At the northern border of the Logress Kingdom, there was a huge camp that bore the white-colored banner of a bear, which was the symbol of one of the 7 kingdoms, the Norgales Kingdom.
There were hundreds of troops seen manning the camp. Groups of scouts could be seen on the outer periphery of the camp, patrolling and ensuring there was nothing suspicious happening in the distance.
As dusk drew near and dyed the sky blue with its own color, a small cluster of dots could be seen in the distance, approaching from the south. As it drew near, the scouts could finally get a clear look of what it was. A group of dozens of knights riding horses, bearing the Norgales Kingdom banner, and rapidly heading to the direction of the camp.
The scouts and troops who were at the camp recognized this group of knights. These knights were supposed to be the best combatants the Norgales Kingdom had.
But now, they had returned in such a worn-out situation that couldn't help but make them wonder what had happened to them.
The leader of the group, a golden knight jumped down from his horse and swiftly walked toward the largest tent in the camp that was guarded by silver knights. As he entered the tent, the golden knight immediately fell to his knees and lowered his head toward the ruler of his kingdom that was currently sitting in front of him.
"Your Majesty, I have failed you." said the golden knight dejectedly. "We were ambushed by the Logress' knights."
Upon hearing that, the young ruler of Norgales Kingdom, who leisurely sat on his seat and was not much older than Arthur, fell into rage!
"What!" He shouted as he stood from his seat. "How could that happen?!"
The figure next to him was a relatively mature, beautiful woman that bore similar features to the young king. She was Beatrix, or commonly known as Lady Beatrix, the king's older sister and also his advisor.
Seeing that her brother was about to order the beating of the golden knight, she quickly put her hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down, brother. " She said. She then took a step forward and asked the golden knight,
"How many casualties?"
The golden knight, who was known for his prowess, seemed to be scared as he answered her question.
"We lost…" He drawled, hesitation was very evident on his face. Eventually, he revealed the number under the intense gaze he received. "F-Five hundred men, Your Majesty!"
Hearing such a tremendous loss, even the usually calm Beatrix became angry following her brother's increased rage. The siblings of the Norgales Kingdom were absolutely incensed!
"Sir Malcoth! How could you even let that happen in the first place?!" Beatrix said harshly. "We just entered the border and already lost so many of our men!"
The golden knight, Sir Malcoth, lowered his head even further so that it almost touched the ground. "My apology, Your Majesty! It was King Arthur himself who led the ambush. They... we were caught off guard by them."
Hearing the mention of Arthur, a shocked look followed by disbelief could be seen on Beatrix's face. "If it was Arthur who led them.. That means…" Her face turned pale as she reached a frightening conclusion. ".. Maleagant's plan has failed."
After saying that, she slowly walked back toward her chair and limply sat down. "Maleagant…"
Seeing the absence of color on his sister's face, the young king tried to console her. "Sister, don't think too much. He could still be alive.."
Unexpectedly, Beatrix shook her head at her brother's words. "No.. if he was, he would already give us news…"
The young king knew about his sister's relationship with the man in case, Maleagant. Hence, it was really no wonder that the news shocked her to the core.
"There was no news at all! Nothing!" She continued. "They were all certainly getting found out, and then killed or captured. This means we have not enough golden knights to lead our troops!!"
The previously calm woman panicked as she realized the situation her kingdom had landed itself in. For this invasion, the Norgales Kingdom had prepared close to four thousand troops and were ready to be deployed anytime.
However, it had only been a few days, and they had already lost a huge portion of their army. Added with the death of one of their best combatants, the situation truly made them reconsider their decision to invade the Logress Kingdom.
"What should we do now, sister?" asked the Norgales King. It was no secret that the king's sister, Lady Beatrix, had always been the most helpful advisor for the young ruler.
"Brother, if Maleagant and the other golden knights are dead. Then, it will be a difficult battle ahead. Moreover, it's not Logress that I'm worried about." She said, "Camelot will fall for sure, but I'm worried that after we win the hard fought battle, the northern tribes will swoop in and take over our gains."
The king thought for a second and agreed that his sister's words made sense. Thus, he nodded his head and said, "So, what are we going to do?"
Beatrix turned to her brother and firmly said, "We should hold back our advance for the moment. Let them fight with each other first, and therefore, we will be the one who reap the benefits later."
"That's a good plan, sister." The young ruler nodded his head again and again at his sister's words. "We shall just do that."
