"Where's Stephan?" Cassandra frowned at the soldier near the house.
"He will join you soon, miss. Please make yourself comfortable in your house," the soldier opened the door for her, and she entered the house.
"My house? What does this generosity mean?" Cassandra murmured.
"My lady, do you want to put down your weapons?" the incoming man asked.
"I knew it would be a trap! No, thanks."
"Um... as you wish. Should I cook something for you?"
"And who are you? Giving me such stupid questions? Why are you here?" Cassandra asked.
"I am your servant, lady," the man answered.
"I do not understand," Cassandra said.
"Emm... Servant means..."
"I know what a damn servant means! I know it very well..." Cassandra replied.
"Should I cook, my lady...?" the man asked nervously.
"Do what you want. And stop calling me my lady. I'm Cassandra."
"As you wish... Uh, Cassandra," the man bowed and went to the next room.
Cassandra was walking around the house.
"I put a sword on his neck... And he treats me like a queen. So that simple it is?" Cassandra thought out loud.
"My master is fascinated by your race... Cassandra."
Cassandra was startled, drew her sword and turned. A servant stood there.
"Don't do this to me!"
"Forgive me. Your friend is expecting you in the dining room, Cassandra..." the servant said calmly.
"Could you... Start saying my name in a little less frightening way?"
"I'll try to er... Cassandra."
"That was... A little better," Cassandra replied, following the servant to the dining room where Stephan was sitting.
"Stephan!" Cassandra hugged him.
"Cassandra... What's going on?" Stephan asked.
"I don't understand myself. Did they hurt you?"
"No," Stephan replied.
"Okay... have you eaten something? You must gain strength. We'll stay here for a while..."
"What do you mean? Why?" Stephan asked.
"My lord has requested protection for miss Cassandra. She must stay in the city," the servant said.
"Uh... What about me?" Stephan was scared.
"If a lady wishes, you can stay as a guest," the servant proclaimed.
"Of course I wish!" Cassandra exclaimed.
"I'll set up a guest room," the servant nodded and left.
"Who is that? I'm starting to be afraid of him," Stephan laughed.
"That is... A servant," Cassandra replied.
"So you have a servant?" Stephan said.
"Don't look at me like that! I don't get it myself..." Cassandra shouted.
Stephan shrugged, sat down at the table and began to eat.
"Isn't it poisoned?" Cassandra asked.
"Isn't that irrelevant already? Would you like to be poisoned with me at least?" Stephan laughed.
Cassandra sat down and ate.
When they had finished eating, the servant came into the room.
"The guest room is ready. I'm sure you're exhausted. I'll take you there," the servant led Stephan to the guest room and Cassandra to her room. Spacious room, with a large bed, a sheet of fine velvet, and carpets, so comfortable it could be slept on.
"The carpets are better than everything I've been sleeping on before!" Cassandra cheered as she dug her feet into them.
"But you won't sleep on a carpet," the servant said.
"Um... Of course not..." Cassandra replied.
"Your bath is ready in the next room."
"Bath?" Cassandra walked into the next bathroom.
"Warm water..." Cassandra was stunned.
"Shall I warm it up?"
"Damn it! Are you still here?" Cassandra scowled.
"Sure, Cassandra... I'll help you wash."
"Um... I can wash myself. Or do I not look like it?" Cassandra said.
"Certainly, Cassandra. Well, good night."
"Good night..."
The servant bowed and left.
"Get up, boy!"
Merill opened his eyes, figures stood over him, their faces were wrapped in rags in the colour of the desert. Merill got scared and got up.
"Haha, calm down. We are friends!" one of the men uncovered the scarf from his mouth and smiled.
"Where am I?" Merill asked.
"In our humble camp. We're desert warriors, we've come to help the Imperial army."
"And where is the army? How did the battle go?" Merill asked.
"The survivors are in this camp. But there is not much of them. The Dark Ones crushed them completely. You were lucky, without us, you wouldn't have gone out of it."
"Stop bragging, Lean. It's rude!" the soldier stepped forward.
"So he's up? Better than the other one," the soldier laughed.
"What other one?" Merill asked.
"There was a boy nearby you. He's in the tent over there," the soldier pointed.
"You brought him here?!" Merill ran into the tent.
Caden was still unconscious, several men were sitting around him.
"Ah, you're awake," the sitting man smiled.
