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The city of Bruges, a city of walls of stone and fortifications, a center of industry and nature alike, the weeks traveling from the blue waves to here have been nothing short of exhausting and leaving the Normandy in Avec-Bohte ports obviously wasn't an easy choice either, as having the ship nearby always provided a sense of security because of it's firepower, but thankfully because of the reputation I made the last time I was in the lands of the Aviordupois we've got the ship secured and a small army traveling with us to reinforce in the north and until Vaslov's army is dealt with, the Aviordupois will be on the alert. We pass through the lower communities, they are in poverty but given the situation I think things could be worse and going through the gate we are told that the convoy made it perfectly fine... though until I see Danica and Lalaine I won't hold my breath. Looking over the mighty settlement just shows how mighty it is as it rests on a three stepped plateau and looking ready to fend off a siege, the second layer baring what is called the Sacred Grove of Lutara and the rest is of stone, the top and last layer is holding an impressive palace.... maybe a few hundred years ago. Compared to the bastions and structures of the Aviordupois and Triskellian, there are no dressings, no banners, the stone in many places is cracked clean through and the 'palace' is eroding to dust as we look at it.

The large wooden doors swing open to the palace, the creaking of splintering wood and rusted hinges hitting my ears hard, we enter the decaying structure, the banners of the kingdom are hanging sternly among the extremely outdated architecture... I am nervous just being near this bloody thing, let alone going inside it! I feel the place is going to come crashing down on my head!

At the end of the hall are two boars adorned in some fine but plain clothes, just to the right is Danica and Lalaine and to the left is Kama, we soon stop just in front of the throne with the rest of my friends and allies by my side. I can feel not just the two royals before us scanning with their eyes but everyone else in the entire room, I understand how they feel about our presence, I just hope positive words were exchanged.

The barrow looks to me "I am Duke Tybault de Doloreaux and you must be the Pheonix that these two ladies talk about."

I bow my head "Yes mi lord, I am Adam Rinaldi, a knight of the Rinaldi House."

The duchess gives a subtle smirk "Spoken like one of nobility."

Tybault leaves his throne and comes over to me "Your armor bares impressive scars, why not repair it?" crossing his arms.

"The main concern was to join the front against Vaslov, so I waited until I arrived to recive the needed tender." keeping firm.

People begin to murmur around us, the Duke looks to them which silences them, he gives a light chuckle "Finally, Rinaldi's that can draw blood and take a hit. I've known about your involvement in the lands of the south for some time, the blue knight of flame who cleaved the head of a hungry horde and quite the tactician."

I smirk "With respect mi lord, I am but one. If it weren't for my allies, I doubt I wouldn't lasted more then a mere day."

The boar gives a nod "Always good to know someone who knows their limits.", he crosses his arms once more "But I am curious, can you defeat Vaslov and the armies at his command?"

"Our numbers may be few, but if applied properly one knight can feel like a thousand, What do we know of the enemy forces?"

The duke takes me to a war room along with my allies and ranking offers from my reinforcements, I can tell Danica and Lalaine want to talk to me, but they are being laser focused until this meeting is over. Pooling the information together, there are three armies under Vaslov's command, two of which are near while the third we left behind up north with a ruined bay, one of them coming with siege equipment while the other two handle the fighting. Based on scout reports, Vaslov is personally leading the central force with both his army and the one we left behind being the two combat centric armies, so the one coming from dead west is the one that has all the siege equipment and thus given the shortest distance to move. I think I know how we can swing this battle into our favor before it begins...

First off since Vaslov is leading the central army, I propose that my forces and I take him head on, given our history he won't pass of the chance to try to finish me off. This certain raises brows from everywhere, but I explain that we make a counter-offensive but with a twist, a second army will advance to the west to knock out artillery before it comes into play, for the third army that is likely in bound, we send a force armed with iron and powder and place them in a strong defensive position where they can fight on two fronts. Danica raises the question on how this plan will work as it seems a little off with many commanders commenting on this. The plan is that after the army sent to destroy the heavy equipment accomplishes their mission, they'll sweep up and strike Vaslov's army on it's side and rear flanks, then we force Vaslov into the storm of iron and powder up north. The tactic does rely on several key factors and timing I admit, but it is our best shot as even without siege equipment an army can still pose a threat by cutting of resupply or building ladder sufficient enough to scale the walls. The look on the Doloreaux in general is pretty mixed, they know the actions I took in my past campaign and I guess they were simply expecting me to say that we meet the enemy on open ground head on, a tactic that is useless given the terrain and the experience the enemy has.

Danica steps in "I know how it sounds, believe me even we have have been skeptical of Adam's plans. But the track record speaks for itself, his strategies do carry a lot of logistics, but he has proven the person with the resources and knowledge to apply them can easily change the outcome, even in the harshest of circumstances. He's adapted tactics of where he is from to what we have to work with, the results have been nothing short of effective, we can win this without getting into a situation of attrition."

