This article is the final installment of the
1048AT - The Road to Darkmoor. Please read through that to give this more context.
Arrival at Leary
The horn sounded across the village, as Darkmoorian troops marched into the center of Leary. The village was a smoking wreck. No building had been spared as they began the search for survivors. Scoutleader Adonnis had double-time marched his men for the last 2 days after the raven arrived saying the convoy was under heavy attack on the road up toward Haverly. He rushed toward one of the only buildings left standing and kicked in the door.
He glanced at the darkness as his eyes adjusted from the bright daylight that shot in from behind him.
“Adonnis?” came a voice, the Darkmoorian squinted as he moved closer and listened again for the voice.
“It’s me, Marius. By Markoth I didn’t think you’d come!”
Adonnis shot a glance to the far side of the room and ventured into the dark of the hut, kicking something on the ground. A groan came from the sack as it revealed the hut was full of Camdorian soldiers, resting within the walls. Marius emerged from the shadows and hugged Adonnis for a moment, before slumping down. Adonnis reached for his waterskin and fed Marius some water.
“I used all my energy healing them - I’m too weak to move them to safety, so we all hid inside this hut. We took heavy casualties in the melee.” Marius spluttered as the desperate need for water blocked his air.
“You are alive, that’s all that matters. Did you retain the chest? Where is it?” Adonnis looked across the hut, his eyes finally adjusting to see around 20 soldiers all slumped against the walls and lying on the floor of the room.
“The Crows took it, they hit us hard last night. We tried to hold them off bu-” Adonnis patted him on the head as he stood and walked to the door.
“I will take a detachment of my fastest, we will give chase and pick up the chest. I’ll be back in a week or two. The rest of my men are under your command. Try to clean this place up a bit, and then move east. Word is that the Imperial army marched north to attack Fiermstead.”
Marius nodded as Adonnis motioned to one of his sergeants and began walking toward the river Trine, scanning the ground for tracks as he went. The Darkmoorian forces began shuffling into the village, unloading the carts and taking off their packs. Marius lay his head on the floorboards of the hut. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
The Chase
As the Darkmoorian troops exited their barge, they unloaded their supplies and began to build the cart to move it on. An arrow came hurtling through the crowd and splashed into the river. Captain Adonnis spun around, his sword easing from his scabbard as he poised his tip toward where he thought the arrow came from. Another arrow sailed over Adonnis and skidded across the soft dirt of the riverbank. He squinted to see the dark outline of a crow archer in the long grass.
“Crows! In the bushes!”
“Sergeant, guard the flank, Corporal, take your men down the bank line and clean up that way. The rest of you, ON ME!” He shouted, rushing forward with his sword still pointing at the bush with the archer.
As they approached, the crows emerged from the grass and rushed out. The numbers were more than he was expecting, but Adonnis didn’t slow his charge. He slid at the last moment before contact, a throwing knife skidding past his hat as he whirled the sword and slashed two scouts in the legs. He then stood up to defend himself from another crow, as one jumped on his back and tried to jam a knife in his neck. He dropped his sword and grabbed the rogue's hands, spinning quickly to try and throw the assailant. As he turned and twisted, the rogue let go and fell to the ground, an arrow from the Royalist archers behind the fight saved him the trouble. He nodded and picked up his sword.
The skirmish was short lived, the order for the crows to withdraw was given, and they split up into the tall grass. Adonnis didn’t want to chase them.
“We go… west.” he said, doubled over and in between deep breaths.
“But sir, they ran south?” one of the corporals said, sheathing his sword.
“Did you see the chest?”
As the soldier went to answer, Adonnis answered for him.
“No, because that’s clearly a decoy force designed to delay us and draw us away. The tracks on the west head away from the bank toward the closest settlement. We go east.”
The soldiers kept unloading the barge and set off quickly westward.
After a day of quick marching, the Darkmoorian convoy caught a glimpse of the crows formation. They noted the chest within their unit, and made double time to try and close some distance. As the sun began to rise on the second day, they watched the crows enter the edge of the forest. The forest was gnarled and looming. The thick roots of the trees emerged from the hard soil to form monstrous arches and earthen spikes that threatened even the most weary soldiers. They saw their chance.
The charge happened quickly. The Darkmoor forces raced into the forest entrance, but as they entered, and the sun’s rays dimmed to a dull glow, the counter-attack swept in. The violent clash of blades and pikes echoed across the forest. The Imperials did not give an inch, as every time a soldier went down, another took their place. Adonnis glanced past the line as he watched the chest go off to the right, into a small crevice in a tree trunk. He blocked a blow, and slashed at another soldier, then glanced again to see the chest… heading to the left?. He parried a blow, bringing his sword down hard on someone’s attempt to thrust at the spearman, then he looked to see two more chests, identical, heading in different directions to the first two. He stepped back from the line, rubbing his eyes. Had he had a spell cast on him? He looked at the fighting, the battle was intense, as neither side gave an inch. He called his sergeant to him and gave him instruction to find another route in, and grab the chest that went left. The sergeant pushed through the lines and reached the left flank with some of his chosen soldiers. They forced their way through and broke in. Adonnis pushed in on the right, and caused a commotion which drew Imperials to him. The plan worked, as he watched the royalist forces slowly stepping toward the line with a chest in their possession. They moved it to safety, and slowly crept back out of the forest. The first sorte had been successful.
As they moved back away from the forest, Adonnis noted the Imperials' lack of chase. They didn’t want the chest back. He immediately called for them to dump the chest and return to the forest. As the men looked at him, puzzled, he filled them in on what he had seen.
The Darkmoorians were furious at their enemy - tricking them like dogs with a stick. They rushed back into the forest, catching the Crows slightly off guard. They pressed in further, taking two more chests and managing to set a large fire on the right flank during the attack. As Scoutleader Adonnis called for the chests to be extracted, he was struck in the head with the pommel of a sword.
The Aftermath
Adonnis awoke to the sound of crunching leaves and the chirping of birds. Light danced across his face as he looked upward at the canopy. He relaxed, feeling the bounce of the stretcher and the feel of a blanket over his tied wrists… Tied wrists!? His head shot up, the people carrying him were crows.
“Wait, where are you taking me!?”
The soldiers didn’t even look down at him, instead marching onward toward the forest edge.
“Killing me is not going to get your chest back, you know that, right?” he said, trying desperately to sound chuffed about the chests they had recovered during the battle.
He glimpsed one of the senior crows, their purple feather flickering in the wind as she walked.
“Look, I’m sorry we took the chest, we were following orders, it wasn’t personal.”
She turned her head and smiled at him, the smile turned into a giggle, and then into a cackle, Adonnis recoiled back against the stretcher.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
She slowed her walking speed slightly to reveal…
The chest. Being carried by crows, and traveling alongside them toward Fendletown.
“The chests you fought so valiantly for were decoys. A plan executed to perfection. We simply had to lure you in, and make off with our prize whilst you fought for nothing.”
Adonnis lay back against the stretcher, his face twisted in contempt. He wondered how many good men died for this. The ones who had sacrificed themselves for the chests they thought were the reason for this desperate journey. He wrung his hands as he contemplated where they were taking him.
Would he ever see home again?
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