《A Tactician’s Mind》 1. Lies and The Journey ¡°Alastair, he would later become known as the ¡°Emotionless¡± Tactician, Despite his flaws asa humanbeing,he became the sole tactical advisors tooneof the early world powers. The Kingdom of Vael. It is said that through the majority of his life he spent his time pursuing the art of strategy. He controlled the armies of the kingdom as if he knew every single action of both his allies and enemies right away. It has yet to be attributed tothe incrediblediscipline of the soldiers carrying out their duties or Alastair¡¯s tactical brilliance.However,he remains relevanttothis day. Strategies from Alastair books, published after his death. Still studied and applied in modern day combat¡± -The Military: Art of War ==God Narrating== ==Dirius Village (Forest temple)== A young adolescent is kneeling down on the ground with his hand intertwined together and eyes closed. Light shines past the statue and down on his broad frame, brown hair with two small children with identical facial features. They had been praying for about 10 minutes. The young boy prayed and seemed to be deep in thought, while the little children had tried to mimic this their older brother trying to be seemingly deep in thought also.Then the young man opened his eyes. ¡±Alright,I thinkthat''slong enough, everyonedonewith their prayers?¡¯ He stood up slightly stumbling due to lack of blood flow. ¡°Yes Brother¡± The two children followed walking towards the exit ¡°Alastair, what did you pray for?¡± Alastair turn to the kids let out a small smile. ¡°I can¡¯ttell you or it won¡¯t come true.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only for wishes¡±¡°Come on you can tell us.¡± They both stare expectantly with a big smile waiting for an answer. ¡°Alright. I wished for you guys to grow up healthy, and to go to school.¡± Both of their smiles waver and turn into frowns. ¡°What about you?¡®¡°Are you going to school too?¡± Alastair pats their heads to reassure them. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Come on let¡¯s go home and help with the chores¡± As they walked out the temple, it occurred to him that he told the twins a lie. ==Alastair== ==Dirius Village (Home)== ¡°Mother we¡¯re home.¡±Meand the twins see our mother from a distance hanging the laundry. She greets us with warm smiles. ¡°Welcome Home¡± Both my sister Mira and little brother Arthur rush my mother tackling her with their combined body weight. Slightly throwing her off balance. ¡°I hope you kids didn¡¯t ask too much of the goddess Luna?¡± ¡°Nope, just the usual.¡± ¡°Good now Mira, Arthur help me with the laundry.¡± ¡°Oh and Alastair, Drake was looking for it sounded important.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I better get going then, Mira, Arthurtryto helpmother.¡± ¡°Yes, Brother.¡± ¡°Yes, Brother.¡± My sister waves me off as I leave for the market while Arthur is already playing around. Using a dirty sheet as a cape. ==Alastair== ==Dirius Village (Market)== I find the place to be busier than usual. There are about 15 people surrounding Drake¡¯s stall; I try to bypass the crowd to get the back of the stall. Drake is haggling with 4 different people trying to keep the price high as possible. Drake is one of my father¡¯s oldest friends and ever since he died during a hunting expedition 10 years ago. He has been like a second father to me. It is thanks to him that I can support my mother and siblings. ¡°Good your here, now deal with those customers over there.¡± I got to work Immediately. Dealing with 4 people at a time. ¡­. After the rush of customers was finished, bothmeand drake collapsed exhausted onto the chairs behind the stall. It was late. ¡°Good work today boy.¡± ¡°Thanks. Huh¡­ why are there so many people today?¡± There weren¡¯t these many people in the village. I wonder if something happened ¡°No, it was just merchant caravan decided to stock up on supplies here.That reminds me I got this job for you and it''s a big one.¡± ¡°What''s the job?¡± ¡°Since the Caravan is here they are looking for people to help transport the goods back to the capital. I can lend you the horse and carriage. They are paying 10 silver coins.¡± ¡°Wow,that a lot of money. Why so much just for transporting goods?¡± ¡°Not sure, a lot of the men inthe villagetook up the same job. It''s a good opportunity; you need the money right. ¡± ¡°Yea school fees for the Mira and Arthur¡± ¡°What about you? Aren¡¯t you going too?¡± ¡°We both know that isn¡¯t going to happen.¡± I should leave. ¡±Well I''ma head home, and I¡¯ll take the job. Take care yourself while I''m gone. ¡± ¡°Alright, see you at dawn tomorrow.