The soft white snow of the Vayda mountains accumulated atop the quaint slate rooftops of the great city of Kalur, as lights from fireplaces lit across the cliff side glowed shyly from windows barred with iron. At the highest point of the city, just a mere day’s march from the peak of the tallest mountain, sat the Kalur military garrison. Within its cold walls, a large group of soldiers were gathered, huddled around fire pits with dancing flames that cast flickering shadows across the room. All had a tankard of ale in hand. Outside, the night was growing dark, but inside, the sounds of chatter and chants and songs had just begun.

Staring out of one of the windows in a far corner, sat the Captain of the Kalur infantry, Hadar Gerardus. He was fast approaching his fourth decade in the mountains, and although he might have been considered old by the younger force of soldiers, he garnered a respect unmatched by any other officer in the Kalur military, more so even than the commanders he answered to, who mostly seemed to have left the reign of their city’s infantry to Hadar, in order to have time to enjoy their women, wine, and precious Ether Crystals.

Hadar wore a black leather laced tunic, along with a dark gray cloak and leather-bound gloves. The boots on his feet were ragged and worn, but kept him dry all the same. He smoked a pipe of pinebush and wafted the clouds out into the darkness on the other side of the window. For a moment he lingered in thought, and then took one more deep inhale of his pipe before emptying it out of the window. He leaned back in his chair, and went to take a sip of ale. He heard the creaking of floorboards steadily growing nearer, and a voice boomed out from behind him.

“Captain Gerardus! It is too fine a night to be drinking alone. Come, join the rest of us in celebration. Winter’s Eve comes but once a year,” the voice said, almost shouting.

Hadar turned around in his chair and was met with the eyes of his first lieutenant, Nyifir. Hadar let out a soft smile, before raising his mug and taking a gulp. He put it back down on the table, as Nyifir did the same, taking the seat opposite to him. He picked up a pipe of his own, lit it with the candle in the middle of the table, and began to puff out small clouds of smoke.

“So, Captain,” Nyifir said with a smirk. “Is it by choice that you sit here by your lonesome? Or have the new recruits swayed you to do so?”

“I do not like to dance,” Hadar responded. “Or sing for that matter. Never have.”

“Well,” Nyifir said. “It is good for a man’s soul to be jolly every so often. And for you, I’d think that one night a year would suffice well enough.”

Hadar let out a laugh, and grabbed his pipe, stuffing it with more pinebush and lighting it aflame.

“There you are, Captain,” Nyifir said. “That’s the spirit. I wish all my men were here to celebrate.”

Hadar straightened in his chair, and questioned, “What do you mean by that? Aren’t all the men expected to show tonight?”

“Don’t be troubled, Hadar,” Nyifir said, almost slouching back into his own chair. “I’ve sent a group of scouts out into the mountains. There’s been another sighting of footprints on the paths.”

“I thought I told you to speak to me before you send out new troops,” Hadar said. “You know we cannot afford to lose any men. Ever since the Watcher Arvenus fled our city, our people have started to fall victim to the treacherous powers of the Ether Crystals. We have enough to deal with inside our city walls, without Arvenus as Kalur’s high commander. The city council, or whatever is left of it, seems to have lost its grip completely by now. It is worrying…”

Just then, the door to the garrison burst open and the two men turned around, as Hadar made out the figure that stood in the entrance. It was one of the scouts, a younger man, who rushed towards them, the panic in his eyes unnoticed by the celebrating soldiers around them. Hadar noticed that Nyifir was perhaps even more shocked than himself, and before he could speak up, his first lieutenant stood up.

“Mordrit,” Nyifir said. “How did you end up back here?”

The scout looked at both men with a worried face. “The sightings have unfolded themselves, it seems,” he said, his voice shaking. “The shrouds in the darkness, the footprints—all of it forewarned us that this was going to happen. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of silhouettes. Just beyond the ridge, huddled around small fires and camps. They must have gotten there right before we arrived. Perhaps they thought the post was abandoned.”

