《Brood Lord》


 Prologue

    A forest.


    Clouds promising snow.


    And a running woman.


    Although running might be a strong word for the stumbling jog she did, as she was fighting against the weight of her pregnant belly. As she was desperately trying to get support from her companion.


    If a passerby had been looking at her, they would have noticed that her belly was so big she would give birth any day now. If they had looked more carefully, they might even have noticed that her belly was too big to carry a single child.


    But, as is typical for a forest far removed from civilisation, on the cusp of winter, there were no passersby that might have seen her.


    Despite no human or other creature being visible in between the trees, the woman was still performing a near-superhuman feat of locomotion, only made possible by the aid of her companion. That companion was a rather curious creature. Going by the name of datch, they were about the size of a large dog, their backs reaching to just below a persons'' hips. Also a bit wider than said dog would be, and with longer necks. But the most striking part about them was their two arms, which sprouted from about the same place as their front legs, thus making them six-limbed.


    That, and that the woman controlled it as an extension of her own body.


    And so, hand in hand, the woman and her companion continued onward, deeper into the forest.


    Despite having no real breath to spare, she was softly muttering. Words that were undoubtedly cursing the entire world and everything on it gently fading between the frozen trees.


    Our hypothetical passerby might think she was talking to her companion, and she kind of was. Unfortunately, the creature lacked the mental autonomy to understand what she said, even as the sounds the woman made were no more than some whispers that barely reached her own ears.


    "And when I told him I was pregnant... He just went crying with his mommy... I *tempted* him... Spoiled... their blood... heh... I should have run immediately... Drika curse them all... But together... Eli... we''re gonna make everything... okay... heh..."


    As could be expected of a creature that was basically a puppet on a string, the worker datch named Eli did not respond in any way whatsoever.


    It was in that fashion that the pair stumbled upon a small cave. It being marginally warmer than outside, out of the wind and not containing clouds that promised the first snow, the woman decided she had run enough and entered. Using her companion as a scout, she discovered that, while narrow, the tunnel led reasonably far into the hillside.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    And so, guided by increasing warmth, the two found themselves into a larger chamber, about five meters across.


    Utterly exhausted, the woman took out her blanket and dropped herself on the floor. As her flight instinct calmed down, she knew she was not getting up again. She closed her eyes and send her companion back outside to forage some food.


    Human bodies are marvellously built machines, fine-tuned over many generations. One of the many things it could do without control was optimising its different parts based on the level of threat perceived. It was thus no wonder that not even an hour after the woman had laid down her blanket, her water broke.


    And so it happened. Over the course of an entire night, two small children clawed their way into the world. A boy and a girl.


    And deep down into the cave, the heat pulsed.


    ---------------


    The opinions had been divided before they tried, but now the results were in: they could not reach civilisation before the first snow fell. Lilian sighted as she thought back to the taverns they could have camped around. She felt like she wanted to curse everyone who wanted to take the shortcut through the woods. She herself had voted in favour of it, but if some more people had voted against, she now wouldn''t be patrolling through the fricking snow right now.


    Alas.


    And so she trodded on through the snow, scouting the perimeter of their camp.


    Waiting till the sun rose.


    At least she had her companion, Mia, who flattened the snow before her. Hers'' was one of the warrior variety. Slightly bigger than a worker, with sharp claws and heavy tusks. Less useful if you wanted to actually dosomething, but man, could they rip someone apart.


    It was while she was contemplating the advantages of a hot breakfast served indoors that she noticed something approaching in the forest. Two pairs of eyes sure were useful. That Darin had snuck up on her on several occasions to berate her for not paying attention had definitely nothing to do with her ever vigilance.


    It was just a single shape, too small to be a human. But it also did not walk like any animal would. More like it was just... ambling? bumbling?


    It did not look imminently threatening, so she sprinted towards it with Mia. Looking through her eyes, it appeared to be... a companion? but there didn''t appear to be any human nearby. So a drone? It was a female datch, if nothing else. But it seemed to be lacking... purpose. It had just been... walking. And now it was just looking a Mia, but without any intelligence behind it.


    She kept her guard via Mia and gave two short, shrill shouts towards the camp. Found something, no threat. In the cold winter morning, her voice would carry far enough.


