On the March

The guards and General attached the metal cuffs to Venator's arms & legs, he can only walk as the hands behind his back couldn't, not even his fingers could move in the enclosing cuffs. The General held onto Venator's gear, from the bottle, to the blades, to the book. Venator was left with nothing other than his clothes. The General looked keenly at his blades, trying to study them with great interest while holding the rest of his gear under his arm.

"Venator, for now we must await the sun's gleam of the next day before we set off. For now civilians and soldiers are repairing the damages." The General explained.

They promptly left after, Venator chains hit the stone ground beneath him with each step, his hands were completely enveloped while fetters made it nearly difficult to walk freely other than stepping forward.

Outside the castle, their escorting soldiers stopped, heading back inside. The gate to the castle closed shut behind.

"Follow me." The two walked forward, moving past the civilians who were now starting to head back out to repair and find their homes. Soldiers provided aid in guiding them down the stairs, forming a long line.

Venator stuck closely to the General, walking behind him while they descended down with the crowd.

The General ordered for a few guards to walk with him.

On the ground, he walked towards the wall of the square, directly under the railings above.

"You may rest here, but we'll have to keep security as per king's orders." The General explained.

"Very well, an order's an order." Venator sat down on the wall, the guards circled around him while the General stood closer, standing in front while he began to catch sleep.

In just a few minutes, he finally rested.

After hours of slumber and the guards continuously watching him, the beam of the morning sun donned over them in the horizon.

Venator's eyes opened, quickly blocking the light with his hand while it hit his eyes.

The General was standing to his side, still in his armor and a hand on the blade sheathe.

"Up already? Excellent, repairs were already underway while you slept." The General walked back to his position. Venator stood up, refreshed and energized from his slumber.

In front of him, scaffoldings were already built next to burnt homes, civilians and soldiers alike tore apart charred wood, hammering in new lumber.

"In just hours they began repairing their homes?" Venator looked in shock, reminiscing on his past.

"Normally it'd take about 4 suns or even a day before we begin reconstruction after getting the resources." He continued staring at the scaffoldings.

"Soldiers are waiting for us outside, it's not a large force but it's enough to be able to hold it's own. Let's go." They headed out, the guards followed behind, spears at the ready while he walked down, his chains still clanging against the ground.

People on the ground around him carried lumber among other tools, the repairs extended to the middle part of the city.

"Quite fast repairs." Venator commented. The General laughed.

"We were at war with many enemies, we had to teach our people to quickly fortify and rebuild if we wished to survive." He quickly replied.

They soon reached the gate, sealed in ice as a few other destroyed sections of the wall stood, unsealed, having recently crumbled. Soldiers already went to work on repairing them with some removing the broken stone and more creating platforms to repair.

A unit of nearly a hundred or more stood in square formation, fully armored and ready for a fight.

"Thank you for the barriers, we'll keep them for now though." The General said. The two walked in front of the formation, their faces were obscured by decorated helmets. All carried shields along with spears and swords.

"Soldiers!" He shouted, "Today, we take the fight to the enemy once more. They have attacked and besieged our very own capital, the heart of our kingdom. We shall not let this go unpunished, though you may be a small force, with this pardoned mage, I'm confident that we will achieve victory. We shall begin by marching towards known nearby enemy camps and taking what we can if they still stand, once this has been completed, we shall return to rest and resupply on what was lost. Today shall mark the day, that take the fight onward once more. And with Venator, our mage, into the heart of the enemy kingdom!" The General yelled out to his soldiers. They yelled out in response.

After a moment of silence, the General began walking towards one of the larger breaches. Through it the army passed through, stepping out to the dusk covered land that awaited them outside. A hint of orange shone on the lands while it was silent. The air was warm and winds blew slowly.

They set off, marching away from their healing home. Venator stood farther from the army with the General moving just behind him, guarded by few other soldiers.

They marched onward, on and off the path while the sun continued to rise.

"Bit extreme but understandable." Venator thought, passing the time by thinking while the march went on. Moving across hills and more. Behind him the General held out a map, reading it while they walked.

"Halt." The General ordered, in synch the entire army stopped their march, standing on the field awaiting the General's order.

"There's a camp awaiting us nearby. Move cautiously."

The army marched at a slower pace onward, in the distance, small fences and tents of white stood. It was a camp, small in size.

The General stared for a few seconds at the camp.

"The camp seems to be recently used, maybe soldiers and maybe mages are hiding there, good thing our night scouts found it." The General said.

As they got closer, the General handed Venator's gear to the guards, behind him he began unlocking Venator's chains, freeing them up.

"Like what the General said, after this you will tied again, apologies again for the course of action."

"Again, it's alright General, it's understandable."

"Very well, let's take out this camp then."

The General held the unlocked chains, Venator looked at his hands again, checking them.

"Oh and this," A book and sheathe flew towards him, he grabbed both with his hands. It was his spellbook and curved blade, "Best of luck, were all behind you. And find anyone that looks to be of rank and capture them, kill the rest." The General said, walking back to the square formation.