High on the granite battlements of Veron Castle, Lord Achios of Clan Corenios stood by the stone parapet, a silver goblet of wine in his hand.
Below in the river valley, thick columns of black smoke rose into the afternoon sky where the four grain wagons had burned in the sunken ravine.
A young Imperial garrison captain hurried up the stone steps, his face pale and sweating under his iron helmet. "Lord Achios! The grain convoy from Goleryn was ambushed and torched by Vlandian sellswords! Five Elite Menavliatons and twelve levy spearmen are dead in the ravine. Should we deploy the garrison cavalry to hunt the mercenaries down?"
Lord Achios took a slow sip of his wine, his expression unchanged by the report.
"No," Achios replied in a quiet, measured voice. "That is precisely what the Vlandians want. They send light sellswords to burn our wagons, hoping I will march our Menavliatons into the open valley where they can ambush our columns."
Achios turned his gaze toward the south.
"King Derthert's main baron army is marching on Garontor Castle as we speak," Achios continued. "Veron Castle holds the northern pass. As long as our stone walls stand, Vlandia cannot secure their left flank. And Thomund... I know exactly what his orders to these sellswords are. He never changes when he is on the field of war."
Achios turned his cold eyes onto the garrison captain.
"Send these messages immediately to the headmen of Veron and Goleryn," Achios commanded, handing him two sealed wax scrolls. "Ready sixty men and tell them to wait quietly in the tunnels in the basement. And release a falcon to Ovagos. When he receives the signal, it is time to deploy his hidden detachment of heavy Imperial Cataphracts. We do not chase bait into the open."
Thirty miles to the southwest, the main Vlandian baron army was on the move.
Over a thousand armored soldiers marched in massive, disciplined columns along the southern highway toward Garontor Castle and Ortysia. At the head of the royal host rode Lord Ingalther, the supreme army commander and patriarch of Clan dey Cortain, flanked by his eldest son Amalgun leading the heavy shock cavalry and his younger son Arthamund commanding the infantry line.
Riding close behind the command banner were Ingalther's ruthless western allies. Lord Furnhard, the cruel leader of Clan dey Tihr, rode alongside Lord Ospir of Clan dey Gunric, followed by the cutthroat mercenary captains of The Free Company hired under Ingalther's personal silver. Red lion banners, heavy lances, and crossbows stretched for miles down the road, ready to hammer the Western Empire into submission.
Back in the pine hollow near Veron Crossing, Captain Rodrik assessed the valley situation.
With Veron Castle locked down tight and Lord Achios refusing to send his garrison out into the field, Rodrik needed to maintain tight contact with his forward screening lines. Captain Mira had already taken her forty light cavalry scouts to patrol the broad northern Battanian ridge, but the narrow granite crags and rocky goat trails were too tight for a forty-horse troop to sweep without dismounting.
Rodrik ordered the Calamity Squad to ride north as a fast liaison patrol, checking the narrow gorge trails for Imperial couriers and linking up with Captain Mira's forward screen on the high ridge.
Three days of steady riding brought the Calamity Squad deep into the northern mountain pass.
The air grew sharp and cold as the squad guided their horses up a narrow granite gorge lined with scrub pine and loose shale.
Numerius shifted in his wooden saddle, rubbing his bruised thigh with a low groan. "Three days on these rocks and my legs are completely numb. Remind me why we bought work horses instead of cushioned palfreys?"
Nathaniel glanced back from his mount, adjusting his crossbow strap. "Because work horses cost sixteen silver, Num, and palfreys cost eighty. You're riding what we can afford."
Mataranas chewed on his dried pork, giving Numerius a deadpan look. "You can always walk."
Numerius scoffed, adjusting his mace. "And ruin my boots? Never."
Jade adjusted his mail coif, keeping his eyes on the trail ahead. "Keep quiet and watch the treeline. We link up with Mira's outpost on the high ridge and head back before sunset."
As they rounded a steep granite bluff overlooking a shallow creek gorge, Yuzon suddenly threw up his hand, pulling his grey mare behind a cluster of boulders.
"Steel clashing down in the gorge," Yuzon whispered, clicking his spyglass into focus.
[+1 Scouting]
Jade, Numerius, and Nathaniel guided their mounts behind the rocks, peering down through the scrub pine into the creek bed below.
Two hundred yards down in the rocky gorge, a chaotic fight was underway.