The Norgales King was about to order Sir Malcoth when one of the silver knights stationed outside of the tent entered.
"Pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty. But there's important news!"
"What is it?"
"The northern tribe is on sight, Your Majesty. They are here already!"
The Norgales King and his advisor walked out of the tent. They then saw the force of the northern tribes outside the camp. The other party's estimated number was about three times the men they had.
The sight of the barbarian force much bigger than them quickly made all the Norgales knights become anxious. The two of them, after all, had been fighting against each other for so long.
Not long after, a few figures came from the ranks of the northern tribe and approached the camp. One was a large man with painted skin named Esca. The other person was dressed in a northern shaman attire, and was called the Honored One. As for the last person who was a beautiful woman, she was the one who was known as the Witch, Meave.
Looking at this group of people, the Norgales King kept his stoic face while inwardly expressing clear disgust toward them. As they stepped into the tent, the golden knight Sir Malcoth quickly said, "You are now in the presence of King Numar of the Norgales. The White Guardian of the North."
No matter how passionate he introduced his king, the three people completely ignored him. Meave, the Witch, suddenly opened her mouth, cutting Malcoth's words.
"Why are you Norgales are still here when even the Danes already entered the Logress territory from the east?"
Lady Beatrix was the one who answered, speaking on the king's behalf.
"Sir Maleagant failed in his task, and we just suffered major loss from the attack the Logress' knights launched." She said, "We will need some time before moving, to take care of our wounded."
The Norgales royalty obviously knew that the witch had a good relationship with their champion, Sir Maleagant. In fact, Maleagant was the middle man between the Norgales Kingdom and the northern tribe, as well as the person who handled the plan for the invasion.
Hearing the news of Maleagant's failure, however, the witch was actually not surprised. In her mind, Meave quickly thought of the figure of the young magician, who probably got in the way once again.
With the fact that Maleagant was no more, it seemed that there was a need to change her tactic. She knew she had to be in full control of tomorrow's battle. Otherwise, her plan would be crushed into smithereens.
Therefore, she turned to the Norgales King and said, "We shall head to battle as soon as possible."
It was clear that Sir Malcoth couldn't tolerate the witch's attitude any longer, as he quickly rebutted. "You shall not speak to our king like that, Witch!"
Meave, on the other hand, only briefly glanced at the golden knight before returning her gaze to the young king again. "Ohh I see, My apology, your Majesty… we really should head to battle as soon as possible."
The intense glare that the witch sent apparently unnerved the young ruler as he turned to his sister for help. Answering her brother's plea, Beatrix looked at Meave and firmly rejected the idea.
"No! We will join the battle later." She said firmly. "You all northern tribes could pass safely through our kingdom and we will provide supply as promised, but unfortunately, we will have to join the battle later."
Meave shifted her gaze to the fierce woman, and with a smile on her face, she said, "No.. You will not."
All the knights around immediately drew their sword when they heard the witch's audacious words. However, before the weapon could be pointed at the witch, the inside of the tent was suddenly enveloped in darkness.
By the time the Norgales King and Lady Beatrix recovered their vision, all the knights were already on the ground, dead. They were killed in an instant, with blood still spilling from their wounds.
Just like that, the protection the two royalties had was gone and they instantly became terrified.
"You.. You.. What do you want?!!" the Norgales King shouted. "We have thousands of men here! You cannot kill us!"
Meave, however, casually walked toward the dying Sir Malcoth who desperately tried to get back up. Placing her palm on his body, she sucked the energy out of him until his body became only a bag of skin with bones.
As she pulled back her hand, Meave's face had an ecstatic look as if she had savored something flavorful. "Emm.. These golden knights truly have the best taste. I really shouldn't have sent them away… I should have taken them all by myself."
The shocked young ruler was about to scream when a streak of shadow flew past him and cut his head off.
Blood splattered on Beatrix's face as she saw her brother's dead body fall to the ground. The usually fiery woman immediately broke into tears as she begged for her life.
"Please.. Please don't kill me." She said, "You need me.. You need me."
Meave approached her and lifted her face up and said, "I actually need you.." Her words made Beatrix's face turn bright, but the next thing she said sent the latter into the depth of the abyss. "..Your name and clothes."
As soon as she finished her words, Meave blew a green smoke to the crying Beatrix. In an instant, the lady's skin turned dark and her body lifelessly fell down.
When the witch turned around and faced the other two people coming with her, her face had already changed. She had become the Lady of the Norgales Kingdom, Lady Beatrix herself.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,