*000000*

Eighty miles from Kontia

Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi.

The march on Kontia necessitated a complex partition of my forces. Firstly, the Vanguard, numbering just over four hundred women, would reach the city first and would have the objective of establishing a blockade. I did not expect that they could maintain a total siege, But they would at least be capable of preventing goods from entering or leaving the city.

The Vanguard was made up of various Lepus who had escaped from the Imperial advance. A dozen tribes that in any other time would be at each other's throats for centuries of petty slights and grudges hastily organised into my army. They were not trained like the people of the Tanaoi, months ago they were not my people. Now they were.

Following behind the Vanguard was the main bulk of my army. Eight thousand women trained in sling and spear as well as the few elite wallbreaker companies I could train and supply. This force would arrive several days after the Vanguard and begin the siege in truth. If things went to schedule Kontia would have surrendered, or been destroyed before the last element of my forces arrived. The migratory camp itself.

Over thirty thousand people with a mix of various races and a huge amount of material to transport did not lead to consistency or predictability. All I could say was that they were moving fast enough to beat Zorzal's legion to Kontia, a feat of logistical brilliance that I could scarcely claim credit for.

There were some among the Lepus who made claims that 'Every Lepus from the elderly to the children were the equal of any warrior of the other races.' I know that this was nothing but delusion. While even a child might be stronger than many people of other races, a lack of coordination, discipline and fighting spirit made them far from an effective combatant.

Of course, I refocused myself, reaching the city was the easy part. Dealing with the Imperial Garrison promptly would be critical for the vitally important weeks that were to come in this conflict. I could not presume that the Imperials would foolishly offer me battle while their forces were disorganised and exhausted and thus I could not accept any single decisive battle with the forces at my disposal.

Even a victory could spell my doom if too many of my people were wounded or killed.

I would have to bleed the Imperials, skirmish by skirmish. A war of a thousand strikes, a strategy that my husbands had been surprisingly supportive of. On the subject of skirmishing. I approached the edge of a very temporary camp on the Imperial Road to Konita and led one of my Lieutenants, a commander in charge of one of the battalions that had been keeping Zorzal's forces from advancing too quickly and screening the Tanaoi migration. Into a tent well away from the highly sensitive and prying ears of her subordinates.

Lucia looked inordinately proud of herself as she presented me with nearly three hundred dead men walking. We observed the mass of restrained humans from a small tent that was enchanted to give some measure of privacy to the occupants. I only had three such tents in the entire encampment and all of them had been looted from Imperial Officers. They were tied together in a long chain using irons that the Imperials carried with them to capture Lepus for the Saderaian slave markets, prisoners taken from Lucia's vigorous rearguard action that, according to Lucia had resulted in the killing of thousands of Imperials and the maiming of many thousands more.

I glanced over to the giant of a woman in question as she spoke. Her mood was jovial as she passionately described one victory after another. Once her forces had been degraded well beyond any acceptable fighting capacity she had collected what she could transport and burned the rest. Pushing Imperial prisoners day and night to march at the pace of a wounded Head Hunting Rabbit. A pace that had killed several of the humans before they had arrived.

The survivors sat together at the side of a road without food, water or complaint. Likely simply grateful that they were permitted to rest for a time. There was some irony in the treatment, as it was not unlike what they intended to subject the Lepus too. But I did not feel any satisfaction at their plight, just a grim resolve to end this war no matter what the cost.

"And this was a General I slew personally." I bit the inside of my cheek as a rather ripe decapitated head was thrust out in front of her. "Look how handsome he was! I should have held back!" She let out a bellowing laugh that was somehow shared by a pair of bodyguards as I pressed the back of my hands against the small of my back and rounded upon my subordinate.

"How many of your girls are fit for battle?" I asked pointedly, catching Lucia off guard as she stuttered somewhat before collecting herself.

"I can form a full company, My Queen." She eventually settled on.

"I had provided you with six, three weeks ago." I pointed out as the giant squirmed under my gaze.

"If I were to field the lightly wounded I could form three and a half companies!" She said quickly. "In a few months the Battalion will be entirely recovered."

