Marching North

It took them less than a week after Tino's return to prepare everything they would need for the long journey north and the upcoming battle. The ones that was deemed unable to fight, the children, the elder and the sick or injured were left behind with only a minimum of armed men to protect them should the enemy ever chose to return. The rest of them were now walking along the narrow dirt roads leading towards Aeston.

They didn't have nearly enough horses for all of them and the carts were already loaded heavily with most of the equipment, leaving no room for people to catch a ride with them. Only about a fifth of their forces had a horse, Matthias was among the lucky ones, happy that he didn't have to trudge through the mud with a heavy pack and the axe on his back.

Most of the time he rode in the front with Torleif, hoping to partake in the discussions of tactics that was continuously going on between the men in lead, but some of other men and old war veterans wasn't as inclusive when it came to Matthias as Torleif usually was. And so there were times he would slow down and ride further in the back alongside the carts instead.

Berwald had been given responsibility of a cart containing most of their armor. By his side on the coachman's seat sat Tino. The young man was barely fit to travel the first few days, still plagued with fever. And at night he could wake up screaming in terror from a nightmare induced by the horrors that was still fresh in his mind. When day came, he was often exhausted from a night with little sleep and fell asleep against Berwald's side, tightly wrapped in a thick cloak as the cart rolled north.

With so few people on horseback the journey was slow and could almost be considered torture, especially when it started snowing four days into the march. The winds grew stronger and howled throughout the night and the ground froze solid. It made walking easier since the carts didn't sink in the mud any longer, but they had to feel the cold gnaw at their skin when they walked. But the determination to save the people of their kingdom was enough to push them onwards.

"Are we far from Aeston now?" Matthias asked for the umpteenth time that day as he steered the horse up by the side of the Berwald's cart. "We've been riding for eight days now. Shouldn't we have been there already?"

"It's just a couple of more miles to go through this forest and we should be there" Tino said, his voice muffled by the thick scarf he had wrapped around his neck. The sickness had finally started to let go of him and he was a lot more alert than he had been in a long time. "The journey is a lot slower with so many people, you know that."

"I know" Matthias said impatiently. "It's just that the longer time we use, the further away the army could have moved, who knows if we will ever find them again. What if we just end up chasing them throughout the kingdom, never managing to catch them?"

Berwald cleared his throat. "You shouldn't be so eager to ride into battle. This is serious; if we mess up, then a lot of people will die and the rest of the kingdom will also end up in suffering. For all we know this could have been a stupid idea, we don't know if we can even defeat this army."

"Don't say things like that!" Matthias snapped sharply. "We will never win if you keep an attitude like that. I believe we can do this if we just try hard enough."

"But you didn't see what they could do, I did" Tino whispered weakly and he sounded absolutely terrified. He was about to say something else, but one of Torleif's close friends came galloping towards them from the front of the company.

"Matthias, Tino" he yelled. "Torleif wants to see the both of you right now. We are almost by the village and want us to ride ahead and check it out. He needs Tino's tracking skills."

Berwald stopped the cart long enough for Tino to grab his bow from the back and jump off. Then Tino climbed up on the horse behind Matthias and the two of them headed towards the front of the group where Torleif was waiting for them. The rest of his closest men had already left towards the village and the surrounding area.

Without a word for the two of them, Torleif kicked his horse into a gallop and rode ahead while they had no other choice but to follow. The forest thinned quickly before them and turned into an open field where they could see what remained of the village Aeston.

Now all that was left were several piles of burnt rubble that had once been housing for close to 500 people. Matthias could feel Tino's arms tighten around his waist as Torleif lead them closer.

Now that they were out in the open, there were no trees to shelter them from the increasing sting of the wind. The light drizzle of snow that had fallen the past few days was being picked by the winds and taken away. The dead villagers lay there openly on the ground as a grim reminder of what had happened. The dead stared up at them with empty eye sockets since the crows had taken their fill and many of them had more than one arrow in them.

"I told you it was horrible" Tino whispered hoarsely when they rode past the corpse of woman clutching on to hear child and he pressed his face against Matthias' cloak so he wouldn't have to look more closely at the dead and so that Torleif wouldn't hear his words.

Torleif waited for the two of them to catch up before he turned to look at them. "We need to know which direction the army went in after they were done with this place. Can you tell us where you saw them?"

"Just over there" Tino said weakly and pointed out the direction."

