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The forest on a moonless night gives the attacker all the advantage, this is what Kaltos was taught early on in his training. Before the surgical enhancements, the genetic engineering, even the mental conditioning; he was a Feron soldier first and foremost. A member of the fiercest military of the 4 tribes. The Feron were the most militaristic of the tribes, so much so that it ensconced every part of the Feron society from the highest leaders all the way to the youngest schoolchildren. War was what the Feron were about. And the other tribes knew it. The Sahah of the plains cared little for the other tribes, the Avarash of the hills wanted peace, and the Taineer of the coast were all about trade. But not the Feron of the forests, we were warriors. Looking down from the small ridge Kaltos and his squad were on they could see the Avarash patrol settling in and making camp in a small glade surrounded by trees a short distance from the ridge. All three other tribes had small armies, if that's what they could be called, thought Kaltos, but none were truly warriors like we Feron. "Look at them making camp being loud as could be. Even a Feron child could find them easily." Kaltos hadn't initially realized he said that last part out loud until he saw his squad mate snap his head towards him. He waved the squad mate's questioning eyes away with a quick hand gesture. The other wolfen put his head back down until all Kaltos could see was a faint outline of his compatriot's maw, the rest of his body hidden in darkness as the other wolfen hugged himself to a small boulder a few paces away. The other four squad members were out of his sight, but Kaltos' superb hearing allowed him to hear their still slightly heavy breathing after their silent run to the ridge. "Gonna have to work on their cardio when we get back," Kaltos thought to himself. Kaltos himself wasn't even slightly winded from the run, but that was due to his 'improvements' as his superiors called it. "We are falling back," Kaltos said in a hushed whisper. "We have to inform command of this incursion into our territory," He didn't even need to wait for an answer, as he heard the muffled footsteps of running to their previous position a short run back to a rock outcropping at the edge of this forest. Feron soldiers NEVER disobey a superior. To do so would warrant extreme disciplinary action. Something Kaltos would come to understand very clearly all too soon. "That's right command, one small patrol consisting of 9 individuals, confirmed as Avarash by their insignia," Kaltos spoke into the small rectangular transmitter. A few moments later he got a response, "Stand by for further instructions SL Darksbane." Strange, Kaltos thought, this should be clear cut to put the enemy patrol on notice to leave or else. What else could command want his squad to do? It's not like the Avarash were here looking for a fight. Avarash were known for their aversion to conflict, so obviously the patrol simply wasn't aware they had crossed the border into Feron territory. After a few minutes had passed his answer came in the clear deep voice in his headset that Kaltos recognized immediately, which warranted his apprehension. "SL Darksbane, this is Warlord Fennis, do you copy?" Kaltos' ears went straight up at the voice of one of Feron's military leaders. "Affirmative Warlord, loud and clear." At that he noticed every one of his squad mates ears suddenly go erect as well, realizing who Kaltos was talking to. Kaltos could feel his anxiety rising at talking to such a prestigious member of Feron's military. "Listen closely Darksbane, I want there to be no mistaking what I am about to tell you. You are hereby instructed to eliminate the Avarash patrol with extreme prejudice." Kaltos' eyes went completely wide, fully exposing the emerald green iris' contained within. "Warlord, did I hear you correctly? You want the enemy squad killed? Is that warranted at this point, they don't even know we are here?" Kaltos asked as his throat went dry, realizing he just questioned a superior officer. "Is there a problem Squad Leader Darksbane!?" Boomed the voice through the headset, the disgust evident in the tone. "Are you refusing to carry out an order from command?" Completely taken aback Kaltos could only respond with a quick, "No sir!" Spinning around to look at where his squad was he then heard the Warlord comment, "I didn't think so. Now, when your little operation is finished contact me directly for further instructions." Kaltos just stood there silently for a moment before replying a confirmation. "Understood Warlord, SL Darksbane out." Kaltos then put his hand up to summon his squad to his side to brief them on the change in orders. Quickly the five other Feron soldiers appeared and crouched near Kaltos knowing something was off by his demeanor since Kaltos was still standing upright and not crouched as they were. After briefing the entire squad Kaltos looked to his second in command, "Jerec, come with me for a sec." Kaltos told his second in command Jerec Forith. A mountain of a wolfen, Jerec was a full hand taller than himself. Not that Kaltos was very tall, but wherever Jerec went he was an