“Do you have a plan?” Alex asked.

“Mhm.” Alice nodded.

Alex nodded and continued walking towards the burning torches.

“We know their general position, correct?” Alice asked.

“Yes, the scouts that have been going out over the past two weeks have more or less found them.”

Alex had sent out scouts to find the enemy so they were surprised by an attack.

“Have them wear light gear,” Alice said suddenly.

Alex looked at her slightly before nodding his head.

“What should we do with the gear?” he asked.

“Hmm, just leave it here with some guards, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

They quickly approached the waiting men and Alex directed them to drop all their armor except for their leather pieces.

They looked confused but obeyed.

“How many soldiers does the first group we will come across have?” Alice asked Hansen.

“It should be around 10,000 according to the information we gathered,” he answered.

“How did you find this out?” she asked.

“Well we couldn’t estimate based on looking so we stole a supplies document and made an estimate based on that,” he answered, though his eyes were glancing away.

Alice sighed,

“Then it seems that they will be on alert,”

Smack!

A loud sound was heard causing Alice to turn her head sharply.

Hansen was clutching his face tightly with an angry red mark on his cheek.

Alex had his hand raised from the smack that he had given Hansen as his eyes blazed with fury.

Then he suddenly furrowed his brows at his hand and looked confused.

‘Why did I hit him?’ Alex genuinely didn't know why he hit him, all of a sudden a headache had assaulted him and he got really angry and smacked him.

Hansen glared at him but said nothing.

The men looked perturbed but also said nothing.

Alice however glared at Alex.

“Why did you do that?” she shouted.

“I don’t know.” was the only response she got as Alex continued to stare at his hand, confused.

Alice continued glaring at him but eventually gave up and continued.

“As I was saying, Colonel, here is the plan…”

Several minutes later a massive amount of figures flitted through the forest silently under the harsh winter snow and the dark night sky.

***

Deep in the forest in a large clearing where a campsite packed with tents lay, several men huddled around a fire.

The fire crackled warmly as the men rubbed their hands together and clutched their blankets tightly.

Several bowls stood to the side, presumably from dinner.

“Fuck, it’s so cold.” said one of them, shivering intensely.

“I know, and we can’t even request for any fucking supplies because of this stupid blizzard.” grumbled another.

“Will you two shut the fuck up already?” muttered another.

“It’s not our fucking fault you need to pee and can’t.” said the first one.

This earned a little round of chuckles from the group.

“Seriously, will anyone come with me?” asked the third desperately.

“No, you know the commander said that the camp is on high alert and none of us can leave the perimeter.” said a fourth.

“Well either someone comes with me, or I piss on you guys.” grunted the third.

A round of sighs went around the campfire.

“Fine, I'll come with you.” grumbled the second.

“But you can't!” said the fourth.

“Oh relax will ya, what's the worst that can happen? He'll freeze his dick off? Wasn't much to freeze off in the first place. Besides, he's 16 and married, not like he needs to impress anyone.” said the second.

Loud laughter erupted in the tent causing the third one to go red before quickly getting up and scampering out of the tent.

The second quickly followed after him, laughing all the way.

Little did they know that through the harsh snow whipping in their faces, several pairs of eyes watched silently.

“Ah for fucks sake can you hurry it up a bit?” yelled the second one causing the third to jump.

“I'm trying! It's hard with the cold. My pee just won’t come out.”

“What do you need me to suck it out for you?” yelled the second one breaking out into another fit of laughter.

Thud!

The second one couldn't hear the thud as the blizzard was too loud.

After several more minutes of laughing, he finally wiped the tears out of his eyes and yelled.

“Jaimie, you done yet?”

No answer came.

“Jaimie!” he called again.

Still nothing.

“Jaimie I’m serious, its fucking freezing I want to get out of here.”

Only silence answered him.

“Jaimie if you don’t fucking answer me I’m going to turn around,” he yelled starting to get angry.

Nothing.

Turning around he began.

“It’s not fucking funny you kn-”

He stopped mid-sentence.

In front of him was nothing.

Just empty snow and trees.

“Jaimie!” he called, pulling a dagger out of the sheath strapped to his thigh.

He looked around frantically but saw nothing.

Then suddenly behind him, he heard movement.

Whipping his head around he saw Jaimie standing there looking at him, eyes slightly wide.

He sighed in relief, putting his weapon back.

“Jeez man don’t scare me like that.” was the last thing he ever said.

The group of men waited impatiently around the fire.

“Where the fuck are they?” grumbled one of them.

“I don’t fucking know, why don’t you go check?” spat another.

“It’s way too fucking cold out!” protested the man.

Just then a soft rustling was heard as the tent flap moved to the side.

“Where the fuck is Ricky?” asked one of them as Jaimie came into the tent.

His eyes looked slightly wide and panicked.

