Chapter 12: The Gathering Storm
The settlement had changed.
In just a few days, the walls were taller, the weapons sharper, and the people harder. The fear that once gripped them had been replaced by determination. They knew another attack could come at any time.
And this time, they would be ready.
Leon stood atop the newly reinforced palisade, scanning the treeline. The air was heavy, the sky a dull gray as storm clouds gathered on the horizon. Fitting.
Because war was coming.
---
Down below, Garrick barked orders as the militia drilled in formation. What had once been a scattered group of farmers and woodcutters now moved with discipline. Shields locked together, spears braced, swords raised.
Leon watched as two men sparred in the center of the group. One swung too wide—his opponent dodged, stepped in, and knocked him flat on his back.
Garrick shook his head. "Again. Faster this time."
Leon smirked. The difference was night and day.
He turned as a young scout, Marek, jogged up to him, breathing hard. "My lord, the ore you extracted has been smelted. The blacksmith is forging new weapons as we speak."
"Good," Leon said. "We'll need them."
Marek hesitated. "…There's something else."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
The scout swallowed. "We found tracks. Fresh ones. A group passed near the eastern woods late last night."
Leon's expression hardened. "How many?"
"At least a dozen. Maybe more."
A scouting party. Or a raiding force. Either way, someone was watching them.
Leon turned to Garrick. "We need to send our own scouts out. Find out who's lurking out there."
Garrick nodded. "I'll take care of it."
Leon exhaled. So it begins.
---
Back at the Lord's Mansion, Leon found Doran sitting at the edge of his cot, sharpening a dagger. His color had returned, but he still looked worn—like a man who had spent too much time looking over his shoulder.
Leon leaned against the doorframe. "Feeling better?"
Doran snorted. "Better than being dead." He twirled the dagger between his fingers. "Your settlement's coming along fast. Most lords take months to get to this point."
Leon folded his arms. "I don't have months."
Doran nodded. "No, you don't." His eyes flicked to the Corrupted Sigil still in Leon's possession. "The Eclipse Covenant won't just let you build in peace. The fact that you're still standing means they underestimated you."
Leon smirked. "Their mistake."
Doran's expression remained grim. "They won't make it twice."
Leon studied him. "You've dealt with them before, haven't you?"
Doran hesitated, then sighed. "I was… involved with them. Once."
Leon's eyes narrowed. "Involved how?"
Doran's fingers tightened around the dagger. "I did work for them. Gathered information. Spied. But I didn't know what they really were—what they were planning." He exhaled. "By the time I realized, it was too late. They don't let people just walk away."
Leon considered his words. A former insider? That explained why they'd tried to kill him.
"You want revenge?" Leon asked.
Doran chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "I want to live." He met Leon's gaze. "But if hurting them means staying alive, then yeah—I want revenge."
Leon nodded slowly. He could use that.
"Then help me," he said. "Tell me everything you know about them."
Doran hesitated, then nodded.
And so he did.
---
The Eclipse Covenant wasn't just a band of necromancers playing with the dead. They were something worse.
"They operate from the shadows," Doran explained. "They don't conquer lands—they infiltrate them. Corrupt them from within. When a lord becomes a problem, they don't send armies. They send assassins, curses, and monsters."
Leon frowned. "Then why attack me so openly?"
Doran's expression darkened. "Because you're different."
Leon exhaled. That word again.
"They're watching you," Doran continued. "Studying how you fight. If you survive long enough, they'll send something worse."
Leon smirked. "Then I guess we'll have to disappoint them."
Doran grinned. "That's the spirit."
But as the storm outside thickened, Leon knew one thing for sure.
They weren't ready yet.
Not for what was coming next.
---
Hours later, as the first raindrops began to fall, the scouting party returned. Their leader, a wiry man named Callen, looked tense.
Leon met them at the gate. "What did you find?"
Callen hesitated. "…You were right. We're being watched."
Leon's jaw tightened. "Who?"
Callen glanced at the other scouts, then back at Leon. "Bandits. A large group. They've set up camp a few miles east."
Leon frowned. Bandits? Not the Eclipse Covenant?
"Are they preparing to attack?" he asked.
Callen shook his head. "No. Not yet. But they're gathering numbers. More men arrived while we were watching."
Leon's mind raced. Bandits didn't just gather like this without a reason. Either they were planning something big…
Or someone was pulling the strings.
The storm rumbled overhead.
Leon turned to Garrick. "Get the militia ready. If they make a move, I want to be the one who strikes first."
Garrick grinned. "Now you're thinking like a lord."
Leon smirked, but his eyes remained cold.
Because this wasn't just about bandits anymore.
Something bigger was at play.
And he would be damned if he let someone else dictate how this war would unfold.
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