imposing sight. The two had served together since he went to the northern regions, fighting against the wild felines of the mountain regions. Jerec had gained Kaltos' implicit trust during those campaigns. The two walked several paces away from the rest when Jerec spoke up, "Obviously something the warlord told you isn't sitting well Kal, what was it?" Kaltos remained silent for a few moments just staring off in the direction the Avarash patrol was before speaking. "You and I have had our fair share of killing in our young lives, haven't we?" Before Jerec could reply Kaltos went on, "Are you prepared to step past that and into full on murder?" Jerec's head cocked to his left at that and narrowed his yellow eyes at his trusted leader and asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kaltos locked his emerald eyes on Jerec's yellow eyes, "We have been ordered to wipe out the Avarash, no survivors." Jerec had to stifle a chuckle, "You must've heard the warlord wrong brother, you mean capture right? I mean, wouldn't that start a war? Even if the Avarash didn't retaliate the Taineer would have a fit, they have been wanting a reason to call an alliance of the other tribes to teach Feron a lesson for a while now." "I know all that Jerec, and no, I did not hear the warlord wrong. He was very clear on his orders. Elimination with extreme prejudice, he said." Jerec's large arms crossed his battle chest plate with one hand going to his jaw and started rubbing the side of his face. Kaltos knew exactly what Jerec was feeling. It was one thing to kill in an all out fight where both sides know what is coming, even when its a stealth attack on an unsuspecting enemy during a declared war. But to go into a fight an enemy is unaware is coming is not only dishonorable, but will potentially start an unnecessary war. Harassing the Avarash and Sahah neighbors with skirmishes along the borders that rarely resulted in any casualties had been tolerated by the council of tribal leaders in the capital, but this would definitely not get overlooked. "Now you know what I'm up against. If we go down there with full intent they won't stand a chance against us, but if we don't.....well, we both know that wouldn't go over well for any of us. Especially me. To disobey a direct order, from a warlord no less, would be construed as treason." "Well then," Jerec started, "we go down there as ferociously as we can and make them surrender immediately." Kaltos just stared blankly at Jerec for a moment before Jerec continued, "Think about it Kal, standing orders are that if an enemy surrenders we are to accept their surrender. Even a warlord can't go against the standing orders set down by the Warmaster himself." Kaltos contemplated Jerec's words for a minute, going through the viability of such actions and whether or not it would go over well with the warlord. Kaltos knew this action would also let him get a message to the right people in command about the warlords indecent order as well. This couldn't have been authorized by anyone higher. "Alright, so how do we do this? We have to get them to surrender immediately without us offering it as that would go against the warlords order?" Jerec looked down before giving the answer Kaltos knew was coming, "Seeing as how there are nine of them, we may have to mortally wound their leader right off, that should get the rest to throw down their weapons. We have seen in the past how the Avarash volunteer soldiers can't seem to operate without their leaders." Jerec was talking about minimizing the impact, if they significantly injured the leader the rest of the patrol might capitulate. Under the rules of surrender we would then be obligated to provide treatment to the leader. They could then justify the attack as a skirmish gone wrong if the leader dies from his injuries, hopefully avoiding a war in the process. "And if the leader dies, are you willing to live with that Jerec?" Kaltos didn't like putting him on the spot like this but he had to know. "If it averts a full scale war with the other tribes, then yes. I could live with it." Jerec lied. Kaltos knew he was lying by the way he turned away while finishing his statement. Kaltos knew right then he would have to be the one to deal the blow, he wouldn't allow any of the others to have to live with that burden. A decision had been made. Looking over the ridge Kaltos verified the drop wouldn't be a problem. The problem now was to identify the Avarash patrol leader. Kaltos knew the Avarash ranking insignia but the problem was that these Avarash were wearing camouflage that hid the chest plates that held their insignia. Feron themselves, when in the field, didn't wear ranking insignia or any other such identifiers as they felt it was only there to stoke one's ego. Once a fight was committed to even leaders fought, to not include yourself was disgraceful. Everyone fights, no exceptions. Movement across the other side of the glade caught Kaltos' eye, he placed Jerec and two others directly across from the ridge where Kaltos was with the remaining two directly to the left by the area where it was anticipated the patrol would try to escape out of the glade as it gave clear running space. Kaltos anticipated