"So let me understand this, they do not speak at all? " Lieutenant Hemacus asked as he stood by the courtyard bonfire of the outpost, alongside the many other refuges and the soldiers who were on a break no matter how short, a chilling desert night with the company of the twin moons.

  "Yes, they have their tongues but chose the silent path to glory. " Yemna explained though she did not expect them to understand. "It is a great honor for Asarothians, and some Tatarians still follow the way, it is said to be the only way for the gods to welcome you in each of their domains, and the silent Tatar is allowed to choose. "

  "Huh, better than our gods, you do something and they turn you into a tree for no reason. " Hemacus joked and laughter spread through the camp.

  Yemna forced a smile but remained confused, how could a man disrespect the very gods he worshiped, if one would say a thing about the sand tongues, he might lose a tongue, then again, seeing how broken those people were when she arrived at the outpost, a few laughs were welcome, ever since she arrived she saw nothing but helpless folk and beaten soldiers, she wondered how long they would last and what had pushed them to this point, only to hear that it was the result of one attack from the Gahrak, her leaving back to her home or pressing forward to the command center of the imperials would have been both a fool's errand, thus she remained at the presence of those she considered enemies at heart, a good imperial is a dead one, her grandfather once told her, and to this very day she agreed with him, they brought them nothing but pain and misery, and even her journey was because of imperials, she itched for the day of their downfall, and yet seeing maimed children, weeping mothers and headless fathers, made her hesitant about voicing her thoughts.

  "What of you warden? Does your gods say anything? " Hemacus asked as he rubbed his hands together, his helmet still hiding his face.

  "I was of Folken once, they believe in the duality, but my gods now? I have no gods, wardens do not believe. " Lucas responded, cold and direct.

  Hemacus huffed and replied. "No gods ? Odd, for men who deal with godly beings. "

  He shook his head and responded. "Godly beings? hardly, they're nothing short of abominations... Seeing the things I saw those beings do, what they are and the way they behave, it's hard to believe, the road wardens only believe in one thing, and one thing only, order. "

  "Order is no god. " Yemna words slipped through, the warden's words did not sit well with her and she will not stand by it. "Order cannot be worshiped, it cannot provide guidance or boons, it cannot move the powers of the world, my gods bring ore, gold, glory, courage, they move the sun and the three moons, and all matters of nature for that. What did your order do for people? "

  "What did your gods do for your people? " Lucas questioned but awaited no answer . "They did not keep the celestial beasts away... And tangled you with the Gahrak, however I am not here to debate entities beyond my understanding, you have faith in your gods, I have faith in the mechanics of the world. "

  She looked him up and down, she would argue further but the man had already stated his disinterest, and perhaps he was correct to do so, it they wish to stay companions in what will come, it was wiser to not converse in such matters, or at least in a friendlier manner, she sighed and spoke. "My apologies, I did not intend to be... Overly passionate. "

  "No harm done, your highness. " The road warden replied. "Nevertheless, if we Oswardians find each other's beliefs and cultures to be odd, the lands beyond the barrier, and the one's further east beyond the mist are much more odd, "

  "The land beyond the barrier? " Lieutenant Hemacus repeated. "No man's land? It is a wasteland, no one lives there, no one sane enough, I hear it's plagued with diseased and twisted creatures and former humans, then there are those white haired folk who can open the barrier, what do they call em, Eclipsers ? "

  The princess differed "Being a wasteland does not mean it has no people, the commander of my father's guard came from a nation beyond the mist, and passed into no man's land, he spoke of bizarre cultures and what not, and claimed the Eclipsers escorted him through the barrier. "

  "Whatever he sniffed, I want some of it for myself." Hemacus jested. "Regardless, I did not hear about anyone passing from the mist since the arrival of Julius Maximus the first and the first imperials an era ago."

  He was right to be skeptical, they were as well but seeing Xao appearance, no one could doubt that he was a stranger to Osward, the same way no one doubt that pure blooded imperials are not natives of Osward, and yet they ruled it from corner to corner, lest for the Tatarian lands and the three isles north, west and south, no matter little she knew about the isles, she was content enough that the imperials would at least not taste the joy of conquering a world, she smiled to herself, though her smile did not last long, as she began hearing shouts behind the gates.

  "Commander! The scouts returned from the north! " a guard yelled from the tower.

  "Let them in! " Hemacus shouted and soon enough the wooden gates creaked open, only to reveal two men, one heavily injured with cloth wrapped around his head, arms and legs, and the other carrying him, as Hemacus saw them, he unstrapped his helmet and slid it off his head, he was a blue eyed blonde man with short hair and a pale skin, scarred in every corner of his face and misses most of his left ear, his eyes were wide and he exclaimed in disbelief as he made his way to the scouts. "Two of you... I sent twenty of you! By the gods, what happened north? Where are the others? "

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "We were ambushed commander. " Said the man. "The rest of us... Nothing left of them besides the cloth we used for our wounds, killed, all of them, whoever was not killed were taken by the Gahrak, the monsters arrive soon commander. "

  Lieutenant Hemacus thoughtfully rubbed the side of his chin, after a moment of silence, he replied. "Rest up, we will need everyone able bodied. " He turned his head to the princess and added. "We need to prepare, else we all die. "

