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(10) Then Armadyl spoke with the authority of an ancient general. He ordered the army divided into companies of one hundred each. All would evacuate the fortress which they occupied; the companies would retreat to hills, woods, walled villages, and other hidden and defensible locations throughout the countryside. Half would move to the west, and half to the east. They would remain hidden during the march of the Asgarnian army, and attempt to pass by them and enter the northern fiefs when the opportunity arose. There they would disrupt Asgarnian supply lines, liberate villages, seize strongholds, and recruit more to their cause. Battle was to be avoided, and the companies were ordered to maintain frequent contact with one another.

(11) Armadyl led a company to the east, and Ikov led one to the west. Days passed; the companies entrenched themselves in secret places; they still ordered supplies delivered to the fort to make it appear occupied; they continued to spread rumors of their numbers and concentration at the fort. At last the Asgarnian army arrived before the fort, already divided into two battalions, ready to attack. But the few sentries remaining at the fort immediately fled. Recognizing that they had marched to the fort on false information, the Asgarnians leaders fell into dispute among themselves; their battalions stood immobile for a time.

(12) Then the companies of Armadyl and Ikov were on the move: quickly and discreetly they traveled north. They set about their work with zeal. Supplies lines were broken. Their numbers grew. They continued to feed false information to the Asgarnian leaders. Liberated villages sided with the rebellion. Strongholds were captured. And soon some fief-lords pledged their support, providing supplies openly or secretly to companies hiding nearby.

(13) The battalions of the Asgarnian army each went separate ways in pursuit of the rebels, one to the northwest and one to the northeast, but always they were slow to act; their leaders fell often into argument. Broken supply lines and the cold winds of winter led many to defect. Even fief-lords with their whole companies abandoned the effort, returning to their strongholds to support the rebellion or to wait to see who would prevail.

(14) The companies of Armadyl and Ikov continued to outwit the Asgarnians, and within a matter of weeks they held sway over the whole land of the Asgarnian tribe. Only a handful of the bitterest fief-lords and those soldiers of theirs forced to remain with them had gathered at a fortress in one of the northwestern fiefs. Then Armadyl sent out messengers and commanded all of the forces of the rebellion to gather together, to march upon the last fortress of the enemy. All anticipated victory for the rebellion.

(15) Once reunited, Armadyl and Ikov spoke together. Armadyl said, "This will not be the battle that the army expects, Ikov. We were never at war with the Asgarnian lords but with the spirit that haunts them. Now the spirit will show itself, and you will have to strike it down. You know why I have merely commanded and have not made use of my power thus far." "Yes, I know," answered Ikov, "A god cannot destroy a spirit hidden in the hearts of men; only a man can, indeed if he can at all. I have already sensed this angry spirit, and I know how we will decide the fight. This will not be a struggle of armies but a struggle of champions; we will finish this war in a manner once cherished but long forgotten by the people of this land: we will settle it in a joust."

(16) On the following day, at mid-day, Armadyl and Ikov order their armies assembled, numbering nearly two thousand. They marched toward the fortress, and stopped a half mile from it to wait, arranged in companies. Hundreds of remaining Asgarnians sallied forth, and arranged themselves also: they were ready to die. Then Ikov came forth alone into the open field, in the sight of all, mounted upon a strange beast, known only in myth and dream: he rode upon a hornless unicorn. He wore his hard leather armor, as well as his sword and bow and quiver and sling, but he held in his hands a broad shield and a long spear. The beast and shield and spear made an ominous sight.

(17) Across the field, in the dark gateway of the enemy fortress appeared the figure of a man, totally concealed within armor black in color. He too rode a strange beast of the same kind as Ikov, and he too carried a shield and long spear. Fear struck the hearts of the Asgarnian soldiers, for the spirit had come forth from their own fortress. Both sides knew then that they would witness a battle which would end the war, a battle of champions, between a spirit and a sorcerer.

(18) Ikov and the dark figure rode towards each other to the middle of the battlefield and stopped three hundred paces apart. Ikov could feel the malice of the spirit. It probed his heart, searching for an entrance, a hidden anger: a bitterness or a grudge. Then Ikov could see himself from the place of the spirit, through the narrow visor of its helmet; and he could feel emptiness within the black breastplate, and brooding rage within its heart. They began to ride about, in a circle, as if at opposite ends of the spokes of a wheel. Then they began to spiral inward.

