Her survival was no less than expected but the survival of the many others were a shock to her that she could not comprehend, she had expected more deaths or an eradication of those whom were whimpering and would have succumbed to their foe if it was not for her words and the help of her guards along the imperial soldiers, she had underestimated them and from that, she will keep a careful eye on what will come of the marshes and the imperial colony as a whole, she knew that the human will for survival has exceeded all races and many odds throughout history from the age of dawn and through the age of tyrant mages, humans always survived through sheer will and desperation and the imperials were no exception, Yemna would be sure to remember that.

  It had been days since the siege of their outpost, they reset the traps in case of another attack and fixed the breach on the gates, they piled and burnt their dead, and ever since then there was no attack from the north nor the south except the few stragglers whom been hunted by Yemna's guard, for none shall go to waste, they collected the weapons and bucklers from the dead Gahrak and had enough to arm the outpost twice as before, though their supplies were running dry even with the deaths of the civilians and they were fortunate they had not wasted their oil and waters on the siege defense.

  Thus she had no choice but to teach the imperials the ways of the Asarothians wanderers, their way of survival and not many were pleased, not because of her teachings but rather the changes they had to make, they had to feast on the flesh of the Gahrak as it does not rot and is similar to the flesh of canines, and while Yemna and her guards were accustomed to it, it took the others quite a bit to adjust and she did not blame them as they were not prepared to face such struggles and without alternatives, it was more forced than it was a choice, though the ones whom were foolish enough to attempt a taste from the Hyenas mounts at the dead of night behind her back were surprised that those beasts were not a deadly threat to the Gahrak only, those tamed beasts left behind torn bodies and a lesson to be learned, the imperials whom were desperate enough to attempt that did not repeat their mistakes, at least the ones who survived.

  On that fateful morning when she and her Tatar guards began preparing for their departure whilst the lieutenant awaited a letter from the north, she was approached in the yard of the outpost with a strange request from the girl who against all odds survived without a scratch.

  "Please M'lady, teach me, teach me how to protect myself and take me with you on your journey." The girl begged her. "Me father, brother and mother are dead, I have no home and no silver, no food and no water, I only have the buckle and sword I took from the dead of the Gahrak, and the dagger you gifted me, I will serve you however I can if you take me in."

  Yemna was skeptical and she had no interest in assisting an imperial without benefits for herself, after all they could be an enemy that she will fight against once she ascend to her throne and she will not pass them knowledge other than that of the Gahrak and no more than she needed to, but seeing the pitying manner on which the girl asked for the help made Yemna sigh in frustration, she thought for a long minute in silence and convinced herself that one imperial could do her no harm.

  "Fine, but first I will test your mettle. " Yemna answered as she tied her bags to the saddle of her hyena, she turned towards the girl and gestured for her to move into the center of the yard, and in the corner of her eyes she could see the warden watching, she did not pay him much attention.

  "M-my mettle? " The girl said timidly, she took her buckle in her offhand and awkwardly held the arming sword she had for herself. "How? "

  Yemna knelt down to the side and picked a half helm, it was slightly bent to the side but big enough to fit over the girl's head without much discomfort, she threw it her way and exclaimed as she put on her own bone veiled helm."Do not die. "

  The girl grasped the helm and slid it over her head in haste as her eyes widened at the approach of Yemna who struck her to the side of the head and dropped her to the ground.

  For an instance, the smaller girl scrambled into the bloodied mud but she quickly got her feet, her hands and legs shaking same as her buckle and sword as she held them ahead, Yemna struck her once again, and another, and another until she sent her sprawling into the piled wood, all eyes fixated on them, fear was what radiated from her surroundings, she felt it from the civilians and some imperial soldiers but Yemna did not feel it from the girl, she watched as she stood and charged at her, slow and without grace, it did not take much for Yemna to take her down a dozen more times, but through it all the girl kept standing, again and again, she was beaten, her eye was swollen, her lip was busted and her nose was leaking blood, but she stood, the will to live was strong in her.

  "What is your name? " Yemna asked.

  The girl was breathless but her answer came in between her quick breaths. "I— My name is— Seraphine of Rockhill, M'lady. "

  Yemna tilted her head and further questioned. "Rockhill, where is that? "

  "That would be near the arc river of Folken province. " Lucas told her as he stepped in from the side. "Where a civil war is taking place. "

  "Huh. " She mumbled as she glanced at Seraphine then added. "You came here fleeing war? "

  Seraphine was unresponsive for a long second while looking down, until she uttered her response. "Yes... The empire inquisition came and offered those who were affected by the war and lost their homes to live in the marshes... At the time it sounded like a good chance to start over, free homes, work to be done and... Protection. "

  "I'm sorry. " The warden told her as his eyes softened for a split second.

  "Don't be. " She replied.

  "Well , Seraphine of rockhill. " Yemna addressed her. "You are a fool, you are slow and you are weak... But you have spirit, so I suppose you could come along, put whatever you have on my mount. "

  Seraphine smiled widely as she bowed her head and thanked the princess. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you M'lady! You will not regret it! "

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The girl ran off, stumbled and fell under the laughter of the outpost but she paid it no mind, Yemna sighed softly and shook her head as she was not sure if she had done the right thing, though knowing that the girl was of Folken province and not of the imperial bloodied provinces, brought her a small comfort, yet that comfort was interrupted by Lucas presence, she glanced towards him and teased. "Perhaps you would like a taste? "

  "If your highness so desires it... Though, I will do my best to not push too far. " He replied.

