118 The first one to fall (2/2)

Remembering the reports she read about him, she could only agree. Shortly after they had received the letter from the High Council, and therefore learned that the General Avirus would arrive, an agent of the White Hand graciously offered what they knew about him. The least she could say after hearing everything was that whoever was with or against him will have a big chance of dying.

After fighting for decades against the goblins, that man had changed drastically the way each battle were conducted. If previously, each side retreated after a certain number of dead was reached, now, it was a fight to the last man. As terrible as it sounded, it was still brutally efficient, because the morale amongst the goblins will never be higher than the one amongst the humans. If it greatly increased the number of dead and injured, it still allowed Avenio to repel the ever advancing green skins.

Thanks to this, the number of goblins was dwindling, allowing them to in return reduce their own casualties. It was predicted that if it kept going for at least a decade, all traces of goblins inside Avenio will be completely destroyed. Compared to the stalemate that the eastern front, with Massalia, and the southern front, with the undead of Pankow, were in, the General Avirus was often rewarded for his success.

At the same time, pulling him out of that war would only mean something very dreadful was happening somewhere else. They could not conceal his departure, so instead, they used the excuse of him finally acting against Massalia. Even if everyone knowing the true situation between Synnada, Massalia and Avenio was certain that the kingdom could not be fought until that monstrous man was finally buried. And will have to wait a few years after he died, to be certain he was truly dead this time.

”I know. But that's only if he survives.” Her soft voice that turned into a murmur made Andre not understand what she meant. ”What?” ”Nothing.” Since the moment she heard from Meridiana that an attack was coming against them, the two adventurers that saved Archet accepted a request from the Adventurer Guild making them leave the city. It was obviously a trap to lure them away from a crowd, but they were confident that they would still underestimate them.

”Make sure they are lacking nothing, otherwise, I am certain he will find a way to do something against me. With some hope, by dawn, they will already be gone and well on their way.” Looking at the number of papers stacked on the nearby table, she pinched a bit her right cheek and got up. Right before Andre left, he could not help but turn around to ask something.

”Do you think they will win?” Thanks to the help of the White Hand, they had a far broader vision of what was happening. Not only Avenio, but nearly everyone, even the elves were on the move. However, even with such a large coalition, he could not help but remember the siege of Archet. When he woke up, his friends, thousands of families, they were all gone. And that was probably not the full extent of their powers.

”Do not worry, nothing will happen to us anymore. After all, if what they are doing is not enough to handle that problem, aren't we all doomed?” Faced with this curious way of seeing the future, the man could only pray for the success of that war. Finally being alone, Gwendoline began to see what this day will bring to her. Some old foxes managed to have pieces of information about the purpose of the visit of the General Avirus, but they still missed his true motive. Therefore, they began to swarm her, hoping to obtain what they wanted.

But against her perpetual smile and her charm, they could only reluctantly calm down and admit defeat. With everything pressing done, she left her office and roamed in the streets nearby. Looking at the children happily playing, the still tired faces of the adults, filled with uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow, she wondered how everything will be in the following days. All she knew was that the moment Meridiana will arrive will be a new beginning for Archet.

The humans in the region slept safe and soundly, except the few sentries guarding the military encampment nearby. Even in such a safe area Avirus took no risk at all. He was even willing to stay up with another guard, just in case. Since the moment he left that damned woman, he felt something weird in his stomach, like a bad feeling. That prevented him from sleeping, so he would prefer to let one man sleep instead. Trusting their superior, a few officers did the same, for they had survived the war against the goblins thanks to him. For others, he was a butcher, but in truth, he was only merciless in his plan. He would not sacrifice his men for barely anything, but he would gladly cause the death of hundreds if he could slay thousands.

So, in this ambiance, not even the General himself could have known that a few kilometers away from here, an army was approaching. It was only when the sun began to rise that he was awoken by the sound of a horn. After managing to force himself to sleep only hours ago, he could not forget to curse the one that made that sound. But after seeing what was in front of him, he forgave that nameless soldier.