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Chapter 2 - Chapter 1: Blood For Sport

The Forest Of Sorrows, Contested Region, 540 B.C...

  The violent clanking of heavily pressed iron meeting iron in the heat of a long and hard-fought battle echoed throughout a large and mostly unexplored forest as two rival forces collided in a bid to end a long and bloodied campaign for dominance over the region. Of the opposing forces, there were large men of strange origin with bloodlust behind their eyes who had taken to the custom of wearing the freshly butchered hides of hunted animals and partook in ingesting their blood and vital organs due to the belief it made them just as ferocious as their former animal foe when it came to combat. These large men of great strength and strange custom were known collectively as barbarians and they had come for a particularly war-happy tribe that sought conquest no matter the odds.

These brutish men walked the battled field caked in blood and mud while deliberately wearing war paint in the form of ground dye from the paste made from wild plants or the actual blood from animals slain in the heat of an intense battle. The men were usually solemn when on the battlefield speaking in their native tongue and often confusing enemies that knew not their strange customs, but they were an effective force when seeking to destroy all within their uncharted path and obtain glory via blood sport.

On the opposite side, were their rivals strong and battle-hardy men made up of mostly Greek ancestry that happened to hail from a long-forgotten province of the former kingdom of Macedonia. Though the once great empire had dwindled since the passing of Alexander The Great and split between his generals, The province of Medina remained as steadfast in its Greek heritage as before under the leadership of the Greek-born King Myron of Medina.

Myron a capable warrior in his own right became king due to a long and bloody conquest when Medina was on the brink of collapse due to poor leadership and underhanded dealings from the former families in power. He with a significant portion of the opposing forces that came to the forefront during the bloody civil war slaughtered all who had been responsible and was made king as a result.

Despite being of Greek heritage, Myron had three wives from different cultures. His first wife had been as a result of an arranged marriage to a Roman nobleman's daughter who had wished to do trade business with Medina despite the apparent animosity between the Greeks and his people and offered his eldest daughter as a suitable means of procuring an alliance. She was a beautiful but fierce lass known as Clelia Of Rome. She proved to be a highly educated and ruthless Queen due to her Roman background and took her responsibilities as Queen very seriously. The people of Medina feared her union with Myron however as she was much too Roman for their liking.

The people eventually quieted their discontent after she produced the first heir of Medina and Myron's eldest son, Basilius of Medina. While the birth of Basilius was met with much fanfare and joy, he proved to be every bit as Roman in his upbringing as his mother and thus eventually lost favor with the people due to his ruthless and conniving nature. Eventually, even Myron grew to despise his first wife who had been cold to him on many a night but knew her place as Queen was secure because she'd produced an heir to the crown, a son at that.

Eventually, Myron grew tired of his wife's coldness and eventually sought out a second wife which came in the form of a brutal and bloodied campaign not so unlike the current one being waged when he had ventured into contested lands and battled against a well-hidden barbarian tribe who had settled in the region of Cypress. The leader of this tribe was a rather infamous warrior and king by the name of Beorhtwulf Of Cypress. While Myron and Beorhtwulf sought a long and bloodied battle, both came to respect one another and eventually a truce was called with Cypress allying with Medina due to the marriage of Myron and Beorhtwulf's second-born daughter a fiery redhead lass by the name of Maeva Of Cypress.

Unlike Queen Clelia, Maeva wawell-likeded and even loved among the people of Medina and considered to have been Myron's favorite wife. They shared a loving union and she proved to be quite a woman of the people as she served as loyally in Medina as she had in Cypress. Her knowledge of battle and political intrigue was an astounding factor in many of Myron's battles as well as her mothering nature. Myron had never known a more passionate woman in all aspects of her life than his second wife.

He came to rely on her more and more as the years passed and eventually, she did him the honor of birthing a second son and heir to the throne of Medina. A son who would go on to become a gifted and highly skilled warrior in his own right and well-known among the people of Medina who had preferred him to be the future king over his increasingly ruthless and selfishly motivated elder brother. Lycadias Of Medina was born under superstitious circumstances as it was during a blood moon that he came into the world. As a baby, it was said that he was as ferocious as a wolf while in the womb of his mother and seemed to already have a thirst for combat by the time he could walk.

Lycadias often referred to as Lycidas was a very quick study when it came to his duties as a Prince of Medina and loved the people as much as his mother and father had. They loved him just the same and over the years he developed a fair and just reputation. This second child, as honorable as one gets when in combat and beyond clashed valiantly amid the other warriors of Medina against the opposing forces that threatened to pursue their means of conquest amid the looming forest.

Although Myron eventually took another with whom had eventually bore him a third child and another promising son, Nicodemus of Medina. The boy was quite young and well looked after by his stepmother and biological mother back in Medina. Lycadias tended to favor his younger sibling and often spoiled him rotten despite the boy retaining humility and a virtuous heart.

