The Plan

He kicked the horse onwards to stand beside the king, an obvious sign of power. A glance at the King and you knew that he was not pleased with the cloaked figure.

With a wave of his hand, the King allowed his second to speak. "would it not be wise to take this somewhere indoors where certain 'people' cannot hear our discussion."

A smart move on their behalf, getting out of the line of fire if things turned south and were unable to escape.

Dannic shot a look to Marik as a way of saying 'stay cautious'. They all turned back and headed onwards toward the Kings' temporary living quarters. Of course, he had not been in the war first hand and instead had been sat on his ass in his castle while men fought to their death to keep his kingdom alive. The very thought made Dannic grind his teeth together to stop himself from commenting on such a fact. Every single one of his soldiers had their reason for fighting and most had a past with the king or one of his noble court members. Whatever the reason, they fought at his side no matter the cost.

Marik glances back towards his ranks, seeing that the soldiers finally began to relax at the sight of Dannic and the King confronting one another. It could be that they were glad that they could go home, or the fact that the royal army may actually decide to surrender their attack and hand over the crown for the sake of the kingdom. It was an unlikely turn of events, but it could still happen. You could never know what was planned, considering the fact that one of the Coldwell brothers was in their ranks.

Once dismounted, they handed over the horses to one of the lower ranking soldiers and followed the two men into a smaller tent off to the side of the front lines. It was risky to go somewhere so secluded and out of reach if they needed aid from their allies. They followed suit anyways as they still had the flag up, not like they wouldn't go against the laws of war anyway. He was king for a reason. Not like the reason was that he was powerful, but more that he controlled powerful people. And powerful people held a lot of influence over not so strong people. A perfect way to take over the throne.

Inside, there was a large round table situated in the middle of the tent, with seven or so chairs surrounding it. In the corner, stood a young, scrawny looking boy no older than twenty years or so. he stood silent with simple armour and an average blade sheathed to the hilt of his belt. They sat down at opposite ends of the table, Marik to the right of Dannic and the king with Valeth opposite them.

"now that we are in a more private area, we can discuss matters concerning this war you have so eagerly started, Dannic." the venom in the Kings' voice could be head by even the deaf man.

"of course, but it was not the one who made his fight go out of control, your majesty. That was all your doing I'm afraid." Dannic bit back with the same amount of force.

Marik sat quietly next to the bickering man, peering at the Hex who sat before him. He had never seen a Hex before but form the looks of it, they had no distinguishable features that could hint t them being any more than a Deuce. The man sat, a blank expression on his face, his hood now pulled down as they were out of the harsh winters' wind. He had a scar running down from his eyebrow down to his chin. It looked painful and whatever caused such a horrid scar must have been strong to put such a mark on a Hex of all people. The Hex looked towards him, face contorting to one of curiosity. Marik quickly looks away, dropping eye contact and focusing back onto the task at hand; making the royal army surrender.

This was no easy feat; the royals were formidable foes with their strength in numbers and financial aid from the kings' nobles. They would do anything to please the mangy mongrel of a king. Marik gets his head back into the conversation, soon realising the king was glaring at the boy. Not knowing what was going on, he looked to Dannic for support. The older man was too busy yelling and waving his arms all over the place to notice to young lieutenants' turmoil.

It was getting quite tiring for the boy listening to his superior rant on and on about how the King couldn't win a war even if it was against a dog. He finally grew annoyed and rose from his seat, startling Dannic and proceeded to say, "with all due respect sir, I must say that you are going on and on ranting about how poorly the king runs his country is not going to get us anywhere. If we plan to win this war." He stops to make eye contact with the king. "which we do." He turns back toward Dannic, "this is not how we are going to do it. That bloody Hex is most probably conjuring up all the possible ways to piss you off and then kill ye. Resulting in us loosing the war and a mass execution!" he slams his fist on the table, surprising the King and even the Hex flinched slightly at the sound.

Dannic began to see reason in the boy's words, slowly relaxing back into his seat. Marik sits back down and negotiations were under way between the four men. It dragged on for three hours; each man having their own ideals and compromises compared to the other. In the end, around mid-eve, they had not agreed on anything aside from the fact that both parties would carry on their siege until the other surrendered. It seamed the king only wanted them to surrender and to have Dannic executed for high treason against the king. Of course, Marik did not allow that to happen and Dannic was budging from his own offers.

Dannic and his right hand left the tent with irritated expressions painted on their faces. They had not come to an agreement and had to carry on with their fight until the stalemate was broken, with one side earing victory and the other loosing so much more than just a war. They untied their horses from the post, mounted and rode back across no mans land, hoping the parlay flag remained up until they crossed over into save territories. Dannic couldn't be sure with Valeth at the wheel and in charge of their current operation. It was a risky move that could prove fatal for either party if they decided to play dirty.

Once safely on home soil, Dannic visibly relaxed and began to mumble incoherent words, most probably mouthing off about how much of a low life the king was. It made Marik chuckle at the sight of a grown well-built man pouting and grumbling about not getting what he wanted. It was upsetting, yes, but they still had a chance to win this if they put their minds together and came up with a full proof plan.

