Chapter 75

Gasper walked through the gates into the keep. He'd been summoned by the Viscount, and he'd had to get his elite corps ready to move. It seemed his first challenge was drawing near.

He quickly traversed the hallways and the stairwells of the keep and reached the lord's study. He found Frederick outside, waiting for him.

"How is life here in the keep?" Gasper said. "Not that there is reason to worry about you. You are a fortunate lad after all."

Frederick snorted. "I'm not the one who was knighted."

Gasper gave him the side-eye and wanted to say, I'm not the heir to a Duchy. But he had other things to bother with for now.

He was shown into the study, where the Viscount, Arthur, and Sir Robard stood around the table.

"Gasper," the Viscount called out as soon as Gasper entered.

"My lord," Gasper bowed.

"There is no time for courtesies," the Viscount said, pointing at the map in front of him. "Come here."

Gasper nodded and stepped closer to the table. A map of the basin was spread over it, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the south. "Did something happen with Lucas?"

"It's not Lucas," Sir Robard said, glancing at him impatiently. "There are trespassers from the south."

Gasper frowned. He knew of the neighbors to the south from his father, but he didn't know who'd want to sneak into the basin and for what reason. "Who is it?"

"We're not certain," the Viscount said, glancing at his two aides. "At least not for now. They're in the southwest, prospecting for ore veins. I want you to take the elite corps and thoroughly wipe them out. You'll outnumber and likely outclass them. You must encircle them and not let anyone escape."

Gasper nodded. It seemed the lord was quite furious about the matter, though it wasn't apparent on his face. Perhaps there was more to it than that. "Shouldn't I capture any of them?"

"You should," the Viscount said. "But only if there is no risk of them escaping. None are to leave the basin. That should be your foremost concern. Attempt capture only if the enemy is fully within your hands."

"Yes, my lord," Gasper said.

"Now go. There is not much time to waste. Who knows when they might leave."

Gasper nodded and paced out of the study.

..

He was met by his men south of Ard. Everyone was mounted, and they headed southwest, where their targets were likely wandering.

They rode from morning till afternoon. It was then that the mountains became clearer to their eyes.

Gasper and his men came across one of Lucas's scouts on the way. He directed them farther west, and showed them the trespassers trail.

After some time riding west, he had most of his men spread out in pairs and scout the mountains south of them. He also took twenty of his men and waited on a small hill, awaiting news from his scouts.

The sun hadn't moved much before his scouts returned. A pair of them had returned with news, too.

They had spotted the trespassers busy doing something in the mountains south of them.

Seeing that most of his scouts had returned, Gasper led his men towards their targets.

Once they'd ridden close enough, Gasper stopped his men and dismounted. He accompanied the two scouts that had spotted the enemy.

The scouts led him farther south until they came upon an area of lower ground. "We need to crawl from here, Sir," one of them told him.

Gasper nodded, and they began crawling around that area of lower ground. They didn't descend. They just circled the higher ground for a while until they spotted the trespassers from above.

Gasper saw twenty horses below, and his targets were returning from the mountains, apparently disappointed. They began to mount their horses but they didn't move right away. They began to converse. Gasper couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it seemed more of a disagreement than a discussion.

"Won't we bring the rest of the corps and attack them yet, Sir?" one of his scouts asked.

Gasper shook his head. "We can't risk attacking them when they're mounted. We must not let anyone escape." He didn't fancy the thought of simply outnumbering them on horseback. It was likely that none of them would be able to flee, but there was still the risk of a fortunate enemy slipping through their ranks and galloping away. On foot, it would be near impossible to escape. "We will wait until they dismount again. You two stay here and keep an eye on them. I will bring the rest of the men."

The two nodded, and Gasper turned around and crawled back the way he came. After crawling far enough, he stood up and ran back to the rest of his men.

When he returned, the clatter of hooves and metal rang among his men. "Get moving!" he yelled, mounting his horse and galloping back towards the mountains. His men followed him, and they quickly drew closer to the lower ground.

