A few days had passed, and Lev was stuck amidst a rather complex situation. That is, whilst the Count had assembled his Royal Guard – approximately 200 in strength – and already begun his pursuit, the revolutionary forces remained divided; With Maxim and Ivan leading their respective retinues in entirely different directions. Accordingly, this knowledge was known by Vasiliev, and it was his sole intention to exploit this weakness.
Locating the rebels was not difficult either, for to track them the pursuing forces needed only to follow the path of pillaged estates. Although there were evidently signs of forced entry – such as doors laying horizontal, torn from their hinges – most of these estates had interestingly not been looted. Rather, they had been ravished, with the contents – such as vases, portraits, and other familial relics – being smashed, slashed, and scattered indiscriminately upon the floor.
This only further worried the Count, as it proved that the rebels were not merely gold seeking marauders. Instead, it made evident the fact that they were ideologically motivated revolutionaries; intent on sending a message against the ownership of such arbitrary luxury.
It had also been noted that absent from these pillaged estates were people. Indeed, it seemed as though Lev had made good on his promise in removing the woman and children; their absence indicating they had been displaced and exiled; forced to flee their homes rather than killed. This showed as least some sense of mercy, or at least indicated that the roaming peasant army was not indiscriminate regarding their slayings. Yet, this fate was not shared by the male landowners, who were conversely always found splayed out, soaked in blood, and littered in a variety of deep and shallow wounds. In this sense, it could otherwise be summarized that the road leading to Lev would be steeped in death, blood, and destruction.
In fact, following this path of chaos was practically the only viable means of pursuing the foe, as the villagers themselves were adamant on not providing any guidance. Even if forced with a blade pressed against their throats, they would often provide conflicting and contradictory directions. This continued refusal to collaborate did not rest well with the Count, who saw through their veils of deception. He knew they were close, for whilst the peasant rabble had been occupying their time with pillaging estates and resting during the nights, he had been solely fixated on a relentless pursuit, with little regard to the moral and health of his men. This was mainly derived from the fact that, if he were to defeat the rebels, he would need to attack before their divided forces were granted the opportunity to reunite. Though, this haste had not gone without notice by Lev, who as part of his plan to lure out the Royal Guards had left behind spies in each village.
Operating in groupings no larger than three, these men were selected on the basis that they could competently mount, ride and maneuver on horse-back. Hence, upon taking note of approaching Royal Guards in their respective village, they would ride back to the main contingent lead by Lev and report their findings. The Count was also oblivious to this system. Though, the only downside was establishing accurate calculations regarding how far behind the Count really was; for, depending on the distance between villages, it could take the riders lengthy periods of travel, during which the position of the Count's forces could change.
On one such day, a grouping of infiltrators came galloping over the hills towards Lev's encampment with urgent news. With their hair flapping and their bodies jolting on the rough terrain, the haste of the riders insinuated a great degree of stress. Though, luckily for them their journey that had occupied their last few nights was near an end as the sight of friendly forces could be observed gathering within the confines of a distant village.
Nearing closer, they could see their Captain delivering a speech before the accumulated crowd. He spoke as if a pastor providing a sermon, for all those in attendance were cheering with a patriotic zeal. The riders could not yet make out what exactly had been said to garner such a reaction, nor where they interested. The news they bore overpowered their will to decipher the distant reactions.
"Captain! Captain!", one of the riders cried aloud, "We bring urgent news!".
Instantaneously, Lev aligned his head with the distant voices. Realizing the urgency, he stepped back and calmed his patriot audience, which consisted of his rebel army, villagers, and liberated servants. Then, calling forth Ivan, the two men hurried to meet with the frantic riders. When close enough, the riders quickly reigned their horses to a halt and dismounted just beyond the village borders.
"They are steadily maintaining their pursuit… just as we hurried here without rest, the Count has been hurrying his men in a relentless chase… Should we keep halting our march to pillage estates, recruit the populace, and rest during the night, he will catch up to us within a couple nights" spoke the first spy, his voice exasperated.
"Captain, they have also taken to brutalizing the villagers… retribution against those unwilling to cooperate" spoke up another rider in a similarly exasperated tone, "They have no time for lies, and have found that steel can be much more convincing than words… they are maiming and slaying all those that provide false information".
Ivan and Lev paused, not out of shock – for both had equally expected such brutalities – but out of a necessity to correctly articulate their response. For Lev, this at least indicated the urgency of the Count; seen in his relentlessness and irrational slayings. For the Captain, this also meant that the morale of the Royal Guard was also certainly diminishing, as they had been forced to march endlessly on foot and partake in what were paramount to massacres on the rural populace. Yet, more importantly, these facts also meant that the time for a final battle was imminent; for the Royal Guard would catch up to them regardless but would also be both tired and lacking any will to fight. When finding the appropriate words, Lev replied:
"The long await battle will soon be upon us… after all, our march up until this point was not only to recruit the toiling people, but also to lure the Grand Duke's forces out of the chateau" he said, boldly and with a steely posture. After allowing the riders to take in what he was saying, he paused for a few seconds before continuing:
"We will fight them… we will utilize the houses within this village as cover, and when they arrive, we will pounce upon them… just as we liberated ourselves from the mines, the attack will be spontaneous in appearance and brutal in nature. They will surely outnumber us, but our encircling position, combined with their diminishing morale and tiredness, should be sufficient for a victory… though it will come at a hefty cost in human life, for both sides"
The riders looked upon each other worryingly. They all knew this day would come but had perhaps not truly considered the gravity of this upcoming battle. Afterall, it would not be the same as the initial uprising, in which the revolting slaves outnumbered their foe. Instead, this time it was the revolutionaries who would be outnumbered. Because of this, the element of surprise would be crucial, along with good rest and maintaining good morale and ideological fervor.
"I'll relay the message to the others" spoke up Ivan, breaking the appropriate stress-derived silence, "once all are aware of the situation, we can then plan and make preparations".