their leader would be the last to head for the route and the ridge would give him a clear line to cut off the leader while Jerec and the two with him would close off the route so the leader couldn't escape. The two Feron at the escape route would hold up the fleeing Avarash so they could see their leader fall, forcing them to surrender when they see they are leaderless and trapped. Kaltos shook his head slightly, he hated so many if's. He had always wanted to deal with absolutes but his training had prepared him for adapting to any situation as necessary. No sense in waiting any longer Kaltos thought and pulled out his vibro-bladed sword. The faint green glow ignited along its blade as the vibrations kicked in upon clearing the ebony scabbard. He could feel the faint vibrations go through his fingers and up his wrist before dissipating into his forearm. Most couldn't stand the vibrations as they distracted the user too much, not Kaltos, he had become a master with the weapon. He learned long ago to not attempt to ignore the vibrations but to use them to his advantage when striking an opponents blade to force the vibrations into their blade throwing off the enemy's hand balance. A nifty little trick Kaltos used to finish most fights quickly and refused to ever teach anyone lest such a tactic fell into an enemies hand. Kaltos saw Jerec move immediately with the other two staggered behind him when Kaltos' vibro blade came out. Jerec was yelling, "For Feron," as loud as he could when his sword came down in a slash that just missed one of the Avarash soldiers who had jumped up at the sound of the Feron coming out of the blackness behind the trees on the reverse side from the ridge Kaltos was on. Apparently the Avarash weren't completely incompetent if they heard Jerec's heavy footsteps coming, but that soldiers survival wasn't all skill. Jerec had intentionally missed that blow to keep the ruse up, if Jerec had intended to land the blow it would have, and that Avarash would be laying on the ground bleeding to death. Kaltos quickly surveyed the fast moving situation, seeing all the Avarash up and trying to ready their weapons. Luck would have it that the Avarash leader was now yelling out orders, Kaltos had his target. Jerec and the others were flawless, they were already separating the leader from the others by strafing in between the Avarash when Kaltos leapt straight off the ridge and making an immediate run for the leader as his squad moved the rest of the Avarash towards the intended escape route. Kaltos swung around to his right towards the leaders rear at a fast pace to keep the leader from seeing him move in. I'm only going to get one shot at this, Kaltos thought to himself as he saw the Avarash leader raise his hands and expose the open spot of flesh between the front and rear armor plates he wore. Precision was key to ending this quickly. Ramping up his speed, Kaltos reached his target and struck around the right side of his opponent past his back and quickly turning his blade to enter under his victims right arm. The scream that emanated from the Avarash was nearly deafening to Kaltos as he was now snout to snout with the leader. Kaltos whispered softly in the Avarash's right ear, "I take no pleasure in this, unfortunate one, you were doomed from the start," as they both collapsed to the ground with Kaltos keeping the Avarash from falling face first. The Feron blade was already out of its victim and back into the scabbard before they even hit their knees as hot blood was spilling from the wound just under the soldier's right chest muscle and rib. Just then everything went eerily silent in the glade, the only noise was the crackling of the low fire the Avarash had made to comfort them in the cold of the moonless Feron night. "That's correct Warlord, all enemies surrendered after their leader fell. Under standing orders we took all of them into custody. The leader was given medical aid and is barely surviving his injury inflicted on him myself, it is unlikely he will survive for long." The open connection was silent for a while before Kaltos received a reply from the warlord. "Understood SL Darksbane, maintain your current position and give command your exact location, we will be there soon." The frustration in the warlord's tone was evident. "You are coming here personally Warlord?" Kaltos asked. "Of course, I need to confirm your report personally. These orders came from the Warmaster directly, and as I will be reporting to him I want to know everything that happened before speaking with the Warmaster." Shit, Kaltos thought, now I'm really stuck, if the warlord comes here he may ascertain that his commands were not met entirely. "Understood Warlord, Darksbane out." Kaltos cut the open communication link off and waved for one of his squad. When the wolfen came close Kaltos directed him to contact command with their exact location and sent him away. Jerec was keeping watch on the captives when Kaltos found him. Since the Avarash leader's wound was serious Kaltos had not wanted to move him from where he had laid the Avarash down so he decided to keep all the captives in the glade where the ruse of a battle had taken place. The other eight were tied up behind