When they did, he brought his horse to a stop and raised his hand, stopping his men. He dismounted and took one of his Warriors towards the other two who were watching their enemies. He crawled around the lower ground again and reached the two who were waiting for him. He glanced down and saw their targets still mounted but unmoving. "Why haven't they moved yet?"

"We don't know," one of the scouts said. "There was shouting among them then there was some silence. Then they began discussing something again until now."

Gasper peered down again. He saw the twenty riders preparing to leave. "Well, it seems they've come to a decision." He turned to the subordinate he'd brought along and said, "go bring the rest of the men, quickly."

His subordinate nodded and crawled away hastily.

Gasper peered down again, watching his targets begin to ride even farther west. In a few moments they had departed, leaving behind a trail of dust.

Soon, Gasper's men arrived, bringing his horse. He told the two scouts to get mounted. They were to ride ahead and keep track of the trespassers, while he and the rest of corps followed from farther back.

..

He rode with his men, following the trail left by the twenty horses and his two scouts. But he didn't ride for long.

Soon enough, one of his scouts returned. "They've come to a stop, Sir, and they're going into the mountains again."

Gasper roused his horse and led his men towards where their targets had stopped. The other scout was there, waiting for them. "They've already gone into the mountains, on foot."

"Good," Gasper dismounted, commanding his men to do the same. "We'll follow."

He and his men trotted until they reached the horses of the trespassers. They were tied to a dying tree, and their owners had gone into a small pass that led deeper into the mountains. He turned to his men. "How far is the forest?"

"Not too far from here, Sir. We could reach it on foot if we headed farther west."

Gasper nodded then eyed the speaker. "I'll leave twenty men with you here at the entrance. If any flee in this direction, end them." He then turned to the rest of the men and signaled for them to follow as he headed into the pass.

Tracking in the mountains was quite difficult. So they would have to follow the path and hope for the best. As they walked cautiously on, Gasper gave the crowd of Warriors following him a glance. "Here, you'll have to fight in pairs," he said, his tone serious. He remembered his last and only battle in the mountains, when the lord had died. "Don't try to stick together in groups, you'll only slow each other down. Always find your footing before committing to combat, and try to choose where you fight, instead of letting your opponent do so."

His advice was met with silent but serious nods.

The path didn't split up as he'd expected it. They had to walk for quite a while before they heard yells from ahead.

Gasper quickly turned to his men. "Encircle them if there is room. If you can't kill the nearest enemy, then at least delay them. Most importantly, don't let anyone flee." He looked ahead then moved forward. The path took a turn and then it widened and widened until it became a rocky bowl-like area. He cursed under his breath. Fighting here would be messy.

It took him only a moment to spy the twenty men marked for death far to his right, at the edge of the bowl. "Go!" he whispered.

Their enemies only noticed their arrival when the Warriors began spreading in the bowl. Gasper's Warriors encircled the enemy, while the latter grouped together in a defensive formation.

"Who are you?" a bulkier one among the twenty shouted.

Gasper glanced at him, noticing that he was centered in the middle of the enemies. He assumed that he was their leader. Behind him stood four unarmed men, and they seemed harmless. "I could ask the same of you. Who are you? And what are you doing in House Tellus's lands?"

"So you're Tellus's men?" the man said. "You don't know what trouble you're bringing upon yourselves. You would be wise to leave now."

"We will," Gasper said. "After you're dead." He glanced at his men and nodded. "Attack."

His Warriors had successfully encircled the enemy, but they were on lower ground, and movement would be difficult during the uneven, rocky climb.

He tried to lead his men up slowly, but the enemy sought to use their advantage.

Their leader gestured for his men to charge at Gasper's Warriors. "We can break through this rabble," he yelled at his men.

Gasper saw ten enemies charge towards his right flank, while six others faced him, including their leader.

Gasper was followed closely by ten Warriors, while his flanks had twenty men each. His position was actually the safest, since breaking through the middle would land the enemy in the bottom of the bowl.

