Kelvin lowered his head for a moment, breathing unevenly as the firelight danced across his face. Blood stains still covered parts of his clothing despite the fresh bandages wrapped around his shoulder. The grief in his eyes had not faded since the battle on the forest road, but something else had begun rising beneath it now.
Hope, dangerous hope. He slowly pushed himself to his feet before Newton. "Thank you," he breathed.
Newton sat near the fire sharpening his sword carefully. The steady scrape of steel against stone continued for a few seconds before he finally raised his eyes toward Kelvin. "Do not thank me yet," he said calmly. The sound of the sharpening stopped. "This is a battle we must win." His gaze hardened slightly. "Or we die."
The weight behind the words settled heavily across the camp.
Around them, monastery knights moved through the darkness preparing weapons and supplies for the coming journey. Horses rested nearby while waves crashed softly against the distant shoreline below the cliffs.
Kelvin nodded slowly. "I still have loyal men inside Green City."
Newton motioned for him to continue. "My uncle imprisoned many of them after murdering my father," Kelvin said bitterly. "The others follow him because they fear him."
Tywin crossed his arms where he stood nearby. "Fear keeps kingdoms standing longer than loyalty."
Kelvin's jaw tightened. "Not forever."
Newton leaned slightly forward. "How many loyal men remain inside the castle?" "Roughly two hundred."
Several knights nearby exchanged looks immediately.
Newton's expression barely changed, though his fingers slowed slightly against the sharpening stone. "That will not be enough."
Kelvin frowned. "Some soldiers inside the castle still support me."
"Then why are they not imprisoned too?"
Kelvin hesitated briefly. "They are pretending to obey my uncle until they find an opportunity."
Newton finally set the sharpening stone aside. "That makes them cowards." The words landed coldly.
Kelvin looked down.
"We cannot ride into battle depending on frightened men to suddenly discover courage."
Silence settled around the fire. No one argued with him.
Newton stared into the flames quietly, his thoughts already moving ahead toward the castle waiting across the sea. A thousand men at minimum. Strong walls. Defensive towers. Narrow gates. If they failed to break the city quickly, the monastery knights could become trapped deep inside hostile territory with no reinforcements.
And if word reached the monastery before they returned. He pushed the thought away immediately.
Tywin studied him from across the fire. "You already have a plan."
Newton looked up slowly. Then he nodded once. "Describe the castle."
Kelvin immediately crouched near the ground and grabbed a stick. He began drawing rough lines across the dirt beneath the firelight.
"The outer walls surround the city entirely," he explained. "The castle itself sits near the center overlooking the harbor."
He marked several points carefully. "The prison chambers are beneath the western tower."
Newton lowered himself beside him. "Where are the largest guard posts?"
"North and east walls mostly," Kelvin answered quickly. "My uncle fears attacks from neighboring lords more than attacks from the sea."
Tywin narrowed his eyes. "And the gates?" "Heavily guarded."
Newton remained silent. Kelvin continued drawing until finally he marked a narrow curved line beneath part of the castle wall. "There is another entrance."
Every eye shifted toward the mark. Kelvin lowered his voice instinctively despite the empty shore around them.
"A tunnel."
Newton's eyes sharpened immediately. "My grandfather built it decades ago during the old wars. It passes beneath part of the city and opens behind the western cliffs."
Tywin crouched closer. "Who knows about it?"
"Only my family."
Newton stared at the dirt map quietly. Then slowly, the shape of the battle began forming inside his mind. He pointed toward the front gate.
"Tywin." The older knight looked up immediately. "You will lead the brothers through the front."
Tywin nodded once without hesitation.
Newton moved his finger toward the western side of the drawing. "I will enter through the tunnel."
Kelvin looked at him quickly. Newton continued. "If I can reach the prison chambers and free your loyal men, we can strike the castle from inside while Tywin attacks from outside."
Tywin's eyes narrowed slightly as he followed the plan. "Their army will be trapped between both forces," he muttered.
Newton nodded.
"That is the only way this works."
Silence followed.
The fire cracked softly between them. Then Newton added quietly: "If I fail, we die." No one spoke after that. Because every man there knew he was right.
A direct siege against Green City would destroy them eventually. They did not have the numbers to surround the castle for long. They needed speed. Chaos. Fear.
Tywin finally stood upright. "Then we move before dawn."
Preparations began immediately afterward. The dead soldiers from the earlier battle were stripped of their cloaks and armor. Newton personally took one of the green robes worn by Muddock's men and studied it beneath the firelight.
Green City colors, good enough.
Kelvin disappeared into nearby villages alongside several monastery knights. By midnight they returned with additional warriors, rough men carrying axes and hunting spears.
Mercenaries.
Villagers desperate for gold. Some looked eager for battle. Others looked terrified already.
Kelvin climbed off his horse and approached Newton again. "One hundred men."
Newton glanced across them carefully. Not disciplined soldiers. But numbers still mattered. "They fight for coins?" Newton asked.
Kelvin nodded. "They fight for survival," Tywin corrected quietly after studying the men.
Newton did not argue. The sea journey began before sunrise. Three ships cut across the dark waters beneath heavy clouds while freezing wind lashed against the sails. The monastery knights remained mostly silent during the voyage. Some sharpened blades. Others prayed quietly to Odin and Freya beneath their breath.
Newton stood near the front of the ship staring toward the endless gray horizon. The cold air struck hard against his face. Yet his thoughts remained elsewhere.
Snowland, his father. He should have returned days ago.
Newton exhaled slowly. The memory of his father's warning echoed clearly inside his mind. "Never allow anyone to see your hair."
His fingers tightened slightly. Quickly, he tore part of the green robe and wrapped it firmly around his shaved head beneath the hood.
