The smell of smoke had become so intense that Termidas could do no more than cover his mask with a piece of cloth.
Iril had burned all night and was still smouldering in the morning, but no inhabitants other than those who had escaped the small settlement the day before had reached the fortress... A heavy sense of helplessness came over the warriors as they drew their mounts closer to the river that separated Duner from the neighbouring nation.
"Everything is burnt..." Uvil muttered as he calmed his mount to get a clear view of the state of the village.
The others imitated the young captain, Termidas could not see the faces of the soldiers, but he knew exactly what face they were hiding underneath. The solemn silence was all he needed to know the anger his countrymen harboured within.
"The bridge, too..." Nirte pointed to the structure that allowed passage to Tander, which had been destroyed at only one end, the end they were at.
The advance party rode up to the crossing and looked around, searching for any scouts or enemy soldiers that might be hiding, then stopped their mounts and looked at the damage the crossing had sustained...
The bridge was formed of stone blocks in the shape of an arch, but that arch was gone, only stones and shattered mortar lay under the shadow of the structure, beneath the water.
Termidas was the first to dismount and see the place where the enemy had concentrated their power, right at the beginning of the arch there were clear signs of intense heat etched into the stone.
"It's recent." He said as he touched the burnt rock, warm to the touch despite the early hour.
"They must have cut off access to the villagers to prevent them from escaping," Nirte deduced as he looked towards the village and the dark cloud emanating from it, only a kilometre away. "Look." He pointed to the other end, where at least a dozen corpses lay near the crossroads.
"Bastards..." Uvil muttered.
Ozoku and Ozoki dismounted from the single mount the commander had provided and approached him to look at the destroyed blocks.
"Sultan's elementalists, yes, yes." The young materialiser clapped her hands enthusiastically and materialised repeatedly around the soldiers. "They hate us, don't they, Ozoku? Yes, yes, they should attack if they see me."
"It's possible, Ozoki, just look at the outcome across the river, they might want to fight, they might want to look at us." the other replied. "If you get too tired of popping up here and there you might get killed if they attack us."
"Damn it, control your impulses, I don't want to attract more attention than necessary, just find out where those responsible for this attack have gone." Nirte spoke with a clear tone of irritation.
"Our motivation is different from yours, but the result we seek is the same, why should we censor our thoughts?" Ozoku asked.
"Out of respect for those who have lost their lives there." The Austere Wolf pointed out, seeing the lack of empathy those two often displayed made him question Yvelde's reasoning.
"Respect is earned with effort, Captain, aye, aye... And once dead, no effort is worth it." The materialising girl replied, it was the first time she had heard a thread of sternness in her voice.
"Do as you please, but by all the elementals, don't attract more enemies than necessary with your nonsense."
"Only if you promise to fight alongside us when we find the southerners." Ozoku said, equally as serious as his companion.
"I promise I'll throw you in the lake if you don't listen to me." he replied.
Ozoki began to laugh as he jumped from side to side.
"Yes, yes, I like that captain better... wilder." She clapped her hands.
"Termidas!" Nirte shouted, his voice as stoic as it was urgent. "We've got company."
As they turned their attention back to the patrol, a figure in fiery armour stared down the road at the group, her mount and companions gone.
The slender woman carried a flaming sword and a white cloak that seemed to glow with the intensity of a star.
"The Sun's Envoy..." Nirte unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her, the colour of the steel not allowing the glow of dawn to reflect off it. "Where are your men?" he asked.
"Far from here." The woman's voice was soft and calm, Termidas identified the distinguishable tone of experience in it.
"Oh, one of the leaders, Ozoku, look, look, yes, yes she belongs to the south." Ozoki did not take her mask off the warrior for a moment, there was nothing more interesting to her at the moment. "Do you also detest people like me?"
"My name is Riun, and I do not respond to the words of unworthy beings." The red mask with flaming tips seemed to burn as she spoke, as if the flames were part of her armour, as if they showed the anger that this stoic figure harboured within.
"No," Nirte replied and advanced unhesitatingly towards the enemy general. "We may be unworthy, but you will answer to us for the destruction of that village." He tilted his mask to point at Iril.
