Kuzunalis
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FLTL Ch. 333. Aftermath - II
🕑 Added 2025-10-08 14:30:23 +0000 UTCJoin up as the Duke of Tiranat to read 450 pages ahead!
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Syryne came running from somewhere at that moment, her hands red-stained from mixing the medicine. “The losuvil paste is ready,” she said, breath short. “It’s thinner now, but it should still help until we can get more.”
Hudan looked toward Tesyb, who was standing near the injured men. “Go with her. See to the wounded.”
Tesyb nodded and followed Syryne toward where the injured guards were being laid out on the ground by Nurobo and some other guards and servants who had stayed back to help. Kivamus watched as the burned man was lifted carefully, his skin cracking where the cloth touched it. Syryne went to work, applying the thin, reddish paste to the worst of the burns as the smell of herbs and singed flesh filled the air.
Kivamus murmured quietly, half to himself, “I wish we had more of it...”
Hudan turned to some of the less-injured guards. “You all—head to the watchtowers after you take your bowls of soup. Relieve the women who’ve been on duty since the last morning. They’ve done their part.”
Kerel, the older guard with iron gray hair, gave a nod. "I'll go as well. I can't go to sleep right now anyway."
With that, the men saluted and left, their boots thudding softly on the dirt on their way towards the servants' hall.
When the last of the orders had been given, Kivamus gestured toward the manor house while looking at the two leaders of the guards. “Come on. I need a more detailed report.”
The manor hall was still warm as they entered. Hudan, Feroy, and Duvas followed him in and took their seats, as the returning fighters took long swigs of water from the wooden jugs. The chairs creaked softly, the sound oddly loud in the quiet that had settled over them.
It should have been a victory—a clean, joyous one. Instead, the air was heavy with smoke and grief. No one spoke for a long time.
Feroy finally broke the silence, rubbing at a cut on his forearm. “It went well, all things considered,” he said. “But it could’ve gone far worse. Those bandits weren’t rabble. The ones at the southwest were well-trained and fought like they were a part of the Duke's army! I’d wager Torhan was with them. He must’ve stayed behind with a few of his men, using them as a personal guard while the rest charged in.”
Kivamus leaned back slowly in his chair, the fatigue finally settling over him.
Hudan cleared his throat, the sound cutting the low hum in the room. “We also finally killed Nokozal,” he said, “but only because he had the rot in his arm.”
Kivamus frowned. “The rot?”
Duvas answered, “It’s what happens when a wound gets infected badly, or when blood stops flowing to a limb. Flesh decays. People call it many things.” He looked at Kivamus, and the baron’s face remembered a word that fit.
“Gangrene...” Kivamus said quietly.
Hudan exhaled. “That giant was something else... Even after the rot took most of his left arm, it still took the three of us to bring him down — Tesyb, me and another guard. If he were fine, I don’t know how he would’ve been stopped. He might as well have been immortal with the way he kept surviving!” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “He even survived the rot for so long. That bastard should have died a long time ago with the way his arm was looking...”
“I’m just glad he’s gone,” Kivamus said. “Hyola and the others who were slaves under that giant will be glad to hear it. You all did well.”
Hudan nodded. “The crossbows were the real gift tonight. They let us take out the first camp near the northeast without a scratch on our men. The second group were more alert, so the bolts weren’t as decisive there, but it still proved their outsized effects. If we could get enough of them, they would be a wonderful addition even to all our male guards - especially when we manage to take an enemy group by surprise.”
“I know..." Kivamus agreed. "I plan to get more crossbows made until every guard has one, however long it takes.”
Hudan shifted, before continuing his report. “Everyone was tired after the battle and we had serious injuries, so we didn’t wait to clear the bodies in the dark but we confirmed that the bandits were dead or in Feroy's hands before we left them. Tomorrow morning we’ll clear the field properly. We’ll bury the bandits in a ditch on the eastern hills, after taking their swords, whatever coin they had, and their armor.”
Duvas made a grim face. “They won’t have much coin, but their swords will be useful. Cedoron can melt them down or rework them. Iron’s always valuable, even if we’d just gotten that big shipment.”
"What did you find out from the bandits?" Kivamus asked the ex-mercenary.
Feroy sighed. "Nothing much of use. Nearly all of them belonged to that same clay mine where the former slave Joric used to work, but there were some men amongst them whom the bandits I interrogated hadn't seen before. I can't say the reason behind that, but they might have been new recruits. Still, although we didn’t get Torhan tonight, we should move on his compound before he can gather what’s left and strike again.”
Hudan shook his head. “Unlikely he can do that any time soon. We killed a huge portion of his forces tonight. He’ll be short on men even to guard his compound near Kirnos right now.”
Kivamus tapped a finger on the table, thinking out loud. “You said that you counted eleven men in each of the eastern camps and fourteen in the southwest that you fought. Two escaped, and that doesn’t include Torhan and his personal guards. That adds up to over forty men in total, not counting those left at his compound. Even if some of them might have been slaves who had been given swords, it means his clay mining operation is even bigger than we thought, or he’s got another camp somewhere which Joric had no idea about. That might not even be a clay mine. Maybe Torhan also does something else on the side, but it's hard to say right now.”