The six that were heading towards him were likely trying to stop him from supporting his right flank. His close-by ten Warriors took his advice and split up into pairs. They headed forward with him, and they met the six enemies. Gasper met their leader in the middle, while his men met the other five, as if by silent agreement. Perhaps they thought that joining him in combat would be a slight on his honor? He didn't know, but he brought his sword forward and met his opponent's.

As soon as the swords clashed, he was pushed back and almost slipped down the rocks. "Sky warrior?" he stared at his opponent who seemed as surprised as he was.

"Who the hell are you? I thought only Robard was left," the man said.

Gasper didn't answer. He used the slight pause to steer to the right and try to even the ground with his opponent. War cries rang through the rocky walls and a slaughter commenced.

Gasper lunged at his opponent again, but didn't go all the way. He only used the tip of his sword to test his defense, hopefully causing him to lose his balance.

"We won't just flee," his opponent said. "Your men will be massacred."

Gasper didn't spare his men a glance, and his opponent didn't have such luxury either. But there was always time for taunts when their swords were apart. The man stepped forward and threw an overhead slash.

Gasper sidestepped, avoiding it. Then he lunged forward for a thrust, but his foot slipped and it missed completely.

His opponent used the chance to attempt to cleave him through the ribs, but Gasper leapt back at the last possible moment, the tip of the sword scratching his breastplate. "I'm never wearing this damn thing again," he muttered to himself. His steel armor had forced him to move most of his body while trying his earlier thrust, which lost him his footing. If he'd had more freedom with his body, he would have kept his balance and perhaps landed the thrust, though it wasn't too strong.

The enemy Sky Warrior stepped back and sneered at him. "Heh." Then his face paled as he heard a yell.

"Sir! They're Warriors."

He looked behind Gasper and seemed to see something that horrified him. "How many Warriors have you brought here?"

"There are no regular soldiers here," Gasper smiled, listening to the groans and yells of dying men. "I'm assuming most of your men are Warriors too. But we outnumber you by quite a bit." He stepped forward towards the frozen man.

The latter got a grip on himself a little but not too late and managed to parry a thrust from Gasper who followed it by a quick slash, which was barely blocked.

Gasper gritted his teeth and stepped back to regain his balance. His men were mostly done with their enemies, but they were giving him and his opponent wide berth. Perhaps being a knight has its downsides after all, he thought.

He brought his sword up and circled it down to the side, attempting a low slash.

His opponent stepped back and received it with a soft parry, then followed with a riposte.

Gasper spun halfway, evading the countering thrust. As soon as the thrust missed, his opponent leapt back; which was what he would have done, exactly what he would have done. That was why he didn't try a quick counter of his own, but he took two quick steps forward, keeping himself within striking distance of his opponent who hadn't brought his sword to defend yet. Gasper gripped his sword with both hands and turned with all the strength in his waist and feet, slashing at his enemy's throat. His sword opened a deep wound on the Sky Warrior's neck and left him bleeding profusely.

The latter tried to stop his wound from bleeding with a hand while bringing his sword to defend with the other, but the bleeding had long gotten out of his control.

Gasper stepped back and let his adversary bleed out, lest he find himself on the receiving end of a desperate strike.

"You'll pay for this," the enemy commander said. Gasper assumed he was a knight, since one of his dying men had called him 'Sir'.

He stepped towards his dying opponent and said, "I've brushed shoulders with death a few times already." He stared down at the knight who was no longer capable of even kneeling. He was in a sort of groveling position, drenched in blood and barely breathing. "It does bring fear to one's heart; there is no doubt about that. But threats? They don't." He plunged his sword through the open neck of the knight's armor, burying it in his heart.

As he pulled the sword out, he saw his men looking up the slope at the four unarmed men. He stepped up and looked at them too.

There was middle-aged man and three young lads behind him. He stepped forward and gulped. "Good Sir, this one is Prospecting Adept GeorjayAleysio. We have no grievances with your House, and we have no place in this bloodshed. If you will let me meet your good lord, I would be most grateful."

Gasper raised a brow. The man seemed quite courteous for one who was at death's door, not stuttering, not raving, but composed. He respected that, considering that it didn't look like he was intent on sparing anyone. "Very well. You shall meet the lord."