A Crowned King (Complete)

Chapter 18

Dana Proof snuck along with a half dozen others, moving north towards the border. Having forgone their steel armor for soft leather armor and dark cloaks to camoflauge them, they moved along silently through the forest in a loose formation. The others were just around her only three or four feet from her as they moved through the tight trees that lead to the border of Star and Galtea.

The seven of them had been chosen by the Lord General himself and sent on an ultra-secretive mission. They were to sneak behind enemy lines, ascertain whether or not Galtea meant to make war on them or not, and then return to the Three Towers with their findings. They were being trusted by Darius to carry out this mission undetected and Dana had been given the command of the Scouts.

The other six would have to listen to her commands and do what she said or face possible court-martial. She wasn't certain how she'd managed to be trusted by Lord Darius so early on, but she would take it as is. Her mother had commanded her to gain the trust of the Lord General and she had managed it somehow.

The seven Scouts traveled for days in complete silence covering a lot of ground in a single day. When they were done moving for the day, they would set up camp and bed down for the night, but they would rise and begin again long before the sun came up. Because of this they had made good time and had passed into Galtea more than two days ago. Because of the snows they had been forced to switch their cloaks inside out from black to white, better cloaking them from sight.

On the sixth day of their journey they found themselves outside of the city know as Snowmarch. Snowmarch was the north-western city and was heavily fortified with tall wooden gates as well as archers patrolling the walls. However it could barely be called a city due to its small aize and the fact that it was made entirely out of wood. It could easily be put to the torch and everyone smoked out of Snowmarch.

But that was not their intent today though she would make note of it and pass it along to the Lord General. It would be useful information if there was a war to come. Then, something else caught her eye and she turned to look. Coming from the south -- directly behind them and coming there way -- was a large column of men and women. From what she could see they were dressed in steel armor carrying axes, lances, shields, and heavy two-handed swords. Most of them had their faces painted with shades of blue, red, or green paint in all different designs. She quickly surmised that there was at least over a thousand soldiers and warriors. And they were right in the middle of the soldiers marching to Snowmarch.

"What do we do?" asked one of the other scouts as he moved up beside her. John Gabriel, a small slender dark haired man with blue eyes, stared into her face, his own filled with concern. "We're going to die if we stay where we are."

The Noble looked around, searching for a way to get out of this. There was really nothing that they could do. They were out in the middle of an open plain with nothing except for a ridge to the east, the city to the north, and the marching soldiers to the south. There was only one option for escape and they had to move quickly. She signaled the scouts towards the ridge and made the sign for quick and sly.

Dana moved forward, crouching low as she made her way towards the ridge. She felt the presence of the other six scouts behind her following to the ridge and she felt proud of herself. Apparently she was a good enough commander that they listened to her without complaint or hesitation. She'd never thought of herself as a scout, but just from this brief stint she could already see herself in a career like this one.

They had to survive the predicament they were in first.

Reaching the ridge unmolested, the Noble crouched down close to the rock of the ridge, pulling her cloak tight to her to further conceal her. Seconds later, the other scouts reached the rock and did the same. They were now safely concealed, and with a pounding heart, she realized that they hadn't been spotted either. There was no cry of alarm from the soldiers, no one splintered off from the group to investigate, nothing. She knew they had been lucky though. If they'd had any kind of discipline, the soldiers would've sent outriders out ahead of them to scout the area and be certain no enemies were around. They apparently thought that Star wasn't already on alert to them. That was good. That meant they still had the element of surprise and that won wars just as much as numbers did.