Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Alpheo rode calmly and slowly down the gently sloping hill, the tall grasses brushing against his boots as he approached the left flank.

The air was crisp despite the cold, with the scent of blood yet to be spilled.

Flags fluttered above ranks of disciplined soldiers in tight formation, the First and Third Legion, the pride of his army. Their armor caught the sunlight in glints and flashes, their shields polished, their eyes fixed and waiting, like hounds waiting for the order to pounce on the limping rabbit.

Jarza stood tall just behind the First Corps, a battered wolf-pelt one of the few decorations that Alpheo allowed his top general to wear, draped over one shoulder, his helmet tucked under his arm.

His gaze caught Alpheo's approach, and a wry smile formed at the corner of his lips.

"How did the parley go?" he asked, voice casual as if he already expected the answer

Alpheo brushed a speck of dust from his shoulder before replying, his voice dry as old wine.

"As well as you'd expect it to go."

Jarza gave a short nod, as if that confirmed everything he needed to know.

"I see… I suppose many would've been disappointed if we didn't get to spill some blood today. The men are barely containing themselves."

Alpheo allowed himself a small smirk as he turned his gaze across the line, watching the flicker of sunlight off hundreds of helmets and the steady ripple of shields being locked into place.

Pride rose on his chest at the thought of a thousand man fighting in his name.

"They'll find their fears unfounded, the enemy are just waiting for them to give them a good pounce," he said after a bit , the confidence in his tone unmistakable. "We begin immediately. Wait for my signal."

He gestured eastward with a subtle motion. "The opening act belongs to Egil. Make sure to cheer for him as he passes. I believe that to be to his taste."

Jarza gave a respectful nod, though his lips carved into a smirk. "Of course."

Alpheo took a few paces wist his steed forward, the hooves of his stallion crunching softly against the dry earth. He stood still for a moment and let his gaze sweep across the battlefield.

To his left, the Voghondai loitered restlessly howling to fire themselves up, their tribal war paint stark against their armor and face. Wild, unpredictable, but invaluable in the chaos to come.

To the center, the levy forces waited under noble banners, not as polished but ready. They were lesser men than his legion, but they would serve their part.

But it was the right t flank that drew a glint of pride in his eye. These were his hammer and anvil, the men he had drilled personally, whose blood, sweat, and fury he had shaped into discipline. They stood as if carved from stone, unmoving, unwavering.

Alpheo exhaled deeply, chest rising with the thrill of what was to come.

This was where his legacy would be carved into legend, or shattered trying.

And he was ready as he gave that order.

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"Ride as if the sky were to fall, boys!" bellowed Egil, the Crown's Hound, as he rose high in his stirrups, his hair snapping like a banner behind him. His voice thundered over the plain like the crack of a war drum, slicing through the wind and stabbing into the hearts of the two hundred riders gathered behind him.

A sea of snarling grins and glinting steel answered his call. The White Army's riders howled back with voices that no longer belonged to men but to beasts unchained. War had not just tempered them. It had consumed them, made them crave the rush of the charge, the glorious symphony of bones breaking and steel singing through flesh.

They were not limited by any rule of condact or chivalry, their desire only to see blood spill and splatter around them.

Their mounts, war-trained and just as wild as their riders, stamped and snorted with fury barely restrained. The dust around them swirled like smoke, as if the very earth knew violence was about to be unleashed upon it.

The blood in their veins burned hotter than the midday sun, and their hearts pounded in rhythm with their hooves-to-come. Every breath drawn was laced with the scent of anticipation. After two years of hacking down bandits and peasant rabble, cheap fights, cheap loot, this was real. This was war in all its cruel majesty.

They craved it. Needed it. Not just the kill, but the spectacle of it, the crashing of bodies, the wet slap of death, the howling chaos where only the strong could carve their name into legend. They longed to drown in that dark river of slaughter, to drink deeply of its cursed waters. And if death waited beneath the surface like some cruel nymph to pull them down, so be it.

They would embrace her laughing, sword in hand.

Egil's eyes narrowed suddenly as he caught a shimmer on the enemy's far right .

Movement among the levy banners. Spears shifting into place. Shields forming a crooked wall. Green boys by the looks of it, holding their weapons like they might drop them from the sweat on their palms alone.

Egil's grin widened. His teeth bared like a wolf catching the scent of lamb.

"There they are!" he roared, lifting his axe toward the heavens. "The soft flank! Look at them! Waiting to die like cattle!"

A roar answered him from his riders, as if the entire pack had been lashed with fire.

He lowered the blade like a divine command. "Show them what real men ride like! Burn your names into their bones!"

The horns sounded behind them , long, low, and hungry.

