“Oh, and here I thought you all were decimated already.”

The flame licked the air as Malin came out from the darkness, joining the warmth the torch shared. Still as before, Enfir followed him from behind, about 2-3 steps away from him. At a glance, he looked like a silent guardian. Even his footsteps were barely audible.

Malin wore leather armor with a silver emblem embroidered on his chest. On it was carved the head of a narwhal, appearing majestic with its horn. Enfir, as always, was clad in black–mouth mask, surcoat, shadows. His scarf hid the same emblem that was attached to Malin’s apparel.

“It’s a lovely night, isn’t it?”

The first one to greet them was David, though it was hardly a welcoming one.

“Who are you?” David asked while glaring at them. He stood and reached out for the hilt at his waist. “Introduce yourselves before taking another step.”

His demand was ignored as Malin took a step forward. Seeing that, David had a firm tight on the handle of his sword. The moment that stranger shortened the distance with another step, he would swing his sword, sparing not even a speck of dust that got in between them.

However, taking notice of the soldier’s hostility, Enfir had already sneaked one hand into his pocket. A knife? A needle? Or another concealed weapon? David had no way of knowing. His heartbeat was all that he could hear–the sound of his blood being pumped in and out. The threat was looming closer. He had to decide quickly. He had to–

“Calm down, David.”

The young man had just realized a hand gripping onto his wrist. Its strength rendered him unable to even unsheathe his sword. And only after that did all noises return to his ears, cut through by Eghwin’s heavy voice.

“Don’t shed meaningless blood here,” Eghwin said. “Are you sure, Commander?” David asked. It seemed he would not comply with Eghwin’s order blatantly. “They are already within the range of my attack.”

“I’m sure. They are our guests, after all.”

“Guests?”

David took his eyes off both strangers to look at his commander. It was only for a split second, but his carelessness fired back at him. In an instant, Enfir had closed the distance between him and that young soldier. His eyes omitted bloodlust.

“Enfir.”

Before he could follow through with a swing, Malin had raised his arm–a signal for him to stop. His hidden knife, now exposed after taking it out of his pocket, reflected back the flickers of bonfires around them. Another steel basked in the cold moonlight, its edge stared back at the starry sky.

It was Eghwin’s, having unsheathed his sword and lined it up on Enfir’s neck. Blood would have spilled if it hadn’t been for Malin.

The ruckus they had made alerted the soldiers around.

“What’s happening?”

“Anything wrong with the commander?”

They murmured. A few of them grabbed their swords, though still resting their bottoms on the ground.

Malin continued. “Control yourself.”

“Only after I–”

“I said control yourself.”

“....”

Hearing silence coming out of Enfir’s mouth, Malin sighed. “I apologize for that. Seems like both our subordinates are quite energetic.”

“It’s given. They are still young,” Eghwin answered. “Stay down, David. Our enemies aren’t them.”

“You hear your commander, boy,” Malin said with a half-amused and half-mocking tone. The smirk didn’t help either with the frustration David felt.

David and Enfir shared another look before concealing their weapons once again. It wasn’t the case with the hatred they had towards each other, though–still let out to bare its fangs as they gave each other another stare.

“Sorry for that, Commander,” Malin said. He scratched the backside of his head.

“Likewise.” Eghwin eyed both Malin and Enfir up and down. “Seems like it’s true that our lord has hired a group of mercenaries.”

Mercenary.

A bunch of soldiers, though not in the traditional sense. Loyalty had no real value amongst them. They could fight in favor of one kingdom for a moment only to strike those behind them after the contract ended. And what drove them to walk on this path would be money.

Copper, silver, gold–no matter the rarity one more coin would always be better than no coin at all.

Besides money, they might kill for glory or purely–although not pure at all–loved the bloodbath they could cause. For some sick bastards, the sound of flesh being cut and blood spilling out was akin to that of a lullaby.

Now, one question emerged in Eghwin and David’s heads.

What type of man before their eyes would be?

The man in question didn’t bother to wipe away his grin. He then bowed at them, a polite gesture.

