"Son of a bitch." Baldwin said angrily as he, Monterrey and the Templars arrived at the scene of the massacre. "Twenty wagoneers and soldiers killed, Grandmaster" Cid said as he approached Baldwin on foot. "Who could've done it?" Cid asked.
"Indians, it looks like. Kiowa or Osage, look at the arrows." Baldwin said, pointing to a dead soldier with five arrows protruding out of him.
"Middle Tahl could have paid or encouraged the savages." Edwin said, riding up to Baldwin and Cid.
"Yes… Look at the wagon. It's utterly destroyed, indians don't have dynamite…" Baldwin said as he pointed out the destroyed armored wagon.
"Their nearest known base is Fort Broken Shield, it's about forty, forty-five miles south of here." Edwin said.
"We should assemble a force large enough to overrun their fort. That'll teach them." Baldwin said angrily, starting to lead his detachment away from the battle scene.
The Templars rode to the Cochise River, where the christian army's base of operations was and Baldwin informed Leopold, Aldonva, and Boscogne of the massacre. The inner circle of the christian warriors met in a large tent with a wooden table in the center as well as lounge chairs off to the sides.
"You think Middle Tahl hired Indians to attack our supply convoy?" Leopold asked Baldwin.
"I do, we came across the remains of the wagon train several miles outside of Arnestown and ten miles south from the scene of the massacre we found two hundred dead Hospitallers, some of which were executed after being captured." Baldwin responded.
"How can you be sure they were captured?" Aldonva interjected.
"Their wrists were bound and they were blindfolded." Baldwin replied.
"And what of the wagon train? What proof do you have that Indians attacked it?" Aldonva inquired, pouring himself a glass of wine.
"The arrowheads were made of flint and there were several lances and hawk feathers on the ground too but we suspect the indians could have also been supplied or aided by Middle Tahl as a few of the wagons were destroyed by dynamite and some of the soldiers had gunshot wounds." Baldwin replied.
"What do you plan to do?" Leopold asked.
"Assault Fort Broken Shield, it's Middle Tahls current base of operations." Baldwin said, placing a map down on the table and pointing to a spot that was marked with trees and streams. "Right around here." He said, his gloved finger tapping the spot on the map.
"Are you sure? A fortress in a forest won't be easy to assault, not to mention the many streams and rivers in the area will slow us down too." Leopold adds.
"That matters not, God will be with us." Baldwin said bluntly.
"One needs more than faith to win a battle, Baldwin." Aldonva added.
"What could be more important than faith in the lord?" Baldwin asked. "If we remain faithful, God will ensure that we win."
The other Grandmasters looked at each other a bit uneasy and Boscogne arose to speak.
"We admire your commitment to the faith, Baldwin, however you need to consider the other possibilities. We can attack the fort, we simply need a real plan to carry out, in the case that God does not ensure victory." He said, trying to change Baldwin's outlook on the situation.
"Very well. Leopold will be with me and the Templars attacking from the center, the Hospitallers will attack from the south and Aldonva will lead a cavalry attack from the north. How does that sound?" Baldwin asked.
"That sounds doable, how many men will we need?" Bosogne inquired.
"Two-thousand should be enough." Baldwin replied. "Aldonva will be in charge of all the cavalry as well as his own foot soldiers."
"Aldonva is attacking from the north, yes?" Boscogne asked. Baldwin nodded and Boscogne spoke again. "How do you know if their northern flanks are weak? You could be sending Aldonva and most of our cavalry into certain death."
"Aldonva's cavalry will weaken the defenses. It will not matter." Baldwin said coldly.
The other leaders looked at each other, anxious and embarrassed by Baldwin's behavior.
"It seems that you have made up your mind, Grandmaster Baldwin." Boscogne said.
"You do realize all decisions made are jointed? A second slip up from you won't look good." Leopold added.
Baldwin nodded and kept his mouth shut, despite his anger at his subordinates' tones.
"May I also add…" Aldonva began. "...that should you blunder again as you did here and at Mt. Boren, we can all veto any future operations you present to us."
"What do you mean, here? The battle for the river was successful." Baldwin said, confused and angry.
