“My lord, we have a big problem.” A guard came into the tent looking flustered. This was not an unusual occurrence to him since Duchess Regent’s forces liked to keep them on their toes.

“And what has happened this time?” Lord Haliz responded in a measured tone, not nearly as concerned as the guard before him. He had noticed for a long time now that their enemies were apparently waiting for the right time to have a large battle, mainly trying to keep the civil war to skirmishes after the first two months saw several large ones.

“The castles of Lord Ganz and Lord Shara have been taken!” The guard was not assuaged by the calm attitude of his liege.

“Lord Ganz and Lord Shara? But their castles are in the west, the Usurper's armies are in the east. They have no way around and the Fiverians certainly will not give them access.” Lord Haliz responded in confusion. There was simply no way that those castles could have been taken without a series of other castles and cities being taken before them.

“It is not them, we have received word from the garrison captain of Lord Ganz when he and his garrison requested refuge at your castle, my lord.” There was no mistake about it if the entire garrison of another lord’s castle requested refuge after the one they were protecting fell.

“They came to us? Lord Ganz hates my guts, even if Lord Shara’s castle had been taken they could have gone to Damaz.” The town was much closer to Ganz’s castle than his own castle. Even if they had to detour around Shara’s castle to get there.

“From what they say the invading army was already besieging Damaz” The guard had calmed down somewhat as he recollected what he had been told.

“Damaz too? Is this the Fiverian King looking to have another go?” Lord Haliz said that in jest but the guard had a drop of sweat run down his back at how close the guess had been.

“Not the Fiverian King but a Fiverian lord, Sire. The new lord of Cliforge.” As the guard said it, Lord Haliz just looked at him in credulity. If the Fiverians were going to attack them at their moment of weakness, he had expected that the King would be the one to direct the attack. He was newly ascendent after the extremely brief civil war and at the height of Fiverian royal power of the past three generations. But for a single lord to act out? The man must have lost his mind.

“You mean to tell me that the Earls of Heimron city have decided that they are too bored of collecting taxes in one of the richest cities in Fiveria and meddle in a civil war to expand a poor backwater?” He had personally seen the state of Cliforge in the previous war that ended with the death of the last Earl Fiton and a white peace. It was nothing to shout about nor was the surrounding territories in Shuluk. The only interesting parts of the area were its iron mines.

“This is solely the lord of Cliforge, Sire. The second Fiton son inherited Cliforge whilst his older brother inherited the main earldom.” The guard corrected. Not many Shulukk lords had exactly been paying attention to Fiverian issues after the war ended, especially since they had a civil war on their hands not too long after.

“Even more ridiculous then, how has he even managed to take so many castles with that tiny shithole?” The only impressive part about Cliforge that he had seen was that it sat in the only pass in the Brimstones on the entire Fiverian border.

“I am not sure myself, my lord, however the messenger has claimed that he had an army befitting of a longstanding Earl and mercenaries too. Perhaps Lord Ganz and Lord Shara have been paying closer attention to their new neighbour.” The guard suggested. Since Lord Haliz’s territory did not border Cliforge, he did not pay attention to what happened on the other side of the border.

“As if that old shit would tell me anything even after I have hosted his garrison. Since they obviously surrendered, he would probably say I can keep them. Shara might know, though.” Lord Haliz would have been tempted to sit on the news to get at Ganz but it was apparent that the new lord of Cliforge had a surprisingly effective army and his lands were directly next to those that had been taken. He was not about to take chances.

“Send word to Lord Shara. But wait, before that, how long ago did this happen?” It dawned on him that this might have already been going on for a while. Since Ganz’s garrison had surrendered and apparently gone to Damaz only to find it besieged before making their way to his castle, it could have been a long time already. Not to mention how long it took for the messenger to arrive.

“It has been about two weeks since Lord Ganz’s castle fell.” The guard said and both of their faces darkened once he actually said it out loud. If it had been two weeks, then Damaz could have already long since fallen and they were only now receiving news of the invasion. By the time they got there, damn near half of the mountain range could be in enemy control.

“Fuck that, send word to everyone.” Lord Haliz knew that not many would actually take the threat of one Fiverian lord seriously and even fewer could respond without the royals chasing them down from behind. But they would lose far more if they did nothing. Other than Damaz All of the iron mines in the country were along the mountain range. Not to mention the only places that would stand any chance against the unopposed army of an earl were the two cities far to the north and the one city to the south of the enemy.

“As fast as possible, Sire.” The guard had also noted how dire this could potentially be. It would take a while to extricate enough of an army to face down the army of an earl without triggering an assault from the Duchess Regent. That would only give the Fiverian opportunist more time to take what he wanted and fortify his new gains. They were already stretched thin as it was.