Perched high on the cliffs above the mist-covered Blackened Forests, on the western edge of the Grand Duchy of Belse, stood the fortress known as Kraddok's Teeth, built atop one of its highest points. Previously, it was one of the first lines of defense against Ishillia, close to the border, built generations ago, just to fall beyond use and repair in the past decade. Right now, it has become home to a new kind of people, a Warband from the time the allied armies were pushed out of Ishillia, and the joint assault of Belse, Sprinland, Irgath, and Scorc had failed. Something that was already almost two decades ago.

Right now, this hard-to-approach fortress has become the nest of the Wraiths, as they like to call themselves, organizing raids in the region and repelling multiple assaults of the local lords from their chosen perch.

"Close the gates!" growled a deep voice as fifty or so riders passed the stone gates of the outer courtyard, heading into the castle proper. He was Darnic Vohl, a hulking man with a crooked nose that was scarred and broken at least a dozen times, if not more. He wore chainmail reinforced by patchwork plates from different armor sets, anything he could find throughout his raids. "And get the goods unloaded before anything rots in there and spoils the rest!"

Behind him, there were six croaking wagons, groaning under the weight of the crates looted from the Avalonian train they raided a few hours ago. They took whatever they found: flour, jerky, clothes, foreign fruits, raw metals, and some kind of machine parts, half of which were unrecognizable to the locals who followed Darnic's lead. But, whatever they were, they knew it had to be valuable. They could trade it for silver, gold, or something else; there were always people who would pay for things coming from Avalon.

Plus... more than goods, they had taken two living prizes.

"Careful with them," Fenna Korr muttered, who was the second-in-command, a battle-worn woman with a perpetual sneer stuck on her face. She was in the middle of handing over two bruised, bloodied, and blindfolded men bound at the wrists. "They're engineers or whatever they call themselves," Fenna said, sneering. "They were the ones running that metal shitbox... the train, they call it. They know how it works, so they are worth even more than ten of you!"

"And they'll teach us how to disable them quickly and efficiently," Darnic replied flatly, spitting into the mud as they marched into the main yard. "Or we start cutting." He added, making sure the two prisoners heard him.

The younger bandits, already coming forth and unloading their haul, cheered as they heard him speak. Victorious... They were at the top of the world now. They had struck Avalon's iron beast, and what a haul it was... This was the first time they managed to do it that anyone managed to do it, and although Darnic wouldn't say how they stopped that monster, it didn't matter. This was a blow to that same Avalon they had heard about every year, and it was done by them, not by the mighty Ishillia or Geth... No. They did it.

And tonight, they would celebrate.

... .... ......

Johan winced as he was shoved to his knees, thrown into a cold, damp cell, but at least no longer bound and blindfolded. But his injury... it still hurt, and he could feel he might not live long with the amount of blood he had lost. Arik coughed beside him, his face pale and dusty as he looked around, trying to adapt to the dark hole they found themselves in. The bruises, cuts, and swollen lumps from the raid still throbbed, but worse than the pain was the memory of the burned bodies they left behind... Twenty men and women, most of them Avalonian specialists... All of them had been slaughtered.

Just earlier that morning… It was... unexpected.

The train had come to a halt near a curve in the forest line, deep in the heart of Belse's wilderness. Johan stood beside the steam engine, sleeves rolled to the elbow, wiping oil from his hands, explaining to the locals who they were training what to do if something similar happened for real. Yes... because this was only an exercise, something they were teaching to the selected Belse people, their future conductors. Arik crouched next to him, speaking and pointing out the parts he was mentioning.

"This is the emergency valve," Arik explained, tapping a bronze handle beneath the boiler. "If the pressure gets too high, as it did now, you turn this... slowly! Not all at once, understood? Slowly. Otherwise, you'll blow out half the engine."

