The early morning in the banks of River Tyford, a boundary between two great kingdoms, was rung by constant loud cries of the birds flying around. Clear blue skies were tainted by black swarms of ravens who were lured by the smell of the dead in the battlefield below.

Thousands of Rhodlin corpses were thrown into open mass graves, intending to burn it all later. The observing scavengers however wouldn’t allow the welcome feast to burn before they eat their fill. Most of these bodies were farmers, peasants and camp followers who did not carry a coat of arms or any mark of nobility. As such, they were not given good burial.

The carrion swarm was not the only one enjoying in the wretched scene. The tempted ravens became an entertainment for the soldiers who were in charge of disposing the corpses. They would try to compete in shooting down the birds, try to capture them for their games later or put poisons on the corpses and bet how many birds will die in seconds after picking the flesh of the dead.

It was only a day after the battle on this river between the forces of Duke Cornelius and Earl Chevassar. The duke won a decisive victory, routing the rest of the Rhodlin forces. His army captured hundreds of prisoners and later found out that the three commanders of the Rhodlin army were killed during the assault.

But much to his surprise, he discovered that most of the Rhodlin forces were not even human. They were just standing straw men equipped with armors and helmets, intending to fool them in numbers.

Fearing for any possible feint retreat or being lured deeper into Rhodlin territory, he didn’t pursue the retreating Rhodlin armies. This action helped the latter to rally themselves and make an organized retreat under an unknown nobleman who took command back to Rhodlin lands.

Now in his mind, he is asking the very same question most men would have; where is the real Rhodlin army?

The sounds of clashing swords and whistling arrows were temporarily replaced by the sounds of hammers and saws were working together, putting up earthworks, walls and barricades.

“Heave ho!”

“Watch where you’re going! Someone is working here!”

“Get me another log!”

“I need some help to uproot this!”

“Send eight oxen to the third section!”

“Hey! Could someone get me another shovel? This one just broke!”

Unlike in any other army in Swazbia, the knights and noblemen were not exempted in here to work with the dirt and mud. In order to finish the installments of the defenses quickly, they had to work together as a group.

Duke Cornelius commanded half of his army to fortify and install a defensive line that protects the other side of the river bank towards Rhodlin lands.

“We need to finish this today while the sun is still up! So quickly finish your jobs or we will all be working till midnight!” a leading soldier carrying an axe and pieces of wood on his back, warned his men.

“Did they already take their breakfast?”

“Huh?! Wh-”

Someone interrupted him from behind and when he turned, he and along his men were surprised to see the man at this very early morning.

“D-Duke-I mean milord!”

“Milord!”

“M-milord!”

It was Duke Cornelius himself who went to inspect the state of the constructions. He was not on his usual red plate armor but currently in his thick morning warm wooly body coat. They realized that he had just woken up. The men stopped what they are doing and bowed their heads.

After several seconds, their captain remembered the duke’s question.

“Y-yes milord, we have already taken our morning bite. Did you have a good rest milord?”

“Yes. I will be depending on all of you to finish this today. We don’t want to get caught in a possible Rhodlin raid or counterattack with hammers, nails and saws in our hands, right?”

“Y-yes!”

“Yes milord!”

“You heard the duke! You lot! Get back on your jobs!”

He left the men on their duties as he continues walking to the camp. Thousands of tents were erected on both sides of the river.

Currently, his army is composed of thirty thousand heavily armored knights, twenty thousand heavy infantry, five thousand crossbowmen and five thousand noncombatants such as siege engineers, carpenters, craftsmen, blacksmiths, servants and people in charge of supplies. Making his army with a number of sixty thousand – one of the largest armies he ever assembled. And unlike most of his fellow overlords, none in his army was a peasant levy but was complete highly trained standing army.

A heavy load for his treasury but a worthy investment.

As he walked through the camp, what greets him is the sight of bathing soldiers, cooking servants, washing dishes and clothes on the river. He also passed several tents of some camp followers such as prostitutes and travelling merchants that were also preparing their breakfast.

He went to the one of the largest tent in the camp. It was also one of the most highly guarded areas. As soon as they realize it was him, the guards immediately saluted.

“Milord! Why are you going around the camp without a guard?” one of the guards noticed that their lord is alone.

“I just woke up. And it doesn’t matter, is Adam inside?” he asked.

