Chapter I

You step into a large, old house the musty smell of dust hangs in the air and on the far side a fire crackles. For some odd reason you are drawn to the fire and as you reach a large patted chair you discover it is occupied.

An elderly man with long white hair sits slumped forward, bent with the wear of time. Some how he notices you, even though you have not made a sound, “Are here because of the stories surrounding me?” he speaks just above a whisper.

You hesitate, that was why, but you had heard that this bent figure of a man once was a part of a great band of warriors that roamed the Empire of Ellis, performing tasks that, by The Law, the Empire’s Army could not. You gulp a little, “Yes sir that is why I have come.”

He looks up at you and smiles through rotted teeth, “Well then take a seat and I will tell you the tale of the Lunar Army.” He looks across the room to a tall case in which a shadowed figure rests and then returns his gaze to you.

“The part of the story that the Lunar Army is most famous for took place after we had been formed for about six years. My story begins as the Lunar Army was marching to the town of Mirthza, to subdue another uprising that the Empire’s Army was powerless to stop by the Law.”

You lean back in your chair as the man begins:

Under the pristine, night sky, millions of stars filling it the, the famed Lunar Army marched under the light of a crescent moon.

I, Jaeryan Amedeo, marched in perfect step with my comrades, my midnight blue armor with its golden trim sparkling in the moonlight. My snow-white trousers glowed as the moonthread woven within it reflected the moonlight. A hood of chain mail surrounded my head; the gold plated rings clinked softly against the rings painted the same midnight blue color as my armor.

Our Army’s symbol rested in my hands, a crescent pike with a six-inch spike protruding from the center of the two wide sweeping arms that flared out just below the spike. All of my fellow warriors also carried one; three hundred strong marched with me behind our leader.

To compliment my armor I also wore two shields that lay parallel to my fore arms, both decorated as intricately as my armor with a white moon in the center. On the hood of chain mail rested a helm with three golden arches sweeping back from the sides and top of my helm. A golden facemask, clipped to the sides and the brow of my helm, protected my face, while six slits gave me ample space to breathe.

On my back was a one-handed sword in a beautifully crafted scabbard. At the end of the pommel of the sword a golden flower with a sapphire in its center flared out. The final element to my uniform was a crossbow, small enough to be used with one hand but still large enough to use with both for greater accuracy, and a quiver holding thirty regular crossbow bolts and twenty long bolts for when we fired flame tipped arrows hung on my left side.

As we marched my eyes wandered down the armor encasing my arms, even my finger joints and the spaces between them were armored. The boots I wore were also covered in small plates that still allowed me full range of motion. The only part of me that was not covered in armor was my legs, but then again the fabled moonthread that was woven into our trousers was as good as any armor.

In rows of five the Lunar Army marched with their leader, General Uzziah, at the head. Astride a great warhorse whose hair had the same color as our armor and its mane and tail were of a golden hue. Covering this great beast was armor similar to ours, yet with our leader riding on it seems even more majestic.

As for General Uzziah he wore armor like the rest of us only his covered his upper legs and the shields on his arms where part of the armor of his mount and protected his lower legs. On the helm he wore there were three braids of golden hair that were pulled back and joined at the rear of his helm and then flowed loosely down to the middle of his back.

Behind Uzziah, built as part of his horse’s armor, was the Banner of the Lunar Army, a rectangle of midnight blue material three feet long and a foot and a half wide with a circle of white in the middle. The circle was a design of the Moon we always fought by, the cloth also contained moonthread and when placed between the Moon and the rest of the Army it glowed more brightly than the sun.

I stood at the front of the 2nd Company of the Lunar Army, behind the 1st Company. As we reached where the road broke off into three other directions beside the one we were on Uzziah halted and turned to face us, “Warriors of the night! Soldiers of the Lunar Army! The town of Mirthza has risen against the Empire of Ellis. Now we have come to return them to their place.” He lifted his hand above his head, “Companies one, two and three shall accompany me into the town. All remaining Companies have already been told which roads to guard as to capture any rebels fleeing the town.”

I felt an excitement grow in me that I felt whenever our leader spoke and the pride when my Company was chosen to put down a rebellion. Uzziah dropped his hand and yelled, “Lunar Army to your positions, forward!” In perfect timing the Lunar Army marched off, seventy-five heading to Mirthza and two hundred twenty-five moving to surround the town.

Near the outskirts of town there were some hills that had a commanding outlook over the town. General Uzziah ordered the 3rd Company to ready themselves for ranged crossbow firing, then he lead the 1st and 2nd Companies into the town as the 3rd Company’s soldiers used their arm shields to create a wall in front of them and stabbed their pikes into the ground beside them, ready to be used at any moment.

A band of fifty strong, twenty-five in each company, we marched into Mirthza. As we marched into the town cries of alarm went up and by the time we neared the Town Center a group of about a hundred fifty peasants had gathered, armed with a pitiful collection of old weapons and not a bow or crossbow among them.

A barricade of wooden carts and other pieces of scrap stood in our path and the rebels took cover behind it. As we came within sight of them, since they had lit many torches so they could see us, an elderly man in a rusting suit of armor and wielding an equally rusty sword stood forth and called out, “Ye have entered into the realm of Lord Dansly of Mirthza, if ye be from the Empire of Ellis the Law states that ye must not raise sword against us until negotiations have ratified our independence.”

Uzziah halted us and stood in silence as we moved from marching formation to combat positions, changing from five men per row to ten; I was in the front row. After we had silenced again he answered, “We are not of the Empire of Ellis’s Army; we are from the Lunar Army and have come to restore the peace that you have disturbed with your rebellion.”

The man hesitated and I saw how his men began to look at us with fear in their eyes as they realized they were facing the fabled Lunar Army. The man stomped a foot boldly, “We have the right to rebel against the King if he be oppressive against us.”

Uzziah dismissed his response, “If freedom was truly your goal you would allow the King’s negotiators to reach Lord Dansly and try to reach some sort of agreement. Instead you wait, taking advantage of the Law so that you can do as you please without worrying of an attack for your government.” Uzziah must have noticed the leader’s men eyeing us fearfully for then he said, “Men of the Lunar Army, lock your pikes and draw your swords.”

I took my pike, as everyone else did, and parted the lower half and folded the pike in half. I then placed the pike under my left arm, using a series of straps and clips to lock the pike firmly under my arm and giving me a hand to draw my sword with. So, I drew the steel blade from my back, studying the beauty of the golden designs on the guard and in the blood rut running the center of the sword, surrounded by more midnight blue coloring.

As we stood there I saw the fear in the rebels eyes grow, from the leader to a teenager who couldn’t have been more than a few years younger than I am, at twenty-seven.

The leader gulped, then seemed to find his courage again, “We will not yield; not to the Empire’s Army and not to the Lunar Army. Attack us if ye must, but the men of Mirthza will not yield to you!” With this said he ducked behind the barricade and yelled orders to his men. The men on the front lines accepted long wooden spears that they were handed from the rear.

Uzziah nodded respectfully, as if the leader and he had been having polite conversation in a royal place not arguing before their respective armies.

I winced, for I had been present at many town rebellions and I knew what was about to befall these fools who trifled with the Lunar Army.

Uzziah drew his sword, the long blade glowed softly in the moonlight, the steel had the same material as moonthread blended in the sword, causing it to glow like a signal torch. He pointed the sword straight up, and then pointed it toward the rebel’s barricade.

A quiet snapping sound echoed from the hills behind us before fading into the night, and then a faint whistling sound began to grow from overhead. A rebel suddenly pointed up and yelled in fear, “Arrows!” With a sound similar to apiece of cloth being torn in two the volley of crossbow bolts fell on the rebel lines. In the mist of chaos another volley fell before Uzziah dropped his sword.

Uzziah called to the rebels calmly, “Men of Mirthza, do you yield?”

The leader appeared from behind the barricade, a bolt had pierced his left hand and another was in his right shoulder, the armor plate hanging uselessly around the wound. He glared at us then yelled something to his men; they moved the seriously wounded men back, fresh men moved to take the spears and the rest hauled wooden boards over their heads to form a wall between them and the bolts.

Uzziah nodded again and lifted his sword above his head once more, however, this time he did a different signal; he called for a volley of flame tipped arrows. First his sword pointed to the right, then he pointed it straight up, and finally he pointed to the rebel lines.

Behind us, the 3rd Company would be loading special bolts that were twice as long as normal bolts, and then lighting them on fire. After about a minute’s pause a volley of flaming bolts hit the wooden barrier with a steady drumming rhythm.

For a moment a few of the rebels cheered when no one was wounded, then a waterfall of flames poured over the sides and engulfed the dry wood they held above themselves. Men’s scream’s reached my ears through the roar of the growing flames; the bittersweet scent of burning flesh slowly spread to cover the town.

Two more volleys fell on the rebel’s positions in the mist of all the chaos, lighting the barricade and spreading the fire to a few nearby homes.

As Uzziah dropped his sword I saw the rebel leader stumble out of the fire on the opposite side. He and about ten men stood there glaring at us through the flames, all were scorched, but defiance still shone in their eyes.

Evidently Uzziah saw him too, for he stirred in his saddle and turned to us, “Front and secondary lines ready your crossbows!”

I quickly sheathed my sword and readied my crossbow; I carefully took aim at the heat-blurred figures on the other side of the fire.

Then the leader smiled and waved his men down another road, out of our sight.

This time it was my turn to smile; those fools were going to run into our roadblocks if they stayed on the road; if they thought the roads were safe they were in for a nasty surprise.

Uzziah shook his head, maybe in confusion or maybe in bemusement of the rebels actions, and turned to us again, “Stand down men, lets regroup and head back to camp.”

I unloaded my crossbow, placed the crossbow and the bolt back on my left side, and unlocked my pike. Then the column moved into marching formation again and left the town of Mirthza, a smoldering fire reducing the town to ashes behind us.

After we reached the hills surrounding the town the 3rd Company joined us as we marched to the crossroad where the rest of the Lunar Army would regroup and, with luck, we would hear that one of the Companies caught the remnant of the Mirthza rebels.

By the time we reached the crossroads most of the Army was there already, however, the 11th Company was late and didn’t arrive until about forty-five minutes after the rest of the Army was ready to march.

I spotted the Company Commander talk to Uzziah, then nodded vigorously and smile. Uzziah turned then and addressed us in a loud voice, “Men of the Lunar Army, I have just found out that elements of the 11th Company have reported ambushing the last few rebels to escape our attack on Mirthza.” He spread his arms to encompass the entire Army, “Well, done my men, we have purged this area of another band of miscreants for good.”

I joined everyone else in cheering loudly at this news, and felt pride in making life easier for the people of Mirthza who still had the loyalty of the Empire, unlike us.

With that said General Uzziah had us begin to march again, everyone was ready to return to our main camp and rest after a night of marching. We reached our hidden camp shortly before the sun would rise above the horizon, a deserted valley deep in the Ellian Mountains. I reached the tent that I shared with five other members of the 2nd Company, carefully removed my armored uniform and placed it on the roughly carved wooded figure that kept the armor safe, lastly I slipped out of my heavy, armored boots and slowly laid down on my cot.

I pulled my sheet and heavy blankets over me and let the darkness of sleep take me.