“It seems I spoke too soon…” Hadar stood up, lost in thought for a moment. “It’s a shame that this night should be tarnished by bloodshed,” he said. “But our enemy has finally played their hand, and we shall answer. Nyifir, rally all soldiers who are here now. Mordrit, gather the remaining infantry and meet me at the northern gate as soon as possible. Leave the city guard to protect the citizens of Kalur. Now, let us make haste.”

At once, Nyifir and Mordrit scrambled to try and garner the soldiers both inside the hall and around the city to prepare for battle. It took longer than Hadar would have liked, but soon, the entirety of Kalur’s infantry was gathered at the gate facing the mountains, hundreds of foot soldiers bearing armor and cloaks and weapons. Hadar stood at the front of it all, along with Nyifir by his side. He turned to face them, and began to speak.

“Listen here, soldiers of Kalur,” he shouted. “We must move as the shadows do, and be as quiet as the snow. It seems enemy soldiers have been spotted in the mountains, approaching our great city. Remain in formation and watch your flanks. Be prepared for anything. Now, let us march on. For Kalur!”

“For Kalur!” his men shouted back.

It was a few hour’s journey from the northern gate to the outpost where the Kalur scouts had seen the enemy, and it was dark and snowing lightly. As the infantry made their way to the first sighting of a trailpoint, a large stone carving that harbored a clifftop full of trees, Nyifir turned towards Hadar.

“Captain,” he said. “Any stories to pass the time? Something to instill some form of confidence into my heart, perhaps?”

Hadar sat in thought for a moment, before his eyes crossed paths with a sea of thorn bushes that protruded out from rocks along the edge of the path. Suddenly, he was overcome with emotion. Grief mostly, but guilt as well. He thought perhaps the story in his mind was one he should keep to himself, but he decided that if it was his time to die, the tale should live on. And so he turned back towards Nyifir, who sat eagerly awaiting his speech, and began to tell it.

“It was around this time, some twenty years ago. I was eighteen, a fresh face in the military of our city, much like many of the men behind us today. I had one goal in life back then: to become a military officer like my father, who was a Captain as well. That’s all I ever wanted; to impress my father. It was a stubborn truth I’ve come to see, one that I regret to this day. Anyhow, we were sitting at our table eating dinner. Myself, my father and my mother. We were discussing the plans for my instatement as a lieutenant the following week, and as you might imagine, I was as excited as any man could be. Then, we heard a knock at the door. My mother went up to see who it was. It took a few moments before she turned around and looked at my father with a face of dread. Two men stood behind her, dressed in armor, holding torches. She called out for my father, who stood up and made his way over to the men, before turning back around and telling me to prepare my things. We were called to join a company of soldiers who were being sent out into the mountains to scare away a possible threat.”

Hadar paused as Nyifir looked over, before he turned around and looked out into the crowd of soldiers behind them. Then, he continued the story.

“There were about fifty of us, young men with little experience outside the city walls. Not a large or powerful showing in the slightest, but the reports that were sent back told of a small band of people making their way upwards towards the city, and so the plan was to march out and meet them, pushing them back the way they came. We arrived at the outpost, where a lieutenant was stationed with a dozen or so soldiers. My father took over command, and marched the troops forward toward the forest edge that sat a field’s length away from where we were. It wasn’t fully dark out yet, but the sun had set beyond the mountain peaks and so it was hard to see what lay ahead of us. I was afraid, like many of the young soldiers. And although I’d rather not admit it, the truth stood as it was, so I asked my father for advice.”

Nyifir smirked a bit at that point, as Hadar let out a small laugh, before his face returned to its previous stern veneer, and he continued with his story.

“My father told me to take that fear and mold it into strength. He talked about defending our city and its people, and most importantly, protecting the city’s riches and Ether Crystals. It was up to us to keep these safe. His words soothed my mind and gave me confidence.”

Hadar stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath of the cold air, letting out a stream of cloudy exhale that wrapped up into the night sky above. He pondered for a few seconds, thinking of how to tell the next part of his tale, before he finally spoke up once more.