“He just passed out and I couldn't drag him back here, he was too heavy, I need you guys to come help me!” he shouted frantically.

“What the fuck happened?” one of them asked as they scrambled up.

“I don't know! One second I was peeing and the next Ricky was out cold!”

“Ah for fucks sake just lead the way already!” grumbled another.

The procession of 15 men quickly arrived at the area where Jaimie had been peeing.

“Well where is he?” grumbled one of them.

“Sorry.”

They all turned to look at Jaimie, confused.

“What do you mean, sorry?” asked one of them tentatively.

Jaimie slowly turned around to look at them with eyes wide and scared.

Slash!

Slice!

Stab!

Thud!

Before any of them could even draw their weapons, it was over.

From the group of people, a tall black-haired man walked up to Jaimie.

“Good job kid, now you said that someone should be sent to clean up the bowls from dinner soon, correct?” he asked.

Jaimie nodded silently.

“I'm free now, right?” Jaimie asked, lips quivering.

“Yeah.” said the man smiling at him.

Jaimie sighed in relief, but just then he felt a sharp burning sensation in his gut.

Looking down he saw a dagger embedded in his abdomen.

Jaimie closed his eyes, the last thing he saw was the man’s piercing green eyes staring back at him, longing evident in them.

Alex clutched the boy close to him as he bent down slowly to lay the boy in the snow.

“Be free, free from this hell called life,” Alex whispered as he began covering the body in snow.

Once he was done, he looked up at the platoon he was commanding.

“You remember your orders, we wait until their empty tent is discovered and they send search parties.”

“Once they do, we and the rest of the platoons will attack them until their forces have dwindled sufficiently. Understood?” he asked them.

They all nodded back.

Getting up he brushed the snow off his armor and directed them to get back in the trees.

An hour or so later a servant discovered that one of the tents was empty and quickly reported it to the command tent.

Soon after several search parties totaling several thousands of troops began scouring the forest earnestly.

Little did they know that on that particular night the number of eyes in the forest had more than doubled.

***

Thud!

The arm-length battle-ax in Alex’s hand slammed through the neck of a soldier, throwing him against the tree it had impacted and severing his head clean off.

Beside him, Brandon shoved his spear through the neck of another impaling him on the tree.

“This is quite easy,” muttered Brandon wiping the blood off his spear.

“Yes well, it is a mix of poor training and surprise.”

“My guess is they probably thought it was bandits that utmost totaled a few hundred and so what they sent was overkill.”

“They were probably overconfident and that's why this is so easy.”

“Hmm, I suppose you're right…” muttered Brandon.

Just then a sudden headache assaulted Alex.

It felt like his brain was splitting apart as his vision suddenly turned blurry.

The last thing he heard was Brandon call him before everything went black.

*** Dream ***

Smack!

A loud sound echoed through the large chamber.

Many people looked stunned.

Alex looked the most shocked as he clutched the side of his face, it burned bright red.

His father the duke had smacked him across the face.

“Dear!” shouted his mother.

“Silence!” his father shouted at her, before turning to look back at Alex.

Alex could not help but return his father’s gaze with a glare.

“Father, I have done nothing wrong!” he shouted angrily.

“Oh you haven't, have you?” his father said sarcastically.

He then pointed at a servant who was badly hurt, bruises covered him, and blood leaked from his nose, kneeling before him with knights escorting him on both sides.

“Then pray tell, what is this situation in front of me?”

Finally, Alex got up and said with great confidence and arrogance.

“He is a mere servant who dared to drop my food on the floor, therefore I merely punished him.” he waited as if expecting his father to pepper him with praise.

However, it never came.

Looking up at his father’s eyes all he could see was flat-out rage.

“So you think that because he made a mistake, you can beat him to death?” his father said through grit teeth.

“Father, he is a mere commoner-'' Alex began making an excuse seeing his father’s anger but he was quickly slapped again.

“Dear! Restrain yourself.” shouted his mother.

His father seemed to calm down slightly however he was still furious.

“That mere commoner is a human being!” his father said angrily.

“No different from you and i.”

“But father, we are nobles!” Alex pleaded earnestly.

“Yes we are, and it is our duty to take care of the poor, not hurt them.” his father said, calming down.

“Simply because you were born a noble does not make you better than him.”

“If you were born to a maid here you would also be a so-called “Commoner” No?”

“Because we are given everything, it is our duty to help those who were not given anything.”

“This is noblesse oblige.” his father finished.

Alex merely stared at his father in a mix of emotions, primarily among them were confusion and anger.

He quickly stormed out of the room before his father could say anything else.

His father turned his attention to the servant which Alex had beat.

“Go clean yourself up Edward.” he nodded to him, Edward has served him since he had been a child, and to see him being beaten by his son had made him extremely angry.

Getting up from his throne he walked down the hallway with his wife until they reached a set of double doors behind which lay their bedroom.

