161 Gif (1/2)

In the distance, the evening sky colored the village in a fiery red, just as the flames within the village walls colored the sky. Puma looked down the tree he had climbed and took a firmer stance on his branch, before he focused his eyes. His eagle-eyes enlarged the image and allowed him to miss no detail of the army's 'procurement'.

The worst of it had happened around the town hall. As the place to store the wheat of the city, it had become the first target for the warriors. Nothing but a burned out ruin now, the smolder of the charcoal pillars revealed the recency of the destruction. However, all people had emptied the place as much as the grain and silver had. While the village's wealth had disappeared into the pockets of the warriors, the people had been strewn all over the alleys of the town. Down in the dirt of the unpaved roads, Puma could hear the desperate screams of women and the last calls of men, as central kingdom's warrior's cackled like hyenas ready to digest a carcass.

All the while, the silvery capes of King Pacha's personal guard marched around and commandeered the beasts. Under their instructions, the chaotic monsters turned into an army of malice. With a frown, Puma observed the groups of refugees who had already left their village behind and now rushed south, towards the capital, where they would find their master and lord. Of course these atrocities had been caused by the warriors who had sworn to protect them, but what other choice did they have but blind trust in their master?

Puma left his outlook and rushed south, always just out of sight of the villagers. In their march, the people were always shadowed by warriors, be they King Pacha's or some other lord's. From time to time, some warriors picked out a few more commoners to relieve their boredom with, infected by the evil around them. Thus, in the process of their penance, the farmers lost more and more of their numbers. Once these people joined the rest of the masses, who would notice a few absentees anyways? Soon they were part of a massive stream of refugees, from villages all over Lord Makipura's lands. By the time Puma had reached the capital, the refugees had turned into hungry, exhausted, terrified piles of misery.

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This was no 'procurement', as King Pacha had called it. This was a slow, methodical deconstruction of Kichiapa. Convinced that he had seen everything he needed, Puma rounded the town and picked up speed. Soon he would reach the Narrows, and the king's action camp.

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”Another one, is it?” Lord Makipura sighed.

”Yes indeed, master.”

Once Puma stood in front of his lord, his scrunched up heart eased only the slightest bit. At least from his master's cramped posture and his sour face, the scout could tell none of the atrocities had been committed in his will.

”Usurper bastard!” Not even his always calm master could retain his mind. With a scream to remind of his younger years, Lord Makipura threw his chair across the tent. Without a word, Puma walked over and picked it back up, while his master's anger broke way. ”What 'procurement'? Is this little shit not trying to destroy this lord's entire land? Maybe he believes he could take over once my lord's estate falls apart? He wouldn't even let the people stay in the capital and forced them all down here! Who will work my fields in the spring? Will those puffed up silver knights do it?”

”Master, the walls have ears,” Puma said and tapped the tent lining.

”Let them have whatever they want. Ever since he was beaten half to death by his elder brother, that brat hasn't received a good lesson. It shows. In fact,” Lord Makipura stood up with an energy the scout hadn't seen from his old lord in at least a decade. ”Let's go over right away and teach him one in manners. This cannot go on or my entire lands will be bled dry.”

Thus, lord and master marched out of the tent. Through the boisterous masses of warriors from all over the central kingdom, like pigs in a sty. In their inebriation, these fools even failed to greet, no, failed to notice the righteous ruler of the lands they had destroyed with their greed and excess. Like the beasts they were, they rolled around in mud, barely conscious to their lowly actions.

This sort of picture repeated through all parts of the camp, all the way to the central command tent of King Pacha. Although Puma had expected the spoiled king to act in the same way as his uncouth men, he was surprised to find Pacha sit upright in his proper place. Clear eyes ran over a message written on bamboo, held in his one good hand. Meanwhile, the lords close to the king stood at attention, together with the king's silver guards.

”Lord Makipura greets King Pacha,” his lord said. While a ruler could afford to only hint at a bow, Puma himself had to show deference. Like a good servant, he had to bow low, to show the king's superiority as a member of a higher class.

”Ah, Lord Makipura. You have come just at the right time,” Pacha said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

”The right time for what would that be, this lord wonders? Is it time to finally strike a final blow against this lord's lands?”

At the unexpected insubordination, King Pacha's smile froze. The cold from deep within his soul spread on his face, then throughout the room and finally gripped Puma's heart. When had his master ever been this bold and opposed someone of King Pacha's status?

”Is there something Lord Makipura has to complain about?”

Although he heard his lord swallow, although he could see his hands shake, half-hidden by his long robes, his master still stepped up to confront the unpredictable beast of a hero.

”How could one's ally, one's king, treat this lord's lands like he has? Thousands of servants have been killed, tens of thousands have been displaced. Now they are herded like sheep to this camp, and for what? To starve to death? To be slaughtered as entertainment for the king's men? We cannot feed them here, not after King Pacha's armies have plundered half the food of this lord's land. Does king intend to lose this lord's support?”

Although the lord's words were a bit of an exaggeration, they weren't too far off the truth. Actually, Kichiapa was an exceedingly rich land and produced a great wealth of grain every year. However, like a whale that sucked up all the water, the constant raids by King Pacha's commandos had really sucked the land dry. Now there was little left to support the people through winter. Even though he had systematically destroyed the lord's lands, Pacha remained calm, his eyes still cold, his voice even colder.

”Why would some lowly servant dare oppose this king? Your lands? This king has been put in charge of these lands, how can they belong to any other?”