Cedric trained the soldiers himself; he staged mock battles and ruthless training with real scenarios; it went as far as starving the soldiers and making them fight. One of the conscripted soldiers had had enough, his eyes furrowed, his face quivering, he grabbed a spear and charged at Cedric. Torric and the others were prepared to interfere, but Cedric stopped them.
Cedric grabbed his sword, ground himself and swung his sword. As he swung the sidestep to the left, it contacted the spear handle, and he deflected it. He hit the exhausted conscript with his handle on his head, and he dropped down instantly. Cedric, with a sharp voice, "This is nothing, you will face worse situations in a real battle!!" The man cried out, "I don't want to go to battle, just let me go home."
Cedric's eyes narrowed "If we don't do this, you won't have a home to go back to," the man replied, sobbing. "What do you mean??"
Lucen stepped up, "He has done the most despicable, attempting to murder a knight captain, he should be put to death immediately."
The man muttered apologies, sobbing uncontrollably. Cedric replied, "Sentence him to the most severe training you can come up with! Torric," The man praised Cedric as Torric took him away.
He stepped up to the army of 1000 soldiers who were all watching in silence. "Listen up, fellow soldiers! The training may be hard, especially for the recruits! But these trainings will bear fruit. I am not sure what exactly is going on, but believe me when I say something great and inevitable is coming, and for that, we must prepare." The men, looking grim and exhausted from the training, started murmuring to themselves. The morale was low, but they continued with the training.
A month passed, the end of spring. The sun shines brightly on the military camp, a messenger rushes towards the headquarters, "Knight Captain Cedric, General Rolith has called upon your army to meet them at the citadel of Dalmora, immediately."(2nd largest city in Dravem) Cedric muttered, "It has finally begun, huh?" Selara replied, "This time, I hope I don't have to tend to a thousand people." Torric, with a smirk, replied, "Don't worry our soldiers are more than prepared this time."
As they marched through the citadel of Dalmora, 1075 soldiers thumped through the ground, the children looked with awe, and the adults looked with a grim face, sensing something bloody was lurking behind. The men looked steady and composed, the result of the training showing clearly. As they closed in on the citadel, they could see a sea of soldiers up ahead; such a gathering had never happened before in the history of Dravem. Almost 20k, along with Cedric's forced soldiers, gathered outside Dalmora.
Once they reached the gathering point, they could hear murmuring all around them. The soldiers looked confused; they questioned the purpose of being called here. General Dorvik, frustrated, "How long is this arrogant old geezer gonna make us wait?" General Rolith sighs, "Maybe he is taking a dump".
Cedric looked around the crowd of people and saw a familiar face, his hair short and brown, his face sharp scared with battle wounds and his eyes intense, a knight commander (one rank above knight captain) leading 2000 well trained an experienced soldier it was none other than his father Rodric Alveryn who has been stationed in the northeast fighting bandits and the rebels along with General Dorvik.
Cedric rides towards him, Father, it's me, Cedric!
His father looked at him, his face softening immediately. "Cedric! You have grown so much, it's a pleasure to see you again, my son." As he pats Cedric's shoulder, "I have heard about you, you did well, I can't phantom that my little boy is now a knight captain." Cedric's voice was heavy. "I hope Mother is watching me, too," he says, looking at the sky. "I will bring honour to the name of Alveryns and make both of you proud," Rodric said with a smile. "I am sure she is watching and is proud of you, as I am."
Just then, the grand general Orvyic came out of the city gate. He walked towards the soldiers and took the stage, with a steady voice, "Knights and soldiers of the crown! The day is upon us! The day we crush the approaching Coalition army formed under the banner of King Cialic, leading the charge is General Alviz."
The men looked at each other, their hearts racing, their breathing heavier, some perplexed by the sudden turn of events.
Lord have mercy, Draviz thought. A full-scale battle on sight. I'm not going to survive this.
So the rumors were true, Selara realized. Countless will die again… for what? For fairy tales?
I must protect the young Knight-Captain, Torric swore, even if it costs me my life.
The Grand General continued: As we speak, he leads with 15 thousand soldiers approaching Dalmora, but fret not, our army is both superior in number and quality; we will deal them a crushing defeat. For God is with us, he will see to it that we protect our families, our houses, our kingdom. Long Live Dravem!"
If it isn't a crushing victory, Orlen mused, it's a pyrrhic victory, and the prophecy dies with us.
Cedric's jaw tightened. I can't repeat Drouca Hills. Not this time. Not under my father's gaze.
Our archers will matter this time, Fenric told himself. We have to.
God be with us, I pray we come out of this intact, Rhyday prayed.
Whatever may come my way, I shall overcome it, Lucen reassured himself.
The men looked at each other. The atmosphere was grim. Some of them cleared their throats, others took a deep breath, and they then released a weak chant, "Long Live Dravem." A sharp, piercing voice tore through the sky, "Men of Dravem! I am an honest man from a humble beginning. I will not deceive and say I am unafraid of the impending slaughterhouse house nor would I say that I can proudly wave the flag of Dravem and give my life for the state! For I know its truth, however, so we must fight not for glory, honour, but to survive and have a home and family to go back to!! Only you and I can protect what we have here."
The men looked at the person behind the speech in awe, they shouted with spirit, "General Rodric! General Rodric! General Rodric!" The Grand General clenched his jaws, eyes burning with furious stares at Rodric and stormed off from the stage. He shouted, "Move," and so it began.
It was the end of March, this day the rain poured lightly as twenty thousand men marched on the muddy forested area, the soldiers tired but increased their pacing for they must reach the fields before the enemy to gain an advantage of the terrain. Orlen rode faster and catches up to Cedric, his face tight and his eyes furrowed "Cedric, this war will be futile if we suffer great losses even if we win, just the fact that these reserved kingdoms united to attack us indicates there is something greater brewing, maybe Morhan is behind it, you know they follow a similar culture and the holy Book. Maybe they believe in the prophecy."
Cedric takes a deep breath, looking forward, heads high, "I got this, Orlen, have faith in me. I will not let this kingdom fall. I shall lead it to victory by all means." Orlen's eyes widened, a glimmer of hope. "Cedric, you are turning into a great leader." Orlen slowed his pace and witnessed Cedric and Lucen matching their pace. "Knight Captain Cedric and Lieutenant Lucen, eh? Their presence fit perfectly," he whispered to himself. Cedric turned back and looked at Orlen with a smile. "Orlen, just watch me. I will lead us to a great victory." His words felt like prophecies to Orlen; he nodded with a smile.
Then the wind shifted. The drums ahead quickened. A shout rose from the vanguard, harsh and sharp. "Enemies in sight!" General Rolith roared. "Prepare for battle!"