Laying down on the bed, he turned to his wife.

“Was I too harsh on him?” he sighed.

A soft pair of hands gripped his face and she said.

“Perhaps, however hopefully it will stop him from doing so again, he's very much like you when you were younger.”

Richard scoffed.

“How is he anything like me!” he grumbled.

A light laugh echoed through the room.

“Dear, you're forgetting that when you were young, you too were impulsive, prideful, and arrogant. If I remember correctly that's how you got me to be your wife was it not?” she said, stroking his face.

“Hmpf, i remember,” he grunted, remembering how when stumbling upon a noble trying to rape her during a party, he had not even thought before punching him to the ground and beginning to beat him.

His wife did nothing but smile back.

***

Alex woke up with a start, gasping for breath,

He quickly felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him.

“You're okay!” a voice said in his ears.

It was Alice.

“What happened?” he asked, gripping her tightly.

“I don't know, Brandon said you suddenly blacked out so he took you back to me, we are just about to start the main attack.”

Alex grabbed his throbbing head.

‘What the fuck was that? That certainly wasn't from any of my memories…’

Shaking it off as a question for later he quickly stood up.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“I'm getting into position,” he said.

“No! Absolutely not!” she yelled at him angrily.

“Alice, we have to do this,” he said calmly.

She looked at him angrily while biting her lip before finally sighing in resignation.

“Fine,” she said, before marching off in a huff.

Alex sighed and began walking in the direction of the camp again.

He passed by several guards on the way, next to one of them he saw Wolf wrapped in a blanket.

Walking over to him, Alex bent down and patted him softly on the head.

His tail wagged excitedly as Alex ruffled his fur.

“You take care of Alice, okay boy?” he said.

The dog merely nodded, bending his head down to pet more.

Alex laughed lightly and continued petting him for another minute.

He then got up and donned a hood provided to him by one of the guards.

***

In the command tent for the encampment, a hand slammed down on the table.

“What happened to all of our men!” shouted a pudgy man, obviously a noble.

The other men in the room cringed but said nothing.

Finally, one stepped forward and said.

“Sir, they quite simply disappeared.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DISAPPEARED! FOUR THOUSAND MEN DOWN JUST VANISH!”

The officer gulped and stepped back.

Just then the tent flap opened and in stepped a young soldier, eyes panicked.

“Sir! I think there's something you should see!” he shouted.

Everybody glanced at the boy before gesturing for him to lead the way.

Walking out of the tent they saw that all the remaining soldiers were huddled around a large campfire in the center of the encampment.

“What is going on here?” asked the pudgy man angrily.

The young soldier merely pointed.

There through the blizzard and in the trees, thousands of eyes watched them silently.

The soldiers stood by the campfire terrified.

Then, they began to move.

Slowly from the trees, figures in cloaks that looked to be white however it was hard to tell because of all the snow, emerged from the trees.

Thousands upon thousands of figures walked out silently, the wind whipping their cloaks in the air.

The soldiers quickly backed away in fear, while raising their weapons high.

One figure stepped forward from among the hooded masses and slowly approached them before stopping several meters away.

“Soldiers of the Toryn kingdom!” the figure shouted.

“Your kingdom has abandoned you, you have been left out to die in the cold, have you not?!?”

The soldiers looked at each other uneasily.

Some of them even began lowering their weapons unconsciously.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING! KILL HIM!” shouted the pudgy man.

The soldiers glanced at each other and didn't move.

“If you don't kill him, I'll kill you for being traitors!” he shouted again.

The hooded man remained silent throughout all of this.

Suddenly a soldier broke away from the crowd and charged at the figure with his sword raised high.

Yet the hooded man made no move to stop him.

When the soldier was within two meters of the hooded figure, a spear came flying out of the darkness piercing through him and sending him sprawling in the snow.

He slowly bled out as his screams rang throughout the forest.

The hooded figure looked up at the soldiers and stared at them unnervingly before saying.

“If you surrender to me, you will be spared.”

“If not…” he trailed off.

It wasn't hard to imagine what would become of them if they refused to surrender after all the evidence was in front of their eyes.

The soldiers looked at each other several times before seemingly coming to a unanimous agreement.

They suddenly turned around and pointed their weapons at the officers standing behind them.

“What are you doing!” yelled the pudgy man angrily.

“Lower your weapons you fools or I'll have you all executed for treason!”

Suddenly two soldiers grabbed him and began dragging him into the tent to tie him up.

“Unhand me!”

“I am a noble of the kingdom, how dare you lay your dirty hands on me!”

“I'll have you hanged!”

His screams echoed behind him as he was dragged into the tent and finally silenced.

The soldiers looked back at the hooded figures in trepidation.

“Drop your weapons and await further instructions.” said the hooded figure, before turning around and seemingly vanishing into the blizzard.

However, the eyes in the forest never stopped watching them.