They trotted over to the spot and Torleif jumped off his horse, crouched down and started brushing away snow from the ground. "Well" he muttered after a while. "There certainly were a lot of people here. Even if it's been more than two weeks since the battle took place, the tracks as still clear as day."

"That's because of the cold" Tino shot in. "The ground is frozen solid, preserved the tracks. It's going to make it easy to tell where they headed." He climbed off the horse as well and walked up to Torleif to examine the tracks further. He brushed away more snow and used his bow to push aside dead leaves and branches and almost fervently began to follow the tracks further away from the ruins of the village. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he muttered to himself occasionally before he finally stood up again. "From what I can see here I would say they have continued west from here."

They heard the drumming of a horse galloping towards them. It was Brynjar, also a veteran from the last war and he looked horrified. "There is something you need to see" he said urgently, his breath came out in an angry white cloud. "You will not like it."

Torleif nodded and turned towards the two younger men. "Are you coming too?"

Matthias looked to Tino who paled again. "I'm going, but you can head back to the others if you want to."

"No" Tino replied immediately and with determination in his voice. Then he adjusted the quiver on his back. "You don't have to treat me like a child; I can handle whatever it is." He took the hand Matthias offered and climbed up behind him again. "It just sickens me to see what some people are able to do to other human beings."

Torleif climbed up in the saddle and Brynjar wasted no time before he led the way back towards the blackened remains that was the village.

Matthias could feel a chill run down his spine and the prickle goose flesh on his arms. The horses neighed anxiously and tossed their heads as they were being led around pieces of charred wood and partially burned bodies. Neither animal nor man wanted to be there at all.

There was an opening in the rubble and they figured it had to have been the town square at one point. And there, for all to see a pole was raised. And what was placed on it was enough to make their stomachs churn rebelliously. Torleif took a sharp breath in disbelief and horror. "By all the gods… Those bastards!"

Matthias steered the horse closer so he could get a better look and almost threw up at the sight that met him. There was a dead child tied to the pole, maybe eight winters of age. Its skin was pale and covered in dried blood coming from several gashes on his arms, torso and legs. A sign hung around its neck and the letters on it was written in blood. "What do the sign say?" He asked.

Torleif breathed heavily, struggling to hold back his anger. "It says that all who oppress the king's rule will meet the same fate as these villagers. This message was meant for us. They knew we were coming here and wanted us to see this." He curled his fingers together in a tight fist. "We will move on right now and we will not stop before nightfall."

"But if the soldiers left this warning, they know we are coming for them and are probably laying a trap for us somewhere" Matthias said uneasily. "The army is at least 2000 men strong and all of them are trained soldiers."

I'm counting on it!" Torleif grumbled back. "This is not acceptable!" He pointed towards the dead child and his entire arm was shaking from his rage and his voice was on the verge of breaking. "We have more men than they do and we have motivation enough to tear them all to pieces, especially after seeing this. They will not take us by surprise as long as we know they are looking for us."

"We should be careful anyways" Brynjar added. "And we should have scouts riding ahead of the main group at all times from now on."

Torleif nodded curtly. "And we should make sure everyone is armed before we ride on, just in case." He then pulled harshly on the reigns to turn the horse around, eager to get away.

It was on the way back to the rest of their group still in the forest that Matthias noticed someone on a horse out on the field. The coloring of his clothes and horse made him hard to see against the snow.

He rode up beside Torleif and nudged him in the arm to get his attention before he pointed towards the figure. "There's someone out there, is that one of ours?"

Torleif glanced back at Brynjar who looked clueless. They turned back again to get a better look, just in time to see the person to urge his horse into a gallop in the opposite direction. Torleif swore angrily and kicked his horse in the side. "It's a scout! Go after! We can't let him make it to his commanders."

All of them raced in after the person they had just seen, the wind whipping at their faces. They fanned out in different directions to cut off the possibility of escape, Brynjar to the right and Torleif to the left. Matthias continued straight ahead with Tino holding on for dear life as they rode.

"If he makes to the forest we will never catch him!" Tino's voice was barely audible over the thundering of hooves and rush of wind.

"What do you suggest we do?" Matthias yelled back, never taking his eyes of the target. "His horse is well rested and we are two people on one horse. We're too slow to catch up to him."

"Then we have to stop him some other way" Tino shouted. "Do not slow down!"

