Fight for the right

The two armies faced each other across the shallow valley, ranks fidgeting in the early morning cold. Frost thick on the sparse winter grass. Lines of men shouldered muskets and rifles, whilebnbijoj they rubbed and blew, breath steaming, trying to keep their hands warm, ready for when the battle began and knowing that cold stiff fingers could be the better it or joke of joke joke know ok difference between life and death when it came time to fire, reload and fire again.

 Sat on his horse just in front of the first rank of men, the leader of the rebellion, Lord general Dannic Smithson eyed the Kings army as it jostled about in to formation. Nearly two thousand men more than his own force of seven thousand, Dannic wasn't overly worried about the numbers. Most of the Kings men were raw recruits, conscripted in to the Kings guard in a desperate attempt to match Dannic's veteran rebels. They'd barely know which end of a musket the bullet came out of or which way to start marching when the drums and horns began signalling manoeuvres.

 Seeing a disturbance in the enemies centre he spotted two men were through to the front of the central regiment and begin making their way in to the valley, a large white banner held by the second rider showed they rode forward to parlay.

"looks like the king wants a chat Marik, shall we join him?" Dannic asked the lieutenant sat astride a scruffy looking bay horse next to him.

"Would be a shame to disappoint him my Lord, after he's ridden all this way to see us" replied the young Deuce.

Heeling their horses forward the two men, one in his sixty third year the other barely seventeen, began the descent in to the valley to meet the king and his second. Dannic had a feeling he knew who the other man would be and that was why he'd brought along the young lieutenant as his own second.

Ahead, the king had pulled up, allowing the other rider to draw near. Closing the distance Dannic could finally make out who the Kings second was. Valeth, the Hex.

The middle brother of three, almost impossibly, all of them Hexes, capable of using all six magical elements, Valeth was probably the least mentally stable of the three. Dannic himself was an elemental Quad, able to use the four basic components Earth, Wind, Fire and Water and between his magic and the boys they had the Hex matched. In elements, if not skill. Marik was a Deuce and a rare one at that. Blood/Soul Deuces were just about the rarest type of Runner you could find.

"Hells, I'd hoped it would be the younger brother, not this psychopath." Dannic said, face darkening at the sight of the gaunt, black robed Hex " he's going to try and goad me, make me angry, angry Generals make mistakes so they'll want me off balance. Ignore whatever I say, just watch him, if he starts to Run, hit with everything you can, I'll back you up as much as I can"

"sir, he's a Hex, I'm a Deuce. If he starts to Run there's not much I can do to stop him" Marik said, a worried tone to his voice

"Aye boy, he's a Hex, but the weakest of the three which is probably why he's a tad unhinged. You're the strongest Blood Soul Deuce I've ever met and I'm a base element Quad. Between the two of us we're stronger than him but his six elements are all wrapped up in one scrawny body which means he has better control of his six. If we can over power him that won't matter" Dannic paused for a second. "ignore the king. He's barely a Solo and a water one at that. With everything frozen he'll have to work four times as hard to do anything and he's too lazy for that.

"hopefully it won't come to that though. They are under that flag after all"

The last words were muttered quietly, under his breath so the two men now sat directly in front of them couldn't hear him.

" greetings your majesty" Dannic said offering a short bow, to the crown if not the man beneath it.

"Traitor" replied the king, stiff backed and glaring at the former lord general. Behind him Valeth smirked, deep inside the cowl of his hood, only his mouth was truly visible but now and then a dark glitter emerged where his eyes were

"hardly a traitor my king, after all, you were the one who had my grandson executed! I feel you betrayed me well before I turned from you"

"your bloody grandson was conspiring against the crown with known dissidents" spat back the king.

"he was rebelling against me you blithering idiot, not the crown. He met a few fellow students from the collegium to dream about a better future where scholars lead, not dusty old generals like me or war mongering kings like you or your father." Dannic fired back

Both men were arguing now, accusations flying back and forth when Dannic shouted "why don't you shut up and piss off and let the real power behind the throne talk." Dannic gestured towards the skeletal Hex sat silently behind the king.

The kings mouth snapped shut, face Reddening in rage when a quiet sibilant  voice whispered out from the hooded rider "if I may, your majesty?"