In heroic stories you never heard about the hero having saddle sores. At least not in Solestian ones. And yet, Thomas was suffering like he seldom had before. They were two weeks into their journey towards the capital. The land this far North had surprised him. He had expected it to be covered in snow and barren, but instead it was quite beautiful. Green meadows, pine trees and an abundance of wildlife. Most striking however were the fields of blue flowers that they came across every so often.

“Pretty, aren’t they?” Jared said as he saw Thomas stare at yet another of the fields. Thomas nodded. “Our mages love them. I’ve heard from a friend in the eighth that the brigadier general of the mage corps has petitioned for the right to cultivate them.” Thomas had nothing to say to that, so he nodded knowingly instead and left the matter to rest.

“So, the capital, what can I expect?” He asked instead. “To be precise this is the capital of the empire on this side of the gate. The real capital is located in the Southeast of the empire on the other side of the gate.” When he saw the look on Thomas’ face Jared shrugged. “It is quite impressive; I will show you a map sometime.” He coughed. “As for the local capital it is still under construction, but I suspect that you will find it impressive nonetheless.”

Thomas shook his head. “I mean, how am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to do?” Jared shrugged. “I suppose that you’re to be a representative of your species. As long as you behave like a civilized person, I think it will be fine. You may come over as a bit rural, but that isn’t a crime. If it was, most Northerners would be arrested.” Jared looked expectantly at Thomas, but the latter didn’t know what kind of reaction to give. After a few awkward seconds Jared coughed again and continued.

“We will be attending a party organized by the viceroy to celebrate the start of the leviathan hunting season. We’re there is a part of Lady Yifat’s retinue. It is important that you use her title, she is of the blood, but her bloodline is new to it. There are nuances at play here that you won’t understand, but in practice it won’t really matter. Just treat everyone who isn’t a guard with respect and deference and you will be fine.”

Thomas let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. “That doesn’t sound too complicated. I will just have to act like everyone is better me.” Jared nodded enthusiastically. “And you can start with me, since your swordsmanship is an embarrassment to your people and to me as your teacher. We’re going through all the forms again, twice. Now, let’s catch up to the others, we’re falling behind.” Thomas groaned as he spurred his taukar on, quietly cursing his lot in life.

Ɏ

“I want them found!” Duke Conrad shouted as he marched through the hallways of his keep. Servants were bringing him pieces of his armour as he walked. “Notify the prince and his pet mage, we’re tracking these invaders down.” He put on his helmet, shaped like an open dog’s muzzle. “And when we do, I am going to mount their heads on my wall.”

The prince joined him when he reached the kennels. “Duke Conrad I don’t think this is the right course of action.” Conrad turned towards the princeling. Young, arrogant, barely tested, a creature of comfort. “Your majesty, this is second company of my men that has been killed. They were butchered, like animals. They send me a message; I intend to respond in kind. You can either join me or you can stay behind, the choice is yours.”

The prince’s pet leaned towards him and whispered something in his ear. Just the kind of thing Conrad hated. Whispers and secrets, smiles and knives, those were the tools of cowards. A real man picked up his sword, saddled his horse and released his hounds. That was the real way to defeat one’s enemy. “Duke Conrad, the enemy has been eluding us for a week, what makes you think you can even find them.”

Conrad grinned, a nasty expression on his scarred face. “This time it won’t be us doing the searching. Release them!” The doors to the kennels were thrown open and five dogs rushed out. Arterious took a step back, since the dogs were almost as big as he was. “You know, I was told that the Northern Dukes bred these, but it is quite something else to see them in person.” The duke walked over to one of his beasts, who greeted him with savage glee. “This is Hati, he is the leader of that sorry lot and dear as a son to me.”

The dog nuzzled the duke and he petted it affectionately. “Hati, my boy, we’re going to hunt.” A servant walked over, producing the strange head. “It smells terrible boy, I know, but I need you to find everything like it.” The dog sniffed the head for a couple of seconds, then tilted its head upwards, sniffing the air. It stiffened, looking expectantly at the duke. “He has the trail.” The duke said, as he reached for the horn hanging from his belt. “Earlier today I gave the order to my mountaineers to be ready for my call.” He blew the horn twice, waited for a second and then blew it again.

Somewhere nearby another horn blew a single time. The sound, was followed by another one, thundering hooves and excited cheers. Duke Conrad licked his lips. “Are you coming princeling?” Arterious quickly looked at Lyra, who shook her head subtly. “I will leave you to your vengeance duke, happy hunting.” He said with a grave expression. The duke rolled his eyes. “As you wish princeling, stay behind my safe walls, you will be out of harm’s way.” The words were spoken with disdain, but that was just how the duke was and Arterious let it slide.

