"Get up!"
"Ah, what is it again?" Merill stood up.
"We've been here long enough, we have to go," Mormir reported.
"And where should we go?" Caden asked.
"Far west. We have enough mages and well-trained elves," Mormir continued.
Only a small group remained in the castle.
They walked through a ravaged country, villages were depopulated, dead cattle were seen around. Besides, there was a terrifying silence everywhere.
"This is probably the work of our vanguard," Caden said. Mormir just shrugged and continued to ride.
They stopped in front of the village, where the banner of the wardens was seen.
"Halt! We've finally got more thugs out there," Mormir laughed.
"General! They're here!" the soldier called in the village.
General Jedar called up the troops of the Imperial army to the formation.
"Soldiers of the Empire! I see the fear in your eyes, but that's only the fear of the unknown! Maybe we have only a few wardens with us, but we will defeat those stubborn mages. They are nothing but cowardly murderers! They burn villages and murder innocents. If we retreat, everyone in the village behind us will be slaughtered, men, women and even children! I'd rather die than let those monsters move on, what about you? Will you fight by my side?"
General's speech was followed by a massive shout from the ranks of the soldiers. Then they lined up in front of the village.
Mormir's smile fell from his face. "Well, there's a lot of them."
"What? Do you want to escape?" Cassandra nudged him.
"Run away? No matter how many they are, they're not wardens, just a dozen of guards, militia, petty militia."
"We also were just guards, Mormir," Caden proclaimed, without a reaction of Mormir.
"So how do we lead the attack?" Merill asked.
"They will lead it," Cassandra replied, gesturing her head toward the grouping up archers.
"Nah, archers, leave it to me!" Mormir smiled, jumped off his horse and stood in front of the group.
"Fire!" A volley of arrows rose and stopped in front of Mormir.
"What is that, general?!" a captain shouted.
"Hmm... it's a dark mage, captain. They're all so bold and arrogant," General Jedar smiled. "I was hoping he would come. Show him our surprise!" the general said, and a group of guards uncovered a special type of organ cannon from under the sail.
"Fire!"
Mormir reflected one cannonball after another. After the last, he could hardly stand on his feet.
"Hmm... Now, load our little pet. Greetings from the New Grimfell," general said with a wide smile.
Mormir stopped the cannonball just in front of him, but it broke and burst out a lighted oil on him. Mormir was in flames, and Cassandra and Caden ran to help him.
"What are you waiting for? Cavalry! Kill them like they killed our villagers!" general Jedar gestured.
"Circle! To the circle!" Cassandra shouted.
The mages rushed out and formed a circle around Mormir. When the cavalry was just in front of them, the mages of nature lifted the sharp stones from the ground, then the mages of ice created an ice wall on the stones, to protect themselves from the arrows, they both created an impenetrable wall. The cavalry stopped before a wall of ice and stones. Some fell from the horses, others tried to bypass it. But the mages gradually formed the full circle of the wall.
"What now?" Cassandra asked. That was the first time Caden had seen uncertainty in her eyes.
Caden looked around. They were all terrified and nervous. Caden sighed loudly, "Rebuild the wall behind me," Caden said, smashing the wall of ice with his power, hitting the soldiers behind it and went outside. Caden reflected a wave of arrows.
"Sir... that's another one!" the soldier shouted to general Jedar.
"So what are you waiting for? Fire the cannon!"
The cannon fired. Caden stopped the cannonball, from which a lighted oil burst out, directed it to the side with his power, evaded the oil, and threw it back towards the cannon. Then a group of soldiers rushed against him. Caden either killed them with his sword or his power.
"Enough!" general Jedar shouted, and the soldiers slowly retreated from Caden. Jedar came closer to Caden. "Who you are?" Jedar asked.
"I am Caden Snead, son of the dark cult leader."
"Um... and that was yours...?"
"No, my father is... dead," Caden snapped.
"So you are a cult leader? I have a suggestion for you."
"Hmm... so speak," Caden replied.
"We both know that you and your friends are going to die here. Our reinforcements are on their way, and those soldiers I sent to you are not even a quarter of the army behind me. But we also know that you are able to kill a lot of our soldiers, especially you alone. And you surely understand that I want to prevent it," General Jedar said with a calm, balanced voice.
"What do you propose?" Caden asked.
"A duel," Jedar replied.
"Who with whom?" Caden asked.
"Me and you, the battle of the leaders."
Caden thought and looked around.
"But if you want to continue with this, we can..." general Jedar raised his hand to signal the archers.
"All right, I accept. What happens if you win?" Caden said.
"You give up and you will be taken to magic schools," Jedar answered.
"And when I win?" Caden looked at him.
"I'll let you go."
"And I should believe that you won't send a cavalry or a volley of arrows in our back?" Caden replied.
"My honour forbids me from doing so, that's the thing you don't have," Jedar smiled.
"Why do you think we have no honour?" Caden went angry.
"Does anyone who murders the defenceless have honour? But that's irrelevant now, let's duel!"
General Jedar stood in front of Caden. They both drew their swords. The duel began, Caden tried not to use his power. The duel was exhausting, but Caden eventually used his last strength, to break general Jedar's sword with a blow.
"You won... Finish it!" the general replied in a resolute, arrogant voice.
But Caden kept his sword, turned, and went to the rest of the mages. The archers prepared for fire, but general Jedar stopped them.
Caden stopped and raised his head.
"You know how this will end, Caden, we both know it," general Jedar said.
Caden took a deep breath and went on, "I know well, but there's no way back."
The mages left the area, general Jedar had left them go as he had promised.
"Why did you let him live? Did you... use magic in that fight?" Cassandra asked from the saddle.
Caden just pretended that he didn't hear and went on.
"Who is a monster, us or them?" Caden asked.
"Nobody is innocent, Caden. We are all... monsters," Mormir replied wearily.
"What now? They'll probably send every soldier of the Empire on us," Caden continued.
"We will be fortified in the castle that we have conquered. Either way, it ends there, there will be our last defiance," Mormir finished.547Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAv0lwzq2n
