Dragumo's strategy proved to be quite effective. The north and south wings of the castle were firmly under the control of the half-beasts without much effort, and the Knossos soldiers, caught unprepared for such a ferocious assault, were quickly routed. By the time they realized what had happened, the half-beast army had already seized control of the two castles, while the remaining half-beasts were relentlessly slaughtering the still dazed Cretans.
The only slight complication lay with the castle to the west. As the residence of Manite, the commander who led the Cretans southwards into Livonia, Manite wasn't too fond of garrisoning his soldiers inside, but it was his home, after all, and maintaining the necessary guard force was a given. To capture this castle in one fell swoop required careful planning, yet time was running out.