“It wasn’t long before we heard rustling in the forest ahead. My father ordered us to unsheath our swords and continue forward. And so we did. What took place then, I am not proud of. Yet it happened so fast that I cannot blame myself for much. First we heard men screaming from the forest. Then the panicked sound of weapons being drawn. We didn’t hesitate for a moment and moved in to attack. We rushed into the forest and encountered our enemy. I remember raising my sword and locking eyes with one of them wielding nothing but a short knife. He seemed confused, and I hesitated for a brief moment. However, my father stepped in front of me and thrust his sword into the man’s chest. Two more men jumped forward from the bushes and threw themselves on top of my father. Together we fought them off, but I couldn’t prevent them from thrusting a large dagger into my father’s upper leg before they perished. I can still see my father’s grimacing face as he knelt down and pulled the dagger free. Although blood began to run down his leg, he turned to me and ordered us to leave him behind so that we could chase down our enemy; to make him proud. We pushed our enemy back into the heart of the forest, where we saw a bridge of lights in the distance. Soon, we came upon the steps of the enemy camp, but there we found women, elderly folk, children... Our inexperienced and fearful soldiers moved in nonetheless. I watched a sea of leather armor flood their camps and kill anyone who was too slow to escape their attack. I could bear it no longer and fled, back up towards the mountain ridge, where I called for my father. And call I did, for what seemed like an eternity. In the end I found him, laying motionless in the snow. It was stained red and my father’s chest lay still…”

With that, Hadar stared forward, as Nyifir shook his head and took a deep breath. The air felt heavy as Hadar quickened his pace, and soon the winds became stronger, unrelenting gusts blowing snow and ice in a flurry over their army. Hadar thought it best that they should set up camp at that point and wait for the winds to pass. It was just past midnight then, and after the tents were rolled out and propped up, each man laid down to sleep for a few hours before the final trek towards the outpost the next day. Hadar wanted to stay awake and keep watch with the first set of soldiers, but Nyifir urged him to get some rest, and so he did.

The night had gone by fast, and Hadar awoke from his sleep, but not to the chirping of birds or the rustling of fowl in the forests, but rather to the sounds of war horns and cries that resounded across his encampment. Nyifir appeared at his tent, and yelled for him to get up and put on his armor, for the enemy had taken action against them. And so, Hadar stood up abruptly and put on his leather tunic and gloves, followed by his boots and armor, and strapped his sword to his belt.

As he opened his tent, Hadar could see his soldiers fighting the enemy, but it seemed to be a stalemate. Forces on both sides were lying dead around the perimeter of the encampment, and Hadar could barely catch his footing before an enemy soldier had come up from behind him and slashed his sword towards his face. If it were not for his reflexes, he would have been killed. Fortunately, Hadar had turned his cheek just in time, the enemy blade just scraping his brow. He swirled around and thrust his sword into the soldier’s heart. As he pulled the sword out, he felt a hot drop of blood run down his face.

"Formation! Get into formation!” he heard Nyifir shout from across the field.

Quickly, Hadar made his way through the sea of bodies towards his first lieutenant, all the while dueling with enemy soldiers that attempted to cut, stab, and slash at him. Eventually, he made it to Nyifir’s side and looked at his friend solemnly, as the shouts of battle continued to rage.

“Nyifir,” Hadar said, wiping the blood off his sword. “What happened? Were we ambushed?”

“Aye, sir,” he responded. “They snuck up on our encampment under the cover of the clouds, and flooded in before our lookouts could respond in time. How they got past, I still can’t figure out.”

With that, Nyifir turned to face an enemy attacker and sliced his throat across the windpipe. Looking out over the battlefield, Hadar saw that the enemy troops had begun to retreat. With that, the chaos of battle slowly subsided, as Hadar and Nyifir began to try and regroup with what soldiers were left. After the enemy had retreated fully, they gathered in the tent that Hadar, Nyifir, and their war council were stationed in.

“Thank the Gods,” Nyifir said. “It seems that most men on the ground belong to our enemy.”