"You lost nearly half of your men in taking the river and the mountain, not to mention the massacre of all but you, Monterrey and only fifteen others at the second battle of Mt. Boren." Aldonva responded in irritation at Baldwin.
"The second battle was an ambush, how were we supposed to know Middle Tahl was going to attack us?" Baldwin responded.
"It's my understanding that you placed four hundred men at the base of the mountain and only forty to guard your rear? This is correct, yes?" Aldonva snapped.
"Yes…" Baldwin growled.
"You will not blunder again, Baldwin." Aldonva said grimly. Baldwin simply nodded and walked out of the tent, followed by Monterrey.
"Has he lost his fucking mind?" Aldonva exclaimed, slamming his fist against the table. "What does he think he's doing? He isn't the one in charge here. We all are."
"He is the one who organized this war." Leopold said.
"True, but it's all of our lives on the line here, not his. Boscogne was the first one of you across the river, not him." Aldonva retorted. "He needs to be put in his place." Aldonva continued. "He's not the one who makes the calls here, all decisions are voted on by the Grandmasters, not a single leader. He wants complete control of this war and he won't stop until that's what he gets, no matter who has to die and no matter how many needless battles are fought."
"You don't seem to like Baldwin." Boscogne said.
"I don't. He's too proud and arrogant. I'm not sure I agree on everything with him either."
"What do you mean?"
"He hates Indians, blacks, quakers, and non-christians. He is filled with hate, and we are meant to love."
"Aldonva, we are soldiers. We can't win a battle with love."
"Perhaps not. But if everyone followed what Christ wanted, there wouldn't be any need for soldiers. But human nature persists."
"But wait, you said he hates blacks? Why?"
"He's taken to 'eugenics' recently, I guess. I don't know what led him down that path, though."
Just then, Alfred approached the two men from the corner of the tent.
"I know why." He spoke. "He received a head injury some years ago, and ever since, it seems he's been behaving more unhinged."
"What happened?" Boscogne asked.
"He was struck by an arrow in the leg and he fell from the watchtower he was in. He of course survived, but his behavior changed radically… That was almost five years ago now. There are some who believe that he killed Grandmaster Roland to ascend to the rank of Grandmaster. He had suffered from the condition for a year and the two seemed to have many disagreements up until that point. He isn't as bad now though, but he still isn't the same'' Alfred said with sadness in his voice.
"I see." Boscogne spoke. "But if he hates blacks, why would he ask for my help?"
"He may think your redeeming quality is being a christian. He needs the Hospitallers on his side too, you're all trained surgeons and doctors." Aldonva said. "I've heard what he has to say about your people though, and I don't like it. His views on the Indians are even more disgusting. He thinks they need to go extinct completely, whereas for you, he just wants to keep you as slaves." Aldonva continued with a sigh.
"Well, I suppose we should start packing up and head out towards Ft. Broken Shield."
"Agreed." Boscogne said, walking out of the tent followed by the other leaders and they all began rallying their men.
The christian Grandmasters set out on their raid, bringing two thousand soldiers with them. They marched across the bridges they constructed on the Cochise and through the thick forests. They scaled the mountains west of the river and descended down into the Blackstone forest where they continued in a straight line towards Fort Broken Shield. It was starting to get late. The sun was setting and the men were getting weary from marching. Cid and Edwin rode up to Baldwin and spoke with him.
"The men are getting weary, Grandmaster." Edwin said, concerned.
"Worry not, we're nearly to the fort. We'll set up a sort of base of operations there and we'll start the assault." Baldwin responded reassuringly.
"Okay… But the men are tired. They're tired now." Edwin remarked.
"They can rest after we begin the assault."
"How do you expect the men to fight if they are sore and restless?"
"If they don't fight, they die. Simple."
Edwin stared at Baldwin, who just kept his eyes on the path ahead of them. Edwin nodded at Cid and they rode back to the flanks of the column to guard it.
By the time the christians reached the fort, it was nightfall and many of the men slumped themselves against trees and laid on the ground, which angered Baldwin.
"Get up you lazy dogs and get in formation! We're to start the assault tonight!" Baldwin yelled out, alerting the men in the fort of his presence.