"Well it's a good thing we don't need them now." came a smooth voice from behind me. Lucia seemed entirely off kilter as Furea mocked her from the sidelines, his voice slightly muffled from the thick clothes that covered all of his skin save for his tattooed forehead and eyes.

"Enough." I snapped at my husband who gave a performative gasp before pressing himself into my side. I felt Tanya's heart rate quicken but was quickly able to put aside such base instinct. "You will know your place." I finished, looking away from his playful gaze and focusing on the task at hand.

Lucia looked at my husband for a moment as if unsure of herself before taking a moment to collect her thoughts and turning to me.

"I stand by my decisions in-" I held up a hand as Lucia clenched her fists and actually pouted.

"The magical items you have procured will be an invaluable asset in the war effort and you have performed well in harrying the Imperial advance. There are few under my command that can boast of victories that you have won. I do not begrudge you that. But I did not order you to bring me prisoners, I ordered you to break legs, cast out eyes, cut off fingers and send them crawling back to the Imperials. And to do so while preserving the lives and health of the women under your command. In this matter you are not meeting the standards I know you can achieve. You have not failed me yet, but I remain, Disappointed." Lucia seemed to deflate as I explained myself.

"How can I order my girls to fight battle after battle if all we accomplish is the disfigurement of the valiant and the beautiful?" Lucia asked. "You have already had us cast off so much of ourselves, we cannot devote ourselves utterly to Emroy as you command."

"I have done no such thing." I felt the familiar rush of anger as Tanya's blood ran hot at the accusation.

"But this war, where we run and bite at the periphery of the Empire. Where we strike at them until they weaken from loss of blood. This is the way of Emroy. War without honour, without limit, without end. The Imperials deserve nothing less and I will serve you in this until my dying breath My Queen, but asking my women to fight like this without offering them respite in the arms of our captives is... difficult." I stared dumbfounded at Lucia and looked back at the chained men. Starving, eyes empty and cold to the world.

Not for the first time I was baffled by the morality of my people. How was that better than wounding them to tie up Imperial resources?

The culture, the very thinking of the Lepus was alien to me even after almost thirty years of living in this body.

"I will consider your words Lucia, as of now your responsibilities are to rest your women and maintain combat readiness. You are also to process the prisoners, you may keep the nobles for ransom and to entertain your girls but the lowborn are to have their eyes put out and will be left behind."

"Understood Your Majesty." Lucia quickly stood to attention and performed a neat Gunbu salute. A slight bow of the head and her right hand bright up to the side of her head. It was an indulgence I supposed, to introduce something from my first life, even if it felt so distant now. I quickly matched her salute and she smiled at me, as carefree as ever.

A new salute was something that I had been trying to introduce for years but it was only now that the previous military salute of the Lepus, one that highly resembled an infamous salute in my first life, was quickly being rejected by my people due to its similarity to the salute used by the Saderaian forces. A moment later she was gone and I was alone with Furea.

"Have you read her report?" The obscured Lepus nodded his head at my inquiry.

"I have. She performed better than predicted in most of her engagements, but continued to operate well after over twenty percent of her forces were wounded. This led to each subsequent battle being more costly than the last. A failure cascade I believe you called it My Queen."

As I let out a frustrated sigh I spoke to myself more than anything "Perhaps I was too quick to promote her..."

"Who would replace her?" He asked rhetorically as I looked out at the prisoners once more.

"How many days do we have?" I asked Furea. He hummed to himself before rubbing his gloved hands together.

"Sixty days, perhaps less. Our numbers have expanded faster than our ability to procure supplies, the survivors from the other tribes did not bring enough food with them. In sixty days our grain... our bread runs out. And our food supplies will rapidly dwindle." I tapped my thigh as I thought about our situation.

"We will acquire more grain at Kontia." I pointed out.

"So long as they don't destroy the stockpile to spite us." He replied. "We can extend our supplies, if we cast off the chaff." Furea pointed out and I knew exactly what he was referring to.

"They are necessary." I stated, and dismissed his line of reasoning.