    It was but fifteen heartbeats until she could see Thomas approaching at a light jog. He was thirty-ish years old, already something of a veteran and appointed lieutenant in their company. Also well respected all-around.


    "What did ya found?" he shouted as he approached.


    "A datch of some kind. Came walking out of the woods. But it''s like she''s dead inside." Lilian pointed towards the creature she found.


    "Let me take a look," he said as he came to a halt next to her and his own companion took off a sprint towards what was becoming a gathering of datch.


    "Ah, looks like her owner just died. Less than a couple hours ago, I''d say."


    "Realy? I didn''t know that''s how, euh..."


    "Yeah. Once we die they basically stop doing anything. You said this one was walking this way?"


    "Yeah"


    "Than that was probably the last command that she received. Follow her trail and we''ll find her owner.


    "I''ll go fetch Diedrich. You''ll keep watch?"


    "Sure."


    -----------


    Diedrich, their company''s captain was fetched. The trail was followed and a small, unassuming cave was found. Inside, together with the last remnants of warmth, they found the mother. Dead.


    In her arms, they also found the children.


    Alive.

 Chapter 1

    "Helen, Mathis, wake up. It''s your big day today."


    Amelia smiled as she watched how her two children almost jumped out of their beds, despite them appearing deep asleep mere moments ago. Well, as much as someone can jump out of a sleeping bag, especially if they were sleeping next to someone who was trying to do just the same.


    "Mama, mama, mama, are we going to get our companions today!" Helen squeaked while trying to tackle-hug her mother. She was immediately followed by her brother tackle-hugging both of them.


    "Yep, I already went to take a look and there are two little pups waiting for you."


    ""Yeaaaay!""


    Amelia felt her heart fill with joy while her children danced around her.


    It had been six years since she had adopted these two, and there hadn''t been a single day she hadn''t thanked Drika for the chance that she had been given. She knew her husband Carl did the same. They''d never had any children of their own, and probably never would.


    "Come, mama, let''s go!" her son Mathis said while trying to drag her along. The futile attempts of the two six-year-olds to make her hurry up made her smile again.


    "Hun, hun. First, you''re gonna wash up and put on your clothes, then we''ll have breakfast and thenwe''ll go see the pups."


    And even their look of betrayal didn''t make her lose her smile.


    "Mama" "No" "Please" "Let''s go already"


    But, despite the many protests of the two children, the morning rituals were completed in record time. They considered themselves washed while barely touching the water - which didn''t work - and crammed their breakfast as if they were starving.


    Before too long, they were making their way through the camp to Eric''s tent, one of their resident broodmasters and breeder.


    The twins were enthusiastically talking about all the exciting things and shenanigans they could do once they had a companion when Helen suddenly became very solemn.


    She looked up to her mother.


    "Mama, do you think that I will be a mut?"


    Amelia suppressed a sigh. Being a mut is and has always been one of the great fears of childhood and there was nothing really she could do about it, except for trying to prepare them in case it happened.


    "It''s possible," she answered, trying to sound as optimistic as she could, "and there''s nothing wrong with being a mut. Anyone can be a mut."


    "Really?"


    The anxiety in her daughter''s voice made it clear that the ''noting wrong'' part had not been convincing.


    "Don''t worry though, chances are you''ll be just like me and get a nice companion. What has gotten you suddenly so afraid?"


    "I mean it''s just..."


    Helen looked ashamed at the ground.


    "Liz told Hellen yesterday that she was stupid and that she would be a mut and never have a companion," Mathis said.


    Liz being a girl one year older than them who they were friends with most of the time. Mostof the time.


    "Oh did she? Well... That''s... very silly of her. Until you try for the first time, nobody knows what you''ll be. Anything is possible."


    She had told this time and time again, but it still seemed to give comfort to her two kids. They sunk back deep in thought for about two seconds.


    "I''m gonna be a companion master and I''m gonna have three companions." Mathis showed three fingers to emphasise his words.


    Amelia laughed out loud at the sudden shift from nihilism to ludicrous optimism.


    "It could be."


