"Look sharp, they're here." Corvus’s expression shifted.

  The horse riders stopped just outside the grove. Some of them spoke in indistinct whispers; not discernible yet heavy enough to fill the woods with murmurs and unease.

  After a moment, roughly half of the riders entered the grove; the other half stayed outside. The latter let out a collective bellow—a battle cry that rippled through the woods—before galloping at full speed somewhere inside the groves.

  The remaining half lingered inside the forest.

  Corvus and Elsyn silently observed the horseriders below them when a whisper came from behind them.

  "Ptss... Where are they going?"

  They turned back and found Lea clinging on a branch.

  Elsyn shot her a stern look and gestured for silence. Lea pressed both hands to her mouth, but in doing so, she lost her grip and began falling back. She panicked. Instantly removing her hands, she tried to grab the branch while her mouth opened and was about to scream in shock.

  Elsyn swiftly reacted, she grabbed Lea's collar with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. She nearly lost her own balance, but before she could fall, Corvus caught her and pulled both sisters on the branch.

  Some of the riders below glanced upward, but after finding nothing amiss, returned their attention to the grove.

  Must be the rustle of leaves. One of them thought, though no wind stirred.

  Elsyn lightly knocked on Lea’s forehead and quickly covered her mouth to stifle the low yelp that followed.

  "What're you doing here? Have you lost your mind?" Elsyn muttered.

  "I also wanted to see what's happening?" Lea said, rubbing her forehead.

  "I swear, 'squeak... this isn't the time to be fooling around—we almost got caught."

  "Sorry... I didn't mean to..."

  Suddenly, a piercing whistle resounded from below, spurring the horseriders to dash in the same direction as their comrades. The forest came alive with the pounding of hooves, then fell silent mere moments later as they vanished deeper into the woods.

  "Looks like they weren't here for us," Elsyn said.

  "Yes, we can be certain of that, at least. There's one problem though—their movement coincides with our path."

  "We can move around them."

  "No. That would put them in our blind spot, and we don't know where they plan to go next. Our paths might cross—we can't risk that. We have to keep an eye on them," Corvus replied.

  "Scouting mission!" Lea whispered excitedly.

  Elsyn gave her sister a long, measured look.

  "What? I said sorry, didn't I? C'mon it was an honest mistake, sis."

  "Did I say anything? I am certain that was your last honest mistake," Elsyn evenly said.

  Does she mean to murder me the next time? Lea gulped.

  "Lea, on my back, now," Corvus gestured.

  She promptly climbed onto his back, and he moved forward. Elsyn followed at her own pace.

  The trees grew close together, their branches forming an interconnected web that made travel possible. Corvus could easily make out the horses’ tracks and followed them through the canopy.

  "Hey, Corvus..." Lea spoke softly.

  "Yeah, what is it?"

  "Do you think what I did back there was very bad?"

  "Well, it was bad—"

  "I asked if it was very bad. I do bad things all the time, but sis rarely gets that angry."

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  "In that case, no it wasn't very bad. However—"

  "That's a relief; it's all good then," Lea said, smiling contentedly as she cut Corvus off twice in a row.

  This cheeky brat. Corvus deemed it only fair to teach Lea a lesson.

  "But, hey, there's no mistake too small to go unpunishment. I should know, my unit's filled with delinquents like that. I'm never remiss in disciplining them properly... and thoroughly," Corvus remarked.

  "Don't you think you're being too harsh over minor incidents? You can spare them every now and then. There's a charm in humility; let them learn through mistakes. That's more effective."

  A splitting image of Lucien, just cuter, Corvus thought.

  "I'd rather they learn through aching bones and empty stomach. I don't know about its effectiveness, but it has worked so far. And whenever they revert to their old ways, I give them a refresher—usually every few months and sometimes even within weeks," Corvus replied.

  After a brief pause, he casually added,

  "I might've slipped some of my methods to El, but I don't think she's heartless enough to use them on you. You can relax, Lea. It's all good, indeed."

  But it was not. Lea knew her sister all too well. She paled.

  "What could Corvus have taught the ogre?" Lea mumbled almost inaudibly. Her words were not meant for anyone else's ears.

  Ogre? Does she mean El? Now that's interesting. Corvus's ears were too sharp to not notice the words spoken so close to him—no matter how faint.

  A few hours passed as they continued pressing ahead. Fortunately, they had yet to run into trouble, though there was still no sign of their mark.

