I currently stood in the centre of a forest clearing. The two small crossbows hung at my sides. The big one on my back and the last firmly grasped in my hands. I looked around myself, loading a bolt. At the edge of the forest was a massive construct of mana. I could spot more around me, but they were still hiding in the forest. I didn’t dare to count their numbers. It wouldn’t get me anywhere anyway.

“Are you ready young prince?”, Niloticus’ voice boomed from all directions. I couldn’t tell which of these were fakes. I didn’t even know if his original voice was among them.

“Ready as far as I can be. Do your worst old crocodile”, I tried to provoke my teacher, but I didn’t receive any magical clue if my insult worked. I found out, that teacher doesn’t like to be called old or a crocodile for the fact. He was part alligator, not crocodile. I didn’t know the difference and had to learn it for the next lesson.

“You are going to regret your choice of words”, Niloticus bellowed, the fight begun.

I saw the movement of the constructs. The first one entered the clearing. I looked at it and knew what it was. A simple life magic construct, it looked like a humanoid golem made out of roots. I had to shoot the fruit in its chest. That counted as a kill. The rest of the body was a miss.

My breathing calmed and the crossbow rose. Slow and steady, keep the distance in mind. Pull the trigger. The bolt flew and embedded itself next to the fruit.

“Dammit”, I cursed and reloaded quickly. Focussing on not messing up one of the necessary steps.

You would think it gets easier when the root golem is closer, but the fruit becomes smaller as the thing got nearer. I aimed at the now much smaller target and fired again. Sighing in relief when the small fruit was hit. The thing collapsed.

“Good”, bellowed the forest around me. “But you can do better.”

I noticed the flower, which bloomed next to me, only when my concentration began to slip. Pollens, invisible to the eye, entered my lungs. My mind became hazy and I felt sluggish. My mind and body were being influenced! I focused on my mana control and restored the mana in my body to its natural status. The effects vanished. Focus restored.

“You have to try a bit more, Niloticus. A simple paralyse spell will not work on me”, any more, I added silently. There had been too many instances where I lost consciousness, because of teacher’s paralyse spells.

“I think that was plenty for a distraction”, Niloticus laughter boomed from all sides and I looked around, noticing the presence of eight constructs in the clearing. The nearest four meters behind my back.

The big crossbow was pulled from my back, already loaded and hit the target in the head. The spot with the coloured leaves was hit and the construct fell. I went through my two smaller crossbows and eliminated another two of the root constructs. The rest closed in as I reloaded.

When the fifth construct went down, a root coiled up my left leg. I fired a bolt blindly behind me. Hitting whatever was there.

“Still too slow. It’s over”, Niloticus voice was the last thing I heard. Something out of wood hit the back of my head and the world went dark.

The first thing I saw, when my vision was restored, was Niloticus sitting in front of a fire pit. He took the ladle out of the kettle and turned to me.

“Are you hungry? You were out for an hour”, said Niloticus and gave me an apologetic expression on his face. I guess he didn’t mean to hit that hard. He gave me a bowl of soup and gestured to the place next to him. I sat down and ate.

“So what did you learn today young prince?”, Niloticus asked.

“I shouldn’t be so slow? If I had been faster, then I could have fought longer?”, I tried my guess. Niloticus shook his head.

“No that is not the main point. You get easily distracted with more than a handful of foes. It was far too easy to get a construct behind you”, my teacher looked me in the eyes for a moment. Then he took out his book and added something to his training plan. I didn’t even protest, just rolled my eyes a bit.

We discussed a bit over my lessons and I asked questions when there were problems I couldn’t solve. I wondered about the war in Italia. My family didn’t give me satisfactory answers. Maybe Niloticus knew more? It couldn’t hurt to ask him myself.

“Why did the war start Niloticus?”, I looked at my teacher. Hoping to finally understand why ten thousand people had to die.

“War is something brutal and detestable. Yet it is so natural. We are just like animals and beast. Jumping at the throat of our neighbours for the simplest reason”, my teacher noticed my expression and the fact that he was not answering my question. He coughed and continued.

“The war for Italia is the attempt of the east to integrate this part of Octanian as their new province. They want to restore the old borders. That would be my guess. Italia is the easiest target for them”, he explained sounding unsure of his guesses.

“Why do they want our home? Couldn’t there be a way to resolve this peacefully?”, I asked.

“The east dreams to restore the rule over the rest of the empire. Sicillia is one of the wealthiest provinces the empire had. Southern Italia is just a springboard for the east”, explained Niloticus.

“Why are we fighting then? We could help them or let them pass through. Why are we fighting with the non-humans in Sicillia?”, I asked, not understanding why we had to defend Sicillia. It wasn’t our responsibility. Not our ‘home’.

“That is something you have to ask your father about. Most of southern Italia and Roma itself would have liked to join the east. Your father on the other hand does everything to prevent an eastern foothold on Italia”, explained Niloticus. “The east probably already tried to convince your father viva diplomatic measures.”