"We're tired, Grandmaster." A Templar said as he approached Baldwin. "One hour of rest. That's all. If you continue to bark orders at us though, I swear to God almighty, there'll be a mutiny this night." The soldier continued. Baldwin backed down and allowed the men to rest an hour while he and several others made a command post out of an abandoned stone structure in the woods.
In the fort, Sir Hetfield and Heinrich drunkenly arm wrestled on the top of a stone watchtower, laughing and swearing as they pushed at each other's intertwined hands and slammed them into their table.
Just then, they heard Baldwin barking orders to the Templars, and they perked their heads up and peered over the watchtower's wall.
"The hell was that?!" Heinrich exclaimed.
"Oh… Oh shhit… Thats- thats the christians, Heinrich, they're here to fight us." Hetfield said, slurring and belching through his sentence.
"Hey! You down there! There are bastards in my woods!" Heinrich shouted to a soldier standing guard. The soldier looked up at the general in confusion and responded.
"What!?"
"Templars! In my woods! Wake up the men and- and tell them to g-get ready for combaaattt!"
The soldier began waking up the men in the fort and Heinrich and Hetfield resumed their arm wrestling.
"Shhhouldn't we help them?" Hetfield suggested.
"These men are veeerry competent, my friend, trust me. They- they're the best soldiers in the whoooole goddamn world." Heinrich said, brushing off the suggestion.
David ran up the steps of the watch tower and reported to Heinrich.
"General, the men are ready for your orders." The young knight said.
"You're in charge."
"W-What? Me?!"
"I am very c-clearly intoxicated so you shall assume command of the men. Ta-ta, now"
David gulped in anxiety as Heinrich shooed him away and he ran back down the stairs of the watchtower. He looked through the entrance to the fort and into the forest, trying to spot the templars. A crusader fired at him with a crossbow and missed. David retreated further back into the fort's courtyard and began ordering the men to take up positions.
As he was giving out commands, there was a loud bellow coming from the forest, it was all of the crusaders yelling and screaming their battle cry. The forest rang out the words "Deus Vult!" being emitted from the christians.
"Dear God." David said grimly, realizing the direness of the situation. There was but two hundred men manning the fort, and he knew no matter how ferociously they fought, they would be overrun in the end. Still, he grasped the handle of his sword tightly and unsheathed it, ready to fight and die.
An hour later, the crusaders were finally rested and the assault began. It was hours deep into the night and the moon shined on the battlefield, reflecting in the small streams outside the fort. The first wave of christians marched forward, there were only about fifty of them. Close behind them were riflemen and archers ready to give them covering fire.
"FIRE!" David shouted, and a volley of arrows flew into the forest, hitting only two targets. "Ready the bows again!" The knight ordered, taking up a crossbow in his hands and taking aim.
The crusaders rushed to the gate and were shot down as they got closer. The Middle Tahleans set up barricades of logs and barrels at the entrance of the fort to make up for the stronghold's lack of a gate. Archers fired volley after volley at the advancing crusaders, taking them down before they could get close enough to hack and slash at the men in the fort.
After another five minutes, the first wave of crusaders was wiped out and the archers continued scanning the forest for more of them.
"That was the first wave." David said to the marksmen. "They'll send in another wave with more men no doubt. This was just a test."
Baldwin eyed the fort from the trees and examined the defenses. "This is Fort Broken Shield, huh?" He said, leaning against a tree.
"Oui. Do you know the story of the fort?" Monterrey asked.
"What is it?"
"Two hundred years ago the knights of the pines marked it as their headquarters after a fierce battle here. Their Grandmaster, Kade Sepultura was wounded and his shield was shattered by a warhammer and so they paid him respect by naming it after him."
"Who were they fighting?"
"An army of raiders simply known as the raiders of the pines. The two factions have always been waging war on each other, or they were until the knights of the pines were disbanded after the death of Kade Sepultura. But with their return eight years ago, the wars are back on I guess."
"Maybe we'll give them a reason to rename the place." Baldwin said with a mischievous smile. "Perhaps." Monterrey laughed.