Matthias could feel Tino's arms disappear from around his waist and turned back for a second, just long enough to see the scout notch an arrow on his bow with little difficulty even though the ground underneath the horse was rough. "Are you crazy?" He yelled in alarm. "You're going to fall off and the distance is too great, you would never be able be able to hit him even if we weren't moving."

Tino ignored him and seconds later Matthias could hear the whistle of the arrow as it flew past his ear and towards the man that was by now little more that a flurry of white far ahead of them. It was as if time stood still as he watched the arrow move through the air, getting closer and closer to its target. And then against all odds they heard a howl of pain as the rider got hit. The horse he neighed in panic as it stumbled and crashed into the ground when its rider fell off, still clutching on to the reigns and one foot caught in the stirrups.

Matthias couldn't hold back his surprise and cheered loudly. "I can't believe you actually did it!"

It only took them seconds to catch up to the fallen scout. The horse was struggling to get up but was unable to on a broken leg. The rider lay just a meter away; face down in the snow and with the arrow sticking out of his back. Tino jumped off the horse in a swift motion and notched another arrow on the bowstring, aiming it at the man. Matthias followed close behind and grabbed the axe he had strapped to his back.

The sound of hooves announced the presence of both Torleif and Brynjar. They both looked shocked and surprised. "Well done boys!" Torleif exclaimed. "Never in my life have I seen anyone capable of pulling of a shot like that. I thought for sure he would be able to escape." Both men jumped of their horses and stepped up to the rider on the ground. "Now let's look a little closer look at our catch shall we."

With a swift kick, Torleif turned the man over and they could see a pale face staring up at them. The man's hair was dark, greasy and threatened to fall into his eyes. They were also dark and burning fiercely despite the blood trickling down his lips suggested he did not have long left to live. The arrowhead sticking out the front of his shirt suggested the same thing. Tino had truly made an astonishing shot.

Torleif drew out the sword by his hip and rested it on the man's throat. To the surprise of them all, the man started laughing, loud and manically. It came out of his mouth as a wicked gurgle along with a few more drops of blood. "You will never win" He wheezed. "You might have caught me and won a few battles, but I am just one of many and the groups you have beaten were much smaller companies and their leaders nothing like our general! He I mighty like few and will find you. And then his men will squash you all like the insects you are!"

"Where is the main army located?" Torleif snarled furiously.

The man laughed even harder. "I have no reason to tell you anything. I will die soon enough no matter what. You have nothing to offer me and nothing to threaten with in exchange for information. But you should know that Trollbunden will get you sooner rather than later and there is nothing you can do to stop him."

"We should just kill him right now and get it over with" Brynjar growled and drew his own sword.

Torleif nodded thoughtfully and stepped back to give Brynjar room to swing his sword and let it fall on the man's neck to end his spiteful rambling. "Take care of the horse too." He added. "There is no need to let the poor creature suffer."

Tino cleared his throat loudly and the other three turned towards him. "Does anyone have the faintest idea of what Trollbunden means?" he asked as he threw out his arms.

Brynjar snorted angrily and wiped blood from his sword on the snow. "The man was dying and probably mad. It could mean anything. He could have just wanted to scare us. You should just forget it."

"He seemed pretty sure of himself" Matthias muttered and packed the axe away again.

"Stop arguing" Torleif ordered and the authority was back in his voice. "We have wasted enough time here. The army cannot be too far away when they chose to leave a scout behind in the village. Let's get back to the others, they must be wondering where we are by now."

Two days later Matthias was out scouting a few kilometers ahead of the rest of the company. It was almost relaxing to be away from the noise of the group. The atmosphere had been tense after the trip to Aeston and after the news of the enemy scout started spreading like wildfire among them all.

The forest this far north was thinner than the ones they had in the south and the leaves has already been shed from every tree, making them seem naked. The birds had gone south and the only sounds were the ones his horse made as it trudged through the snow. That was until he could hear the faint sound of raised voices somewhere in the distance.

It was barely audible, but immediately his heart began racing and he climbed off the horse. If there really was something out there it was a much higher chance that he would be caught if he came on horseback and he figured it was best to leave the animal behind as he decided to investigate further. He brought out axe and carried it at the ready in his arms.