"We can find more, the Empire is full of humans and everything else. We would just need to kill the ones we have so they don't... talk." Furea said softly, pressing into my personal space as I quietly cursed Being X for giving me a body that reacted so acutely to his, and to the rest of my husbands advances.

"I won't do that. Killing them would be irrational." I dismissed him as he pressed his check to my breast, the top of his head touching my chin.

"You are carrying so many burdens, so many worries." He played his voice masterfully, knowing exactly how to carry his tone to my twitching hypersensitive ears. "The alternative would be rationing, that would be detrimental to the pace of our migration and the discipline of our forces." I felt his arms wrap around me as Tanya's body burned at his attention.

"It would be a violation of our social con-." He cupped my cheeks in his hands and pulled my face down to look into his sparkling eyes.

"They would not offer you the same kindness. And we cannot let the Imperials find out about the-."

"He's right, you know." As if a spell was broken I pulled away from Furea who turned to glare as Cato hobbled towards us. "The Empire cannot gain the secrets of your exploding powder. Were it be that the knowledge did not come from your people I would take great pains to deprive even the Tanaoi of such knowledge." Cato offered an unapologetic smile as he stopped well out of arm's reach of Furea with whom I rested a hand on his shoulder to keep him close. "If the substance existed in my mind alone I would cut my throat in service of all the thinking creatures of this world. For to deprive civilisation of the confidence of stone walls is a terrible sin." The old man said with utter sincerity.

"Begone old man. Your mistresses are speaking." Furea snipped and I squeezed his shoulder only for him to let out a soft gasp that made Tanya's heart flutter.

"I serve but one mistress boy and I come bearing dire news." At that I managed to push aside Tanya's base instincts and step forward even if the Lepus deep within Tanya still resisted rationality.

"What happened?" I asked directly as Cato pursed his lips in a thin line.

"Wyverns." He spoke softly and I felt my heart thunder in my chest as the Lepus within seemed to cheer with excitement. "Three of them."

I felt a grin form on my face as Cato took a step back.

"Perfect."

Kontia

Gilgalad, Imperial Auxiliary.

The gods had chosen a fine day to piss upon our heads.

I looked out at the scattering of tents a mile or so from the city and looked back at the concerned expression of Governor Trier, then to the stony face of the Garrison commander. I held back a sigh and trudged out into the rain and mud towards the campsite.

The heavy rain plinked off my chain shirt where it did not seep through the links to turn my itchy undershirt into a wet weight about my body. I looked up and saw three of the Lepus marching out into the rain with nought but bronze plate and bodypaint to maintain any modesty, likely an effort to keep their clothes dry. Not that the Barbarians had a concept of modesty anyway.

I followed the paved Imperial road halfway to the tents before trudging across the shin high wheatfield. I briefly wondered if the unseasonal rain would harm the crop but put that out of my mind. The Lepus horde would likely scour the fields and ruin it anyway.

"Ho there Orc! What do we owe the pleasure of your company!" A grinning beast of a woman jested as I let out a miserable sigh.

"I have come to parlay on behalf of the Lord Governor, might I have an audience with your commander?" I called out, needing to shout for my voice to carry over the rain.

"You have it! Come, let us not speak in the rain. My girls will not set about you." I looked at the women at her sides before shrugging and stepping forwards. If I was going to die it might as well be out of the blasted rain.

"Quite frankly I am insulted that the Governor is not speaking to me himself! Does he think we are some petty bandits? We are here on the behest of our Queen and this city shall be ours soon enough!" She let out a bellowing laugh while her companions fell into step at my sides, hands resting on their swords.

"It was not my decision to make." I pointed out. "Perhaps he does not wish to catch a cold." At my deadpan statement the Lepus Commander once more proved her jovial nature and filled the air with a peal of laughter.

We did not speak again until I was led into one of the large tents. Upon entering the tent I was assaulted with the rank smell of many unwashed bodies with no incense to spare my nose the offence but plenty of burning leaves to make it all the more unbearable. The expansive interior was packed with Lepus lounging around braziers and drinking wine and smoking from pipes, shouting and joking and laughing. The disposition of the Lepus could not be farther from the mood in the city.