“Why would we want to stand against the east? How can we win against such a massive enemy?”, I asked. Which chance do we have, when our enemy was practically an empire?

“Why indeed. I do not know your father motives for this, but I can imagine why. It is possible to resist a bigger foe. You just don’t have the luxury to lose”, said Niloticus.

“The luxury to lose? What does that mean?”, I asked.

“The east can invade Italia several times with similar-sized legions. Should even one succeed where the others failed, then your little country will fall”, answered teacher.

“What can we do to prevent that?”, I asked further.

“Inflict heavy casualties for every invasion. The more it hurts to attack you, the less likely will somebody attack you. Should your father destroy the northern legions as well, then the east will think twice before attacking you. Only a madman would try gain after such losses”, explained my teacher.

“Hmmm, I guess that makes sense. I just hope this war ends fast and with few people dying”, I said.

“Plenty will die. Where war goes death follows. Everybody dies, innocent or guilty, it doesn’t matter. Children or elderly, rich or poor and king or peasant. They all pay their price”, It was still for a few minutes until Niloticus changed the topic.

“Let us not speak about such a sorrowful thing. I think you and your family will manage just fine”, Niloticus reassured. We spoke a bit over different topics after that. I had started to learn the policies and problems of our state and Niloticus would ask me to find solutions or explain certain situations to him. It was preparation for my time in Alexandria.

“Would it not be dangerous, if we go to Alexandria? I mean they are our enemy”, I asked. I was about to visit enemy territory as the literal heir of the country they are at war with.

“You will be fine. This war is mostly between the humans and elves in the east. The demi-humans and sea-folk in Aegyptus will do us no harm. You can treat the regions of the empire pretty much as five different countries”, my teacher said.

“Why are they still a confederacy, if they do everything alone? Wouldn’t it make sense to go for independent countries instead of their current position?”, I inquired further. I was interested in why the east decided to form a confederacy.

“In the west, the new states are fighting each other. I think the eastern races don’t want to share that fate. They will also use this time of fighting in the west to annex as much land as possible if they can defeat your father”, said Niloticus.

We spoke for a few minutes about the plans for my training. I would finish my combat training in a few months. From then on I should just train my skills an hour or so per day. I left Niloticus when our talk finished and headed home.

Office of the duke of Neapoli. Jagu and his brother sat in his office with the other members of their little alliance, except the count of Bari. He was absent. They were discussing how to beat the remaining invaders in the north.

“Duran, if you would be so nice. Summarize the current situation of the war”, Jagu said to his brother.

“The enemy legions in the south were totally destroyed only a few soldiers and servants managed to survive. The remnants are small enough to be dealt with by local forces”, Duran summarized the result of the land engagement.

“The enemies’ war fleet has been defeated in 3 engagements. We have lost a quarter of our ships. While the enemy is incapable to start another invasion by sea, we can’t blockade their ports though. We lack men and ships for that. There are a lot of repairs to be made”, Titania summarized the situation on sea.

“Continue to harass their supply lines. Try to capture ships and provisions, if possible. It would help our efforts”, Jagu said. “Rastus, how is the situation with the other races in the east? Will they continue to stand by?”

“Dwarves, demi-humans and sea-folk have signed a treaty to not intervene directly in the war. The dwarves have supplied the legions of our enemy with equipment. At least they won’t get the ships of the sea-folk and demi-humans”, Rastus explained the result of his diplomatic delegation.

“Good. The extra supplies from the other races will mostly land in our hands anyway, if we raid their supply lines properly”, Jagu said. “They should not be able to get major reinforcements onto Italia for a few years.”

“If I may suggest your majesty, I think we should start a counteroffensive against Roma as soon as possible. Their four legions are heading to Napule. It is a matter of few days until they reach us”, Quiricus suggested another pre-emptive strike.

“I’m against it. Our troops could use these days to rest and prepare for the upcoming battle. We are in no position to launch another campaign. Let’s position the army to the east of Napule. The enemy may decide to siege our capital, and then we can strike from behind”, Duran suggested.

“Firnadena and Rulvir, what can you tell us about the enemy troops to the north. You have fought and delayed them for the last weeks”, Jagu looked at the elven woman and the old dwarf.

“They have around 25’000 thousand troops most of them humans only a few thousands of elves. Their quality and experience are at least as good as ours, if not better”, Firnadena said the last sentence with frustration audible in her voice.

“Ay. They are a tough nut to crack. Good equipment and trained men. Their commander is cautious and doesn’t take many risks. It would be hard to get them to fight a battle, in which we have the advantage”, Rulvir explained their dilemma.

“We couldn’t really stop their advance. The biggest problems were their wyvern riders. They still have around forty and are our biggest hindrance”, Firnadena added.

“How many wyverns do we have? Or anything that could take out one?”, Jagu asked the others.

