A coastal village in Oceanhall.
Houses are burning, there are corpses everywhere, women, children and men all lying on the ground. This village has been raided and captured by the Lyrions several days ago, the smell of flesh burned are all over the place. Until this morning, the banners here are yellow flags with unicorns, which are brought by the 300 Lyrions who sail here from the Eden's Cross Sea.
However, now the yellow banners are scattered and the yellow turbans are killed or wounded lying all over the village. The ships these raiders used to come here are ignited and sent as tributes to the Sea Gods. The black armoured soldiers are here, they drag the wounded Lyrion raiders to the execution place. Those who are still alive are killed brutally by thrusts of spears through their necks. The banners now flying in the village center belong to house Rosewood, who are seeking vengeance for their people.
- My lord, it seems like there are only about 300 Lyrions here. The rest might be raiding other villages or in Summervalley.
Harry Rosewood, the firstborn son of the Lord of Rose Habour. He has raised his troops, which consists of 500 Rosewood knights and 1500 levies after getting permission from the Royal Family. The Blue Ordermen are also tracing the raiders and hunting them down.
- Bring me their commander, I want to know where are the rest? Lord Aetherwolf can take care of those in Summervalley himself.
- As you wish, my lord.
A more well-dressed Lyrion are dragged inside the tent and thrown to the ground. Harry asks softly:
- Where is your comrades, lad? I have some businesses to take care of with them.
- Fuck off, Arcondians.
A knight standing beside hits the Lyrion commander with his spears, cause Lyrion's head to crash to the ground and blood starts to appear on his head.
- Answer what you're asked, asshole.
The Lyrion commander remains quiet, the knights around give Harry a look, and when he nods. The Lyrion is beaten up, by spears, sticks, or swords, 20 minutes later he lies on the ground breathing heavily. Seeing that the enemy seems tough and can not get more information from him, Harry sighs:
- Bring him out, crucify him in the town center. Hammers and anvils sometimes make man softer. Send scouts to the nearby villages. As the reports say, there were at least 1000 men landed here, and 5 villages have been looted already. I want us to find them before they find our folks.
- Aye, my lord.
When being dragged out, the Lyrion whisper faintly:
- You're going to die, when our master come here on our ships, you'll be killed, your wives and children will become slaves. Your castles, cities, and towns will become ruins. Your gods will disappear, your names will be forgotten.
- Who is your master?
- Master Hadrian, the scourge of the Sea Gods, when our Great Army shake the seas and lands, you'll know what is called fear. You'll be like the dogs begging for mercy.
- Nice tongue, I change my mind. Crucify him and his men on the shore, let his master know what he'll find when he gets here.
Two soldiers drag the Lyrion out, and not long after, the shouting of pain are heard from the shore. Harry asks his knight:
- Are my father marching here? If this man's words are true, these 1000 should only be the scouts, so we'll need more men to fight them. If he leads the Royal Fleet here, we can strike them before they reach the shore.
- I'm afraid no, your honor. But the king has sent Sir George along with 10000 men to reinforce us and house Aetherwolf. They should be here in more than 2 weeks.
- Good, now we have to deal with the raiders roaming our land, we will march to the....
- MY LORD.
A soldier runs inside the tent, tries to catch his breath, he speaks:
- Ships, many ships are approaching.
Harry and his knights get out of the tents and go to the shore. There, they see a scene that shocks them.
Thousands of vessels, different sizes, and types but only under one banner, the yellow unicorns are being sailed won't the sea. Although their direction seems not to be this village, the huge size of the fleet causes them to lose their breath, there are even some weak-minded soldiers who fall to the ground. Harry carefully observes the Lyrion fleet, he speaks:
- Goddammit, they are heading toward Rose Habour.
And then he points several knights:
- You, you, and you. Mount your horses and ride to Rose Habour and inform Sir Lancel and Sir Thorax. Ride to Meath to inform my father too, ask him to come here immediately. Send an envoy to Summervalley and tell Lord Aetherwolf about this, ask him for 2000 men. And you, ride to the capital yourself, the king must know about this. GO, NOW.
-AYE!
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Neverwinter.
- Assemble the army, load the supplies to the cargoes. I want everything to be ready in 5 hours, Mushashi, you'll be in charge of Neverwinter when I'm absent. Put a watchful eye on the Beastmen, I'll leave 15000 troops for you. I'll command the Demon Riders and Samurais myself. Charles, take 10000 march to the cities alongside the Quintus river to get on ships and sails east. Urge Sir George to match faster and Impetus to bring his troops back. Order the Grasslanders to send 10000 men to aid too. We must defense Rose Habour at any price.
- AS YOU WISH, YOUR MAJESTY.
Seeing my generals getting out of the room, I sigh. A pigeon has just arrived to inform me about the Lyrion fleet. Thousands of vessels, then there must be nearly hundreds thousands of raiders on them. Not only my kingdom is in danger, but the whole Arcondale Peninsula is also in danger, too. In the worst case, I'll have to mobilize the levies, which means put the spears in the hands of farmers, carpenters, or artisans who haven't touched a spear in their lives.
I start to write a letter, Khal Kjartan must be busy conquering the Grasslands now so he'll not have the manpower to help me. I'm sending this letter to the Holy land, some gold from my coffers tributed to that same bishop will work. The church has an army of 40000 men strong and another 10000 holy knights. The Alleinstein Kingdom is hostile toward me so they won't help, even they'll backstab me at this time, I'll have to watch out for them. The Crimsons Kingdom in the far south has been closing themselves for more than 50 years, seeking help from them is hopeless.
- Your majesty, your chariot has been ready. The supplies have been loaded and the soldiers are in position.
"Alright" I stand up, tighten the armor I'm wearing.
- Let's go to war.