There was some arguing once the human woman returned to her people. Some of them apparently still wanted to put up a fight. A brave but also utterly useless gesture. I decided to help their decision making process along a little and waved Yath'zur to my side. “Have your people spread out along our line. Have them pile up stones where they can see them as well.” I fell silent for a moment and the giant was already about to have my orders carried out when something else occurred to me and I spoke up once more before he could get going. “Pile up some wood in preparation for fires as well. Don't light them yet, but make sure they can see those as well.”
He nodded and looked in the direction of the walled village. “I'll see to it.” He must have come to the same conclusion as me. Most of the roofs visible behind the wall were either thatched straw or wooden shingles. The buildings themselves seemed to be mostly half timbered constructions as well. With properly heated stones we probably could set the whole place ablaze without getting a single step closer than we currently were. I could only hope that the humans were able to see it as well after the giant's demonstration that brought down their gatehouse and the wall around it with just a few well placed stones launched from his sling. They really had to understand that we could end them all and that there was nothing they could do about it.
I really wanted to minimize the bloodshed. These people would resent us either way but the more blood I spilled the worse it would get unless I were to completely depopulate the whole land and that simply was utterly and absolutely not an option. Well, I had played my hand. Now I could only wait how my opponent would deal with it. I watched as trolls and giants made the preparations I had suggested. In the meantime some of the other mercenaries withdrew from the encirclement to prepare encampments for the night. One way or the other, we would spend that night here after all. Those that remained to encircle the village didn't remain idle either though. They started digging a simple ditch combined with matching earthen ramparts topped with wooden spikes. Those too served to intimidate the humans.
The construction of field fortifications served another purpose as well though. It kept my men and women from idling too much. An idle mind was a dangerous thing after all. Another benefit was, that they would all get some additional training regarding the construction of such fortifications. That might benefit us some day if they really needed to be quick and throughout about it on another battlefield when we got closer to the main armies facing each other. The humans were known for their heavy cavalry after all. Well, what they called heavy cavalry anyway. One on one a human knight on a warhorse was barely an equal for one of Tora'pheer's lancers. The humans were known to mass their knights into charges by the hundreds though and in addition they tended to armor their horses even better than the knights themselves.
Whatever argument the humans had had, it came to an end pretty soon. A quick glance towards the sun told me that there was still ample time until noon. The conclusion the humans had come to quickly became apparent as well, as soldiers started throwing their weapons from their positions atop the wall. First it was only a few but soon the occasional sword or spear landing in the dirt turned into a veritable clatter of arms and pieces of armor piling up at the foot of the fortification. One by one the men and women who had gathered there to defend their homes started to leave as well, once they had gotten rid of their armaments. Probably to gather the rest of their families and whatever part of their livelihood they could carry.
The woman who had come to receive the terms of their surrender returned as well, clambering across the pile of rubble that was all that was left of their gate on this side of town once more. She had rid herself of the armor and the weapons that had been burdening her down as well. Just as well. They hadn't really fit her anyway. Without those burdens she now moved with a quiet dignity that had been absent before. The dress she wore was a little crumpled still but the fine cloth alone let me know that she was a noblewoman. Still, she obviously wasn't living a wasteful life. The dress had been mended in places and she wasn't burdened down by jewelry either. The thin circlet she wore was made of silver and not of gold.
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She stopped a few paces from me. “The people have accepted the terms you offered. They are gathering their families and whatever of their livelihoods that they can carry.” She took a long, deep breath before continuing. “When shall we leave?”
I nodded with a thin, grim smile on my lips. “You can leave whenever you are ready. We won't stop you. Just remember that once night falls we will put the torch to your village.”
She turned to face her doomed home alongside me. “You came across the mountains, didn't you?” She looked at me over her shoulder but didn't wait for actual confirmation from me. “What became of the army that the king's marshal led into your lands? Or the garrison at the pass?” Her voice trembled as she asked those questions.
I grimaced and shook my head, wracking my brain to find the right words. “If they haven't returned yet, you shouldn't waste any more time waiting for them. They won't be coming back. Mourn them and move on with your life.” Then I decided to follow up on a little clue she had provided, most likely by accident. “The king's marshal? You mean the crowned ghoul that was leading your warriors during this foolish invasion of our home?”
Her shoulders slumped slightly as I told her that whoever she had been waiting for probably was dead. As I mentioned the ghoul though she whirled around, her eyes wide. “A ghoul king? Surely you jest?” Even as she spoke those words she faltered though. “Sure, he was an old man but I wouldn't exactly call him a ghoul. Right?”
She couldn't be this gullible, right? Or maybe the monster had hidden its true nature with magic? That cloaked, blond woman that had accompanied it during our showdown at the pyre, the one whose wail had shaken me to the core, certainly had been a spellcaster. I snorted in annoyance and shook my head to clear it. “He was a ghoul. I'm certain of it. And he was wearing a circlet made of Arkanium, which would make him a ghoul king, however minor.”
She still looked at me in disbelief, her body shaking ever so slightly. I could feel rage well up inside of me as she seemed to doubt my words but I fought it down. “He was still hissing and biting in my direction, when I presented his head at court, days after I separated it from his body. Does that sound like a simple old man to you?” My voice grew louder with every word and it took every bit of effort I could muster to not scream at her outright. “He staked my mother … the woman that raised me, in front of his tent and fed of her body. If that is what old men do around here, maybe I should reconsider and burn you all in your homes!”
I was shaking with barely contained fury now and she shrunk back from me. Her shoulders dropped even further and her voice sounded meek now. “Maybe you should.” She wrapped her hands tightly around her midsection. “There will certainly be more than a few among those you let live today that will eventually want to seek revenge.” Her voice dropped until it was barely more than a whisper. “They won't remember that you spared their lives. Not for long anyway. They will remember that you burned their homes and everything they and their ancestors worked hard to build though.”
“A spiral of violence.” She raised her head, looking up at me, at my whispered reply but I didn't elaborate on it. Instead I just shook my head. “I won't go back on the terms I offered. You are free to go. Head east towards your kingdom's capital, or some other villages there or further north. Whatever you do, stay out of our way.” She nodded and I continued. “Now go and lead your people. Maybe your memory will last a little longer than theirs.” My gaze lingered on her as she did just that, shoulders slumped in defeat. Her mind was obviously in turmoil but so was mine. Could they really be this ignorant? Or were her people being played for fools?