¡± ==Alastair== ==Dirius Village (Home)== I walked back to my home. Trying not to lose my bearings on the loose dirt. I wonder if everyone is already asleep. I don¡¯t really want to wake up mother; she has been worked hard enough today. I shiver a bit, and I rub my hands together trying to get a sense of warmth. Compared to other villages houses our is farther away. You have to take a long poorly maintained road to get to the house. As I approach the house I see the light from the fireplace. I guess they¡¯re still up. I push the door open. Mother is sitting at the dinner table knitting some new clothes. Judging from the size it must be for the twins. ¡°Hey, mom, you''re still up.¡± ¡°Oh your home, how was work today?¡± ¡°It was busier than usual today because there is a caravan in town.¡± Mother just sits there knitting. I have never been the one to talk a lot or easily continue a conversation. My mother is the one to break the silence. ¡°So you have something to tell me?¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Please, I have known you for your whole life.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Go on spit it out already.¡± ¡°I took a job that takes me out of town. We¡¯re leaving tomorrow morning and I might be gone for awhile. The job is to transport goods to the capital and they¡¯re paying 10 silver.¡± ¡°I''m sure Mira and Arthur would want some souvenirs. Oh and how about we see you off in the morning, and when you come back it should be your birthday, let''s throw a party.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± --The Next morning. One last check before I leave. Food, check. Water, check. Clothes, check. Bow, check. Arrows, check. That¡¯s everything. I pushed the door open ready to leave, but I turn around and see Mira and Arthur yawning as they tiredly wave. ¡°You better..*Yawn* bring back presents.¡± ¡°Have a good¡­*Yawn* Trip Alastair.¡± ¡±See you guys, bye mother.¡± ==Alastair== ==Dirius Village (Market)== ¡°Hey Drake I''m here, is the carriage ready?¡± Drake steps out from the back of the stall. ¡°Yea boy got her all set up with the others. My wife left some food you in the cart, ya better be grateful. ¡± ¡°Thanks, Drake, and tell Morgan thank you.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± We both make our way to where everyone was gathered. After finishing setting up I start to feel the homesickness already. ¡°Drake...¡± ¡°Yeah boy.¡± ¡°Take care of my family will ya.¡° ¡°Of course. You guys are basically like family already. No, don¡¯t mind us. Focus on yourself. ¡± ¡°Thank you¡­.. Wel,l''moff.¡± ¡°Have a safe trip you god damn workaholic.¡± 2.Situation and Return ==King of Vael== ==Throne Room== This is all going to hell. All my advisors are arguing with each other trying to figure out what to do. I resist the urge to rub my temples, I have to keep up firm composure, or else what the room would be thrown into further chaos. Why would any country attack this us? We have been a neutral party for centuries. Being in the centre of the continent doesn¡¯t bring many benefits if besides trade. Periodic raids of villages are happening at this moment. ¡°It has the to be the Southern Tribe Alliance. Most of the of the raids are to the southern part of our border. It has to be them!¡± One strategist suggests a possible scenario. While another interjects.¡±That isn¡¯t right doesn¡¯t matter who is the leader right now they aren¡¯t that united enough to coordinate these many attacks.¡± The Southern Tribe Alliance is a collection of small tribes with a myriad of different cultures with different beliefs. Most tribes in this alliance have an aggressive temperament and they almost always someone installed a the leader so we rarely have any diplomatic communication. We don¡¯t know who represents the tribes so we can¡¯t rule them out. ¡°Move on.¡± I gesture my hand to silence the room and immediately everyone stops talking. Now they''re talking in turns. I always surprised by the amount of power I wield, the level of respect for the crown has been deeply rooted thanks to our country¡¯s early history of corruption. The people rose up and overthrew the former monarch and executed them. Then people chose my ancestors as the new monarch with the promise of doing what is best for the citizens no matter what as the core value of the kingdom.Even today we uphold these traditions. ¡°Your Majesty I believe the Empire would be possibly responsible.¡± Everyone has returned to a calm demeanour and the air becomes less tense. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°As you know your majesty it was only a 2 decades ago that the Kingdom of Lusic began attacking its smaller neighbouring kingdoms annexing them one by one and that they stopped as they gaining considerable size becoming the Empire of Lusic. It is only because of the armistice we have stopped fighting. It is a possibility that they may have been building resources and developing weapons during this time of peace. That would mean that these recent attacks are to shock us into attacking back to a random country.¡± It does sound possible that Empire would do this considering previous motives. However, the last part doesn¡¯t make any sense if they wanted to attack us why not declare war if they had the manpower. ¡°Hmm...¡± Without any proof, we can¡¯t exactly blame them and declare war. ¡°If I may?¡± Another noble speaks up raising his hand hesitantly. ¡°You may speak.¡± ¡°I too believe it the Empire. So I propose that we contact the Northern Draven Kingdom and the Eastern Quarian Kingdom asking them for an alliance. To prepare for the possibility.I believe this is what best for the citizens.¡± The Draven Kingdom is a kingdom hidden in the mountains up. Little is known about them but according to reports from villages near the border where our two countries meet, it is said that there are the occasional traveller comes down from the mountains and sells rare metal as if it were just as abundant as the grass of the plains. As of this moment, we don¡¯t have any formal diplomatic relations or any grudges that I know of with them. This can also be said for the Quarian Kingdom. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°That would be difficult to do considering our relation with them being non-existent.¡± I don¡¯t dismiss the idea, however, we need time to establish some standing with them. We need an immediate solution now to counter these attacks. It¡¯s either we get help from the other nations even it if it takes more time, or spread our army thin across the land leaving us in a vulnerable position in terms of defence. The former is better than the latter. ¡°We have no choice send diplomats to the Dravens and Quarian Kingdom. Open the military academy we need to train more officers and bolster our army. Anyone have any disagreements with my decision?¡±I give them a few moments¡±No. Then in the name of the people. Complete your task.¡± Everyone out a hand over their heart in unison with me ¡±For the people.¡± I take a seat on the throne and once everyone left the room. I relax my posture. Who attacking and what the reasons for these attack? The answer still eludes me. ==Alastair== ==Dirius Village== How did this happen? As soon as I return from the trip I see smoke rise up from the village. I feel my heart hanging out of my chest as I rushed into the village. Please be alright go please let them be alright. The temple, the market, and houses are all burning. I ignore the heat from the flames and push on. The once quiet road to my house is now lit aflame with burning corpses and broken branches. Who could do such a thing? I hold my hand over my mouth trying to keep myself from throwing up but it happens anyways.Gasping with holding myself up, I recover and make my way home. Coming up to the house I see that the door was broken and someone laid at the entrance. It can¡¯t be, please not my mother, Mira, or Arthur. Carefully turning them over I see it¡¯s not them, but I''m not crying any less. It''s Drake. ¡°Hey wake up! Please wake up.¡± my speech is muddled trying to speak through the tears. Drake slowly opens his eyes and begins coughing violently.¡°Is that you Alistair? Long time no see kid.¡± ¡°Nevermind that what happened?! You¡¯re bleeding too!¡± I see that there is a red pool of blood on the ground.under him.¡±Your mother ran with the kids *cough* into the forest heading to the nearest village from here.*cough* some men in masks showed up and started casting fire spells and cutting people down.¡± the longer he talks the more I see the light fade away from eyes.¡±Stop talking Drake you need to rest somewhere.¡± I try to lift him onto my back but he pushes me away from him.¡°You don¡¯t need to. I know that I don¡¯t have long.*cough*.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that!¡± ¡°I do, hurry you chase after your mother before they get to her first¡­...¡± He¡¯s dead, I know that I need to move but I can¡¯t. I need a moment, no I have to move and find my mother. 3.Rescue and Dream. ==Alastair== ==Deep in the forest== ¡°Where could she be?¡± ¡°She couldn¡¯t have gone far. Everyone creates a line and walk. That¡¯ll cover most of the ground, we can¡¯t let them escape now that they know.