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It was late evening the next day when Iyzic's party arrived at Tordakir. Airuk was somewhat amazed by the city although they had yet to enter. The walls of Tordakir were at least twice as high as those of Thaiden. Every three hundred feet along the wall was an immense tower, and there were dozens of them. The stone itself of Tordakir seemed of sturdier construction then that of Thaiden. Off in the distance Airuk could see several much more massive towers placed at what the builders had decided were critical points.

The main gates of the city were closed at sunset but a smaller door designed to accommodate merchants arriving late could be opened when needed. Their wagon was once again searched and a toll taken, however with little light the guards simply picked goods at random. Airuk wondered if that's why they had stopped for an hour, he suspected that if he asked his brother Iyzic would simply smile. But he also suspected that the wolves wouldn't take too kindly to mice trying to trick them, he'd ask when they bedded down for the night.

The inside of Tordakir did little to change Airuk's initial impression. The city was much older then Thaiden and the construction reflected that. Rather then a combination of wooden and brick construction, Tordakir seemed carved entirely out of stone. The roofs were terracotta rather then shingles, which Airuk supposed made sense since Tordakir didn't receive as much snow as Thaiden.

They visited three inns before they found one that still had room. Tordakir was packed in preparation for the fall festival. On that note Airuk wondered if it was the fall festival, or the harvest festival, or maybe both. While his brother was taking care of the arrangements Airuk did his best not to nod off to sleep. Once the necessities were taken care of Airuk went with Iyzic to inspect the room. As soon as Iyzic unlocked the door Airuk walked in, picked a bed, and promptly flocked down on it.

"Not quite yet." Iyzic said and picked Airuk off the bed and set him back onto his feet. "We still have to unload the wagon. If we don't we'll come back in the morning to find ourselves the owners of one very empty wagon." Airuk only grunted and gave his brother a dirty look. Wanting to annoy or at least frustrate Iyzic, Airuk did his best to appear far sleepier then he was as they went down. Iyzic simply ignored Airuk walking into walls, stumbling down the stairs, and giving the overall impression that he was very drunk.

It didn't take them very long to unload the wagon with the help of the guards and a pair of young stable hands from the inn. Even though the Wolves were only boys, they were as tall as Iyzic and almost as tall as Hurik. Airuk barely came up to the base of their necks. When the wagon was unloaded and its contents safe and secure in the guard's room, Iyzic and Airuk got ready for bed. Of course, that consisted mostly of taking off their shoes and heavier over garments. The beds were obviously made for wolves and Airuk's feet were nowhere near the end of the bed. Of course, Airuk didn't mind, a little room to stretch never did anyone wrong.

When Airuk woke up the next morning he found his brother's bed already empty. The thin walls allowed Airuk to hear Iyzic, Hurik, and the other guards hard at work moving goods from their room. The inn was only a hundred feet or so from the market square. That meant they had little problem carrying their goods by hand to set up a stall. Airuk tried to go back to sleep but eventually his conscience go the better of him and he got dressed to help.

When Iyzic saw Airuk, he did something of an exaggerated double take. In his hands Iyzic was holding a sheaf of papers he quickly stuffed under his cloak. Ignoring the papers, Airuk rolled his eyes at his brothers feigned surprise and said, "Oh ye of little faith."

"You mean, oh me of thirteen years of knowing how hard it is to wake you up."

Airuk decided to be the bigger mouse, figuratively of course, and not respond to his brother. Instead Airuk picked up a box of shiny metal trinkets. After he asked where their stall was, doing his best to wordlessly make it clear that the question was not intended for Iyzic but for whomever else was willing to answer; Airuk carried the box down the stairs and out the door. Outside it was still dark but the streets were already crowded. About half of the people were wolves but all races were represented. Most were carrying goods of some sort towards the market square. Or in the case of two sheep, herding goods towards the market square.

It was easy to find their stall as it was right at the entrance to the market. One of the guards had spent the night making sure no other merchant could take their spot and now he remained there to make sure no one ran out with their wares. By the time they had finished transferring most of their goods to the market the sun was beginning to rise. A little less then half their wares were left in the room; if they were needed Iyzic could send Airuk or one of the guards to retrieve them.

