16th of Firstleaf, third month of 984:

‘What a boring midday…’ Ilkom could but start to think. ‘Yesterday the Duchess tells us to not follow and rell in the prisoners and levies to our command, and today we advance as slow as a tortoise on land….. I can, at least, thank Dice for the food. We had prepared the necessary supplies for the whole army, so we won’t be hungry.’ Slowly marching at the head on top of one of the few horses they had left, he stole a gaze at the army.

‘Not that high in morale, I see…Well, my crew couldn’t be more happy, there were a lot of prisoners after all.’ Redoubling his toying of the dagger he had in his left hand, his mind turned away from the present. ‘How was he called, an Ashin, Ashen? He was the real deal, damned be the “Hands”, they were right on all of the shit they spewed. Shouldn’t have dismissed them as business greed… He got us good with that ambush…Wait…’

“Your Highness, could I take a moment of your time?” Asked Ilkom, loudly enough to be heard above the escorts and the distance, a few metres, between him and the leader of the march.

“It would be my pleasure.” Ilkom rushed a bit his horse and, smirking, he clenched a bit more his dagger. “What did you want to ask?” Finished Larra.

Lowering his voice, he returned to his usual persona in the privacy of her direct knights. “We are well into the day and it is far too tranquil. Have the scouts yet to report?”

Now thinking, she said, “They reported half an hour ago, nothing unusual.” Readjusting herself in her own horse, she countered with, “Still, I would not blame their lack of action. They were, and should still be, too beaten to pose a threat so soon.”

Trying to laugh his paranoia off, anger making him clench his dagger even more after his blunder that could be mistaken for fear, he said, “Well, I have been dying to hear more from the so-called ‘Black Demon’!”

As if he had pronounced a spell, all the army heard the return of the black demon. Three consecutive explosions engulfed the five innermost carts, travelling in the very centre of the highroad, in a ball of flames, taking the nearby men to Nether with them and melting the enchanted stone below them. Panic ensuing, the army tried to expand outwards to both defend from the attack and to run from the fires. That, however, had not been all, for as soon as the brigades started to leave the highway and venture into the mud and half frozen dirt, random and smaller explosions targeted individual men as they ventured outward.

“Hold your ground men!!” Screamed Larra while she finished drafting a strategy and ordering her knights to inform the High Commanders. “Hold your accursed ground or I will nail you to it!!” Her gaze, focused on the army, failed to notice the unnatural and untimely low altitude fly of a bat.

After a few chaotic minutes, and a dozen more fallen, the army grew to a halt. Confusion and wariness spreading through the ranks, a wall of shields, spears and swords stood by the flanks.

Orders being screamed and discipline setting in, another explosion occurred as the ‘helpers’ of the pirate army tried to move a cart to a more protected position. An observable division started to crack the unity of the army, as the pirate army started, again, to frenzy a bit while the northerners, now realising what they were up against, maintained their formation.

“Can’t you not understand words!! Halt, halt I say!!” Ilkom had never seen an attack like this before and had decided to imitate the strategy Larra had employed, damned be his pride.

“We are in a minefield, comrade Ilkom.” Started to explain the Queen as she rode towards him. “An immobile type of spell. It reacts to weight casted upon it.”

“Sink me! Who knew you would turn black spots into a weapon!” Now starting to calm down, he asked, “How do we deal with it?”

“I already sent our mages to….” The sound of a detonation and the cries of yet another man reached them, making Larra instinctively turn towards it. “...to deal with them. It appears they are well hidden so it will take a long while.”

His cunning entering full drive, he plotted, “...They are a type of explosion magic, right?”

Her gaze turning back to the pirate, “Yes, akin to your cannons I surmise.”

“Marvellous!!” His right hand reaching for something inside his pouch, it returned with a common stone. “Can you summon Risto to me?”

“My knight? Yes?” Question marks visible in her eyes, she beckoned one of the six paladins that were still guarding her.

“Great, now, sir Risto, hold this rock for me. It should help you disarm these, ‘mines’?, yes. It will disrupt the core formulae, making the spell unstable.” Explained Ilkom.

Doubt apparent in his gaze, he shakily grabbed the rock. Turning toward his duchess, that action caused her to ask.

“Will it really work? You did not know this spell before we mentioned it to you.”

“I can swear upon my name and title that it will disarm the mine permanently. If we are experts on something, it is explosions.” Nodded solemnly Ilkom, his poker face, impregnable.

Nodding to his knight, who felt reassured upon the words of the pirate, he started to slowly walk forward. The high commanders, who were returning to report their findings, found themselves entranced by the bravery of the knight.

Contrary to their expectations, once Risto advanced a dozen steps, on the thirteenth the ground half a metre to the left of his right foot started to tremble and violently exploded within a second. His body being knocked a few metres, his right leg miniaturised and his torso torn, he started to cry in pain. As if to add to the symphony, another far away explosion resounded, together with more cries.