"And we don't want to do that," Johan shrugged, reinforcing the danger, "It can kill you, so keep that in mind!" The locals nodded, wide-eyed, watching while gulping. Seeing their reaction, Johan chuckled and added with a smirk, "And if you hear a whine that makes your teeth hurt, run. That means something's gone wrong deep in the combustion regulator. You don't want to be near it when it goes pop..."

They were mid-instruction, just beginning to uncouple the third car to simulate a repair drill, when the trees erupted with loud shouts. Then, a scream cut the air, belonging to one of the younger engineers, Arik realized. He fell with something sticking out from his thigh... Then he realized what it was... an arrow. Then... Dozens of them came, whistling from the treeline. A moment later, another one was embedded in Johan's shoulder before he even realized what was happening. Then came the raiders: dirty bastards, armored in mismatched steel and boiled leather, their faces painted in war stripes, howling like hungry wolves.

They struck with brutal abandon, ignoring the cries of surrender, easily slaughtering the Belse guard regiment traveling with them. Arik noticed that their guards on the train never had a chance. They were cut down by the raiders' swords or were riddled with arrows before their own weapons even cleared their sheaths. Johan tried to shout and attempt to warn the others, but the arrow in him was like a silencing spell. Arik wanted to pull him to safety, but only a moment later, a boot slammed into his chest, knocking him down the slope beside the train.

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Dizzy, rolling on the gravel, Arik remembered the blood splashing onto the iron. A woman... yes... from his team, Helena... She was dragged from the second car and gutted in front of the screaming apprentices. Then... Another was shot through the mouth while begging, the arrow impaling his face to the side of the wooden carriage, still alive, whining in agony.

Ignoring the vertigo he was feeling, Arik tried to stand up and fight. He picked up a wrench and stood before the injured, already delirious Johan... He remembered that he even crushed a skull with it. But there were too many... And for some reason, they were spared. Instead of being killed, they tied them up while they looted the cargo and then set the bodies, dead or not, on fire.... along with the train itself.

"The bastards will pay..." Johan muttered painfully, breathing laboriously. "I just want to live long enough..."

"I know..." Arik whispered back, his voice much steadier than his friend's, "To see them die..."

Unlike them, these will not get a chance; both of them knew that, especially not after what they did. They spent five years atoning for attacking Avalon and then joining it, becoming part of it... These people? They knew that these bastards were not going to get the same chance.

... .... ......

Inside the fortress's main hall, Darnic sat atop a crude throne fashioned from broken trophies from their multiple years of campaigns, attacking caravans everywhere around the country. A dozen of his captains gathered around the long table, which had maps and scribbled parchment thrown across its surface, pinned to it by knives.

"We should send word," Darnic said, "First, to those who are against Queen Shi. Tell them we have two of Avalon's engineers for fifty thousand in gold for each if they want their knowledge."

"They won't pay," Fenna argued, arms crossed. "They may even betray us for a favor and sell us out."

"Then we gut the engineers and melt back into the trees," Darnic growled. "Then nobody will get anything! They know that we have lived off this forest for more than ten years. We'll live off it ten more, then!"

"Hmph," someone scoffed. "We can start raiding their trading routes if they try to oppose us."

"Damn right!" Darnic slammed a gauntlet on the table. "We will extract the knowledge first anyway. Then, we will start selling it to everyone... We will become so rich that we will buy our own land! Maybe Belise itself... "He stood slowly, "The country we fought for and the country that betrayed us... This is our land. And we'll remind them what it costs to take it from its people!"

... .... ......

Arriving at the capital city of the Grand Duchy didn't cause much chaos, thanks to the fact that the locals were alerted ahead of time that Avalon was coming to visit. Gathering in excitement, the local children pointed from balconies and rooftops, watching the Punisher sail down from the skies and take a few circling rounds above the city before settling down outside the city walls. Of course, Shi's personal guards were there, standing at attention and welcoming them, but somehow, their faces looked way too restrained.