I was led to a small table with a handful of seats arrayed around it where the Commander sat. I glanced to the women at my sides and took in their stony expressions for a moment before I joined the Lepus commander at the table.

"Wine! Bring us wine!" The commander called out only for one of the other Lepus to place a hand on her shoulder earning a frustrated sigh from her before she called out. "Tea, bring us tea instead."

"I was instructed to bring you a message from the Lord Governor." I said, eyes resting on the brown wood of the table in front of me.

"First, names. I will not parlay without giving you my name and taking yours in turn. I am Brigadier Enya, pureblood Warrior of the Tanaoi, head taker of fourteen women and twenty men. And mother to twenty three daughters. I command these women and speak with the voice of My Queen." She finished with a preening smile.

"I am Gilgalad, I'm an Imperial Auxiliary... I have a wife, and a son. And, that's it I suppose." Enya nodded at my words.

"Have you killed anyone Gilgalad?" She asked as a Lepus placed two mugs of hot tea on the table, one in front of me.

"No," I said. Taking up the hot cup if only to warm my hands.

"Every woman here has." She said, looking at me and inclining her head. "Every woman has drank the blood of an enemy to mark their adulthood, every woman has fought in countless battles and raids. Every woman has fallen upon the Legionaries and Auxiliaries of the Empire and carried off blood and treasure." I shrank back from her gaze and looked at the table again. My throat felt rather dry and I took a sip of the tea, finding the hot burning taste a respite from the intensity of the barbarians about me.

"I have a message." I felt a bead of sweat run down my cheek. "From the Lord Governor, I am obligated to give it to you."

"Let's hear it then." Enya said with a wave of her hand as she took a draught from her own mug.

"I did not make this message and I mean no insult-."

"Get on with it!" Enya snapped.

I sighed and fumbled with a slip of velum stuffed under my chain shirt and prepared for my head to leave my neck. "His benevolent Lord Governor Lucious Trier hereby offers the force of Lepus Bellacor raiders who reside outside of the walls of Kontia positions within his Lego Auxilia and total amnesty for their crimes and the crimes of their race. He so generously offers this despite the legion marching south at this very moment who will put this force in irons to be sent to the..." I blinked and quickly looked up at Enya and the crowd of Lepus around us.

"Read it." Enya demanded.

I felt lightheaded as I delayed my death by taking another drink from my mug before continuing. "H-he so generously offers this despite the legion marching south at this very moment who will put this force and irons to be sent to the whorehouses of Akusho with the rest of their race." I swallowed, the entire tent was silent and I could not bear to look up from the slip of velum in my hands. "The raiding force shall provide a response to this generous offer by midday on the morrow." With the message concluded I threw the vellum forward onto the table and kept my head low.

"Sent to the whorehouses of Akusho like the rest of our people, hah, this Lucious Trier is a bold one, don't you think girls?" There was a general murmur of agreement that gave way to deadly silence.

"I'm sorry." I muttered quickly as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Well girls, let's give them our response." Enya declared.

Eighty miles from Kontia

Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi.

The camp was a flurry of activity as I made my way to a hill overlooking the camp as Cato and Furea struggled to keep pace with me. It was easy to see the distant shadows in the sky, the unmistakable silhouette of three Wyverns far off now perhaps but there was nothing in this world that could move faster. This was the wonder weapon of the Sadarians. Their fabled Wyvern Knights.

Upon one side of my camp, kept a hundred paces or so, was a row of bright and colourful tents. Taken from raids against goblinoid settlements the Tanaoi had been engaging in for centuries. The garish styles of the goblin people were made possible by the goblins' mastery of dyes and pigments as well as some, partially magical I presumed, alchemical processes to produce them.

Goblin style clothes, rugs and tents were actually well regarded and prized possessions. But to me a goblin tent offered one rather simple advantage for this specific situation.

They stood out.

It was not a matter of if, but when, Zorzal would deploy his Wyvern Knights to harry our advance on Kontia. In his shoes I would have deployed them much sooner in fact, if only to keep an eye on my movements. But there were claims that the Wyverns could spit fire. I did not know the the efficacy of this claim but assuming that they could I needed to prepare for the likely situation where Zorzal would deploy his Wyvern Knights in a strafing run of some element of my encampment.