“The name is Malin. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” His smooth voice glided across the air before reaching Eghwin and David’s ears. “The shy one behind me is Enfir. And as you claimed, we’re from a mercenary group named Kundang. I’m the leader.”

“My name is Eghwin Norton. I’m the commander of this army.”

“Nice to meet you then, commander,” Malin said, turning his head slightly to the side. “And who might this be? Your errand boy?”

“Take those words back.” Eghwin glared at Malin. His voice deepened, as if each syllable that exited his mouth could cause a tremor on the ground. “He is my vice commander. Respect him.”

“It’s just a joke! I’m just trying to lighten the mood, though I understand it was rather uncouth for me to say, so I sincerely apologize.” Malin bowed again. “So, what’s your name, vice commander?”

One would tell that Malin was being sarcastic with his tone, but David didn’t deem it as an insult. He just sat there, saying necessary words and answers.

“My name is David.”

“Well, nice to meet you too, Vice Commander David.”

Eghwin sighed. “Did my lord send you as our reinforcement, Sir Malin?”

“You can practically say that. Also, may I sit down?”

“....Go ahead.”

Pulling the chair closer towards him, Malin took the time to sit down. The backrest eased his body into comfort.

“Let me go straight to the point. Your companions right at the west battlefield won.”

Eghwin and David hadn’t planned it before, but they clutched their hands into a fist at the same time. The victory gained by their comrades felt like theirs too, drifting from vein to vein, which boosted their confidence.

It was exhilarating news, indeed, one that must be told to the entire east units when they woke up.

“And how is our lord doing?” Eghwin continued.

“He is being escorted now. They are probably about halfway from the nearest city, given no enemies still dare to chase him, of course. Though, I really doubt that. The men around your lord are all mean looking, especially that old man standing next to him.”

“That would be my father.”

“Oh….” Malin almost choked on nothing. “Well, didn’t mean it that way, but…, anyway. Your father was angered, though.”

“Why?”

“Seems like your pyromancer girl killed almost every enemy. I don’t think that’s what your lord wants us to do, am I right?”

“....Gaia.”

An image of a petite young girl with her puffy and long orange hair appeared in Eghwin’s mind. Similar to what Malin said, the Third Crown Prince had actually commanded both the west and east armies to not only emerge as the victor but also minimize the casualties. Want it or not, their enemies this time had shared the same soil for years. The person they had to stab tomorrow might be those whose faces were familiar.

“She cried a lot. You know, even being a mercenary, seeing girls cry doesn’t suit me well.”

“And then? What’s the point you trying to come across?”

“I’m just saying that we can’t afford to fail,” Malin said, stroking his stubble with his fingers. “Or your father will crash out again. Also we’re kind of low on money. Don’t want your employer to suddenly refuse to pay us just ‘cause of small mishaps.”

“Damn mercenaries,” David muttered under his breath.

“Don’t worry. Our lord is a man of honor.”

“Good then. Now, since we have that out of the way, what’s your status?”

Eghwin began explaining the situation they were currently in. He spared no details, not even abstaining from telling the consecutive defeats they had suffered for the first two days. On the first day, the first and second unit he launched was ambushed by a small enemy unit hiding next to the battlefield.

On the second day, Eghwin went to the frontline as well. They had taken the enemy’s element of surprise into account, but it was another trap. The moment they got closer, the third unit got blown away. The fourth unit had to fortify its defenses to avoid being annihilated–all of that caused by a single person.

A single person.

The enemy ranks had successfully hidden their strength from Eghwin. It wasn’t helping as well that the enemy had to focus only on defense–they could play the waiting game while the rebels couldn’t, though it also became their saving grace. Their enemy didn’t have to push. Just stopping Eghwin’s army in its tracks was enough, a fact they had to take after possibly realizing that their west army had been defeated.

Both armies are suspicious of one another, and attacking blindly would spell their demise.

“So you let several of your men die….” Enfir spoke after a few minutes of silence. It didn’t help that his sentence was imbued with animosity. “How convenient.”

“Take back your words, mercenary.”