A small band of eight green village recruits in padded tunics with crude wooden round shields was backed against a sheer rock wall. At the front of the recruits stood two familiar figures fighting furiously with drawn steel, Nathanos swinging his broadsword with veteran fury, and his younger brother Valerios holding a battered wooden shield, shouting orders to keep the terrified recruits from breaking.
Surrounding them in the creek bed were fifteen heavily armed mountain raiders wearing studded leather vests and iron skullcaps, brandishing broad axes and heavy throwing javelins.
Thwack! Thwack!
Two heavy iron-tipped javelins slammed down from raiders perched on the boulders, splitting a recruit's wooden shield in half and knocking another young villager into the gravel with a bloody shoulder.
"Hold the line!" Nathanos roared, his voice hoarse as he parried a heavy axe strike. "Keep your shields locked! Don't let them circle us!"
A raider lunged at Valerios with a notched broad axe. Valerios ducked beneath the swing, planted his boots into the creek gravel, and drove his steel arming sword into the raider's thigh, kicking the man back into the water. But two more raiders swarmed in immediately, their iron hatchets raining down on Valerios's splintered shield.
"They're getting swarmed," Nathaniel whispered, his knuckles tightening on his light crossbow. "Those green recruits are about to break, and if they route, Nathanos and Valerios will get dragged away in chains."
Jade raised his short spear, making his decision immediately.
"Calamity Squad, mounted flank!" Jade ordered. "Hit them from the high slope!"
The five friends kicked their horses into a sudden gallop, charging down the steep gravel trail leading into the gorge.
Yuzon leaned forward in his saddle at full speed, drawing his hunting bow and releasing a broadhead arrow aimed at a raider perched on the high rocks with a javelin raised.
Snap!
The arrow took the javelin thrower straight through the throat, knocking the man backward off the boulder and sending him crashing into the creek below.
[+1 Bow]
Nathaniel leveled his light Vlandian crossbow on the gallop, firing a steel quarrel directly into an axe-wielding raider who was about to flank Nathanos.
Thwack!
The bolt punched deep into the raider's shoulder, spinning the bandit around and dropping his broad axe into the dirt.
[+1 Crossbow]
"Riders on our rear!" a mountain raider screamed in panic as five horses thundered into the creek bed, spraying cold water and gravel across the rocks.
Mataranas slammed his heavy black workhorse straight into the raider center. Matty raised his reinforced cavalry shield, using the full momentum of horse and iron to plow directly into two raiders on foot, sending both men airborne into the creek bank with a sickening thud.
[+1 Shield]
[+1 Riding]
Numerius rode in right beside Matty, swinging his heavy two-handed iron-banded mace in a wide, murderous arc.
CRUNCH!
The heavy two-handed mace struck a raider's raised iron hatchet, shattering the weapon handle and crushing the man's collarbone beneath the heavy blunt impact.
[+1 Two-Handed]
Seeing the mounted cavalry smash into the raiders' rear, Nathanos let out a roaring battle cry, rallying his eight village recruits.
"Push forward!" Nathanos bellowed, his broadsword flashing as he cut down a stumbling raider.
Valerios stepped forward with renewed fire, his training drills showing as he parried an axe strike with his shield edge and drove his shortsword straight through a raider's leather collar with clean, lethal precision.
Jade rode past the mountain raider leader, gripping his short spear with both hands and channeling his Clean Thrust perk.
THUST!
The steel spearhead drove clean through the raider leader's studded chest armor, lifting the man off his feet and dropping him dead into the churning creek water.
[+1 Polearm]
With their leader dead and eight of their fighters cut down in less than two minutes, the remaining four mountain raiders broke into pure terror, scrambling up the steep shale cliffs and fleeing into the dense pine crags.
The creek gorge fell silent except for the sound of rushing water and the heavy panting of exhausted men.
The eight village recruits dropped their crude wooden shields, collapsing onto the rocks in sheer relief, bandaging their injured comrades.
Numerius leaned on his mace, looking over at the trembling recruits with a grin. "Look at these greenhorns. Who taught you boys to form a circle with your backs pinned against a cliff? You were just begging to get surrounded."
Nathanos lowered his blood-stained broadsword, wiping sweat from his beard with a tired laugh. "They've only had four days of sword drills, Numerius. Give them a break."
"Four days and not a single one thought to bring throwing axes or keep distance?" Numerius chuckled, shaking his head. "You've got a lot of work ahead of you, Nathanos."
Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Be nice, Num. They're still breathing."
Valerios sheathed his arming sword, stepping over the rocks toward Jade's horse. The young protagonist was bruised and bleeding from a scrape on his temple, but his eyes were steady and sharp.
Valerios reached up, gripping Jade's forearm with a firm, bone-cracking hold. "You saved our lives again, Jade. If you hadn't hit their flank, my brother and I would be in chains right now."
A cascade of bright green system notifications lit up across the squad's vision.
[Combat Victory Raider Ambush Broken]
[Renown Gained +2 | Total Renown 43]
[Influence Gained +1 | Total Influence 11]
[Relation Increased with Nathanos +10]
[Current Relation with Nathanos 30]
[Relation Increased with Valerios +10]
[Current Relation with Valerios 30]
[Clan Standing Firm Alliance]
Nathaniel dismounted near the creek bank, walking over to a small wooden baggage cart the raiders had parked behind the boulders.
A muffled groaning sound came from beneath the dirty canvas tarp in the back of the cart.
"Hey, Jade," Nathaniel called out, pulling his dagger. "There's someone tied up back here."
Numerius glanced over from his saddle, smirking. "What did you find, Nate? Another bag of rusty knives to sell Osric?"
"Better," Nathaniel said, slicing through the heavy hemp ropes securing the canvas. "An old man tied up in chains."
"Great," Numerius muttered with a grin. "Hope he knows how to say thank you."
Lying in the back of the cart on a pile of moldy straw was a middle-aged Imperial man with graying hair, wearing a torn scholar's robe and a leather physician's satchel around his neck. His hands and feet were bound in thick iron chains, and his face was bruised from beatings.
Nathaniel quickly cut the ropes and helped the man sit up, handing him a waterskin.
The man drank greedily, coughing on the cold water before looking up at them with tearful, desperate eyes.
"Praise the heavens," the man wheezed, clutching his bruised chest. "I am Tacteos, a traveling physician from the Southern Empire. Those savages ambushed my wagon on the mountain road four days ago."
Valerios and Nathanos stepped forward, their eyes widening in shock.
"Tacteos?" Nathanos said, kneeling beside the cart. "The raiders who took you, was their leader named Radagos?"
Tacteos nodded frantically, pointing a trembling hand toward the high northern granite crags. "Yes! Radagos! That butcher dragged me along to treat his wounded raiders. He has a hidden fortress cave deep in the granite peaks, three miles north of the eagle cliff. He keeps dozens of captives and all his stolen loot locked inside!"
A glowing blue system window blazed across the vision of the Calamity Squad and Valerios in unison.
[Tutorial Quest Tracked]
[Radagos Mountain Hideout Located]
[Quest Branch Unlocked]
[Option A Joint Assault. Join Valerios and Nathanos to storm Radagos Mountain Hideout tonight.]
[Option B Defer. Return to company lines and allow Valerios to assault the hideout independently.]
Nathaniel looked at the glowing blue prompt, then over at Jade with a hesitant frown. "Wait, Jade. What about our scouting orders? Rodrik told us to link up with Mira's forward screen on the ridge.
"We are three miles deep in the northern crags," Yuzon said, studying the surrounding ridgelines through his spyglass. "Rodrik and the main camp are down in the southern valley, and Mira's cavalry troop is holding the broad western ridge. There are no company eyes out here. We have complete operational freedom."
Numerius grinned, slamming his two-handed mace into his palm with a heavy thud. "We are off the leash, boys. No officers breathing down our necks, a bandit strongbox full of loot, and our ticket home waiting at the top of that mountain. Why the hell wouldn't we hit it?"
Mataranas checked the leather straps on his shield, giving a single, firm nod. "We have time before dawn."
Jade looked at the choice floating in his vision and mentally selected Option A.
[Branch Selected Joint Assault]
[Active Objective Storm Radagos Mountain Hideout]
The UI screen vanished.
Jade looked at Nathanos and Valerios, his resolve hardening. "Radagos is only three miles north. We hit the cave fast, clear the bandits, and get back to our patrol route before sunrise. Rodrik will just think we did a thorough night sweep."
Jade turned to the older brother, tightening his grip on his short spear.
"Get your recruits bandaged up and check your weapons, Nathanos," Jade said quietly. "Tonight, we take Radagos's cave."