Thus I had drilled slingers to rapidly split into company sized groups and spread out across the encampment ready to loose stones at any Wyvern that got too close. But of course even in the best circumstances it was likely that they would have a chance to do some damage. So in order to control that damage I had been using the brightly coloured and attention grabbing tents as well as genuinely using them for the storage of goods.

This was in case I had any Imperial infiltrators, if Zorzal found out I was storing materials in the colourful tents it was an obvious objective to provide to his air force. This tactic had also necessitated training the slaves and Lepus workers to rapidly empty the colourful tents and relocate provisions and other supplies in other tents.

In total it had been an inordinate amount of work to prepare for the Wyvern Knights to harass my forces and now, for better or for worse. These measures would be put into practice.

Or they would if the Wyverns were going the right way!

My second life had involved a considerable amount of training in spotting and relaying information. This meant being able to rapidly and effectively judge distance, numbers and innumerable other things about any given enemy force. Of particular interest were planes, how far away they were, what direction they were heading in and how fast they were moving.

If this world was around the same size as the one in my second life. And I had no reason to believe it was not. I made an L shape with my thumb and index finger and placed the tip of my thumb against the horizon line while carefully focusing on the three distant Wyvern Silhouettes.

"Roughly forty miles away." I muttered as Cato gave me a curious look. "Travelling eighty to one hundred miles an hour... heading roughly south east." I watched as after a few minutes the trio slowly looped back the way they came before moving back to their original heading. "They are bypassing us, I think they are travelling south east until they are about ten miles east of the Imperial Road."

"Are they heading to Kontia?" Furea asked.

"If they were, why bother diverting at all? They could just fly right over us and there is nothing we can do about that." Cato deadpanned.

"What if they assume we could do something about them passing directly overhead?" I mused.

"Why send three Wyverns to Kontia anyway? They won't make that much of a difference during a siege." Furea asked and something about the question made me pause.

The Wyvern Knights circled back again before, again, returning to their original heading.

"They are slowing themselves down on purpose." I counted the seconds in my head focusing on the three Wyverns again. The pattern became clear, they would move along their main heading at roughly eighty miles an hour before turning back. "They are escorting something."

"This far south? Even if he whipped his men to death they could not have possibly caught us yet." Furea said.

"What if he detached his Cavalry and sent them ahead. With the Wyvern Knights to guide them." Cato asked, and I turned to look at him before pondering the possibility.

"Damn." I grit my teeth in frustration. All that planning and Zorzal chooses this as his strategy.

"The Imperials have no more than ten thousand horsemen at their disposal, less now that they have no doubt suffered attrition among the ranks of their Equtes. Such a small force cannot hope to defeat us alone." Furea said confidently.

"If they reach the city they will defeat our vanguard force and reinforce the city garrison." I began, a foot tapping the ground as I worked though the new problem the Imperials had thrown at me to my most trusted advisors. "Even if it is just a few thousand men reinforcing the city, these are the best fighters in the Empire with the best training and equipment. They will delay the capture of Kontia and cost us more lives in the taking." I did not have any reliable means to reinforce my army, any lives lost winning a battle would make the next one harder.

"So we push forwards and beat them to the city, preventing them from reinforcing Kontia and crushing them in the field." Cato mused. At their current pace a force of cavalry travelling with backup horses could reach Kontia before us. If I pushed my army forward in a forced march however we would beat them to the city. But with their Wyverns they would be able to see any movement of my forces and be able to react to it without my knowledge.

"If we reach Kontia first then the Imperials can just turn away from the city and strike at our lightly defended civilian encampment." At my words both men's eyes widened as the reality of the situation set in. Zorzals gambit here was audacious, throwing his cavalry forward in such a play was something most commanders would avoid at all costs due to the risks involved. He had no doubt carefully considered his options and sought to deprive me of operational tempo. Rather than acting and having Zorzal react to me I was now forced to react to him.