their backs and placed with their backs against the ridge Kaltos had jumped off of when the fight started. That would keep them contained if they decided to resist. The sun had just started to rise and faint wisps of sunlight were now making their way through the trees and into the glade. One of the rays of sun was hitting the fallen Avarash in the face and Kaltos could see the light gray of the wolfen's fur clearly. Almost all Avarash had a coat of light gray fur, it was extremely rare to see any other color on a Avarash except for small swashes of white on the dominant gray periodically. "Jerec!," Kaltos waved his friend over away from the captives. When Jerec came closer Kaltos began speaking softly, "We have a problem, the warlord is coming here to us." Jerec's face went hard as stone as he looked towards the captives. "That's bad Kal, if he questions any of them our little charade could be exposed." Jerec then started nervously moving some of the soft dirt under his right foot with his heavy boot. Kaltos and Jerec both were silent for a minute before Jerec spoke up. "Sorry brother, but I'm out of ideas this time, I can't see a way to mitigate this one. We will just have to stick with the plan." "I know Jerec, there's not much else to do. We will just have to be convincing in our explanation." Kaltos replied. "Do we know when to expect the warlord?" Jerec asked. "No, but I'd not expect it to be long if the warlord was so quick to advise of his coming. Oh, by the way, the warlord also expressed that his orders were not his in origin, but came from the Warmaster himself." The bewildered look on Jerec's face must've matched Kaltos' when he had first heard it as well. "What? That can't be, why....," Jerec shook his head slightly, "I guess it doesn't matter. We follow orders, that's all, right Kal? But, why, why risk a war? Why now of all times? It just doesn't make any sense." Kaltos tried to reassure his friend as best he could, "I have no answers for you Jerec. I'm as much in the dark as you are on this one. All we can do for now is just wait and see how it all plays out. We are soldiers and like you said we follow orders, that's it. Next time maybe we will make different decisions, but for now we will just have to play this one the best we can and hope it blows over with little effect. Besides, you have nothing to worry about, I'm the squad leader here not you. It'll be my responsibility if any consequences are given out. I'll make sure the warlord is made aware these were all MY decisions and no one else's." Jerec's head lowered at that statement from his squad leader. Kaltos recognized the dejectedness in Jerec's look and placed his hand on his friends shoulder, "Its alright my friend, remember that I'm one of the specials. The warlord wouldn't dare do anything overly harsh to me. The Warmaster wouldn't let anything too drastic happen to one of his pet projects." Kaltos then let out a nervous laugh which seemed to loosen Jerec up a bit. "I'll take over watch of them for now so you can get us some breakfast going if you wouldn't mind. Make sure to put the Avarash's hands to their front and let them eat too. We don't want them to think we are entirely evil now do we?" Jerec let out a howling laugh which Kaltos noticed made the Avarash sink as low as they could where they were. Kaltos walked up to the prone Avarash leader's body and knelt over him to inspect the wound. It had clotted over nicely on the outside, but he had no idea how his internal injuries were healing. Jerec walked up behind Kaltos and stood over the Avarash as well. "I saw what you did, you know" Jerec spoke lowly, "That was pretty nifty putting your sword away and switching to the small dagger at the last instant before the strike. Surely it did less damage than your sword, as that vibro blade of yours would have surely killed him." Kaltos looked up at Jerec, amazed that he had seen the switch at all. "You saw all that?" "Not exactly," Jerec replied, "but I noticed there was no flash of green during the blow or after the blade came out. I then saw your sword was already put up, and I remember you hide that dagger under your front plate. I deduced what you must have done, besides if it had been your sword there would have been much more blood." That's right, Kaltos thought, Jerec knew about the dagger from that time years ago when Jerec had challenged Kaltos' leadership when he first took over the squad. Jerec got a little too close for Kaltos' taste in that moment and Kaltos let him know to back off by swiftly getting the dagger up to Jerec's jugular without him noticing until it bit into the larger wolfen's skin. "I have a few tricks in my repertoire for sure." Kaltos said through a smile. Jerec harrumphed, "I learned long ago not to underestimate you." At that Jerec walked off to get the meal ready. Kaltos checked the wound again, just for show this time as he noticed the other Avarash were now watching him. He then turned to the closest Avarash, "You there," Kaltos nodded his head towards the wounded leader, "what's his name?" The young Avarash soldier stared at Kaltos for a second and then gulped down whatever he was gonna say. "Do I have to beat it out of you?" Kaltos questioned the