“And what of ours? How many have we lost?” Hadar questioned.

“About a hundred, give or take,” one of the councilmen answered. “We cannot be certain, however. We are still counting.”

“Do you have any idea of who was responsible for this attack?” Hadar asked.

Nyifir turned to him and held out his hand, a piece of cloth laid across his palm. On it was the royal symbol of the King of the northern city of Irulyar.

Hadar stepped back, as a rush of memories returned to him. Sitting down, he lifted his hand to his head.

“Nyifir, remember what I told you before about my past?” he asked.

“Of course, Hadar,” Nyifir responded. “What of it?”

“The wanderers that were responsible for the death of my father—the ignorant fortune seekers who entered Kalur territory—we interrogated some of their wounded that were left behind on the battlefield. They told us they were refugees from the city of Angiyona and that they were looking for a new place to call home. Their leader was a man named Qela Leyonart, who had managed to escape after his family had been killed by our soldiers. In the years after the incident, we heard that he had founded the city of Irulyar on the coast up north, and was crowned king.” Hadar had a sad look in his eyes. “Powerful as he has become over the years, he must have come back to take revenge for the death of his family. How could he not?”

Nyifir, along with the rest of his councilmen, stood in shock, as they tried to process what they had just heard.

Hadar then stood back up, and spoke aloud once more. “The Irulyar army will be fierce, believe me, but on my father’s memory, I swear to rid us of them. The Vayda mountains, and all its riches, belong to Kalur, and to no one else. No matter their king’s personal vendetta. We will kill every last one of them if we have to! Are you with me?”

“Hear, hear!” they shouted, after which Hadar instructed them to bury their dead and prepare for a long lasting battle. Hadar himself remained standing silently in the tent entrance, looking out over their encampment. He had grown sick of the brutality of war he realized. Especially after seeing the city he called home grow more and more hostile over the years, its inhabitants ready to use violence against each other out of the greed and paranoia created by the Ether Crystal pockets in the mountains. However, still he would fulfill his duty, and fight till the last breath, to honor his father and the great city of Kalur.

Soon the fighting began. Days went by. Then days turned into weeks. The battles were rough, and the harsh terrain mixed with the mountain snow and winds caused hardships for both sides. Five weeks into the war, after another grueling day of bloodshed, Hadar called for Nyifir and his war council to meet with him. “I feel that this is the moment I’d like to propose a strategy I’ve come up with,” he said. “Even though we have won terrain over time and advanced further north, our skirmishes play out the same way every time. They focus their efforts on a tactical ridge and attack as a single force, and we defend our position. Sometimes they come from the west, sometimes the east, sometimes the north, but the ending is always the same: both sides fall back having suffered casualties.” He raised his voice. “But stalemates will not win this war. No. Victories will!”

Hadar pulled out a roughly drawn map of the region they were stationed in, and unfolded it, spreading it extensively across the table. As he explained his plan, Nyifir nodded in agreement. When Hadar had finished, Nyifir unsheathed his dagger and, with a swift downward movement, slammed it into the table, so that it stood upright in the wood, quivering from the force of the maneuver. “I'm with you, Captain!” he declared. Immediately, the remaining members of the war council followed Nyifir’s lead.

“Then it is settled,” Hadar said. “Next time they attack, we shall put our plan into action. Inform the troops!”

The next morning, Nyifir’s scouts reported their enemy advancing once more. Hadar quickened to make sure his men were in position. As the sun crested atop the tallest peak of the Vayda mountain range, the distant rumbling of marching boots became louder, and soon, Hadar could see the Irulyar forces rushing up the mountainside towards their position. The battle raged just as every skirmish had before it, as both sides fought hard to keep their ground. It was at the very moment that Hadar saw the enemy being pulled towards them far enough that he gave the signal for his men to blow their warhorns. As their bellowing sounds resonated their way across the open field, the Kalur soldiers at the flanks rushed out from the forest’s edge in the start of a pincer maneuver.