The mounted company of cheering men appeared. Arterious’ eyes took them in, analysing, appraising. All of them were lightly armoured, some were half naked, only protected by thin layers of paint depicting strange symbols. “Quite heretical, don’t you think?” Lyra commented drily. Arterious snorted. “That is ironic coming from you. If it wasn’t for my father you would have been burned at the stake.”

The duke and his huge dogs took point and with a roar he took off, into the forest. “What do you think of them? This wild hunting party of the duke’s.” Arterious shrugged. “They are warriors, not soldiers. Individually mighty, no doubt, but easily overtaken by a professional army. Out here, under normal circumstances, that shouldn’t have been a problem, but now.” The prince’s eyes were hard and cold. “Now, we need something else.”

Ɏ

Amon could use a bath. He deduced that from the way his soldier’s nostrils widened every time he passed them. They, he had also deduced, could also use a bath. Unfortunately, there would be no bathing for the foreseeable future. They still hadn’t found the enemy stronghold, then again, he had been overly cautious, slowly moving along the “road” that left Maplemore. They had passed through several occupied villages. Unlike Maplemore, the humans here walked with bowed heads and fear in their eyes.

Newly raised gallows had already seen use. Apparently, the humans in these villages had to learn the hard way that dissent would only end in death. The fear would only last a short while, until they learned of the benefits the empire would bring. Going by the terrible state the villages had been in when he passed through them, they needed those benefits dearly.

For them too he was sitting in this muddy hole, longing for a proper bath. Suddenly, Scout Naya stood up. “Everybody silent, I hear something.” Immediately the group fell silent. Most of them had been with Naya during their days at the academy. Her hearing was legendary, as she had proven time and time again during the winter manoeuvres. As softly as he could Amon walked towards her. “What is it?” He asked after a few seconds. “A roar or something and what sounds like a large animal moving.”

Amon shook his head. “Our reports indicate that such wildlife doesn’t exist on this side of the gate. The largest animal we encountered is known as a “bear”. A good hunter can easily kill it.” Naya motioned him to be silent. “It is a horn, still quite distant, but moving towards us quickly.” Amon nodded. “We’re going.” He said. The thirty scouts looked at him silently. “Now! Break it up. It is the enemy! Let’s move!” The camp became a flurry of activity instantly. “Scout Naya, I want to know how close that horn is getting. Inform me, every five hundred seconds.” She made a hasty salute. “Yes, sir.”

Amon had a bad feeling. They had been bleeding the enemy, without taking casualties. Leaving bloody messages for the enemy commander to find. This felt a lot like retaliation, but not the sort he was familiar with. Why would they announce their presence like this? If he was hunting down a small force like his, he would have done so with several teams who knew the area well and then lay a trap.

“Sir the horn is getting closer, they’re blowing it more often as well.” Naya said. It suddenly dawned on Amon. “They’re hunting us.” He thought out loud. “That means they can track us.” He added a second later. “Everybody drop what you’re doing, quick retreat protocols are now in effect. Group A on me.” In seconds final preparations were made and they were ready to go. “I see you all back at the rendezvous point, if the enemy follows us there, the army will save us.” There was a hasty round of salutes, before they took off in a run.

Naya sped up until she ran alongside him. “The horn is still coming towards us.” Amon nodded. “How long before they reach camp?” Naya shrugged, then looked at the sun. “Could be three bells, maybe more, depending on if they keep up this speed.” Amon nodded again. “Okay, keep me informed.” They ran after that in silence.

Ɏ

Duke Conrad smiled broadly. “Good boy Hati, good boy.” He said as he threw the dog a slab of meat, which it devoured happily. “Go, search that camp, they can’t be far off.” Five men dismounted and walked towards the camp; weapons brandished. “If you see any survivors, kill them.”

Carefully, the men entered the camp. “My lord it is abandoned, there are only supplies and some paperwork here.” One of them shouted. Conrad raised his eyebrows. “What kind of papers?” He shouted back. Inside the camp one of the men moved towards the scrolls lying on small crates. He unfolded one, looking at strange circles in red ink. “Some kind of weird scribbles, I will bring one”, he stopped midsentence as the scroll started glowing. “What in the hells?” He said, just as paper exploded.