"We'll resume the attack in the morning." Baldwin said with a sigh as he walked away and made his way to the command post the templars set up.
Sword and Crossbow in hand, David kept a watchful eye on the forest through the night, drinking coffee to help him stay awake. Heinrich and Hetfield had passed out hours before and their heads rested on the wooden table they were drinking at.
The men in the fort were tired and they had no idea when the next attack would be. The men slept in shifts and would fire shots into the forest, but to no avail.
Finally, morning came. The crusaders began another assault as the sun was rising and were met by more volleys of arrows.
A force of one hundred Teutonic knights were rushing towards the fort's entrance now, and the archers weren't able to reload their bows in time before the knights began slaughtering them at the barricade. The archers struggled to get out of the encounter, having no hand to hand weapons for the most part. Some tried to shoot their opponents at point blank and others used their crossbows as bludgeons.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for the foot sergeants to come out of the fort and save the poor archers from death.
The Teutons made it halfway through the courtyard and the battle raged on. The archers had taken up positions on the walls and started firing down on the christian soldiers, killing scores of them with the assistance of the foot sergeants on the ground.
Heinrich and Hetfield woke up from the sound of the battle and they peered over the edge of the watch tower. "Ah shit. It wasn't a dream." Heinrich muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"We have to get down there!" Hetfield cried, running down the stairs and rushing to his quarters to put his armor on.
Heinrich simply put on a suit of padded gambeson and a chainmail shirt over it and went into battle.
The two fought with their men, sliding their swords into the slits of helmets and using their handles and crossguards as clubs to bludgeon the teutons with. They hacked at chainmail armor until it was bent and they grappled crusaders and threw them to the ground where they w0uld either be shot from above or killed by foot sergeants with hammers or axes. Soon, the Teutons retreated back into the forest and the Middle Tahleans cheered in victory.
"How many escaped?" Hetfield asked, panting heavily and removing his helmet, his long blonde hair flowing down his shoulders.
"About fifteen, maybe twenty." David replied, sitting down next to a dead Teutonic knight.
"The next assault will come soon, we should rid the courtyard of these bodies. Toss them outside the walls or burn them, makes no difference to me." Heinrich declared, going to his quarters to put his normal armor on. Hetfield scribbled a message down on a piece of paper and handed it to a soldier. "Take five men with you." He said. "Deliver this to Mt. Boren and ask for Maxis Adelwülf. Tell them Sir Hetfield sent you. Go, now!"
The soldier nodded and took five men and he was off. The six men went through the fort and out a secret entrance in the back walls of the stronghold.
"Those couriers should reach Maxis in two days maybe, we just have to hold out until then." Hetfield said worriedly, rubbing his temple.
Heinrich emerged from his tent fully clad in his armor and ready to face the christians again. He wore a helmet like that of a teutonic knight. It was a great helm with what looked like bull horns placed on either side of the helmet.
Hetfield equipped his helmet as well. Hetfield's helmet was more of a barbute style, round and dome-like with a T-shaped visor from which to see. Though it left his face open to attack, he had better visibility than a mounted knight wearing a great helm and more flexibility than a frogmouth helmet.
"How many more attacks do you think?" Hetfield asked.
"Dunno. All they can do is keep attacking the front gate, it's the only entrance aside from the tunnel that they don't know about." Heinrich replied.
"Think they haves siege equipment?" Hetfield inquired.
"No, they would've used it by now."
"How many do you think there are?"
"Hmm… maybe a thousand, two thousand. Hard to tell with the trees and all."
As the two conversed about the possible logistics of the enemy, David sat there still, looking at the blood on his sword and armor. He hadn't been in a battle like this yet, he'd never even directly killed another human until today either. He had dismembered, disarmed and wounded men before but he never killed. He stood up and prepared himself for the next attack along with Hetfield and Heinrich.
"Hey, why were you knighted?" Heinrich said to Hetfield.
"Knighted? I was never knighted by King Skinner."
"You weren't? Why are you called 'Sir' Hetfield then?"
"They just call me that because apparently I act like old chivalric knights back in the day, rescuing maidens and ."
"What could you do to get knighted? In today's climate anyways?"
