34

The Siege of Thorn I

It's our turn lads!

-Attributed to Sir Avery Bergen, Lieutenant of Lord Kyril Sutherland's elite company.

/

Thorn was the domain of the priestess Kaguya. Much of its populace were foreigners who had come from far to the east and had been given a home by the past rulers thanks to the actions of the priestesses of the same order that Kaguya had come from. At least, that was what Kyril was aware of. He was not seeing the fruits of that history now as he saw the mutants that were ravaging the village they had arrived in. There were corpses already, those who tried to stand against the mutant horde had been brutalized while those who could flee were slowly losing ground...

The Good Hunter himself was the first into battle, the one who first spilled blood in the name of the Alliance on Thorn's soil. At the head of a hundred of his foot soldiers, he charged straight into combat. He wasn't the only one in the fray, Claudia and Alicia led a retinue of their own cavalry into battle having sensed that Kyril was already on the move, the Knights of Iris and the Dawn Templars flanking the mutant horde in a textbook maneuver.

It was a horrific scene. Kyril knew that the moment he saw the insect headed mutants, the very same ones he had encountered in Rad and in Scathlocke to the north. But he was used to this and so were many of the soldiers under his command. His Hunters spread out along the line, lending their strength wherever it was needed.

His Holy Moonlight Sword cut a mutant in half as if it had been made of air. As the blade finished its arc, Kyril swung his Blunderbuss up and blasted a pair of Black Dogs, each one having claws for arms, back into the crowd of mutants attempting to charge and tear him apart. Kyril was a whirlwind of destruction as he kicked another mewling wretch out of his way, slinging his Blunderbuss with practiced ease.

He heard a whinny as one of Claudia's knights was brought down. The woman was screaming for help and, as if they were telepathic, a squad of Kyril's troops broke away to help the knight as a crowd of mutants began to surround them. Sanakan and Hugh shifted towards the left to assist them, Sanakan already cutting a swathe through the horde with her own greatsword while Hugh supported her. His Chikage glinted dully in the afternoon sun. Soren and Lily were on the right flank, putting down mutant after mutant while being supported by the rest of the company he had mustered up. He trusted them, they knew what they were doing. Kyril turned his attention on the front lines.

They were buckling but not breaking, and even he knew that that was unacceptable. His center was the strong point and while his apprentices were handling themselves accordingly the horde was just too many.

Unacceptable.

"Lieutenant! Our line is looking shaky, make a push!" He snapped, lashing out with a punch that utterly shattered a mutant's face.

"Aye sir!" Bergen waved his longsword. "Make a push lads! The Captain doesn't want any embarrassing paperwork today!"

There was a roar and Kyril's soldiers fought with renewed vigor and the lines strengthened as soldiers pushed the horde of mutants back. It was a bloody, but expected day. The expeditionary force was making good headway into the provinces of Thorn, and there was no way they would be making it to the Fortress City undetected by Vault's forces.

Claudia removed her helmet panting as she looked down at the...things they had just cut down. She saw her knights putting out fires while Alicia was escorting several civilians and their families to safer ground. The village was in ruins, Thorn's people were under siege and she honestly wished that were not so. The Dawn Templar looked over at Lord Kyril Sutherland nodding his head as his wily lieutenant made his report. Both were looking over a map of the country. Her eyes met Kyril's and the Hunter quickly gestured for her to join them.

Claudia marched over, seeing a runner being sent out to find Alicia as well. Something must have come up for Kyril to look that grave.

As she approached, Kyril's lieutenant bowed and stepped aside for Claudia to approach closer.

"What is it, Lord Kyril?"

The Hunter showed her their current location. "This is but one of many villages on the trail towards the capitol of Thorn." He said softly. "I'm willing to be that the Black Dogs have used the same spells to create the creatures we've been slaughtering. Which will make this journey all the more harder because they are in our way."

"We're going too slow." He finished looking her in the eye. "We need to move faster than our current pace."

"We will be leaving people to die if we move faster, Lord Kyril." Claudia said gravely. "You know that, right?"

"I understand but if we do not break the siege of Thorn, none of us will be returning to Ken either." Kyril returned.

"We can bypass these villages if we take another route, the problem is my scout Sharl says we're not exactly near a shortcut." Lieutenant Bergen said scratching his brown hair. "And I don't think we should march through every village if we risk taking casualties." He traced a line through the villages in particular that were on their route. "Not if there are this many that we have to go through, and especially if all of them are defended. Or they have more of those damned mutants crawling around…"

"Surely splitting our forces...No, that would also be unwise." Claudia swore under her breath. Bergen grinned at the thought of such a lady with nasty vocabulary. "I truly do not want to abandon these people to their deaths but you are right. I will see if there is someone who can guide us to a quicker route."

