To War 12.

Summer. The Province Of Karricaw. The Kingdom Of Melaurn.

They set down after midday, and disembark near the village.
They're a mixed squad of soldiers. Led by a scout named Lisell Maera. Who Maselle the runner has briefly met previously. Back in the wintertime. Up in the northwest of the lands Farque. When Maselle was a recruit, undergoing basic army training.
As they spread out and walk towards the village. Maselle who at fourteen, is the youngest in the squad by at least a couple of years.
Sees some of the villagers in the nearby fields already running away. As the squad of black clad soldiers who have got off the frigate nearby, walk towards the village.
The village is on the lands of a sir Omerk here in the province of Karricaw.
The local lord's keep, is a few miles away to the north.
From where the thuds and echoes of magetubes firing can be heard in the distance.
As another of the frigates in the fleet from the lands Farque destroys it.
The keep, a small castle if you can call it that. With just a single broach tower, and outer buildings, surrounded by a wall just twelve foot high.
Will be destroyed in mere moments by the magetubes on the twin masted frigate.
Meanwhile here in the village a few miles to the south of sir Omerk's keep.
The squad of soldiers are to clear out the village, then destroy it. In the simplest and easiest way possible. By burning it.
Maselle when she first heard the plans of attack here in the province of Karricaw in southern Melaurn.
Was a little worried they would be killing peasants, farmers and villagers.
But thankfully general Salmic and the field commanders, are giving the local population a little bit of leeway.
Though not particularly long, and if any of them resist they will be killed.
As they near the village, the third one so far today they're going to clear out, then destroy.
The teenage runner, or messenger in the scouts and rangers division in the first army of Farque. Who have been hired by the province of Corlinda, in a war against the province of Karricaw. Here in the south of the kingdom of Melaurn.
Knows that their won't be any men of fighting age in the village. As most, if not all of them. Have been pressed into serving in the army of the local lord this summer.
As the provinces of Corlinda and Karricaw dispute their border. A conflict that's been building for years. And has intensified this summer. Now war has broken out, beginning this morning.
A couple of hand signals is given by the scout Maera in the lead.
And young Maselle from northwestern Farque, finds herself following a pair of infantrymen.
Both of whom are in the light foot. Though one does where a steel breast plate, that's burnished black in colour. To match the rest of his armour, and clothing.
Maselle who has strung her bow, and has an arrow notched to it.
Looks away to their right, and sees an older man, pushing a cart, as he hurries out of the village.
He's followed by an older woman, who hobbles after him. As she carries a pack on her back. And a sack in her arms.
Some people instinctively know what to do. And the young runner in the mixed squad is glad that they do.
As she doesn't particularly want to shoot an unarmed peasant who is too dumb to flee, and wants to put up a fight.
Joven, the light foot trooper with the steel breast plate looks back at Maselle and nods.
She nods in return, and draws back her bow. Then he kicks open the front door of the first house they've come to.
The other light foot trooper, Killian, a short, lean young man in his late teens. Who has a shortsword in hand, ducks down low and enters the house as Maselle walks forward towards the front door.
"Clear!" comes the shout in elven from Killian inside the house.
The runner follows Joven, who in his early twenties is the oldest, and most experienced of the three black clad soldiers, who enter the house.
They quickly find a jug of cooking oil, and smash it across the floorboards infront of the small fireplace, where wood has been placed.
Killian lights the fire, the dry wood goes up quickly. And using a broom, he scoops out some of the burning wood, and let's it fall onto the floor.
Where Maselle and Joven have pushed the table, and placed the chairs on the floorboards that are slick with cooking oil.
The trio exit the house, as it catches fire behind them. And they move to the next house along in the village.
Where from the backdoor, a woman bolts, holding a small child by the hand.
The three soldiers in the first army of the lands Farque then set that house on fire. By spreading the smouldering coals that are in the small fireplace of the one room home.
As here and there throughout the village, houses and buildings are set alight.
While in the nearby fields, other soldiers from the frigate that's brought them here.
Start setting alight the crops of maize and beets. Two of the more prominent crops found throughout the south of the kingdom of Melaurn.
Maselle looks between a couple of houses, and sees a heavy foot trooper, in his steel armour covering him.
Kick apart the gates of an animal pen, sending some sheep, and a couple confused looking pigs, running in fright.
Maselle sees the surreal sight of one of the pigs stop and look at a burning house, watching it, most likely wondering what's going on, before it takes off running out of the village.
The teenage runner moves to one side, as does Joven and Killian infront of her. As a panicked draught horse runs their way between the houses.
The frightened horse usually accustomed to lazy days when it's not hauling a wagon full of produce to sir Omerk's keep a few miles to the north.
Gallops by, not really understanding it's new found freedom. As more of the houses and buildings in the village are set on fire by the mixed squad of soldiers in the first army of the lands Farque.
At the next house they come to, the trio share a look as they hear shouting from inside.
Joven gives the hand signal for careful, and Maselle and Killian respond with a nod each.
Then Joven kicks open the front door, which Killian enters keeping low, while Maselle with her bow drawn, follows behind her fellow soldiers in their lord's first army.
"Don't" says Killian in common in a calm tone of voice.
"Don't" adds Maselle the messenger in the same language, as she draws upon a woman in the house, who reaches out towards a large knife on the kitchen table.
There's a young girl with her behind the table, as well as a toddler sitting on the floor, amongst the rushes.
The woman backs away, and Joven calmly says "Take your children and leave".
"Where?" asks the woman, who can't be much older than Killian, and definitely younger than Joven.