“Yes milord. He just finished talking to one of the prisoners.”

“Good. Keep up your good work.” He patted the shoulder of the guard.

When he opened the tent’s heavy curtain, putrid smell of flesh, blood and death entered his nose. There he saw hundreds of prisoners in cages, shivering at the sight of the crimson center podium. And in that podium, is the duke’s trusted interrogator.

“Adam, what have you got?” Cornelius had to cover his nose with a thick clothe just to talk with the man who has blood all over his body.

“Oh milord, good morning. Well… ahem… W-we finally got him to speak but he died several minutes later. I must have taken it too far.” Adam pointed at the naked man, bound at the chair in the podium. The latter’s body have been brutally tortured that the duke cannot even recognize his face. It seems that he also lost his manhood after seeing its pieces on the floor.

The duke could only cover his face with his palm in frustration upon hearing that another precious prisoner died but a revelation put him back to listen.

“B-but! Before he kicked the bucket, h-he revealed that this army was just a decoy. They did have a real and much bigger army. If I compare his words to other prisoners, the real army is about between 70,000 – 80,000 troops. Although I wasn’t able to get any leads about the location of this army… most of the prisoners I interrogated only tells contradictory words. I can assume that they were all told false information with only the commanders who knew the real plan.”

At the corner of Cornelius’ eyes, were a heap pile of recently tortured prisoners.

“Tsk… And? Is there more?”

“Ah yes, he also repeated the words about “large supplies of wood were being transported” and the disappearance of High King’s fleet in the city of Veleusca. I am sorry but even me don’t know the meaning behind these-”

“No, that is still very helpful information. Continue with the interrogation on other prisoners until you find new things for me to hear. And I want to hear everything today, so I will not be considering any offer of ransom… if you know what I mean.”

The duke is now desperate to protect his own people and lands that he would ignore the code, laws and etiquette of chivalry between nobles.

“Yes milord.” Adam smiled and went back to pick another prisoner from the cages.

He started hearing screams of begging for mercy as soon as he exited the tent.

“Milord, you should bring someone with– ”

“I told you it is not needed.” he interrupted the insistent soldier.

“But–”

“I will be going back to my tent. Send a message to all commanders for an immediate council meeting. Wake them up if needed.” He commanded.

“Ah, yes milord! At once!” the soldier ran towards his horse and yelled at other soldiers who were sitting on the far end, waiting for orders.

Then he went back to his tent to change. What awaited him inside were his wife and three daughters who were already preparing his armor.

“Jorah, Decim and Talla, you were already awake?”

His three daughters were still on their teenage years. Talla, the oldest was 17 years old, Jorah was 16 years old and Decim was 14 years old. But three of them already witnessed countless battles and wars alongside him. It is also one of the reasons why no offer of marriage was accepted as of yet. Even though they were blessed with much beauty and status as the duke’s only children.

“It is our duty to help our lord in any way we can.” Talla replied for her younger sisters.

“Dear, you should already know how your daughters liked to see you in your armor before you got to the battle.” His wife, Loretta said.

They would always accompany him wherever he went to war. At first, he would get anxious but after years of living with his family. He got used to their insistence. But he made it a requirement for his daughter to learn martial arts and use of weapons. He gave their instructors a secret command to make the training more intense than normal, as he thought that it will make them stop following him if his daughters failed. But much to his surprise, his three daughters were able to pass them in flying colors in just a short amount of time.

‘If only they were born as three sons of mine.’ He frown a deep furrow forms in his brow at frustration on how wasted their potential is, on a woman’s body. Although he can give them preferential treatment as a father, he still cannot guarantee that it will continue after he is gone. After all, it is still not culturally accepted to have a woman leading the household if there is a capable male candidate. Even if this male candidate comes from a distant relative or branch family.

“Then could you help me again with my armor?” he asked.

“Yes milord!” his daughters answered in unison as they went to get his equipment.

He stood at the center of the tent and let his wife strip him of his upper clothes then quickly wiped his skin with a wet warm towel.

“Did you find good information from the prisoners?” his wife asked.

“Yeah. I summoned all lords to a meeting after I got the idea of the High King’s plans.” He replied.

His daughters helped him put on his thick padded clothes, mail hauberk and one by one, his red platemail armor. His daughters became the regular helpers of wearing his armor. As such, they were quite used to it that they were able to quickly finish it all in minutes.