“It works!” Screamed Ilkom, his dark smile revealing his true intentions. ‘Now you are the one getting kicked out, boy.’

Fury burning in her gaze, she snarled, “What?! You swore it would….!!”

“Permanently disarm it, and it did.” Turned Ilkom. The pale faces of the High Commanders were a beautiful painting to his eyes

Her horse now getting unruly, as it could sense her bloodlust, her hands signalled the pirate to defend his position.

“We have, give or take, half a thousand prisoners, right? At the rate of one dead mage every minute, we will run out of them in half an hour. My plan, give the prisoners these rocks, and get them to clear the way.”

Silence permeating their position, only Larra dared to break it after hearing such cruelty. Her voice creepily stable and calm, “They are prisoners, what did your head fail to understand there?”

“Aren’t our mages more valuable? How many are you all willing to risk? The answer should be zero.” Starting to pace around, he continued, “Of course, we could march our levies forward but, is that the way we should treat the men willing to die for our cause?”

“We will carry on as we have.” Declared Larra, ire blinding her senses.

“And lose how much time? Every minute we spend here is a minute we give them to keep up this charade!! Our time is more valuable than theirs, and that is their aim!! We get bogged down here, we let the Empire reinforce those bilge-sucking bastards and now we will face a real problem, your Highness.”

Stolen story; please report.

Some High Commanders started to mutter between themselves, agreeing with his reasoning. Queen Larra countered with,

“So our only response is to act as if we were imperial dogs? I won’t tolerate such low behaviour.”

Sarcastically starting to applaud, Ilkom retorted, “An ideal so beautiful. Doesn’t resolve our current problem, though. How do you propose we deal with it in a manner as swift as we are able to?” Looking now towards the men behind her, he smirked and asked, “Anyone?”

Silence at best, angry scowls at worst was his only response. The look of Larra, while angry, let Ilkom learn of her true thought process. ‘Only a few pushes more.’

“And, yeah, my solution may be barbaric, even cruel. But you are forgetting they are traitors to the true ruler of the north. They are already walking corpses. The difference between meeting their end in a square and here, is that here they can help the north and save loyal soldiers!” Faking a sorrowful but callous look, he ended with, “It is the best possible strategy and it is our duty to take it, so that we may save as many brothers as we can, right?”

His gaze piercing Larra, she found herself without a proper argument. A good third of her High Commanders now agreeing with him, she herself knowing that they needed haste. She had nothing to give him beyond ‘proceed carefully’, not that this plan was working.

After a few seconds of a battle of will’s, she folded.

‘May the Nether me be more merciful with me than what I was today’, “Do as you wish, I see logic behind your brutality and it would indeed save lives.” Biting her words so hard she had to stop, “I will pray for their souls, for they will die as warriors that helped the north.”

His mask dropping, his smirk bloomed into a creepy smile, “Marvellous, you heard her. Tell my men to bring the prisoners!” Screamed at the High Commanders. A Knight went to stop the mages from their fruitless behaviour and bring them here to help Ilkom as he started to engrave spells into nearby rocks.

………….

Mince Snowfall, heiress to Alfred Snowfall, the so called ‘Steel Count’ who was the current regent of the Snowfall County, tumbled on her way towards the false queen. Dressed in the rags that were once her noble clothes, she was far too bruised to walk properly, not that the pain of abdominal injuries and broken ribs, roughly mended, stopped her gaze full of contempt from trying to kill Larrra.

Behind her another four hundred and half, more or less, damned did their best to reach the head of the army.

The strike of a sword embedded in its scabbard after the unheard order of ‘continue walking’ did little to stop her from mockingly bending the knee, some twenty metres away from Larra. The queen’s hand stopped the beating before it could start, her body posture making it clear she was willing to listen.

“Our beloved Ice Storm, the Cold Hearted false Queen of the North, how does it feel to betray everything you swore to protect for your hubris?” The following strike aimed at her head made her fall, blood now coming out of her skull. Quickly returning to her earlier position, she continued, “And working with pirates, nothing less was expected from someone undeserving of her lineage. I am sure a deviant like you enjoyed the show your ex vassals put up, right?” Her reckless and bold smirk provoked another hit from the nearby soldier. Nevertheless, she managed her aim, to show her that her body could be abused and broken but that her will and spirit would remain unconquered, a thing that irked the Queen, apparent in the whiteness of the knuckles that were holding her sword’s handle.

An unjust anger taking her over, Larra now wanted nothing but to harm her, as she had herself been injured and aggravated by the words that struck so close to her self doubts. “The Snowfalls are still loyal to me.” She spat.