"West" replies the more experienced of the trio of soldiers clad in black, who continues with "Head to the border".
As general Salmic, along with the three field commanders as they execute lord Farque's plans.
Want the local population here in Karricaw heading out west. So word quickly gets to the Karricaw army, and more importantly to lord Gormica. About what's happening all across the province.
Killian rips down a curtain and places food in it, and wraps it up, and hands it to the woman. While Joven fills up the water sack that's hanging from a rafter.
The local looks at the trio of black clad soldiers, as she straps the water sack to her back, then lifts the toddler up, and puts it on her right hip, as she ushers the young girl out the front door, as she carries the improvised sack of food.
Maselle only lowers her bow once the woman and the children are outside.
And though the woman looks back at the house, she hurries away with her children, as the house next door is going up in flames.
The two light foot troopers, and the runner all share a look. As all three of them noticed the little girl kept looking at the door to the other room in the small house.
Joven looks at Maselle, gives a hand signal, and nods for her to head around back.
The messenger makes her way quickly outside, and around to the back of the house.
She steps to the backdoor, and puts an ear to it, as she holds her bow, and an arrow in one hand.
Maselle steps back, and looks at the door. Picks a spot she thinks is best, then waits.
She doesn't have to wait long, for the runner hears the inside door open with a crash.
The young teenage soldier from northwestern Farque kicks the spot on the backdoor she's picked as being the weakest, and it slams open.
"Don't!" shouts Maselle who has quickly pulled back on her bow, and drawn a bead on a young man who has rusty, pitted axe in his hands. As he faces Joven and Killian, who with swords drawn, calmly face him, less than ten feet from him.
The young man, who has been able to avoid being pressed into the army of the local lord, sir Omerk.
And sent out to the border with the province of Corlinda. To join the rest of the forces from across the province of Karricaw.
Darts a harried look at the teenage girl in the black leather armour, and black tabbard.
Before he looks back at the two black clad soldiers who have entered the backroom of the house, and are calmly facing him.
"Don't do it" Maselle murmurs to herself, who then slightly grimaces as the local man shouts, and lifts up the axe.
He takes just a single step in the direction of Joven and Killian before he drops to the floor, with the arrow from the runner's bow through his throat and neck.
There's a moment of silence apart from the gurgling of blood in the throat and mouth of the local man, before Joven quietly says to Killian and Maselle in the elven language "Burn it".
As the other two, turn and head back into the other room, the messenger steps further into the house, and shakes her head as she looks down at the man, who gurgles his last breath.
Maselle looks to see if she can reuse that shaft, but finds it too damaged to do so.
And with one last look at the young local man she just killed. The runner in the scouts and rangers division of the first army of the lands Farque.
Joins the two infantrymen in the front room, to help them set the house on fire.
They step outside after setting the two room house alight. And Joven says "He must of been hiding out" followed by "Not wanting to go off to war with the other men of fighting age".
Both Maselle and Killian nod in agreement, then Killian dryly says "And look what that got him" he then adds "Dead".
The youngest of the trio of black clad soldiers looks away to the left, out of the village to the west.
And she spots the woman who lived in this house, with her two small children. Standing about forty yards from the village, looking back at her house in horror as it goes up in flames.
Maselle wonders if the young man she killed was the woman's husband, the father of the children.
Or if he was the woman's brother, or someone else in her family.
Whoever he was, he's dead now, the teenage messenger thinks to herself.
The young Farqian soldier sees the woman burst into tears, then turn and stumble away with her children. Following the other villages who are fleeing westwards.
The runner then turns away, and follows after Joven and Killian. And continues with the rest of their mixed squad to set the entire village on fire.
A little while later, and the squad are outside the village to the south of it, looking back at it as it burns.
While fire is spreading through the nearby fields.
"One as well" says Maselle the messenger in response to the squad leader, the scout Lisell Maera asking "Anyone kill any of them?".
After another of the soldiers says they killed one of the villagers.
"Idiot peasants" mutters the scout Maera, who then says "At least it was only two this time".
Maselle and some of the other squad members nod. As the last village they burnt to the ground this morning. They had to kill nearly ten of the locals who tried to put up a fight. Before the rest of those villagers about a dozen miles away to the southeast from here, eventually fled.
"Come on then" says Lisell Maera who gestures to their airship, which has just set down again nearby after circling the area.
The mix squad of black clad soldier from the lands Farque walk quickly back to the twin masted frigate.
Once onboard, the warship lifts off. And as it heads up in the to the afternoon sky, on this warm summer day here in the south of the kingdom of Melaurn.
Maselle the messenger looks away to the north, and in this distance, a few miles away, spots the pile of rubble that is all that's left of sir Omerk's keep.
Then she looks further away, back to the northeast as the frigate starts heading westwards.
And she spots smoke rising in the air from burning fields, and another village that's on fire.
While dotted here and there across the sky in this region of the province of Karricaw, she sees ships of her lord's fleet.
The young Farqian teenage soldier then looks down as she stands at the starboard rail of the twin masted frigate.
And on a dirt road below, she sees some of the locals from the village they've just set on fire.
Wandering westwards, in total shock at what's just happened.
Maselle spots the woman with the toddler, and the young girl. And wonders if they'll make it through this war between the provinces of Corlinda and Karricaw.
Then she looks ahead, where about half a dozen miles away to the west lies a town.
That the twin masted frigate, and two other warships in the Farqian fleet are heading towards.
As the army from the nation of Farque that's been hired by the province of Corlinda, bring war to the province of Karricaw . . . . . .