Men screamed and shouted. I feel like an outsider as I watch over the battle from the safety of the back. I can see the Arrians rush to fight back but the surprise of the attack means many of them are underprepared. Their armor is rushed on, they do not have most of their weapons.

We caught them with their pants down.

I tap my foot on the ground. Despite this huge advantage they were putting up a good fight. A large number of them got dressed in record speed and formed up in semi-decent battle lines. This is nothing like what I saw in Aveven.

A messenger rushes towards me on his horse. “We have broken through their left flank. His majesty orders us to not chase after the opponent but to prepare for another fight.” Upon saying what he has to say he continues on past me.

The battle continues for a few minutes before their right flank finally collapses and with it the rest of the army. The soldiers begin to scavenge the battlefield and the camps. I, instead, look around to see all the dead bodies.

The river runs red with blood.

The fields are littered with bodies. I feel nothing inside me. I have long since grown numb to the pain of death and the suffering of war. To think that we will have two more of these ahead of us today.

“Commander Hudson, we have captured some heavy cavalry.” I nod my head to this news. This battle may have been the hardest. Without heavy cavalry we couldn’t shock the enemy hard enough to instantly break their lines. Instead we had to wear down on the weaknesses in their line.

“Gather the troops, we will leave soon.” Part of me is wondering if they think they will find any ale inside the Arrian camps. I don’t think they will find any but that isn’t the issue. We need to leave soon. Each minute we waste here is another minute closer to the night.

Once it becomes night time I will have to assume that we no longer have the element of surprise. Information of our arrival will have spread throughout Arria within a matter of days. I make my way over to William.

“This has gone better than I expected.”

Upon hearing me William turns around and smiles at me. “I am glad to have not let you down. We still have more to go, come over here. We need to decide which camp to attack next. The one here is smaller while the one here is closer.” I know that he has already decided but he wants to see my opinion on the matter.

The smaller one would be the easier target but the distance makes me prefer the closer one. Time is valuable, we cannot waste even a second of it. “I suggest we attack the closer one. I have gathered some armored battle horses.”

“Good, we hardly managed to get any cavalry over the mountains. Much less heavily armored cavalry.” If we got into a field battle the arrows from archers would have been devastating. The chaos that would follow could make or break the battle. “We shouldn’t try a heavy right flank again. It worked this time but the time it took to break them was too long.”

“Do you think that they will regroup and counter-attack?”

“If we sit on our asses? Most certainly, prepare your men. I want them ready to march again before the end of the hour. Not one man should be looting.”

“Already done. What shall I do with the nobles we captured?” I had already foreseen this and given the orders. There was one thing I needed to be informed of. It would be silly to simply release the nobles but they will hinder our movement. We cannot risk being caught out in a bad position.

“Kill them.” To say that I am surprised would be a lie. I am beyond surprised. This goes against the conduct of war. While not unheard of it if we are caught by the Arrians they will not be kind to us. “Is there a problem?”

“No, I shall have it done immediately.” I say bowing before heading out. I hate to admit it but this is the right call. We cannot risk being caught add they will hinder our movement. I will take no personal joy in this but it must be done.

I feel a shill down my spine despite the sun being in the sky and the weather being warm. I watch as the soldiers slit each of their throats. Not a single one of them says anything. They all just stare at me.

As if they were trying to look deep inside my souls.

This is the stuff of nightmares. The redness of their eyes seems unnatural. Not one of them begs for their life. They just silently wait for their turn. All while staring at me.

I wish I had some fucking ale right now.