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Princess Aleyria and her 3 Red Robed personal guards galloped down the long Eastern Main.

The Eastern Main cut through a massive, wide open grassland that stretched out for over two hundred kilometers, straight into the notorious Valgorn Valley. Near the City, one could still see little side roads leading to villages and estates branching out from the main road. But after a thirty kilometers or so, apart from the Valgorn Mountains ahead and for as far as the eye could see, yes even magical eyes such as Aleyria\'s, one could only see green grassland.

Sitting on her beautiful red steed and galloping after Princess Aleyria, Shiranui frowned slightly. She had angrily declared that they would kill every last borg from the City of Rin all the way to Zan, but she had realized that the grassland was way too big. It was almost impossible to even meet one, much less kill every single borg.

"Mistress.." Shiranui called out ahead. "We\'ve been riding hard for hours, and we have yet to see a single borg. I think we need a different strategy. I think we need a bait!"

Kan-Dari and Liz\'An glanced at her in mild surprise. Liz\'An even began to chuckle.

Shiranui frowned slightly and said to Liz\'An. "I am being serious, Liz\'An. Continuing this way would not work at all. We\'d sooner reach Zan before finding a single borg in this cursedly large grassland!"

Aleyria reigned in her horse and slowed down to a canter as she allowed her personal guards to draw level with her.

She turned to Shiranui and smiled as she said "Shira, look ahead. We\'ve almost reached Valgorn Valley. Soon we\'ll enter the border region between Rin-Turah and Zan. The Valgorn Mountains form a natural barrier on Rin-Turah\'s eastern border. The only way for any living being to enter Rin-Turah from the east is through this Valgorn Valley."

"Yes, Mistress. I know that. What does that have to do with hunting borgs?" Shiranui asked rather naively.

"Borgs do not live in the grasslands, Shira. They are mountain dwellers. They usually enter the grassland to hunt, but each night, they will return to the Valgorn Mountains through the Valgorn Valley. Valgorn Valley is where we will hunt and kill those borgs." Aleyria explained patiently.

"What?!" Shiranui cried out in horror. "We are spe-spending the night in the wild outdoors?!"

"Pfffftahahahahaha!" Kan-Dari tried to stifle her laughter but failed spectacularly. Mostly because of a lack of effort.

"Why are you laughing so inelegantly, Dari?" Shiranui asked rather crossly. "You sound just like an old hag! Oh wait, sorreey, I forgot. You ARE an old hag!"

As a High Elf used to gentle and elegant speech, Kan-Dari was so shocked at Shira\'s words that she choked on her own saliva and began to cough uncontrollably.

*Choke*

*COUGH!*

*COUGH!*

Liz\'An, good-natured troll that she was, immediately stretched out her hand to give her a few \'pats\' on the back to ease her coughing.

Only, she forgot that she was a 500-pound troll with rock solid biceps and triceps. And also the fact that her friend, Kan-Dari was a frail high elf currently choking and coughing. Her guard was fully down.

BAM! Liz\'An\'s arm, filled with desire to help her beloved friend, slammed down unexpectedly like a full powered right-hook on Kan-Dari\'s back.

BOKK!!

"PFFFFTT!!" Kan-Dari was sent smashing down onto her poor horse.

BOK!

Kan-Dari\'s body impacted the horse.

"NEEEIGGHHHHHH!!" The horse roared out in protest. Its horse soul was almost shocked out of its body. What the heck?! What was my mistress doing?!

The horse had never felt so wronged in its entire horse life. It was cantering along very well indeed, and fully according to instructions, thank you very much. It had done nothing to earn such a heavy handed smack on its head!

It reared up rather belatedly, half in shock, half in extreme irritation.

I may be a horse, but I have rights!

I have rights!!

Horses have rights too!

Well, in Elgandar, at least. But still!

It turned around to glare at its master.

But wait. What was she doing sprawled on the ground like that. She couldn\'t be sulking, could she? Feeling slightly guilty, the horse turned around and nuzzled Kan-Dari who was struggling to sit up while coughing rather pathetically.

Sigh, okay. What a sad elf. Okay mistress, I forgive you. The horse nuzzled Kan-Dari some more.

Everything happened so quickly that Aleyria, Shiranui and Liz\'An had no time to react and could only watch in shock as Liz\'An\'s \'pat\' turned out to be a right hook and Kan-Dari hit her horse, and then flew backwards as she was thrown off it.