His wife then attached his purple cloak. The incoming cold of the winter season can already be felt that he didn’t felt too warm from his thick armor.

“Ahhh, as always… you really look dashing on your armor my dear.” His wife blushed in seeing him with glittering eyes. His wife was still in her thirties so her beauty and age still appear as fresh as the time she first married him. He was five years older than her.

“It seems you were actually the real one who wanted to see me in my armor.” He grabbed his wife by her hip and gave her a deep long passionate kiss.

“Haa…” his wife only gave a look of longing as he cut his kiss short.

“I will finish it later as I have a meeting to finish.” He patted her head. Then he went to his daughters and kissed them one by one on their foreheads, thanking them before he went outside. His horse is still being prepared by the servants for its armor as such he had to get another horse for now to ride to the assembly tent.

Five fully armored knights appeared on his side by the time he mounted the horse.

“Allow us to accompany you milord.” A voice came from the soldier of steel. They wore red armor plates just like him with a red griffin insignia on their right shoulder plate. A coat of arms for the Crimson Guards, his personal elite bodyguards.

“Come, they must be waiting for us.” He galloped through the mud and ground.

He was already near the assembly tent when someone stopped him with waving arms.

“Milord! My apologies for stopping you! But Adam has asked for you immediately. He said it is grave information that you had to hear.” It was one of the soldiers who were guarding the prison tent. It seems he had dismounted his horse while waiting for him.

“Thank you. And you go tell the lords on the assembly that I will be late.” He said.

“Yes milord!”

Cornelius immediately change direction and went straight to Adam, followed by his five loyal guards. He quickly dismounted as soon as he arrived and he didn’t even reply to the saluting soldier on the entrance as he rushed inside.

“What is it?” he asked

“M-milord! This person-I mean, this noble is the son of the late Count-”

“I am Baron Hottokar Chevassar. First son of the late Earl Hamiel Chevassar.” The person interrupted.

A proud man with curly blond hair was sitting on the bloodied chair. The duke felt that he must be on his twenties.

“Tell the duke what you told me and you will get to live.” Adam said.

“You must first swear it by the River of Saints and God that you will keep your word.” Hottokar demanded. It was the Unbroken Oath used by those who follow the Church of Holy Circle. It was believed that if this was broken, a punishment worse than death will come upon the oathbreaker. Even the Pope gave a threat of excommunication to those who will break this oath.

“I swear by the Holy River of Lethe that I will let you live if you tell me what you know. Swear it also that what you are telling me is the full unaltered truth.” Duke said the lines.

He tapped his forehead with his index finger two times and made an encircling gesture with his hand that covers his head and chest. A rite with the oath.

“I also swear by the Holy River of Lethe that what I am going to tell you is the truth.” Hottokar replied with same movement using his free hands. It seems that only his feet were bound on the chair.

“Then? Out with it!” Cornelius demanded.

“A-as he had mentioned, my father is the commander of this army. And this army has the objectives of holding any Swazbian counter offensive to our land, if and only if the main army proceeds deeper to Central Lands.” Hottokar said.

These words only confirmed the duke’s thoughts about the plans of the High King.

“What we never expected is for you to attack immediately even after being fooled by our numbers.” Hottokar added. The duke knew that he was referring to the straw soldiers they planted which also caused him to misjudge the number of their army.

“Then where is the main army?” the duke asked.

“No one knows except the three commanders. But luckily for you, I heard my father talking with his fellow commanders the night before you attacked.” Hottokar replied

“And what is the plan?”

“I missed the part where they are talking about the High King’s forces but I heard about the next goal of this army if it will ever be attacked and forced to retreat. That is to lure your forces deeper to Rhodlin lands. This will give much time for the main army to enter the Central Lands without obstruction and decent resistance. But after your attack which resulted the unexpected deaths of my father and the other commanders, that army was now lost at what to do and would more likely retreat to Winmer Castle.”

Winmer Castle is the nearest fortress in the borders between Swazbia and Confederacy. It was built to withstood long heavy sieges and attacks. As such it was claimed to be as impregnable as Grunwaldr Castle. Countless failed attempts and assaults by previous Swazbian King were the real evidence and proof of that claim.

“And this may be quite important for you… although I didn’t know the location of the High King’s army, I happen to know when it will cross the borders.” Hottokar grinned.

