Professor Kal stood atop a large hill, taking in the frigid air of the early autumn morning. The sky was overcast, preventing any warmth from the sun reaching the ground. A few migratory birds were passing over him, racing south in search of fairer weather. Off in the distance he could see smoke, not a large pillar of ash, but several dozen slim dark lines reaching for the sky. The last village before reaching the border between Amine and Morgania was only a few miles away.
The crunching sound of the frosted grass being stepped on sounded behind him. "How far until the village?"
"Oh, five miles maybe."
"Finally." Princess Alessandria said with relief. "I must thank you again for everything you've done for me, and for everyone. We wouldn't have made it through the nights without your magic."
Professor Kal looked over his shoulder at the Princess. "Just remember, I didn't keep those fires lit for free."
Princess Alessandria covered her mouth and giggled. "I do not believe you would ever let me forget."
She had grown to like the eccentric mage, even with his frequent temper tantrums and strange quirks. Over the last three days she had seen just how magnanimous he could be. When the survivors were hungry, he had summoned several spectral wolves to hunt for prey. Although he did say it was just because he was tired of hearing them whine and moan, she still thought that she could see his true colors shining through his rough exterior. There were other trivial things as well that she attributed to him just being misunderstood and truly being someone with a kind and just heart.
While looking into her eyes, Professor Kal felt something stir within him, something that he had long forgotten that he could feel. He took a step back, a look of worry on his face. "Stop looking at me like that, you're creeping me out!"
…..
"Gods, this feels so good!" Professor Treffle moaned, leaning back in a simple chair.
They had all just sat down around a large table, situated near an equally large hearth. Hungry flames licked the hardwood logs, giving out heat that battled against the autumn cold. Laura had her head down on the table, barely keeping her eyes open, only the promise of a warm meal kept her from passing out due to exhaustion. Ryan was sitting next to her with Ben directly across from him, Richard was as quiet as always, staring blankly into the nearby fire.
Even Professor Kal appeared exhausted, but for an entirely different reason. Sitting at the other end of the table was Princess Alessandria with Lilly sitting to her right. She was sitting with perfect posture and her head was on a swivel. She took an interest in everything that her eyes set upon, everything was so much different than what she was used to.
Professor Kal was hunched forward, his elbows on the table, and was rubbing his temples with his forefingers. "So, Princess, why are you still here?"
They had made it to the village in the early afternoon, surprising the guards when they spotted the large group of filthy refugees. It took some convincing, but they all were eventually allowed to enter. Princess Alessandria was gracious enough to gift each of the survivors enough money to live off of for a few weeks, earning her their unending gratitude.
Focusing on his voice, Alessandria answered. "That's simple really. I must return to my Kingdom as soon as possible, and since you are going as well, I see no better way than to accompany you."
"Who said we're heading to Morgania?"
"Young Lord Visigoth mentioned it in passing." She explained, motioning towards Richard.
Richard was already trying to blend into the background, now that the Princess had divulged their extremely limited conversation, his only wish now was to completely disappear. Professor Kal glared at the young mage before turning back to the Princess. "We're not in that big of a hurry. It might be best if you hire a carriage or wait on the group you left behind."
The Princess retained the small smile that was on her rosy lips. "You don't seem to understand, this is of the utmost importance, I cannot waste time waiting for the others and my safety would not be guaranteed with some random carriage operator."
"What's so important that you can't wait a few more days?"
"I am a princess, everything I do is important."
"Do you think that when you go relieve yourself?" He asked, rolling his eyes to the back of his head, before adding "It'll cost you."
"Haven't you've taken enough from us!" Lilly exploded, jumping to her feet.
Princess Alessandria placed her fair hand gently on her waist, implying for Lilly to sit back down. Begrudgingly, Lilly obliged. "What is it that you want, we can pay you whatever you wish."
Professor Kal held up his hand, counting down with his fingers." First, I want unfettered access to your Royal Library. Second, I want access to the dungeons within your country. Thirdly, a wagon full of mana stones would be nice." He paused, watching the Princess's smile slowly contort into a frown. "Finally, I want to know if you guys are the ones that cursed the blonde idiot."
