There were only five guards, and they killed three of them quickly and made the other two unconscious. When they were done, they could hear some noise coming from one of the houses and when they looked inside it was just an empty house except for a hatch that had a ladder leading down to the bottom. They wondered what was below the hatch, and Jay ordered them to find out.
One of the men quickly inspected the hatch and could see there was no one around below and decided to descend the ladder. He found the rest of the villagers downstairs and hid behind a hot oven. He took notice of the boxes that were standing not too far from him. He took a peek and then realised it was gold that had been carved out from the ground and then he saw the workers put melted gold in forms. He hurried up and told the others who began to prepare for the attack. They covered up their mouths and brought weapons out. They needed to be quick before some soldiers inspected the village. Since there were bandits in the land close by, two stayed on top while the rest rushed down the stairs to obtain the gold. When they showed themselves, some of the villagers reached for their weapons and tried to attack. They got cut down, and two of the villagers died from the short battle while the rest kept their distance so they didn’t get hurt. They took much gold and carried up through another route that one of the villagers told them to not get killed. The soldier still cut him down so he got injured then kicked him to the side.
They exited with three chests of newly made gold and headed out of the village while the ones on top had to injure another villager that was about to sound an alarm. They rushed towards the horses, and soon heard the alarm from a horn coming from the village. The horses had bags attached to them and were filled fast. Jay ordered for a quick retreat, and they soon left in the night. The road had been chosen to make them reach the Grasoll land as fast as possible and this time, no rest would be given to the horses until they were safe inside the Grasoll land. The ride was free from trouble, and in the morning, they could see the beginning of the lands of Grasoll.
All the gold weighing down on the horses had made them slower and tired faster. The threat of soldiers coming from behind was a constant threat, and they could not afford to slow down. The Grasoll land was finally under their feet, and they left towards a small fort in the land. They had to cross a river first, but the horses protested, and it was clear they were over-worked and would have to rest. The river was not deep, so they all jumped off and led the horses slowly over the river. One of the men pointed suddenly across the river on a hill and shouted bandits. Ten men on horses came towards them at a fast pace and had their weapons drawn. Jay understood they must have followed them and knew they had gold with them.
Jay ordered the soldiers to draw their weapons, and they were ready for the bandits. A violent fight appeared over the river and the bandits were trying to grab one of the horses but a soldier jumped on the bandit’s horse and stuck a knife in the side then pushed him down to the water. Jay killed another, and one more bandit got injured before a soldier lost his life and two of the bandits rushed away with his horse. Another bandit got killed by a knife being thrown from a soldier and hit him in the head. They fought more and a soldier got injured and a bandit got a sword through his leg but got picked up by another bandit that also had been able to grab one of the soldier’s horse. They retreated and Jay told the men to hurry up before they came back or Darcolia’s soldiers came for them.
They rode for the fort and then dust could be seen from behind them. They knew it was the soldiers from Darcolia, and they continued to push the horses hard. There was a horse that was carrying two men plus the gold and then fell down out of exhaustion. The others stopped but there was much danger to go back and two of the men picked up the men while the rest rushed towards the fort. Another horse decided to stop and refused to walk more, and the men abandoned it to run for the forest close by. The soldiers behind saw the men enter the forest and thought the bandits were hiding in there. They entered the forest after the men and the two soldiers tried to hide. They, however, realised their error of hiding in the forest when the bandits from before were suddenly looking them in the eyes.
They drew sword and the bandits as well but the stand-off became short when they could hear the soldiers getting closer. The bandits tried to leave and headed off towards the exit of the forest but were met by two soldiers with drawn weapons. They rushed back, and just as they reached back to their camp, they got met by several other soldiers. There was nothing to do and another struggle was imminent. The soldiers made quick deaths to the bandits and the soldiers were surrounded so they lay down their weapons. The officer in charge descended his horse and inspected the dead bandits. Another soldier confirmed the bags of gold belonged to them and they believed these were the men that stole them and attacked the village.
Soon, a couple of soldiers entered the forest with some more bags from the other horses that was left on the open land and then the officer turned to the disguised Grasoll land soldiers and asked where the rest of the gold was. They said nothing about the gold since they knew they had to act under the notion that they were bandits and instead told them they didn’t know anything about any gold. One of them said they had been in the camp for days. The officer didn’t believe them and walked around them. He touched their clothes and told them they looked different than the others that were dead. They became cold and looked at the bandits and realised they did look very different.
One of them said they were lower in rank and had not deserved their clothes yet. The officer walked around again and was silent. He turned towards them and asked why the kingdom needed the gold. The two looked at each other and asked what he meant. He turned and pointed to the horse that was brought and then the men saw something that had been left unintentionally on the horse. A blanket under the saddle had a mark of the kingdom. They were terrified of the mistake but one of them got out that they had stolen it from a dead soldier. The officer nodded and turned towards another officer. He told him to tie them up and bring them to the castle for questioning. Both the soldiers knew they would die there and perhaps reveal who they were from the torture.
