There were myths. Myths that tried to explain the insignificance existence of the tribe of Wilds, that resided in the dark forest of Eidel. A cursed forest for a cursed tribe, they would all point. Many years, the forest had been abandoned, yet some settled in it, including two daughters of the royal family. But, they only sheltered in it. They did not build houses or homes or families in it. Well, other fallen tribes did. The tribes that thousands of years ruled the kingdom, fell into the orbit of Eidel and surely they would want their land back, their power, strength and fame.
It was many years ago, yes. Several years back, such that only a one tenth of the recent generation knew of their influence, land perhaps and wealth at least. You would think they had given up, considering that even their current generation knew nothing of their alleged wealth and land and influence and...
Bernbute had moved on from them. They had forgotten about the tribe, though the teachers taught of them. The myths were inconsistent and several but they gave an idea of who were the Wilds. I think the myths mostly disgraced them, made them the villains in their story, outed them as the enemies ,insane and irrational crew, bound to destroy the land. Well, some of that were true. They might seek to reclaim their land no doubt, but when would they? Did they even have a plan? Did they care about avenging their forefathers who sealed their fates into the forest?
Welter Westers entered the room accompanied by three guards. It was absurd, kind of, since he was immortal, so why did he need guards? But he was approaching Nira, it was better not to risk. Nira sat on the floor trembling. She was regaining her strength but the cold froze all of it in her bones. He walked with his head held high and his hands together behind his back. She stared at him, goosebumps all over her skin.
Her face had brightened up and her hair longer. Her bruises were almost healed and she wore better clothes. She could stand even though not for that long.
" Are you ever going to let me go?" She said , her eyes fixed blankly on the floor. He looked at her quietly. He instructed the guards to leave them then took a chair and sat next to her.
" If I can tame you, I will!" He said sitting down.
" You know you can't tame me, no one can!"
" Caleb can!"
She looked at him silently and astonished. She took a breather then sighed and uttered to him, " he is dead!"
"He has been visiting you!"
" He is dead!" She shouted this time, louder that her voice echoed in the room. She got up and leapt to the other side of the room.
They sat silently in the room staring away from each other.
She turned to him. She wanted a lot of answers from him yet she had already tried severally and failed. She cleared her throat and looked at him, he was still looking away.
" You broke your part of the deal!" She protested. " I was to get my family out of here safely and then I would agree to help fight the wilds this winter!" She continued.
He laughed sarcastically then turned to her.
" I did what we agreed to. I did even better! I not only got them out of this hellhole but also gave them a place to stay in the land they chose to go to!"
So it was you who had them abandon me when I was dying?" She asked, fury all over her face.
" When I organized for them to leave, I had no idea of what had transpired among you. I assumed you just did not decide to come with...look I sent guards to find them but they escaped, I have men looking for them!"
" Well good luck finding them!" She said as she sat on the cold floor.
Welter was brutal. He could see how winter tore Nira's bones into pieces but he acted like he didn't care. He wanted to dictate her, to rule over her or in his words, to tame her. She was untamable. She was a wild Beast, if he did not have the memo.
Days to weeks, he tried. To convince her, to influence her, to make her insane, to tame her, to clip her wings but... He started getting desperate. May be, that is why he sent his guards to hunt down Josh and Silion, or rather, he sent them to their deaths.
Josh and Silion had neutralized their threats and fled the town.
As they made their way from the town to a nearby village, Caleb and his spies tailed them, at times fought their enemies on their behalf. He maintained a significant distant from his brother, something he wished he didn't since his brother knew he was dead . In Merria, winter was yet to arrive and the sun shone brilliantly.
The Kingdom was divided, still under a single king, but divided. Some other Lords wanted to capture Bernbute while some wanted to destroy Arvin and take his place but Arvin remained unbroken. His war strategies were clinical and effective, dependable even, how else could he have maintained hold of the heart of Bernbute?
He had been in the forest himself. He witnessed the Wilds. The forgotten tribe. The true enemies to the throne. The Wilds were powerful, extremely powerful. They were fast, stronger, huge, more agile and vicious. They had craving for blood and summing up, they were not quitters.
***
Josh and Silion ran down a valley and up an hill and there they were, miles away from old Hawk town and even further away from Mid town. As they moved, they noticed that they were being followed. Nira had taught them well. Her frequent visits to the warriors' training camp proved to be beneficial after all. They viewed the world in a certain light, no one was to be trusted and always be aware of your environment at all times.
In one swift move, he made Silion lie to the ground and he on top of her. She stared deep into his eyes with questions, a lot of them.
