“Look,” Mark said, “Over there.” He pointed to an official towering on a horse larger than a man by several feet. I’d only ever seen a creature like it before in pictures. His blue attire shined with jewels and guards surrounded him. “Edward?” Mark asked.

The man’s eyes looked in our direction and I met him stare for stare. His face slowly grew into a smirk before he turned the massive war horse around and trotted away. “Must be,” I said. A bad feeling had crept up my neck when I looked at him. It was clear his intentions weren’t good. “It’s unlikely he’ll act against us during the battle, but keep an eye on everyone around us, even Rigar bannermen.”

Everyone gave a nod.

“Check your stats; check your gear; check your consumables,” Lucas reminded us. “Have them ready to pop when we depart. I’ve also brought along some stat food from Lazemus.”

No one held back with false politeness: each of us grabbing a snack that corresponded to our best stats. A single mouthful gave +3 to a certain stat for thirty minutes. I opted to take VIT and WIS food, which turned out to involve eating a hearty piece of steak, and a light blueberry muffin. Besides that, I also had some elixirs, passing them out as desired.

With nothing left to do, I summoned my undead squad from the shadows, feeling it was best to go to battle with them out, and myself at full MP.

“ENEMY ATTACK!” a guard screamed out, and in moments we were surrounded by men with spears drawn. The atmosphere was thick enough to be cut, as everyone in the party pulled out their weapons.

“What’s the meaning of this?” A shout echoed through the street, loud enough to silence the clattering of armor and the mumbling of confused men. “Disperse! These men and women are ours!” the voice yelled again.

It was only after the sea of people parted could we see him. A young man no older than twenty appeared before us. His dark curly hair bounced with each trot of his horse. A hint of stubble speckled his chin and cheeks, but it didn’t take away from the dominating presence he gave off. “It’s nice to finally meet the Red Prince,” I said when he came close to us.

“You must be Mike?” He asked, taking a glance at the numerous skeleton warriors and mages surrounding my group. “I’ve heard of you from Lazemus. You know me as the Red Prince, but can call me Arthur.”

I wasn’t some mastermind. From the moment the prince had arrived it was as obvious as day who he was: his entire attire was themed in red. The rubies that neatly and perfectly adorned his red velvet outfit must be worth a fortune. Paired with his young age and a presence that said ‘no’ was not an answer, he was clearly someone of great influence in the kingdom.

“That’s good. I’m glad to see the prince is an upstanding gentleman,” Lucas spoke flatteringly. “Will you be joining us on the battlefield?”

“Unfortunately not, but I will be here for morale support. I can’t safely leave the walls, even among my own bannerman I’d not be safe.”

“Very wise of you,” Maria said sarcastically. Fortunately, Arthur took this as a compliment though, as he didn’t know her temperament. It seemed she had unintentionally gained some brownie points without intending to.

“Lazemus says you’re quite formidable, I’d love to see you in action,” Arthur added.

I was about to speak when Maria started again, “We are good too! You should pay us per gnoll commander we take out, how about it?”

“Commanders? You’re confident in killing commanders? Plural?” Arthur seemed surprised then glanced at my undead squad, maybe gauging what his expectations should be.

“Of course. I’m confident.” She crossed her arms to emphasize her belief.

“Fantastic,” the prince said, “If that’s the case I’ll give you twenty-five gold per commander.” His tone of voice implied that was a good price. Maria kept her arms crossed without responding. The silence became awkward, “Thirty?” The prince suggested; again with no response. “Thirty-five?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Maria didn’t seem to want to speak up, clearly she intended to milk Arthur for every bit of gold she could. “Ahem; thirty is plenty.” I stepped in before she potentially burned an important bridge. “We make no promises, but will do our best.” I side-eyed Maria to stop any further mischief.

“Excellent. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Of course, your excellency. It was a pleasure to meet you.” It was Anna that spoke up this time, clearly looking to gain some benefits. I had to side-eye her immediately after.

“Very good. I have to go, but it was nice to meet you all. I hope for your safe return,” Arthur spoke before turning his horse way, his personal guards following close behind him.