I look around "I understand that the Doloreaux House prides itself on it's traditions, but the enemy knows how to beat you with ease and they smell blood in the water. They are bringing heavy iron and a lot of powder to back it up, that's not including the sell swords they are throwing into the fray that are more then a match for your garrison. Pray to your deities and hope for the best if you must, but the only way victory can be achieved now is to meet the enemy on the battlefield as they are punching holes across your land and destroying whatever assets your House has."

Forra nods "The spirits point this out as well, our enemy thinks it is is invincible because they know where we are weakest. Our stubborn nature has kept our spiritual well being strong but it has come at a cost, we have ore and forges but we haven't advanced while our neighbors have. It'll take us years if not maybe decades before the damage has been repaired and even more so the souls of our people. Our House is on it's way to being another lost kingdom to the sands of time, we must do what is needed."

Kama weighs in, saying that she agrees with the three of us, ultimately I am given the green light with the resources I see fit to use... I'm going to have to get really creative with this one. My forces from the Aviordupois are around four hundred strong sure but Vaslov has a number advantage as that means we'll be outnumbered a little more the four to one just on that front, I need to think of a force multiplier that'll work in this environment but there are no mortars I can use... looks like we're going to have to make them but we don't have time to fully start from scratch and not having high explosive balls puts a dent that much further. It's a last ditch blueprint, but the engineers and I come up with a conversion for the 20 pounder cannons, the plan is that we'll keep the cannon itself intact but it needs a new carriage, to keep the large cast iron object mobile we go with using a heavy wagon used for moving heavy ore and with some creative choices we improvise a platform for the cannon to be at an angle that be adjusted by a crank with a second one to swivel it around, thankfully the sides already have heavy clamps so that they fold down which will allow full operation of the improvised mortar to be used a 360 degree turret. To compensate for the elevation difference we'll increase the charge size by about 50% and the use of a single cannon ball won't suffice so we'll load up on grape shot which will give us a great area of effect, it should be pointed out that because of the larger charge it will increase the chances of having a malfunction or even destruction of the weapon entirely, but we are desperate here. In a few hours we finish making the conversion for one of the 20 pounders on the mighty walls, when asked how many we'll need for the operation, I simply reply with how many 20 pound cannons they have remaining, they say they have seventeen more...

For the next few days we work tireless in converting the cannons and making sure there aren't any faults with the cannons themselves, news quickly goes around that we are doing something, by the fifth day we finished the conversions and presented them to the population... everyone is instantly unsure of what to make of the improvised artillery pieces, to be fair I kind of would be to. Given that we don't have the time to test fire any of them we begin to make preparations on how we are going tackle the coming fight and assigning the mortars, given that the group tacking the enemy siege engines has to be fast and mobile they won't be getting any of them, my force tackling Vaslov will be receiving four and the last formation will receive the remaining fourteen, seven for facing the south and seven for the north should the third enemy force show up. The next part is figuring out who will be leading the two other forces under my command, Danica will go with the artillery group given her leadership style, as for the other they'll need someone who understands hit and run tactics, so I go with Wovka... with his mom acting as his advisor.

With the meetings over and the plan being set in motion, I quietly pull Maeve to the side as this gives us a chance we cannot ignore.

The eyes me with those emerald eyes of hers "I had ah feelin that there was more to this plan of yours."

I give a nod "You are correct, it is most likely Vaslov has the part he took with him, it may not be on his person, but it may be in the rear lines somewhere. This is not something we can pass up as recovering this part will put us in the lead of this race and then it'll be more or a less a straight shot to the third and last component.", I give a sigh "You know I wouldn't say it if it wasn't important, but if you can get behind enemy lines and secure Vaslov's part of the weapon it'll give us the edge you need. But you will be on your own for the mission."

Maeve smirks "Bein ah ranger I em use ta such ah post. Consider it done!"

"Remember, no heroics." as I cross my arms.

Darkness creeps in as we advance, Maeve slips into the trees to carry her solo mission out, I can only hope this goes as well as I have everyone think it will be. Cachting up with both Danica and Lalaine was brief but nice with both of them saying the Doloreaux treated them well for the time they were with them.

Forra comes over to me "The real question is, will we wither the coming storm or not? The spirits have taken both their guesses and bets."

"I can't answer that question Forra, it's something every military officer has said since the dawn of time. Even with the mortars we can still face heavy loses, things never go according to plan in matters such as this."

The blessed sits across from me "Also, hearing Danica speak that you are not from here holds my attention too.", she raises an eyebrow "Where are you from exactly?"

I look to her "I am from a different Earth, one where we are far more advanced then this. Currently you are expirencing your medeival age overall, so we are ahead of you by about five hundred years at least."

