“Hold. Do you lot smell that?”

We froze in place, crouching low to ground. Rush tilted his beak upwards, taking in a deep breath though his nostrils, his eyes narrowing in thought.

“I smell smoke. Smells like a campfire, with a hint of some kind of meat cooking. Definitely their campsite.”

The Commander nodded in agreement.

“We must be close. Cormac, fly up as stealthily as you can, and take a quick peek.”

Cormac nodded, fixing a bolt into his cross bow, and fluttered up into the sky. He perched on the top branch of a large pine, and peered into the distance.

“Laddie!” Commander Owens whispered harshly, getting Cormac’s attention, tossing up his spy glass up into the air. Cormac caught it in his left claw, resting his crossbow on a neighboring branch, and peered through it.

With his right claw, he formed a fist and held it up, flashing one of his talons, reforming the fist, and pointing towards the east.

“The camp is east from where we are. Maybe ten or so hostile there.”

“Only ten? Commander, we could take ‘em!” Rush exclaimed, a determined look upon his face.

Cormac fluttered back down, landing upon a small mound of snow and handing the spy glass back to the Commander.

“Commander, not all the members of the camp look like hostiles. Some appeared to be prisoners.”

Owens rubbed his beak, nudging some of the frost of the tip, a look of contemplation upon his face.

“Hmmm, this complicates things. Normally, I would have us pull back and retrieve reinforcements, but if there are prisoners there, we may need to act now.”

He turned back to Cormac,” could you gauge how many?”

“Out of the ten, I saw at least 6 prisoners. Two of them were definitely not our kind.”

I peeked my brow at that. Though we shared the souther tip of our border with the Minotaurs, it was still a very rare occasion that we would get visitors from other species within our borders. Especially during times of war of war .

“Did the other two look like look they would be merchants?” I asked Cormac.

“I couldn’t really tell,” he replied with a shrug,”I saw supplies in the camp, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary for a military camp. Perhaps they picked them up during one of the raids.”

“Guys, we definitely have to do something now!” Rush exclaimed,” they could kill them soon when they realize that their comrades aren’t coming back.”

“Hush, you bloody fool!” The Commander whispered harshly again, grabbing Rush by the shoulder and shoving him back down into a crouch,”do you want the whole bloody fuckin’ forest to hear us?!”

Rush turned to me, a pleading expression on his face.

“Lou, you know I’m right. We have to do something now! We don’t have time to wait for the others!”

“Waiting for back up would be preferable in this situation. Even if we caught them by surprise, it will still be a hard fight,” Cormac cautioned, turning towards me as well,” if we charged up, they may kill the prisoners, anyway.”

Owens sighed, shaking his head, placing his claw upon the hilt of his sword.

“I agree with Cormac on this one, my prince. But, I leave the decision up to you. Whatever order you give, we will follow, just know the consequences.”

I now had the three looking at me, each having given me there own words of advice on what to do. I saw the sense that the Commander and Cormac had made, but I also saw the sense in Rush’s words as well. Either decision I made could mean the deaths of those prisoners.

I was at a loss.

I didn’t know what to do.

It felt like a Catch 22, damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. Yet within me, I still had the itch for a fight, to prove myself. If I could slay this camp, and free those prisoners, it would be a much needed victory during these harsh times.

It would be good news that my family and the kingdom defiantly needed.

I made my choice.

“Let’s hit the camp. Cormac will cover us from the trees, Owens, you’ll take the left side, Rush, the right, and I’ll head center. We hit ‘em fast and hard.”

The Commander and Cormac looked unsettled by the plan, but brushed past it and nodding in confirmation.

“You made the right choice, Lou,” Rush said,
comfortingly, before readying his gear for the imminent fight. I could only let out a sigh in response.

“I hope so. Cormac, get in position, fire upon them when we are with 15 meters of the camp.
Your first volley will be the signal for us to charge.”

“Yes my prince,” Cormac stated with a salute, fluttering back into the canopies of pine branches.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Milord,” the commander said as the three of us stalked off into the forest,” the lot of us could die, including the prisoners.”

“Do you doubt my abilities as a swordshawk?”

“Of course not Milord,” he responded in haste,” I know that our king spared no expense in hiring the best to train you, I just don’t think the numbers are on our side.”

“I trust that the two of you will get us out of this alive,” Rush responded, maneuvering himself so that he walked besides us,”you and Lou are the best swordhawks we have, and Cormac is a deadeye shot when it comes to that crossbow of his.”