Omigoto Zorzal! Having the restraint with his air forces in not using them to harass me thus preserving them so he could effectively organise such an immense field of operations. I had to rid myself of arrogantly assuming I alone had an effective grasp of tactics and strategy. Small scale tribal conflicts had made me complacent. I had to acknowledge the fact that I was now fighting the heir to a continent spanning Empire that had access to the best strategists and teachers the world could provide.

"What do we do?" My husband said softly, eyes wide with uncharacteristic concern.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked.

Kontia

Tribune Brutus Acrus

As the clouds parted upon the damp earth and the sun began to slip beyond the horizon the Barbarians subjected the good people of Kontia to the tormented screams of Gilgalad. The demons cheered and danced about just out of range of any bowman upon the walls as they tied the Orcish Auxiliary to a wooden beam and held him over a bonfire. The man screamed out as flames licked his feet or when one of the Lepus would dart forward to strike at him, poke him with burning sticks or put a lash to him.

I felt my knuckles white as I grasped the blade at my hip as the screams of the man I had sent to deliver Lucious' missive to what few of the Lepus had escaped Zorzal's legions. It was shameful indeed that I was allowing mere bandits to besiege an imperial city, but the 3rd legion had taken many of the city guard and auxiliary with them as they pushed north into Lepus territory.

A scant thousand men at arms remained, mostly Orcish Auxiliary that I had raised from the surrounding countryside with very questionable training and resolve. I could not be sure that they could dislodge even a petty force as the Lepus had scrounged together. No, it was best to await the return of the 3rd legion on their way back to Triumph in Sadera. Breaking this siege would be a fine bookend for the whole affair.

News had come to Kontia of the Lepus' so called 'High Queen' surrendering their race two weeks ago. If Zorzal had sent a message by wing to Sadera then the city would be in celebration already, if he had instead chosen to deliver the news via horse then it would be a week or so before the Empire knew of its new land and plunder.

Already many of that wretched race had been marched to Kontia by elements of the Third Legion bringing the slaves back along one of the long roads to the Imperial Heartland. Most had continued on, veterans and the wounded leaving with slaves and plunder back to their homes. Some no doubt intended to claim land in the Colonia and retire. But many had been left in Kontia and their numbers filled our dungeons and slave pens. Gods willing the trophies of Zorzals expedition would be sent along to Sadera soon enough.

Now that I think about it, there were no doubt many soldiers resting in Kontia after having been relieved of service. While I felt no danger from the petty Lepus bandits against our walls it would be prudent to conscript some of the men into the garrison of the city. I would have the Governor pay their wages, the bastard deserved it after getting one of my men killed.

Unwilling to watch the Lepus tormenting the man any longer I pushed myself away from the wall and stalked towards the gatehouse and out into the city proper. The mood of the city was grim, how could it not be when the screams of an Imperial sounded out across the city. Sleep would come with difficulty tonight.

As I made my way through the streets of the city I felt an unease fall over me. Windows were barred, the few people out were walking quickly and with careful attention to their surroundings. A lifetime of suppressing riots and disorder in cities across the Empire had trained me to take note of every oddity, every indication of unrest or disorder, to the strange atmosphere that had taken hold of the people.

It did not take much effort to find the cause of the disturbance, on the far side of the city, most distant from the Forum and Governor Lucious' palace the dread atmosphere turned volatile.

The streets were blocked by hordes of Orc and goblin slaves and Auxiliares standing shoulder to shoulder, shouting and cheering as they surrounded the slave warehouses. Here and there a human was dotted around the crowd joining in on the madness. I pushed forwards, my voice hardly audible over the furious din of the crowd but when I got close enough the few who realised I was among them parted, if only because of the sword at my hip and purple shirt.

I shouted and pushed and shoved my way through the broiling mass of people until there was no longer anyone before me. I had found myself several paces from the warehouses, a thick ring of furious people all about them calling for blood. And a handful of humans and orcs lighting wool and straw stacked up beside the warehouses aflame, others were thrusting lit torches through the windows of the warehouses holding thousands of Lepus slaves.

