Dawn’s sun had finally risen and two armies stood on opposite sides of a grassy field. Where once two forces stood, equally matched, Varis’ forces were now dwarfed by the combined armies of the Estinians and the traitorous forces of the newly deemed king, Athar Moonfall.

Koda sat saddled on his riding wolf. Wildeye was by his side, geared in a lightweight leather armor set. She looked up anxiously and whined. Koda reached over to calm her nerves.

“I know, girl. This may be our last day together. If that is the case, it was an honor to be your familiar,” cooed Koda.

Wildeye rubbed her muzzle against his leg in compliance. Dallin nodded to Koda, signaling him to follow him to the center of the field where Aric and Athar waited.

The four nobles gripped their leather reins while an uncomfortable silence swirled around them. Finally Dallin spat on the ground and yelled across the field at Athar, “The crown doesn’t fit you, traitor!”

Athar only raised his chin and grinned.

Aric gathered Dallin’s attention before speaking, “King Dallin, I advise you to surrender. Your men are grossly outnumbered now dat Long Whisper hev come to dere senses and turned on you. As Div’Rah, I em merciful end reasonable. I vill lit you rule Varis under my banner, as I hev allowed Athar to rule.”

“Even sharing the same sun with you and your swine this day is an insult to my men and I. I will look for you on the battlefield!” Dallin snapped.

Aric looked taken aback by the ruthless insult, but regained his composure, “Very vell King Dallin, as you say.”

***

The Silent Ones and ARO knelt in a large circle behind the main lines of battle. Wiccer relayed his plan of action to Avalon and Elucard as they listened intensely.

“Aric will no doubt send his Rabbits to take down King Dallin. They will easily break through the lines in the chaos of the battle. We need to protect the king.”

“Legion, Inle, and Vada will lead the Black Rabbits, together we three need to intercept them,” said Avalon as she nodded at Wiccer’s assessment.

“Our boys will form a circle around Dallin and Koda to stave off any Rabbits, but we won’t last forever,” Wiccer added.

“Leave the outer ring to the Silent Ones,” Avalon offered.

Wiccer turned to Elucard, “Elucard, can I count on you to stay focused.”

Elucard flashed an iterated glare, the same glare Wiccer knew he was going to receive, “Inle will be there. Are you going to stay focused?”

“Point taken,” said Wiccer, wincing from the retort.

“We all have our grudges with these Rabbits. They’ve all caused us great pain, but we must all stay focused. If we stumble, we will fall,” Avalon said sternly.

Wiccer rose and looked at the members of ARO. Each had tired but ready faces. Each feared the outcome of the eminent battle.

“Listen up Watchers! Today will be a day of reckoning. We stand at the edge of a battle of insurmountable odds. Among our enemies are a God-King, the deadliest assassins in Long Whisper, and those we once bent our knees to,” he paused, taking a large sigh as he thought about how participating in this battle made him a criminal in his own country, and the challenges the coming onslaught would be. He took a deep breath and continued, “Well, we serve no God-King, and we are not in Long Whisper. Each one of you has tasted Black Rabbit blood. We also no longer serve a king. What we once sought to protect, we must now seek to destroy. As you are no longer part of the Long Whisper army, you may turn and walk away now. No one will shame you if you do.”

Each ARO member looked at each other and nodded. Rulan spoke up, “We’re all with you, Wiccer.”

“To the end!” called out Timber.

A large group of men, mostly made of remnants of several units that once belonged to the various lords, surrounded the ARO members.

Blayvaar looked in disgust, “What do you want, Rith?”

Rith gestured to the various scattered units, before speaking, “We are no longer whole as an army, which is why we need to stick together now more than ever. You had our backs from the very beginning. Now it’s time we had your backs, ARO.”

Blayvaar stood and offered his hand. Rith responded by shaking it.

Wiccer flashed a joy filled smile. He looked onward to the Estinian army, they were ready.