Where the two generals sit inside one of the tents Generals Erik and Thornand begin discussing their plan:Planning Meeting – Command Tent
Thorn stands before the map, his eyes locked on the details, his finger moving slowly along the eastern wall. Erik stands beside him, impatient.
Thorn begins:"The eastern wall is weaker. It has old cracks. This is the breach point. We go in from here."
Erik responds quickly:"Give me the troops and I'll get in."
Thorn raises his hand:"Wait. We enter from the east, but we distract them in the north first. We strike the northern wall with catapults, they pull their forces there. Then we hit the east. The southern gate stays open, anyone who runs, we don't pursue."
Erik looks at the map:"And me?"
Thorn points with his finger:"You lead the eastern assault. You enter through the fracture point, head straight to the central elevation. You take it, raise the banner. The city falls."
Erik smiles:"Good. And the rest?"
Thorn replies calmly:"I hold the north, keep them engaged, don't let them move. Cavalry around the city, cutting the roads. Reserves at the southern gate, they don't move unless one of us needs them."
Erik turns to leave, but Thorn's voice stops him:"Wait. How many will you take in the first wave?"
Erik turns back: "Twenty thousand."
Thorn shakes his head: "Too many. The streets are narrow. Twelve thousand is enough. The rest come in waves."
Erik stares at him for a moment, then nods: "Twelve thousand. And I won't stop until the elevation."
Thorn looks at him coldly: "Don't stop. And if you do, I'll be the one coming behind you."
Erik exits quickly. Thorn returns to the map, marking angles, calculating steps. Short time, simple plan, a wall breached, an elevation taken, a city opened.
Erik moved toward the army camp, where soldiers had begun gathering in uneven lines. He stood on a raised rock and lifted his voice:
"Soldiers !!!Look at Asou. This is just the beginning. This is the first stone on our road to the heart of their entire kingdom.They say Asou is an impregnable fortress. They say it is the Gate of the East. And I tell you: whoever controls Asou controls all roads leading to the northeast. Whoever enters Asou finds the path paved to the rest of their eastern cities and villages.We will not stop at its walls. Its walls are nothing but a small obstacle. Beyond them are their plains, beyond them their mountains, beyond them their palaces and their treasures. Their entire kingdom lies open before us, and Asou is the key.I am not asking you to die for me. I am asking you to live, to live and take what your swords deserve. The spoils of Asou await the bold. The women of Asou await the victorious. The gold of Asou awaits the hand that reaches and takes it.And what comes after Asou is greater. Every village that falls, every city that opens, every fortress that collapses... means we move one step closer to our dream: subjugating their entire kingdom, turning it into a memory in the books of history.Today Asou. Tomorrow their great cities. The day after... their capital. And then nothing will remain called Orvalis, only new lands where our banners fly.I will be at the front. Behind me or before me... what matters is that you are with me. Every wall we break, every city we take, brings us closer to the final end.Now... take your spears in your right hands, your shields in your left, and let them see who we truly are. Not conquerors of a city... conquerors of a kingdom!"
He raised his sword high, then shouted at the top of his voice:"Forward... to Asou... and beyond it!"
The soldiers roared back loudly "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" raising their swords high
At night... the night was thick, a sky without a moon, as if the darkness itself had conspired with the army to hide it. The forces moved like a calm flood before it bursts. Fifty thousand soldiers leaving their camp in silence, no sound rising except the soft thud of footsteps on fine dirt, and the faint clink of swords brushing their sheaths from time to time.
The catapult wagons moved slowly, their wooden wheels groaning under the weight of stones, oil, and tar. The cavalry on the flanks, their horses muzzled so they wouldn't neigh. Archers in the front, walking behind mobile shields like shadows preceded by bodies of wood and leather.
Erik in the center, mounted on his black horse, head raised forward, not turning right or left. Behind him, ranks of infantry stretched like a moving wall of iron and leather. Above them, the banner had not yet been raised, still wrapped around its pole. Asou was miles away, yet the glow of its torches flickered on the distant horizon like the eye of a sleeping beast. The wall was a black phantom standing between earth and sky… the city for now… only a few miles away...
The catapult wagons stopped at a designated distance, and the engineers began setting them up in silence, tying ropes and fixing the bases into the soft ground. Every movement was calculated, every whisper suppressed. Soldiers spread behind small hills, behind scattered rocks, among tall grass dried by the cold. They lay on their stomachs, faces pressed to the dirt, eyes fixed on the distant walls where the guards' torches shimmered like low stars.
The horses were tied behind a sand dune, their mouths bound, their hooves wrapped in cloth so they wouldn't make a sound. Archers lined up behind the mobile shields that had been quietly placed atop the small elevations.
In the middle of the temporary camp, where the commanders gathered behind a massive rock that concealed them from the guards' sight, Erik stood watching the walls. Thorn stood beside him, his eyes never leaving a small hourglass he had placed on a flat stone, measuring time with precision.
Erik turned to him and whispered in a cold voice:"How much time is left?"
Thorn looked at the glass, then at the sky, then at the distant walls. He replied in a voice no louder than a whisper:"The guards have started rotating. That means midnight has passed."
Erik turned his face toward the walls, his eyes trying to pierce the darkness:"What signal are you waiting for?"
Thorn lifted his gaze to the sky, then said calmly:"You'll know it… just wait."
