The Fall of the Stars Book 1: Wheels of War

Gerey Nesell I

Sir Rynn Stant looked down the hill, marveling at the carnage below him. His gold and green armor had been plastered with the blood of his enemies. The six pointed star of House Starfront on his breastplate was smeared and red. His sword, Widowmaker, also stained, was planted firmly into the dirt by his foot.

Behind Rynn was Sir Gerey Nesell. Unlike Rynn, whose hair was fair and long, Gerey's was dark and cut short. He was of a height with Rynn but Stant's aura made Nesell look the smaller man. Gerey, too, was garbed in Starfront colored armor, but there was no golden six-pointed star decorating his breastplate or shield. His chest was bare, but his shield bore the smiling sun of Windmoor.

Rynn placed his left hand on Gerey's shoulder. "What a glorious victory, Gerey. Do you think my father would be pleased?"

"You know the king better than I. We lost many good men today, but he will rejoice when he learns that you have the eastern King's son and heir."

"That he will. I hope." Rynn dragged Widowmaker along the ground and made his way down the hill, Gerey right behind him. It could have been four hundred or four thousand dead, Gerey could not tell. Blood was everywhere, on tents, on wagons, on dead horses, on dead men, on living men. There was smoke, too, but Gerey could not tell where it was coming from. The men, some of them donning green, most of them in yellow, sprawled about the wasteland, scattered and discarded like dolls. The men who survived the battle or surrendered were being executed behind a giant fallen tree, as Rynn was not wont to travel with prisoners. 

Tyler Colter, young though he was, looked like an old man on the foot of death when Rynn and Gerey approached him. He had lost his left ear, Gerey saw, and his face had been beaten until his left eye had finally swollen shut. The thin brown spikes of fur on his face that would have formed a beard were dampened with blood, perhaps his own. His armor was dented and bent and the yellow crescent moon of House Colter was smudged beyond recognition. As Rynn and Gerey approached him, he stared at them pleadingly, as if they were to pity him. The two men holding Tyler by his arms bowed as Rynn entered their presence.

"What do you mean to do with me?" Tyler asked weakly.

"We're heading back to Minewood," Rynn said, "You will be ransomed off and hopefully put an end to this."

Tyler summoned the strength for a smile. His yellow eyes shined through the filth that covered him. "If I don't escape first."

"You're about as big a fool as your uncle was, yet not even half the fighter."

Tyler winced. "You shall pay dearly for that remark, bastard."

"Where is Brewis?" Rynn shouted. From a tent erected beside a fallen tree, a fat boy rolled out with a red sack in his arms. He was short and pink, with short dark hair like Gerey's. He hastily ran to Rynn, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Where is the closest place we may rest, Brewis? I fear we cannot make it back to Mewood by nightfall."

"There is a small village south and east of here, Sir. If we head at this instant, we'd be there before nightfall."

"Tell them to make haste with...that," Rynn said, pointing at the tree where the survivors were being executed. "We must be on the move soon." Rynn handed Widowmaker to the boy. "Hold my sword. I have lost the scabbard."

"Yes, Sir." The boy saluted Rynn and hobbled off back to the tree.

"A village so small cannot house this many men for long," said Gerey. The village, according to Brewis' map, was a mere hamlet with a few houses surrounded by a wall. The five thousand men that Sir Rynn went on campaign with probably numbered around three and a half thousand now.