young soldier. The youth's eyes went wide at that and he stuttered, "S-S-Sirion is his name, Sir." Kaltos laughed to himself a bit and told the Avarash, "I'm not your superior lad, you don't need to call me Sir." Sirion, huh, named after one of the constellations that appears fully in the autumn months. Someone thought highly of him to give him such a name. Kaltos walked over to where the middle point in front of where the eight captives were and sat crossed legged, looked around to make sure there were no others of his comrades around, then began speaking to them. "Look, I have no intention of letting your friend there die. But in order to make sure of that I will need your help." Kaltos watched them all for a second to gauge their reactions. They seemed interested at the least, so he decided to be blunt with them. "Understand this, I was ordered to kill all of you. I defied those orders as I felt they were indecent. Now my Commander is on his way here and if you want Sirion to live you will have to do exactly as I say. When my warlord questions you you will tell him we surprised you in such an immense fashion and after seeing me fell your leader you all surrendered instantly. If you tell him exactly how it actually happened with us corralling you and me only wounding your leader he will be pissed. Warlord Fennis will have no qualms about killing all of you to hide the shame that one of his own disobeyed an order. I don't think any of you wants to die, right?" All eight of them shook their heads almost in sync. "I didn't think so, so if you understand that helping me means helping yourself we should all be just fine then, agreed?" Now they nodded, again almost in sync, before saying, "Yes sir." Kaltos wondered if they said that just to annoy him. Jerec came back with the other four after a half hour with food for everyone. The four had been out hunting small game to eat and brought back a fair haul of wild rabbits. While most of the food had been cooked there were two left raw, specifically for Kaltos and Jerec. Wolfen were by nature able to consume meat raw but many had come to prefer cooked when at all possible. Not these two though, they knew from study how many nutrients were wasted through the cooking process and wanted any and all advantage they could get. Kaltos himself brought cooked food for the captives as they had already expressed earlier that they preferred cooked meat to raw when he asked them. Each of them thanked him in turn as he dished them out, he made no reply. Just then he heard an unfamiliar weak voice ask, "Am I to be left out?" Kaltos quickly spun in the direction of the voice, pulling his vibro sword out blindingly fast, only to see the Avarash known as Sirion attempting to sit up. Kaltos let out a sigh and put the green hued blade back in its place at his side and asked, "You ok with raw meat?" Kaltos then walked up to Sirion and lifted him to his shoulder in a dead wolf carry and took him next to his squad and placed him against a rock wall going up the ridge so the wolfen could lean back against it to take pressure off the wound. "You can have mine," Kaltos said, "I'm not really hungry anyway." The Avarash next to him offered his ration of cooked meat saying, "Give him this, it'll be easier for him to eat and I'll take the raw one." Kaltos switched the meals and walked back to his own squad. One of the four regulars in his squad asked Kaltos, "Why you being so nice to them boss?" Kaltos looked at the wolfen with his dark gray fur with black streaks going down the side of his head all the way to his torso and said, "This will likely be the last niceties they get for a while now, we'll let them have it while they can. Once they're taken to Swordhaven they're going to be in for a hard time." Feron weren't known for their hospitality with captives. "Finish eating and we will start preparing for the warlord's arrival." The Feron soldier put down his transmitter attached to his arm and said, "Sir, the warlord's team is not far off." Kaltos stood up and stretched out his arms to get the stiffness out of his shoulders. Kaltos had taken off his light chest and back plates along with the field uniform so that he was exposed down to the waist, it was afternoon now and the sun was coming through the light tree line and highlighting his dark gray swathes of fur on his chest going down his abdominal area that mixed with the black that covered most of his body. "Send up the flare to give them our position." Kaltos picked up his uniform and dressed himself, then turning his neck to crack the bones to relieve the pressure. Jerec walked up to Kaltos just then, hearing the crunching sound emanate from his neck, "God, I hate it when you do that. Gives me the creeps." Kaltos just shrugged his shoulders and started to walk to the path leading up to the top of the ridge as he heard the pop and hiss of the flare. Looking up and seeing the burning flash of the flare penetrate the roof of the trees Kaltos mentally prepared himself for meeting Warlord Fennis for the first time. He had heard many stories of the four warlords and had personally met two of them, but not Fennis. The particular stories about Warlord Fennis he remembered weren't encouraging for