Havien Vrek's Story

The man in front of her screamed in pain each time Dragon touched his skin. He begged for mercy, as all men like him eventually did. Mirsha smirked. She knew what he felt, having been the victim of the sword’s poison herself when she had been much younger. The Sisters of Sahenna always said that you should first know the pain yourself if you want to inflict it on your enemies. Mirsha agreed with them, but couldn’t help a slight shiver at the memory of the Dragon’s touch. It felt as if your flesh melted from your bones, yet nothing actually happened. That was actually worse, as someone could then keep on using the sword indefinitely. The poison was normally used as a tool for torture, but it could be highly effective in combat if you knew what you were doing. Only the strongest of will could withstand the Dragon’s wrath.

This man clearly could not. Mirsha glared at the crowd of men surrounding them, all staring at her foolishly. “Anyone else think a woman could not serve as a personal bodyguard?” She shouted defiantly. The men backed away, fully realizing they had made a mistake in cornering her.

“You might just be new to the horde,” she growled, “so I’ll only say this once. Ever challenge me again and you’re dead.”

Her victim was still crying. She spat in his face and kicked him over with her boot. Tumbling down, he just lay there, stunned.

Mirsha sheathed her sword behind her back and walked away. She tried to control her anger, failing miserably. She knew that she shouldn’t let it get to her, for misplaced anger could have you killed. Right now, she did not care though, as a broken fence, wheel and milk barrel could later attest for. She stormed back to find Havien. Her shift was about to start and she did not want to leave her master alone any longer then she was ordered to.

Stealing from the Horde was a grave offense, one that not even Havien could avoid. It endangered the whole society as Zaneria had very limited resources to work with. Their was another shriek coming from the offender, whom had attempted to stealing a cow, as his last finger was cut off from his right hand. The law was that any who stole would have their appendages hacked off and then their limbs before being stoned. "Take him away to the stocks, we'll deal with him later." He the guards.

Havien took out a map and placed it on the desk within his tent. With the other chief leaders around him he pointed to the border of Dragon Saber forest. "We must arrive there within the week. Supplies have dwindled too low for us to procrastinate any longer. That is the only way to gather more supplies. Once we arrive we will cut a path through the forest, hunt down anything we find, and push our way into Serin." He stood up straight and glared at the other chiefs. "Now tell everyone to pack up immediately! Carry everything of value and salvage anything of use. I want the Horde ready to move by mid afternoon!" He barked at them. They scurried away to tell the others of this order.

Thankfully the Horde was entirely built around mobility. Each warrior owned a mount to ride and a mount to carry equipment. The only ones who walked on foot were slaves. He wondered if those in Serin walked or rode. Havien was more anxious than ever to find out.

Upon reaching Havien’s tent, Mirsha knocked Arthon on the head to let him know she was here. Arthon was charged with guarding her master when she was off-duty or on a special mission. She preferred to stay close to Havien as much as possible, but she grudgingly had to admit that even she needed time off to sleep. Arthon looked at her annoyed, but walked away without saying a word. He was a capable swordfighter, but despite lacking intelligence, he knew he shouldn’t cross her.

The slaves were packing up the tent in a hurry, not wanting to suffer anyone’s ire by delaying the Horde. Havien was standing next to his horse, already fully geared and ready to go. “Ah, Havien,” Mirsha said. She never bothered with formalities. They were a waste of time. “It feels good to move out again.” She walked over to her own horse and patted the beast on the nose. It was a fast and strong creature.

“I have a report from one of the spies.” She showed Havien a scroll she had received from a courier before she had attacked the man in the field. “It seems that the people in Serin are searching for something in the Dragon Saber forest. The spy did not know for what or why, but it keeps the entire royal court occupied.” She shrugged, indicating that she did not really care what those soft fools in the south were up to.

“More importantly though, they still don’t seem to be aware that we are coming.”