"ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The three meter figure was Konig Mitleid, the maneator king! He released his roar and stunned the three Brandal leaders along with the 35 Snipers.
The maneator king dual wielded two oversized zweihänders with ease. Darius' special zweihänders greatly increased Mitleid's attack power.
Mitleid went after the three Brandal Leaders. Each strike of his zweihänder knocked a Brandal leader off his mount.
Mitleid chopped off the heads of their black ctenosaur mounts with one strike from his giant swords.
The maneator king had the ability 'Beast Monarch' which gave him triple damage against beast type monsters.
Sierra went back to the front lines and defended the militia. The maneator king's appearance boosted the morale of the recruits, and at the same time disorganized the bandits.
The red werebear and the militia started to push the Brandals back. The bandits kept on looking back asking for their next orders, but the Brandal leaders were busy dealing with the maneator king.
As Mitleid swung his zweihänders the head of a Brandal leader flew into the air. The two severely wounded Brandal leaders tied their bullwhips to the maneator's arms.
They hoped to restrain the three meter monster, but Mitleid let out his roar and stunned them once more.
Konig Mitleid used the Brandal leader's own weapons, and pulled the two of them to him. He drove the two zweihänders into the ground, and tied up the bandit leaders with their own bullwhips.
The maneator's sadistic nature was clearly seen, as he repeatedly plunged his zweihänders into the bodies of the restrained Brandal leaders.
He was taunting the 35 Brandal Snipers as their arrows kept coming his way.
"ROOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"
Mitleid stunned the bandits in the surrounding area. He then rammed his dual zweihänders into the crotches of the captured Brandal Leaders, and split them clean up to their heads.
It took him less than five minutes to deal with the three Brandal leaders. After which, he proceeded to target the Snipers whose arrows only damaged him for 140 points.
The maneator king ran for the dazed Snipers and slaughtered them. arms, legs, and heads were flying everywhere.
When Mitleid was done with the Snipers, he proceeded to the black ctenosaur riders. The bandits were cowering in fear of what they saw.
Mitleid's fiery eyes were blood red. He decapitated the black ctenosaurs as if their heads were made out of paper.
Sierra, Adder, Gandiva, and Sharanga watched in horror after they finished killing the bandits near them. Mitleid single handedly dealt with 75% out of the 400 Brandal invaders.
However, the gruesome sight was unbearable to watch. Only Adder kept on watching Mitleid.
Body parts were scattered everywhere. Konig Mitleid was panting hard and his blood lust was still in the air. Sierra stepped up, and went closer to the maneator king.
"Hey, it's over. You can calm down now. Mitleid? Are you listening to me? Can you hear me?"
Sierra felt nervous as she drew nearer. Mitleid's barehanded damage against her was already at 23,000 points. She didn't want to find out how much those menacing looking zweihänders could damage her.
The red werebear got in front of the maneator king, and raised her hands. Slowly the blood from Mitleid's eyes receded.
"Is it over? Are you guys alright? I didn't hurt any of you, did I?"
"Yes. we're all okay. You didn't harm any of us. Now, let's go to our hideout and regroup. You're in control now, right?"
Konig Mitleid slowly nodded his head, as he was escorted to Gandiva's war carriage.
* * * * * *
A portion of Verbrannt Castle's courtyard was lit up with campfires. Sierra and Adder managed to survive against the first wave of Brandals, and they knew that it wasn't the last.
Sierra knew that it was all because Konig Mitleid came and rescued them. She knew that he was a tough monster boss, but she didn't know how tough.
Unfortunately, surviving the encounter came at a high price. They came out of Verbrannt castle with 250 men and returned home with only 129.
Sierra and Adder visited the families of those that have died. They tried to console them, but no words could satiate the death of a loved one.
The encounter made Sierra rethink her strategy. Her squad formation was wrong. She consulted with Adder and the newly returned Thyrsus.
Thyrsus came back, and brought along 287 survivors from Dibakar village. A few hours later, Ichaival arrived and brought 312 residents of Quemado village.
* * * * * *
Days passed, and Sierra wanted to stabilize the lives of the refugees. She started plotting out her plans for the Verbrannt.
Verbrannt Castle currently had a total population of 996 individuals, non-combatants included. The castle's grounds alone was almost as big as Nanahuatl Village.
Farmers started to plant broccoli, radishes, lettuces, and turnips. While the Fishermen started to catch fish in the nearby Murray River.
The survivors still lived in tents, but Sierra planned on building them proper homes. She only waited for Sharur and Jinggu to return. So, she could give them the task of gathering quality lumber.
Sierra was in the library of Verbrannt Castle. She was busy plotting out areas on a map, and Laernea was distractingly fidgeting in her background.
"What is it, Laernea?"
"Oh, I was just wondering? If you're not too busy? I'd like to ask you about Smoke?"
"I already told you. He's inside the labyrinth and trying to save the maneators. You were there when I repeated this to Mitleid, right?"
"But, maybe you have some new information from him? Didn't he ever call you back again?"
"For the hundredth time. That was the first and last message that I got from Smoke. Now, please leave me alone."
"Alright, alright. It's just that I find it strange that he never called you back when you told him about all the progress we've done."
Sierra felt guilty. She never replied to Smoke's voice mail. Laernea left her alone after that. Sierra was deep in thought, but this time it was about Smoke.
