The mood was somber after the battle. We had achieved a decisive victory for sure but no one felt like celebrating. For one because our enemy had only been a hastily raised militia without much training. Too many of them were entirely too young as well, youths that had been armed only recently, after their parents departure with the actual army. This was a necessary victory, one we had to achieve but not one we would take pride in. On the other hand our losses might have been light but they were not zero. Every man, every women, even every trained animal lost was one we wouldn't be able to replace easily. I had to be careful or I might just win every battle and yet loose the war in the end.

Torching the forest of the elves was another necessity I wasn't proud of. Only the thought that not too long ago some of them would have done the same to my home had we not defended it tooth and nail allowed me to follow through on my declaration. In the end we gave the released captives more than just one hour to return to their homes and to evacuate whoever remained there. I could only hope that they would use the time granted to them wisely. I would not grant them a second or rather third chance. We set fire to the forest as night fell in the end, after digging a decent sized trench around our encampment. Setting the forest ablaze was no easy task either, as the trees this side of the mountains were much more lush than those at home. In the end pitch, tar, burning arrows and fire spells proved too much for the forest.

Tomorrow we would fill in most of the moat again. Our dead enemies were already resting within it after all. We dug some proper graves as well for our own dead. With everything else that was going on we didn't really have time to gather wood for pyres after all. Still we laid them to rest best we could. Thankfully we didn't have to say our farewells to a whole lot of comrades. Now a number of small, new hills dotted the landscape to the north of the battlefield. I was a little more worried about the wounded. I pondered sending them back but after talking about it with my officers I decided against it. Most would be back on their feet within a few days. Sending them back would not benefit them or the army as a whole. My cavalry would be pretty much out of commission for that time though, as the lancers were the ones who suffered the most injuries.

Tora'pheer had let me know that they would not loose any more mounts but the injured ibex would need some rest though to make sure none of their injuries would cause lasting damage. Even that fast recovery was only possible because we had brought more than enough medicinal herbs that using them for the mounts was an option that would not cripple us in the future. Hopefully Kaele would arrive soon with the first supply caravan. With her spells she could speed up their recovery even further. The same was true for my siege detail. We would need them to take on the next target on our way. Well, we would probably need them. We would be facing human built fortifications most likely after all, not ones built by trolls. At worst they would be dwarf built ones. Those were pretty decent as well but still not on the same level as troll construction projects.

There was a good chance that all we would need, to take the human fortifications, were ladders. That would mean that we would have to directly assault their walls though. That in turn would result in casualties we could avoid by bombarding them first. The trolls and giants of the Wall Breakers could launch stones larger than my head with their slings. And they were able to launch them at distances that would put any bow or crossbow to shame. It was quite impressive. Their accuracy was quite terrifying as well. I was quite glad that they were fighting for me. I wouldn't have wanted to face them on a battlefield of any kind. A few hits should be enough to knock most human stone walls down. They would turn wooden palisades into kindling as well.

I was pretty confident that a few salvos were all it would take to make the humans surrender. Sure, at first they would be willing to make an attempt at weathering our fury, hiding behind their walls. But once those started crumbling without them even having so much as a chance to fight back they would probably reconsider. If I offered them good terms before showing them what was in store should they decline they should surrender before long. I really hoped they wouldn't be stubborn. I very much intended to put Gothol'gul to the torch after all. I just hoped that I wouldn't have to burden my conscience by doing it while there were still people within its walls, or what remained of them anyway.

I clenched my mouth shut, my dark thoughts probably showing on my face clear enough, as I watched the forest burn. It had taken some effort to actually get that blaze started but it certainly wouldn't go out anytime soon. I could feel the heat all the way here, more than a hundred paces away. It spread away from us, southward. It didn't move very fast though. Apparently the old, massive trees took some time to catch on fire but once they burned they burned like nothing I had seen before. A times the flames seemed sky high. Thankfully the wind didn't carry the smoke in our direction. Well, obviously. If that were the case the wind would not have driven the flames southward either and we would have entirely different problems.