He was careful not to make any loud noises as he made his way ahead, keeping a keen eye out for any scouts. The trees seemed to open up before him and he headed in that direction. The voices grew steadily louder and he could even hear the sharp clang of metal against metal. But still there was no sign of people so took a chance and headed closer. When he stepped out from the trees, there was not the clearing he thought there would be but found that he was standing at the edge of a sharp cliff instead.

It was a magnificent viewpoint and one could see several kilometers away. The landscape below the cliff was radically different from the one he had traveled through so far. There were no trees, just open tundra almost as far as the eye could see. But just almost by the horizon, a mighty chain of snow covered mountains reached towards the skies.

And out there he could see a large camp, clearly belonging to the group of soldiers they had been looking for. The tents and flags were bright green, the king's colors. They had clearly been there a while and had put up a system of sharp pikes all around the encampment and made sure it was far enough away from the cliff that they would not risk being hit by a rain of arrows from above if they were to be attacked.

"And so we meet again"

Matthias whirled around at the voice, caught completely off guard, especially since he recognized the voice all too well but had not expected to hear it here of all places.

Lukas tossed back the hood of his long, white cloak that had made him hard to distinguish from the snow, stepped calmly out from between the trees and cast a look out over the landscape. "You should be careful not to fall off the edge" he said almost mischievously. "It's a long way down and it would hate to see you fall when you have come this far."

Matthias was left to open and close his mouth several times before he was finally able to make any words. "You just have a tendency to show up at the most curious of times" he finally managed to mutter out and he did take a few steps away from the edge.

Lukas just shrugged and his face became blank and completely unreadable."I can leave again if that's what you want" he said calmly, but he showed no sign of moving.

"No." Matthias sighed. "I just don't know what to think of you."

"And you are wise to do so" Lukas replied.

"The last time we met you promised to answer all my questions." Matthias commented dryly. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest but couldn't tell exactly what the reason for it was, if it was fear or excitement.

Now it was Lukas' time to sigh and he glanced towards the encampment for a moment before the turned back and pulled his cloak tighter around his body. "Tomorrow there will be a battle and nothing any of us do will be able to change that. I suppose it's time you learned the truth. Ask your questions. But I warn you, there is no joy in knowledge and ignorance can be truly bliss."

Matthias forced back the urge to laugh. He felt that he had waited more than long enough to get some answers. "I hope you're not short on time. There are a lot of things I want you to explain. Just how much do you know about this war we have gotten started? You seem to have followed it from the very beginning when I first saw you back in Griven and you have always known where the soldiers were at all times and what their plans were."

Lukas snorted looked at him and it was as if darkness fell over his face. "You right in assuming that I have been a part of this 'war' as you call it from the very beginning" he said coolly. "But it started a long time before it ever came to Griven and I have seen it all."

"Then do you know all the players involved?" Matthias interrupted.

Lukas looked uncertain and furrowed his brows. "Of all questions you could have asked, this is one of the first you chose, why?"

"We came across one of the enemy's scouts" Matthias said. "We stopped him and he died before us. He mentioned a name before he passed; at least I think it was a name. He said Trollbunden would get us." Matthias was shocked to see all the color drain from Lukas' face at the mention of that name. "So I assume from your reaction you know who this person is."

"Yes." Lukas breathed out the word; he seemed to have completely lost his composure. "Trollbunden is a word from a very old language and there are very few people in the world who still remembers it. The soldiers only know that one word and use it for their general, mostly in mockery but also to spread fear. It means spellbound."

"Tell me more" Matthias said eagerly when Lukas paused for a moment.

"I had hoped to postpone this for a little while longer" Lukas muttered quietly and avoided Matthias' gaze. "I should have learned my lesson not to make promises a long time ago."

Matthias sighed impatiently. "You really enjoy speaking in riddles don't you?"

Lukas ignored the comment, took an arm out from under the heavy cloak and brought it up to the clasp by the neck. "Not that it will make any difference, but you should know I have no choice in any of this." Lukas swallowed heavily, undid the clasp and threw his arms back.

Matthias' mouth fell open the instant the cloak fell to the ground. He could understand why Lukas had been so careful to keep the cloak around him. The uniform he wore under it was sewn in colors of black and emerald green. On the front of his doublet, right over his chest a mighty oak tree was embroidered in shining silver thread and just above it a golden crown.

Lukas appeared full of shame and regret when he looked up again. "The reason why I know so much is because I am the king's most trusted general. I am the one they call Trollbunden."