David was the first one to react. Under his yellow bangs were veins popping out, not taking Enfir’s insults kindly. One more second and he would already unsheathe the blade at his waist one more time.

And, like before, Enfir stepped in between them. His glare was nothing but threatening.

“Now, now. Calm down gentlemen,” Malin said, raising his arm to stop his man. “It’s war, so casualties are inevitable. At least we’ve gotten important information, right? I’m sure that’s your intention too, Commander Eghwin.”

Eghwin still had his arms crossed. “I won’t shift the blame to anyone else. Letting those men die is my mistake. But from their sacrifice, we’ve got a few important pieces of information.

“First, we have a full grasp of how strong our enemy is.”

Malin interrupted. “That small army and the individual who almost took your head….Seems like we have a Luminant to deal with. What do you think of a proper match, Enfir?” And at the last second, he smirked.

Eghwin and David glanced at Enfir who said nothing. Not waiting any longer, the commander continued with his explanation, raising two fingers at the same time. “Second, assuming that I’m right, our enemy has shown all of the tricks they have.”

“And what’s the basis of that assumption?”

“This pattern of setting traps. I know only one person in the Aethel Kingdom who fights like this.” Eghwin could even imagine the person’s face now. He crossed his arms. “I will bring him down, so our main focus should be his army first. This brings me to my third point, in which we have a new fighting force that our enemy hasn’t predicted.”

After saying that, Eghwin looked at Malin and Enfir.

“Hmm….” Malin rubbed his stubble again. “We can certainly win this war, but you know how mercenaries usually work, right? No pay, no pain. No pain, no gain.”

Eghwin could sense David’s eyes twitch again, so he shoved his arm to stop him.

“Of course I know. That matter is a discussion after we win.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

Reaching to an agreement between both of them, Eghwin shifted his focus to the map again. “If that’s the case, let’s strategize. Tomorrow will be the end.”

***

Concealed by night, the four men planned their winning strategy for the next day. All it took for them was thirty minutes of discussion. No one knew the outcome for tomorrow, so their plan had also accommodated various trivial manners and hindrances that might reveal themselves on tomorrow’s battlefield.

Failure wasn’t an option, be it for Eghwin or Malin.

“Well, see both of you tomorrow then. Rest well,” Malin said.

“Where will you two be staying?” Eghwin asked.

“Just a small tent on the side. As much as we work together in this war, we aren’t exactly comrades. It’s better if we don’t mingle in your army.”

Eghwin agreed with his point. Even now, David and Enfir were staring at each other, probably thinking about each other’s dead bodies laid waste by their own hands. To keep that scenario as mere imagination, they had to separate.

“I appreciate it.”

“Let’s do our best for tomorrow.”

While facing the commander of the army with his back, Malin waved his hand into the night. Enfir followed his leader as before, two or steps behind. Without any light to guide their way, the darkness had swallowed them–not just bodies but also their entire existence. Only after they were no longer visible did David open his mouth.

“Are you sure it’s okay to trust them, Commander?”

“No, but I trust our Lord’s judgement.”

The Third Crown Prince of Aethel Kingdom.

Having served him for years, Eghwin’s loyalty towards him knew no bounds. And yet, to say he understood the scheme that his lord had crafted would be an overstatement. Those peering eyes, even behind the veil covering his face, couldn’t completely hide the immeasurable passion within his stare.

It was the stare that had sparked Eghwin’s desire to serve under his ruling.

But it would be a lie if he said there wasn’t doubt growing within him now.

It was all do or nothing now.

Eghwin once again looked at the direction where both Malin and Enfir had disappeared. He then let out a sigh.

“Still, we have to be careful of them,” he said, remembering the heated confrontation they had. “At that time, I had already planned to slash that guy Enfir. I meant it as a mere warning, but before anything, my sword stopped. Someone stopped it.”

David listened to his commander’s words. The night howled again as Eghwin looked at his right palm–the same hand he had used to grab his weapon before. It felt numb as if something had hit it fast and strong, though invisible to the naked eye.

“Be careful, David. Those men are dangerous.”