Then, like a thunderstorm breaking over the horizon, the White Riders surged forward with a vengeance that would make gods turn their heads.

Dust roared up beneath their charge, and the thunder of hooves became the drumbeat of death.

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"Shields up! Spears forward!" the officer barked, his voice strained, half-command, half-prayer.

A wavering clatter answered him as the front line scrambled to obey, wooden shafts trembled in uncertain hands, spears jutting forward to form a quivering hedge of iron. The formation looked like it might hold... if fear didn't break it first.

All eyes were drawn to the horizon. Dust curled into the sky like smoke from a burning village, thick and dark with promise. But it wasn't the dust that turned their blood cold, it was the sounds. The shrill howling of riders, the unholy bellowing of beasts that barely resembled horses, and the rhythmic thunder of hooves pounding the earth like war drums beating out an omen.

"Savages," Lechlian muttered, brow furrowed as he stood tall above his lines, his polished armor catching the light like a warning. He spared a glance down the slope at his front ranks.

They were young....too young.

The fear was unmistakable in their eyes, even behind the shields. Would they hold? Or would they crack before the charge struck home?

He forced the doubt aside, steeling himself with logic. The terrain favored him. The slope ahead was uneven, fractured with natural divots and stubby ridges. A cavalry charge here would lose momentum long before it reached his lines. The brush and loose stones alone would be enough to break formation, if not their necks.

What in the hells is that bastard thinking?

Lechlian's eyes narrowed. A frontal charge? In this terrain? With cavalry? His lip curled in disgust. Is he trying to kill them before the battle even begins?

It made no sense. Alpheo had proven himself ruthless, yes, but also tactical, calculating. This… this was brute madness.

And yet… what if it wasn't?

Lechlian cast a glance toward the strange gaps in Alpheo's formation, the wide mouth between center and right, almost begging to be exploited. He itched at the thought. If the ground weren't such a cursed mess, I'd send a wedge through that myself. Break a few dozen men and his "legend" would crumble like a castle of sand in the tide.

He gritted his teeth. No. Not yet.

The dust cloud surged, closer now. The growling storm of horse and man took shape: black-clad riders with blades high and war cries shaking the wind. They were barely a few hundreds steps off, and Lechlian saw the whites of their eyes, their wild, unblinking eyes.

His own heart gave a traitorous beat.

"Archers!" he shouted, snapping his arm up.

The bowstrings sang in unison, a sharp, stinging twang that echoed across the field. The arrows soared high into the gray sky, vanishing briefly in the haze before arching down like a curtain of iron rain.

The first few shafts plunged into the rising dust like needles into a shroud. Through the blur, Lechlian could make out the lead riders raising their shields overhead, the white insignias of their unit half-obscured by grit and dirt.

The barrage struck, not deadly, but biting. Despite the heavy chainmail draped over their horses, the animals shrieked in pain as the arrows slapped against muscle and flank. It wasn't enough to pierce hide or steel, but the sting was real. The pain confused them. Dozens of horses bucked or veered wildly, their riders wrestling with reins and curses, momentum teetering on the edge of chaos.

The charge slowed, just slightly, but Lechlian saw it. Some are already losing control.

A few riders fell behind as their mounts flailed or reared, vanishing into the dust as if swallowed by the earth itself. For a heartbeat, it looked as if the charge might falter.

And yet… it didn't stop.

Despite the haze, despite the flailing hooves and screaming beasts, the thunder kept coming. Coming towards their line , bringing death with them like a pet kept on a leash.

The rumble deepened, closer now, no longer a distant warning, but a thudding heartbeat beneath the soles of every soldier. Dust choked the air, a rolling storm cloud kicked up by two hundred hooves, blurring all but the jagged silhouettes that burst through it like phantoms.

Lechlian's breath caught. He could see them clearly now, gleaming helms leaving their baring teeth open, shields angled forward, lances raised to catch the sun. The riders of the White Army, surging forward with the ferocity of a tidal wave, their howls louder than ever, voices ragged with anticipation and fury as if they were not walking toward their death.

In the image pictured by his mind , the moment was etched as clearly as still water, horses breaking against the spears like waves on a cliff. Their momentum turned to ruin. Skewered mid-gallop, their bodies would crumple into the lines with bone-cracking finality, riders flung like ragdolls, broken and bleeding. A failed charge. Chaos. Panic.

And yet… even in failure, those beasts would crash forward. He saw it, dead horses still barreling into his ranks, twitching masses of meat and steel collapsing upon shield and man alike.

They were near.

The front line braced, knees bent, jaws clenched, spears straight on a diagonal slope .

And still the sound grew.

And still the riders came.

And then.....they just did not.

(map of the world)