South of the Earldom of Vostrim, Bloodhand Territory

Karshok and Miranax stood at the border to the human kingdom. They stared at the cart being pulled by 2 horses that slowly approached their position. It was guarded by 20 soldiers with 10 on each side.

Karshok looked at his friend. “Brother… do you think this is really the way? Why receive the payments from the duke? He’s a filthy human after all…” the strong orc explains and furrows his brows.

The scrawny and old Miranax next to him was an old shaman. He only chuckled before answering:” He wants to use us to weaken his enemies…”

“And we will just go along and be used?” the younger one asks, a bit angry now.

“Exactly.” The old orc cackled. This left Karshok at a loss. He knew there was more to it, but the elders wouldn’t tell the young warriors about it. The strictly hierarchical structure of the tribe left no room for doubts. Those who disagreed would die.

The cart slowly rolled to the orc’s positions. A captain approached Miranax.

“The first delivery is done. Now it's time for you to uphold your part of the deal. Only then will the rest follow.” The tall man explained, looking down at the horse.

After a wave of the shaman’s hand, Karshok went to inspect the contents of the cart before nodding to his elder. Miranax looked satisfied and turned to the captain.

“Before the next year ends. You can already prepare the first batch of sacrifices.” He nodded.

When the captain heard the last word, his face got ugly. Nonetheless, he nodded.

“Then we shall take our leave,” he said and turned around. On his back, one could see a scarlet banner with a golden lion embroidered on it. It was Epicrotia’s banner. The captain served under Tiberius.

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Spring, Vostrim Castle

The 6 months of basic training were over. Faust and his friends trained relentlessly and made much more progress than initially believed possible by Vitus.

The four of them excelled when they worked with one another. They had formed a good team. They had learned how to use a multitude of weapons, but mainly shield and spear.

Over the past months, the blacksmiths and tradesmen had their hands full creating, buying, and selling armor and weapons for the 100 new soldiers. In the end, even with large funds, they barely managed to get their hands on 100 pieces of chainmail since there was simply much more demand than could be met in Vostrim Castle. It had multiple blacksmiths, but ordering and receiving goods and then creating mail shirts took a long time.

Yet in the end everybody could receive their own mail armor. Only Aquila was an exception. In addition to his mail armor, he received a thick cloth armor that was much lighter and thus allowed him to use his bow at full capacity, which he would need for their upcoming mission.

The 4 of them had just finished their practice with Vitus before he called them over.

“Alright. Today I’ve received details for the hunt. It will take place in a week. The last snow is gone, and temperatures are warm.” The veteran explained.

“What? In a week already??” Aquila exclaimed excitedly. He was the only one not nervous about the hunt.

The old man nodded. “You are ready. And you will act as a team of four. You will have to hunt down 8 Stray orcs and bring the right ear of each of them within a week. The area you will be hunting in is big. Very big. You probably won’t see another team the entire time you’re there.”

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“How big is very big?” Cassius asked with a raised eyebrow.

Vitus laughed. “We don’t know exactly. At some point, it ends up in the orc lands, so if I was you, I wouldn’t test it out. You’re not supposed to go that far. The forest is dark and high. You might easily lose track of where you’re going if you aren’t careful.”

“And that’s what I’m here for right?” Aquila asks with a raised eyebrow. “Exactly. You’re our tracker.” He nodded.

Leona laughs. “And of course, that bow of yours will come in handy.”

Aquila nods with a shrug. “That’s what I do. I'll do my best to keep us from losing orientation.”

“Will we receive rations and equipment to sleep outside?” Faust asked and thought of how cold nights in spring could still be.

“Each one of you will receive a bag of supplies, a waterskin, and a big mantle to keep you warm. What? Are you afraid of the cold?” their instructor laughed.

“Afraid? No,” Faust smirked. “I was just concerned for the welfare of Lady Leona.” He cackled as he saw Vitus's dry facial expression.

