1 village for 4

**Big thanks to Luke Karls**

The coalition had been emboldened by their attack its extreme success as well as the messages being carried from a few of their neighbors who were on the fence in the beginning had inflated their ego and left them drunk on victory.

At that moment they felt as though they were on top of the world that there was nothing Arthor could do to them. They were in his territory, yes, and they were most surely outnumbered, but Arthor couldn't attack them. Their number was such that they were enough to lay waste to a village with minimal protection, and required a large number to truly wipe them out.

Now Arthor had the numbers required but he could not just rip them out, to chase after them, so as to put them upon a stake. Doing so would allow the neighbors who were eagerly watching, to descend and ravage his defenseless lands.

Increasing the number of warriors in each village would just cause a strain on their resources. Arthor had no clue as to who their next target was, which meant if he wanted to beef up defenses; he had to station in each village enough men to fight off the coalition. And that could not be done considering spring had just began.

Arthor was now truly helpless and at their mercy. The thought brought a smile upon Arnolf's face.

"I bring news" A messenger made his way towards Arnolf, "what is it?" "Arthor and his army was seen".

Arnolf sprang to attention hearing what the messenger said.

"Are they heading towards us?" Arnolf was quick to ask the important question, "Nay seen em heading that way, Vayne thinks they're looking for us but don't know where we are yet".

"Hahaha" Arnolf broke out in laughter, "they boy is too green high chief hahaha ready the men. Lets us show this boy the folly of his actions" with a nod the messenger run to inform the others.

The journey to their next target was a short one, soon another village was in their sights, Arthor and his partners turned collectively to Vayne who sat upon a rock motionless as an eagle flew towards him landing upon on his shoulders.

There was a moment before Vayne's eyes returned to normal reporting to the others what he had seen. The report he gave them caused the grins on the men to widen, the status on the village was similar to the one they had attacked before and with Arthor's army heading away this was sure to be a victory.

Vayne however did not share the same view for some reason he could not lay his finger on, everything looked normal there were no men hidden some distance away the villagers were just normal villager not warriors disguising himself. With all that however, Vayne still couldn't shake of the feeling that something was wrong.

The attack went how the collation expected it to go, their victory was an overwhelming one with little to no casualties. The were victorious but Vayne's feelings grew even stronger as he looked at the bodies that watered the earth with their blood.

Arnolf managed to bring himself out of his stupor making his way to Vayne, "what's wrong? we won but from your face one would think that we were the ones who lost" Arnolf let out a laugh at his own words but his laughter died abruptly when he saw the flash of realization in Vayne's eyes.

Parting his lips to speak, Vayne interrupted Arnolf. "Look at the bodies" Vayne spoke his tone conveying his ever growing horror, Arnolf did as he was told, his eyes running over the bodies that littered the earth confused as to what Vayne was on about.

As he continued to do so however, his own smile vanished as a mixture of horror and disbelief flashed in his own eye. An idea formed his head, one which grew with each body he passed, his gaze became frantic as he prayed what he thought wasn't true.

Another minute passed before he turned to look at Vayne, the look in his eye was all he needed to confirm what he had thought was the truth. The inhabitants of this village were mainly old people with a few middle aged people who had obvious defects with not a single child in the village.

Not a single child, Arthor had set up an entire village of his own people for them to slaughter so as to keep them distracted. The idea was one Arnolf would never believe if the evidence did not lay before him but after understanding what had just happened a sense of dread washed over Arnolf.

If the demon had truly planned this as a distraction, what was he up to. The thought of the message his messenger had brought to him earlier flashed in his mind and Arnolf couldn't help but shiver when he thought of what Arthor could be up to with his army.

"Retreat! Retreat now! We need to get back now!" Arnolf screamed to his men who were intoxicated with their second victory as he himself turned around fully intent on sprinting back to his camp.