"I don't know. The days of knights and chivalry are coming to an end and the age of machines and technology is on the horizon. Soon guns will be more powerful and armor won't be needed anymore. The way wars will be fought will change and the kingdoms of old will all crumble. Truly the end of an era, we're the last of the knights, you know, the last of the chivalric orders."
"Yeah…" Heinrich said, gazing at the rising morning sun as Hetfield spoke.
"Look at that." Hetfield said, looking at the morning sky as the sun kept rising. "And so a new dawn has risen, bringing with it more surprises." Hetfield continued, his voice melancholic and his eyes locked on the morning sun.
Then, a loud booming came from the forest, it was a crusader war horn, sounding another attack.
The men in the fort quickly took up arms and positions and readied themselves. Riders came galloping from the forest and began using slings to throw hot coal over the walls of the fort as well as lit torches. The mounted knights began charging at the gate to the fort, thrusting long lances into foot sergeants and smashing their heads in with maces and flails.
The mounted knights pushed further into the courtyard of the fort and dismounted to fight. David pulled a crusader off of his horse and forced the soldier's helmet off and he began beating the crusader's face in with his hands protected by his steel gauntlets. He took up his sword and cut the leg off a horse, trapping the rider underneath the animal and dooming him.
The marksmen fired down on the crusaders, unleashing volley after volley upon the advancing knights as they rode up t0 the fort. After sustaining more casualties, the war horn sounded again and the knights retreated back into the forest.
The men in the fort cheered in victory and threw up their helmets to celebrate.
"Don't get too confident, men." Heinrich said. "They'll be back. Quickly, make breastworks out of their dead."
The soldiers quickly disposed of the bodies and began to make breastworks out of the fallen soldiers and pick up their wounded so that they could be treated at the hospital inside the fort.
After a few minutes, the crusader war horn sounded again and two companies, numbering four hundred men and consisting of Teutonic knights and Templars came charging out of the forest. The Teutons came from the east, carrying ladders to scale the walls of the fort with, and the Templars charged right at the main gate. Leading the Templars was Monterrey and Arthur the standard bearer and leading the Teutons was Adolphus Himmel, second in command to Grandmaster Leopold, he was known for his brutal style of warfare against the Osage indians during the War of the Greasy Grasses that took place on the plains five years ago. He had long black hair and a hairless face, no eyebrows and no beard or stubble. He was extremely pale, like a corpse and he had thin lips and gray and sunken eyes with dark circles around them.
He carried a great mace, embroidered and decorated finely with gold flourishes on the dark steel. The piece seemed almost ornamental, not fit for combat but it served its purpose just as well, smashing the brains out of helmets and crushing bones all the same.
Adolphus led the Teutonic Knights forward and shouted orders to them as they neared the walls of Fort Broken Shield. "Shields up!" He yelled as archers behind the stone battlements of the walls began to take aim.
The archers unleashed a volley of bolts from their crossbows and were able to pick off a few unlucky knights who weren't able to raise their shields in time. As the Middle Tahleans began reloading their crossbows, Adolphus ordered his own archers to fire at the men positioned on the wall. The Middle Tahleans ducked behind the battlements and the arrows flew past them. The men in the fort quickly loaded their bows and perked back up to let loose another volley, killing a score of Teutonic archers and foot sergeants.
Meanwhile, Monterrey led the Templars right up to the breastworks constructed out of the fallen christian soldiers. Though he was disgusted, he ordered the men to press on, pushing and kicking over the corpses as they engaged the Middle Tahleans.
The archers on top of the entrance, numbering twelve, fired on the advancing Templars repeatedly, facing no resistance, as all the Templars archers were still in the camp in the forest.
The Templars and Middle Tahleans seemed to be in a stalemate as the battle raged on. The Templars formed a line of spearmen with large kite shields and pushed forward against the men in the fort. The kite shields provided an advantage of protection due to the amount of space they took up, and the spears gave them greater range and kept the Middle Tahleans at bay. They thrusted and stabbed right through the gambeson armor of the Middle Tahlean foot sergeants. The crusaders once again made it into the courtyard of the fort and were again overwhelmed by volleys of arrows by the archers perched up on the walls.