**A few hours earlier... Thorn exited the logistics tent, and the logistics commander had already stepped outside, shouting at his assistants: "The seventeenth wagon! Where is the seventeenth wagon? We have no time! Load the catapults first, ladders second, oil and tar last!"
Thorn didn't turn. He walked quickly toward another section of tents. A large, wide tent, where dozens of soldiers sat. Some sharpening their swords, some fastening their armor, some lying on their backs asleep with mouths open.
In the far corner, a young man sat hunched. He wasn't sharpening a sword, because he didn't have one. He wasn't fastening armor, because he didn't own any. He wore a worn gray robe, and a hood covering half his face. His eyes were wide open, staring at nothing.
Thorn entered the tent, didn't look at anyone, stopped in front of the young man. He whispered in a voice only he could hear:"Get ready."
The young man lifted his head. Looked at Thorn. Said nothing. He rose quietly, as if his body had no connection to the ground.
They left together. On the way, Thorn placed his hand on his shoulder and said:"You're the only spy I rely on. Don't fail me."
The young man smiled. A smile that didn't reach his eyes.
At midday, he slipped beneath one of the wagons entering the city... then got down after crossing and began walking through the city.
The streets were crowded. Children running, women talking, merchants calling out. He paused for a moment at a narrow alley, and suddenly…
"What is this? Why do I feel this?"
He felt something in his chest. As if a cold knife was being driven slowly between his ribs. He didn't understand it... he looked around...
In front of him, two children were fighting. No blood, no wounds, just childish anger and shoving.
"Willi! I wanted to play with her first!" said one."And I, Hans, left the house early to look for her!" replied the other.
They exchanged a few light punches on the shoulders, harmless but filled with real anger. The girl sat on the step of a nearby house, chin on her knees, her eyes staring at them in silent anger.
She suddenly stood, rushed between them, stretched her arms and stopped them. She looked at one, then the other, then said in a sharp firm voice:"If you love me, then stop!!"
They stopped. Looked at each other, lowered their heads. The girl grabbed their hands and walked forward with them, as if leading two small lambs that had caused trouble in the field. They walked behind her with lowered heads, no one speaking.
He smiled... laughed. Then in a moment, he stopped laughing.
He said to himself "Why...Why did I laugh ?...This is their city...These are our enemies.. Why did a young child make me...laugh?"
His smile faded. A contradiction struck his chest. He walked away from the alley.
After midnight. The streets were empty. The spy moved like a shadow, a piece of red chalk in his hand.
He drew a mark on the wall of a barracks. A circle with a cross inside it.
"How many marks have I drawn in my life? How many cities have fallen because of me? How many families have I ruined?"
He moved to another building. A weapons depot. He drew the mark.
"These soldiers who will die tonight... do they have mothers waiting for them? Do they have children sleeping now, unaware their father won't return?"
He walked to a third building. Garrison command. He drew the mark.
"I am not a killer... I only place marks. But marks kill. My hands are clean... but the blood is on my conscience."
A fourth building. Supply storage.
"The innocents who will starve after their supplies burn... what is their fault? They did not fight me. They did not threaten me. They did nothing."
He kept moving. Every guard building received its mark.
"I commit crimes knowingly. And I continue. How do I continue? How do I not collapse?"
He stopped. Looked around. The red spread across the walls like leprosy.
"This is a guard building. And this a weapons depot. And this a supply storage. And this a command. And this... and this…"
He whispered to himself in a hoarse voice:"I have marked every building belonging to the guards."
He lifted his head to the sky. Took out his bow. An arrow. Wrapped a piece of cloth, dipped it in oil.
Tears fell before he lit the fire.
"One last sin... one last sin... one last sin, then I'm done."
He lit the cloth. Raised the bow. Shot into the sky... the arrow rose like a red star.
He walked with heavy steps toward the nearest alley. Collapsed in the corner, back against the wall, knees to his chest. He looked at the ground.
Tears began to fall silently. Then a small hoarse laugh. Crying and silence. Laughter and tears. Both at once.
"It's simple... I just want to become a farmer... a shepherd... to have a small hut and a family... children I sit with and laugh... it's simple... I just want peace."
**Flashback
It was a sunny morning. He and his twin brother stood in the house yard. Their father waiting.
"Who will help me today in the farm?"
The twins looked at each other. Smiled.
"Rock... Paper... Scissors!"
They threw. The spy won... he rejoiced and jumped. Then looked at his father... "The loser goes to work with you on the farm... right?"
The father surprised them: "Today I'm going to the city."
The other twin rejoiced. The spy asked eagerly: "I want to go too!"
The father looked at him smiling: "Didn't your brother lose today? He's the one coming with me."The brother laughed happily "See? He who laughs last laughs a lot"
He left the hut angry, kicked a small stone in front of him and walked aimlessly. As he walked through the paths, he met his friends.One of them called him"Come quickly!"
They hid in a hay wagon heading to the neighboring village until they got off in the village and headed to the bakery in the town square, and there they all stood staring in wonder. A beautiful girl stood by the window decorating flowers, strands of her golden hair falling over her face.
"I'll be the one to flirt with her today!""No, me!""No, me!"
They competed and laughed… **back to the alley... "It truly was a beautiful day."
The spy was still sitting in the alley, his tears drying on his cheeks.
"What brought me here? What turned me into this?"
He covered his face with his hands. The alley was dark and the sky above showed no stars. He cried silently...