Layla I

The flames consumed Fort Sigrun, the members of the Blackstone Legion watching as the fortress burned before them. The Warnorn Union's flag burned atop the fortress, Layla's eyes following the burning banner as it fell to the ground, quickly being reduced to ashes by the flames. She could only watch from the shadows cast by the mountainous environment of Fort Sigrun as the place she and so many others had called home for so long burned before her eyes.

Layla, a Union peacekeeper, physically felt her heart sink as she watched other members of the Union turn away from the blaze of their fortress. In her mind, several questions burned, demanding answers. Could they have been saved if she and the rest of the Union had just been a bit quicker? How many survived and how many had been killed? How long before the survivors were executed? Could they be saved? She turned to face her comrade in arms, Hilde, a Union valkyrie, only to find that she too had her eyes locked on the pillar of flame sent into the sky by the burning fortress, and the prisoners being led away in chains.

Though all these thoughts flew about in her mind, none of them could be said aloud as guilt wracked her mind. Their regiment of the Warborn Union's army had been sent out under the leadership of Magnus' second and Godric's lieutenant, Leif Ulfric, and Arthur Rowan, in order to end a coup by the Helfire clan backed by the Blackstone Legion in eastern Valkenheim. When they had received the message saying the Blackstones were marching toward Fort Sigrun, Leif and Arthur came to an agreement for the first time in their entire campaign: they needed to return at once. The army had set out on a forced march from the east and had only hours prior arrived within range of the fortress. Knowing that they were not likely to have beaten the Blackstones to the fort, Arthur had ordered her and Hilde to scout out the situation and report back once they had seen the state of the battle and the enemy force. Upon arrival, however, Layla and Hilde were appalled to discover that the battle had ended, and that their side had been not only defeated, but nearly wiped out.

Looking out over the Blackstone Legion, she could easily spot the man responsible for the defeat of the Warborn Union.

Sitting atop his horse in the midst of the Blackstone forces war Aryen Diamond, his left arm held in a sling around his neck. Layla almost felt a perverse sense of joy at the sight of his wound, as well as the sight of what appeared to be a large amount of his own blood covering his orange and black tabard, staining the garment red, even as he tried to hide his condition from the world with a fur cloak wrapped around his shoulders. The warden's head was bare, his badly dented and desecrated helm was strung to the saddle of his horse, the once proud wolf that adorned it now barely a shadow of what it once was, the helm baring a dent on its crown that, the peacekeeper assumed, could only come from the halberd of Godric. At least her commander had likely died fighting rather than being executed as a 'sheep.'

Layla held back tears at the thought of her commander being killed. She and Arthur had been soldiers in the Blackstone Legion, serving under Godric during the Valkenheim campaign. Just like him, they had seen the injustice in what had been done on the campaign against the Vikings and had left when the lawbringer announced his intentions to abandon the Legion. She had always seen Godric as an inspiration to her, a skilled warrior fighting for what he deemed to be the greater good. A man dedicated to protecting the innocent at any cost. He had joined the Blackstone Legion to drive the vikings out of Ashfeld and protect her citizens, she and Arthur following him to the Blackstones' ranks from the ranks of the rapidly declining Oaken Legion. With many of its finer warriors abandoning their forces, the Oaken Legion disbanded, its remaining members following Godric as he joined the Blackstone Legion.

It was after the Valkenheim campaign that Godric had made his intentions to leave the Blackstone Legion clear to all his soldiers. As she and Arthur had been with him since the Oaken Legion, they were the first to follow him in his desertion, followed quickly by the remainder of the former Oaken soldiers, and finally those Blackstone soldiers who had joined Godric when he assumed command of his forces. Under the cover of darkness, Layla had scouted out and cleared a path for Godric, Arthur and the rest of the Legion to escape by. They were assigned as the rear guard on the retreat from Valkenheim, so no one noticed the missing unit until the morning when the retreating Blackstones were hit by a surprise raid from angry vikings. Meanwhile, led by Godric, the Blackstone deserters fled into the mountains of Valkenheim.

With the attack by the vikings, many among the Blackstone Legion likely thought Godric and his band dead, not believing that their comrades would desert the army and leave them open to an attack by the Barbarians. Thus, the deserters managed to avoid their former comrades in arms for quite some time, however, it wouldn't be long before their dwindling food supplies began to run low. Hunting game and scavenging managed to keep them alive for a matter of months, but it was not long before some began to die, falling to starvation or the elements. Valkenheim was inhospitable in its winter months, and since winter was when the invasion began, the cold killed many. To make matters worse, a small army of knights in the territory of the vikings they had once waged war on were far from inconspicuous, and they were soon tracked down by the rapidly rising Warborn clan under one of their warlords, Magnus the Bear Eater. Knowing his forces were in no condition to fight a force numerically superior to their own, Godric had attempted to make a deal with Magnus, offering his life, as a Blackstone commander, for the safety of his soldiers, explaining to Magnus that through over a month in Valkenheim's winter, his knights were in no condition to fight. He offered his own life, as well as the vow that none of his men would strike out at Valkenheim, in order to ensure their safety. Layla had to practically hold Arthur back as Godric made his offer, as he was devastated by the fact that his mentor was about to give his own life.

However, if Godric believed his time was at an end, he would be mistaken. Magnus, being a generous and honourable man, had spoken to Godric personally, after bringing him back to his fortress, Fort Sigrun. Layla and Arthur had waited outside the fortress in a makeshift camp with their fellow knights as their leader discussed the terms of what would likely be his own execution, and she hoped, not theirs. In the end, it came as a shock to her that not only had Godric not been killed, but they were being offered an alliance. Godric had come to his troops and gathered them all together before making his offer: any who wanted to join with the viking clan and fight the Blackstone Legion were welcome to join, and those who wished to leave Valkenheim were welcome to do so, and would be granted safe passage back to Ashfeld. It was made clear that they would not be part of the vikings' army, but would guard the border of Valkenheim from all Blackstone invaders. To her surprise, not a single knight declined Godric's offer, all the former wolves standing alongside their pack leader, even if it meant going against the rest of the pack, and the alpha.

