I should probably throw a healing construct on this wound but I just burned all my reserves. I look around and find Fenyz standing at the edge of the camp with a group of warriors. I walk up to her.

“Fenyz.” I hail her.

“They're ready to go.” She replies, waving a tendril towards the Rykz.

“We'll be splitting into three groups.” I tell her. “I need enough supplies for two days. Can you refill my flow reserves?”

“Food is ready over there.” Fenyz nods towards a large backpack on the ground next to a supply cart.

“Ulf, can you carry this?” I call out and point at it. He raises his hand in agreement.

I look back at the Princess and she uses a tendril to give me a large black glowing ball of flow. I link to it when she releases it and absorb the energy in my reserves.

“Thanks, we're going now.”

“Good luck... and you better not mess up. I am not as forgiving as my sister.” Fenyz threatens with a thick resounding voice.

I turn around and make my way towards the group of humans that already gathered, rolling my shoulders. I assemble a healing construct and apply it to the stab wound. I wait a moment for Ulf to joins us with the backpack.

“Alright, let's go.” I tell them, laying my hammer on my shoulder. “Don't make trouble during the evacuation, just meld in with the locals.”

I take the lead and depart south, sustaining a rapid pace. The Izla's Nobility doesn't expect the Rykz to attack the castle or she wouldn't have told me to go there while refusing to take us with her into battle.

They'll figure it out quickly when a Rykz army exits the forest. We only have a small window of opportunity to get in and do our thing before reinforcements can arrive by boat or land.

Celyz said she would pressure the entire south with the rest of their army, I don't know if that's still going to happen now that she's immobilized though. With a bit of luck, the group of Nobles that ambushed us didn't retreat towards Castle Lance.

I shake my head. No point being too nervous about this, it'll either work or it won't. I assemble four low energy lion strike constructs over my legs, quickly check for errors and leap forward.

I succeed in chaining three together but fumble the fourth on landing, I would have injured myself if I needed the construct to absorb the landing at higher speeds. I can use this to jump up or ahead but not to run then.

I don't slow down, forcing the others to accelerate to catch up. After a couple of hours of fast-walking, I spot a human building in the distance. It's a small house with a vegetable garden and a half-grown cornfield.

“We're splitting up here.” I stop and speak up. “One group east, one west. You should find signs of life all over the plains.”

“We meet along the castle's sea wall the day we arrive or the one after at dusk.” Hurb confirms, looking at Brie.

“Yea, yea. I'll be there.” She answers and starts heading south-east without delaying. The bandits look relieved, probably glad to get away from me.

“Don't forget to scout the walls the day you arrive!” I shout at their backs.

“We'll handle the layout of the block around the granary.” Jacub says before I can talk when I turn towards the mercenaries, they head out south-west.

I don't waste time watching the other groups leave, I make my way towards the small house. I don't see anyone outside, it might be abandoned, a farmer should be out and working at this time of the morning.

I glance over my shoulder towards Teva, she hurriedly looks away. She was staring at my back. I can see that she's still wearing the daisy over her ear. I'm too erratic to handle a relationship, I made the correct decision.

“Do you mind going over to knock? I don't want to frighten whoever lives there.” I point at my helmet and the dried blood marks on it.

“Sure.” She replies and hurries towards the building.

“Be ready in case something's wrong, Ulf. It isn't likely but I would rather be prepared.” I add.

I follow a step behind while checking the inside of the house through its windows. It resembles Father's house, the table and chairs are neatly arranged, the stove is clean.

Teva knocks on the door but no one answers, unsurprisingly. I walk around the building and find a small shed. I push the crumbling wooden door open. There are tools left inside like a plow but the lack of harvesting scythe is telling.

The peasants that live here probably accepted the Izla's call to arms. I close the shed's door, sigh, and rejoin the other two.

“There's no one here.” I shake my head sadly. “Let's keep going.”

I enhance my eyesight and look in the direction of the forest. I spot a large group of Rykz pursuing us. We resume traveling south, I make sure to maintain pace as we don't have time to waste.

I feel my hunger awaken around noon but I can see a small village of a dozen houses a half-hour ahead so I decide to keep going. As we approach, I spot a group of a dozen Nobles on horseback in the middle of a cornfield.

What? That makes no sense, their horses will damage the crops. I frown, puzzled by their odd behavior and worrying about what to say to them if they take an interest in us.

We enter the village and take a turn at the corner of a street, finding a large group of villagers watching the Nobles. Their eyes are wide as they watch the cornfield be destroyed with disbelieving expressions.

I see now, the Nobility decided that burning the food stocks to deny the Rykz isn't enough so they're preemptively ruining what can't be harvested in time. I grit my teeth in anger.

These people will have to abandon their homes if they want to make it past the winter now. Teva steps forward, past me. I hurriedly grab her by the shoulders and stop her.

