged guard's words came to an abrupt end.
"Senior?" said the youngster, turning his head. Halfway through his turn, the youngster suddenly felt overcome by an overwhelming feeling of weakness. Just as he questioned himself on why he was suddenly feeling so weak, his vision was claimed by darkness.
A shadow stretched from behind the young soldier's back. Another firework exploded in the air, illuminating the face of this eerie shadow. It was Biao.
Biao quietly turned his head to meet eyes with his two companions. Both of them faintly nodded their heads, signalling that all patrol guards over the northern wall had already been taken care of. Biao let out a sigh of relief. The first step of the plan had succeeded and no alarms had been raised.
He then cupped his mouth with his hands and let out a shrill, bird-like screech into the distant night. His shrill extended far beyond the horizon and a few seconds later, a similar reply was heard.
Minutes later, more shadows appeared atop the northern walls, dozens at a time. When Biao saw the numbers reach the required amount, he nodded his head and quietly instructed.
"Engage."