The conversation captivates those in earshot as Forra and I go back and fourth as she's curious about where I'm from, flinching here and there from what I tell her what we have in our time of our point in history, from consumer technology to what we can do from a military standpoint. The thing about it though is that I didn't bring anything from my world aside from what I was wearing... probably a good thing as practically no matter what I would've brought couldn't have lasted long anyway.

It's strange though, how I don't even think of the world I am from anymore, how I don't feel homesick for it at all, if anything I feel that for Triskellian as it became my home. When I became a Rinaldi, I felt like I finally found my place, I felt that I had finally shown what I can really do, something I doubt I could have done with the shackles of human modern day life. To speak the truth I'm not too sure...

We get the mortars in place with some camouflage covering both them and the their wagons, it'll take Danica time to reach where she needs to go and for those attacking the enemy siege equipment maybe even more so, soon it becomes early morning and some lit torches are burning off in the distance... I think it's time.

I look to everyone "Stand ready!" everyone gets ready as I step forward, I stare at the torches "We are ready to make our stand, the coming battle steel will clash as powder booms and iron will storm from the sky. Vaslov and his forces greatly outnumber us, but so what? One of us is worth ten of them if not more!", I draw my blade and raise it into the air, forming my wings of flame "Onward comrades to victory!"

Cheers erupt all around me as the paladins take position near me, if we fail here there's practically nothing standing between the Doloreaux surviving this... no pressure.

.............................

Vaslov is looking at the burning wings off in the distance, a smirk form on his grey fox features "He is here too? I know it was just a theory, but it's refreshing to see an old foe out here."

A nearby mercenary approaches him "It's the Phoenix mi lord! Adam Rinaldi, the one who smelted a horde of the undead with his flame!" another speaks "By the Light, really? How do we stand up to him?"

The grey fox chuckles "He isn't invincible, he is just a man, I should know I almost killed when we dueled. I look forward to seeing how far he has come, it'll make take both his head and sword that much more satisfying.", he readies his saber "If anything this'll help us get some practice in before we take the capital of this Great House. Prepare to attack!"

...............................

Far behind Vaslov's ranks, Maeve finds a small camp that is lightly guarded along with some supplies, the fruit bat sneaks around them and makes it to the central tent, she looks around for the artifact that Vaslov took. She thinks back to the night, when Vaslov cleaved into the human and what followed... that scream hunted her until Adam returned to the estate and every now and again it still does, there are times where she watches from the shadows to watch for potential assassin attempts or if something is amiss, they began to watch out for him after that, at least for a time while he was regaining his strength. Resting with him has shown her how soft he really is, at the end of everything said and done he was still just a person who has made his fair share of mistakes alongside his accomplishments, a strong sense of duty and honor with his own worries about how this will all play out.

Maeve locates a large red wooden chest with bronze fittings, she opens it and sees it's the part that Vaslov took, no question about it. She puts it in her pack and begins to leave the camp, but she sees the black power nearby and gets an idea.

..........................................

Wovka is standing over a surrendering merc, the surrendering army having been taking by surprise thanks to Wovka's quick thinking and the fact the actual armed portion numbered only about fifty in total with most of this army made up of engineers and mechanics for the siege engines.

The wolf gives them a smirk "Aye, tryin ta sneak around until ya bring dis stuff ta Vaslov eh? Well now yer cornered!"

Relocca moves past her son "No fightin and no noise.", she sighs in relief "If only it was always this easy."

Wovka looks to her "The question iz how ere we goin ta deal with them and help Adam out?"

Four loud booms catch their attention instantly as the sun slowly comes up.

The wolfess grips her spear a little tighter "Ah don't know, but we gotta sort that out quick!"

...........................................

The grape shot storms the three ranks that Vaslov sent against us, the small iron cannon balls making a quick mockery of leather and steel, their groans carry for a few moments, I bring my wings around and unleash a firestorm in a sweeping pattern, those of Vaslov's forces get into dense cover while other burn up as they scream in heat death. Vaslov comes out from his cover with heavily armored mercenaries who are shaking in their greeves but he looks unnerved as his remaining forces come into formation.

I aim my sword at him "VALOR AGAINST THE ODDS!!! CHARGE!"

Vaslov aims his saber at me "ATTACK!!!"

Both our lines come together across the burning plane, smashing into each other as two tides of steel and warcries. The grey fox and and I swing our blades at each other, neither one of us trying to dodge, his saber glances off my shield and breeches my front armor but it's not deep enough to cause me serious harm, Fireweaver cuts though his tough plates of metal and delivers a jagged cut across his chest, seeing him wince for a brief moment is priceless.

"This madness ends now Vaslov! You're finished!" and I charge.

Vaslov snarls "You are my lesser!"

I swing but he quickly counters, delivering a crimson drawing hit, a smirk forms on his muzzle as he pulls away.