Professor Kal had said the last sentence loudly, not even trying to be discreet. Everyone's attention snapped to the Princess, even the few patrons inside the inn who were trying hard not to get caught eavesdropping.
The Princess's frown was now a scowl. "Absolutely not!"
Not taking his eyes off of her, Professor Kal nodded before slowly saying "Ok, just so we're clear, no to just the cursing, right?"
Now it was her turn to roll her eyes, although she had several questions that she wanted to ask concerning what he knew, and his true purpose of going to the capital. She just could not bring herself to be around him any longer, and she was starting to question her earlier judgment. Standing, with Lilly following her lead, Princess Alessandria spoke sternly. "When you are ready, we will be in our room, the sooner we leave the better."
Princess Alessandria gracefully stormed off to her room, all of the eyes inside the room following her as she did so. Once she had disappeared up the squeaky stairs, everyone still seated at the table looked to Professor Kal. Ben was the one to voice everyone's thoughts. "So we're not spending the night here?"
"Nope." Professor Kal replied, earning nothing but dirty glares and exasperated moans.
…..
A cacophony of hoofbeats thundered down a wide dirt road, the recent rain turning the many potholes into muddy quagmires that slowed their progress. The once polished armor of the fifty knights were now dull and coated in muck. Horses snorted under the strain of carrying the weight of their riders at a full gallop for so long.
Marcus had opened up some distance between him and the knights due to him being considerably lighter, putting much less strain on his horse. Swayzee would be visible once he crested the next sizable hill, but he could already see that something was terribly wrong.
Jet black carrion crows were circling high in the sky, making the overcast skies appear to have a single black ever shifting cloud. He kicked his horse, urging the animal faster. A sudden change in the breeze caused him to retch, the stench of death hung heavily on the wind. He breached the top of the hill, and his mind went blank.
With no orders being given from the saddle, the horse slowed to a stop, allowing Marcus an opportunity to take in the dreadful sight. Swayzee was nothing but smoldering ruins, sections of the wooden outer wall were still standing, but were charred. A handful of corpses were strewn around where the front gates once stood, crows feasting on the rotten meat. Wild dogs were prowling between the ruined foundations, fighting amongst themselves over scraps.
Rage, grief, disbelief, a myriad of emotions flooded his mind as tears streamed down his face. The brief time that his newborn daughter had been alive flashed across his eyes, filling him with a feeling of immeasurable loss. The rumble of hoofbeats coming from behind him seemed so far off to him, like they were miles away. A flash of light caught his eye, something coming from deeper into the village.
He squinted his eyes, trying to make out what was moving around in the burnt-out ruins. At the same moment, the fifty knights came to a stop next to him, all were equally astonished and enraged by the sight. They might not have been overly concerned about a few missing villagers but to see this level of wonton violence on their countrymen ignited their fury.
The Knight's Commander trotted his mount up to Marcus, putting his calloused hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"What's that." Marcus said, focusing on the shiny object, pointing out towards it with his forefinger.
The Commander pulled a spyglass from his saddlebag and brought it up to his eye. For several long seconds he peered through the copper-colored tool, his hands shaking the longer he did so. In a rage, he slammed the spyglass onto the ground, shattering the costly glass into thousands of pieces.
"Rickner!" He bellowed. "Ride back to the capital, tell them that those Morganian pigs have slaughtered our brethren!" His words caused a ripple of indigent fury to wash over the knights, he continued. "The rest of you, with me! They're still in the village, pissing all over our dead, let's make sure that's the last mistake they'll ever make!"
…..
The momentum of a speeding horse could never hope to be stopped by a single man, no matter how strong he proposed himself to be. That fact alone is what made cavalry so advantageous on the battlefield. The forty-nine knights knew that full well as they entered the destroyed gates of what was once the village of Swayzee.
They brought to arms the short spears that were attached to their saddles with thick leather straps. This would provide them with much more reach than if they used their short swords, and with a stabbing weapon it was much more likely to pierce the enemy's plate armor. Although they were enraged, they had not forgotten the hundreds of hours of training they had endured.