They dismounted and walked to their own tents, happy to finally get some rest. That was, until they saw the amount of paperwork that had stacked up on their desk while they had been away on enemy turf. A groan could be heard from the generals' tent, an obvious sign he had too seen the pile and the amount of time it would take to get through each file. It made Marik chuckle but also join his general in the annoyance of the fact that he had to finish this by dawn. He sat down and got to work, reading through each page, ticking and signing.

At early dawn, Marik rose from his tent and looked to see soldiers wandering ad chatting before their daily duties had to be complete. It was a peaceful sight to see on a battlefield, no man crying over the death of his comrade or sweating under the strain of such task they had to do for the sake of their freedom. If they won this, it would all be worth everything lost, and their deaths would not have been in vain. They would be free from the clutches of their corrupt ruler.

As he looked to his right, he caught a glimpse of Dannic talking one of his captains. He rubbed his jaw and groaned as the captain spoke, and obvious sign of his displeasure. Marik began to walk over to the men, curious as to what had gotten his superior in such an upset.

"-And with our rations this low, we only have one chance to make a final stand against the royals, Sir." He caught the end of the Captains sentence.

Ah, this was why Dannic as so pissed. We had little to no supplies left and our spirit was just about gone. With the weather beginning to turn yet even worse, with storms approaching fast, they had not much time before it was too late to act. They had to plan an entire siege and go through with it within the next few days if they even stood a slight chance against the king and Valeth.

"Sir, if I may. I believe instead of going into battle head first without a plan, we should take time to think this through properly. If what the captain said it true, we could last at least two days which should give us enough time to pull at least a decent sized attack on the king. And if that works, we would have a few days to get supplies while they try to regroup." Marik tried to reason with Dannic in hope that he didn't make a foolish decision about when they attack.

Dannic looked at Marik with a slight frown, already trying to think of a better idea that would assure their victory. Yet, he had nothing. He nodded and led Marik back into his tent, while telling one of the younger soldiers to fetch some paper for their plan. It was going to be a long few days for the two, and the men would have to rest up to prepare for this final siege. It was their last hope.

It had been seven hours, now just gone midday, and the two men had begun to come up with a basic strategy that could give them the edge against their competition. It was simple, yet if one part did not work, the rest would soon crumble. There were multiple ways to improve their plan but with the limited time available, they had to work with what they had.

The plan was as good as it could be given the situation; have two thirds of their army up front and centre, fooling the royals into believing that was all they had left. There were enough men for them to believe that they could put up a fight yet not enough to actually beat them. This would bring a false sense of security upon their foes. Once the main fight begins, Dannic would leads a smaller battalion around the side, through the forest area, taking out any patrol guards spare. They would make their way around to the back of the Kings' men, killing them off around the back. A classic pincer style attack with a twist. While all this was happening, Marik would lead his own special force around the back as well, trailing Dannics' squad. Once Dannic had gone to take out the back troops, Marik would be on the hunt for the King and keeping an eye out for wherever that Hex could be. It was an unknown factor in their plan that could prove fatal if not dealt with. It was a minor inconvenience when they had first thought of the plan, but as it progressed, they knew that it could ruin the entire operation. They had to be careful.

The next day was spent gathering all needed materials and equipment for their mission and prepping all the men for battle. Their food supply was low but seeing as it was an all of nothing fight, they had a feast to celebrate the end of the war. No one could tell from that moment who would win and only fate could decide how this played out. It was a joyous occasion, yet an ominous dark cloud wavered over head during the feast, reminding the men of what would soon be upon them in the next day.

It was dawn on the day of the final battle. The day 13 of the 5th month and 478th year. The cold fog settling in, partially impairing the vision of the battlefield. The mens' hands were cold, but still they tried to heat them as best they could, knowing cold stiff fingers could be the difference between life and death when it came time to fire, reload and fire again.

The other side could barely be seen aside from the occasional bit of movement from the low-ranking soldiers getting ready if any fight were to start. They had not a clue what was bound to come their way. Dannic squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at what he was going to be facing. However, the fog was having no of it. It had seemed as though it had somehow gotten even thicker with barely being able to see what was five feet away from their feet.

Dannic could only hope that Valeth didn't have anything up his sleeve or else this plan would not have a chance in working. They couldn't back down now, not when they had come so far. People needed them, for their freedom. They needed a new and better king, one who helped them, one who did not fight just for the thrill. A king who fought with honor and dignity. That was the opposite of what their current king was.

Marik exited his tent, covered in a coat of armor and branding the official Rebels' Crest of his chest piece. An anxious expression was painted on his face, worried over the fact that they still had no clue if Valeth was up to anything.

He walked up to Dannic, getting salutes from soldiers passing by. He didn't say a word to Dannic aside from placing his hand on Dannics' shoulder and reaching in for a tight hug. As they say, actions speak louder than words.

With a few last-minute preparations, they were ready to begin. The trumpets sounded, and the men were off, muskets and blades alike drawn by men who were willing to give their life for the sake of others freedom.

With one last glance back at one another, it was time for Dannics' squadron to set off, leading the way for Marik. Marik looked towards the retreating figures of his men, proud of what a brave group of men surrounded him. He too would soon set off. That was when thing were going to get very interesting.

With a wave of his hand, he and his group of highly trained marksmen mounted their steeds and began to tide off, slowly trailing behind the men who set a path for him.