A/N: Sorry it took me so long for such a short chapter. Honestly, the biggest reason it took this long is that ORIGINALLY, this was going to be the general setup for the bad-guys, but then I decided to change it, so I tried to take out all the stuff I had written for the villians, and was planning something completely different, but theeeeen I found out that I had still left the mention of "Lord Havran's Horde" in the first chapter, when the Black Knight appears, so I was like "%*9#!" and then I had to re-write the chapter for these villians, so... Here it is. Enjoy.
Somewhere to the northeast of Mossflower
Warlord Havran was in a fine mood, even giving a light, toothy smile. A rare thing for the normally glowering stoat.
He looked down at his army from the hilltop he was on, three hundred and four score vermin at last count, with more arriving every day. Today had seen the largest group of vermin to join his horde yet, two score of assorted rats, ferrets, weasels and stoats.
Some days were better than others, sometimes there would be over a dozen vermin who would join the horde, a few times there was even a full score, but most days it was only two or three new recruits who came crawling in, still with fear in their eyes as they related stories of the black-armored beast who had sent them.
But that didn't matter. Havran was in no hurry, he knew that as long as he kept a tight hold on his army, and as long as the Black Knight continued sending recruits, eventually his horde would be unstoppable.
The smile slipped from his face as his thoughts drifted to the Black Knight.
He didn't like the Knight, didn't know anything about him, even his name or what species he was. For all the stoat knew, the Black Knight might not even be flesh and blood, simply a living suit of armor with a mind of it's own.
The Black Knight had just walked one day into the middle of the horde's encampment, the few vermin who had tried to stop him had been slain on the spot.
Havran himself was preparing to do battle with the beast, expecting this to be an attempt to usurp the leadership of his army, but instead of attacking, the Knight took a knee to the Warlord, and said only that his master wished him to do Havran's bidding.
That was all Havran knew, which was why he ordered the Knight to scour the land for new recruits, though he certainly needed more beasts under his command for what he had planned, his main intent was to simply keep the Black Knight as far away as possible.
The stoat was so lost in these thoughts that he didn't even hear his mate as she quietly came to his side, inquiring "What stirs in your mind, Havran?"
He turned to look her in the eye, showing no sign of surprise at the sudden interruption to his ponderings, he knew his mate knew something more about the Black Knight, who he was, but she had never been one to reveal secrets.
Realizing he should reply, the Warlord said "Naught that isn't always stirring. What say you, dearest, about this newest group of recruits?" referring to the forty who had joined them that morning, led by the rat Buldug.
"None among them are particularly impressive, but they can all swing a sword, so they shall serve their purpose."
Havran nodded in response. He had been disappointed to learn that the fox who had led the vermin before had been killed. It was a pity, the fox could have gone far in the horde, provided the stories of his size and strength were to be believed.
But he didn't dwell on it too long. As Kilvanya had said, as long as they could swing a sword, they would serve their purpose.
A/N: I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, as most of it's already written. Just needs a few lines removed and a few new ones added, and it should be a lot longer than this one.