Kaltos. Hot-headed, aggressive, and utterly unforgiving to anyone, even his own troops. If only it could have been Warlord Pian, this would be much easier. Kaltos had a good rapport with Pian, having served under her in the northern campaigns. Unlike Fennis, Pian would listen to her subordinates to get to the real concerns. She was also the one Kaltos hoped he could get a message to about this situation before, but that point was moot since the original orders had come from the Warmaster himself as Fennis said. Fennis may be a brute by all accounts, but he was never known to outright lie. Especially if it concerned the Warmaster, that would certainly put Fennis into an early grave. Reaching the top of the ridge, Kaltos walked out of the treeline and into the flatlands beyond the forest. Looking around to the north he spotted a dust cloud just as he figured he would. The warlord's transportation team had obviously spotted the flare and were heading right for them. Kaltos stood where he was and waited nervously, but enjoyed basking in the late autumn sun while he could nonetheless. Several minutes later the vehicles arrived, two four wheeled gunners with their manned top turrets large enough for four grown wolfen in front followed by the large off-road cruiser with its ten large wheels, at least 10 spans tall looked like a moving rectangle on wheels. Cruisers acted as mobile command posts usually carrying an entire squad of wolfen as well as their Commander comfortably. Warlords were given their own personal cruisers outfitted as that warlord wanted. Warlord Fennis obviously liked his firepower. Kaltos counted four turrets on top and two on the side with the gunner himself shielded inside the large blast proof cabin of the cruiser itself. Firearms such as these were only used in vehicle or siege combat in Wolfen culture, to use such an abhorrent form of weapon in ground combat would be repulsive even for the warlike Feron. No honor could be gleaned by beating an enemy from a distance, not to mention that with the highly sensitive nature of wolfen ears using such weapons at close range would easily render any wolfen deaf within a short time, thus as a rule, firearms were never used in ground combat by any of the four tribes. The rear of the cruiser lowered itself into a ramp leading down from cabin to the ground as Kaltos walked to the back of the cruiser. Six Feron soldiers came down the ramp, three on each side and placed themselves in an arc around the bottom of the ramp. Their heavy armor covered most of their bodies with the exception of their lower jaw. The blood red coloring covering the entirety of the armor marked them as Warlord Fennis' personal guard. Kaltos walked between the two nearest him to the end of the ramp and turned to look directly into the rear opening. There stood a massive wolfen, at least half a hand taller even then Jerec, with a massive build. The standard armor that the warlord wore was also blood red in color but with ornate gold worked into the lines that allowed the plates to move with the wearer in combat, attached at the back was also a long cape the same color of blood red with a large Feron insignia made from gold stitching. The warlord wasn't wearing a helmet, exposing the dark gray fur of his head as well as showing the numerous scars that crossed the warlord's face and maw. He didn't look pleased. As the large wolfen started walking down the ramp he looked at Kaltos and said, "Darksbane, I presume?" "Yes, Warlord." Kaltos responded and lowered himself to kneel on one knee as was customary when greeting a high ranking member of the military. "It's an honor to finally meet you personally Warlord Fennis, I hope your trip here was acceptable." As he reached the ground the warlord eyed Kaltos up and down, sizing him up. "Warlords Pian and Inferen speak highly of you Darksbane. Pian says you are possibly the best soldier in all of Feron. Even better than I." Kaltos kept his head down and thought to himself, is that what this is about, is he jealous of my abilities as a special soldier? "Warlord Pian is too generous with such compliments, I serve just as any Feron does Warlord." Fennis motioned Kaltos to rise, which Kaltos quickly did. Then Kaltos looked up at the Warlord to be surprised that Fennis had leaned close to Kaltos' face and told him, "On that we can agree, boy. Now, take me to these captives of yours." Kaltos took the warlord down the path around the side of the ridge to where the glade opened up. When they arrived the rest of his squad gave an honor salute with their right arms crossing the chest. The warlord gave a half wave to relieve them from the salute, "At ease friends." The warlord then walked over to the restrained Avarash and slowly walked in front of each of them. None of them could muster the will to look the Feron warlord in the eye, except the Avarash known as Sirion. "You must be the wolfen in charge of these ones." asked Fennis when he saw Sirion look up at him directly. "Only one with experience in leading others is bold enough to look an enemy leader eye to eye." "I am Scout Captain Sirion Sharmane, Warlord. I have had the pleasure of meeting with Warlord Inferen once in the past. Can't say that about