The Teutons were finally within range to use their ladders and scale the walls of the fort. They were met by more barrages of crossbow bolts that punched through their chainmail and decimated wooden shields at close range. The Teutons' own archers came forth and fired at the men in the fort from below, killing four of them this time. They lifted the ladders up and began climbing them to reach the top of the wall. The Teutonic foot sergeants hacked and slashed through the defenseless and disoriented archers who tried to flee by jumping down into the courtyard where they either broke their legs or were killed by Templars storming the gate.
The archers on the other side of the fort took notice of this and fired at the Teutons, killing and wounding a dozen of them. The battle raged on, Monterrey hacked at foot sergeants with a French axe and bashed their heads with his shield. A foot sergeant rushed towards him and thrusted his spear straight through Monterreys thigh. He cursed and screamed in pain and split the soldier's head down the middle with his axe and called off the attack, limping away from the battle with blood pouring from his upper inner thigh as his comrades covered the retreat of him and several other wounded men.
Adolphus smashed the shin of an archer and caved his head in with his mace when he noticed the Templars retreating.
"Damn cowards." He muttered under his breath before ordering his men to retreat as well.
The men in the fort immediately went to work with disposing of the dead bodies and salvaged chainmail and armor that were not too heavily damaged.
"What are the casualties, Sir Hetfield?" Heinrich asked, approaching the heavily armored enforcer.
"Twenty-three." He responded.
"And for the christians?"
"Around fifty or sixty, plus wounded would be uhh, maybe seventy."
"Good, we're leaving an impression on them."
David threw off his helmet and wiped the blood and sweat from his brow and sat down to rest by a tent. He looked at his hands, covered by his blood stained gauntlets, and nearly vomited. He held back tears and held his head in his hands.
Heinrich looked over at David from atop the landing of a stone staircase that he and Hetfield stood on.
"That poor lad." Heinrich said sadly.
"Oh, David? Yeah, poor whelp hasn't killed anyone until today. He's a gentle soul, he shouldn't be here at all. I've always made sure to keep an eye on him, I think he has a greater purpose outside of dying in a meaningless war."
"That's rather caring of you, how old is he? He doesn't look older than seventeen."
"He isn't. Me and Maxis are the closest thing he's had to a father. David's father was a scumbag involved in crime rings. He's one of the men who murdered Gwen and Alric Varney, Wivven Katashuas birth family."
"Really?"
"Mhm, he was hung, drawn and quartered a month later. Wivven doesn't know this though, not that I think he'd care, bastard hates his parents."
"Why? They birthed him and raised him, after all."
"No, they birthed him and he had to learn the rest. They drank and used all manner of substances, not to mention his mother was a whore and his father a black market dealer and both of them ran a grog house filled with dirty tavern wenches and constant debauchery."
"I see… How did he rise to such power then?"
"He was found on the streets wallowing in his own schiesse by the Katashuas, a Russian descended noble family. They took him in and raised him as their own."
"Ah, I see. I've met the Katashuas before, fine people. They come from a long line of explorers, warriors and kings."
"Indeed. David joined Middle Tahls army when he was just fifteen, and fell in with me and Maxis, we've trained him and prepared him as best as we can. I know he'll turn into a fine man and I hope he leaves this path. Though, I feel that Maxis feels differently."
"Why's that?"
"Maxis wants a son badly, more than anything else, but he can't have one."
"Why? Is his wife infertile? Is his charisma lackluster?"
"No, he doesn't have a wife."
"Ah, I see. So it's his charisma?"
"No, he isn't lacking there either."
"What is it then?"
"You know Edelweiss, that short blonde stableboy he keeps around?"
"Of course, they seem to be good friends."
"That's one way to describe them"
"...What are you saying?"
"Maxis fucks guys!"
"...Ohhh. I see, I see. Is that why he cares for David?"
"Ja, he calls David the son he'll never have. He loves Edelweiss dearly, make no mistake, but he desires a son more than anything."
"Why does he want a son so bad?"
"His people are dying, the only way to bring them back is to pass on his seed. He has a deep and burning pride of who he is descended from. His tribes have suffered greatly from us and he thinks it's up to him to save them."