Shira, of course, started to laugh hysterically. "HAHAHAHAHAAA HAAAAAAAAA!!"

Poor Liz\'An was fully and completely filled with guilt.

"KAN-DARII!!" Liz\'An roared as she leapt off her horse in panic!

It must be a bad day for horses because Liz\'An was so heavy and strong that as she leapt off her horse in panic, she exerted a TREMENDOUS amount of strength!

The recoil that the horse had to endure was so humongous and so sudden that it was smashed to the ground!

BOK!

"Neigh..!!!" Liz\'An\'s horse whimpered in protest.

Thrown off balance by her horse\'s sudden collapse, Liz\'An tripped on her stirrups and fell head first.. into Kan-Dari!

Upon seeing that, Shiranui laughed so hard that tears ran down her face as she gasped mightily for air.

"HAAHAHAAA HAAAAAAAA.. Ca-can\'t breathe.. HAAAA HAA HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Aleyria looked at the spectacle and laughed weakly. 3 powerful Archmages capable of taking down fortresses with simple waves of their hands..

One was now almost dead by excessive laughter.

One was almost dead by blunt force trauma.

The last one was still physically fine. But whether or not she could survive the guilt remains to be seen.

Aleyria laughed again helplessly. She got down her horse and helped Liz\'An up to rescue poor Kan-Dari, who was in a daze.

4 massive and consecutive impacts. Archmage or no, it was already a miracle she was still conscious.

A few minutes later, the four of them were seated by the side of the Eastern Main. Shira was still slightly gasping for air. Kan-Dari was recovering very rapidly, spurred on no doubt by a rising wave of anger at Shira and annoyance at Liz\'An\'s nonstop apologies. Aleyria was still shaking her head and sighing deeply.

She could sense that the debacle was not over.

She was right. A few minutes later, a shrill scream enhanced by powerful magic rang out across the grassland.

"SHI !!!! RAAAAAA!!!!!"

*-*-*

15 kilometers away from the Princess Aleyria and her 3 clowns, deep within the Valgorn Valley.

Shriak stood grimly upon the stony hill overlooking his soldiers\' encampment that was rapidly coming together. He could still see a few soldiers slacking off here and there, slow moving laggards in a beehive of activity. Showcasing his strength and ruthlessness had won him their allegiance. Winning over their diligence, however, proved to be a harder task. Pointing to a cluster of them standing idly by a tree at the far end of the encampment, he said to Sino, his aide, "There. Those 4 soldiers. Do you see them?"

"Yes sir. I believe that is Rugar and his little gang."

"Ah perfect. I want them hanged on the tree they are slacking under. Get it done before evening break."

"Hanged, sir?"

"Hanged." Shriak affirmed. "Slogging is no longer effective. Hard work has finally strengthened their muscles. About time." Shriak snarled. "Can you believe how ridiculously weak these little babies were when we took over? Three trolls to cut a single tree. Three! And three more to set up a tent." Shriak spat in disgust. "Our old company would have massacred this entire regiment in a half day. And have enough time to cook them all before eating them for lunch!"

Sino chuckled. "I respectfully disagree, sir. We wouldn\'t make it for lunch. It would have taken us an entire day just to make sure these sewer rats were clean enough to be cooked!"

Shriak snorted in derision. "It was a long two months, whipping them into shape. The problem wasn\'t lack of training. Look, these guys are about to break the time record for setting up camp! How long has it only been, twenty minutes? Dang these guys are good. The problem is that these sorry asses are just plain lazy. Pampered by city life. Ruined by corruption. They forgot the taste of discipline, and the pride of being an elite regiment. The only cure is baptism. Baptism of blood."

"Yes sir." Sino replied quietly.

"You disagree with my order to hang Rugar and friends?"

"I wouldn\'t say disagree, sir." Sino said with a laugh. "Hanging Rugar is the most agreeable idea I\'ve heard this year. It just seemed a tad too harsh for mere laziness, is all."

"It is harsh. And absolutely necessary. These soldiers are on the cusp of being the best regiment in Zan. I need to remove the malcontents who are holding back the rest. How many times have we seen Rugar slack off this week? How many sloggings has he been in? There were two people with him yesterday. Now there are three. They must die today if we are to have a fighting regiment."

"Yes sir. I will see to it." Sino said.

Shriak sighed. "You know I don\'t like this any more than you do, Sino. You have been with me from the beginning. You know I hate needless bloodletting."