    "And I''m gonna be a broodqueen with a hundred drones," Helen said, not wanting to outdone by her brother


    "Well, I guess that''s just about enough to be called a queen."


    "Then I''m gonna have a thousand drones." Clearly, ''just about'' was not enough.


    "Well," Amelia said, "I don''t think I''ve ever heard of a broodqueen with a thousand drones.


    "Anyway, we''re here. Are you ready?"


    They had arrived at Eric''s tent. He was sitting in front of it, together with Dietrich, the captain of the company and Carl, Amelia''s husband. Together, they were watching the trio approach with much anticipation.


    "Hello, Mathis and Hellen," Eric welcomed them, "Are you ready to try for your first companion? Come, sit down." He gestured at the ground in front of him.


    The children sat down quickly, almost hopping back up with anticipation.


    "Everyone ready?" Eric looked left and right to all that were seated. "Well then, here they are."


    From his lap, he lifted two little dark chocolate furballs. They were both about 15 cm long, their elongated neck already clearly visible, but their arms still tiny stomps. Immediately, the children''s eyes went wide like saucers.


    "You can each pick one."


    There was a little bit of undecidedness, as they tried to figure out which of the pups was the best. Not that there wasn''t much point to that, as Eric had specifically selected the two pups that looked most like each other. Pretty quickly, the twins decide to just pick up the nearest one.


    It was at this point that Dieterich took over.


    "Good. Now it is time you try to make a bond."


    It wasn''t often that the leader of the company spoke directly to Hellen and Mathis. It was also quite often that they could hear him shout commands that everyone hurried to fulfil. Both children were thus that rather intimidated by his voice.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Hold up your pup and make sure her head is just in front of your face."


    He mimicked with both hands holding a pup about ten centimetres in front of his eyes. A movement the children quickly copied.


    "Good. Now, you must listen to them. Not with your ears, but with your mind."


    The two children did as he said and looked right in the eyes of their respective pups. The mood had become solemn, now that their jitters had been tempered by the voice of their captain.


    "If you listen carefully, you can hear them ask: ''do you want to be my master?''"


    A couple more seconds passed in silence.


    "I... I think I can hear her," Hellen said.


    "Me too, I think."


    "Good. Now, the same way you can hear them, just accept. Say it''s okay. Open your heart and your mind to her."


    Not even a second after those instructions, Mathis draw in a grasp of air. His datch, who had before been lethargic, suddenly perked up. The boy looked at his sister, who looked back with the same look on her face, her furball looking this and that way trying to drink in the sights around her.


    ""It worked!"" The twins shouted simultaneously.


    They jumped up and made a little dance to celebrate as shouts filled the air.


    ""yeaaaay!"" "Congratulations!" "I''m so proud of you"


    Their parents immediately came in to hug and congratulate them.


    "Wait!" Hellen shouted.


    Everyone froze.


    "We have to tell Liz."


    "..."


    "Let''s go!" Her brother shouted.


    And they ran off.


    The adults watched them go.


    "Euh, did I missing something?" Carl asked his wife. She was softly chuckling.


    "Just children being children. They''re gonna make Liz eat her words."


    "Well," Eric said, "congrats to you both. I''d say that went pretty smooth for a first time."


    "Yes, congratulations to you both," Dietrich said, "I''m always happy to have another two broodmasters in the company."


    The two parents looked up in surprise.


    "Broodmasters? You''re sure?" asked Carl.


    "Pretty much," Dietrich explained, "Both your children are. The easiest way to see it is to look whether the pup is looking at the same things they are."


    Both parents looked back at their kids who were just disappearing between some tents. Mathis'' drone was looking over his shoulder right back at them.


    "Also," Eric added, "how quickly they were running around again. If they had a companion, they would need at least five minutes to get used to all the new senses."


    Amelia turned her head in confusion.


    "But, don''t you also get the senses of your drones?" she asked the broodmaster.


    "Not the same way as you do. You can seethrough the eyes of your companion. I knowwhat my drones see. I don''t look myself. Similarly, I don''t move their limbs, I just point them to where I want them to go."


    Amelia sighted at that.


    "You know, I''ve been told that before. I never quite understood it and I still don''t. I''m not sure if I ever will. I guess I''ll try a bit more now?"


