Counter Measures - Part 14

"Hm. What about you? Angrith? What possessed you towards such madness? I don't know if you've noticed, but you riled up over a hundred angry villagers. Are you intent on seeing our defences run into the ground?" The Captain asked icily.

The leader of the men – who Beam could only presume was Angrith – stepped forward solemnly and bowed his head in apology.

"The boy wronged us. We came here seeking justice for those wrongdoings," the man said.

"Did he now?" The Captain said, glancing at Beam, and narrowing his eyes at the cut on his forearm. "And that is the best you managed to do to him, even as you heave your breath in front of me like you've just fought a war?"

The man was unable to meet Lombard's gaze. "We have no excuse," he said solemnly.

Lombard made a clear display of sighing, as he rubbed his eyes in irritation. "So? What did the boy do?"