Surprise, confusion and understanding came in an orderly manner to Mince. Her smile growing, she countered with, “Now I am even more happy. With that fool of a father working for you, I am sure he will manage to mess up so much you will lose the battle even if you had ten times the men.” She started to laugh, sound soon stopped by a proper stab on her side now. Holding in the pained scream, she got hit now by a rock thrown by the Queen.

“Pick it up and march together with the rest of the traitors to the north.”

Mance grabbed it, her eyes turning to the sorry procession she was spearheading. No man had survived the pirate’s captivity, as they had been tortured to death or toyed for amusement. She repressed a shudder after remembering the ‘dart game’ she had had to watch. Only women had remained as they were, in Ilkom’s words, more fun to imprison. Only a pittance of them remained defiant in front of the Queen, the rest had broken under the pressure. Seeing as the rocks were being distributed to them, she made a wild guess.

“Follow the highroad. Distance yourselves or you will get shot. Run and you get shot.” Larra, after signalling to the crossbowmen at the sides, turned to look at Mance one last time. The Queen turned away first, as she could only lose the mental duel.

Before another order could be shouted, Mance rose up and started to walk with as much pride as she could manage in her state.

“Start walking!” Started to order the soldier behind her, not that she had bothered to hear it.

Immersing herself in her mind as the mindless work of walking soothed her. ‘So I grew up to the threat level, huh? The only compliment you ever gave me and I am to die because of it. Twisted bastard, killing my elder sister wasn’t enough, right? You want to reign until you die.’ Grabbing the almost unrecognisable Emblem of her house sewed in what was a noble robe, she put strength in her left arm and tore it away. ‘I may die here, but I take solace in not having to share the Golden Mountain with you. I will tear Mom a new ear hole for having married you. May you rot in N…’ Before she could finish, her left feet activated a mine. Thanks to her petite frame, she was killed before the pain of the explosion could connect.

Screams coming from the rest of the prisoners, who now had realised what was their fate, some tried to run away, being pelted with bolts and falling to the ground bleeding.

After a long while the sounds of the explosions stopped, not that that stopped their doomed march forward.

……………………

Paladin rode on together with nine of its brothers of faith. Hidden in the trees behind them, marched the Sisters. It did not like travelling with the radicals of its siblings but it had been ordered and it would comply.

As they marched under the night sky, they could but gaze towards that sight. They would never grow tired of it, it would seem, as the white jewellery that were those thousands of stars shone their own light upon the forest’s landscape. Sewed upon the onyx carpet of shadows they had been created in, it gave a limitless spirit that was nerve wracking, Still, it bestowed upon them a feeling of liberty they had seldom partaken in.

Shaking its head to regain its senses, for it was a mission in which hundreds of lives rested on. Pressing its undead horse, it sailed below the green canopy of the trees. Eyeing for the last time at its sisters dashing through the forest.

A veil made of mail, a full body armour composed of studded leather, and equipped with enchanted twin sickles, they were a part of the skeleton army that followed Eve’s steeps, identifying themselves as female and fighting for a future as fellow vampires. While they were a minority, and not all of the female skeletons, they were a true menace for Eve’s enemies and only loyal to her.

‘I only need to speak the truth and the villagers will understand. Once they leave a small portion of our forces will acquire the leftovers and torch the empty village. We will manage. We have to!’

After a few hours, when the morning sun was but moments before showing up, they reached the border area of the village. It was on the small size, a border settlement that focused on hunting and tanning the hides. Some agriculture was present but it was a pittance compared to its livestock, which grazed on the nearby forest.

Leaving the horses and the Sisters there, they marched on foot to the main building of the village. It could be said to be a very humble mansion in which the local governor resided. A fairly peaceful town, there was no lookouts to prevent them from reaching it and to start knocking loudly.

After a few minutes, a very angry woman in his middle years opened the door with a scowl, quickly fading into confusion as he realised the punks were paladins from the Sun God.

“We come with orders from the Empire Military Hierarchy, my estimated Landowner. You and your vassals are to vacant this village with only which you can carry and as quickly as you are able to.” Started Paladin

Astonished, she asked, clenching the door’s handle, “Wha…How many days do we have?”

“None. You have four hours at maximum. Would be appreciated if you could evacuate now.”

“That’s unreasonable! And why are we supposed to….”

“We have lost the battle against the Islands. They are on a march towards Ice Garden and will march near here.” Said, matter of fact, Paladin.

“The-the North lost?” Blood draining from her face, she nodded and rushed, in the clothes she had, to warn the villages. The western side of the Empire would never forget the bloodlust of the barbarians beyond the sea, for their new settlements were carved out of tombs thanks to their actions.

‘At least the first one was quick.’ Thought Paladin, as it saw the quickness of the preparations. It couldn’t feel pride at its success, as it had been born out of sheer fear of the past, but only the end results mattered in this moment.

……..