She just rolled her eyes and smiled. “Of course. How caring.”

That smile still provoked unpleasant thoughts in Faust’s head. He remembered what they nearly did that one night. And the feelings he has had only grew stronger over time and it weighed heavily on his mind.

‘Flora… is our love genuine? Or is it a toxic outgrowth of our trauma?’ he thought to himself while he lost himself in Leona’s eyes for a second. Her smile beamed when she noticed. They quickly turned back to the others after Cassius coughed.

Vitus shook his head inwardly. ‘It's sure good to be young. But these brats should focus on the mission that’s ahead! She’s damn lucky I won’t tell her father about this… she just looks too happy. I couldn’t bear to. Also, it would harm Faust…’ he found himself unable to report the unusual glances and stares as he didn’t want to hurt either of the kids.

He had grown fond of Faust over the last months. The boy was troubled and had found a place in the castle and gave his all to give back what he received through loyalty and dedication.

“There is a one-week time limit. After 2 weeks you need to return, or the mission will have failed, and you will be treated as dead.” He made a dramatic pause to let that sink in.

‘This is the first time I will need to face death myself…’ Faust thought to himself. ‘I have seen things beyond cruel, but facing monsters on my own… that’s a whole other league…’

He pondered for a bit before he looked at his friends and warmth spread through his mind.

‘How could I be this stupid? Of course, I’m not alone. I am with Aquila, Cassius, and Leona.’

He looked at Aquila and couldn’t help but notice how much he had changed. From the arrogant prick with a soft spot to… ‘A prick with a soft spot.’ Faust cackled in his mind.

His eyes then turned to look at Cassius and he couldn’t suppress a smirk. It wasn’t malevolent though, quite the opposite. ‘Our diplomat and mathematician with the figure of a barrel.’

Then he looked at Leona where his eyes lingered for longer than on the other two.

‘And then there’s Leona…’ he looked at her she seemed to think the same as him. She had grown to cherish the small group of subordinates, or friends with obligations to protect her, as she would put it.

They quickly returned their attention to Vitus as he continued his preaching.

“If you want to have the highest chance of survival, especially in such a small group you will need to rely on one another. And boys…” he looked at the three young men before him.

“If Leona is hurt then I will personally make sure that you are sent as sacrifices to the Bloodhand Tribe.” He said with a dark facial expression.

“Vitus!” Leona snapped with a pout. He couldn’t help but melt at her reaction. He only wanted to crack a joke with the boys, but his lips involuntarily curled up when he saw how she looked at him.

When the boys saw his smile, they grinned at each other. They had grown fond of the teacher. They all knew he was a harsh instructor, but it was nearly comical how soft he could get when dealing with Leona outside of the practice field.

Even when the old man dragged them through horrendous training, they still knew that he meant it well. He wanted to prepare them for hell so that they would be prepared for a battlefield as best as possible.

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In the Baron’s chamber

“Darling… I don’t like this at all. Why must you send our daughter into the forest to hunt Stray Orcs?” Mirabella asked with a concerned look on her face as she lay naked on her husband’s side and played with his chest hair.

He put a hand on her back and traced it slowly. He sighed. “You know why. I don’t like it either… but I realized that I cannot protect her forever… she needs to see the world. Besides, even if I tried, these castle walls could impossibly contain her. You know that as well as I do.”

She looked at his face with a complicated expression.

“Then why can’t you just hold onto her for just a bit longer and protect her?” But she knew exactly that he had already done everything he could without hindering her growth. He had even assigned her bodyguards.

She lay there without speaking much and after some time her hand tightened on his chest and Schenk could hear a small sniff from his wife. When she looked up at him, he could see a sole tear roll down her face. He was a bit shocked but then tenderly wiped it away and held her in his arms.

Her motherly love for Leona made it hard to let her go, even if the chance of something happening was low. She clung to him and found solace in his embrace.