Battle for the Iron Mine

"Hahahahaha." A loud mirthless laugh ran through out the cavern. It was eerie and raise the hair of several people.

Kain stop laughing but still had that grin under his mask.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Shout Kain,"Didn't you hear? Fifty piggies are coming to us. Sharpen your blades and get ready for slaughter. Hahahaha...."

Someone started to laugh alongside him, getting the joke. Soon the whole cave burst into laughter. All were confident that they were going to win the next skirmish as well. After seeing the prowess of their Chief, they were certain of it.

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Serjil, the chief of the Red Band was in high spirit. He had taken down the major force of the Dark Bane by ambushing them while they were on the Dark Bane were on their way to raid another village. He had personally slew the enemy chief, whose head was in his saddle.

He was headed to the iron mine, which was the hideout of the enemy and the real source of their wealth and power. If he could capture it, sure as he was he will become the most powerful bandit chief of the south and in time, he could even rival Alwen Khyne, his former master.

Serjil was a former mercenary who was part of Alwen Khyne's mercenary band, The War Hawks and had came to the basin with him but he mutinied against his master and ran away with several followers, establishing his own band of brigands in the South.

There were nine crews in the south including his. The Dark Bane and Highland Crew were the most powerful because they each control an iron mine. But his was the most militaristic and powerful in term of raw strength. His crew was small, numbering only fifty but they were all horsemen, all of them being former soldiers, criminals and mercenaries. Moreover, there were fifteen warriors in his crew. He himself was a powerful warrior, a rank 2 Sky Warrior.

"Halt," Serjil commanded as the crew near the palisade. The gate was opened and there was no guard. If it was a more intelligent person, he will have guess something was amiss. But Serjil was an idiot, a battle junkie. "They must have ran away. Cowards. Hahahaha. Forward."

They encountered nobody on their way. The mine entrance was unguarded as well. He still commanded them to go in. The riders went in one by one as the tunnel was two narrow except for a rider to go through.

It was the last time Serjil ever saw the outside world.

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As more than half of the rider went through the tunnel, a low whistle was heard. In an instant, a hundred shadow rose from the ground and surrounded the remaining riders, who had stayed back, awaiting their turn to enter not knowing that they were awaiting death.

"Attack," Shout a voice. The first of the rider who was killed had barely understood what was going on when an arrow struck him on his forehead, killing him.

In an instant, the hundred mask assailants, each having a cross on their mask painted in either green or white fell upon the riders.

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"What the hell happened here?" Said Javoc, one of Sergil's lieutenants as he come across the hundred of corpses laying outside the inner gatehouse wall.

It look like there had recently been a skirmish but who was it that attack the Dark Bane Javoc could not explain. A nagging sense of uneasy came upon him.

"Halt," Said a voice. Everyone look around to see who spoke. None of them did.

Javoc caught sight of the person who spoke. It was a mask man wearing only a breastplate and without any weapons standing over the gatehouse who spoke.

"Red Band crew, surrender your arms or get ready to be slaughtered."

It was a warning delivered in a matter of fact style of speech.

"Surrender, my ass," Shout Serjil,"It should be the Dark Bane who should surrender." Bringing out the chief's head from his saddle, he lift it up to illuminate it in the light of the torches and continue,"This is the head of your chief, Eric Knightsbane. If you don't surrender, you will meet the same fate."

A laugh echoed throughput the cave. It was cold and high pitch without any essence of mirth or any other positive emotions, just plain cold and malicious laugh, which made Javoc hair raise up in goosebumps.

The laughter stop and the next word that came out surprised the hell out of Javoc.

"That's not the chief of this crew," Shout the man back," The mine is under the control of Death Cross and I, Skinjer the Ogrekin am the chief not that head."

"So the corpses are fron a skirmish," thought Javoc.

"Once again, I will be merciful and asked you to surrender."

"Never," Said Serjil, grinning,"Don't you see we are fifty in number? You don't have the strength to survive us."

"Survive you," Sneer the man,"No, it is you who will not survive, Serjil the sellsword. And I see only a thirty of you, not fifty?"

"Ehh," gasp Serjil, turning around. He count them. The man was right. There were only twenty nine in his crew.

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Kain taunted the Chief. He was happy for the outcome. Just as he and his new crew was celebrating their victory, the news that the Red Bane was invading reach him.

He was happy because he didn't have to go to the Eastern moor in order to defeat them but now, he could do it efficiently without much headache.

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"Debraj, shoot down that man," commanded Serjil, turning to one of his lieutenants, Debraj the Archer.

He didn't had to say it twice. Debraj quickly draw an arrow, strung it, took aim and let loose.

"An arrow," Said Skinjer, swathing it away with a long curved sword,"Now you have done it. End of diplomacy. Attack."

At that moment, the dead corpses rose up, plunging the riders in terror and confusion.

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