The Achilles

"It's him!"

The soldiers on the walls of Winter Stronghold gasped, their eyes fixed on the man with short white hair, riding a muscular black-and-red horse galloping on the snowy plains. Flanking him were his loyal aides, Moses and Simon, both clad in sleeveless scale-leather vests that left their scarred, muscular arms exposed. These were the marks of countless battles against rat beastmen and the feral beasts in the forest.

They wore a cloak, lined with fur at the shoulders, to offer them minimal warmth against the biting cold. Yet, they had long since learned to endure such hardships. It was the first week of the second month of the year, only five days since the battle against the rat beastmen army, but the tale of Edom's humiliating defeat had spread like wildfire.

Among the human slaves in Edom, whispers carried the story and soon the news travelled to the ears of some smaller human strongholds in hiding.