"Get away from him!" Merill called.
"Calm down. We don't want to hurt him," one of them said calmly while putting a herb on Caden.
Merill grabbed his hand. "But he does," Merill said very seriously.
The men in the tent were concerned, then they went out with Merill.
"So you know him?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Yes, he is the Dark mage," Merill replied.
"Well... So what do we do with him?" the soldier asked.
Merill stepped nervously from side to side. He didn't know what to do. This was the perfect opportunity to end it, just kill him. But Merill didn't want to kill him. Maybe he couldn't do it even in the temple as he intended.
"We'll take him as a trophy. They will deal with him themselves," the soldier suggested, and the others accepted it.
Merill was reluctant to say that the decision had at least been delayed.
"Everyone get up! There is no time to relax. Everyone's here, so we're moving on!" general Rengar called.
"Who's in charge here?" Merill asked the soldier.
"Over there, general Rengar. The only one of the generals who survived the massacre."
Survivors wandered all night as fast as they could. Desert warriors brought them additional horses.
The next day they stood in front of the Imperial City.
"I don't understand how we could do it so quickly," the soldier laughed.
The Imperial City was much more busy than usual. Caravans with supplies were wandering through the city, and people were getting everything they could and headed outside the city in carriages.
"What's going on here?" Merill asked.
"It looks like an evacuation, but I don't know why."
"Halt! Who are you?" a group of soldiers stopped them.
"General Rengar and this is what's left of the Imperial Army," Rengar replied.
The soldiers were shocked. "Uh... Well, come with me, general," the soldier decided and led Rengar to the commanding camp.
"High general! General Rengar is here," the soldier saluted and left.
"Rengar... Didn't you lead the wardens supporting the Imperial army?" the high general asked.
"Yes, sir..." Rengar replied.
"Rengar? What is he doing here by all the Saints?! Why isn't he on the battlefield?" one of the generals came by.
"I... I retreated," Rengar replied.
The whole camp was alerted.
"What did you do again?" the general in fur coat asked.
"I retreated from the fight."
"Alone?" the high general asked.
"No, sir, some soldiers survived."
"So the army was defeated?" the high general asked.
"Ehm... High general. I apologize for mixing in, but retreating from the battle is a violation of the law and the codex. Mr. ..." the general in a fur coat proclaimed.
"I know what it means, general Naross. Thank you for reminding me... How many were the Dark Ones?
"Er, uh... General Rengar has retreated from the fight, letting the enemy advance to our territory without resistance. Such an offence demands disciplinary action!" general Naross called.
The whole camp stared at the high general. He sighed loudly.
"I'm afraid general Naross is right. So we will start disciplinary proceedings, faster the better."
The whole camp met at several tables.
The high general stood at the table in the centre, general Rengar was standing in front of him, and tables with chairs on sides were filled with the other generals and senior officers.
"I'm starting disciplinary proceedings against general Rengar. Under unexplained circumstances, he withdrew from combat with his troops. General Rengar, I ask you to clarify the situation," the high general said.
"The reason for my retreat was, above all, to keep at least part of the army that could help with the defence of the rest of the Empire. The total destruction of our army was inevitable," general Rengar proclaimed.
"How did you come to such a conclusion?" general Naross asked.
"Our army was surrounded..."
This sentence caused a great stir. "Nonsense!" "The army could not be surrounded!" "What about the Wall of Sorrow?" was heard from all the sides.
"Silence!" the high general shouted.
"Please explain how this could have happened."
"I don't know, sir, they've probably walked around us..."
"Nonsense! Impossible!" general Naross's side shouted.
"How many Dark Ones did you see?"
"There was a whole army..."
"So you want to say that the soldiers at the Wall were so incapable that they let through the whole army? Or were they already defeated at that time?" general Naross asked.
"I... I don't know, the Wall's army was still there..." Rengar replied.
"And how long did you resist the army?" the high general asked.
"Until most of us fell down. After the death of general Maxim, we were all exhausted and almost incapable of fighting."
"This is not an argument! The Empire's soldiers, and especially the wardens, must fight to the last man!" Naross exclaimed.
"We all know that Naross would fight until he'll be totally torn apart," General Fairn said ironically, sitting at the table opposite Naross. "But wasn't Rengar's action logical?"
Fairn's speech sparked laughter on one side and anger on the other.
General Naross stood up and hit the table. "Are you mocking me?!"