"If I may be at liberty to speak my mind, sir?" Sino asked with a slight tone of sarcasm. They were best friends since childhood. Shriak had been blessed with a larger body and a keener intellect. With nature\'s blessings and quite a bit of luck, Shriak rose to be a Regiment Commander. And he had wisely kept Sino by his side. Loyal to a fault, Sino had his back. And a few times quite literally so, as he carried Shriak off the field of battle, bleeding and close to death.

Shriak looked at him in exasperation.

Sino laughed, and then said very seriously, "It is not that I don\'t see your point. I do. It is just that you have been a complete tyrant for the past two months. I fear this hanging will cause the soldiers to rise up against you. Fear has its limits, Shriak. Push them too far, it will galvanize them into action."

Shriak considered his words for a moment, then shook his head. "That logic is true. But you are wrong in your assessment of the troops. They are not afraid of me. Oh to an extent, yes they fear what I can do to them, like what I am about to do to Rugar. They grumble and complain about the training. But look at that encampment. Look at the glint of the razor sharp edges of their swords and spears. They have actually sharpened those darned weapons!

These are not soldiers cowering in fear under me, Sino. These are, finally, soldiers who are proud to be part of this regiment!" Shriak clenched his clawed fist. "We will be the best regiment in Zan, Sino. I know it. You know it. And these soldiers know it too. They hate the malcontents holding them back, probably more than we do!"

Shriak turned and looked at Sino in the eye. "Hang Rugar and his friends. The soldiers will love it."

"Yes sir."

*-*-*

"NO!" roared Rugar. "You want to hang me? FAT CHANCE! SHRIAK YOU COWARD! COME OUT! I DEMAND A CHALLENGE!"

Rugar drew his sword and stomped to the practice yard. "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME, SHRIAK!" He roared again.

Regiment Commander Shriak made his way slowly to the practice yard. He stared coldly at Rugar and said to Sino, "Sino, assemble the regiment. I will let them know what it means to challenge me."

"Yes sir!" Sino saluted and quickly yelled at his subordinates to gather the troops.

Within minutes, the entire regiment had come. They formed a tight circle around the practice yard.

Rugar looked at the crowd and felt his bloodlust rising. He pointed his sword at Shriak and screamed, \'COME AT ME, YOU COWARD!"

Shriak lunged forward with surprising speed and closed the distance between him and Rugar in a heartbeat.

Caught by surprise at Shriak\'s speed, the Rugar took a step back and tried to position his shield to block Shriak\'s deceptively quick broadsword swinging in a small arc toward his exposed neck.

Rugar made it just in time.

Rugar\'s shield deflected Shriak\'s vicious attack away from his neck. But the force of Shriak\'s swing pushed him off balance.

Pivoting on his right foot and spinning, Shriak followed through his strike and swung his broadsword in a full circle toward the Rugar\'s neck from the opposite direction.

Rugar tried to raise his sword to block the swing, but it was too late.

Blade found flesh and seconds later, the young upstart\'s severed head, still spurting out blood, spun in the air and hit one of the onlooking soldiers.

The soldiers around him bellowed in approval. As quickly as it had started, the duel was over.

Shriak sheathed his sword grimly. Boots stomped the stony earth and guttural, full-throated roars filled the air. Their commander was not to be trifled with. He had made it clear once again by disassociating Rugar\'s head from his body in a single pass.

Shriak growled and glared at the soldiers around him slowly, his face and armor still dripping blood. The cheers subsided into a chilly silence. One by one, battle hardened soldiers lowered their eyes under Shriak\'s withering glare. "Anybody else?" he asked quietly.

For the first time ever since they entered the valley, the encampment was silent enough to hear the wind rustle the leaves of the giant evergreens. The birds were chirping. And somewhere in the distance, bullfrogs were croaking noisily. Twenty thousand trolls and not a single sound from them.

It was finally done.

The regiment was finally truly, and completely, his.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A deeply hooded figure garbed fully in black who was sitting on a nearby rock clapped appreciatively and said "Excellent, Commander! Excellent! Your swordmanship is such a wonderful sight to behold!"

Shriak glared at this figure fiercely. He felt great distaste for this human.

"Come join me in my command tent." Shriak growled. He turned around and began to walk back to his tent.

"The rest of you, BACK TO YOUR STATIONS!" He roared.