"Put out the fire!" I screamed, voice horse from fury but none could hear me as I marched across the street and grabbed the arm of an Orc in Imperial Barding. "Put it out!" I roared in the man's face as he stared dumbfounded, a look of guilt crossing his face as if I had caught a child stealing treats.

Before the man could regain his senses I rushed forwards to kick at the wool and straw kindling as my actions caused discontent in the crowd but I paid them no mind as I struggled to stop the flaim from climbing the wooden walls of the warehouse. It quickly became apparent that my actions were futile as the structures slowly became filled with the sound of panic and screaming.

I watched in horror as the fire grew wild and untamed, catching the thatched roofs of the slave pens alight as Lepus slaves tried to force themselves though windows far too small for them to escape the flame. Snapping me out of my horrified stupor was an almighty crash as one of the warehouse doors was smashed open from the inside and like rats terrified Lepus threw themselves away from the flame and into the mob.

Pandemonium overtook the streets as Orc Auxillia rushed to strike at Lepus slaves only to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers no matter how many they hacked down. The rabbits taking stones, chains or even swords the Auxillia were using on them to lay into the crowd around them.

I called out, attempting to bring men to heel to gain control of the situation and prevent a full slave revolt but it was the Lepus who organised faster, quickly pushing to the other warehouses to open them and free their fellow Barbarians.

With more of their fellows in the streets and driven mad by fire and the blood of their fellows that wet the streets the Lepus descended on the crowd about them like demons possessed. Seeing that the situation had well and truly deteriorated I turned about and ran with the rest of the sane people on the street.

I had to reach the Palace and organise a force to put down the slave revolt. The only other choice was to die an ignoble death and no Saderan would abide themselves that.

Kontia

Delilah of the Pomi, Warrior of the Lepus.

As the Orc sang for us into the midnight hours we too sang and danced and drank to cast off the weight of mourning upon our company. For the first time in months I laughed. I laughed at how the Imperial burned and how the cowards in the city let it happen. I laughed as my fellow Lepus of a dozen tribes mocked and japed, speaking of great glories and of humours failures.

None spoke of how much we had lost.

The days since I joined the Tanaoi have been filled with activity. There was always another task, a new place to march to, always a new drill to perform, always another latrine to dig. The Tanaoi worked us like dogs and expected us to sparkle as we did so. If not for the food, bedding and wine I would have faded into the wilds at the harsh schedule and constant equipment inspections.

But such activity left little time to think, to mourn, to weep for what had been taken from us. Yet here at the city we had little to do but wait for the bulk of the forces to arrive so we could take the city and slaughter its people in revenge for what the Empire had done. So we had time to celebrate.

Thus in our rivalries it took even our lookouts time to notice that their men had vanished from the walls. Curious and drunk Lepus stalked forwards into range of arrow and sling, shouting out threats and mockery to the defenders expecting some hidden human to rush to the walls and loose a missile at them.

When there was no response, the battalion started to sober up.

Some of the faster runners were ordered to make a route around the city and report what they saw while others were ordered to equip themselves for battle. It was not outside of the realm of possibility that the defenders had decided to sally out of their city and meet us in the field, such an opportunity to secure glory and kill the Imperials in the open could not be ignored.

But as I cast my Bronze plate about myself and had a young girl paint my face and legs there were no shouts to hurry, there were no calls for battle or signals to give away the Imperial plot. When I left my tent with a Tanaoi spear in hand and Pomi sword at my hip I did not come back to an Imperial Garrison coming to meet us but instead the sky was lit up by a city aflame.

Sensing opportunity all companies were pushed forwards to the wall and met no resistance as we reached a gatehouse. Some of our number produced hooks and rope I did not know we carried while others began to grasp at the iron portcullis that stood between us and a tall wooden door to the city.

Lines were thrown up the walls and girls began to climb while others merely cast aside shoes and began to scale the tall stone walls without aid. Only when given permission to do such an obvious thing however. Many still kept a close eye on the murder holes that dotted the expansive walls or merely readied themselves in small groups as Enya and her 'Officers' rushed about to henpeck this group or that as the Tanaoi are want to do.

