On the vast meadows that stretched before Godeylet, the army of the county—eight thousand strong—formed their lines. The cavalry strode in the front, led by Captain Marren.
They were outnumbered, but they held their ground, their weapons gleaming, their faces grim but determined.
Across the field, the massive force from Chittera Province spread like a dark tide—barbarians from the southern territories, known for their brutality and their scorched-earth approach to conquest.
At their head rode Dagur the Merciless, the giant of a man whose battle-axe was said to be heavier than most men and stained with the blood of a hundred chieftains.
Beside him rode a figure that seemed out of place among the barbarian horde—Yilar the Nynthrall, slender and pale, dressed in the purple robes of a scholar rather than the furs and leathers of a warrior. His violet eyes, however, held a hunger that matched any barbarian's bloodlust.