“What does that make you then, laddie?”

“Incredibly lucky,” he replied with a smirk.

The Commander and I shook are heads with a small laugh.

“We’ll put that to the test right now. My prince, I lead the command up to you.”

Nodding my head, I unsheathed my sword, adjusting my cloak so that it wouldn’t be in the way of swings. Owens and Rush readied their weapons as well, as we approached the 15 meter mark.

“Alright, guys, are you ready?”

“Yes, my prince.”

“Ready, Lou.”

“Alright, let’s give them fight! For Allerseen!”

We charged forth.

The faster that we ran, the sight of the camp became clearer and clearer. As we got closer, Owens and Rush broke off into their positions, diverting their paths towards their prey.

The same feeling as before washed over me. I felt a haze flood my vision, my breathing become faster and more haggard, blood pumping in a frenzy through my veins.

That primal lust for battle that all hardened warriors felt encompassed who I was.

Just ahead of me, I could make the light of a lantern, finally picking up the scent of the campfires. A bandit sat in front atop a fallen log on the forest floor, his back to me, as I charged forward. Raising my sword and hit a as strong a heave as I could muster, I thrust it forward.

The tip of my blade entered through the back of his head, forcing its way through the flesh and bone, before popping out the front of his face, just below the his beak.

An instant death.

Yanking my sword back, I leapt over the log and the corpse landing on the opposite side and into the fringes of the camp. Three bandits sitting on by the campfire turned and saw as their comrade fell onto the floor, looks of shock and horror adorning their features, before they began scrambling for their weapons.

“We’re being attacked,” one yelled, before a crossbow bolt sunk into his chest with a hard thump and a spray of blood. Brandishing their weapons in anger at their fallen comrade, the remaining bandits rushed towards me.

Raising my sword up, I parried the blows of one bandit’s swings, maneuvering towards the left to avoid the other’s slash from his spear. Dig into belt as quickly as I could, I pulled forth a dagger, jamming it into the throat of bandit with the spear, releasing the hilt as well as the body and returning my free hand back on to the grip of my sword.

Around me, the camp was in disarray. Another bolt cut through the air, embedding itself the head of a bandit lieutenant. Cormac dropped from the tree tops, tossing his crossbow to the ground and drawing his own sword and joining to the battle of the ground.

The Commander and Rush had long since joined the fight, each fighting a foe of their own.

Down thrusting sharply, I cleaved the shaft of the bandit’s spear in two, launching my left foot fowward and kicking him in the chest.

The bandit lost his footing, falling backwards, hindered by the weight of his armor.

I lifted my sword above my head to strike the fatal blow.

“For the love of the gods, have mercy Milord! Please!”

And for a second, the thought crossed my mind. To show mercy. To be the better man. What would the Unprinces before me have done?

What would my father have done?

For that brief moment, I didn’t see an enemy before me, but a griffon, a countryman. Someone who I could’ve fought alongside in a previous life.

Battle marks littered his armor, eyes that shone with fear, and yet a weary resignation, almost as if some part of this griffon deep down inside new that this would happen, and wouldn’t be able to change it.

I almost lowered my sword.

But then, the other memories came back. The smell of burning corpses and blood on the battlefield. The screams of terror of innocent villagers as they were murdered in cold blood. The ringing of bells and clanging of swords and cries of death.

Thousands of lives taken by the claws of this very same griffon and his comrades.

This wasn’t a countryman.

This was a murderer.

A snark escaped my lips, as I brought my sword down, stabbing into his chest.

I did it over and over again, each time the bandit making a guttural grunt of pain, as chest slowly morphed into a bloody mess.

Every strike I laid, I yelled louder and louder, as sweat drenched from my scalp. I could feel my hair sticking to the sides of my head, flecks of blood splashing onto my face.

By the time I stopped, gasping for breath, I could barely recognize the corpse below me. I could hear is screams of pain echo in my head, his eyes rolling in the back of his head in misery.

Shaking my head, I felt someone’s gaze peering into the back of my head, as I turned around swiftly.

Before me were the prisoners, each bound and gagged, within the confines of a small, wooden pen, covered in filth. There were about six captives, two griffon hens, clothed in tattered rags of what used to be dresses, as well as one griffon hawk, beaten and bruised, clad in a light gambeson and belt. He looked as if he belonged to a rival bandit group.

The next three were very surprising.

A Diamond Dog was also present, his paws bound behind his back. His short black fur was hidden behind his layers of worn garments. Two his side was another Diamond Dog, a female, her white fur stained with mud and grime, her wrists crossed and bound behind her. The black one had placed himself in front of the white one, in a protective stance.