this meeting though, with this wound I can't even stand to introduce myself properly." Warlord Fennis laughed almost ferociously at the comment, "Well played Scout Captain, and here I thought Avarash were devoid of any kind of backbone but here you are injured and still able to give a disguised insult. I respect that." Kaltos walked up to the Warlord and placed himself half a pace to the Warlord's right side and just behind. "Warlord, the Scout Captain has sustained a serious wound to his right side, shall we move him to your cruiser for medical treatment?" Kaltos asked. Fennis waved past him and Kaltos noticed Fennis' personal guard coming down the slope to the far right. "In due time Darksbane. For now my guards will take custody of these soldiers, you will come with me." The warlord motioned with his arm for Kaltos to walk ahead of him. Something felt off to Kaltos, it felt as if the warlord were somehow mocking him. Jerec and the rest of the squad began gathering what little items were on the ground to prepare to move to the vehicles above as Kaltos moved a few paces ahead of the warlord towards the slope to the right and instantly felt the warlord move in behind him. Before Kaltos could even react he felt himself spinning to the ground from a massive blow to the back of his head. Falling to all fours, his head already ringing, and his vision blurred. Kaltos then felt the hard kick to his left side the warlord had intended to knock the wind out of him with, and it succeeded. Kaltos was now on his back and gasping for air, when he heard shrieks of terror coming from his right. He knew without seeing what was happening. The warlords personal guard were slaughtering the Avarash squad. Dizzy and out of breath Kaltos could feel the presence of the warlord hovering close over him when he heard Fennis speak to him with venom in his words, "Your lucky I don't kill you where you lay, but you get to live a little longer insolent one. Warmaster Fay'ad wants a few words with you first. Then, you and I will have a little fun. I've been dying to see just how much punishment you specials can really take." Kaltos reached for Fennis' throat but in his dizzied state Fennis was easily able to knock his hand away. "I'll give you one thing Darksbane, that blow you took would've knocked most wolfen out cold," He said while standing up, "This should finish it out." Blackness consumed Kaltos as Fennis' foot caught Kaltos flat across the side of his head from a fierce kick from the warlord. The warlord satisfied that Kaltos was unconscious, turned back to the massacre behind him and snorted, "Gotta love a day when the smell of fresh blood fills the air." The screaming had already ceased as his guards had made quick work of the Avarash. With the exception of the Scout Captain all had been hacked through viciously, just as the warlord had ordered his guards to do before even arriving here. Blood and viscera soaked the entire space of the glade. Fennis walked over to where the rest of Kaltos' squad were. Jerec was rooted to his spot, consumed with anger evident in how far his jowls were pulled back, baring nearly all of his teeth. The warlord commented on Jerec's expression, "You stand there watching your squad leader getting wrecked by me but do nothing except get mad? Explain yourself soldier." Jerec's look of disgust never left his face as he reluctantly responded to his warlord, "The only thing going though my mind watching you cowardly attacking SL Darksbane from behind was tearing you apart Warlord," Jerec then took in a long breath and released it quickly, "but I know to attack a Warlord would instantly brand me a traitor and your guards would be on me. I may get through two of them, but the third would probably end me..." Fennis cut Jerec off at that, "You think so highly of yourself do you, that you could best two of my personal guard?" Jerec sneered, "I was once a heavy soldier in the northern campaign and wore the same armor they wear, I know its limitations and its weaknesses. And besides if I got myself killed how would I be able to report this atrocity to the other Warlords and the Warmaster?" Fennis approached Jerec cautiously, then leaned in close to him, "You would be mistaken if you thought this is all my doing soldier. This is specifically what was wanted by the Warmaster himself." "You'll just have to forgive me if I don't believe you Warlord." Jerec spit out vehemently. Fennis half closed his eyes at Jerec, "You're a bold one, wolfen, but you know your place. Make your report about what happened here. Every last bit of it, and I'll personally make sure the Warmaster gets it. Will that satisfy you?" Fennis didn't give Jerec the chance to respond and ordered him, "For now though, get that Avarash survivor aboard my cruiser, and be quick about it. The sooner I get back to Swordhaven the better." The warlord turned back around to see his guards finishing putting a muzzle over Kaltos' face and tightening it down. "Good, the restraints are already in place then captain?," he asked his guard captain. "Yes, Warlord. Two sets as you ordered." "Excellent, we definitely don't want that one getting loose. Lets get back, I can't wait to see what Fay'ad has in store next."