CHAPTER 247

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CHAPTER 247

296 AC

POV THIRD PERSON

The crisp mountain air carried a solemn aura as Aermir paid his respects to the fallen Chief Umar. The fallen leader of the Moon Brothers lay surrounded by loyal warriors, their faces etched with grief and pride. Aermir bowed his head, offering silent gratitude for the sacrifice made in the name of the Old Gods.

The victory, albeit bitter, had etched the indomitable spirit of the mountain clans in the annals of the Vale. Aermir knew that Umar's sacrifice had become a bigger fire in the hearts of the Moon Brothers.

Aermir took to the skies once more. The pincered main force of the mountain clans awaited him, caught between the impending advance of Houses Ruthermont and Wydman from the back and the blockade of Houses Hunter and Upcliff at the front.

In the distance, the banners of Ruthermont and Wydman unfurled in the wind. Aermir flew above them and flapped his wings toward the mountain army. Looking at the distance, Valeman would reach his forces in around a day.

If he could smile as an eagle, he would have, so he released a shrill screech. Valemen thought they were the hunter. In reality, they were walking into a trap. Before leaving to support the Moon Brothers, Aermir had ordered them to create a fortified location and erect a lot of tents.

...

Arron Ruthermont was the leader of the United Army; they were a few kilometers away from their enemy, and to scout, Arron had come so near them. From their cliff locations, they were able to observe the savages' camp. Alec Wydman, son of Lord Wydman, whistled and said,

"Fuyth Fuyy! Who knew there were this many savages in our lands?"

Arron didn't answer him and continued observing them. The camp had some movement, but he felt something weird. Again, everything was weird in how those Mountain men acted. Arron turned his knights and said,

"This is weird; mountain men do not fight like this. They don't create fortified locations."

The knight said, "My lord, do you think this is a trap?"

Arron smiled and said, "Of course it is; mountain men are masters at ambush warfare; that is what they do, but this is different; their traps are fast and mobile. They hit and always run. They never stay and fight. The weirdest part is I can count five different clans in that army camp. They do not unite; this feels wrong. There is something else behind this."

Alec Wydman said, "Then what are we to do, sit here and wait, wasting our opportunity just because you feel something is weird?"

Arron's knights started looking at Alec fiercely,

"Lord Alec, please be careful how you speak to the commander; right now, he outranks you right now."

Alec looked like he was fuming with anger. It was obvious he was jealous. If his father took a thousand men less, he could be the commander.

"He might be the commander, but he is not my lord. I am the heir of House Wydman, and he is just a noble of House Ruthermont."

Alec turned at Arron and continued, "Anyway, we all know it is a trap. Most likely, they have a detachment force inside the forest, and they will try to ambush us or Hunters and Upcliffs when the fray starts. We are at the plains; we have our cavalry; they haven't fought on plains since the Great Landing."

A messenger brought Arron a letter. After he read it, he crumbled it with anger and threw it onto the ground. He turned to others and said,

"Now, we have no other choice but to attack them and rout them."

Alec was confused; why was he changing his mind so fast,

"Why?"

Arron said, "House Egen and Donniger lost, savages are burning their fields and destroying their villages, and they are asking for our help. We need to end it here while House Hardyng and Moore can cover our back. As Ser Alec said, as long as we are at the plains, we have the advantage, and we are going to be vigilant, then we can be victorious, lastly, we have to scout that forest."

Alec didn't care Arron agreed with his opinion; in a combative manner, he said, "If you weren't indecisive, we would have already routed them and were on our back to our castles."

Arron didn't indulge Alec's needless provocations and turned to one of his knights and said, "Send a scouting party to that forest and look for any force hiding inside it."

Knight saluted him and said,

"Yes, my lord."

...

Aermir, having carefully chosen this location after meticulous scouting, knew that the success of his plan rested on the element of surprise and the assurance of his magical abilities.

The cave, nestled a km from the edge of the forest, seemed an inconspicuous refuge from the outside. Its entrance, guarded by the natural camouflage of the surrounding leafage and rocks, was the perfect cover for the hidden forces awaiting Aermir's signal. The cave system was big enough for around 2 thousand men to hide and sleep.

As the scouts from the Vale approached, their keen eyes scanning the forest, Aermir's mastery over the elements came into play. With a subtle wave of his hand, he invoked the powers of plant and earth control, 

"Formoheba ( mold plants), Formotegon ( mold earth )"

Urging the vegetation to weave together and seal the entrance of the cave. The once-visible gateway vanished, replaced by an unremarkable exterior that blended seamlessly with the forest's natural contours.

The scouting force from the Vale meticulously combed through the woods while trying to sneak around his fake patrols. His real scouts were already following their every move from the sky. 

 The scouting party conducted thorough searches in their attempts to unveil any hidden threats. Aermir had erased every bit of evidence that an army passed from this forest. He had even erased the footprints on the ground. This way, the cave eluded the scouts' scrutiny, and when they couldn't find anything other than regular patrols, they went back. 

Seeing this, Aermir opened the cave entrance so more fresh air could enter. He had made a lot of air vents along the cave ceiling, but it was better to have more fresh air. The man was growing restless in the cave, but they couldn't go against the druid, so they had to endure. The wind of fresh air hit the men's faces and brought liveliness to them.

...

House Ruthermont and Wydman's forces were just a few kilometers away from Aermir's forces and were in a heated conversation. Alec Wydman was not accepting any of the plans Arron was putting forward. Yes, Arron was the commander of this united force, but Wydman forces were loyal to Alec, so Arron couldn't walk all over Alec; even if he didn't want to, he had to endure Alec's obnoxious behaviors.

"I will not be the vanguard; if you want to, I can give that honor to House Ruthermont."

Arron was coming to the end of his rope,

"You do not have enough men to take both of the flanks and have too many men for one of the flanks. If we do it as you want, our vanguard will be too weak."

Arron sighed wearily, and Alec cut him off,

" Let's do it this way. We will be the right flank."

This time, one of Arron's knights could not take it anymore and angrily said,

"Then our left flank would be too weak; you have to give some of your men to the left flank."

Alec smirked and said,

"No, I do not. Because I will be needing a detachment force."

Arron understood what he wanted to do right away and said,

"Did you not hear the scouts? They have patrols in the forest; it wouldn't be an ambush."

 "I am not trying to ambush them. When the battle starts, even if they have patrols there, we can still send a detachment force there and try to outflank them. If the savages are not using the forest, we should. We have many cavalry, and they don't have that many horses. Even if they react to it, we will be faster than them. Forest is not that dense we can easily pass some of our cavalry from there."

Arron contemplated what he said, and it made some sense, but he still felt something was wrong with that forest. It was a perfect place for ambushes mountain men liked to do, but they were not using it. He couldn't refuse Alec anymore; Arron had to give Alec room for his plan.