Layla could clearly remember her first day of being part of what had become the Warborn Union. After discussions with both Magnus and the Warborn Jarl Stigandr, Godric had convinced them to allow the Union to not only exist, but to be its own autonomous body not controlled directly by the Warborn clan, but allied with them. Magnus, seeking to gain a reputation for himself and his family beyond the confines of what could be gained as a member of the clan, supported Godric's claim, stating that he would personally add his own forces to the Union and keep watch over the knights to ensure their loyalty. In an attempt to prove his loyalty to those he had once fought against, Godric shed his armour, offered his halberd to Stigandr and bowed to the man, swearing to never raise his weapon against Valkenheim. In response to this gesture, Stigandr had laughed, saying that he wasn't sure whether Godric was dedicated to his stated cause, or simply mad. With Magnus' urging, Stigandr had seen fit to grant them their independence from the Warborn clan, on the condition of an alliance between the two bodies. And thus, the Warborn Union was born.

Of course, tensions initially ran high between the knights and vikings. The vikings were well known to have raided Ashfeld's cities and monasteries on many an occasion, and on their campaign in Valkenheim, the knights of the Blackstone Legion had slaughtered many Vikings. However, through many missions together, they had grown close. Layla herself had been paired up with Hilde early on in the Union's existence, and the two had been near inseparable ever since, the finest scouts and trackers in the Union and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Not only were they comrades, but also friends, as the two spoke often and supped together on many occasions, usually sharing a tent on campaign. While the two got along famously, no one could be sure as to why this was the case, as the two could not have been more different. Layla was a small woman, petite and thin, with a head of blonde hair that ended just below her neck, while Hilde was near as tall as Godric, standing just a few inches shy of six feet, and was heavily muscled from years of training with her spear. Her image was completed by the lengthy braid of red hair that ran down to her mid back. Then there were their attitudes, Layla being largely a quiet woman, something that served her well as an assassin, while Hilde, when not tracking, could talk up a storm. But still, the two got along famously their entire time in the Union's ranks.

"We're done here."

The order snapped Layla out of her thoughts as she turned her attention back to the Blackstone Legion. It was Aryen who had given the order, as the Legion began to pull back from the fortress, a line of prisoners chained together followed behind them, some screaming in sorrow or rage, some sobbing to themselves, others were swearing vengeance against the forces of the Legion, while others still remained silent and contemplative.

"Prisoners." Layla noted softly. "So some did survive."

"Not for long." Hilde added. "You and I both know what the Blackstones do to their prisoners."

Layla nodded grimly. "We'll need to make a plan to rescue… them…" She trailed off as she spoke, the Blackstone Legion filing out in an organized column. As the soldiers began to pass, Layla's eyes were drawn to what stood behind them. A safe distance from the fortress were three large mounds of earth, each one having a marker placed above it. What caused Layla's silence was just what those markers were. The mounds were marked with weapons. A samurai nodachi, Magnus' ancient longsword, and most jarring to her, Godric's halberd, the once proud weapon now standing with its head buried in the earth. It was obvious what these weapons were meant to mark, and it shook her to think that her once glorious knight commander now lay dead in this shallow grave alongside his brother in arms.

The peacekeeper took a shuddering breath as she held back her tears. Next to her, Hilde shook in rage as she gripped her spear so tightly Layla worried the weapon might snap. Steeling herself, Layla unholstered her crossbow and began to pull back the bowstring, eyes locked on the unhelmeted head of Aryen Diamond.

Hilde grabbed her wrist roughly. "What do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

Layla jerked her limb from the valkyrie's grasp and gestured to the Blackstone army. "All I need is one shot. Aryen doesn't have his helmet, I can end this right here."

"If you really believe that, then you're not the wise woman I've known all this time." Hilde replied. "Let's suppose you can hit Aryen from here, what then?"

"Then he dies and Godric and Magnus are avenged!" Layla spat.

"And then what? We die, and the Blackstones, led by a new commander, continue down this path. And just what is further down this path, I ask you?"

Behind her helmet, Layla paled. "Leif and Arthur!" She realized. "The Union's camp is just a matter of hours journey up the path!"

"And if we leave now, we can get to the camp and order a retreat." Hilde said. "I hope to be in Valhalla someday as much as you hope to be in heaven, but right now, we need to ensure that we survive so that our companions might live as well. Now come, the horses are just up the path. If we leave now, we can reach them before the Blackstones discover them."

Layla sighed. She knew Hilde was right. Arthur, Leif and their forces were strong, but not strong enough to take on an army this size, especially not when it took them by surprise. Forcing back tears just one more time, Layla cast her eyes back to Godric and Magnus' graves. "May heaven welcome you with open arms." She said softly, voice cracking from emotion.

With a herculean effort, Layla turned from the three shallow graves, though the image of the weapons planted in the ground above the corpse of the man she called a commander, mentor and friend would forever be burned into her mind. Even as she mounted her horse and rode towards camp, the sight of the sun setting behind the burning fort would be all she saw. That, and the flames of the inferno illuminating Godric's halberd, the shadow of the weapon cast across the ground like. As the sun sank behind the mountain, Layla shook those thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time for those thoughts. She needed to be focused, lest all that remained of the Union face the fate of Godric and Magnus.