This was a standard mounted raiding squad. Their steel breastplates and light leather armor displayed the symbol of a sledgehammer and whip. The emblem of the mine scared residents of Lidus more than a war or monsters ever could.
“What’s happening?” Elaine asked finally. Her voice broke and sounded more like a squeak. The girl felt certain that the situation was only going to get worse.
Instead of answering, Hadjar grabbed Elaine’s hand tightly.
The Princess did the same back, but it felt more instinctive than something she’d done on purpose. Just like almost fifteen years ago...
“Who is the chief here?” The Sergeant, after galloping ahead to stand in front of his squad, barked out.
The horsemen circled around the peasants huddled together in the square. Using their spears, they ‘gently caressed’ the backs of those who tried to separate from the crowd. The women cried and screamed. The young men tried to step forward, but their mothers pushed them behind their backs like frightened children.
An old woman came forward. She was so old that she was practically on her way to the River of Energy, where her forefathers and rebirth awaited her.
“Sergeant...”
“Are you the chief’s mother?” The Sergeant roared.
His gray helmet gleamed. His horse snorted dangerously, annoyed by being squeezed by his strong legs. He held a heavy saber. Hadjar was sure that, over the course of his entire life, the Sergeant’s weapon hadn’t drunk a single drop of enemy blood. Only the blood of his own fellow citizens.
“Yes, Sergeant,” the old woman nodded. There was no fear in her eyes, only despair. “My son-”
A resounding clap sounded, and the Sergeant’s gauntlet slammed into her cheekbone. The old woman flew back, falling into the hands of her neighbors and friends.
Across her right cheek, the black spot of a terrible hematoma started to spread. The people shouted and rushed to check whether the old woman was still alive. By some miracle, the old woman had managed to cling to life. With a wheeze, she came to, spat out blood, and looked at the soldier hatefully.
“Why do I have to wait on some worthless earthworms?” The Sergeant growled. “This is a waste of time.”
Hadjar felt Elaine squeeze his hand even tighter. He knew that he would soon regret what was about to happen, but sometimes, the bitter truth was better than the sweetest of lies.
A moment later, coming from the direction of the field, new screams were heard. The thundering noise of hundreds of adult men running together shook the earth. Kicking up a lot of dust, they ran back, armed with pitchforks and scythes, hoes and axes.
They were angry, scared, tired, and sweaty. Among them, Hadjar noticed Omarik. He sought out his wife and children with his eyes and calmed down only when he made sure that they weren’t injured. Then he tensed up again.
“Go away,” a mighty, broad-shouldered, and gray-haired man growled out. He was the chief. According to some rumors, when he’d been just fourteen years old, he’d taken down a mountain bear with his bare hands.
“So you’re a brave one, eh?” The Sergeant took off his helmet and squinted. He waved his hand and one of the soldiers dragged a young girl onto the sandy road. She screamed, fought back, called for her mother, but the woman was held back by sharp spears. The soldier dragged the girl by the long curls of her brown hair. Then he threw her right in front of the men’s feet.
The men’s knuckles turned white as they squeezed their makeshift weapons even tighter.
The peasants didn’t see it, but the General realized that this situation was commonplace for the soldiers and that they were operating according to a standard procedure. That meant only one thing — this wasn’t the first village to suffer their tyranny.
While he’d been mulling things over, Elaine started crying.
“If you make a move, she dies,” the Sergeant seemed to be enjoying the situation. He relished his superiority over these unfortunate people. “Throw down your... weapons. All men aged sixteen to forty winters will go with us to the mine. The rest can stay behind and do as the goddess Leerey urges: multiply and cultivate the land.”
He was clearly mocking these people. Someone, perhaps, would have tried to justify the soldiers and the Sergeant, claiming that they didn’t want to harm their fellow citizens and that they were just following the King’s orders.
Someone could’ve done that... but not Hadjar. And certainly not Elaine.
“You have two options. Either you come with us voluntarily, or…” the officer looked around at the crowd with a sinister grin. “Well, you get the idea. We’ll use force if we have to, and this place will be nothing but a memory. What will happen to your families? Well, if they survive taking an arrow to the back and the fire, they will be fine.” The hundreds of archers pulled back their bows, and the Sergeant continued. “As soon as I count to ten, the arrows will fly... One...”
The men exchanged glances. A storm of emotions danced across their faces: determination, fear, anger, humiliation, rage, despair. They didn’t know what to do.
The chief was the first to respond.
“The gods won’t forgive you,” the imposing man growled. He couldn’t fight, knowing that the battle would take not merely his own life, but the lives of their defenseless loved ones as well. “You are demons. May all your evil be punished!”
He dropped his axe, which fell to the ground, burrowing into the sand, its steel gleaming. Following his example, the exhausted men abandoned their pitchforks and hoes. Soon, they all stood unarmed, their eyes full of burning malice and the bitter realization