  Thus not a moment too soon, they were in the command tent surrounded by her own guards, the lieutenant first in command, him, the warden and the princess as well, in between was a wooden table with a small torn map of the local region highlighted as 'The red marshes' what the imperials called their colony of gold mines and outposts, and while Hemacus spoke to his men, she could not help herself but wander off in her own thoughts, she stood besides men who she swore to never trust, to never forgive and to never befriend, imperials the lots of them, invaders, ravagers, rapers, murderers, foreigners, to her the wounds were still fresh even though she did not witness the war of the marshes, but day and night as a little girl she sat at the altar of their great city and prayed for her grandfather safe return and she would not forget that her only response was a severed body, sewed together to maintain a sense of dignity, the little girl grew different when she saw the hand that fed her, raised and took care of her, mutilated to a point where his death right as king was held in the private sanctuary of the lurkers graveyard, and that day was the only day she saw her father shed a tear, one tear that carried the weight of a nation, of all Asarothians.

  "Your highness? Are you listening? " Hemacus asked and her senses were brought to reality, despite any hatred she carried, she had duties to attend, and she would not disappoint her father nor her mother or little sister, tonight she will put her thoughts aside, after all, seeing the way those at the outpost were torn and broken, they had paid enough, for now that is.

  "I apologize, do you mind if you repeat lieutenant? " she asked of him.

  He nodded and looked down towards the map as he spoke. "We are here to the furthest south outpost, fort Aculus, ahead of us is one major gold mine the distance of three leagues, and we expect the attack to arrive from there... As for the south, here in Asarothians soil they rest in the rubble of Kregar castle and would make their way here in less than half a day but I doubt they will attack without their brethren, they will attack from the south and from the north... Your folk besides the warden, fought the Gahrak on many accusations, what do you suggest? "

  She looked down thoughtfully and was silent for a second too long, she had fought Gahrak before, it was no ordeal to her, but as far as she heard they were in a frenzy, so she would not make a fool of herself and take those creatures lightly, she cleared her throat and set her index on where their outpost was. "The Gahrak are cruel spiteful creatures, they carry eternal hate for what is human and do anything to ensure their survival, they will be fast and agile, their flesh is strong but not strong enough to take too many hits, most will have shortswords and buckle shields, robbed from the bodies of your friends... And they have a habit of mind games, do not be enraged by the things they do, regardless, we begin by fortifying our position."

  "Your highness, it is near impossible to defend a... Shambled outpost of wood entirely, and fortifying it will take time. " The lieutenant exclaimed.

  "We have time, and we may not be able to defend it entirely but we will make due. " She replied. "I grew up in a wasteland of a desert, I know the ways of the land, how many men do you have? "

  "a hundred fit for duty... Fifty of them being civilians, and a hundred heavily injured " he answered. "The Gahrak number in the five hundred, they breed like rabbits. "

  "Between your hundred and my hundred, we will make due. " She noted then circled her index around the outpost position as she added. "What you said earlier about the Gahrak was correct, they will wait for their brethren to attack in full numbers, thus we expect it to be in three days or so, we shall use the time we have to build a ditch around the walls so they would not easily scale the wooden walls, the soil is half sand half dirt, digging through it will not take longer than two days around this small of a fort and with as many folk as we have."

  She moved her finger to the surrounding area and further explained. "All the while we dig the ditches, we will collect as many large rocks as we can, anything to throw at them from the walls... The town have no shortage of glass, nails and anything of the sort, we create a line around the ditch and conceal those objects under the sand, they wear no shoes and would fall victim for this, any discomfort would be an advantage to us, we also need to boil piss and manure, everything can and will be used in the battle. "

  "We could also set up a barricade inside the gates, if they break through, we do not need something to entirely stop them but to limit their movements at the entrance... Perhaps a spike frame. " The warden suggested. "And we could use your hyenas in the courtyard, they seem to be smart enough to not attack their masters and allies. "

  She nodded her head and added. "A ditch, a line around it, barricaded gate, rocks for the walls defense and as many spears, pitchforks or pikes as we could, every able bodied man, woman and child of age will have a weapon on the wall. "

  "There is only one issue in all of this, your highness..." the lieutenant commented. "My soldiers are imperial soldiers, trained and prepared for all situations... But the civilians, they are not used to this, they did not expect this, and most of them just lost their families and homes, they have no choice but help with the preparation, that much I agree, but to tell them they are to fight on the walls?... Even the women? The children? "

  Harsh on others but soft on themselves, the imperials were, she told herself as she held back her stinging words and thoughts, she shook her head and looked down towards the map, she had forgotten that while Asarothian grow strong and prepared to face the realities of their world, imperials were nothing short of cowardice, if they were not prepared to fight for their lives, then perhaps by the time she would be queen, she would reclaim the marshes, it was a thought for another time however, for she needed to spark up whatever life they had left in them, she will not die in an outpost that reeks of piss, she will not die as a princess, she had much to see and do.

  "They will, order them to so, and if they break, I will speak to them. " She told him. "Or we will all die."