Chapter 2 - Gathering Storm

Once he tested the messenger, Samuel took Dietrich and Konrad and led the messenger to Erik's office. He walked briskly through the corridors of the fortress, passing by other brothers who looked at them with curiosity and suspicion. He wondered what news the messenger had that was so urgent and important. He hoped it was something good, something that would benefit the Order and its mission. But he also feared it could be something bad, something that would endanger the Order and its leader.

He had known Erik for a long time, ever since he joined the Order as a young boy. He had been orphaned by the plague that swept through Europe, killing his parents and siblings. He had wandered the streets of Cologne, begging and stealing for food, until he was found by a brother of the Order who took pity on him and brought him to the nearest monastery. There he was fed, clothed, and educated by the monks, who taught him how to read, write, and pray. He also learned how to fight, as the Order was not only a religious order but also a military order that waged war against the enemies of Christ.

He had always admired Erik, who was one of the most respected and influential leaders of the Order. He was a brave and skilled warrior, a wise and pious man, and a loyal and generous friend. He had risen through the ranks of the Order, from a simple knight to a commander to a landmeister, or provincial master. He was in charge of the Order's lands and operations in Livonia, a region in the Baltic that bordered Russia, Poland, and Lithuania. He had fought many battles against the pagan tribes that inhabited those lands, as well as against the rival Christian kingdoms that coveted them. He also negotiated many treaties and alliances with other powers, such as the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the King of Denmark.

Samuel had served under Erik for many years, as his squire and then as his trusted lieutenant. He had followed him in many campaigns and missions, both within and outside Livonia. He had seen him face many dangers and difficulties, both on the battlefield and in the council chamber. He had seen him show courage and compassion, justice and mercy, humility and authority. He had learned much from him, not only about warfare and politics but also about faith and morality.

When they reached Erik's office, Samuel knocked on the door and a few seconds later a voice from inside said, "Enter."

As soon as he heard the voice telling him to enter, Samuel opened the door and entered followed closely from behind by Konrad, Ditrich, and the messenger.

When they walked inside the room, they saw Erik sitting at a desk, reading some papers, and as soon as he saw who walked in, the landmeister smiled at them.

"Ah, Samuel! Dietrich! Konrad! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

But as soon as he said that, Erik noticed the messenger behind them, making him frown in response.

"And who is this?"

Samuel stepped forward and explained to his leader what happened in the last fifteen minutes or so. "This is Brother Ulrich, a messenger of the Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig. He has traveled from Marienburg to bring you urgent news and for some reason, he claims that only you can act on this news."

Erik raised his eyebrows when heard his old friend's words, making him wonder what news this man had that was so urgent and important. Thought that did make the middle-aged night fear the worst. Over the past few years, the Novgorod Republic had grown to such an extent that not even the Finns, the Teutonic order, or even the HRE could deal with them easily.

"Very well," he said. "Let's hear what he has to say. Brother Ulrich, you have my attention."

Brother Ulrich bowed slightly. "Thank you, Landmeister Erik. I am honored to speak with you. As Brother Samuel said, I bring you news from the Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig."

Ulrich took a deep breath before looking at Erik with a grave expression as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a sealed letter "This is a letter from the Grand Master himself. He wrote it with his hand and entrusted it to me before telling me to deliver it to you personally and to no one else and above all, he also said that this news is of the utmost importance for the fate of the Teutonic Order and Christendom itself."

Erik took the letter and broke the seal, unfolded the parchment before reading the contents. His eyes widened as he read, and his face turned pale. "Is this true? Is this happening?"

Brother Ulrich nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so, Landmeister Erik. It is true. It is happening. The Novgorod Republic has declared war on us. They have allied themselves with the eastern tribes. They have amassed a huge army of over 100,000 men, led by their prince Alexander Nevsky. And a few days ago, they crossed the border and invaded our lands. By now, the Russians have already captured Pskov, Dorpat, Narva, and Reval. Our last reports were that they were marching toward Riga and Mitau. "

Hearing that Konrad felt a cold sweat on his forehead. He could not believe what he just heard. How could this happen? How could they not see this coming? No matter what army or how many troops will they bring the Teutonic Order will never be able to amass more than 20000 men to defend their lands. Maybe only if the whole HRE joins together will the Novgorod Republic be pushed back to their foul lands.

Erik sits up from his seat and turns his head towards his old friend. "Samuel, gather the brothers and send a rider to speak with the King of Austria as well as one to the King of Hungary. Tell them what's happening and pray to god that they would gather their armies to help us save our lands from being razed to the ground by those pagans."

It didn't take long at all for all one thousand and three hundred brothers to assemble outside on the training field where Erik waited for all of them. They were just one of the forces of the order and yet Erik's brothers were the closest ones to the prince's army. Any other commander would have turned around and tried to join forces with the Grand Master of the order, but Erik knew that if they abandoned those villages and towns, the pagan army would only grow in numbers. After all the peasants would join the price for promises of lands, riches, and women as such were the sins of men.

Erik stood on a wooden platform, facing his brothers. They were the best warriors he had ever known. Many of them were almost as old as he was and had followed him in many battles and victories and above all, they had shared his faith and his vision. One thought lingered in his mind and that was his son, Konrad, whom he had raised since the boy was barely old enough to live on his own, and yet, now the boy who was old enough to be a man was going to lead his band of twenty-five knights.

Shaking those thoughts in his head, Erik cleared his throat and spoke in a loud and clear voice.

"Brothers of the Teutonic Order! I have gathered you here to tell you the truth. The truth that you deserve to know. The truth that will test your courage and your devotion. The truth that will decide our fate and the fate of our Order as well as the fate of our lands."

He paused and looked at them with a serious expression.