One of the soldiers got ready to have his hands tied up but the other one suddenly lunged towards a Darcolian soldier that was bringing ropes. He grabbed the Darcolia soldier’s sword and kicked the soldier down. He was about to swing it towards another soldier coming quickly when he received an arrow in his chest. He dropped the sword and tried instead to strike with his hand towards the soldier he got the sword from but then died from two other arrows that hit him in the back and side of the body.
The lone Grasoll land soldier made a run for it and made it to the trees but was also shot down by an arrow. He tried to speak but when the officer came up, he swore at him as a last attempt of a fight. The officer drew his sword and stabbed it through his chest then could be heard saying he was tired of the Grasoll land. He told the rest of the soldiers to search through the forest and around it. If no trace of them was found, they were to return to Darcolia.
Jay wondered what happened and could not see anything other than dust in the distance. He was standing on top a hill that they were hiding on. The fort was close by and they would leave towards it as soon as they found it safe to do so. They removed the bandit clothes and rode towards the fort. At first, the soldiers at the fort thought they had been robbed by someone but Jay identified himself and soon, the other soldiers were recognised by the men in the fort. They got new clothes and fresh horses so they could head back to the kingdom. Jay and the others rode day and night to finally see the castle appear in front of them. They entered the gate and immediately realised there was something up. They were told by the soldiers that met them and Jay hurried up to see Kemi.
He met her in the war room and she was happy to see him. She said that they were getting ready to deliver the body of Chalse to the family but there was a problem. The family could not come for another two weeks due to them being on visit in Canteria. They were asking to bury Chalse in the royal ceme
tery since he was to be her husband. The notice arrived a couple of days later by a bird and Chalse’s family was happy to let that happen. They also gave Kemi news that suddenly would shift the war. They had agreed to lend money to the war and even troops of their own. A letter coming from King Tambo himself also brought some much needed news. It said they would stand by as a neutral side but said he would like to expand their trade agreements further to include a cheaper price for materials during a period of time.
All of a sudden, many of the people she had previously asked that said no were now at her disposal. She walked down to the treasury and inspected her wealth that had been increased by Jay’s successful attempt. She looked at the gold that they were able to acquire and gave the order to immediately take the gold to the kingdom of Ocenia. She intended to purchase metal for the weapons and other material needed to ensure victory. The next day, a funeral was held to remember Chalse and Kemi was seen crying beside the grave of the man she was supposed to marry.
Jay could see the tears from her cheek and he knew many people were saddened by what had happened. When they were leaving the grave site, Jay heard Kemi speak to one of the other soldiers. She wished to send some money to someone on the island of Besidil. He couldn’t hear who it was to because he got called by one of the commanders that needed him. He believed Kemi was reaching out wherever she could to bring down Darcolia. He himself had never been on Besidil but knew there were many rich land owners there. The land held more riches in form of hard metal. Strong trees that the soil full of elements not found anywhere else brought them up high and many of the ideas for new technology came from the well-protected cities, towns and villages there.
Grasoll kingdom had no trading partner on Besidil which was something he knew the king had regretted. Only Grasoll and Domoro land had yet to acquire a settlement to aid them, but with the Ocenian kingdom having several there, it had never been a reason to have one. The relationship between Ocenia and Grasoll had always been good, and with Chalse killed by someone from Darcolia, they would be happy to aid Kemi. He wondered if his friend, Gon, had yet to cross the border between the two countries. Going into Darcolia was hard enough now but getting behind the wall would be impossible. Being the champion made Gon strong, but Arobe was dangerous even for someone as strong as Gon. The commanders let him know they needed his help with an inspection so he took a last look over at Kemi. She stood by herself, and when she saw him, she gave a light but sad smile before she went.
The Strongest Fighter
The road to Darcolia had been heavily guarded and even more so lately. The trouble many faced with crossing over the border was if there was any connection with the Grasoll kingdom, they were turned away. Gon had already found this out when he came to the windy plains that were increasingly getting colder. He walked straight in, but not far from the border, he was intercepted by three men on horses. They were soldiers and turned him away even when he said he was just a wanderer. He could have killed them, but his way to the Darcolian kingdom would have been impossible. Going back to the first possible road he could take was closer to the mountain. There were many soldiers and other rich land owners that had aligned with Darcolia to keep people out.
Everywhere he went, he found groups of people guarding the border. Not really knowing where the best ways were, he could only go on a map that he believed was not up to date. Walking also hindered, and he would need a horse to reach further in land before getting caught. He couldn’t ride and had no doubt he would find a way in anyway. While visiting a small village that had many soldiers from the Grasoll kingdom watching over it, he got a breakthrough. There were several paths going through the mountain and there was a small town high in the mountains. The road would take him far inside and high up to where the snow was in plenty.
The town was left alone for then and refused to ally with either side. It was run by a man known for his harsh mood towards anyone coming to ask for his support. Travellers would be able to pass through there to reach further inside Darcolia where it would be easier to avoid detection as a traveller. There was a smaller village on the way up where he could plan his route and picked up a new map from one of the soldiers he met before he ascended the mountain path. The soldiers had given some information about Darcolia, and how the situation had caused many villages to be cut off from each other.