“God, this is too much,” Jessica complained. I couldn’t help but agree. Politics was not my favorite activity and I decided to let Lucas handle conversations with the prince in the future as he seemed to enjoy it. “Let’s just kill some gnolls; figure out what in the hell we gotta do, and get out of here.”

There was an hour or so left before we needed to depart, but I opted to head to the gate anyway. I didn’t want to deal with another ambush or political encounter. The guards at the gate stopped us, but provided a room for us to wait in where we couldn’t easily be attacked by Edward’s followers.

“I still can’t figure out how the gnoll shamans tie into this?” Glenn said. “I’ve been thinking about it nonstop and just don’t see the angle.”

“Could have just been a test to see our battle power?” Richard offered his opinion.

“I’m starting to think that’s most likely the case,” Lucas said.

Jessica came in, “Well there is also that aid. Maybe that secret has something to do with it?”

“Potentially,” I said. But we were talking ourselves in circles. There was crucial information we were clearly missing. It was possible, too, that Lazemus was intending to reveal that information to us when the war drums sounded.

When there was just twenty or so minutes till Rhugar returned, everyone went into a quiet contemplation. We were strong, but this dungeon wasn’t weak by any means. We had yet to encounter elite gnolls, but surely the commanders and their highest troops could not be push-overs. There was real risk involved here, this wasn’t just free loot.

About ten minutes before Rhugar’s arrival, I heard a loud horn that vibrated through the entire room we were waiting in. My very body was shaking all the way to my core. “I guess it’s time,” I said. We quickly went back onto the streets to find General Rhugar atop his own horse. It wasn’t some fancy draft horse that towered over men, no. It was a normal riding horse that any civilian might ride.

And yet, Rhugar had such an air about him that it surprised even me. I’d never not been impressed by this seemingly normal human. I didn’t know the extent of his abilities, but it was clear even these dungeon people possessed skills, and professions, and potentially even levels.

Our commander was clearly hardened by war, and through the melancholy his eyes held was a fierce will for battle. The scars upon his face proved that, and so did the very way he carried himself. “I will not say much. Today, it is us or them. Us or your children! Your wives! Not all of us will return, but those who don’t will not die in vain! Follow me, DIE WITH ME!” He yelled with the will to face death. There was no falsity in his words, just pure bravery.

The men ate up his energy, screaming and yelling as loud as their lungs would let them. “For Rhugar! For Rigar!” They chanted this three times, before rushing off behind his galloping horse. The gates opened as bannermen and guards alike rushed into the open field outside of the walls.

The tar pits had been filled beneath the walls. Wooden stakes had been sharpened or replaced, ready to impale any gnoll with the desire to climb these walls. At least one hundred archers perched atop the wall. Baskets filled with hundreds of arrows poked over the wall every dozen feet.

“Are you all ready?” I looked hard at every face, making sure to never forget.

“Stay close!” Alan started to slam his sword into his shield over and over as if to build momentum.

“The enemy isn’t even in sight yet,” Maria laughed. She was about to continue when another sword slapped into a shield, and then before we knew it dozens, and then hundreds of men began to shield slam in anticipation.

It was only the forest in front of us now. The shield slamming lasted just a dozen seconds before the area grew quiet. The scouts had reported the gnolls close, we were told that without the trees obscuring our view we would see them now.

The grass waved as a gentle breeze brushed through and the earth thrummed. The heart of the world seemed to shake as a force of death approached. If we hadn’t known what was coming, that breeze would have been refreshing, invigorating—I felt it now as the breath of death.

Moments passed and the forest ahead started to shake and move as if alive. Birds shrieked before racing into the sky in panic, they formed clouds and rose together, raptors with their prey, fleeing in panic. The branches of trees cracked before trunks toppled. It sounded like thunder approaching through the woods.

And then the forest became still, presumably because the approaching army had stopped. Then smoke escaped the canopy and raced upwards, dark black smoke from the burning of green wood.

“They’re setting up camp?” Anna asked.

“Looks like they are planning for a long period of fighting,” I said. “And for that you need a camp.”

A soldier close enough to hear us spoke up, “Some will setup camp, but the rest will come for us. If the battle lasts until dark, they will get more sleep than us, that’s for sure.”

“INTO FORMATION!” Rhugar yelled over the random chatter. The earth shook again as a thousand men moved into positions.