Kyril was not so sure but he nodded his assent. He had seen the condition those survivors were in and while he wanted to leave a guard with them, there was no doubt that they would have to be left here. Alone. The Good Hunter was guilty for that, but they had no choice. The army had no supplies or spare men to give them, and even if they did any rearguard would obviously be outnumbered by the mutants and that was a waste of lives nobody could afford right then. Kyril shook his head.

Another pile of sins to add to the considerable amount on his shoulders.

The Good Hunter gave the order. They would march out the next day promptly. They would leave those they rescued behind, knowing full well what could happen to them when the soldiers were all gone. He would not be the craven that would not tell those villagers however, if anything Kyril made damn sure that he would personally be there to bring the bad news.

Soren exhaled as he put down his Reiterpallasch for a brief moment. He was on watch duty today, and a bit mildly upset. He had disagreed with the Boss about leaving the villagers behind and had argued his case even if he knew he'd be the minority. It made sense because the expeditionary force had no way of taking care of these villagers, they did not have the resources, the men or the time to do so.

Morally, he knew he was right. They should have taken care of these people but there wasn't much anyone could do for them. Leaving a rearguard was out of the question, they couldn't spare the numbers when the Expedition needed every able bodied man to fight at Thorn. Soren might have been a lot more upset than he thought he was and so had stepped out of the meeting once it was over. He avoided Lily, and Sanakan when the pair had tried to corner him to try and get something said to try and cheer him up or to get his head out of his arse.

He honestly appreciated that Hugh and the Boss were understanding enough to let him vent. He wouldn't shirk his duties, no he would not. He was just upset at the unfortunate circumstances they were all in. The young hunter exhaled as he walked his patrol route, much like Kyril he bore a small hand lantern to light the way.

There were other soldiers on watch as well and they nodded in respect towards him. Soren returned the gesture, albeit hesitantly. He was a pickpocket once and an average thief, soldiers like these would have scowled at him whenever they crossed paths. Now? He was a full fledged Hunter, apprenticed to a man who had become one of Eostia's living legends. Soren didn't believe it and he sometimes wondered if he was dreaming.

The ruined village around him told him otherwise and his mood sunk further.

And so, wrestling with guilt, Soren continued on his rounds as he had volunteered to do. He resolved to apologize to Lily in the morning when they got moving again.

/

"Soren's ignoring Lily."

Sharing a cot was just smart but Sanakan loved to cuddle. And sharing her cot with Hugh, who also had a fondness for cuddling, was certainly more than enough to ward off the usual difficulties when on the march.

Hugh wrapped an arm around Sanakan's naked body, pressing against her back. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Frowning Sanakan turned to face him. Hugh's quick smile still remained on his face as he leaned in to kiss her lips again.

"Look, I know the kid's upset but that doesn't mean he gets to make Lily feel bad." Sanakan said when they parted. Hugh shook his head. Soren didn't agree with the Boss but that didn't mean he was going to disobey orders by doing something stupid. Soren was just looking to vent, and the Boss knew that. Hugh knew it too. The kid was kind but often times it was not enough in this world of theirs. Hugh felt for the villagers they were about to leave behind but such was war.

"Yeah, it sucks but we have to get through Thorn." Sanakan continued. "And the more time we waste, the better the chances we get bogged down and killed." She sighed as she buried her face into Hugh's shoulder.

Hugh rubbed her back, particularly the base of her spine close to her bottom, causing the young woman in his arms to shiver. "Stop that..." Sanakan whispered. "We just did it an hour ago...and again before that..."

Hugh wasn't listening. Especially when he cupped her bottom and brought her closer…

The next day, the army moved on. Much to the dismay of the villagers they were leaving behind to fend for themselves. Such was the price of war.

Kyril forced himself to listen to the pleading and the curses behind him. He forced himself to remember what they were saying, that he was abandoning them to die. Such was the conundrum all Hunters faced, and Kyril had faced such choices before. The Good Hunter wanted to explain, to say that he made this decision with a heavy heart and he would promise to come back here for them all. He wanted to do what he could.

But he had no time. The siege of Thorn must be broken and the Black Dogs must be repulsed. This was not a fairy tale, and he was no knight in shining armor. he had to focus on the bigger picture, and so he left these villagers behind to fend for themselves. Defeat here would mean the war would turn in Vault's favor.