"The hand the Indians have been dealt has been unfortunate."
"Indeed. I think the Indians' fate was sealed long ago, but I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong."
"Mhm."
David lifted his head up and removed his gauntlets, running his hand through his dark hair. He looked to the forest, his dark eyes gazing into the thick woods inhabited by hostiles. He sighed and picked up his helmet and put it on again. He looked down at his white and light blue tunic, now soaked in blood.
The crusaders didn't attack for the rest of the day, instead opting to rest for the remainder of the day to replenish their energy.
Monterrey rested in a field hospital manned by the Hospitallers and sipped on wine to numb his pain. Baldwin sat with Leopold and Aldonva and discussed battle plans. Edwin and Cid guarded the ruined building that served as the hospital and command post and Adolphus cleaned his mace and oiled his sword.
The couriers ran through the woods as the sun set, two of them were killed while trying to leave the fort and there were but four left.
"Hey." One of them said, "What's your name?"
"Gabrien." The soldier said deeply. He was big and bulky and he had jet black hair with a huge scar across the bridge of his nose, stretching from one cheek to the other.
"Yours?"
"Amiel."
Amiel had light brown hair that was parted to the left. It was unkempt and longish, going halfway down to his neck.
"Hey, what about you?" He called out to another courier.
"Jack!" a young, blonde soldier replied. His eyes were bright and hopeful and his skin was smooth and had a healthy glow to it.
"Now what about you?" Amiel called out to the last soldier.
"Judd." The man responded. He had a short trimmed Van Dyke beard and stubble. His eyes were green and his hair light brown. He was tall and fit, a sort of middle ground between the other three men.
Amiel was average height and had a little extra weight, Jack was short and skinny and Gabrien was a pillar of muscle.
"When do you think we'll get to Mt. Boren?" Jack asked.
"Who knows," Judd said. "anywhere from two days to four, bastard asses couldn't even be bothered to give us horses, we might even be halfway there now and we wouldn't have lost Sol and Brett." Judd continued, growling as he spoke with anger in his voice.
"You seemed upset about them, did you know them?" Amiel asked.
"I did… They were my friends." Judd replied gloomily.
"I'm sorry to hear that, my friend, truly." Amiel said with a frown.
"Don't be, all things are meant to happen and they happen for a reason." Judd said, reaching into his satchel and taking out a roll of paper and a bag filled with a substance.
"What's that?" Jack asked, walking closer to Judd out of curiosity.
"Ganjha." Judd replied as he opened the bag and took some of the ground up plant and rolled it up inside the paper like a cigarette.
"Ganjha?" Jack inquired, getting closer.
"Marijuana." Amiel interjected. "You know, soldiers are forbidden to carry that stuff." Amiel said to Judd.
"Think they care?" Judd said carelessly as he took out a match and struck it against the box it came from and lit up his joint. "I don't see any officers out here." Judd said haphazardly, inhaling deeply and releasing the smoke from his lungs.
"Maybe not, but still." Amiel responded, deciding to shrug off the violation.
Judd continued smoking and looked over at Jack.
"Smells good, don't it?" Judd said sarcastically, blowing smoke towards Jack.
"S-Smells awful." Jack said, coughing at the stench. Judd just laughed and kept walking. "The fine joys of ganjha, as they say." He said, taking another hit from the joint. "Hey, you want some, sourpuss?" He said to Amiel, extending his arm and offering him a hit.
"Nah, I need to be sober to navigate through this forest." Amiel responded, kindly rejecting the offer.
"Well it's almost sunset, we should really settle down somewhere for the night, get some rest." Judd suggested, taking another hit from his joint. "I mean, we all brought our tents with our satchels and backpacks, right? Let's settle down somewhere, smoke a bit and get some rest and then we'll start right back up in the morning."
Amiel and the others stopped, considering the proposition.
"Alright, fine. But we head out first thing in the morning." Amiel said, taking his backpack off and unrolling a sleeping bag and removing a small tent from the bag.
Meanwhile, at Ft. Broken Shield, Heinrich and Sir Hetfield converse and theorize about the next attack.
