A chorus of agreement broke the brief silence that followed his words as impassioned conversations popped up all over the room. Meanwhile, Benn struggled with the schemes in his mind as he took the sudden complications into account with a heated heart. One of his men must have been captured within the city and tortured until they talked about today’s meeting at the Barley Brew, which is exactly why he had forbade them from chancing a trip into Scane. That must have been the reason why Orven and those Enforcers had showed up, it had to be. If the time, place and purpose behind their meeting had been leaked to the count then it was extremely likely that the plan had as well.

We have no choice. It’s now, or not. If they were to have any hope of making such an attempt then they would have to set the strategy into motion as quickly as possible.

“Go on then!” Benn said to the lingering villagers. “Tell your family, tell your friends. No need to hide it at this point. Make sure that every able fighter reports to the village's main square within the hour. Anyone who doesn’t show up by then will be left behind and forever deprived of the glory of saving our homeland from these scoundrels once and for all!”

The room cleared in short order, only Pete and Gram remaining aside from the others from the Earth Sect. Benn stood in the middle of the quiet space with a contemplative expression upon his recently shaven face, his breath unsteady from fear and frustration.

Although the count had less than a thousand men all of them were trained soldiers in the upper levels of the Profound Entry stage, not to mention that each was heavily armed and armoured with high-quality equipment. In comparison most of the combatants on their side would range from the lower levels of Profound Entry to the middle ones. In contrast to the professional fighters that they planned to confront within Scane, the people of Malben were lacking in fighting experience with poor weaponry and little to no protective gear.

The only advantage that they possessed was in numbers, as he was positive that many people would answer their call. Even so, he doubted that they would emerge victorious in the coming confrontation with numerical superiority alone.

He looked over at the young boy and the middle-aged man in the piney robes. Neither seemed interested in the food that Alen had cooked up for them as they spoke in hushed tones from where they sat along the end of the bar, an entirely different tongue than the Universal Language.

“Your name was Sean, was it?” Benn approached the two of them with an apologetic air. “I regret that we pulled you and your friends into our conflict. I am truly sorry.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” The man looked up from his conversation with the boy. “And it’s not your fault. Anyone can tell who the good and the bad guys are here.”

Benn got right to the point. “I have a question, if you don’t mind.”

“And what’s that?”

“It’s about your sect. I have a proposition for you, if you’ll hear me out.”

“You’ll have to talk to Nolan then.”

“Ah, if you say so.”

Pete and Gram left before long, leaving Benn alone with the two from the Earth Sect.

Not long passed before Benn sensed an unusually thick aura approaching the tavern, at the fourth level of the Profound Entry stage. A few moments later and two boys appeared outside of the building, their bloodstained robes aflutter with the wind resistance brought on by their rapid movements.

“Guys!” Esteban ran over to them the second that they appeared.

Sean stood with visible relief. “If you still wanna ask that question of yours then there’s your man.” He followed after the child to see if the older boys were okay.

Benn stood off to the side with a patient stance as he watched the pair of bloody youths assure their comrades that they were in fine condition. They were barely men and yet they appeared completely at ease as if they were simply enjoying a calm walk down the sizeable dirt road. Based on their countinence alone he would never have been able to guess that they had just taken part in a perilous skirmish, that each of them had taken a life once the fighting had broken out within the bar.

“Welcome back,” Benn said lightly as he eventually walked over. “I take it from your friends’ expressions that you’re both fine?”

“It’s nothing that won’t heal in a day or two,” said Ian.

“I can’t thank the two of you enough for stepping in before things got too rough. Really, without your help I fear our entire village would have been raised to the ground just now.” He still harboured this fear, though he couldn’t show it. One never pitched a business proposition behind a mask of fear, not if they wanted to be taken seriously.

“Don’t mention it,” said Nolan. “Well, mention it to everyone you see—you know what I meant. Anyway, I heard Sean say something about a question when we showed up. Something on your mind?”

“Ah, there happens to be, yes. Do you mind?”

“Nah man you’re good.”

“The remaining Enforcers that you chased down. What of their fate?”

“I’m not sure what an Enforcer is but we killed ten of those guys before they scattered and fled the village.”

“Truly?”

Not to mention the high cultivation levels of the count’s soldiers, they were also well trained and well equipped. With so many of them gathered together, killing ten of them was no easy feat. To think that such an accomplishment had been achieved by a pair of youths too young to yet be called men.

“Yeah, we did what we could. You should probably leave the valley though. I’ve got a feeling that the count won’t ignore what me and my buddy did.”

“We can’t leave the valley. Strong demonic beasts seem to have claimed the southern roadway as their territory. They’re powerful enough that even Algrave and his men are wary of the area.”

“What, is there no other way out or something?”

“The road resumes to the north but the count’s men have blockaded it.”

Ian sniffled. “That’ll be a fun interaction.”

Benn looked between the two boys. “May I ask what you know of our circumstances?”

“Only what that scene from earlier showed me,” said Nolan. “The first guy I killed, he’d said that he served someone called Count Algrave. You all seemed to be in a tough spot, so I figured that he’s oppressing you in some way. Then all that fighting happened, which made me think that I wasn’t far from the mark.”

“You’re not wrong, it’s just…”

“Tell us over dinner.” Ian motioned to his friends. “The food is getting cold.”

Benn walked around to the other side of the bar so that he faced the four from the Earth Sect as they returned to the platters of food that Alen had made for them.

Nolan laughed as he took his first bite.

“What?” said Ian.

“I was just thinking. When you told that guy that he was disturbing your meal, you sounded a lot like your aunt.”

