Darien laid himself low over the neck of his
horse, his dark gray tunic flapping in the wind. The
remainder of his squad was fanned out behind him to insure
no surprises waited alongside the road. As they
entered the swamp, the soldiers turned onto the approach
road to the keep. The squad reached the causeway and
entered the keep, their horses drenched with sweat.
Before he had really stopped, Darien was off his horse
and looking for the Captain of the Guard. Darien's
lone eye gleamed, "Sir, Soulhunter requires the guard
to be placed on alert and runners to be sent to the
Red Lions team leaders. There is trouble in
Rivervale. Orcs!!"
At the word "orcs", Captain
Blackfist turned and signaled his gate guard. The tolling
of the alert bell sounded almost immediately and
guardsmen swarmed from the barracks within minutes. Darien
and his squad formed with the rest of the guards as
the Captain addressed the unit, "All shifts are to
remain on high alert, in armor unless sleeping. There
are orcs massing in Rivervale. Runners, leave
immediately to gather the Lions."
As the formation
was dismissed, Darien gathers his squad to care for
their mounts. On the way to the stables, he looks up at
the tower to see the dark gray standard with the
rampant red lion and, with the keep stategically located
between Rivervale and Thelindira, he hopes the standard
will still be flying after this crisis.
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