  Elsyn maintained her steady pace, she always had Corvus within her sight, or precisely, he made sure to stay within her sight. After a while, she noticed that Corvus had stopped. Has he noticed something?

  She reached him and asked, "What happened? Did you find them?"

  "No, but the footprints start to deviate towards east from here on—away from our path."

  "That's good. We can avoid them entirely."

  "No, we can't be looking behind our shoulders constantly. They have to be dealt with; one way or the other."

  "There's no need to expose ourselves to unnecessary danger. We can keep moving on the trees, that way even if they do pass nearby us, we likely won't get spotted."

  "Do you know if the trees are still connected further ahead? What about sound or smoke? Are you certain that they won't notice those? Do you intend to keep track of all of that while staying on alert for whatever beasts are lurking within these woods—of which we know absolutely nothing about?"

  Elsyn exhaled and replied thoughtfully, "Fine. But we walk away if we don't find them before sunset."

  She knew it was already past-noon, meaning their pursuit would end soon.

  "Agreed." Corvus nodded, and proceeded onwards with Elsyn in tow.

  Some time passed before the distant clamour of shouting and clashing steel reached them. The sound wasn’t far, so they slowed their pace and cautiously approached its source.

  Parting the foliage, the trio came upon a clearing where a modest yet splendid two-story cottage stood in the middle of the open land.

  But they hardly paid the cottage any attention, or why it stood here, for something far greater seized their attention.

  Hundreds of armed warriors were assailing the cottage, while barely a dozen soldiers in golden cloaks and ivory uniforms fought back in defense.

  Most of the defenders stood atop the roof, using long-range weapons—crossbows, bows, and throwing knives—to strike without exposing themselves to enemy fire.

  Their attacks, though neither weak nor clumsy, were futile in the grand scale of the battle. A bucket of water against a sea of flame.

  They made no difference.

  However, the fact remained that the cottage was yet to be breached; the resistance still held.

  One had to look toward the main gate of the cottage for answers: a single gold-cloaked soldier wielding a longsword was holding back countless waves of enemies.

  All that came within his range was butchered down without mercy or discrimination.

  The man appeared to be in his late-fifties. His uniform—woven from fine fabric and adorned with medals—was distinctly different from that of his comrades. His face, smeared with blood, was hard to make out, and his ivory-white clothes drenched in scarlet, bore no trace of their original hue.

  Maimed bodies and severed limbs were strewn around him like heaps of leaf.

  No shade but crimson could be seen where he stood; only when his longsword flashed did a glint of silver flicker through the red. And each time it did, more corpses joined the mound at his feet.

  The old man accepted each death that fell to his valor with solemn eyes, harboring no malice behind them—only an unwavering spirit to crush all that stood against him and his.

  "A Mundukar..." A murmur escaped Corvus's lips.

  Elsyn standing beside him, asked, "Like you?"

  "I'm not sure... for some reason he doesn't seem like me. I can't place a finger on it, but he seems different from me... more harmless, I suppose."

  "Harmless? He's totally wiping the floor with those guys. How can you call that harmless? He's a little scary, but I think he's going to win. You wanna bet?" Lea chimed in.

  Corvus glanced at the fight again. "You're on. Although, I wouldn't be so sure he has the upper hand."

  "Do share your thoughts, O Battlemaniac," Elsyn teased.

  Corvus spared her a small glance. "First of all, despite suffering losses the attackers have not stopped, which means they expected to run into a Mundukar of his calibre here. And secondly because, it's the Mundukar and his men who are caught off-guard and are on the back-foot. Out of options, they're forced to wage a desperate all-out attack. This is their last stand."

  He scoffed. "He's nothing but an animal backed into a corner; he'll die."

  Finishing his explanation, Corvus looked at Elsyn, and plucked a few strands of her hair.

  "Aah! What was that for?" Elsyn yelped in surprise, but Corvus would not even match her eyes let alone answer her.

  Calling me names... serves her right, Corvus thought, smugly satisfaction.

  But his satisfaction was short-lived as Elsyn retaliated by plucking his hairs in revenge.

  You picked the wrong person for this, Corvus.

  He looked at Elsyn, and she at him; another battle began with egos at stake, and fallen hair beseeching their masters for vengeance.

  Lea tried to volunteer herself for the fight, but to her dismay, she just could not reach their heads.

  Alas, it was a battle worthy only for those tall enough... and petty enough.