"They might attacks at dawn." Hetfield said, taking a sip of coffee from a tin mug.
"Perhaps," Heinrich said as he smoked from his pipe and looked into the forest. "Maybe it'll be tonight, who can say. I just hope those couriers get to Maxis in time before we're all dead." Heinrich said, pausing and looking into the distance.
"Goddamn, hard to believe November's halfway over with. Winter will be here soon and then that's when shit gets real, and then after that is Spring and then everything thaws out and it's all muddy. The only good time for war is the Summer, on the few days the sun isn't blazing its ass off." Heinrich said, taking a puff from his pipe.
"I don't think there is a good time for war." Hetfield said with a chuckle, taking another sip from his cup of coffee.
"Perhaps you're right." Heinrich said with a smile as he continued smoking his pipe. "You should get some rest, er… You never did tell me your first name?" Heinrich said.
"It's Jakob, Jakob Hetfield." He responded with a smile.
"Get some rest, Jakob, we have a long way to go before the siege is over. Don't wanna die exhausted, heh." Heinrich said with a laugh, patting his friends shoulder and sending him off to his quarters.
Maxis writes in his journal while sitting on some rocks on Mt. Boren, waiting for news of the war. Edelweiss approaches his lover to check on him.
"Maxis, why won't you talk to me instead of writing in that dumb journal?" Edelweiss said, rolling his eyes.
"What do you wanna talk about?" Maxis said dryly, not even looking up from his writing.
"I dunno, somethin'. Are you mad at me?" Edelweiss asked, frowning a bit.
"No. I'm fine." Maxis said, getting slightly irritated.
"Maxis, talk to me." Edelweiss pleaded.
"Well maybe if you didn't flirt with and grope Nathaniel right in front of me, i'd be a bit more talkative." Maxis said angrily, still writing in his journal.
"I was drunk, Max, it's not my fault." Edelweiss said.
"Oh, so that's the excuse? Well then don't drink. Simple."
"Maxis, stop please. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Yeah you did. Your father, Tavish, never liked me, did he? On account of my heritage, and now there you go tryin' to get your fuck on for one of my own damn soldiers."
"Maxis, stop, I didn't mean it."
"Oh of course you didn't, you never mean it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. I need some time alone. Go fuck Nathaniel, I don't care."
Edelweiss sighed and walked away, leaving Maxis alone on the rocks.
"Dammit." Maxis muttered, gritting his teeth and throwing his journal down in frustration.
Just then, Nathaniel came up the mountain to where Maxis was and sat by him. "Hey, Max." He said casually.
"Sir, or Grandmaster, Nathaniel. You're pushin' your luck coming to me after what happened earlier."
"Listen, I didn't know you and Edelweiss had something going on, okay? We were drunk as hell and- I don't know."
"Mhm."
"So, how are things with you guys? How long have you been a thing?"
"About five years."
"Cool, cool. Have you uh, had any problems like this before?"
"Yeah, he has a history of letting people say and do things to him whether I'm present or not, often he'll happily tell me things like they're funny."
"Like what?"
"You know how he looks, he gets mistaken for a woman all the time. He'll be offered things of dubious morals but he never accepts them. He used to let this one stable worker flirt and touch him. That worker stopped after I broke his nose when I caught him. Of course Edelweiss loves plays and performances, he'll fondle over the actors and actresses and tell me of all people about it."
"Jesus… He sounds really inconsiderate, Maxis. I would've left him by now."
"I can't leave him, Nathaniel."
"Why not?"
"He's been the only one to show me love in this world."
"There's millions of people, Maxis, he's
Just one."
"I can't. I know he loves me but he's so difficult. I don't think he wants something committed. He loves attention too much to do that."
"Is that why you guys haven't made it official?"
"Yeah. He doesn't want to marry, he says it's too restrictive."
"Hm, I don't know how to help you, Maxis."
"It's fine. I'll deal with it like I have for five goddamn years."
Nathaniel sighed and got up. "I hope you feel better soon." He said, walking away.
Maxis just sat there looking into the distance at the mountains and their surrounding woods. He groaned and picked up his journal and resumed writing in it.