After arming myself I went to the stables to look for a particular black horse with a white spot on its chest. It took only a glance to find him.

In place of a greeting, my companion licked my face.

"Wooh, easy there. I'm glad at least one of us is in a good mood".

My horse responded with a happy neigh. And in turn, I show him the hand carrying a big apple that I held behind my back. I knew he would like it, i snatched the biggest one I could find, it was bigger than any apple I have seen in the west.

My eyes bulged when the bastard ate it in one bite.

"Yovan you pig, couldn't you at least enjoy it for a second, I fell on my ass climbing that tree so you could have that bite, next time I will just pick half-rotten ones from the ground".

He gave me one of his big horsey smiles and I couldn't be mad at him anymore.

I mounted him and took a stroll around the camp to look at my men.

That Chief's son I captured in my first battle wasn't in the first line, our men met theirs and with Premisyls help I managed to convince a few of my companions to press forward on a single point, I admit that in hindsight we were quite reckless because to do so we had to break formation but I deemed it alright because the Chief's son wasn't doing a good enough job of organising his men to seize that advantage.

What we basically did was furiously start pushing with our shields and with a bit of coordination, the enemy was pushed back in a wedge that was aimed at the enemy commander. They were startled by the sudden offensive and started panicking when more of my companions got wind of what we were trying to do and poured into the opening.

The Chief's son, being the great commander that he was, started retreating. His men started running when they saw him fleeing and his own flight was hampered by his men. I saw the opportunity and with my friend having my back charged towards him, his bodyguard turned to protect his charge but was unable to when Premysil engaged him. Trusting him to prevent the bodyguard from stabbing my back I continued my run towards the noble.

As the enemy was running for their lives around us the youth was scared out of his wits when he heard my roar, he kicked his horse and tried to flee but he accidentally hit one of his own men and lost momentum. Axe in hand I swung at him trying to hit his thigh but he managed to swing his shield around and put it between us. My axe may have been a bit rusted but it slammed into his shield just fine, actually, it managed to make a hole in it and got stuck.

Thinking on my feet I braced and before he could hit me with his sword I pulled with all my strength. The Chief's son lost his balance and leaned towards me, that proved to be too much for the horse and it toppled over crushing the nobles leg under him.

It was then that I heard a pained cry, I looked over and saw the bodyguard has hit Premisyls leg with his axe, blood soaking my friend's clothes.

I glared at the bodyguard that hastily turned when he heard a horse fall. Our eyes made contact and in them, we saw each other's bloodlust. Half a second later I heard a sound of metal piercing flesh and the bodyguard gasped for air, his mouth expelling red liquid. He fell over and when he hit the ground I could see an upright spear sticking out of his upper back.

Behind the fallen bodyguard I could see a grin plastered on Premisyls face.

"Serves the bastard right for turning his back on me".

At that moment we both relaxed a bit. The enemy fled and our companions were pursuing them, the enemy's commander has also perished so they are unlikely to rally, with this small victory our forces are free to exert more pressure on the enemy flank.

*cough*

We both turned, neither of us the source of that sound.

It was the Chief's son gasping for air under his fallen horse.

"He is still alive looks like I have to finish the job".

"Yar wait, you should capture him, he is worth more alive than dead, if you present him to the Knez he will reward you".

"What do you mean "you", we captured him you even got wounded and who knows how long that is gonna take to heal".

"It was all because of your idea and your balls of steel, and tis but a scratch, I bet Ratomir has some nachzehrer blood or at least some herbs that won't even leave a scar after a week or two".

"Fine, but I will at least share half of the rewards with you and people we convinced to help ,plus a few rounds of strongest alcohol we can find".

"Hehe I am more than fine with that!"

When i went to present my captive I got rewarded some silver ducats and my beloved armour. I was also made a squad commander.I picked a dozen men, most of them my helpers and of course Premisyl. With the portion of the reward, I did buy the strongest alcohol around. The night ended with my new squad sleeping in my cramped tent because no one was able to walk to their own! We proved formidable fighters in the second battle and I was promoted to lead a 100 men!

My men were hurriedly getting ready to depart, some were praying, some were sharpening their weapons and fastening their armor and a few were already ready to move.

As I met with my friend again a rider approached us.

When he got near us he started shouting.

"Are you Yarosh the Commander!"

I shouted back.

"Yes i am!"

He rode next to us and began speaking.

"Order your men to the rally point and come with me, Vlastislav has summoned you and you must come urgently, bring your weapons, he is waiting for you".