Once the sun rose in the morning it would be pretty obvious to anyone living within fifty leagues that something was very wrong. There simply would be no way to miss the smoke column above this fire. Just as well. The more fear I put in my enemies hearts the less of their blood I would have to spill in the days to come. Someone stepped up to me on the low earthen wall consisting of the dirt we had dug out to create the moat. It wasn't one of the guards. Most of those were positioned to face away from the burning forest. It was Tora'pheer who took up a position besides me to look at the blaze as well. Her lips formed a grim smile. Two fingers on her weapon hand were splinted with a straight piece of wood and some bandages. I raised an eyebrow.

She noticed my look and her grim smile changed into an apologetic grin. “My lance caught on something, as we smashed into the poor pointy eared bastards. It got knocked right out of my hand. I should have let it go right away instead of trying to hold onto it.” She shrugged, grinning even wider. “Well, with the way my hand is all wrapped up now I sure won't be repeating that mistake anytime soon. But don't you worry, I'm fit to fight.” Well, that was a relief. She certainly wouldn't be gripping a lance too tight with that hand though. Broken fingers would take more than just a few days to heal without dedicated spells to speed the process up. As long as she could hold a lance at all she was good though. She probably could wield her sidearm with her off hand as well.

While I was still pondering these ideas she waited for one of the guards to pass us by. Then she nodded in the direction of the blaze though. “You are sending them some mixed signals there. Spare the outlying human farms. Massacre the militia opposing us. Set some demanding terms for the future and torch their home to let them know what's coming their way if they don't comply. Are you sure you want to offer them a chance to get out of this mess with a bloodied nose?”

I didn't have to answer myself. Arngard who stepped up to join us spoke up instead. “We can't kill everyone on this side of the mountains, or rather, we don't have the time to spare for a bloody mess like that.” I nodded and prompted him to carry on. “And we don't want those we don't kill to stab us in the back. By releasing the smugglers and sparing their families we offer them a powerful incentive to not only cause no trouble but to side with us, at least as long as their covert activities don't come to the attention of their nominal lords.” He shrugged. “That should work well enough as long as we don't plan to hang around too long. But that is not the plan anyway. Right?”

I nodded and took a step down from our makeshift ramparts. It probably wasn't smart to expose most of our leadership like that for any length of time. Not that I expected an immediate attack. Tortho and his rangers were still out there skulking about in the night after all. Anyone who wanted a shot at me or the other officers would have to get past him first. “I'm not quite so sure about the elves. The head hunters are too much part of their society. I'm afraid, we probably will have to torch more of their groves.” That earned me a round of solemn nods. I decided to move on to another topic. “What about the loot from the battlefield?”

My captain of the cavalry decided to answer this one. “About two chests full of iron. Arrow- and spearheads mostly and a veritable assortment of knifes. Hardly anything else. There armor was mostly leather. Not even good leather at that.” She paused and looked around to make sure no one was listening in on us. “The arrowheads aren't in the books yet. I suspect we might use them, or at least part of them for new arrows while we are out here in enemy territory.”

“Just as well.” Arngard didn't seem too troubled about the issue. “We have to stay alive first to worry about shares anyway. Loot is no fun if you are too dead to spend any of it.”

That elicited a grin both from Tora'pheer and me. “My thoughts exactly.” We headed towards the center of the makeshift camp. There were no fires here. There was no need for them either. The forest fire provided more than enough illumination and we only ate cold food anyway. There were precious few tents as well. Those were mostly reserved for the injured. Anyone else slept out in the open, wrapped in their cloaks and on a simple blanket. I turned to face my most trusted captains once more as I reached the spot where my backpack was waiting for me. “We'll fill in the moat in the morning. I want the dead covered in more than a little chalk and a smattering of earth. We'll see about getting moving again around noon. Depending on the circumstances. Yes?”

“Aye!” They answered in unison before departing to their own sleeping spots.