Wood Serpent
Nicopolan Side
While many were awakened from their slumber in a state of panic, Servius awoke with a clear mind. Despite the pain from the broken skin on his back, he was a man on a mission this night. Thus, with conviction, he strode through the darkness, a hamr in one hand and a lantern shrouded in damp, coarse cloth in the other.
The words from Lord Lansius echoed in his mind: "On the third day, rember to give your reply if you agree to my plan."
"How should I do it?" he had asked, to which the Lord had answered, "Set afla a small section of the camp, and I shall see it clearly."
Tonight, Servius had made his decision. It was a risky move, but he knew that living under Sergio's rule was equally dangerous. Moreover, Lord Lansius' plan hinged on Sergio's defeat. This ant that, aside from setting a fire tonight, Servius wasn't taking on a big risk. His role was simply to lead as many people as possible into the forest once Sergio was overthrown. If this failed to happen, he would refrain from any action.
Steeling his heart once more, Servius walked with firm footsteps toward a specific place amidst the sea of tents. Approaching from the blind side, he saw a guard standing not far from a tent, observing the thousands of riders circling their encampnt.
He waited, observed, and found no one else in their vicinity. Setting down his lantern, he crouched toward the lone guard, who was entirely focused on the events outside the camp. The fiery spectacle and the thundering hooves were the last things on the guard's mind as Servius' hamr slamd into the back of his neck, breaking the spine.
The guard had no chance and fell dead. Servius wiped the blood on the dried grass and searched for the keys but found none. So, he entered the tent and faced the captured Lady.
Lady Daniella stared at him from inside the cage and said, "I don't recognize you."
"There's not enough ti. I promised Lord Lansius to go along with his plan, and I intend to free you so he may be more compelled to honor his part of the deal," Servius explained.
Daniella rose up. "Do you have the key?"
"Sergio must've kept it himself. I searched the guard, but he didn't have them."
"Then how do you plan to--" Daniella began, but Servius produced a pair of chisels and a smaller artisan hamr.
"It was hard to get these," he said, offering the smaller tools to Daniella, who grabbed them eagerly.
"Let know if soone appears behind ," Servius instructed as he hamred the chisel against the area around the lock.
"Leave that to ," Daniella replied, working from the opposite side.
They attacked the sturdy wooden fra, chipping away little by little. Wood chips flew in every direction; so even got into their eyes, but they persisted.
After a while, the fra began to crack, and they redoubled their efforts. Even the cage designed to hold a beastman couldn't withstand two desperate humans with iron chisels and hamrs.
The lock fra finally gave way, proving weaker than the reinforced fra on the opposite end that secured the heavy wrought iron bolt.
Servius stepped aside as Daniella pushed the cage door open. It crashed to the ground with a satisfying thud. Without hesitation, Daniella rushed outside, pulling Servius along as they made their way to the darker, more concealed side behind the tent.
"Gratitude for getting out," said Daniella weakly. "What's next?"
"It's best if we split up here," Servius replied, drenched in sweat.
"Understood. May I learn your na?" she asked.
"No, lest you get captured and tortured."
"Then we part here," said Daniella, preparing to leave.
"Be safe." Servius pointing in one direction. "The castle is over there, but the camp's weakest link is on the opposite side. Move quietly without a lantern, and they shouldn't notice you. Jump off the carts they used for barricades and crawl through the grass. With the nomads out there, I doubt they'll chase you, but beware of crossbown."
Daniella nodded. "Till we et again," she said, disappearing into the night after looting the dead guard's hooded mantle and sword.
Satisfied that nobody had seen him, Servius returned to his hidden lantern. Seeing the small tallow candle still burning brightly, he began to set the remainder of his plan into motion.
***
Sergio
The unnerving scene of thousands of cavalry with torches circling and randomly attacking with arrows continued to unfold in the Nicopolan encampnt. The attacking nomads brought no torches, surprising the Nicopolans with arrows from the dark.
This sneaky attack forced Sergio to instruct his n to be on guard at all tis. Just when things seed manageable, cries of fire erupted from the inner part of the encampnt.
"Fire, fire!" his n scread to warn the rest. Many panicked, thinking the nomads had made a breakthrough.
"Stay where you are!" Sergio shouted back. From atop a cart, he could see that only so tents were alight, not his precious supplies in the middle section of the camp, which was guarded by a separate command.
Returning to his n and lieutenants, he commanded, "Let them burn a few tents; I can replace them and make them better! Hold your ground. They want us to scatter. Let's not give them that satisfaction!"
His lieutenants ran to every section, relaying Sergio's orders. They were to keep their ground and let the non-combatants handle the firefighting.
The Nicopolans held on despite the fire and the incessant attacks from the nomads. After an hour, the nomads' torches began to fade, and with them, their aggressive maneuvers. The tribal horsen started to stray further and further away from the encampnt. For a while, many Nicopolans feared a more severe attack was imminent. However, after several final volleys of arrows erged from the darkness, all went quiet.
Only then did Sergio rush a portion of his n to douse the fire. Another half-hour passed, and it beca clear they had survived the night. The Nicopolans rejoiced as they were certain that the thousand nomads had disengaged.
Sergio remained cautious, but his n were convinced they had won this battle of wits. They thought not even the Black Lord of Korelia was invincible. Many believed their defenses were so strong that the nomads couldn't find a weakness to exploit.
Praise for Sergio's command echoed among the n. They began to mock the Black Lord as a re upstart with black hair, considering him inferior to Sergio.
However, as the golden sun broke the darkness after dawn, the Nicopolans, with dreary and reddened eyes, began to realize they had been outplayed.
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