Orders From My Lady

With the destruction of the kingdom of Stanley, Timea now had a difficult decision to make.

Her forces were ready to head to the castle of the 'King of the Bandits' and put an end to the bandit menace once and for all however there might be persons who survived the destruction of the kingdom of Stanley and they would need help right now.

She may not need all of her forces to attack the enemy. The last outcome was quite successful, plus their chances were significantly higher especially with the help of the heroes.

After dressing herself in her combat gear, she walked out of her tent to see everyone preparing for the upcoming battle. The Black Knight was preparing her horse as well as his for battle.

"Listen up," Timea shouted causing everyone to stop moving in their tracks and all sound to be silenced.

I will split up the military into two groups. Group A will continue with the plan to assault the castle while Group B will return to the Kingdom and render assistance to our fellow men.

My Right Hand will lead the Group B. Captain Mark and Henry. Your group will return to the Kingdom as well. Seeing the face of her Black Knight, she said that that is my decision and it is final…. Dismissed.

Isabis gave her a look which stated that he wanted to voice his opinion however he would never directly oppose her authority in front of everyone. Nodding his head to his lady, he and the others of Group B mounted their steeds and then they rode out towards the kingdom.

Her horse was brought to her and she mounted, ready to ride out with Group A to their objective. Luke and the other heroes also entered a nearby carriage, closed the door and sat down as the carriage began to move towards its intended destination.

Her archers rode faster horses so they were able to ride ahead and meet up with the group that were already present by the rendezvous location. The rendezvous location was at the edge of the forest before the clearing leading to what was known as the 'Black Mountain.'

The old, repurposed bandit fort was located over a few mountains, nestled on top of a ridge. They would have a clear view of any oncoming attackers who had the audacity of attacking them.

With its horseshoe design, six feet high concrete walls, watch tower at the back and large castle in the interior, it really was a simplistic but effective structure.

Today however, 'The Blue Maiden' would solidified her name as the Magician of Water.

Timea's army arrived at the rendezvous location at the early portion of the night. Her lookout who had his eyes on the fort, had just sent an eagle which came down, the moment Timea entered the encampment.

The message was to state that everything is going according to plan! Timea read out the message and then said, "Good News!"

Timea then raised her head to see the carriage rolling in with the heroes inside. Walking up to the carriage, she said we will attack at four am in the morning. You guys should eat and get some sleep before the battle begins.

Timea sat inside her tent that night with her eyes closed, meditating. She breathe in and then she breathe out, exhaling a cold breath. 'Everything is in place, she thought to herself and the weather will be perfect!'

'The next day'

It's four am, a bandit lookout said to another. I am here to replace your shift, he continued. Sure man, was the response I was getting really tired, to the point that I was seeing things.

Seeing things?

Yeh man. Kept seeing a pair of eyes out there, looking at me from the dark.

Suddenly there was a dry, crackling sound coming from nearby. The two guards looked over the wall to see a pair of eyes, looking up at them from the dark. When they stared at it a bit, they realized it was just wildlife from the area. It was a black panther that turned and walked away from the wall.

The two bandits let out a sigh of relief because of what they had seen however the moment they turned around, they were facing a man dressed all in black gear with black war paint, standing before them. With a swing of a small blade, he went for their throats ensuring that no sound was made from their demise.

The lookout for 'The Blue Maiden' listened intently for the non natural sound of an owl which would be the signal.

"Hoot! "Hooooot!"

That was the signal. Turning he gave his signal to the direction of the encampment which was now covered in fog as it came down from the other mountains. The signal was received and the military was ready to move in under the cover of the fog.

Her archers were already there, throwing grapples and scaling the wall, positioning themselves on the wall as their comrades moved in and disposed of others along the other walls. With the help of the archers, under the cover of darkness, they were taken care of.

Two bandits that sat in a watch tower looked at the approaching fog in the distance. As one of the bandits looked over the rail, he was immediately shocked to see a man climbing over but before he could make a move, an arrow came towards him, directly through his neck.

With a quick strike, the other bandit received a jab to the chest while a hand got placed over his mouth. He died right there in the seat of the tower while the body of the other bandit hung over the rail.

The early morning wind had now picked up blowing the fog to the fort just as Timea and her military team made it to the wall of the fort. Using a rope ladder, everyone climbed up the ladder venturing not to try to open the front gate least they wake the guards.

The maiden's army had now conquered the outer walls of the fort. With the main building now the only target, they needed to enter without everyone waking up or them falling into a trap.

Suddenly two patrol bandits walked out from the barracks and into the fog in the courtyard.

"Wow, this is thick," one of them said out loud, unaware that the torch in his hand was seen by all of their intruders.

"I have never seen early morning fog like this before," the other stated as they continued their walk across the courtyard. I bet Liam and Lucas are enjoying the view from the guard tower, he joked.

Dispersing the fog in an instance, the two bandits stood surprised, surrounded by an entire battalion of intruders. In the hands of one of the bandits was a bell which is usually used to notify persons of intruders.

His hands began to move towards ringing the bell to warn his friends. Timea was about to react when suddenly Greg was behind him, moving his hand towards his neck. Before he could ring the bell, all went black as Greg had knocked him out. Turning to the other guy, he punched him directly in the face knocking him out cold.

With a slight nod and a smile, he acknowledged to everyone that he had just saved the day.

"Ring, Ring!" A warning bell rang out from inside the main structure disturbing the stillness and quiet of the early morning.

Their element of surprise was now gone with only a fierce and swift retaliation to look forward too.