“When?”

“It would be, six days… ago.” Hottokar sneered.

The duke then realize how grave this is as he and his army already wasted enough time to let the Rhodlin army have the luxury. Then another bird came flying on his hears to pour salt on his mistake.

“Milord! Forgive me for entering without permission but we have just received a report that the Vigarya Fortress had fallen four days ago! Several scouts and messengers from the local barons have asked for help in repelling a massive army of Rhodlin. According to the messages we received, the Rhodlin forces have a number of eighty thousand!” the soldier said.

Vigarya Fortress is seven days away from their current location. And even if he took only the mounted troops for quick deployment, it will still take him three to four days to arrive at the fortress. Enough time for the Rhodlin army to avoid him.

“Where are they heading? Did those messages imply or mention the direction of the Rhodlin’s advance?” he asked.

“Yes milord, it is the Augrmund Passes.”

And it all makes sense together for the duke. The High King’s real objective is in the Central Lands, the rich heartland of Swazbia.

“Prepare the entire mounted troops immediately. Pack their horses with enough food for three days. I will lead them myself and leave first. While have the rest of the army follow suit. We head to Vigarya Fortress.”

“Yes milord!”

“Also send out fastest riders to Count Osterferd, Count Magdalag, Count Sterphen, Count Pollunsk, Viscount Hiverchord, and Viscount Clockreed to prepare and defend the Golden Boulders and Silver Boulders until I arrive.” Cornelius added.

The Golden Boulders and Silver Boulders were the two famed Augrmund Passes. They were former open mines that became a valley and later the gateways to Central Lands. As their name suggest, they were formerly mined for gold and silver respectively.

He was about to leave when Hottokar yelled at him.

“Hey! It seems that you are forgetting something milord.” Hottokar reminded.

“Don’t worry, Adam heard our deal. And we are neither that savage nor fearless to break our oath to God.” he left the tent after giving a look at Adam. The interrogator nodded after getting the implication of his look and both disappeared from his sight behind the curtains.

One of the Crimson Guards outside walked towards him and kneeled.

“Milord we could send also messengers to the lords on the possible routes of the Rhodlin army to disallow the enemy army on feeding off their lands.”

“You are referring to using Scorch Earth?” The duke asked.

“Yes. This will greatly affect the speed of the Rhodlin forces and also put a heavy load due to the massive size of their army. And also, winter is already approaching. We can use this to force them to retreat without even spilling blood.” The knight explained.

“But Sir Kurtloyn, which do you think is a better choice for the poor barons and nobles that you had mentioned: Living under the rule of an irresponsible mad king who never helped or even tried to defend his own subjects from an invasion and burn their own precious harvests and bounties. Or switch to the one who actually offered them better terms under a well-known just foreign king?” Cornelius asked.

“I don’t… I don’t understand milord.”

“Haa… its fine if you don’t know then. You will know and understand it anyway as soon as the Rhodlin advance goes further inner Swazbia.” The duke said.

“They may retreat if winter comes but that is not guaranteed as we don’t know if provisions and food will not be supplied to our enemy.” Cornelius added.

Then at his words, the other four crimson guards on standby nearby finally got the point. The duke is implying that many low nobles would have already pledged their allegiance or promised their support to the enemy before even the Rhodlin crossed the borders.

“Well then, we will be returning back to the meeting. We have much to discuss quickly and intricately. If we make a mistake here, we will be seeing our own precious homeland burned to the ground.” Cornelius said.

He was stopped from leaving by a loud crushing sound. One of the Crimson Guards, Sir Miswall crushed a crystal goblet with his hands that caused it to bleed.

“My lord! Why?!” The knight cried.

“Why? Why is our king not responding to the cries of his people?! This would have never happened if he is doing his duty and responsibility to protect his own subjects! He is the king! Why is he ignoring us in our dire need?” he added.

Contrary to his expectations, the duke only shook his head and smiled towards him tiredly, which confuses the knight.

“No… you’re wrong. I know that most of you are thinking the same thing… but I have to say this… You are all wrong.” Cornelius said as he mounted his horse.

“Milord?” The knight became confused at his words. The soldiers and knights saw the face of their lord that it’s as if he is in pain.

“It’s the other way around.” With these words, the duke galloped with his horse.

MAP OF THE CONFLICT: