From tomorrow, the Prince of Gellian's army will continue its journey along the winding mountain paths.

So, after a short rest, the Prince's army continued its journey through the mountainous terrain to the west.

Many seriously wounded warriors had to be left in the village for treatment.

Cold winds...

Snow...

This harsh mountainous terrain will require the efforts of everyone in the army…

It was clear from the very beginning that the journey would not be easy...

Soon, another problem was added to the narrow mountain paths - goblin attacks.

These vile scums usually attacked at night or late in the evening.

Their small groups acted covertly, attacking the convoy or wounded warriors, or simply those warriors who had let their guard down.

The goblins acted on the principle of "hit and run": they sought to hide after the attack in one of the nearby caves.

Of course, these vile, short monsters did not always manage to escape.

Often, the return fire from the ranger warriors' bows did not leave most of the goblins from small sabotage groups alive.

But sometimes these scums managed to hide in the darkness of the caves.

The prince forbade pursuing the goblins into the depths of the caves - he understood that this could cause even more deaths of his warriors.

Gellian guessed that this was exactly what the enemy wanted - to slow down the advance of the human army, lure the army inside the caves and **** the humans to engage in grueling battles in the darkness of the dungeons.

Battle in an area where the goblins have an advantage.

"But why do these cruds continue to attack?! After all, I managed to defeat their army in battle!" - thought the prince.

The premonition that he was not taking something into account in the current situation caused the prince constant anxiety.

"Perhaps Uncle Natemir will be able to advise me something useful in this situation..." - thought Gellian.

The army's path through the blizzard and cold continued...

More and more warriors fell ill due to the cold and frostbite of their limbs.

They had to be left behind in the villages they encountered.

Many of these villages were completely or partially robbed by goblins.

The local plebs looked gloomy, realizing that they would now have to look for food not only for their families, but also for the prince's warriors.

Fortunately, in some settlements, some village inhabitants were able to organize a local militia in time and give at least some resistance to the goblin detachments.

However, on the prince's path there were also completely destroyed villages, from which only charred ruins remained...

All these circumstances led to an alarming fact - the prince's army was reduced to about six hundred foot soldiers.

There were few horses initially - and now almost all the horses go with the convoy.

One day, while riding on horseback (riding in a carriage sometimes bored him), the prince heard a story from one of the old experienced warriors who was talking to his neighbors in the line, without stopping to move forward.

An old militia warrior spoke about the terrain the army was walking on: "Do you know, guys, what's under the soles of our boots now? Mountain Range "Cyclops' Teeth"! Mountains remembering the ancient times of the rule of terrible creatures... Mountains that got their name from vile monsters... Many centuries ago cyclops lived here and devoured the inhabitants of the plains... Humans were reduced to the position of miserable cattle, to the position of meat... You can't even imagine these huge scums-anthropophagi, who were taller than your miserable huts! And the look of a single eye of a cyclop had a magical effect and could paralyze the will of even an experienced warrior! All we can do is thank the gods that His Majesty the First King Teinarel the Rockclimber killed many of these monsters and **** them to retreat far to the north. For about a hundred years, not a single cyclop has been seen near the borders of the kingdom…”

The impression of these words gave rise to a contradictory feeling in the soul of Prince Gellian…

Respect for the royal dynasty was based on the exploits of its founder.

Teinarel the Rockclimber was a hero who about two hundred years ago allowed these lands to free themselves from the yoke of terrible monsters and who founded the Kingdom Eborvair.

The “glow” of this glory affects Gellian himself…

He often sees it in his glances and communication with his subjects…

However, only the prince himself (and his brother) know that, in fact, Gellian is not a representative of the Teinarelid dynasty.

The true father of both princes is someone completely different, and not the deceased old king, who was the last representative of this dynasty on the throne.

Now the throne is empty.

But sooner or later the Regency Council will decide to give the crown to one of the brothers.

However, neither of the two brothers will be king by right.

The secret of their true origin must remain unknown to the subjects.

Gellian understands this well - after all, his life and his brother's depend on it.

But the awareness of the need to constantly hide a lie does not eliminate the hidden emotions about this.

It is unpleasant to realize deep down that you yourself are a liar who is **** to constantly hide the truth about your own origin.

"Lies rule the world ... Lies are an advantage, not a reason for mental anguish ..." - a quiet non-human whisper in the prince's head distracts him from sad thoughts.