With his brother's permission Airuk set out to explore the market. The two sheep Airuk saw earlier had managed to herd their sheep into a small pen. Since Airuk had spent most of his life in the city of Thaiden he was fascinated by animals. He had seen sheep before of course, but the wool on these sheep was completely different from the course wool of Thaiden's sheep.

When Airuk tried to ask one of the upright sheep a question in Thaiden Imperial, he received only a series of incomprehensible baas in response. Airuk then tried speaking old Imperial, "What type of sheep are these?"

Comprehension dawned on the sheep's face and one of them responded in Old Imperial, "They are sheep of Marion." His Imperial sounded almost exactly what Airuk would have imagined a regular sheep would have sounded like if it tried to speak. He reminded himself that the same probably held true for himself and a mouse as far as the sheep were concerned.

The next stall over was of a very different nature. A large boar had arms of all sorts spread across a table and hanging from several racks. Although there were very few actual fairgoers this early in the morning, several of the guards had wandered over to the stall to inspect the weapons. All but one of the guards was a mercenary, the lone wolf appeared to be an officer of some sort. Two of the mercenaries were boars and the last a bull. Unable to see past them Airuk struggled to get to the front before realizing the easiest way was to simply duck in between the bulls legs.

The outcome was not quite what Airuk had hoped for and Airuk realized he had made a mistake when he found himself lifted up and staring face to face with the bull. After examining the mouse for a moment and making sure he still had his coin purse, the bull snorted before turning around. He walked a couple of paces, set Airuk down on the ground, and delivered with his hoof what the bull probably considered a tap. The result was that Airuk flew into the fence the two sheep had just finished setting up.

About five minutes later as Iyzic was putting the finishing touches on his own stall a battered and dusty Airuk stumbled over. Iyzic looked his younger brother over and raised an eyebrow, "Do I really want to know?"

Rubbing his hind quarters with both his hands Airuk gave his brother a sour look, "I wouldn't tell you anyway."

There was little to do the rest of the morning other then occasionally fetch an item for his brother. Whenever he wasn't working, Airuk asked Hurik about his experiences. At first Hurik hadn't been too keen on talking about his experiences while serving as a mercenary for the Wolven cities. Eventually though Airuk's persistence won.

"It was something about twenty years ago when I signed on with a Wolf noble who went by the name of Antinius." Hurik began, "He had got himself in a spot of trouble with another noble whose estate bordered his. The Wolf Council had fell into disarray so the nobility were having a go at each other. I had finished escorting a convoy, and found myself in Morkir. Well Antinius' steward came into Morkir with orders to recruit every mercenary he could find. Now normally Wolves don't hire mice, but Antinius was desperate."

Airuk was staring at Hurik with rapt attention but started to shift on his feet when a question entered his mind. When Hurik gave him the go ahead Airuk started to speak, "What were most of the other mercenaries? I mean, if they don't like mice what do they like?"

"They like their fellow wolves the most," Hurik answered, "But failing that they're awfully fond of Boars, Bears, Bulls, and Badgers."

"Is it because they all begin with B?" Airuk asked with a smile.

Hurik looked at the sky for a moment before rapping his knuckles on Airuk's head. "No, it's because they're all big." Airuk began to speak but Hurik continued, "And no it's not because big begins with B to ya scallywag. Now, as I was saying. Horses are big to but they're not quite as mean as the others. If you've ever run into the rest you know that those aren't that pleasant of a lot." Airuk rubbed his backside again at the thought and nodded.

"I was too small to be a pike man of course. Why, they use pikes almost twenty feet long and there isn't any way I could use a pike of that size. I ended up usin' my own harquebusier. Even their shot was useless to me since they use a bigger caliber. It was a miserable time; there were only a few of the- well."

Hurik paused to look down at Airuk who was grinning mischievously. Hurik sighed, "Oh go ahead."

