The morning sun rose behind the mountains and painted the sky red. The first sun rays touched the tents. Nothing stirred. The soldiers executed the change of watch without any talk. There was no news, at least none that anyone wanted to hear.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkTVaUZJ5f
A girl dressed in plain clothes stood at the edge of the tent city. She looked at the close hills, behind which the mountains loomed.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGDMWbEpEF
Behind her, an old man made his way out of his tent. A while he waited behind her, until he spoke. “What do you see?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazi3m1SNsC
“I see storm clouds rising,” she answered.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX75nDAOebX
“How many are there?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjAXw0Mqrk
“Not more than his army, but they are wild and strong.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjisQCWMMrE
The old man sighed. It would turn into a hard battle.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwMzs44pqr
The girl shivered and turned around. “Father, Aris is dead.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIdJjzlXLs
“Yes,” he whispered as an answer. “They took him yesterday. The King had become impatient. The war is taking too long already for him.” He didn’t say more, but a tear fell down his wrinkled face to vanish into his white beard.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUHMGpVW6Z
The girl stepped over to him. “The war will be over tomorrow,” she said, as she tightened the sheepskin that the old man had wrapped around his shoulders, to protect himself from the cold air. He nodded.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIblghcxzyW
“He is coming,” she whispered and looked with fear over at the rows of tents.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz50Dzq2g1q
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Shortly after, steps approached. The King, accompanied by his personal guard, came up the small alley between the tents. He did not think highly of tradition, this King. He was young when he succeeded his father’s place. Unshaved and without insignia, that was his usual appearance. Only a long coat trimmed with ermine fur, which he wore open, distinguished him from his Generals.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdGfhVZYPo
“How are things, old man?” he called out, before reaching them.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWOFFn7CTF
The old man pointed towards the rising sun and answered, “The Ogres are coming from the mountains to meet your army. Your impatience will be satisfied before dawn.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl5hjO90yz
The King arrived and stood before them. “Good. So they eventually choose to face me in this war.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCYDXkRpJF
“War? Until now it has been calculated slaughter,” the old man mumbled, but the King ignored his remark.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6U8ArdHn05
Instead he asked, “What does your daughter see? How many Ogres are on their way?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeBVhyByNU
“All that are left. The mountain tribes follow the call of their elders and gather to destroy you. By tomorrow, there will be no more war,” the old man said with gratification in his voice.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOC48tlWhW
“Still you defy me. Be careful. You would regret awakening my anger yet again,” the King responded.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrlWaoy39B
“The ogres lived together peacefully with humans before you started this war, your grace. I never wanted to help you win it. You took my wife and my son. What can you threaten me with now? I am old, death has lost its terror for me, and my daughter is of more use to you alive.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCwQcKDsTf
“But I could still have her tortured before your eyes,” the King warned him, and his voice left no doubt that he meant it.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLCxxgeUYG
“And risk that she might lose her powers? No. You are no fool. You would never do that. Your threat is empty.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7ItGjINIQ
The King quivered as if he was about to lose his temper. But he quickly calmed down again and said, “Very well. She remains untouched, for now. It has come to pass that your son might be more valuable to me, than your daughter ever was.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HltuMw84d
The old man’s grave look succumbed to surprise. “My son? I thought you had him…” He stopped.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIELseexYVq
“Oh, I did. He is dead. But I am talking about what happened just before he died.” He paused, to enjoy the short glimpse of hope in the eyes of the old man, to watch it die. Then he continued, “Your son was a coward, you cannot deny that. He squealed like a pig when we took him. But nevertheless, he resisted and tried to escape the unavoidable. He fought so hard that my men could hardly keep him under control. I had to have him locked in a cage with captured Ogres. He killed three of them with his bare hands, before they finally broke his back and left him to die.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbwsRcTELC
The old man stood facing the ground, and tears ran down the girl’s face.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWp2B6VZPU
“Now tell me,” the King continued, “what was it that gave him the courage and the power to do this? Before he did not have any fight in him.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW42QSbbH36
“Hate!” the old man cried out. “Hate for you and your arbitrary decisions made him that way. In every Ogre he killed, he saw you. Send your men into certain death and they will fight like my son. But ask yourself: what they will do when they return?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRvD7rotnx
The King looked at him with a puzzled expression. Then he started to laugh. “You want to trick me, old man? You will not succeed. I know there must be another reason …”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT73az33Wsp
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There he was interrupted: “Ogres! The Ogres are coming!” the watch shouted, and a messenger ran up to him to await his command. The King looked up at the hills, where the morning sun drew the silhouettes of three figures.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBEjBdWs1L
“Those are only scouts. The time has not yet come, but tell the men to prepare for battle,” he said, and the messenger hurried away to pass on the command.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrzXsxdS8P
“Do you see them?” the King asked, pointing at the hills. “They will come, and if they defeat my army, then you and your daughter will be lost as well. But as I see it, there is a way to win our war today.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyo2enZBWwr
“427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOPBxuz1MF
war!” the old one responded angrily. “I never wanted it, this war.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJQ5OrGVpc
“Then end it!” the king yelled. “Give me the secret that made your son fight. The battle is unavoidable. Only you can affect its outcome now.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxu45QV99cp
The old man kept silent. He seemed to be considering.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkjMBfbs8O
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A signal was given. The battle was to come. All over, the soldiers began to stir. Voices and the clanging of weapons were everywhere.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLIUzkWA0e
