Adam stared at Asher’s back. His lord had been standing there for hours now, neither doing nor saying anything.
“They want us to give them 50 people in a week’s time.”
He finally spoke.
“They’ve been taking a similar quota but not this big from chief Beowulf.”
“I see. Bury them, send my condolences to their families.” Asher turned to face Adam. The moment the general saw his lord’s golden eyes, he shuddered.
He felt like he stared at a wolf.
“Call for Uriah. I need him to scout out our enemy’s location.”
Adam bowed as Asher walked away. Without being told, he knew one thing. It was time to prepare for war.
No one touched the tail of the wolf and would not be greeted by the fangs and claws.
Not long after Asher left, Uriah rode into the keep with a black raven on his shoulder.
“I heard I have an assignment.” He said to Adam, who sat on a bunch of hay while people cleaned up the keep.
“You do. Lord Asher wants to know the jackals’ location.”
Uriah looked around. “They did this.” After serving Asher for months now, his fears had vanished and courage had grown in him.
In addition to that, Asher also promised to upgrade his raven into the four-eyed raven, a desolate beast known for its exceptional vision.
“They slaughtered every living thing in the keep. Not even the birds were left alive.”
Uriah sighed and lifted a scarf above his mouth and over his nose.
“I’ll take care of it.”
With a kick, he galloped out of the keep. Uriah was a standalone scout. He didn’t move in teams because of the excellence of his talent.
Before it was hard for him, but after a while, he grew to master this art of getting information. His range was so long that he could see everything happening a mile away!
Such talent made him of great value to Asher.
…
Since the day Uriah left, the fearsome Black Knight Cavalry had been moved to the keep as they were to prepare for battle.
Asher chose them as the unit best fit to retaliate. Finally, after two days, Uriah returned and gave detailed information about the great Jackal clan.
Apparently, this clan had one freeman clan and two bond clans, which were the dual hammer Jackal clan and the bowmen Jackal clan.
Although he informed Asher of their staggering population, which was above 20,000! The Black Knight was still sent.
Only those with insight could see what Asher saw, sending 4000 men against 20,000, most of whom were able to fight, be they women and children.
The Black Knights were a heavy cavalry, the most prominent land force. They were the tanks of the old era.
While most troops had reached their capped level, the Black Knights still had room to grow, but beyond that, they were a heavy cavalry unit of the diamond rank against infantry!
It was obvious where the advantage lay.
4000 heavy cavalry of their caliber was something the Jackals had never faced before.
Sitting on his throne with a solemn expression, he awaited the next report.
Boom!
The doors opened and Katarina walked in.
“My lord, you called for me.”
“I have sent the Black Knight Cavalry. Did you have a dream?”
“I did. But what I saw isn’t within your expectations.”
Asher frowned. “What did you see?”
“Your sister.” Katarina smiled while Asher’s eyes slowly grew wide.
Indeed, this was outside his expectations! Mary Ashbourne, his elder sister, was here, in the wastelands!
….
“It’s been seven days since we left a message for that new human chief, but he refuses to respond! I told you we should have killed him!”
The Second Lord roared.
“You speak before the chief; control your tone.” The Third Lord reprimanded him and received a death glare.
The First Lord, who was also the chief, known as Ham, rose to his feet.
Before his muscular frame, his brothers looked small.
“Gather our men; we shall soak their soil with their blood and enslave them. We’ve given them lots of respect, and they think they have wings to fly above their lords.”
The Second Lord snarled. “When do we march?”
The Second Lord was the commander of the bond clans, and the Third Lord led a small unit of skilled assassins while the main freeman forces were under the chief.
“Tomorrow.”
While the Jackals prepared their men, that evening the Black Knight Cavalry unit arrived on the outskirts of the Jackal clan.
Lambert spurred his horse to walk forward, a couple of meters ahead of his men, and from there, he looked at the tents littered on the plain.
The cold breeze made his cloak flutter. “Not even a single flame.”
He muttered under his breath.
Turning his head toward his men, his calm voice rang: “We wait until it’s late.”
Thousands of jackals gathered around a stone podium in the center of their clan, heeding the call of the Second Lord.
Although it was late and the moons took over, no jackal made attempts to light up a fire.
“Our chief has declared that tomorrow we will march for those stubborn humans who have refused to submit their quota. It’s going to be a feast.”
Growls and snarls filled the air. Some ground their teeth while others brandished their claws, all imagining the scene of them ripping the humans apart.
“Those inferior races will obey our law!” The Second Lord bellowed at the top of his lungs, and the crowd roared in expectation, some yearning for them to march in that very instant.
“Silence.”
The Third Lord suddenly appeared from the darkness, his voice deep, yet somehow thousands kept silent.
It wasn’t just because the Third Lord spoke but because they could sense the presence of the chief.
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Ham, cloaked in a long bear fur he gained from killing and skinning a bear beastman, moved through the crowd right to the stone podium where the Second Lord stood.
As he turned to face the people, he caught an orange glow from the corner of his eye.
He quickly turned to his left.
At this point, other jackals also noticed the orange glow, and when they looked, they saw a long line of flames on the horizon.
The silhouette of men on horses reflected in their eyes.
Lambert pointed his lance at the clan. “Advance!”