Adeline was slightly worried as the trio walked past the illusion and into the snowy area. After some time, she saw stones set in a circle. It looked very ceremonial. Bihse sat down, followed by Tymon and Adeline.

  “This pce is secluded, so it is safe for us to have our talk,” Bihse spoke as she gnced at Tymon, then Adeline. Adeline was now curious about how their talk went for things to be this serious. Tymon stared at his hands as if contempting something.

  “My former brother-in-w is stationed here. I did not think that he would remain here even after five years. While I was discussing things with the chieftain…”

  “Please call me Bihse; no need to be formal.” Bihse smiled at him as he cleared his throat.

  “While I was discussing things with Bihse, she described some of the sword masters here, and one of them matches him.”

  “What can you tell us about him?” Adeline was now fully invested.

  “His name is Risin. He was my wife’s youngest brother. Very talented, so I assume by now he’s a sword master. She also mentioned a man with red hair. His name is Jack. Like Risin, he is young but capable, so do not lower your guard around them.”

  “You want to spare Risin, don’t you?”

  “No, as much as I still care for him, I will not waver on the path I chose, but I want to be the one to face him.”

  “I think the person you should ask this is Bihse; this is her war and her people on the line.”

  Adeline stared at Bihse, who let out a heavy sigh. “I can allow that. I do not know your history yet, but I understand when it comes to family. If you wish to spare him or let him go, I will not be upset at you either.”

  “Hasn’t he killed a lot of your people and done a lot of damage?”

  “My people died as warriors and will join the goddess’ side. Unlike her other children, we pride ourselves on our might. We fight to protect the forest, not to enact revenge. As long as the humans leave the forest, we will be content. The question is, are you willing to pay the price for walking the path of justice?”

  Tymon fell silent for a moment. “He is a good person; I practically raised him, but he needs to understand what he's doing is wrong. If he doesn’t understand, I have no other option but to stop him.”

  “Things are not bck and white; you will have to make tough decisions, but you won’t be alone. I am always here for you.” Adeline had a very mischievous smirk on her face as she stared at Bihse. It was then she realized. “I mean, we are always here for you.”

  Tymon’s worries faded away and were repced by outright confusion. He found Bihse’s words and care comforting even when they started the talk yesterday, but he felt something was off. Bihse cleared her throat, grabbing his attention.

  “What can you tell us about Jack?”

  “He’s very narcissistic and cruel. He only fights for himself and to satisfy his bloodlust. Even during training, he would excessively hurt others or instructors who pointed out his foul behavior. That is also his biggest weakness; he views himself above others.”

  “I can attest to that. The way he butchers my people with no remorse; I have never seen such a foul soul.” Bihse nodded in agreement, but Adeline had a different view.

  “He’s just a spoilt brat who was pampered with a silver spoon. He may be strong, but he’s no warrior, and as such, I will not give him such a death. These so-called people from the empire are all just cowards who run the moment things get hard.” Adeline was very disappointed at them; these people were nothing short of brainless bullies in her eyes. Tymon was already used to her outburst as he simply shook his head and continued.

  “The Duke should also be present deep inside the fortification. He is a seasoned sword master, so be very wary of him.”

  “So, three or more sword masters; how many knights?”

  “There should be around forty or more knights and a massive amount of soldiers. The northern fortress is known for never colpsing since the formation of the empire; we called it the iron wall of Segar.”

  Adeline’s blood started to pump at the thought of a worthy fight; an eerie smile slowly appeared. “We will break their wills, then take their precious wall. It is there we will create our new kingdom.”

  Bihse loved the idea and enthusiasm, but it would be difficult, not impossible. An idea slowly formuted in her head as the decades of experience took hold. “They already have a rough idea of our capabilities except for our shaman’s ability. We should find a way to make them chase me and Adeline; this Jack fellow seems the most likely, then our main troop will sneak in using illusionary magic.”

  “That would imply you have found a way inside.” Tymon spoke as he looked up to Bihse, who had a smirk.

  “Indeed. Every time we raid, the smallest amongst us sneaks under the cover of darkness and digs an underground tunnel. It should be nearly done.”

  “That is indeed clever.”

  “Of course, I am the one who came up with it. The issue is we need to draw at least half of their forces, and the group going in needs to be small in number.”

  “So every elite soldier except for you and Adeline need to be with us.” Adeline was not entirely convinced of the pn. “I feel like Bihse should join that group; I should manage with just Joseph and the trolls. We need to secure victory, so we need to overpower them.”

  “That is out of the question; you need to survive no matter the cost.” Tymon instantly rejected that idea; Bihse was still contempting.

  “She is right, I need to be the one to face the Duke. You have to face your brother-in-w, and the rest need to hold off the soldiers plus any other threats. My brother is strong; if you have him by your side, he should provide adequate help.”

  Tymon reluctantly agreed as Adeline started to draw something on the ground as the others drew closer. She drew a very rudimentary map with the wall and the forest marked and other ndmarks. “So I go here, talk shit, he comes after me, you sneak the other way, get inside, take over it, more reinforcements come, then we hopefully deal with the assigned targets.”

  “One problem, we will be entering blind.” Bihse pointed that out, but Tymon was ahead. “We send Alfred to reconnaissance to collect as much information as possible without getting detected. Only a handful of people can notice a hydra.”

  “We should also pn to go in blind if things develop in that direction.” Adeline added.

  “If that does happen, we just need to make sure everyone isotes their opponents.” Bihse spoke as she gnced at the two of them, Tymon had a frown as he stared at the make-shift map.

  “This is very dangerous, the stakes are high.”

  “We cannot continue this battle of attrition while the empire slowly continues to amass more strength. If I am being blunt, they could blow us away if they chose to.”

  This was the unfortunate truth, they continued to talk about their pn as they accounted for the different scenarios. Tymon was the first to leave to hand out tasks to Joseph, who would be monitoring the wall, and Alfred, who was to infiltrate the wall through the opening Bihse had created. Adeline looked at Bihse with a smile as they too made their way back slowly.

  “So how was the conversation you had yesterday? Did you talk all night long?”

  “It was quite pleasant; Tymon is a very good man.” Bihse spoke with a small smile as they walked back slowly. Adeline did not intrude further as she changed the topic to fighting and swords.