Conrad was almost blown off his horse as a series of explosions went off in the camp below him. “Fuck.” He yelled as he straightened again. It was followed by a string of cursus. “Hati, go! Find them!” The enormous dog jumped into action, quickly followed by the other dogs. They circled around the now ruined camp, then split up. Conrad snarled, looking like an angry dog himself. “They split up, half of you follow them, take two of my boys. Everyone else, on me. Find them.”

Ɏ

“They split up. They’re using the horns to communicate with each other.” Naya said. They had been moving at a brisk pace, but Amon was sure his people could take it. The rendezvous point however, was still at least five bells away. “How far are they?” Naya’s eyes were empty, devoid of emotion. “One bell, then we’re seeing action.” Amon nodded. “Thank you.”

They were running out of time. He needed a new plan. “Halt.” He said as soon as they passed by a suitable spot. “At this rate the enemy is going to overtake us before we reach the rendezvous point. We’re outnumbered, possibly heavily, but taking out the enemy is currently not the objective. Taking out the trackers is. We will set up an ambush on the road up ahead, the trees will cover us. We identify the trackers and take them out. We will use smoke bombs to cover our escape. Standard evasive manoeuvres. Any questions?” There were none.

As the horns got louder the voices of doubt in Amon’s head became quieter. He had committed to this tactic, now he just had to see it through. He steadied his breathing as he lay as still as possible, eyes locked on the road. He heard them long before he saw them. Men on horses he had expected, the beasts that they had brought with them not. As he watched them sniff the air, he had the urge to groan. Of course, they used dangerous animals. The beasts sniffed the ground and Amon knew time was short.

His blade left its sheath and his legs started moving. His mind was empty, all of his attention and thought focussed on the action at hand. As he ran towards the beast, he saw fifteen shadows rise with him. He didn’t pay attention to them, there was only the objective. And the fear, it was burning in the right side of his face. The objective however, came first.

The creatures heard him before he reached them. They turned towards him, snarling, jaws open, drool dripping from them. His face burned. Why did it have to be animals? One of the creatures charged, but was thrown out of Amon’s way by two arrows burying themselves in its flanks. Amon’s sword connected only a second later. The creature was heavy, smelled terrible and wasn’t to go down from merely being run through with a blade. Just in time he brought his arm up to stop the creature from biting his head off.

It bit into his gauntlets instead, denting the metal, bruising the skin beneath. He twisted the blade and the creature whimpered, before biting down again. So, he stabbed it again. And again. And again. Until the creature stopped moving. When he looked up, he saw a scene he had hoped to avoid. His men were engaged with both the creatures and the enemy.

“Focus on the creatures.” He yelled, before running towards the nearest enemy and stabbing him in the back. “There’s too many of them! Soon they will surround us!” Two of the creatures were dead, but the biggest one was still standing. Amon ran towards one of his archers, who was engaged with some half naked human. The human was laughing even as the visius cut his flesh into bloody ribbons. He drew a knife and stabbed it into the human’s eye.

He grabbed the archer and spun him around. The man was covered in blood, his eyes filled with red bonfires of rage. “Shoot that fucking thing! I cover you!” Amon shouted at him. The scout dropped his sword and retrieved his bow. Another human was approaching, this one on horseback, levelling a spear at Amon. “Shoot it. now!” The commander shouted.

The scout took aim.

The rider kicked his horse, aggressively spurring it on. Amon’s eyes narrowed. The rider changed his grip on the spear. As Amon gleamed his intention, he wanted to prevent it, but he was too late.

The scout released the arrow.

The rider threw his spear and it flew true. The arrow hit, just before the spear impaled the scout. Blood spattered on Amon’s face; other things entered his mouth. “Smoke bombs now.” He screamed, while lighting the fuse. At the same time another voice screamed. “HATI!” Amon tried to see who had screamed that, but already smoke was erupting from everywhere, obscuring the road completely.

Training took over, he ran. It was chaos, but that was the point. He knew what to do and so did his people. The enemy however, didn’t. And while they were disorientated the visius disengaged as fast as they could. When the smoke cleared ten visius bodies lay on and nearby the road.

In the centre of the road a large man was kneeling next to a large dog. Carefully he removed the arrow from the dog’s thigh. “It will be alright my boy. You did good. You did good.” He said lovingly. The whimpered softly, then licked his master’s face. “Yes, it hurts, but you will see, it will make you stronger.” Duke Conrad said. “It will make us all stronger.” He said as he helped the dog get up. “Bring me their heads.” Together the two of them started walking towards the keep. “All of them.”