    "It''s not that important, Amelia," Dietrich reassured her. "Just understand that they are different. Also, with them living in your house, I think the difference between a drone and a companion will become apparent rather quickly."


    "Oh well. In each case, now they''re definitely going to make Liz eat her words."


    All four adults chuckled at that.


    "Oh, before we forget, Carl, can you please fetch your children back?" Dieterich said.


    "Yeah, sure. Why?"


    "I still have to tell them how to select a variant. Better not leave that up to their own."


    "Oh yeah, better not indeed."


    ---------------


    It didn''t take long for Carl to find his children. The camp wasn''t that big and there were only so many infants yelling at each other.


    "... that you are silly yourself! Also, my pup is way cuter than yours."


    "Yeah, yours looks like a wet dog."


    "That''s not true! Well, your pups look like... euh... they have the color of poop!"


    That was the moment where Carl arrived on the scene.


    "Hello, young ladies, young man, what''s going on here?"


    "Nothing papa," Mathis quickly said, "We were just showing Liz our new pups."


    "Yeah," Hellen joined in, "we were just comparing ours with hers a bit."


    Liz was just pouting.


    Their father looked at them with his best disappointing frown.


    "Is that so? Because I heard some things that didn''t sound very nice. That is no behaviour that is becoming of two young broodmasters."


    "I''m sorry pa... Broodmasters?!" The son quickly abandoned his apology when some more important information broke through.


    "We are broodmasters?!"


    "Both of us?!"


    When seeing their uncontained joy, Carl couldn''t help but turn his frown into a little smile.


    "Yes, both of you are. Nice, isn''t it?"


    The twins turned to each other to share each other''s elation... and then Hellen turned further towards Liz.


    "Did you hear that. We..."


    "Hellen!"


    "Sorry, papa."


    Carl sighted.


    "Well, Dieterich still wanted to talk to you about something. So, hup, go back."


    ""Yes papa.""


    The twins slowly walked away... and then ran off giggeling, absolutely elated.


    Carl saw them go and felt his heart fill with love and joy. If he could, he would do everything for his two adopted children. He then looked back and saw Liz, who clearly looked like she didn''t want to be there anymore.


    "Well, what are you still doing here? Off you go."


    "Yes, mister Carl."


    ---------------


    "Lisen well. There is one more thing I need to explain to you and that is how to pick the variant your drone is going to grow up in."


    The entire group was sitting back in the same arrangement as before, with Dieterich explaining.


    "First, you hold your drone back in front of you and listen to her. If you lisen car... Not yet!"


    Mathis dropped his drone back in his lap.


    "If you listen carefully, you can hear her talk about four forms she could be and hesitating which she should pick. If you are not gonna pick, she is just going to roll a dice. We don''t want that, because only one of the forms is useful to you. It is the worker you want to get. It feels like the calm and strong form, but you really can''t miss. Okay? Now you can try."


    The twins picked up their drones and started staring at them.


    "It might be that you can''t hear them say that yet," Dieterich said after ten seconds had passed. "They are still only a couple of hours old, and it might take half a day or so before that call becomes clear."


    "Also, it is a bit harder because you are broodmasters," Eric added. "We can hear this call only a bit later."


    Another five seconds later Hellen lowered her drone back in her lap with a disappointing pout. Her gaze then turned pensive.


    "Mister Dieterich?"


    "Yes?"


    "What are the other three forms?"


    Dieterich had to curl up his lips at that. Of course, she was going to ask that.


    "Well, the second form you''re also pretty familiar with: a warrior, like Ima here."


    He petted his companion who was seated next to him.


    "They are very good a fighting, but not so good at doing chores, which you will be doing, which is why you should not take them. In a couple of years, we will learn you how to fight. Until then, don''t.


    "The third form is the mother. They are where new datch come from. They need a lot of special care and can''t do anything else, so again: don''t take them.


    "The last form is the envoy. They''re useless. Don''t take them or you''ll regret it for as long that she''s alive. Okay?"


    Hellen nodded. Mathis was still holding his pup up in front of his eyes.


    "I still can''t hear her say anything."


    "Don''t wory about it. Unless you still can''t by this evening, in which case you should tell your parents."