Feroy’s jaw tightened. “Still, he is weak now. This is the time to strike, to end his life and free his slaves. If we bring them here, you will have more workers to help us build everything faster.”
"I'd like that more than anything," Kivamus replied with a sigh, “but we simply don’t have enough food to support more mouths right now. If we bring them here, we’ll just starve our villagers sooner. We need to secure food first.”
Hudan agreed. “We also aren't in any position to mount such a long mission right now. Most of our guards are already wounded, and it'll take time until everyone is ready to fight again.”
“I know,” Kivamus nodded. “This is a moment to consolidate. We must use what we've gained. Right now our first priority is to get more meat by sending out more hunting groups immediately and getting more grain somehow. If no merchant comes in a day or two, we'll have to send a caravan to Cinran ourselves, and that will also need guards. We can’t spare men for a raid on Torhan's compound at the moment, as much as I want that bastard dead. But don't worry, his time will come.”
Duvas’s face was tired. “We’re walking a really tight line regarding feeding the villagers. Unless we touch the seed stores marked for sowing, we won’t have food to feed everyone after tomorrow, so we'll have to use them anyway. That means even after we buy more grain, some of that will still have to be reserved for use as seeds. So we'll need to buy more grain once again after that.”
“We’ll manage it, somehow...” Kivamus muttered. He leaned back, feeling the stress of dealing with one problem after another.
“The last few days haven't been easy, but we survived — even though we lost one of our own. All the guards still did very well. Just a few months ago, nobody could have imagined that we would come out with such little losses when dealing with a raid from more than 35 men. So we need to be proud of that, but tomorrow there will be more to do, and I’ll need you all at your best. For now, you both go and have something to eat and then get some rest.”
Hudan and Feroy rose and left the hall. Duvas stood as well, rubbing his eyes. “I need to get some sleep too,” he muttered while walking to the inner door which led to his room.
Kivamus nodded and rose too. He moved towards the stairwell, feeling exhausted with all the recent happenings and relieved that it had gone well, even though his mind continued thinking about the raid. They had removed a major threat to the village, but the danger wasn't finished with Torhan still out there. Even if that bastard didn't come back to take revenge once again, he knew it wouldn't be long before someone else came to threaten his people and his village.
But they would deal with any enemies when the time came. They always had.
***
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A/N: See you tomorrow, everyone!
Next chapter: FLTL Ch. 334. Remembrance
Comments
Kuzunalis
True, but after seeing that Torhan had brought more men than expected, it leaves open the possibility that he has another compound to call upon bandits from. He might also ask for help from the baron Farodas, (assuming he really is a bastard son of him). That means he might be far better prepared than expected, apart from the bandits being on home ground this time, which would give them a decided advantage in defense, while Tiranat's guards would be in unfamiliar terrain. Unlike when they were attacking the bandit camps one by one, they were able to use even the limited number of crossbows repeatedly, because of the gap between each attack. That won't be possible when attacking the enemy which is staying together within a walled compound. After the first volley of 10 bolts, the crossbows - which are their biggest advantage right now - would just become useless in that battle, and after that the bandits can just use spears from between their log wall, while our swordsmen would have to be on the defense just to save their lives. They can't use spears from the outside and target them accurately enough to hit the gaps between the logs without risking their lives. The bandits can also force the 50+ slaves to help them with makeshift spears, and with the fact that they will have the defensive advantage, our guards will be heavily outnumbered right from the beginning. That would also mean not having any crossbows in the village, and coupled with the few guards remaining here, it would leave the village undefended. That's not a risk Kivamus can take at this time. Apart from that, most of the village guards are injured to at least some extent, and they needed some time for them to heal, before they could risk such a long expedition. It would take around two days to go to Kirnos. At least a couple of days to scout them, then one day or night for battle, then another day to gather up the slaves, any loot and do some basic first aid (that's assuming they won without disastrous losses) and then another two to three days to come back with the exhausted slaves and guards. That will add up to nearly 10 days for which the village will remain undefended. It's just too risky. Also, while they could get a lot of slaves from there, (Joric has confirmed that), they might not get much food. Since Joric would also have told him that in the ambush near Kirnos, the bandits wanted food more than anything. So while the compound might still have some food, it might not be worth it to risk their whole guard strength for 10 days, and leaving the village undefended, only to get more mouths to feed in return, when they can't afford to feed even their own people. On the benefits side, getting clay would be good, but for now they have enough clay for their needs, while Tiranat simply can't afford to make a permanent encampment at that compound at this time. And money is always an unknown factor. There is no way to know where Torhan might be keeping it, especially since he is alive and might be expecting a retaliation attack. It wouldn't be worth it at this time.
David
If they raided Torhans compound they would also get the food and animals he had at the compound, which would more than make up for the food the slaves would consume over the next few weeks. Add the mined clay, Torhans money and other loot and they could come out well by attacking him while he's weak
cadmean-handler
Of course, there's also the miniboss Zoricus on the short list
Dillon Good
Nice to have that in tiranats rear view mirror. Time to buckle down and make some more progress!
Eriach
👏 👏 👏
Johan Timmers
Tftc