The grey fox exclaims "Well, you aren't dead yet!" with a chuckle.

I really just want to shoot this fox and get it over with, but I want to match his steel with mine "This has been a long time coming, I'll send your ashes to the Don himself!"

Vaslov counters my attack once more, his saber knocking my attack away as my armor barely stops his attack, both of our attacks cutting into each other, crimson flows from both of us as we glare into one anothers eyes, we break away and our injuries are there for all to see, I have my sword ignite in flame and we both brace ourselves, he comes at me and swings while I charge and swing at him, his saber misses but Fireweaver finds it's mark, his chest catching ablaze as he yells. I turn to face him as he shudders, from his hand I see it glowing white, he looks to me with those golden eyes of his as he flashes me a crimson coated smirk, his wounds healing pretty well and he faces me one more.

The fox gives a vicious chuckle "So close yet so far."

"Not quite! Time to end this!" and I charge at him once more "FOR THE RINALDI!!!"

Vaslov comes at me, ready for a broad swing, we close the distance with both blade in the perfect spot for a kill shot, all of a sudden he becomes enveloped by this green energy and just before we hit each other he vanishes. I look around to see if he is playing some kind of trick, there's no sign of movement in the ash stricken earth, I don't hear any breathing at all... he's gone! I form my wings of flame as I anticipate an attack from behind but it never comes, he really isn't here!

Vaslov's forces look my way and seeing that their commander is no where to be seen with more then a few of them having definitely seen what happened, one by one they surrender, the paladins looking in shock at the scene.

I was close... SO FREAKING CLOSE!!!

Tamel moves towards me "His mother more then likely transported him out with black magic."

I have my wings fade away "I almost... had him, I almost ended this!"

Mavra gives a nod "But now it shows that can beat him, that you can fight him on equal footing. I'd call that a victory on it's own."

I take a deep breath "Yeah, you're right." as I put away my sword "Let's get these guys accounted for and..."

A distant explosion catches our attention and Maeve comes flying out from the woods with a huge grin on her face as she adds emphasis to her backpack... I give her a smirk and a nod, now we have two of the three parts.

I raise my right fist in the air "Victory is ours!" with pride.

Everyone on our side begins to cheer, a quick message to Danica and back tells us the army to the north has surrendered thanks to bombardment from the improvised mortars and Wovka's group soon arrives with many prisoners having sided with him, Vaslov may still be out there, but the Doloreaux are finally secured and they can begin repairing their lands, what's more important though is that we made it through with few if any loses... talk about dumb luck! The praises we receives upon our return is beyond words, the Doloreaux, Aviordupois and Rinaldi having joined forces to beat back the foe and we liberated the part of the ancient weapon Vaslov took as a nice bonus. The Duke and Kama give us our thanks, even given us some gold and ore as a reward with the former giving me a traditional charm, all while medicine women tend to my wounds and the smiths are tending to my armor and Lalaine is sitting by my side.

The skunk looks to me "I heard what happened between you and Vaslov, you have really come a long way." giving me a brave face but I can tell she's fighting tears "But how are you feeling?"

I gently take her hand "I'll be fine Lalaine, I just need to rest up a little.", I feel a sting as one of the medicine women rubs some kind of lotion on a wound "He may still be out there, but now he knows an important fact... I have a chance of beating him, I think that has him or his mother scared." with a smirk.

...............................

Vaslov is kneeling in front of his mom who is tending to his injuries, the vixen having a disappointed look.

Vaslov looks to her "Why did you teleport me away? I almost had him!"

Amalsand looks to him "You are lucky you learned some white magic, otherwise you would be dead by now. I told you to try to not fight him because you didn't know just what he was capable of or what he has learned. If anything I am amazed the both of didn't kill each other!"

Her son looks away "He and I are practically evenly matched now by the looks of it." he chuckles "Finally, an opponent I both hate and respect."

The vixen shakes her head "We need to come up with a plan to either catch or kill him... I honestly prefer the latter." with a smirk forming on her lips.

Vaslov notices that look on his mothers face, she has no real idea what she's thinking but he's more then willing to help her accomplish this goal.

....................................................................................

I'm laying on a nice bed in a hotel room in Maeve's embrace, having just bathed and tired from both the long trip and the fight hours ago... exhausted is an understatement.

Maeve looks to me "What's the plan now?"

"We'll relax here for a while and head back to Avec-Bohte, after that it's a trip to Port Spar and then to Harrowgate itself." I glance to her "And I would like you to be my advisor when it comes to the Bisclavret."

Meave blinks for a moment "I would be honored." while bowing her head.

I also decide that while we are relaxing to send a secret message to the Don, to inform Lord Castellan Thainistear and heir to the Bisclavret throne Mausein, that we'll be on our way to Harrowgate shortly.

To be continued...