“We can't do anything.” I whisper. “There are too many of them.”

“I could...” Teva starts but hesitates and doesn't finish.

“Look at them, they're too tense to reason with.” I shake my head and pull her inside a building's shadow. “Be discreet but don't hide. I'll be alone nearby in case they want to talk to me.” I tell Ulf and Teva. “Also, prepare some food for us.”

I make my way towards a large barn in the middle of the village, probably the local granary. The front doors are closed but I hear sounds inside. I walk around to the back of the building.

There are a four men and women taking turns to carry sacks of grain out of the barn, laying them onto a small rudimentary cart. One of them spots me and freezes, eyes widening in panic.

“Don't worry, I didn't see a thing.” I speak up, surprising the other three. “You should hurry up, they're about finished destroying the cornfield so they might decide to come here next.” I warn them and turn around to make my way back to the others.

“Thanks!” One of them utters not too loudly.

I raise my hand and wave it casually over my shoulder. I admire Lance's values but the rest of the Nobility isn't anything like that. Authoritarian pricks who only act to preserve themselves.

I slip in a doorway's shadow, watching the Nobles on horseback finish trampling the cornfield. They head into the village without dismounting, forcing the crowd to split to let them pass or be run down like their crops just were.

A couple of them glance in my direction but they don't seem overly interested in talking to me. The last one of them does stop in the middle of the street in front of me.

“I'm Lord Matfrid, who might you be?” His face is hard and his voice has an undertone of arrogance to it.

“Elizabeth Vil. Currently more of a warrior than a Lady since I had to finish off my horse.” I lift my hammer to show the bloody spike at the bottom of the handle and shake my head with regret.

“Sorry to hear about that, it's difficult to find a good, compatible mount. What happened, did you encounter bandits?” He asks, looking down at the hole in my chain-mail.

“No, I ran into a few evil creatures in the forest. Not sure what they were but we killed all three of them so it should be fine.” I lower my arm with my hammer to not appear threatening.

“You ran into Rykz scouts? That's troubling, so far south.” Matfrid frowns in concern. “How deeply did you venture into the woods?”

“We were right at the edge. I was looking for some prey to hunt with my companions when they attacked us.”

“You should keep heading south towards the castle, there could be a lot more of those creatures in the area.” He salutes me and prepares to leave. “I need to tell the others.”

“I don't know the area too well, I was headed back to Meria. Where else can I find a ship to the mainland?” I ask.

“You might get lucky and find a small ship if you go south-east. There won't be any barges, they're making a supply run for the winter. The Izla is about to be at war.” The Noble lightly kicks his horse to depart. “You can ask all about it at the gates, I have to go.” He nods slightly.

I hear some shouts coming from the barn and close my fist to restrain myself. Unfortunately, Teva doesn't. I see her take off towards the sounds along with most of the village.

“Shit.” I swear and hurry along behind her. Ulf is packing up the small sack of mushrooms he took out for us to eat and can't help yet.

When I arrive, I find the barn's front doors to be wide open and one of the women I caught a glimpse of earlier carrying sacks out of the back door is currently blocking the way.

One of them dismounts and places his hand on the pommel of his sword to threaten her.

“Please.” She pleads. “We didn't sow like you asked and the cornfields are gone now. We desperately need this grain to make it through the winter!”

“We have to take the food. The Rykz will if we don't.” He tells the woman. “Now, stand aside. This is my last warning.”

The villagers are getting agitated as they watch the scene. That's not good, it will be a slaughter this turns into a riot. I push through the crowd to reach Teva. I slip my right arm around her waist.

“We can't get involved here, don't provoke an incident.” I whisper in her ear and start dragging her towards a side street.

“But, they'll die!” Teva protests too loudly.

“That's right! You're killing us!” I hear one of the peasants cry out. Fuck! What should I do? Change their perception of what the threat is.

“War is coming, you need to evacuate!” I speak up over the crowd, releasing Teva. “It will be hard but you can make it if you prepare to leave now.”

“She's right!” Matfrid shouts. “We're doing this because the Izla is under threat!”

“We have nowhere else to go!” The woman who is blocking the barn's entrance yells, her arms still spread wide open.

“Castle Lance is always open in case of emergency, you will not starve within its walls!” The Noble facing her exclaims in a loud voice that he directs at the villagers. “The guard will also accept anyone willing to fight and pay good silver for your service!”

The crowd seems to settle down somewhat, now that they have a solution to their plight in sight. The grumbling turns to whispering as they discuss their options among themselves. I hear Teva trying to apologize so I turn to her.

“It's fine Teva, I was wrong and you were right. You voiced their fears out in the open. I don't think the Nobles would have handled it like this without what you said.” I gently reassure her.

“You think so?” She asks timidly.

“If they tried to defend their grain, the Nobles would have been forced to react. You started the dialogue. Look at them.” I point at the peasants around us. “They have some hope now despite losing their supplies.”