It was the first thing that Arthur noticed as he descended the boarding ramp along with Veron, Shi, and four Avalonian warriors.

"Welcome home, my Queen, and welcome to the Grand Duchy of Belse, honored Lord of Avalon, Young Arthur," the head of the guards greeted them, smiling despite his obvious nerves. "You have arrived very quickly."

"Flying is as such," Arthur offered a nod, his eyes scanning the others and his senses feeling that something was off. They were afraid. Of them... Of Avalon... He could tell, but it wasn't a simple feeling... It had a reason behind it. Something bad happened.

"Did something transpire while I was away?" Shi inclined her head, also noticing the strange stiffness in her Guard Captain's posture, "Is there an issue with our scouts? I was hoping we could review the recent news the moment we returned..."

Just as she began speaking, she was interrupted by the pale face of her Guard Captain.

"Your Majesty. Lord Arthur..." He began, gulping, "We received a falcon dispatch from the scouting party... The Avalonian train was late, and when we went to look, we discovered that they had been attacked. The entire escort team is..." He paused, looking at Arthur before averting his eyes, "...dead. We counted the bodies, and... Two of them are missing."

Listening to his words, Arthur's jaw tensed at once, and to his left, Veron didn't move, but his eyes narrowed at the Guard Captain.

"Who were the survivors?" Arthur asked, his voice calm but lower than his appearance should suggest. "Do we know?"

"We can only guess, but... Probably the two Avalonian engineers. They were instructing local technicians on emergency engine maintenance when the train was halted, and the bandits stormed the site..."

"..." Listening to the report, Queen Shi's face went white. "That was an Avalonian line… under my protection." She hissed, gritting her teeth, as this was way too big of a blunder.

"And your people paid with their lives trying to defend it," Arthur sighed, his tone calm enough to show he wasn't blaming Shi. Well... at least not now. "This wasn't your fault, Your Grace. But there will be a response." He added, preserving the Queen's face before her subordinates.

"I understand," she said quietly. "Feel free to mete out just punishment."

"That we will do." Arthur nodded as he turned to Veron. "Prepare a response team. I want an overflight of the area immediately."

... .... ......

Fifteen minutes later, the Punisher was airborne again, gliding low over the country's forested valleys. As it approached the site, the sunset lit the sky in amber and blood-red hues, just as the wreckage looked below them. Thick smoke still curled from the remains of the wrecked train, and there was clearly an explosion when the unchecked boiler exploded, looking like a mangled spaghetti monster at the moment.

But it was not all... The site was a slaughterhouse. The burned bodies were recovered by the scouts, and they were now lying across the tracks. From the ship's Imaginary, they quickly assessed all the damage and noticed that many of the supplies meant for the local villages were gone.

No one spoke on the bridge as they silently followed Arthur's commands, zooming on where he ordered, examining the site without ever touching down.

"That's enough." He said after they had circled the place for the fifth time. "Queen Shi," he continued, turning towards the Queen who came with them alongside two of her guards. "We need to know where they might have taken our people."

"Well," She swallowed, then nodded, not trying to hold anything back. "There's only one place. An abandoned fortress called Kraddok's Teeth is high in the cliffs to the northwest. It used to be a northern watchtower of sorts, one of the multiple bases to halt any possible Ishillian incursion. Still, we were unable to maintain it after the war was over, and it has been abandoned since then."

"Bandits took it, and we've never been able to reclaim it." The Guard Captain added, trying to give an excuse, "It is simply too well-defended. They are only between two and three hundred, but if we want to take that fortress, we need ten times the manpower... Something that we can't afford to throw at it at the moment."

"I see," Arthur said, looking toward the horizon. "Well, then you won't miss it if it's gone." Then he turned to his crew without waiting for an answer. "Helm set course for Kraddok's Teeth! Approach low and from the west. I want to arrive just as the sun touches the trees, so they can't see the ship coming. Not until it's too late... and they can't run away anymore."

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