"Brothers, we are at war. A war that we did not start, but a war that we must finish. A war that threatens our lands, our people, and our faith. A war that pits us against a formidable enemy. An enemy that is ruthless and numerous. An enemy that is led by a prince who calls himself Alexander Nevsky. No matter what his fake priests of the so-called new Christian order call him, the prince is no saint, brothers. He is a pagan, a heretic, a blasphemer. And if that wasn't a great sin by itself, the prince had amassed a huge army of over 100,000 men, mostly peasants, and rabble. And he has invaded our lands, burning and pillaging everything in his path. He has already captured Pskov, Dorpat, Narva, and Reval. And he is marching toward Riga and Mitau, and if he continues his path, he will raze our order to the ground.

He raised his fist and said.

"But we will not let him, brothers! We will not let him destroy what we have built with our blood and sweat. We will not let him defile what we have consecrated with our prayers and vows. We will not let him take what we have defended with our swords and shields. We will stand against him, brothers! We will stand against him with all our strength and all our faith. We will stand against him as one brotherhood, one order, one army of Christ. Just like our brothers did for the Holy City!"

Erik paused for a few seconds before breaking down the harsh reality to them.

"I will not lie to you, brothers. We are vastly outnumbered by the enemy. We have only 1,300 men here, while they have over 100 times more, and no matter how I look at it, we won't be able to resist them, not even behind those walls that we call home. The Grand Master is coming to our aid with an army of over 18 thousand men and if our prayers are heard, the Germanic regions will join him. Our mission is to stop the prince for a single day and to give our grand master one day to reach our castle and take down the heretics. We all will die, there's no doubt about it, but I will ask you all here and now if there's any of you who will not follow me to certain death."

Yet no one said anything. All of the one thousand and three hundred brothers gripped their swords and shields and accepted their fate. Even Konrad, who was one of the youngest knights accepted that he would die in the coming days either by an arrow or by blade. Even the one hundred initiates that were not forced to join, decided to follow their landmeister in battle.

And so, the knights left their castle before dawn, the vanguard being fifty knights and the hundred initiates led by Konrad and Samuel. Sadly, their first obstacle was a natural one, a river that was too deep to traverse and so, after consulting with Erik, Samuel came back to the vanguard with a new mission for them.

It took three hours to assemble the boats, lash them together, and overlay them with planks to facilitate the crossing for over a thousand men and their horses. Once the pontoon bridge had been constructed the rest of the knights marched over the river. The horsemen followed, the planks having been covered with dirt to fool the horses into thinking that it was a dirt track so as not to alarm them since a lot of the horses were not used to walking through water or above water on such a bridge.

Leading the knights were Erik and Sir Helmold von Marienburg, behind them were the rest of what Konrad kept calling the honor guard of the Landmeister, something that Erik would never admit to liking. Then came the rest of the knights, all of them on great warhorses covered in caparisons matching the surcoats worn by their masters, the latter's faces covered by their helmets.

It had rained during the night and although the temperature was warm the ground was still soft underfoot. Erik sent his "son" with his band to scout forward as soon as the horsemen were safely across the river as they were only two miles south of the small noble's home that governed Mitau. It was visible ahead, a great timber stronghold atop a high hill. There was a single track that ran parallel to the river and that is what the horsemen followed as they walked their mounts slowly forward. The brothers who were more proficient on foot as well as the crossbowmen dismounted from their horses and took up position on the flanks of the knights, moving through the trees and keeping watch for signs of the enemy.

At first, there was no noise save for the jangling of the horses' bits, no birds, no wind in the trees, and only occasionally the snapping of a branch as a soldier stepped on it. After a while the silence became oppressive.

Meanwhile, Konrad's emotions were a mess and as he rode ahead with his band of scouts, he felt excited by the upcoming battle, as this was his first and probably last battle, he would ever take part in. He had trained for years to become a knight of the Teutonic Order, and he wanted to prove himself worthy of his white surcoat and black cross above all, he wanted to make Erik proud, as he had been like a father to him ever since he took him in as a young boy. But he also felt fear and dread, as he knew the odds were against them.

Nevertheless, Konrad tried to push away these negative thoughts and focus on his duty, and to do that, Konrad tried to remember the vows he had taken as a brother of the Order: poverty, chastity, and obedience. After that, he looked around and saw his fellow brothers sharing his feelings. They were all young and quite inexperienced, but eager and brave. Dietrich was the first one to volunteer to be part of his brother's team and the rest followed.

Dietrich shoved his helmet upon his head. "The enemy is close. I can smell them."

Konrad rolled his eyes, before turning towards his brother. "What are you, brother, a dog?"

Rodrick beside them took off his helmet as well and smiled. "They made a mistake not trying to stop us at the river."

The bard in front turned in his saddle. "Perhaps the pagans have fled."

Konrad detected the note of disappointment in his voice. "Have no fear, brother, you will get your chance to smite the heathen yet."

The forest to their left suddenly erupted with screams and shouts, and then there were the telltale thwacks of crossbow bolts being shot. As soon as they heard the shouts and the crossbow bolts being shot, Konrad's team came to a halt. Half a minute later, an older knight came running from the forest with four of his brothers to report to the landmeister.

Hearing that from the old man, Konrad too turned his team and followed them back to Erik. The moment the landmeister saw the riders coming towards him, he knew that a battle was coming.

"The trees end just ahead from where we have ejected enemy scouts. The enemy army is deployed half a mile from the tree line."

"How many?" inquired Erik.

"Many foot is drawn in one body, perhaps ten to fifteen thousand. On their right stands some of the sold swords from Estonia."

Erik nodded a heavy look on his face. "Thank you, Dorin, we will deploy into battle positions once we have exited the trees."

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