(19) Ikov could feel the spirit searching. Unpleasant memories stirred in his mind: disappointments, hurts, insults; forgotten memories: slights he had not understood, suspicions he had not entertained. The two began to ride with greater speed; their spiral tightened. Thoughts raged across his mind, but Ikov did not yield to them. He concentrated upon the desires that guided him: a desire for justice, for respect for the natures of things, for persons, his desire for freedom and for all else he loved - he hardly thought his thoughts; he felt them and lived in them, and remained calm. The pressures upon his mind increased; he received the beating patiently; he would not yield.

(20) Then Ikov knew the moment had come. He did not know whether he would prevail, but that could not be helped. He and the spirit broke their spiral, and each rode straight at the other. Converging quickly, they converged also in mind: Ikov raced toward the figure and, seeing through the dark and narrow visor, also toward himself. And Ikov felt the brooding grudge down deep, possessing and possessed by it: and as the spears closed in, he undid the evil spell: he, as the knight in black himself, forgave the old offence, and the spirit disappeared.

(21) The armies watched in awe. Ikov rode right through the spirit and his beast; he himself flew through the air and smashed into the ground: his spear and shield were shattered, and his beast too had disappeared. After a moment, he stood up, and all his forces cheered. Struck with terror, some of the remaining Asgarnians fled, and others, driven mad, charged into the field towards victorious Ikov. Ikov's troops charged also. Around Ikov himself, still dazed from the joust, his soldiers slaughtered the remaining enemy, and the battle for the Asgarnian lands was won.

(22) In the days following, representatives of fief-lords, serfs, and villages gathered in court before Armadyl and Ikov. The boundaries of some fiefs were redrawn, agreements enacted between towns and fiefs and serfs, ambassadors sent on behalf of the Asgarnians to the districts of the sea-folk, and new laws and customs were universally established which would protect the balance of power in the land and recommit all Asgarnians to their common life. The army was disbanded, but for a few hundred sea-folk and Asgarnians who sought to continue on with Armadyl and Ikov; they prepared to leave the land. Armadyl and Ikov had campaigned there for about three months.

Part 3: Woodland

(1) Armadyl and Ikov, along with their company, traveled east to the edge of a huge forest. They inquired of their troops what they knew of the woodland. The woods stretched from a great ice-capped mountain north of Asgarnian tribal lands east along a ridge of hills, which divided the woods from the vast steppes of the north, to the source of a river which flowed south to the sea - the same river Armadyl and Ikov had crossed in the southeast seven months before. From the mountain and ridge of hills, the woodland stretched south between the river and the Asgarnian fields before it stopped at the northern borders of the districts of the sea-folk.

(2) Geography divided the woodland in two. The lower woodland contained as many as a hundred small, unwalled villages, mostly of simple woodsman. The villagers were protected by and paid taxes to the settlements of the upper woodland - hardly a woodland but a great open space on the southeastern slopes of the ice-capped mountain. On the southern slope stood the capital, a large city surrounded by massive defensive walls. On the eastern slope stood a second city, also defended by large, high walls, crowned with several turrets. And at the summit of the mountain, nestled between its two icy peaks stood the fortress-town of Kathekontos. From there the sentinels of the woodsmen could survey the whole land and keep watch for any threat from the east or west or north or south. At the highest known point in the region, the stronghold was the pride of all woodsman, and for holding it they received much honor.

(3) All the soldiers agreed on the account, for both Asgarnians and sea-folk had traded with and traveled among the woodsmen in the years past. But when the trolls migrated south and the politics of the Asgarnians soured, trade with the woodsmen ceased for both peoples. All had heard rumors of foreign rulers in the cities of the upper woodland and of opportunities for power and fortune at the new court. Higher taxes had been levied on the villages of the lower woodland, which made life difficult there.

(4) Then only some of the Asgarnians who had joined the army of Armadyl and Ikov recently had more to say. They reported that some trade had persisted between woodsmen and Asgarnians of the northern fiefs until it became clear that the rebellion would succeed; then the woodsmen and their villages disappeared. The Asgarnians could no longer find their way in the woods: the paths were obscured and various landmarks removed, as well as any trace of human life.

(5) The rest of the troops were amazed at the news. Throughout all the accounts, Armadyl listened intently; during the description of the upper woodland he appeared pensive, and wistful at the description of Kathekontos; "What a beautiful name for a town," he had remarked quietly, which only Ikov could hear. After the reports were finished, Armadyl said, "These are strange tidings, but I do not sense danger for us in the lower woodland; we need not fear." Ikov ordered scouts once familiar with the lower woodland to enter the forest and confirm the reports of the newest Asgarnian soldiers. After some hours they returned, and confirmed the Asgarnians' report: the trails were obscured or led nowhere; no one was there.