“Six battle-ready wyverns, but they are young and inexperienced as are their riders. We have sufficient archers and ballistas to protect our camp or Napule itself”, answered Duran.

“We have a few sea beasts which could take the wyverns out if they fly low enough”, suggested Silvestra. “We could evacuate the civilians to Sicillia. It would give them a target.”

“I don’t think they will chase simple civilians”, Jagu said. There was no way that the general will risk his airborne forces for mere civilians.

“We could put our family members on one of the ships as well”, Silvestra said and looked down on the map. She could feel Jagu’s and Duran’s eyes on her. Maybe not the best suggestion.

“We will never use our children as bait!”, shouted the twins simultaneously.

“It may be the only way to eliminate our biggest threat in the battle. We could use Titania’s flagship for our family members. They would be safe. Niloticus could be on board as well. He wanted to go to Alexandria with your son anyway”, Rastus suggested.

“I will organize a leviathan. There is a house that owes me a favour. That will ensure your families safety. He can take everybody underwater if a capable air and water mage is nearby”, Titania said.

“Fine, I still don’t like the plan. Let’s put a few good ranged combatants and ballistas on the ships. Hidden of course. It would give us a chance to eliminate them quickly”, Jagu said and tried to pacify his brother. “Duran it will be fine, even if they destroy the entire fleet. Niloticus would be able to protect them nonetheless and the leviathan gives them a safe escape route.”

Duran was only convinced when they deployed more troops and equipment on the ships. They discussed when they would start the evacuation. They agreed to start it in one week. Their wyverns would also escort the fleet.

A few days later in the war camp of the east. The commander of the army and the count of Roma were standing before a map of Italia. They were planning the battle for Napule. An informant entered the tent.

“Commander Valens, we have news from Napule. The enemy has started to evacuate the civilians and family members of the nobility. The heir is among them”, spoke the informant.

“Where are they fleeing? By land or by sea? Did they take anything with them, which could influence the battle?”, Valens asked the most important questions.

“We think to Sicillia and by ship my lord. They took a few soldiers, mages, wyverns and ballistas with them”, the informant finished his report and left the tent.

“What do you think Arcadius? A trap, a diversion or a badly executed escape plan?”, Valens turned to his second in command. Arcadius, count of Roma and pretty much the ruler of middle Italia.

“I think we should strike them and capture their family members. It would end the war quickly and with fewer casualties”, suggested the count. Valens smiled and countered the count.

“And that is why you are the second in command. Jagu has destroyed five legions with two and sunk our fleet of four hundred ships with just one hundred vessels. He even captured over 100 ships. Our enemy will use every weakness we show against us”, Valens looked at the map and was still for minutes.

“My lord do you propose to let them just go?”, asked Arcadius.

“Yes, those people will not change the outcome of the war and Jagu will miss the troops he used to protect his family. We will move up our attack plan. The enemy is weakened and it’s time to use our chance.”

They discussed the plan for the upcoming battle. Valens would take 3 legions and the wyverns to deal with Duran’s two legions. Arcadius would use one legion to capture Napule. They will support each other from behind should one succeed before the other.

Speed was of utmost importance. The legions would be forced to march quickly and with few rests. Otherwise, the troops escorting the civilians would return and reinforce the Neapolitan troops.

I was a bit surprised when father told us to leave the city with the civilians and nobility of Napule. Father didn’t explain why we had to flee. He only said it would be safer for us and that he would meet up with our family later.

Niloticus was happy with the free ride. He already made plans for us to leave Sicillia and head to Alexandria. He wanted to get away from this war and push forward my education. The faster I’m finished the faster he could leave me and continue his journey. That was his answer when I asked him why we were heading to Alexandria so early.

We put one of the ships full of mementoes of our family. Mother vowed to leave nothing important behind because it might get damaged in the coming battle. I couldn’t imagine that somebody could conquer the city. The walls were too impressive.

Father invested a lot of money into the fortifications, and they could supply the city per sea. We had beaten the east before and would do it again. I just hoped for the well-being of father and uncle Duran.

My siblings were crying when we boarded the ship. They seemed to be scared about dad’s well-being as well. I tried to calm them down and it worked after a few tries. Mother got Silas to sleep and I distracted my sisters by reading them their favourite book.

A few of my friends were on the ship as well. Or acquaintances, if you ask some of them. I mostly spoke and played with Alaric and Anaitis. I have met with both from time to time after my birthday.

They both seemed to enjoy our time together and had no problem with each other. The only disagreement between them would be Alaric’s love for bouts, while Anaitis preferred to play board games with us.

I also meet a few times with Aellelorn and Constantine. They were a bit older but were good companions and training partners.

When the day ended, I had trouble falling asleep. I worried about father and the fleet. Would something happen to us or to father? When I exhausted myself with the worst possibles scenarios, sleep took over and I entered the land of dreams.