"Damn it." Soren muttered to himself.

"Remember this." Kyril admonished his youngest Hunter. "Sometimes the best choice is the lesser of two evils."

"Y-Yes Boss." Soren said, sighing. Riding beside him was Lily who reached out to put a hand on his shoulder briefly, to try and reassure him. Sanakan and Hugh rode on ahead as the vanguard, while Lieutenant Bergen barked out an order for Sharl and his scouts to spread out to act as the eyes and the ears of the company. There was no doubt that Alicia and Claudia were doing the same thing for the more mobile troops of their cavalry.

Kyril idly wondered what men would say when he had finally moved into obscurity. Would they remember the good instead of the bad? What would the books say of Kyril Sutherland, Hunter of Beasts and Slayer of Men?

Such melancholy surprised him. The Good Hunter shook his head of his thoughts and turned his attention to the road. He saw Sharl mustering up a few of his scouts to move to the sides. Alicia's light cavalry were spread out along the flanks to screen anything incoming. Kyril checked on Claudia next, the commander of the Dawn Templars shooting him a look.

He had already heard the misgivings of his decision to lead the villagers behind. Kyril would make it clear that the decision was his and his burden to bear alone. He smiled grimly underneath his bandanna and hoped that Kaguya would understand.

The second village they arrived at was completely deserted. Kyril had some of his men loot supplies; food and water were priorities. As the expeditionary force prepared to make camp the commanders met once again in the middle of the ruined village to discuss what was their next part of the plan. Their pace was quick, but Kyril didn't feel that way. As he walked outside of the command tent, he turned on his lantern. Strapped to his belt, it emitted a soft glow. He saw the sentries on night watch, and hoped that nothing came up and about. His remaining eye scanned the area. The other one that had been blinded by the assassin during the attempt on Celestine's life had not healed yet but he could feel it.

He had joked to Evetta that the eyes were his true weak points but it fell flat when she scolded him for making such a joke. That was not something he was willing to go through ever again.

Kyril sighed under his breath and went to look for Soren. He had heard from Sanakan that he had been avoiding Lily, and that he was still upset about what happened. The good Hunter wanted this resolved, but he understood Soren's bad mood quite well.

/

He found the boy walking around, lantern on his belt. Soren's eyes widened comically when he saw his master approaching. Kyril never could get used to Soren's skittishness and he was mildly amused by it.

"B-Boss!" Soren stammered out. "I was...uh...I was just doing my rounds."

"So you are." Kyril replied. There was an awkward silence on Soren's part before Kyril gestured for Soren. "Walk with me."

It was a request. Not an order, Soren knew that. But even he knew that declining the Lord Executioner's request was said to be a very, very bad idea.

They walked, master and student, through the camp.

"I hear you have been avoiding the others." Kyril said at last.

"I...yes, boss." Soren answered. "I just didn't wanna trouble anyone. You especially, I'm sorry."

Kyril shook his head. "Don't be." He told Soren. "You and everyone else have every right to be upset with my decision. I just hope you understand why."

"We sacrifice a few lives to save more." Soren said. "That's...that's good right? We're saving more people...A-And we'll win the war…"

He looked frustrated. "So why do I still feel guilty?" He asked Kyril. "We're the good guys aren't we?"

"It is natural." Kyril answered. "If you felt nothing for the lives that we have just left behind I would be looking at you in a very different way, Soren." He stopped, making Soren face him. It was always hard for Soren to make eye contact with the boss but there was no cold light in his eye. Rather, there was a quiet guilt in Kyril's gaze, a distance that made it clear that he too was wrestling with the decision to leave those villagers behind.

"As I told you, sometimes we must make the choice between the lesser and greater evils. Others times we do not have a choice at all." Kyril said. He looked over at the distant horizon. "I made the same kind of choice many times in the past. I remember those who lose their lives because of it."

"I'll have to live with it then?" Soren whispered.

"Yes." Kyril said. He put a hand on Soren's shoulder. "I understand your guilt, but the choice is my choice." His expression warmed slightly. "Someday, I will pay for this. But you do not need to."

Soren looked uncomfortable at that. "Boss...I…" He sighed. "Thanks...I feel a little better."

Kyril nodded. "You're a good person, Soren. Never change who you are."

My apologies. My job has taken much of my time and throughout this long hiatus I made several bad decisions, least of which was discontinuing this story for the Re-imagined version which had been divisive. Nevertheless, I was inspired to continue this version instead of the other. Again, I apologize for the long wait. I'm trying to figure things out but for now, see you on the other side.