There is a hill nearby which would give me a much better view but its probably watched by another pair of lookouts. Instead, I decided to go into the light forest on the side of the hill facing the enemy, I will have to get closer to see, but it's unlikely that someone is hawking over it.

I soon find a small mound. I look around a bit and determine its safe, probably. When I climbed it I could see the enemy army in its entirety, it's front in the distance and it's back closer to me. I focus and observe.

There was an obvious difference between its front and back. As a whole, they probably number even more than 70.000! On top of that, the damned rumours were true, Emperor brought his tagmata and stationed them in the back of the formation, trailed only by their supply wagons.

Surrounded by it and given excessive space, there were two persons clad in purple garments and armour with a golden sheen. If it was anyone else I would have assumed the armour was covered in polished bronze but paired with imperial purple it is probably covered in actual gold.

I stood in awe, I don't know who the other person is but there are several stories about the Gifted Emperor's exploits, he was a general that deposed the Emperor Theodosios after a failed campaign against the Ildrisids. The army was ashamed of the defeat and backed then General Paleilos who issued an honour duel to Theodosios.

It is said that Paleilos was so aggressive he swallowed a godstone and fought like a savage. Theodosios cut him a dozen times but the Paleilos didn't fall, he disregarded a stab to his guts and with a mighty swing cut through the metal of the former Emperors helmet and decapitated him along with it.

Trying to keep my head clear I quickly shifted my focus, after all, I knew the Emperor would be there, even if there is one person besides him there is no point worrying about it.

The rest of the formation was composed of more ordinary soldiers with small contingents of auxiliary cavalry stationed in the centre. They were moving in an irregular column and were a bit spread out. They don't expect to be taken by surprise, to be fair, I don't think that we would be able to get close unnoticed to deliver that surprise.

On my way, I observed the terrain that Thebasians are going to cross. The valley isn't that narrow, there is plenty of room for manoeuvring and we would be seen as soon as we cross the top of the hill. Calvary in the centre will be able to quickly provide support.

Vlastislav asked me to give him my perspective so I sat and fell into thought.

If we attacked from the sides at best we would enter a bloody melee and at worst they would flank us with their superior numbers. If we attacked from the front they wouldn't flee with their Emperor behind them, they would have time to reorganize. At the back, we would be met with their elites. If we hoped to have a decent chance of winning we would have to make a fast and concentrated strike. I remembered that I went past a crossing. The plan began being formulated in my head.

I stood up and decided to take another look at the army, my eyes watched the column for anything I could use. I observed that the troops are dragging their feet, Premisyl said they were forced marching but that doesn't quite reflect how fatigued the imperials are, they will probably collapse on their buts the moment they get some breather. As I lay my eyes on the Emperor again I saw a flash. I looked closer. The flash didn't come from the Emperor. The more I looked the faster my heart started beating.

Hidden among the elites were men equipped with copper and bronze.

The Emperor wasn't the only Gifted in the army, not by far.

As my eyes scoured the tagmata I saw more and more flashes, there were dozens of them present. As they darted left and right they suddenly stopped.

They didn't set on a bronze tip of staff or an armguard but a man clad in bronze armour.

The man that stood while a human wave parted for him and looked directly at me.

The fear struck me and I started running for my life.

Not thinking about being seen while doing so I reached my horse and jumped on its back. With my kick as motivation, the horse started galloping.

By the time I reached camp I calmed down but my mare was barely holding on, I'm not exactly the lightest of gentleman around. I already started shouting before I entered it.

"Where is Vlastislav!"

Two dozen men turned towards me and one of them pointed towards the mound behind the largest tent. In the distance, I saw Vlastislav talking to a dark-haired man.

Without dismounting I quickly made my way towards him.

Hearing the sound of hoofs hitting the ground both men turned towards me. The dark-haired man had some majestic braids and impressive armour, between its seems I saw hints of reddish-brown. If he isn't the Knez I'm certain he is one of the generals, to be on the safe side I kneeled and bowed my head.

"My liege I have an urgent report"

Vlastislav responded.

"He is the boy I spoke to you about he returned from the scouting mission. Yarosh, speak what you saw."

I nodded, hearing no objection from the dark-haired man I began my report.

"The enemy is moving in a long and irregular column. I assess they will reach the crossing in front of us within the next 7 hours, 8 if we are lucky. Their regulars are in front and middle of the column, I estimate they have 10.000 to 15.000 cavalry in the centre. More importantly, the Emperor has the tagmata stationed in the back with the supply wagons and he is not alone, I saw two people in gold and purple riding in the middle of the tagmata. My lord, dispersed and hidden around the Emperor I sware on my life I saw men using bronze, He brought at least a couple thousend Gifted. The whole army numbers between 71.000 and 75.000."

Vlastislav held his chin and said quietly.

"He probably brought one of his sons, don't tell anyone about the tagmata and especially about the Gifted, if the men aren't scared now if they hear that they will be."

A deep and manly voice responded to me.

"Tell me what you think"

I raised my head slightly and blinked.

Vlastislav quickly assured me.

"Speak your mind Yar, how do we beat them?"

After a moment of apprehension, I started slowly speaking but seeing no objections as I continued I soon got more engaged.

"My liege the valley is wide, they will see us as soon as we see them and they will shift to face us, we cannot afford to face the full might of their army. I think we should barricade the crossing"

I glanced and saw the man I was now sure was the Knez frown and open his mouth to speak.

"Barricading the crossing to stop them going forwards would only delay them and alert them of our presence"

I dared refute my liege.

"My liege you misunderstood me"

I let my lip curl upwards.

" We are not putting a barricade to stop them marching forward, we are putting it there so they can't escape".

Well, that earned his interest.

"I'm Listening"

"My Knez, we should cross a river and then barricade the crossing. Afterwards, we should move out of the valley, when the Emperor sees the barricade he will have to halt and he will probably wait before breaking it down because he will expect an ambush. In that time we should move around the Imperial army and position ourselves at their back, his men will probably use the break to get some rest from the forced march. That is when our cavalry will charge the tagmata with the rest of the army bearing down on the imperial back. If we manage to overwhelm their elites before the rest of the army arrives there will be panic as they will have no route of escape, caught between a hammer and an anvil"

I dared raise my head a little and saw the Knez in deep thought.

A nerve-wracking minute passed and then he spoke.

"That might work"

He gestured me to come inside the tent and Vlastislav patted me on my back. He whispered to me.

"Rostok would be proud"

Shortly, we entered the tent and set the details of our plan, with Vlastislavs formidable experience and the military knowledge of my Knez it was quickly ironed out and set in motion.

If it fails, by the end of the day my head will be put on the pike. Will it be Volyn or Thebasian one, I don't know.