Gon had to plan well if he was to venture into Darcolia. The soldiers had told him there was too much land to cover for the Darcolian soldiers so they kept close to the border. Well inside, he would not encounter as many, but well inside, he would have trouble getting out. He was also told the mountain path had only been allowed to stay open because of the gold being mined in them, but they suspected it too would soon be closed. They also let him know the Darcolian soldiers had set up a blockade further up before the road continued to the town of Effie. As he walked up, he wondered if he would make it all the way and maybe he should have brought a horse with him to speed up his travels, but he never really liked sitting on them. Even when he grew up on the small farm, he was always reluctant to ride and let his Uncle Endo ride them.
Before the sun went down, after a few hours of climbing, he found the village where he could sense a tension about his presence. The soldiers had never been able to get past the village unless unarmed one by one. After acting like a normal traveller, people relaxed and one older woman told him to rest up before he left towards the town of Effie high up on the mountain. ‘The road,’ she said, ‘had been broken partly by the Darcolian army that wished to make the Judge, as he was called, trade exclusively with them.’ Gon stayed the night and continued the next day up to where the road had been destroyed. No carriage would be able to cross, he could see and even the horses would have difficulty getting through.
He met some other people but none of them spoke to him. After finally getting past the broken road that stretched for quite a while, he then saw a blocked off station with soldiers at it. He thought about the possibility of being turned back to be forced to head down again, but he intended to try. The soldiers noticed him as he came walking with his staff that no one ever suspected being other than a walking tool. When the soldiers stopped him, he said he wished to return to his home in Effie. Not knowing if it was true, they asked him where he had been. The soldiers didn’t look like they were in a mood to let anyone enter but Gon would try something. He put his bag down and brought up some of the things he had brought with him. He didn’t know how hard it would be to get in but had an idea before he left his home.
He brought up a soup spoon and several other utensils that he said he bought in Ocenia. When one of the soldiers asked him why he didn’t buy them in the Darcolian kingdom, Gon handed him the spoon that he actually bought in Ocenia a few years earlier. He told the soldier to look at the steel and handcraft then said Ocenian craftsmen were far better than the Darcolian. The soldier looked at it then asked if he lived alone and Gon told him his four wives were waiting for him. The soldier smiled and said Gon better be careful when entering behind the blockade. He told the others to let Gon in and gave back the spoon to Gon but said he won’t be able to exit again until the tension between the lands had subsided.
Having left the small station behind, Gon could finally draw a deep breath. He must think about his next move and might have to stay in the town for a few nights. Small settlements of tents were lying close to the town, and when coming to it, he learnt they were all travellers that had been told to go back up again. No one was allowed to leave due to the fear of information leaking out about the Darcolian kingdom. Gon decided to stay and listen to some of the travellers that he believed would help him gather information. The snow was just reaching them, and the ground was hard from freezing but much wood was there to keep them warm. Many old carriages lay broken, and one of the travellers spoke about the site being one of the dumping grounds for people going to Effie and for those living in the mountain. He also told Gon about the judge that asked for money every time someone crossed t
he town.
Gon wondered what he should do, but it was clear the soldiers took another route that made them avoid the town. Even if the soldiers wouldn’t have to worry about the judge, the man told Gon the town was covered in snow and the king had promised the judge to be left alone in exchange for the gold. Gon knew he couldn’t take the same road as the soldiers since it was only for them so his best bet was to go through the town. The man he spoke to offered him some wine, and Gon was happy to help him finish the bottle.
After listening to the traveller’s stories about the Darcolian lands, Gon had an idea of where he could go after exiting the mountain. When Gon woke up the next day, he continued up the mountain through the snow that quickly filled the ground. Only a few hours later, and he stood at the edge of the town that held about 5,000 people. He could see no children but it was cold so he understood why they would stay inside. There was a stable nearby, but no horses inside of it. He could go straight through the town, and soon reached the other side seeing only a few people since most of them must be working inside the mine. What he saw at the end did not make him happy, and it threatened to destroy his plan to reach Darcolia. A group of fifteen men covered in armour stood where he had to pass. He decided to continue and headed for the soldiers that told him to stop.
Gon felt the anger grow inside and wondered what he should do. The captain in charge asked him where he was going, and Gon replied calmly that he wished to visit his brother in one of the villages he remembered from the map. The captain told him the border was for then closed in the mountain due to an incident involving a village being attacked by someone. Gon hoped the war had not started yet but it was probably not far away. The captain told him, until further notice, the town would be shut off to the Darcolian lands. Not willing to risk it all, Gon thanked them and returned to the town. He didn’t wish to stay, and even if he stayed, he knew it would be impossible, he backtracked to where the soldiers travelled. He could see it was an impossible task since he would get spotted immediately if he tried to walk that way. He then heard from another soldier that the mountain had been blocked from the same way he came up. He was told no one was allowed to venture down the mountain for the time being. He was not happy but had no other choice than to walk back to the Effie to find somewhere to stay for a while.
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