(6) All slept that night with great anticipation of what the coming days and weeks would bring. On the next morning, they entered the forest. They divided into companies of one hundred and set about seeking clues as to what had happened to the woodsmen. Though separated, the companies maintained close communication. Each company foraged for food and supplies as needed, yet they found no clues in the woods. For days and then for weeks, their quest was fruitless. The troops began to question whether the woodsmen might have left, whether they might have had reason to migrate to the cities, as the rumors had suggested, and some other reason to hide their tracks. Armadyl and Ikov counseled patience.

(7) The weeks dragged on as the companies combed through the woods, and some began to lose hope that there was an explanation to be found. Ikov sensed their disappointment, and it weighed on him. One day, while walking with Armadyl and one of the companies through a thicket, Ikov let out his growing frustration: "It must be an illusion!" he shouted. He didn't think it was the case, for he and Armadyl had discussed the possibility frequently, and neither could detect the slightest trace of such magic. But then anger flashed in Armadyl's eyes. He turned to the tree under whose branches Ikov was standing. He swung his crooked staff toward one of the branches just where it forked above Ikov's head. But the staff did not make contact with the tree; it struck something invisible resting in the fork of the branch - something made visible which fell to the ground before Ikov's feet with a clink. It was a stone, a mix of bright red and yellow in color, polished and smooth, like a kidney bean in its shape, and about two pounds in weight. Ikov studied it where it fell and then looked at Armadyl.

(8) Armadyl answered, "It is illusion, Ikov, and a very good one. It comes from another world, and I could not see it until now. You sensed it in your outburst. Go ahead and touch the stone; it is safe." Ikov picked up the stone; it felt cool in his hands. Immediately he could see the woodsmen, many of them, coming and going along clearly marked paths through the woods. He could hear them talking and the sounds they made as they shuffled through the underbrush. The woodsmen never came within fifty paces of his troops but seemed otherwise to ignore their presence. He also saw that each carried a strange lantern, with a frame of fancifully twisted metal. He reported all he saw to Armadyl and his company and commanded each to touch the stone. Soon all could see the woodsmen walking at a distance from them.

(9) Ikov dispatched messengers to recall the other companies and to report that they had made a discovery. Then Armadyl, Ikov, and the company set off down one of the newly revealed trails and came upon a small village. They stopped at the edge of the village to watch what would happen. When the villagers caught sight of the visitors watching them, they became afraid. They stopped what they were doing, and in worried whispers passed on the news that all should gather in the village square. Armadyl and Ikov ordered the company to wait at the edge of the village while they walked to its center. By that time all the village had gathered, and a middle-aged man - a village leader - asked Armadyl and Ikov, "How have you found us? Why have you come?" Armadyl spoke, "We broke the hold of the illusion over this place. We have come to investigate strange tidings from the woodland. Please tell us what has happened." The man explained all that had taken place there.

(10) A few years before, three powerful beings had come to the capital, and soon they ruled the woodland from there. A general call had invited anyone intelligent and ambitious to come to the cities to serve in their new regime. Many had gone, but a few came back with terrible news. Taxes would be raised for the people of the lower woodland, but they were lucky, because the taxes of the upper woodland would no longer be paid in gold or in supplies but in blood. Those leaders of the people who submitted to the tax willingly were given honors and offices in the new government; those who did not were beaten, imprisoned, or killed. Most submitted. Very few were permitted to leave the upper woodland.

(11) The capital had become a somber place: a slum of fearful citizens and a decadent court of government officials obsessed with flattery and intrigue, fawning always upon the rulers. The rulers employed the second city as a prison, locking in the towers their favorite victims, as well as any of their enemies they desired to keep alive. They had largely left Kathekontos alone, only appointing a governor and some officials there to collect the tax of blood. They sent out agents among the villages of the lower woodland to collect their taxes, and they sent other agents to make contact with the denizens of the moors north of the mountain - a place inhabited only by solitary and hateful witches.

(12) Shortle before, near the end of the campaign in the Asgarnian lands, a decree had been issued from the capital: Every woodsman would carry a special lantern, and a similar lamppost would be installed in every village, which would render them invisible to outsiders. Every trail known to outsiders would be obscured, and new ones would be made. No one would reveal himself to an outsider, and anyone seen interacting with one would be treated as a traitor. Agents of the government would be sent to every corner of the woodland to enforce the decree.