“That was the effect I was going for. If she’s good at anything it’s provoking people.”

“Your sect,” Benn said anxiously. “Does it by chance hire out its services?” Knowing that the count would learn of the events that had taken place in Talen at any moment, he couldn’t afford to beat around the bush.

Nolan placed his cutlery down and fixed a calm walnut gaze upon him. “That depends on a couple of things. What we’re being asked to do and what we’ll receive in return for doing it.”

“It all began when the count first arrived in this valley. The things that he has done, that he is still doing… Will you listen to our story?”

All of Nolan’s companions traded looks with one another.

“We’ll hear you out.”

Benn gave a detailed account of the situation that had befallen the citizens of Malben Valley since the forced deposition of their previous leader. Once his narration came to an end, the man named Sean spat on the ground with a look of disgust on his angular face.

“Those bastards. I can’t believe something like this is actually happening.”

“How many women have been taken so far?” Nolan asked.

“Over a thousand.”

“And this Algrave guy, how many people does he have on his side?”

“At the very least, several hundred.” As an acting village head within the county Benn was one of the only original citizens of the valley that was allowed to enter the lord’s palace in Scane. “The number grows by the day, so it’s hard to know exactly how many he has working under him. People keep arriving from outside of the valley, from the north it seems.”

Ian fixed him with a golden stare. “Reinforcements from the Red Mountain King, I’d wager. I’ve never heard of a king in these parts, have you?”

“No,” he replied honestly. “Though I’ve heard of Red Mountain.”

“Me too, which is why his name doesn’t make much sense.” When his companions shot him some questioning stares, the boy said, “It’s one of the biggest mountains in the Dragon’s Tail, but almost every animal around it has demonized. It’s a cursed place, and it’s extremely dangerous. If we’re talking about the Red Mountain then even humans are at risk of demonizing there.”

“Whoa, that happens to people too?” said Nolan.

“Sometimes,” replied his friend. “Though I’ve never seen it.”

“Damn, just another thing to look out for I guess. So Benn, how many people do you think will be on our side?”

“That…I’m not sure. At least a thousand, if what Jecks said is true.”

“What if he lied though? I mean, he was gone all day and then those soldiers just happened to show up—I don’t know. I’m just saying.”

Watching Nolan shrug his shoulders, Benn couldn’t deny the logic in his words. Still, he had no choice but to trust in his friend, to believe that the fault lie with those that had been captured in Scane. One thing was for certain, if they were to have any hope of succeeding then it was absolutely imperative that they enlist the aid of the unknown youths before him. With that in mind, Benn touched a hand to the spatial bag at his hip and withdrew an old scratched up jar that contained a trio of long, spindly leaves, their teal bodies dried and withered.

“What are tho—”

Nolan stopped speaking midsentence as if somebody had cut him off with an abrupt interjection, though the room was completely silent. The boy withdrew into himself as he stared intently at the leaves that Benn had just presented.

“My grandparents brought these over from the Thebes Empire, back when they made the decision to settle in this valley and found this village. They never told me what sort of herbs these are, but I know for sure that they are very valuable. It was for the sake of these herbs that they spent a fortune that they didn’t have, which forced them to flee into the Dragon’s Tail.”

“Are you offering these to us in exchange for our help?” asked Ian. “To risk our lives for some herbs?”

“Hear him out,” said Nolan.

A few people sprinted by the tavern, the streets visible now that the western wall had been demolished. “Not only these, but I’m sure everyone in the village will pitch in as well.”

“Don’t sweat it. We’ll help you in exchange for those herbs. Also, you guys have to spread word about our sect once we’re done.”

“That’s a bad idea, kid,” said Sean. “We’d be risking our lives—well, you guys would, for no reason at all. What’s the point? Let’s just leave.” The man sent an apologetic glance toward Benn.

“This seems very un-Nolan of you,” said Ian. “Though I don’t care either way.”

What else could he offer them? Surely the villagers and other citizens of the valley would contribute to the cause, especially in their direst hour. Still, Benn was only one man. He couldn’t speak on behalf of everyone else in Malben.

“We’ll do it.” Nolan hadn’t taken his eyes off of the jar since the moment that Benn had taken it out. “Just these herbs are enough. Nobody has to give us anything else.”

Benn could see it in the boy’s eyes, that he was being sincere. Although Algrave had a strong force at his back, the boys before him were doubtlessly capable of going against him. If enough people joined their cause and they were able to defeat the count and his men, then nothing would stand between them and the stone walls that surrounded the lord’s palace in Scane.

Florinda…Gwen…

“I wouldn’t go tearing up just yet,” said Nolan. “You’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

Benn wiped at his eyes and was surprised to find that his fingers came away moistened. The boy was right. He had a militia to organize and people to get into contact with, so this was not the time to become emotional. “I’ll return here within the hour. Feel free to help yourself to Alen’s pantries, I’m sure he won’t mind.” He slid the jar of herbs across the bar and darted away before the others could speak a word.

Out through the broken wall and onto the dusty street, he quickly made his way to the small square at the centre of the village where nearly a hundred people had already gathered, with more people arriving by the minute. If the boys from the Earth Sect refused to help him in the end then he would die and lose ownership of those herbs regardless, so he figured that he might as well hand them over now as a show of goodwill.

Staring at the eager and angry expressions that stood before him, Benn thought of his wife and daughter, and of the cowardice that he had displayed on the evening that they were taken. He was done dipping his head and submitting to Algrave, that devious and detestable monster. He would risk his life and fight the one battle in his life that must be fought, and then he would safely retrieve his family.