The Tanaoi somehow prided themselves on making being in a warband tedious and slow. Every action needs someone to ask someone else if it should be done or not. But despite my frustration at the tribe I too waited in 'rank' one arms length apart from the women to my left and right.

Finally the girls assigned to the portcullis had managed to lift it and place several wooden beams underneath to keep it up and I was ordered forward with half a dozen women to take up picks and axes before we bent under the portcullis and approached the wooden door.

We were ordered to begin to hack at the barrier to the city and I inwardly cursed at my luck. I cast my envy at the women climbing to the walls as I drove forward my axe again and again until my arms burned and the ground became matted in splinters and debris.

Just as I grew comfortable with my pace and stance I was ordered back and passed my no doubt blunted axe to another who began to hack at the entrance themselves. It was then a cry went up on the walls and the sounds of battle reached us.

More women were called forwards to cast themselves up the lines hanging from the walls but I could see little from where I was forced to stand shoulder to shoulder with other misfortunate Lepus. I cursed the Tanaoi within my mind as me and hundreds of other Lepus were forced to do nothing but wait as others found glory in slaughtering the Imperial dogs or dying for our people.

Then the door gave way and my company was ordered forwards. Ducking under the portcullis and stepping over the ruined door we entered into a city beset by chaos. We marched into a thoroughfare overlooked by tall buildings but wide enough for ten women to stand side by side comfortably. Enya moved forward and ordered us to form ranks and lift spears as Humans and Orcs watched from windows high above us or ran away from us down the street giving out a hew and cry as they did so.

To the east a great plume of black smoke flowed up into the sky where it was lit up by the city in flame below. To the west the city looked far more intact with no flames overtaking the city, at least from what I could see.

Enya led my company forward as I grit my teeth in frustration. We were in the city! Now was the time to set upon the Imperials and destroy them, instead we were just standing in the middle of a street as Tanaoi 'officers' waited for messengers to rush about to them in a pointless protracted conversation.

Perhaps they wondered what madness had overtaken the Imperials to abandon their walls and offer us their lives for free, but the whys hardly mattered when we were within their walls and could set upon them! Let us find out on the morrow as we picked through the dead and not waste our time with it now!

I looked to my left and right and saw rightful indignation in the eyes of my fellow Lepus but none were willing to step forward and lead our company forward while Enya stalked about in front of us.

I let out a curse, and was joined by many others as an Imperial formation turned a corner several hundred paces away from us and began to march towards us. Enya, the Tanaoi had wasted too much time and now the Imperials were prepared to meet us. I hefted my spear as the rest of my company did the same. I felt the woman behind me ready her spear to guard me as several of the Imperials staggered as they marched towards us.

The whistling of bullets flying overhead, likely from Lepus on the walls with slings, stalled the Imperial formation for a while before a man dressed in nothing but tights and bedclothes pushed to the fore of the Imperials and lifted up a sceptre. Slingstones were then turned away from the formation with flashes of bright yellow light that left spots in my vision even as I closed my eyes. The hail of bullets slowed at the actions of the Mage and the Imperial group of Orcs and Humans let up a cheer that was joined by a few Humans leaning out of windows.

Enya walked out in front of us holding her sword aloft, provoking a shout of our own. I rolled on the balls of my feet and took note of a few of my fellows beginning to hop in place, eager for our company to fall upon the Imperials and their mage.

"Ladies!" Enya called out, her voice carrying over the sounds of a city soon to be ruins as the Imperials resumed their march towards us. "They intend to stop us! They believe themselves to be your equal! They dare stand against you! Will you let them?!"

"NO!" Came many hundreds of voices, my own leaving my lips before I could think. At that Enya pointed her blade at the enemy and let out a roar as she charged towards them alone and finally we were unleashed upon the Empire. In that moment, there was not a single woman who would not follow Enya into the blades of the Saderans. There was not a single woman who did not rush to beat the Brigadier to the enemy lines. The distance between us and them vanished as we bounded along the street spears levelled.

I lost sight of Enya as the Imperial Mage thrust his sceptre forwards and the world turned white.