On the far end of the cage, was one of the Equestrian ponies. Obviously female, it’s teal
Coat and mane were also covered in the grime and mud that permeated the small cage, her hooves also bound. She lay on her side, her breathing haggard and strained.

She was ill.

All the prisoners had looks of horror on their faces, as they stared at me, and I back at them. For some reason, I felt ashamed by their stares, as the blood dropped from my face, landing in puddles on the floor.

I must have appeared monstrous to them.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, a yell broke the temporary silence, before I felt an explosion of pain rip through my shoulder.

The blade of a bandits dagger plunged into my left shoulder pain, tearing in between the gaps in my shoulder pauldron and through my gambeson. The stab felt so deep, I swore that it connected with bone.

Howling in agony, I ripped around before slashing my sword downward with my right arm, catching the bandit in the throat in a spray of red mist.

“Lou, are you alright!?” I heard Rush yell from across the camp.

“Yes,” I replied hoarsely,” it’s just a flesh wound! Cormac, Owens, rally on me!”

The three finished their adversaries, rushing over to my position. As they made their way, four more bandits sprinted after them, emerging from a tent on the opposite side of the camp.

“Hopefully this is the last of them,” Owens panted, his armor scruffed and scratched from the fight. Rush and Cormac were in similar states, each showing signs of fatigue.

“Lets finish this lads, brace yourselves!”

Cormac grabbed a second sword from the ground, preparing both blades, the rest of us tightening are stances, as the remaining bandits fell upon us.

Partying sword strikes as quickly as we could, the four of us battled, sparks flying from our weapons from the force of the impacts. The stress of the strikes shot pain through my wounded shoulder. I could feel the wound ripping and widening, blood now flowing freely.

I could only grip my teeth.

“My Lord, hold on—“ Owens began, before the sound of an arrow swished through the air, and embedding itself through his eye. The Commander reached up to his face by instinct, before a sword swing from his opponent struck his neck, severing it his head.

Owens was dead.

Cormac yelled in anguish, throwing the second sword, as it planted itself into the chest of the bandit with a bow before he could loose another arrow.

Rush and I could only howl as well, anger flooding our vision at the commanders death.

The blood was back in full force.

Fuck the pain!

Kill them all!

All I could see was red. Red and hatred. I could feel the wet splashed of blood and sweat and tears fall upon my face and armor.

And, as if only seconds had passed, the world around us was silent and still.

I could hear the grunts and cries from the bound and gagged captives behind us, yet I paid them no mind. I fell to the ground, my knees squishing against the red blood and melted snow below me, as I grasped Owens limp claw in my hand, holding it tightly, as I felt a sob choke in my throat.

I couldn’t hear anything around me, I couldn’t trust my my vision.

I could catch the smell of smoke from the campfires and the of the carnage all around us, as I wept.

I did this.

I got Owens killed. The blame was my mine, and mine alone.

“Lou! He’s dead, man! We have to get these prisoners help!”

I shakily released Owens claw, it limply falling to the ground, before wobbling to my feet. Wiping the tears and sweat from the face, taking a long, hard breath and releasing a shudder, I turned to Cormac, whose gaze was locked on the bodies at his feet, his sword dangling from his grip.

“Cor,” I muttered softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. He jumped in surprise, raising his sword for a second with a loud gasp.

“Hey, hey, Cor, it’s alright, it’s over,” i said, trying to soothe him,”you need to fly back to camp and get the others, we’re gonna need some help here, Cor.”

“T-the Commander, L-Lou, he’s dead! I-I can’t leave him.”

“We’ll watch him, Cor, nothing else will happen to him, but we’ll need help taking his body back, as well as helping these prisoners. Can you do it,
Cormac? Please.”

He stared back at me, a far off look in his gaze, before finally nodding and extending his wings.

“I’ll be back as fast I can. If more come, fuck these prisoners and run, I won’t lose anymore of you today.”

On that note, he launched himself into the air, fluttering south towards our camp.

With a sigh, I turned and marched up to the wooden cage, which Rush had managed to successfully open.

Walking up for the group of captives, I unsheathed my dagger, clearing my throat.

“Don’t be afraid, my friend and I are not here to harm you. I am Lucifer, the Unprince on Allerseen, and we’re here to help you.”

Author's Note

New chapter. Next update will be for In the Kingdom of the Blind. Comment how you think the story is going and stay tuned for more!