“What do you think, old man?” the King asked. ”Are you trying to decide if your daughter’s death is worth your revenge? Don’t forget to ask yourself what will be if I am victorious.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClytaatfbw
“Neither victory nor defeat will bring my wife and son back to me.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbLPUhocwJ
“Your wife’s death is entirely your own fault,” the King replied angrily. Then his voice grew weary. “You should not have denied your services when I asked you for help. You served my father well, and I only demand what is my right as King. You always had my respect. Why did you deny me yours?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz0x1xZmEG
“Respect? What a strange word, from the mouth of a man that doesn’t even know my name.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4PiosMoIS
The king stared at him but said nothing.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RxBStWdBa
Another messenger came with news from the King’s generals. “Very well. I have a battle to plan. I will give you time to think. When I return, I demand an answer to my question, or I will cut your daughter's throat with my own hands and you will watch her die. No matter how this day ends, both of you will be useless to me from tomorrow. Your fate is in your own hands. Erom will stay with you to guarantee for your life, until I decide otherwise.” Then he turned away and vanished again between the tents.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gCqoZpD5P
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The girl approached her father and whispered, so the guard would not hear what she said. “What has happened to Aris?”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uh4Wxn1Oi
“The green powder. I should never have given it to him. He was so desperate lately, he could not stand it anymore. The constant fear, and the King’s threats. I used it to ease his pain. It is calming in small doses. But it is dangerous, and one starts to want it again and again. When they came to get him, he must have taken too much. Aris… the King should never have seen this.” He looked his daughter in the eyes and said, “Maran, I can never share this secret with the King. It would give him too much power.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HyDbsuPzM
She bowed her head and nodded. “I understand what you want to say, Father”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvltOHlaU8
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The three figures on the hill had become a solid row, but the battle formation of the Ogre army was not yet complete when the king returned.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBjPKweatU
“Have you made a decision?” he asked. The old man did not react. “I expected nothing else. Well, this is what we will do. You will exercise the ability, too seldom used, of your daughter to look into the future and foresee the outcome of the battle. Thus you will decide the fate of all of us.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Cy9cduiZG
“It could kill her!” the old man said, but he did not get any reply. After some futile moments, he gestured to tell his daughter to follow him into the tent, but the King held him back. “No. This time you will do it here, before my eyes. I want to hear her talk with my own ears.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XCBXOVKZ4
The old man sighed. There was no use in arguing. He reached under his clothes and produced a thin leather cord, which he briefly dipped into the water keg next to the tent. His daughter, meanwhile, had removed her cowl and they could see red marks around her neck.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodhZcrGff8
She knelt down in front of her father, and he wound the cord three times around her neck and tied it tight. Then he put his hand on her head and began a strange song. Slowly the cord grew tighter around the girl’s neck as the leather dried. Her face became red and her lips turned blue.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZmhakOP5G
The king and his guards waited in suspense to see what would happen. After some moments she collapsed and remained motionless on the ground.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEvenH0WV8
“Traitor!” one of the guards shouted. He wanted to charge at the old man, but the King’s arm blocked his way. Everyone stared at the old man as he got on his knees to pull his daughter's body upright and let her head rest on his chest. He whispered to her. Suddenly, a shiver went through the girl’s body. She lifted her head, and her eyes, coloured red from blood, stared towards the field where the battle would take place.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk3ZILlU4V
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“What do you see?” the king cried out, forestalling the old man's words. “Speak!”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfH43avwGM
“I see your men fight as they have never fought before,” she answered with a voice that was not her own. “Without rest, without end, without mercy.” Her face was a grimace of pain. “They know neither fear nor pain. Nothing will stop them, except death.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXsAT0Q1Ol
The eyes of the King glistened. “What about the Ogres? Who wins? Tell me! Quick!”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqOV5RTjSx
She moaned, as though in great pain. “There are no more Ogres… They are all gone…” she stuttered, before her body finally collapsed again. Her father immediately loosened the knot around her neck.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicbuXHZ9N4
“Did you hear that, old man?” the young King cried out in excitement. “My men will destroy the Ogres. We will be victorious! And after our victory, we will go into the mountains and wipe out the rest of their race. You can’t deny this fate any longer. Give me what I need to fulfill it.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs797l29Ug8
“She is dead,” the old man replied in tears. “You will not win this battle. I will never yield this secret to you. Today your reign will end, you grace.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGL7VlamOXF
“Oh? Is that so?” the King mocked. “Erom?” he called out.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYFSO1bD0Q
His bodyguard came out of the old man's tent. He held a bag in his hands. “They were talking about a green powder. I have found it, my liege.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLYdmKLe4F
“Good. Hand it out to the men. The Ogres are ready, and we shall be ready to meet them.”427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVYZuor7KM
“No!” the old man cried out. “You must not do that. You don’t know what you are doing!” But his cries remained unheard. The King left without even looking at him.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCb4oK2Ur3Z
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The Ogres that had gathered on the hills bore witness of a strange spectacle. The King's soldiers began the fight. The drug had all of them lose their minds. They could no longer tell friend from foe. They fought without rest, without end and without mercy. The King, his generals and his bodyguards tried desperately to resist them, but they were unable to stand against an army of soldiers that only death could stop.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB0ZclKq6h
The Battle of the Frenzied took a long time. To the last man they fought each other, until nothing moved anymore, except for the flames which devoured their tents.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyPNIi9qxJ
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And the Ogres returned to their mountains.427Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtVgCD7dHM
Penana
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