Probably, sad thoughts were partly provoked by great losses in the recent battle ...

Gellian tries to distract himself ...

He sees that a little ahead, a horse is moving at an amble, in the saddle of which sits Thomas.

A former wandering mercenary and (most recently) the Baron of Ravenswood.

Snowflakes fall from the sky onto his leather armor.

A scimitar is visible at his belt.

The Prince urges his horse on and gallops forward.

His gaze meets that of Thomas.

Thomas says, "Your Highness… If you do not object, I will accompany the army until the objectives of the campaign are fully achieved… Mara rides in one of the carriages in the baggage train. She is safe – the baggage train is guarded by many warriors…"

Gellian smiles and gallops forward (along the vast columns of militia warriors), surveying the area.

Thomas probably thinks that it would be rash to go with his wife to the Ravenswood estate now. Nobles do not respect him. He does not have a squad of warriors that could serve as protection for his interests. It's all too risky...

However, if Thomas earns glory for his military prowess during a successful campaign against the goblins, it could increase his prestige among the nobles. In addition, a military campaign implies capturing trophies from the enemy. Perhaps the trophy values ​​​​will give the "newly minted" baron of Ravenswood the opportunity to hire at least a small detachment of warriors to protect himself and his wife.

This is approximately what the prince thought, analyzing Thomas's behavior.

"Mara is traveling in one of the wagons of the convoy... Perhaps I should visit her before bed..." - frivolous thoughts in Gellian's head partly displace anxiety.

The prince gallops faster and faster on his horse, leaving behind a group of his bodyguards...

The prince's horse reached the front detachment of the marching column of warriors.

Ahead, a two-story building near a road fork is visible...

A glow in the windows...

The prince turned his horse to go back...

Suddenly, Gellian felt a rapid movement of air and sharp sounds...

The whistle of many arrows!

A dozen warriors in the column fall to the ground, screaming in pain from their wounds.

The prince belatedly looks up: in the snowfall, vague silhouettes of goblins are visible, crawling out of small caves located at a distance of ten meters above the mountain road.

Rumble!

Several large boulders fall to the ground...

One boulder fell right among a group of human militia warriors walking at the front of the column.

Three of these warriors were thrown aside by the **** of the blow and fell into the abyss from the edge of the mountain path.

A fall from a height of about two hundred meters...

Loud cries of those doomed to **** are heard in the gorge...

The prince's frightened horse prances...

Another boulder falls and hits the horse right in the chest!

The animal lets out a cry of hellish pain, falling to the ground.

The prince manages to remove his foot from the stirrup at the last moment and avoid serious injury during the fall.

A couple of abrasions and bruises... But at least he didn't break his leg.

The horse, maddened by pain, lies on the ground and kicks its hooves, hitting a couple of warriors.

The next moment, a crossbow bolt pierces the horse's head - probably one of the human warriors stopped the animal's suffering.

A couple more boulders fall from above.

The warriors manage to get their bearings and stand in a defensive formation, putting their shields towards the enemy.

The whistle of arrows again!

Most of the arrows hit the shields and do no harm to the militia warriors.

"Archers! Shoot at these scums!" - Gellian shouts, running up to the shield bearers and taking cover behind one of the shields.

Among the column of warriors, archers (under the cover of the shield bearers) begin to shoot at the goblins, who were able to take the heights and carry out a hidden attack on the humans.

One by one, the corpses of goblins, pierced by arrows, fall from above onto the mountain path...

After ten minutes of shooting, the goblins hide in the dark depths of the caves.

As usual...

These scums suddenly attacked and retreated at the first sign of resistance.

The prince's army had to stop moving and try to assess the damage from this attack.

A dozen warriors dead...

A couple dozen seriously wounded...

The prince lost his horse...

"There is a two-story building ahead - find out what is going on there..." - the prince orders his bodyguards, who have just arrived.

A few minutes later, the bodyguards report to the prince: "Your Highness, this is tavern... There is a sign on the building - "tavern Warming Hearth". We checked inside... Strangely, there is no one there... Although there is lighting - the lamps in the rooms are lit..."

"Corpses?"

"There are no corpses there. Not even a trace of blood on the wooden floor..."

Gellian thought about it.

Should he investigate this strange tavern or ignore it and continue the army's movement forward?