    Dieterich looked up to the rest of the party.


    "Well, I think that was everything. Amelia, will you show them how to take care of their new friends?"


    And with that dismissal, the family retreated back to their own tent, under loud chatter of the children.


    "How many drones do you think they will be able to control?" Dieterich asked Eric. Both men were still seated.


    "Well, we can''t tell until we try, of course, dut I do think it will be more than a couple."


    "More than five?"


    "If I were a betting men, which I am, I''d say yes. It went very smooth for a first bond. I also think they are already in full control of their drones. Not that I have much to compare them with, but I seem to remember that Peter, back in the day, needed almost a day before he was fully in control."


    "And Peter can only control three. So, a lot more than five?"


    "No way to tell except by trying. And we should only give them their second drone next year."


    "Yeah, indeed. By the way, can we supply them with enough datch?"


    "At the moment, we need about forty pups per year, depending on battles. One mother gives between twenty-five and thirty, so we have two of them anyway. If those children can handel five each, that means ten extra every three years. Unless you get half our stock killed, we''ll be fine."


    "Good to know."


    For some time, the two sat next to each other in contemplative silence, Dieterich petting his warrior.


    Eric spoke up.


    "You know, I have a good feeling about those two. They might very well go past ten each."


    "Broodlords?"


    "Yeah. Broodlords."

 Chapter 2

    "So, are you ready for your second drone?"


    The scene was almost a reproduction of a similar scene a year before. The twins, Hellen and Mathis, were seated in front of Eric, who was seated in front of his tent, with their parents looking on. The only difference was the absence of Dietrich, who had to be in an officers meeting for an upcoming battle, and the two worker drones who were flanking the kids, looking around idly.


    "Yes, mister Eric. Come on, we''ve been waiting forever."


    The twins were also significantly less nervous, which was apparent from Hellen''s demanding tone. Incidentally, they had been waiting for this moment for about the entire year, mainly so they could show others that they could indeed have control over multiple datch.


    Unfortunately for them, the traditions demanded that budding broodmasters had to have at least one year of experience with a single drone before they could try to control a second one. On top of that, they had to do a test that proved to the world that they were indeed in full usable control. It involved making their drone complete a parkour while they themselves were blindfolded. Given that the twins had made it a competition to see who could do it the fastest (Mathis by about a second), no further obstructions had been placed in their way.


    "Well, here you are."


    Eric handed over two little pups who had a significantly lighter color than the ones he handed over the previous year. The twins immediately grabbed their respective one and held them in front of their face. Just like that, the two pups were bound.


    "Yes! We''ve got two now!"


    "Mama, papa, look! We''ve got two!"


    "The start of a real brood."


    "Well done!"


    "Don''t forget: make sure to make these workers as well."


    ""Yes, mister Eric.""


    And with those words, the group dispersed.


    Last year, the temptation had been there to pick a different form then worker, but Dietrich''s authority had made resisting his order... uncomfortable. This year, the knowledge of how many extra chores they were about to receive made sure they would still choose for workers. Hell, just the chores they already had at the moment made them wish for an extra worker.


    It was a good thing that they didn''t need convincing. The company could really use some extra workers. A bit over half of the company, which had 93 members, had a warrior companion. Eight members were too young to have anything and another eleven were muts, which was painful. The average was only ten per hundred. On the other side, the company had only five broodmasters, including the twins, which was verypainful because of those same odds of ten per hundred. On top of that, they didn''t have a single broodlord, which, granted, should only be expected once for every hundred people.


    Given their big tactical importance, all the broodmasters had a mostly warrior brood. Eric himself had only two of his eight drones as workers and one of his drones as a mother, Sarah had one worker and one mother for her five drones and Peter had all three of his drones as warriors. Counting everything up that made for... 62 warriors, 38 workers, and 2 mothers.


    They definitely could use some extra workers.


    Luckily, there was high hope for the twins. He had meant to count how long it took them to bind with their new drone, but they were honestly done before he had even started counting. It was kind of scary how easy they made it look. It should get harder the closer they were to their maximum, so that maximum would definitely not be three or five. Or even ten.


    Better not say it to them, but they had both good chances of becoming broodlords.