  Yemna raised an eyebrow then laughed. "Not push too far? Spare me the courtesy road warden, dulled weapons would do the trick. "

  Truth be told she would rather fight him with no dulled weapons but she had no choice as to avoid unnecessary injures or even death, his words has struck a nerve but she was not foolish enough to underestimate him, she was wrapped up in her side in the siege and she could not see how he moves, thus this would be a great chance for her to understand what manner of man accompany her, they both set down their weapons on a table and picked some of the iron swords which was looted during the battle, she took a longsword and he had taken an arming sword and a short sword, wielding both on each hand.

  They stood across each other, she gripped tightly to her longsword feeling its weight in her hands, at first it threw her off being much lighter than the bone sword she carried but after a few swings in the air, she became accustomed to it and held it by her side with the tip pointing ahead at the warden, who stood in an unorthodox stance she never seen before, she did not think on it and charged instead.

  She slashed at the air and he was quick to deflect her blade, his movements were quick and weak and hers were slow and strong but all it took for him to defend from her attacks was a tap from his blade on hers, she managed to regain her momentum allowing herself to keep a strong grip on the sword and follow him as he moved around her whilst she swung at him again and he rolled out of her sight but she could feel his presence in the corner of her eye, she turned with her sword stabbing ahead then stopped, his swords were pointed to her body and while hers was pointed to the face gap of his half helm.

  "You're fast. " She bitterly complimented him.

  "You hit hard. " He responded.

  "Who taught you to fight like that? " She asked.

  "Ser Edmund the red knight, and you? " He replied.

  "King Roegan and his guard commander, Tatar Xao." She told him.

  They stared at one another but eventually lowered their weapons, and while her herself did not swing as hard as she could, she felt that he was intentionally holding back, it infuriated her but she remained glad that he was on her side and not a useless fool, and with his skill he earned himself respect regardless of where he came from, after all the commander of her father's city was a man from a land beyond the mist and was fostered alongside her father and her many uncles due to his skill and heart he brought with him and ever since then, Xao had been serving them valiantly through two wars of Asaroth that came and passed.

  And as she dwelled on memories of the past and came across some that she did not wish to remember, Hemacus called out to her from the side as he approached her with both a paper and a small creature, the crawler, it was no larger than a palm with a wide salamander like body and head, a mean of conveying messages and known to be the fastest in the Tatarians deserts, so fast that it leaves glass shards as a trail.

  "The road north is clear, we set out for the command center, castle Lurk. " Hemacus told her as he gestured for the paper though he did not give it to her.

  "We?" She questioned suspiciously.

  "Yes, we." He repeated. "I have done my task and held down this position, by the time I head up to that castle reinforcements would arrive here from the north west, down the ice path from death valley. "

  "Then we should depart as soon as possible. " She urged him and he obliged as he began his own preparations for traveling, he planned to leave half of his garrison and travel with the other half, though they were not many to begin with and it would only hinder their traveling speed, she did not complain, with the reinforcements coming down this outpost, the border position will be strengthened and it would make her home, Asaroth, much safer, with a great garrison and a maintained defense it would serve as a choke point to cut off the Gahrak movements, but seeing what happened in the last siege and what she heard before it, without proper preparation it was a slaughterhouse, and that made no difference to her so long it was not the blood of her people which was spilled.

  Once all were set to travel, wagons packed with much needed supplies for the journey though not enough to hinder the outpost and it's occupants, imperial guards dressed in their traveling gear, back bags and many satchels and pouches, trained for the march and accustomed to it under the lead of their lieutenant Hemacus who left his mount to march alongside his men, and as Yemna went to the front with her guards and the warden on their hyena mounts, she found Seraphine waiting her with an unpleasant surprise, ten folk right at her back with the eyes of lost puppies that made Yemna almost grit her teeth against one another in annoyance.

  "What's the meaning of this? " Yemna demanded an explanation as she looked down at the girl from her saddle.

  "M'lady, I did not mean t-to be of insolence, they wanted to be here — with you... " She answered.

  "M'lady please, we wish to be part of your following, we need no food, water nor protection, we only seek to serve. " one said.

  "Nor gold. " Another said.

  "Nor silver or shelter, we only wish to follow you and be of help. "

  "If you want to be of help, stay at the outpost and help. " The warden suggested.

  "No... Why would we? When the lieutenant called for help from the imperials and the Asarothians, only one respond, her ladyship, and ungrateful we are not, she is here fighting amongst the lower men for the weaker folk, she taught us how to survive instead of tossing us a coin, a bribery for our lives we should have never accepted... we will follow her and we will serve... " the eldest of them all spoke, a weathered man with a long grey beard.

  "Please M'lady. " Seraphine begged. "They want to help... Just as you helped them. "

  Yemna was baffled, those were the same folk she was unsure on whether to help them survive or not, the same she grew to hate over the years and to this very moment she still does, but she would be a liar of she denied that she did not feel even the slightest hint of guilt, for the fire in their eyes were genuine, her father often spoke of the will to live, her uncle spoke of the will to kill, her grandfather and Xao spoke of the will to protect, theirs was the last and the strongest, she could almost see the embodiment of their will, she could use them, she would allow them to tag along and use them whenever she needed to, their blood instead of her guards, they volunteered after all, they were not Asarothians, she will allow them to follow for her own advantages, she kept telling herself and convincing herself, she would be doing it for her own merits, she was not becoming soft, she was not forgiving, she will never forgive, her will kept her alive, smart and sharp, she will always remember.

  "Fine... " She said as she turned her back on them. "But if you get hurt, it will be your own responsibility. "