Soon the enemy troops began falling back, this time suffering a large number of casualties. Hemmed in, the straggling enemy troops eventually turned their backs and began to flee the unfolding chaos. Hadar found himself standing over a dozen fallen Irulyar soldiers, as Nyifir made his way to him, covered in blood and bruised from the fight.

“Captain,” Nyifir said, breathing heavily still. “It looks like we’ve done it. The Irulyar forces don’t have the numbers anymore to pose a real threat. If they try and attack again, it would be suicide…”

“Indeed,” Hadar said, smiling softly. “And not a day too soon. Don’t get me wrong, I love the mountains, but at this point I’d trade my dear mother for a night’s rest in my own bed,” he continued. “Let’s make haste and start on our way back home.”

Nyifir smiled, but in his eyes there was sadness. “Let us bury our dead, and return to our city…”

Due to their many wounded soldiers, the journey back to Kalur took several days. When they finally arrived, and marched through the city gates, Hadar was met with a scene that he had not expected, and could barely fathom. The streets of their great city, filled with litter and fires, were flooded with its own citizens, running about and fighting each other and looting stores and warehouses. The city guard seemed to have lost control of what was happening, and as Hadar and his men made their way towards the garrison, they were forced to fight through those that threw themselves at the soldiers. When they found their way to the garrison, they found the doors sealed from the inside.

Hadar banged on the doors and made himself known. Not long after, the officer in charge of the city guard opened the doors. He had his sword in his hand and looked at Hadar with wild eyes. His expression changed into relief, when he realized the Captain had returned with the city’s infantry, and he let them in.

“By the Gods, what happened here when we were away?” Hadar asked the officer, while his soldiers entered the garrison. He took off his bloody gloves and threw them onto the table.

“Captain,” the officer started. “I don’t even know where to begin. In the days after you left for the mountains, the situation in the city took a turn for the worse. With just the city guard left to keep the order, everything began to slowly crumble. A skirmish here, a fistfight there, that was how it was at the start. Then, it escalated. A group of dissidents attacked the city council building and the homes of the military commanders. We managed to save some of them, but many of them were brutally killed.” He gestured to a group of silent men sitting in the back of the garrison. “Only these men survived, leaving the city without a leader.”

Hadar shook his head in disbelief. He then drew his sword and climbed on top of a table. “Hear me!” he shouted. “You all know my name. My reputation.” He looked around, and caught the glance of one of his commanders, sitting by the fire with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He immediately averted his eyes. “You all know what needs to be done,” he continued. “We must take back our city by force. We must restore order!”

One of the members of the city council raised his voice. “You are not the one to make that decision,” he snarled.

Nyifir only needed one look of his Captain, before he grabbed the council member and dragged the man kicking and screaming before Hadar, forcing him down to his knees.

Hadar slowly put back on his gloves. “After having spent weeks upon weeks bearing witness to so much bloodshed, in defense of our great city, my patience has just about run thin,” he said. “It is clear to me today that ever since the Watcher Arvenus fled Kalur, it has been my brave soldiers, and my command, that has prevented the city from imploding on itself. Therefore, from this moment, I hereby dissolve the city council and adjure the remaining commanders of the Kalur military to retire from their posts.”

“You have no right!” shouted the council member before him on the ground.

“That may be true,” Hadar acknowledged, while tightening his grip around his sword and stepping back down from the table. “But this path is the only one I see us taking.” With a powerful swing, he brought his sword down in an arc on the man’s neck. A moment later, the man’s head was rolling listlessly on the garrison floor. “From today onwards, I hereby assume the position of Kalur’s High Commander. And not only that, in honor of my father, I hereby declare Kalur a city-state, so that my bloodline will inherit my rule over the city.” Hadar then looked around the room slowly, his eyes darting and meeting the panicked gazes of those who remained of the city’s former council and military command. “If you are with me, let yourselves be heard…”

“Hear, hear!” the many voices of the soldiers sounded in unison.

“Good…” Hadar said slowly, a dark steely glistening in his eyes. “Now then, let’s make haste, and restore order to our beautiful city.”