    Even if they both had only workers, it would be a very good addition to the company. The innate teamwork of a brood should make it possible to throw up a fortification in no time flat. Maybe even in the middle of a battle.


    There were many possibilities, but all of them were still in the future.


    Still, it was good to have something to look forward to.


    ---------------


    They had been shoveling dirt all day. Well, at least their drones had. Their old ones at that, the new ones they had just been playing with. While they liked to complain about having to shovel dirt all day, it was a task that, as a broodmaster, they could honestly delegate to the back of their mind while they played with their new pups.


    "Aww, they''re so cute. I want to have one as well."


    "Sorry Liz, you can''t. You aren''t a broodmaster after all."


    It was a jab Hellen was still not tired of delivering.


    "And papa told us that if there aren''t too many casualties this battle, we''ll get another one next month."


    "Oww, I''m so jealous. Or, you know what: I''m not. I only need one, isn''t that right, Emma?"


    Liz hugged her companion who was seated next to her. In the past two years, they had become companions in more than one sense of the word, as she often found comfort in her when under an often unintended dual assault of the twins.


    "Well, at least you don''t have to be shoveling dirt literally all day," Mathis said.


    "Wow, like you have it so hard. It''s like you don''t even notice that your drones are working their ass off over there."


    A fact that made Eric jubilate inside when he noticed it.


    Doing work with your companion feels about the same as doing the work yourself, while working with a drone feels more like supervising someone else. Therefore when Liz had done her - rather small - part, she was free to go. When Mathis and Hellen had done their part, which was quite a bit bigger, they didn''t even notice because they were to busy playing with their new pups.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    So, no one told them to stop and people even brought them food so they didn''t even have to stop. When the dirt wall around the camp was completed, the kids were told that if they wanted, they could shovel together a tower to use as an observation platform tomorrow. That sounded like a cool idea and they had been enjoying playing in the dirt piles, so that was what they were doing now.


    "Of course we notice what they are doing," Hellen defended herself.


    "But it''s not like moving some dirt is hard," her brother added.


    "Wow. ''It''s not hard.'' I''m the only one who has been shoveling anything at all."


    The friends just looked at each other. It wastrue in a certain sense. Fortunately, Liz desired to switch the subject.


    "Anyway, do you think there are going to be many casualties?"


    "Papa said he doesn''t think so," Hellen happily obliged. "It''s because there are many mercenaries on both sides."


    "And mercenaries don''t want to fight to the death," Mathis added. "So the moment we start taking some datch casualties, we''ll start retreating. Also, mercenaries don''t like pursuing very much."


    "So you are saying that you will get another pup next month?"


    "If there are less then six death datch," Mathis said.


    "I''m not sure if that is very likely. And Lil is getting tired. I think we should stop."


    "Yeah. Min as well. Let''s go. We can finish it tomorrow."


    ---------------


    For children, a battle is something exciting. Something special. Maybe even something to look forward to.


    For adults, a battle is also something exciting, but a different kind of exciting. When a soldier enters a battlefield, it is with the knowledge that he might die. It is that kind of exciting.


    Of course, it is somewhat different if you go in with proper armor and with an understanding that you and the enemy don''t actually want to kill each other. It is also somewhat different if you have a literal meatshield walking with you.


    It was therefore with a rather relaxed atmosphere that Amelia donned her husband his armor, while the children handed them the pieces. Heavy mail with steel plates at vital points. As was tradition, the woman dressed her man, while her companion dressed his companion. At least that was the tradition in those families where the husband went fighting while the woman did not. While the twins were loudly arguing over what the correct order was to give the different pieces, Amelia and Carl softly exchanged some words of affection and encouragement.


    After Carl was fully armored, he turned around, took another mail shirt and slipped it over his wife''s head, followed by another two mail shirts for Hellen and Mathis. It was a policy of the company that during a battle, every member, even the non-combatants, had to be at least wearing a mail shirt and a steel hat. It would prevent any stray projectiles from causing much damage and dissuade would-be attackers from trying to quickly overrun the camp while the main fighters were away.


    And then, after some final ''if I don''t come back'' words, he took his spear and his shield and left. Still, the mood stayed rather relaxed. It wasn''t the first time it happened and had already become somewhat of a ritual at this point.


