Clash of Pikes

Chapter 4

 The Kingdom of Dunasia was a land only heard about in stories by the residents of Ludeccia. According to the stories it was a land of knights, magic, and nobility. According to Francis Delannoy, the only Dunasian in the entire regiment, it was a land of oppressive feudalism, backwards technology, and abused magic.

Captain Rienzo had recently accepted a contract requiring the Shattered Shafts to march to the disputably reputable kingdom. After contracting some replacements to bring the regiment back to a full strength of roughly three thousand men, they started the march.

Unfortunately for them, Dunasia was almost completely separated from the rest of the world. The only way to reach Dunasia was via a single mountain pass, isolating it from the rest of the world. It was probably for this reason Captain Rienzo had accepted this particular contract, they needed to lie low.

The Ablaregno family was apparently quite extensive, a large bounty was placed on their company. One of Benito's cousins in particular had promised fifteen thousand silvers to any man who'd break Mateo's kneecaps and throw him into the ocean (that specific condition and no less). The bounty wouldn't last long of course, as the family's anger would cool as they'd soon realize how ridiculous it was to spend so much money over a dead man. But until that day they needed a place to hide.

On one hand, Mateo was excited to travel to the kingdom. He'd grown up hearing stories of plentiful magic and tales of knightly heroism. On the other hand, he was currently busy trying not to freeze his balls off as he marched alongside his company in the freezing mountain temperatures.

"C-come on men--y-you stop moving you d-die!" The cold caused Mateo's teeth to chatter as he yelled at his men. His men marched past several frozen men who'd decided it was best to take a rest.It served as a constant reminder to the men to keep moving.

Mateo struggled as he climbed up the final ridge on the mountain, after that it would be all down hill. Step after step, he and his men finally made it to the top of the path and gazed down upon their first sight of Dunasia. Rolling fields of green and a bright rainbow was the first thing to meet their vision, soon after they spotted several massive citadels of what looked to be pure marble.

"L-looks just like p-paradise..." Mateo didn't know if it was tears of joy of the chattering that made it hard to say.

The Shattered Spears made their way off the mountains and arrived at the first sign of civilization: a real road. As they marched upon it, their eyes caught sight of several farms. Mateo was quick to observe them, hoping to find some sign of the widespread magic he'd heard about. Instead what greeted him were unusually short and filthy peasants miserably working in the fields. As they walked past more and more peasants, Mateo's enthusiasm began to die down. Maybe Francis was right.

The regiment was supposed to head to the Dunasia's capital, Brice, and as they came closer to the city Mateo began to spot several of the things he'd heard about in stories.

The first oddity that stood out was a wizard traveling down the road in a floating cart. The men gaped in disbelief as he traveled past. Most of them had never seen magic in their lives and those who did only got a glimpse of a minor spell. Yet here in Dunasia, a wizard was traveling alone. The few wizards in Ludeccia always traveled with a large armed escort. The local wizards were also furtive and secretive about their ways. But here, the wizards were openly practicing their magic.

The second oddity was the flying horse. It was a pegasus according to the tales, carrying a knight on it's back. The men were at first in awe but that soon turned to horror when the knight fly down and trampled a peasant woman who was in his landing path. Instead of helping the woman, he instead yelled at her in Dunasian and continued on his way. Even if most of the company men didn't speak a lick of the language, the tone was obvious: Out of the way!