Prologue
"Kill them all" General Bazem told the executioner in a low, chilling voice that showed no mercy for the pleading Ajax soldiers kneeling in front of him. He turned his back on their crying pleas and walked out of the Great Hall right as the executioner's axe hit its first target. General Bazem walked down a long corridor and turned into an open door that was decorated with a lion's head. Its metal eyes gleamed eerily in the torchlight. This room birthed hundreds of war strategies resulting in thousands of deaths. General Bazem was a very fierce-looking man; he certainly did not look like a man who would have a family. He was raised by a brute of a father and revenged his daily beatings by treating his army just as his father treated him. Those who followed General Bazem feared him, and those who fought against him respected him. As he walked into the room, two guards on either side of the door straightened their statures. They wore a more gaudy armor than the other soldiers. Silver and copper armors were worn by soldiers who did not fight, while iron and steel armors were worn by the true soldiers. Their chest plates had an embellishment of a lion's face and their helmets had plums of orange and red hair, to resemble a lion's mane.
There was a man standing in the middle of the room leaning with his hands down on a fine table. Spread out on the table was a map of the battlegrounds known as Isanker. Isanker was a large part of Kambrelta, the country. For over five years, men rebelled against King Karan, a very respected and wise ruler. The radicals called themselves the Ajax, but everyone who followed the King knew them only to be a band of liars and thieves. Men came from every town in Kambrelta to join the Karan army, although many were turned away because General Bazem was very harsh. Even though the King was the ruler over Kambrelta, General Bazem was the true leader of the Karan. The leader of the Ajax called himself Aimery the Scalper. It was rumored that he collected Karan soldier's scalps as a trophy.
The man leaning casually on the table stiffened as General Bazem entered the room. He wore black plated armor with decorative gold studs going down his arms. His name was Earh Jazeek, also known as General Bazem's right hand. Even though Earh was a strong warrior on the battlefield, he never could meet Bazem's gaze. He swallowed hard as the light shown on the general's scar which ran from the top of his right temple down to the right corner of his mouth. He looked back at the map and spoke in a firm voice, "Our troops near Malak are falling, we need reinforcements" General Bazem looked at Earh in a disapproving scowl. This made the hair on the back of Earh's neck stand on end. Bazem saw this and softened his gaze.
"We do not have troops to send."
"I understand General, but we will lose Malak if we do not send reinforcements."
"I know, Jazeek. What of Kalbreath?"
"We are fine and strong in Kalbreath."
"Have we troops to spare?"
"No, sir," There was a pause as General Bazem thought.
"We need more troops."
"Yes sir."
"So we shall gather them," a nasty, fowl grin spread across Bazem's face. Earh knew what the general meant and he did not like the idea. When the war began hundreds of men volunteer to stand up for their king, but now no men volunteered. Some men cared too much for their families to join and some lost faith. The only way for Bazem to get the amount of troops he needed was to steal men away from their families.