The sound of dozens of horses galloping was anything but discreet. The few knights rummaging through the rubble reacted quickly, grouping up and unsheathing their swords. The distance between the two groups was still quite large but was rapidly diminishing with each passing second. Having no cover due to the buildings being destroyed, the knights were forced to stand their ground.
With an underhanded grip, the Knight Commander used the horse's momentum, striking at a knight. The short spear drove through the knight's shoulder, piercing armor and flesh alike. The other six knights struck at the Commander's mount with their long swords, inflicting heavy wounds on his horse but doing nothing to slow its momentum. As the Commander continued on down the road, the other forty-eight knights were lined up ten across, galloping towards the remaining six knights.
Preparing themselves for death, the half-dozen knights braced themselves. When the riders were within range, they lunged their swords forward, trying to kill the horses before being bowled over and trampled to death. A few of the swords found true, stabbing straight into the hearts of two of the horses, killing them instantly. The two riders were launched to the ground, hitting hard and breaking a few bones.
The other riders did their best to avoid their comrades that were sprawled out on the ground but were unable to. Their horses instinctively jumped over the dead horses before landing on the gravely injured knights, killing them. There was no time to mourn their dead friends, the commanding knight was barking at them to get back into formation. The noise from the small skirmish had alerted the Morganian knights that had set up camp on the other side of the burned village.
The Commander reorganized his troops, reforming them into a straight line. He was shocked to see how many Morganian knights there were, they easily outnumbered his men two to one. He knew of the visit from the First Princess of Morgania and would have never thought that they would use that as a pretext to attack Amine, but the evidence was all around them. Many people believed that they were the ones responsible for the then First Prince's curse that killed their beloved King. It only made since that Morgania was itching for a war.
Being outnumbered two to one didn't sway the Commander's decision to attack the Morgania knights. They were mounted which gave them a huge advantage, and, like most men, he had an unhealthy amount of pride in himself and his men which clouded his judgment. What he didn't take into consideration was that the knights before him were the elites of the Kingdom of Morgania, handpicked to accompany the First Princess. Pulling his sword from its sheath, he let out a guttural war cry, rousing his men's desire for bloodshed. Pointing his sword forward, the mounted knights charged.
Being much more prepared than the few unfortunate knights searching the rubble for survivors, the ones at the camp stood in a line with long pikes by their side. They were preparing to impale the horses on their long weapons as they attempted to break through their line. Their line was fifty men across in the shape of a crescent moon, the camp at the center. Their armor glistened even in the cloudy skies, highly polished, and decorated with the golden crest of their kingdom.
Not one of them moved as the knights charged towards them like a tsunami of muscle and steel. As they passed the halfway point, the Morganian knights brought their pikes in front of them digging the blunt end into the dirt and dropping the killing end towards their enemies. Still, their breathing remained steady. With only fifty feet to go, the ground suddenly erupted before the mounted knights, long spears of rock like vicious teeth, bit into the unsuspecting horses.
Chaos spread forth in front of the Morganian knights, sounds of dying horses filled the air as the beasts struggled to pull themselves off the earthen barbs. The once mounted knights were flung forward over the heads of their horses, some landing headfirst onto the packed ground, breaking their necks and crushing their skulls. The rest of the thirty some knights struggling to stand and fight were set upon by the pike wielding knights. Their deaths were quick but painful as the long weapons found the weakest points of their armor.
The small battlefield was quickly cleansed, the horses were put out of their misery and the armor and weapons of the dead knights were looted and stored away. The bodies were left were they died, telling whoever came upon the scene the story of what had transpired. The forty-nine strong mounted unit was completely wiped out, the only survivor was the one that was currently racing back to Lenova.
"Sir, what shall we do with the civilian?" A knight asked the Commander of their unit.
"Leave him be, he's just searching through the rubble, he's not a threat." He answered before continuing in a stern voice. "Tell the mages to erase the Earth Spikes and to use body fortification on the men, we need to return to the capital as soon as possible. The attack from Amine only confirms what we feared, they must have attacked the Princess after we split up, we can only assume the worse."