¡± I can¡¯t let them find me. I''m far enough that they can¡¯t hear me over the sound of the trees burning. I need to get past them and get to my mother. I throw a rock to my left and it lands a distance just close enough to one of the masked men that they hear it. ¡°Hey, I heard something.¡± This creates an opening in the line and I sneak through the line. ¡°Oi, she¡¯s here!¡± I stop in my tracks and turn around and see all the masked men surrounding my mother. ¡°No...¡± ¡°Please.¡± Those were the words of my mother before they all started attacking. Blood sprayed all around to ground and on the cloaks of the masked men, and then she became still, nothing at all. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re done. Now everyone breaks you masks and burn your cloaks and move to the next village with your disguises.¡± All the men did just that. The man who gave out the orders stood out in my mind he had a scar from his nose down to the end of his left cheek. I don¡¯t move for a few minutes. Then I walk over to the body of my mother. Why. I let this happen, I did this, I threw the rock, I¡­. the tears started to swell up, and I bawled my eyes out. ==Alastair== ==Side of the road== Where am I supposed to go now? Where is my home now? No, I don¡¯t deserve a home my family is dead. The Mira and Arthur weren¡¯t with mom they could be dead or alive. I need to find them. ==?== =Road to capital= ¡°Dad there is someone on the road.¡± He tosses around in the back of the cart in his half-drunken state before falling asleep. Why do I even bother? I stop the cart just behind the person and grab one of the shorts swords we are delivering. I slowly approached the body, just as I was standing above it. I poked it trying to get a reaction from it¡­¡­.Nothing. I poke it again¡­.Nothi-- Wah!. The body rolls and groans. ==Alastair== ==??== Am I dead where am I. I hear someone. I need to find them¡­ Who do I need to find? ==Olvia== ==Etian Smithery==Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. What should we do with him? I took him home with us on a whim. He only woke up briefly just long enough to put a little food in his stomach but he hasn¡¯t said anything yet. He looks like he has been wandering for at least a week and his eyes seem to no will in them at all. I took the liberty of cleaning him up, and he doesn''t look half bad. His blond hair is so light it almost looks white and has a strong chin line. After my father sobered up and he realized that I brought home a boy while he was drunk. He started crying and saying that his little girl was growing up, but to be honest I think he was just using this to keep drinking. He would say that this was to drown out his sorrows. Yeah, right he just doesn¡¯t want to work that¡¯s all. I guess I need to check up downstairs see how the apprentices are doing. ==Alastair== ==Entian Smithery== Standing there in the temple of Luna, there was a black silhouette. ¡°Who are you?¡± There no response, all the sound that it made was distorted giggle. ¡°Where am I?¡± Again it responds with a distorted giggle. ¡°Are you lost?¡± This time it takes off, out towards the exit running at what can¡¯t be a normal speed. Where is it going? ¡°Wait where are you going?¡± I take off after it. After stepping out of the temple I see the scenery change. I''m in a forest now. I take a second to get a bearing on my surroundings. ¡°What is going on?¡± Suddenly it the silhouette appears in front of me and beside it a mirror showing my reflection. I try talking to it again. ¡°Who are you?¡± It doesn¡¯t move but after a few seconds it talks in its distorted voice ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I''m Alastair¡± The silhouette doesn¡¯t move but it makes a face that I can only describe as unsatisfied. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I''m Alas--¡± I try replying again but it cuts me off. What does it want? ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m A--¡± ¡°Who are you?¡® ¡°I¡¯m...¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I''m.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The mirror no longer shows my face but shows a silhouette like the one beside it. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I told you I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I feel a madness creep up onto my shoulder and with it madness. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Stop it. I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°I''m me!¡± ¡°But who are you?¡± ¡°Who am I!?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I want to find them!¡± ¡°Find who?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± I''m tired of yelling. I so exhausted. I just want to sleep. My eyes feel heavy and my conscience fades away.