"A few of the non B's?" Airuk said as sly as he could manage. Hurik groaned despite seeing the remark coming from half a mile away. Of course without the groan Airuk would have been disappointed. As it was Airuk broke into a fit of giggles. Hurik looked sternly at the young mouse until he was finished.

"Well if you're done I'll continue. Once the steward decided he had enough men, we marched out from Morkir. And that was miserable to, a wolven army moves fast and my poor legs were a bit short for that pace. Course since I got the same ration as everyone else I wasn't hungry at least. Even with all that marching I could have got fat on the amount of food a boar eats."

"We had been on the road for five days when we met up with the main body of Antinius' army. He had us drill for a couple days but it was a lousy excuse for drill. The wolves all wanted to show they were better then everyone else, the bulls got all excited and would charge ahead of the formation, the boar just plane hated everyone, and the bears. Well actually the bears weren't so bad."

"As long as they were sober you mean." Airuk chimed in, "I've seen a couple bears get drunk before and they both ended up in the stocks."

"Aye, they like to brawl. Course those of us who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones. Why, the stories I've heard." Hurik's grin confirmed Airuk's fears and his ears turned beet red. He'd have to get back at Iyzic later. "But to forget those stories and keep on with mine."

"All the races were mixed so we didn't have any glaring weaknesses. The formation was a bit shabby but it was certainly vicious. Since wolves don't use cavalry- imagine! A wolf riding a horse! Why the poor horse would die of fright. Anyway, since they don't use horses their sloppiness didn't matter that much as long as they were fighting each other. Once drill was done we marched for another couple of days before camping for three."

"On the third day the wolf sergeants woke us before dawn. And if there's one thing to be said about wolves it's that you'll find no better sergeants. They had us marshaled for battle in no time at all. When we reached what would be the field of battle you could tell right away. And then the bombardment began. Wolf artillery is a fearsome beast, big cannons. We could make out the outline of the enemy forces across the field. At first anyway, after the first twenty minutes there was too much smoke to see much of anything. Both armies just stood and took the bombardment, hoping to be better off at the end of it."

"Instead of using skipping shots, they just fired shells. Most were too long or too short, but some exploded in the formation. When they did, well you're a bit young for that. After an hour we got the order to advance. I couldn't see much of anything We kept moving forward until they emerged from the smoke. Even though we could just barely see them they were already in range. So we fired, and their harquebusiers fired. Two volleys later, we couldn't see them anymore. But we kept on firing. The shouts told us that-"

Hurik paused and looked at Airuk. Airuk was staring at Hurik and listening intently. "Aye, I think that's enough for now." No matter how much Airuk coaxed him Hurik refused to say anymore. The rest of the day was uneventful and they made little more then small talk. Iyzic was constantly occupied with customers and Airuk had to make several trips to their room in order to retrieve goods. By the time the sun began to set on the festival's first day they had sold almost half of the wares they'd brought to Tordakir.

At the moment of sunset, a horn blasted through the marketplace. All of the wolves and their mercenaries in attendance instantly turned to face the sound's source. Iyzic and Hurik both looked completely puzzled. The horn blasted again and this time Airuk saw its source, a large gray backed wolf surrounded by a dozen wolves clad entirely in plate mail.

"All Wolves and brethren, listen to this announcement from Aukir, Capital of the Old Empire and Home of the Wolf. The Patriarch of the Rite and all people of Earth and Sky, Ulsith XVI has declared Tireus of the house of Aidikae, Emperor. He rules in the great line of Airaneus, and his strength is that of the Empire. He is to command all followers of the Rite, and restore the Empire to greatness. For ten thousand years his lineage will reign. The Council is no more, only the Emperor remains."