In the present, Lycidas continued to add to his ferocious reputation when it came to open combat taking out three of the looming forces of animal hide-clad warriors that intended to do him and a good number of his men harm in their quest for domination. Unlike most of the warriors of Medina, Lycidas was as intimidating and as domineering in combat as his foes on this day.

His blade made of the best steel courtesy of his father's specifications when he became a warrior and obtained his justly earned promotion to first general in his father's army, was slick with the crimson of blood from the numerous foes he had felled in the heat of combat. When in action it was always noted by those close enough to witness who fought alongside him that Lycidas was as giddy as a wolf on the hunt when it came to combat, his dark eyes flickered with a malice akin to a wolf stalking and going for the kill. Some soldiers have even claimed to have seen an eerie wolfish grin filed across his face when engaging an enemy.

The moniker of "The Wolf" was given to him as a result and one that he wore with just as much pride as his title of being a Prince of Median. It was said that his grandfather possessed extraordinary skill when in combat and leadership skills far beyond most people of barbarian descent. Rumors have been swirling amid men drunk and otherwise that Lycidas was the result of his grandfather having wolf's blood in his veins and had become like one.

Whatever the reason, Lycidas was a formidable opponent in battle and a skilled tactician when it came to strategy. His education and upbringing gave him the best of both worlds when combined with his natural skill and respect for his mother's heritage.

The swiping of his blade saw to the end of two more charging barbarians each perishing with a terrified expression across their blood-stained faces. The warriors of Medina rallied behind their great general pleased to have the tide of battle turn in their favor as more and more of their foes found it less in their interest to keep attacking.

Lycidas slaughtered his way through the main line of warriors cutting them down in droves before he set his sights on their leader who had been the biggest of them all. He wore a large animal hide depicting that of a great black bear and had one of his eyes white while the other had been as blue as the sky that could barely be seen amid the tall and looming trees of the forest where their battle had taken place.

Much to the shock and awe of his men, Lycidas alone charged the bear hide leader with his sword at the ready. The ruthless barbarian had done the same wielding his ax and rushing toward the swift leader of the Medinan forces.

Even in the middle of combat, Lycidas was a handsome lad, nearly six one in height and a decent size with lean muscle he proved to be quite a handful for his parents as his teenage years came to pass. His long dark locks dangled at his mud blood-soaked shoulders. The stark contrast between his hair and his olive oil-tanned flesh was evident even without all the blood. He spent a good deal of time in the sun, even when he was at home and it seemed to make his appearance more appealing.

Sweat, blood, and dirt mixed as Lycidas leaped at the bear hide leader of the barbarians and once more steel clashed with steel. Both men were plenty strong in their respective rights and clashed multiple times as both sides looked on in awe. Every man on that battlefield knew that the war would be over should either one of them fall.

The leader of The Barbarians shouted something in his native tongue and Lycidas growled his eyes giddly in the wake of his bloodlust getting the better of him. It was as if the world had slowed down and all that he could hear were the slow drawn-out breaths from himself and his well-managed heartbeat. Another clashing of steel and Lycidas noticed how winded the much larger man had been barely grasping his ax which was becoming increasingly hard for him to wield effectively.

Like an animal on the hunt, Lycidas knew all too well that it would take one good strike to put an end to this bout and it was all in the matter of timing. He focused his mind as the rapid beating of the barbarian's heart filled his keen ears and he saw the opening he'd been waiting for. As the clueless barbarian went to swing, his breath released and his heart pounding Lycidas struck plunging his blade deep within the chest of his foe in mid-swing.

A look of shock and pain filed across the face of the man wearing a large black bear hide as his blue eye widened before he eventually exhaled for the final time and his thunderous heartbeat had finally ceased. Lycidas kicked the carcass off the end of his blade and placed his foot atop the gaping chest wound of his foe when his large frame hit the ground scraping against the discarded mud-covered leaves and soil below their feet.

Triumphant, Lycidas let out a rallying battle cry and his men rallied in cheers raising their swords and chanting his name in reaction to not only his latest kil but the fact that their long and bloodied campaign which had taken them away from home and their mutual families for a grueling six months had finally come to an end.

The remaining barbarians that were not littering the ground as corpses took off in full-on retreat. Without their lead, er they stood no chance against an onslaught from the warriors of Median and were intelligent enough to realize there was no longer a means of winning this war for them.

Splattered with blood from his recent kill, Lycidas stood with his foot still on top of the deceased bear hide-wearing leader with his sword in hand quite slick and crimson from the blood that oozed along the slick steel surface. His long black locks dangled at his shoulders splattered with blood, soaked with sweat, and peppered with mud.

He took long and heavy breaths, but he'd been in wonderous spirits as he knew firsthand that he had made his father, the King of Medina, proud that day.