"What, you wanna do it here? You can..." He had to stop her. There were footsteps behind and in front of them. He wondered how Silion could not hear of them. They were loud and louder. The crushing of leaves, the sound of the blowing wind, his instincts. Something was definitely wrong, he knew it.
Was it being assertive or paranoid? He could not tell, not yet at least. But he was sure, they had a tail or someone or something was both behind them and in front. He got off from her and into a bush nearby. He got his sword ready. They had to split. Silion took out her sword too and rushed up the hill and against a huge rock. It was then she heard the footsteps. They had elevated into loudest. Whoever or whatever was approaching was in a large number. Several footsteps and chanting. They continued past their hideouts and over and over the hill.
Silion got out first. She stood perplexed by what her eyes behold her. Josh joined her shortly, sharing with her the exact emotions. They were in the open and had clearer view of what caught their eyes. The sight was so astonishing that they found themselves dropping their swords. The footsteps behind them were still in the wind but at least they had learnt of what was ahead of them. The exact same route they were in marched an army of The Wilds. Several hundreds of them, all armed with weapons. They were muscular and scary. A look in their face would have you piss yourself.
"What are we going to do then?"
" Seems the village won't be our hope anymore!"
" We have to settle somewhere, and clearly not here!" She said as she pointed at the army of the Wilds marching in front of them. They stood silently for a while. It was an eerie sight for them, since they had first hand experience with them.
" We should find Nira..." Josh stated before Silion cut him off.
" No, they are heading to New Hawk, no where near midtown!"
" So what do we do?"
" We find somewhere else to live!"
***
" Horsemen approaching!" A guard on top of the Bernbute fortress yelled. Several archers stood steadfast ready to attack. Men with spears stood behind the giant titanic gate in a line. The king was still in his chambers staring deep into the well curved eyes of his father's statue. In a flash, Caleb appeared to him as a spirit but as live as in flesh.
" The Wilds, some of them are in Merria! Merria forces too are outside the gates!" Caleb's spirit reported to him before vanishing into the air. He sighed then walked to the table and picked up his crown. He stood silently for a while looking at it then wore it carefully and neatly on his head.
He picked up his sword in its sheath and tied it around his waist then walked out of the room and to the viewing front of the fortress. This was an ambush. This time they had no idea of what was coming. It got them off guard completely. Even Caleb, gave a report pretty late. The informers had not yet returned with Intel yet.
The men arrived at the gate. They had several human heads with them. The heads belonged to the various informers in the route to Bernbute. Arvin watched the men, his hand firm around the handle of his sword. A warrior who seemed to be the leader of the Merria forces went ahead of his army and looked up. He began giving his statement.
" We are not at war! We want to be liberated from your ruling, we will remain allies but not in your kingdom! Merria demands for independence or we lay siege and destroy your city!" He stated as his fellows chanted with their swords high in the air. It was nice to witness how motivated they were. They had a course, not to win the throne but to be freed from the kingdom mutually as allies or violently as foes.
The king, Arvin,stood at the top of the fortress surrounded by a number of royal guards, the best warriors in the kingdom. He smiled at the demands of the Merrian commander. He took his hand off the handle of his sword and leaned to talk to him.
" My friend, if you wanted to do this peacefully, don't you think it was unwise to behead my trusted informants?" He argued rather too calmly.
" They started war!"
" Do you know the meaning of war, Sir?" He asked.
" I am a warrior!"
" Kill the bastard!" Arvin had gotten tired of him and instructed his best Archer to strike him down. In an ambush and howling of wind, an arrow slid into the commander's skull and he fell flat on the ground from his horse. He was dead!
The warriors of Merria had mixed feelings about it. They started murmuring among themselves while others yelled in fury as they charged towards the gate. Before they could start the attack, they heard loud voices from behind. It was the wilds, they had come in numbers and sooner. Everyone's attention shifted. No one had expected them to ever leave the forest but it was winter in the forest and here they were. They ran towards the Merrian army.
" My king, we should do something!" A king advisor- Felix, advised.
" Standing here is doing something Felix. We will watch our enemies destroy themselves then we shall join when everyone is exhausted and only if we must! " He commanded then walked to his palace. Merrians stood firm with their blades awaiting the attacks of the wilds. As Arvin entered his chamber, he expressed panick, the enemies were here and the wilds were no ordinary enemies. For thousands of years, the Wilds had a dream, to reconquer the lands of their forefathers and seems their dreams were soon turning to a reality.
Even though the myths were inconsistent and largely untrue about them, there was a common factor that everyone knew of them, they were strong and unwavering and never once would they get to give up.