Whatever else the messenger was about to say was drowned out as thousands of wolves cheered and howled. When Airuk looked at Iyzic and Hurik he saw only grim faces, the other mercenaries looked the same. A short distance off the sheep he had talked to earlier were quaking. After a couple of moments they began to gather their flock and leave the square. All around Airuk noticed that many of the other foreign vendors were preparing to leave as well. It took only a moment for Iyzic to make up his mind, "Pack up everything, now"

They didn't have many goods left at the stall so each mouse grabbed what he could and made their way back to the inn. As word of the announcement spread through the city, wolves and as Airuk called them, the 'Bs' flooded the streets in celebration. Once Airuk and his party were back in the room Iyzic began to give orders in rapid fire succession. "Hurik, get all of our personal belongings ready to move. Pay the innkeeper and saddle the horses. Forget the wagon. I'm going to try and sell our remaining stock to Julian. We'll take a loss but we need to move quickly Oh, and have one of your men show Airuk the basics of how to ride."

It took Hurik very little time to settle their affairs at the inn. Once that was taken care of he moved the horses into the street as they made ready to depart. Despite the late hour there were still many people celebrating. An hour later Iyzic returned. He was completely out of breath and soaked in sweat but quickly mounted his horse. Iyzic then conferred quietly with Hurik for a moment before they departed.

The crowding in the streets combined with the relatively small size of their horses meant that it took the better part of half an hour for them to reach the gates. The guard there was a bit drunk but let them out regardless. In contrast to the well lit city the outside was dark, it was a new moon. They hadn't gone more then a mile when Airuk heard a husky voice commanding them to stop. When Airuk looked towards the source of the voice he saw a dozen soldiers emerging from the side of the road

"Search them." the commander said simply without even bothering to ask for consent. Each of the mice was roughly removed from their horses and set on the ground. The boar searching Airuk almost ripped the young mouse's clothes as he searched. When the boar's hands neared the coin Raiktor had given him Airuk tensed but knew that he could do little to stop the boar. When the boar withdrew his hand from the pocket though all he held was a small iron disc devoid of markings. The boar tossed it to the ground and returned to report to his commander.

Just when he thought that they were going to be released Airuk heard a bark of triumph. "Aha!" the commander yelled, "What are these?" In the wolf's hands was a roll of papers which he had removed from Iyzic's saddle bag. The wolf inspected them before making a pronouncement, "These are the marshalling orders of Tordakir's nobles and unless my mother is cow, you are a spy. Seize him."

So quickly that it was almost a blur, two soldiers grabbed Iyzic by his arms and shoved him to the ground. The commander began to speak again, this time addressing Iyzic, "Who's the boy?"

"He's my," Iyzic paused for a moment, "He's a servant."

The wolf sneered at Iyzic's answer, "Well then. If he's your servant then he is forfeit to the New Empire as punishment for your crimes. And you, mercenaries. Are you to complicit in this crime or are you willing to serve the Emperor."

Two of Iyzic's mercenaries nodded, Hurik didn't. Instead he spoke, "What will happen to the boy?"

"He will hang with his master."

Hearing the answer, Hurik drew his sword in one swift motion and leaped at one of the soldiers. He got a solid blow that bit deeply into the boar's neck. When he made to attack another boar though, his blow was deflected by the boar's spear. A third guard brought his own halberd to bear and the head bit into Hurik's hip. The mouse grunted in pain and tried again to stab the boar. The boar easily parried the thrust and jabbed the point of his spear into Hurik's neck. Hurik slumped and was still.

Airuk moved to help his friend but a kick sent him sprawling onto the dirt. He felt cold metal on the ground and his hand closed around it. It was the golden coin which Raiktor had given him. Iyzic too tried to help but he struggled in vain against the hands holding him. "He's my brother! He knew nothing of this! Let the boy be!"

The commander now laughed. "See now, that wasn't so hard. In that case he'll work to help repay your family's debt. You however will pay with your life." The wolf paused to survey the situation. He withdrew a small piece of paper and began to scrawl on it. Once he was done the wolf spoke again, "You two, mice. Take this note and the prisoners back to Tordakir. If you try and escape or let them go, we will found you. If we do you'll wish for death by hanging. You've agreed to serve the Emperor, and we do not take kindly to traitors. One of my men will accompany you."

Airuk didn't stop sobbing until they reached Tordakir.