“You should tell the Nobles to let the villagers carry their own grain to the castle.” Teva whispers in an even lower tone.

“Good idea.” I agree.

I make my way through the crowd to approach Matfrid. He looks down at me from on top of his horse with a relieved expression.

“Your intervention prevented an incident.” He says. “Thank you, Lady Vil.”

“Don't mention it.” I bow casually. “It was my companion's idea. Could we suggest something else?”

“Of course.” He nods in agreement.

“We think you should let the peasants carry their own grain back to the castle, it would go a long way to gain their favor.” I point over my shoulder.

“It'll also allow us to move on to another village without having to go back, that's a good idea.” Matfrid pauses thoughtfully. “We'll do that, thank you once again. I hope you'll excuse me, we are rushed for time and the news you gave me earlier makes this even more urgent. I'll buy you a drink if I see you again, Lady Vil.” Matfrid inclines his head.

“We need to get going too, anyway.” I raise my hand in goodbye.

I make my way back to Ulf and Teva who are waiting for me in a back alley.

“Let's leave, this should settle itself on its own. We can have a meal and depart with the villagers when they're ready. I don't want to mingle with the Nobles too much.” I tell them in a low tone and lead them out of the village.

We settle on a small hill with a good sight on the path that exits the southern part of the village. Ulf hands me a huge bowl filled with mushrooms and some gruel spread over it like sauce.

I check their portions and find them to be at least two times smaller than mine. I definitely want to eat all of this, but won't I look like some kind of glutton? A bit late to be worrying about that. It didn't look as bad when I took several small portions.

I take my helmet off and chug the food down while looking away from them in embarrassment. The column of Nobles leaves the village soon after we begin eating, free of any additional burden.

“Your idea is probably going to help a lot of people if this group of Nobles applies it to all the villages in the area.” I tell Teva.

“I was just afraid that they would starve, I didn't do anything that great.”

“I disagree, they would have run to the castle when they saw the Rykz following us but some other villages would have been caught by surprise and been stranded outside the walls without any food left. You saved lives.”

“Should we go really go along with this?” Teva asks, her guilt is showing plainly on her face. “Maybe we could help fight the Rykz instead.”

“I won't blame you if that's what you chose to do.” I shake my head sadly. “But you should know that the war for the Izla has already been lost.”

“What do you mean?” Ulf asks through his thick beard.

“There are at least a hundred thousand Rykz growing as we speak, the Izla cannot hope to contain them. The worst of it is that they're also starving for food and that will force them to accelerate the pace of the war to a brutal degree once their reserves start running out.” I take a deep breath. “The best we can do to save lives is to help the conflict reach its conclusion as quickly as possible. Once Meria falls, the Izla will surrender and maybe Caeviel will negotiate rather than let the threat grow on their coast.”

“Won't the mainland send a large army to reinforce the Izla?” Teva asks with a frown.

“Maybe if the war on the Izla drags on long enough for them to gather the soldiers, supplies, and boats necessary for that. But what will that do except put more lives at risk?” I ask rhetorically. “There is a Rykz Princess held captive by Caeviel, that's why they're here. It's the key to this whole thing.”

“I think I heard you say that before.” Teva frowns but shakes her head and continues. “We should go get her now, why wait?”

“Because the Rykz want to show that they can take and hold the Izla. They intend to retaliate and we won't change that. Focus on limiting casualties in the now since that's all we can do.” I explain. “I've already passed the message along to people who can act on that information. If they don't succeed, then I'll figure something else out.”

I see Teva's cheeks take a deep red tint. She just remembered where she heard this before, huh. She brings her hand up to the daisy on her ear and smiles. I really shouldn't have done that to her. I'm glad she can think back on the memory with a smile.

A group of four villagers exits the village ahead of the others, dragging a cart that I recognize at this distance. They're the ones that I caught taking grain out of the barn's backdoor.

“Let's get going, I promise that I will do my best to find a way to settle this war between the Rykz and Caeviel without putting too many people at risk.” I tell Teva and hurriedly finish my bowl of mushrooms. I'll do whatever I have to.

I set my helmet back on my head and walk down the hill with my two companions, we engage on the road a distance behind the group of four villagers. I calculate my pace to match theirs.

“We'll join those four when they stop for the night, it will look more natural than if we catch up with them now.” I speak up and Ulf grunts in agreement.

“We should ask to pay for our meal in silver if you want to eat with them. This amount of mushrooms will seem odd to them. We don't want them to ask too many questions.” Teva says.

“I agree, you're full of bright ideas today, Su... Teva.” I tell her with renewed respect.

“It took you a while to learn to appreciate me.” She replies in a teasing tone.

I cough a bit and shrug my shoulders uncomfortably. I shouldn't burn my flow reserves in training anymore since I'll need it all if something goes wrong.