"No, I wouldn't dare. I was just worried that you could dirty your new fur in such a situation." Fairn said.
Everyone started laughing.
"It would be easy for you to die after that, but general Rengar is a soldier and tactician."
"Enough! When was the last time you were in the fight, mister dark elf protector?! If you wouldn't release the situation around the Ashnaton Forest, nobody would break the quarantine!" general Naross proclaimed.
"I think I'm going to release the situation here by bathing you in the mud!" general Fairn shouted.
"Enough! Silence! Settle personal disputes outside of the official negotiations!" the high general shouted.
"Hight general, I suggest General Rengar and his men to be punished exemplarily," general Naross said.
"General Rengar? Are you going to say something about it?" the high general asked.
Rengar took a deep breath. "My soldiers are not to blame for my actions. They obeyed their superior's orders, so I am taking full responsibility."
"Good," the high general nodded.
General Naross frowned but remained silent.
"Anything else?"
"Else... Nothing else, sir."
"So you're not able to prove your claim to us?" general Naross smiled.
"No... You bastard," general Rengar muttered.
"What...?" Naross said, and Merill ran into the centre of all the tables.
"Um, I'm sorry, gentlemen. I have something or someone. Who can confirm this statement."
"Who are you by all the Saints, and how did you get here?" Naross asked.
"I'm general's bodyguard," Merill said.
"Soldiers under general Rengar are not credible to testify," the high general replied.
"I don't mean his soldiers. We have a prisoner," Merill said.
"Hah, stupidity! The prisoners could be persuaded to testify as much as his own soldier!" Naross shouted.
"But not this one. It's a Dark mage."
Everyone was amazed and confused.
"Can you show him to us?"
"Sure," Merill bowed and ran away.
After a while, he returned with a few soldiers and Caden in shackles.
"That's madness! You can't bring a dark mage so close to all the generals!" Naross exclaimed.
"Why?" general Fairn laughed.
"Calm down. So what do you tell us, mage?" the high general asked.
"My name is Caden Snead. I was in charge of leading the Dark One's army, which was tasked with encircling the Empire's army."
"How did you get there?" Naross asked.
"Northwest of the battle site are the ruins of the warden's castle. Using an artefact that the present soldier destroyed, I managed to open the gate for the Dark Ones," Caden explained.
"How many Dark Ones have you had?" general Fairn asked.
"Around a thousand."
"And how long did general Rengar's soldiers hold?"
"They stayed so long that my master had to intervene and call the demons to help us," Caden replied.
"Demons?"
"Did general Rengar's soldiers try to escape when the demons arrived?" general Fairn continued.
"No. They tried to get out of the siege, and fight their way to the Wall of Sorrow."
"Why did you go to the Wall of Sorrow?" general Naross asked with concern.
"To help the soldiers there get out of the siege," Rengar replied.
"Does anyone still request general Rengar's punishment?" the high general asked.
"Nobody? Well, I have no choice but to release general Rengar. He is innocent, let no one say that general Rengar has broken the law and the codex. I'm closing this disciplinary procedure, everyone back to work!" the high general said.
General Rengar sighed. "Listen, boy, I don't know who you are, but you just saved my life. Thank you," general Rengar said to Merill.
"Don't thank me, but to him," Merill smiled and pointed to Caden.
General Naross approached Rengar. "Um... I... I'm sorry. I had you for a coward. But I was very wrong. Forgive me."
"Everything is fine now," Rengar nodded.
General Naross bowed and left.
Rengar approached Caden. "Why did you help me?"
"Hah, I just wanted to scare those officials here," Caden laughed.
"Thank you," general Rengar said.
"High general? What about the dark mage?" general Rengar stopped him.
"What? You know the law. He is a prisoner of yours," the high general smiled and was walking away. "By the way, plan Z has begun," he added and left.
"Loosen his shackles!" general Rengar ordered.
"Sir?" the soldier asked.
"The shackles are just for aesthetics. If he wanted to, we'll all be dead already, shackles or not. Rengar said, "We can't take them off entirely now, it would make a stir."
"Thanks..." Caden smiled.
"What now?" Merill asked.
"Let's help with plan Z," general Rengar replied.
"And what is that?" Merill asked.
"You haven't heard it yet? Plan Z is the evacuation of the entire Empire," Rengar replied.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3VCZsfowH