    Sometimes, battles come at you out of the dark and take you by surprise. More often, they are planned: pitched battles. Such was the kind that was about to be fought. It was the result of a territorial dispute between two dukes. Something about grazing grounds or something trite like that.


    The ebbenwood company - which his the name of Dietrich''s company - had been trading some cloth and grain in the capital of one of the duchies, when they heard about the conflict. Trading is actually what the company does most of the time. Some simple negotiations later, a contract was obtained and they set out for the battlefield. They had only arrived two days ago, but the two armies were already in a stand of for about five days. Yesterday, negotiations had finally broken down, presumably because the ebbenwood company had thrown some weight in the scales, and so, today, there would be a battle.


    ---------------


    The moment their father left their tent, Mathis and Hellen ran towards their lookout post. Their mother first had to go to a meeting to organize the defenses. From their perch, which was the dirt pile they dug and on top of a hill, they could clearly see all the units move over the field.


    Each army was fielding about a thousand men, mostly spearmen and an equivalent amount of datch. On the ''good'' side there was one broodlord who was fielding about twenty-five warriors and on the ''bad'' side two broodlords who were fielding about ten to fifteen warriors each, so that count was about even. They were facing each other on what was the right flank for the good side.


    The flag of the ebbenwood company was a black tree on a green field and had taken position in about the center-left. They had formed up in two lines, which actually functioned more like four lines, as the soldiers'' companions formed an extra line in front of them. The general tactic in datch warfare was to have the datch attack while the person behind them defended her. If the datch got killed, wounded or tired, a pair from the second line would come in to replace them. If the second line ran out, the entire unit would start to retreat. This was done because datch were easily replaced, while the people were precious.


    It took in far excess of an hour before both armies were correctly maneuvered and even then, it took another half hour of just staring at each other and lots of shouting before anything happened. Eventually, a signal was given and the two lines started closing. Some missiles were exchanged, which was largely ineffective. The ebbenwood company especially had enough armor to deflect any arrows coming their way.


    Once the two lines were in the final few meters, the entire advance slowed to a crawl. The spearmen stayed just outside each others range, while their companions started some probing attacks. The ebbenwood company had been pitted against militia, so they weren''t very concerned about fighting against them. However, they didn''t yet want to commit fully, because they didn''t want to fight against the reserves, which were the household troops of the enemy duke.


    From their purch, Hellen and Mathis, who were in the meantime joined by their mother with a crossbow, were holding their breath during the long minutes where not much was happening, even though the armies were technically engaged. After about a minute and a half, the first real action started happening in the center-right.


    Two militias had been engaged with each other, but the good side decided they had enough and started routing. This propted the reserves under leadership of the good duke to charge the pursuing bad militia, which caused them to promptly rout. This, in turn, caused the bad duke to jump in, and the two dukes started duking it out.


    This had been the cue that Dietrich had been waiting for. The moment the enemy reserves were occupied, he gave the signal. His soldiers abandoned their defensive probing strikes and surged forward. During the probing minutes, the company had already noticed that the militia they were fighting was lacking both gear and experience. Their datch especially were particularly badly equipped, poorly armored and completely unarmed. Warrior forms did have their natural claws and tusks, but the short swords that the company was using had a significant range advantage.


    Therefore, in about two seconds time, roughly a third of the enemy datch line at their position had been killed. This was then followed by several confusing moments of ''you aren''t running fast enough but we don''t want to kill you people'' before the enemy at their position gave up and routed. Eric, Sarah, Peter, and their broods, who had been on their left, immediately started running behind enemy lines, clipping them in the back and scaring them into making mistakes. Most of the rest of the company turned right to start enveloping the center.


    From that moment, the crowd on top of the dirt pile started going wild with shouts like: "Come on!", "You can do it!" and "Finish them!" After that, it took but a minute for the entire left flank to collapse and only a minute more for the rest of the enemy to start routing as well. The moment the ducal banner started moving away, broke out in cheers. And the twins? They cheered double as hard: they hadn''t seen a single ebbenwood datch go down.


    In the end, there were four casualties, but that was not enough to quell their joy.