The raid on the village

Aldhuil could hear Fileas curse beside him.

"Soldiers of the Inner Kingdoms," the captain whispered "But it looks like just a dozen of them. Probably just a raiding party pillaging food for some larger army nearby. I bet they weren't counting on us showing up today."

Fileas called over Delahir and the two laid out their plan of attack. Delahir took off with some footsoldiers. Fileas stayed behind with the bowmen. Slowly so as to not snap any twigs Fileas and his fighters crept from tree to tree until they were quite close to their enemies. Aldhuil kept in the back, unsure if he should follow the soldiers. When Fileas' archers were in position they drew their bow and waited.

All of a sudden there was a loud clamor coming from the left. Unnerved by the sudden outcry the soldiers of the Inner Kingdom fell back towards the village square where they were in clear view of Fileas' archers.

"Now!" Fileas yield as they unleashed a hail of arrows on their unsuspecting enemies.

Aldhuil had his bow already drawn when Fileas gave the order. The soldiers around him had already fired their first shot and were already nocking another arrow. But he couldn't bring himself to fire. He was having second thoughts about having to kill another human. The fear on the faces of the men they were decimating betrayed human emotions that were all too familiar to the young man. At last he closed his eyes and let his arrow fly. He could hear Fileas yell for Delahir to attack. Opening his eyes he saw the rest of Ciorlochal's soldiers rush from the side at their enemies. Akarnon was cutting down all resistance with broad strokes of his axe while Linuir used her dagger to slash a soldier she was grappling with on the ground. In the corner of his eye Aldhuil saw men of the Inner Kingdoms trying to flee the fighting.

"Don't let them get reinforcements," Fileas yelled, pointing at the fugitives. His bowmen struck the fleeing men down with well placed shots of their bows. The fighting was finished before it had even begun.

"Search for survivors," Fileas ordered as he and his men broke cover "Disarm the wounded but don't tend to them. We don't have time for prisoners."

Fileas and his men searched silently through the burned out wreckage. Wisps of stinging smoke rose relentlessly from the burnt timber. Small flames still licked the tipped of the charred frames, devouring what little was left of the wreckage. The soldiers threaded cautiously over the fallen timber as they inspected the inside of each buildings. Every now and then a soldier would reach down and grab a weapon from a fallen enemy.

Aldhuil could now clearly see the faces of the men they had slain. The soldier of the Inner Kingdoms wore heavy metal armor and chainmail over blue grey and white robes. Aldhuil remembered that those had also been the colors of Dain-Geleachan. He found it peculiar but didn't think much more of it. Most of them were armed with large axes. They didn't look like evil men to him. There was nothing sinister about their face or their garb. If anything they resembled professional soldiers.

The young man remembered how he hadn't been able to bring himself to fire his bow. It felt wrong to him to have to kill other human beings. Fileas and his men may have been fighting the Inner Kingdoms for a while. But for Aldhuil the idea of having to kill another human felt unfamiliar and wrong. This wasn't something the warrior had anticipated.

He suddenly spotted something that gave him pause. A white feathered arrow was protruding from the heap of fallen bodies. Aldhuil recognized it as one of his own arrows. No one else in the company had white fletched arrows. The warrior came over and saw that the arrow had lodged itself in the stomach of a fallen soldier of the Inner Kingdoms. Aldhuil's heart felt heavy but he knew there was nothing he could do. This was the way things were around here. Kneeling beside the man Aldhuil tried to remove the arrow from the blood soaked wound. As Aldhuil tugged the hand of the fallen soldier shot up and gripped Aldhuil's forearm.

"Help me!" the fallen man pleaded.

The young man bolted back in shock.

"Please, give me water!" the dying warrior repeated.

Aldhuil could see the silent supplication in the man's eyes. He inspected the wound. There was too much blood. He unstrapped his gourde and handed it to the injured man, even though he knew that he wasn't going to make it.

"You're a good man," the fallen soldier muttered after taking a sip.

"What are you doing!" Delahir exclaimed, running over and kicking Aldhuil's gourd out of the man's hands.

"This man is injured," Aldhuil explained "he needs water."

"And you just gave him water?" Delahir said incredulously "Don't you know your enemies when you see them?"

All eyes were on Aldhuil now. the young man could see Akarnon and Linuir were starring at him with surprise.

"Aren't they men like us," Aldhuil replied defensively "wouldn't you also want to be treated with dignity if you were injured Delahir?"

"I'll tell you how they treat us," Delahir yelled in Aldhuil's face "Just look around you. My family died in a raid like this. Don't speak to me about being merciful, Aldhuil. You haven't lost anything in this war yet."

"Delahir's family died at the hands of the Inner Kingdoms," Fileas explained as they watch Delahir angrily walk away "You won't find much sympathy in him for our enemies."

"And you?" Aldhuil asked the captain "what do you think?"

"These men invade my homeland and threaten my people," Fileas muttered, obviously not prepared for this question. He then added "I've been ordered to drive them out and that's what I must do."