The Envoy of the Sun raised her sword, the steel seeming to be made of magma and fire.
"I will enjoy watching you try." She bowed graciously.
"Stay back." Nirte said and mimicked the sultan's general. "You two as well." He looked at the two jesters.
Nirte and the enemy general stared at each other for a few seconds, then leapt towards each other to clash their blades with a violence and power comparable to that of an elemental. A thunderous sound deafened them for an instant, sparks emanating from the blades each time they met in the air.
Termidas watched Nirte's movements, the old warrior was less agile than his foe, but what he lacked in speed he made up in calculation, every move he made he foresaw Riun's and intercepted the fiery blade with a soothsayer's precision.
But the southern general lashed out relentlessly, blow after blow rocking Duner's commander with the force of a monster and seeming to accumulate no fatigue despite the power she put into each thrust.
"Much to your regret we will help you, commander." Ozoki and Ozoku disappeared and materialised right behind the Sun Envoy, their daggers and swords drawn.
The materialisers attacked like spiders, each strike they launched at the woman of fire followed by a deft leap backwards or the same power that had brought them close to dodge the flaming sword's wrathful response.
But for all the immense agility these two displayed, neither was able to sink their steel into the red armour, let alone the flesh beneath...
Termidas watched the intense combat as he scanned around, looking for any other southern warriors that might be lurking nearby. From a distance he could see that the elementalist's fire came only from her sword, then he understood, then he knew that this warrior was holding back the extent of her immeasurable power.
But after a few seconds, among the deadly blows that filled that river bank with their sound, a strange melody appeared... The rhythm of fourteen different strings invaded the space with mysterious subtlety...
Within seconds, the four warriors stopped fighting and looked around. The two jesters used their power to return to the soldiers and as soon as they turned away from Riun, they swung their leg to the ground, their covered faces pointing to the same path they had taken to get there, where a white-masked figure with tears of blood appeared as he sounded his lute.
"Hello, gentlemen." The instrument stopped sounding and the soldiers felt as if a strange spell was lifted.
Riun stopped attacking the commander and looked at the figure, her armour seeming to burn for a second.
"Tears of Fire." She muttered and sheathed her sword.
Termidas didn't understand what was happening, and judging by Nirte's reaction, neither did his allies.
"I haven't heard that name in years." The strange musician responded to the enemy general's words with a bow and looked at them. "Soldiers of Hilgar, it will interest you to know that I have seen the sultan's forces to the east, the spoiling of Iril was the work of this fiery woman."
"Just one person against a whole town?" Nirte muttered, incredulous. "Who the hell are you?" he added right after.
"A simple traveller carrying his lute from side to side."
"We'll talk when I defeat this wretch." The commander replied grumpily and pointed his black sword at Riun once more.
"I've lost interest in you, ridgemen. Now I must return." Said the Envoy of the Sun and turned her back.
"Do you think we will let you go just like that?!" The Duner commander walked after the slender, red flaming figure.
But before he reached her a thick wall of fire appeared between the general and the others, the glow of the flames so powerful that even in broad daylight it dazzled the soldiers... Seconds later the burning wall disappeared and with it, the woman who had dared to confront them alone.
"Find her!" Nirte ordered, furious.
"You cannot defeat her, it will be wise to retreat for now." commented the man with the lute as he approached the two jesters, still kneeling in the middle of the road. "Ozoki, Ozoku, I knew I would find you here."
"We awaited your arrival, captain, aye, aye. Interesting times are approaching from the desert." Termidas couldn't see the materialiser's face, but he knew she was smiling from side to side.
"Why did that woman leave so soon after you appeared?" Nirte asked with his sword still unsheathed, his metal mask now looking at the stranger with suspicion.
"Maybe because I fought her before, maybe because she was bored, who knows." The musician replied, not caring. "The important thing now is to foresee what the southern forces will do." I have returned from the north with intentions of helping our dear king Fobert once more, and I intend to do a good job while I am here... Pleased to meet you, merry countrymen. My name is Ozoka of Filbar, the captain of the Six Jesters."