Maybe there was a good explanation why his message was so short. Or maybe he didn't mean to leave her out of the message.
She smiled as she thought how everything was going so well on her end. Verbrannt Castle was properly reinforced. Additionally, they made an extensive warning system.
Although Vijaya, Sharur, and Jinggu weren't back yet. She still knew that they would bring more recruits with them.
Konig Mitleid had joined them, and he was more than enough to take care of 400 Brandals by himself. Sierra even thought that he could easily take on 1,000 bandits.
Yes, things were going great for Sierra. Which made her decide to give Smoke the benefit of the doubt. She made a mental note to call him as soon as she logged out.
She was going to tell him how they managed to raise their recruits to 500 men.
* * * * * *
Sierra woke up in the King's chamber of Verbrannt Castle. She had just logged in and was enthralled with joy. Smoke replied to her voice mail. This time it was filled with questions about her and he mentioned that he missed being with her.
She immediately wanted to share the news to everyone. She stepped out into the balcony to check where everybody was.
Sierra was speechless when she saw the sight before her. Verbrannt's Castle grounds was filled with refugees. She estimated that with these new arrivals, their population must have doubled.
As she arrived on the grounds, Sierra saw that Adder began to ask for volunteers willing to join their fight against the Brandals.
She saw Sharur and Jinggu catching up with the rest of the private army on the side, but the sight that caught Sierra's attention was the six falcons flying across the sky.
Sierra looked back on Thyrsus, Sharanga, and Ichaival. She saw that their falcons were comfortably perched on their shoulders.
She wondered if there were Hunters in one of the villages they visited, but six Hunters was beyond her imagination. Then she saw Vijaya carrying a special looking staff.
Vijaya's wooden staff was similar to the one Sharanga used to deceive Canalha's bandits. Sierra wondered why Vijaya was carrying such a staff.
Then she heard the brunette WoodElf shriek out like a falcon. Vijaya called the six falcons down. Two of the falcons perched on her shoulders, while the rest perched on the wooden staff.
Sierra wondered how Vijaya increased her falcons.
"Hey, you have six falcons now! That's amazing! How did this happen?"
"Remember you told us to do some special training of our own? Well, as it turns out, I already had a special ability. I just didn't know how to use it. Good thing Adder came along and encouraged me."
"Adder helped you master this ability? Maybe I should have some sparring sessions with him again."
"Not really help, more like enlighten me on the right path."
Sierra nodded politely, as she had no idea what Vijaya meant.
"So, what are the names of these new guys? I'm assuming Vij and Aya are the ones perched on your shoulders?"
"Yes, they are. The names of my new falcons are Utara, Dakhana, Puraba, and Vala."
"What exactly is your new ability?"
"Oh, it's called 'Falcon Tongue'. I can now have a proper conversation with any falcons. Watch this."
Kieeekk keekk kekeke kkeeeek kekkk keeeeeek
Vijaya chittered like a falcon, and promptly Sharanga, Ichaival, and Thyrsus' falcons flew up and circled above them.
Sharanga yelled out to her twin sister.
"I told you to stop doing that! Argh! Grow up already will you?"
Sharanga called back Shar, and so did Ichaival and Thyrsus.
"That was awesome! So I guess this means your attack power has more than doubled right? Do these guys also get the 'Steel Falcon' ability?"
"Uhuh, and not only that I can use them to scout as well."
"Really? I didn't think of that, but you could most definitely use these falcons as scouts. Well, I'm glad you're back and all, but I have something important to tell you. So, I'd like all of us to gather in the throne room."
Swiftly, all the members of Smoke's private army and Konig Mitleid assembled in their converted battle room. Sierra thought that the throne room was the perfect place to hold strategic meetings.
Sierra stood in front of everyone and began their forum.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly. First I'd like to hear the updates from everybody. I think Sharur, Jinggu, and Vijaya have arrived for sometime now, and I'd like myself updated."
Sharur spoke in behalf of his twin brother.
"Jinggu and I have gathered a total of 498 residents from the villages of Bulok, Koyak, and Patah. They were more than happy to join us when we told them that we were forming a united front against the Brandals."
Everybody nodded their heads, and turned their attention to the WoodElf. It was Sharanga's turn to give her updates.
"I needed to acquire these lovely feathered friends. So, I decided to revisit all the villages that we've been to before. I went to Silap, Salah, Nisko, and Poludnie. Surprisingly I convinced a few from the protected villages to join us."
Adder added in his opinion on why they joined them.
"The Cavalry Knights were working for the same man as the Brandals. It's no wonder they would feel suffocated."
Everyone started voicing out their own opinions, and slowly the room was filled with loud chatter. Sierra had to clap her claws to call for everybody's attention.
"Alright, that's enough. Talking isn't going to solve anything. I also have updates, that I'd like to share. Smoke just left me a message."
Everybody was glued in on Sierra. They hadn't heard from their leader in a long time now.
"Apparently, he solved one of the puzzles that Espion's been trying to figure out for months now. I think he should be out of the labyrinth in the next couple of days."
Sierra mumbled to herself that Smoke also mentioned how he missed being with her.
When they heard Sierra's in audible gibberish, Laernea raised her hand and asked.
"What was the last part? I didn't quite hear it clearly."
"Oh, he says that he wishes us luck and to continue on gathering the refugees. He really wants to save all these people."