"This battle will be swift," he told himself quietly. "No one will notice."
Still, unease remained inside him. The ships sailed for two days beneath rough skies and cold rain.
By the third night, Green City finally appeared in the distance. Massive walls rose above the shoreline like black stone cliffs against the moonlight. Fires burned along the towers overlooking the harbor while dozens of ships rested beneath the city docks.
Kelvin stared toward his home silently. Hatred filled his face now.
Newton stepped beside him. "Once we begin," he said quietly, "there is no turning back."
Kelvin nodded slowly. "I know."
The ships stopped far enough from shore to avoid immediate detection. Small boats were lowered quietly into the water.
Newton changed into the stolen green robes while the others prepared weapons behind him. The fabric smelled faintly of blood and sweat from its former owner.
Tywin approached him. "You are certain about this?"
Newton secured the hood over his head carefully. "No."
Tywin almost smiled faintly at the honesty. Then Newton climbed into the boat. The waves rocked violently beneath them as they approached the dark shoreline. Once they reached land, Newton stepped out first into freezing water before climbing onto the rocks.
He turned once toward Tywin. "Wait for the trumpet."
Tywin nodded. Then Newton disappeared into the forest. The trees swallowed him quickly beneath the darkness.
He moved carefully between them, keeping low whenever torchlights appeared near the roads. Green City guards patrolled the outer areas in pairs, though the stormy night made visibility poor.
Good.
Newton pulled the hood lower over his face and continued forward. Soon the city walls towered ahead of him.
Huge, and ancient.
The western cliffs beneath them crashed endlessly against the sea.
Newton slowed his breathing and adjusted his posture slightly before stepping from the forest path openly now, moving like another returning soldier.
A guard standing near the western patrol route noticed him immediately. "You there!"
Newton kept walking steadily. The guard frowned. "There should only be two men assigned here tonight." He glanced toward another soldier nearby. "Did the Warden assign another patrol?"
Newton did not answer. He kept his movements calm, and controlled.
The second guard squinted through the darkness.
Before either man could step closer, Newton vanished around the stone pathway leading beneath the walls.
The guards exchanged confused looks. "Where did he go?"
But Newton was already gone. He slipped silently through the shadows along the western structures until finally he reached the concealed tunnel entrance hidden beneath thick vines and broken stone.
Kelvin had spoken true. Newton pulled the entrance open slowly and disappeared inside.
At that exact moment, far across the shoreline, a trumpet blast suddenly shattered the night. The sound echoed violently across the harbor.
The guards atop the walls jerked toward the sea instantly. "Approaching army!"
Shouts erupted across Green City. Torches flared alive along the battlements. Soldiers rushed toward defensive positions as alarm bells rang through the streets. One rider mounted his horse immediately and sprinted toward the castle.
Mud splashed beneath the horse's hooves as he crossed the inner roads and burst through the castle gates.
He leaped from the saddle and hurried into the throne hall before dropping to one knee. "My lord!"
Muddock looked up sharply from the war table. "What is it?"
"An army approaches the city."
Muddock stood immediately. "Whose army?" The messenger swallowed. "Some carry no banner." He hesitated briefly. "The others carry the banners of the monastery."
The room fell silent.
Muddock's expression darkened slowly. "The divine army?" Confusion flickered across his face before irritation replaced it. "What business does the monastery have interfering in the politics of the Seven Kingdoms?"
He stretched out his arms sharply. Servants and guards rushed forward carrying pieces of his war armor. Steel plates locked over his body one after another while another servant fastened a heavy fur cloak around his shoulders.
A sword was finally placed into his hand. Muddock gripped it tightly. Then he turned and strode from the throne room.
Outside, the castle had already descended into chaos. Soldiers mounted horses while horns echoed across the city walls. Gates creaked open heavily as Muddock rode forward at the head of eight hundred armored men.
The cold wind howled across the open field outside Green City. There, beneath monastery banners and torchlight, waited Tywin and the divine army.
Kelvin sat mounted near the front beside him. The moment Muddock saw him, laughter burst from his mouth. "So the monastery has brought the dwarf home."
Tywin remained calm atop his horse. "Yes." His voice carried clearly across the field. "But not only home."
Tywin slowly pointed toward Green City behind Muddock. "We have also come to return what belongs to him."
Several soldiers shifted uneasily behind Muddock. But the Warden only laughed harder. "The Green Throne is no place for a dwarf."
His words echoed across the battlefield. "The people would never follow him." Kelvin's face tightened, though he remained silent. Tywin's expression never changed. "Then let the people decide."
Muddock's laughter faded. "Careful, Knight," he warned coldly. "The monastery has survived centuries because it stays away from the politics of kingdoms."
Tywin's eyes hardened slightly. "Lord Ezion stood among the monastery for many years. He fed and offer men to its cause. Today we are here to return the favour."
The wind whipped through the field between them. "We swore to protect the innocent."
Muddock exhaled sharply. "Then you will die beside him." He drew his sword violently. Immediately the soldiers behind him followed. Hundreds of blades flashed beneath the moonlight.
The monastery knights answered instantly. Steel rang across the field. "Shield wall!" Tywin roared.
The divine army moved as one. Shields slammed together, spears lowered.
Then suddenly Kelvin pushed his horse forward beyond the line. Every eye turned toward him. The cold wind tugged against his cloak as he faced the Green City soldiers directly. "You all know me," he shouted. His voice carried farther than anyone expected. "You know who murdered my father!"
Silence spread across the battlefield.
"You know who the rightful heir to Green City is!"
Muddock's jaw tightened.
Kelvin raised his voice louder. "Choose now!" He pointed toward Muddock. "Will you fight for the murderer who killed your lord?"
Then he struck his chest. "Or will you fight for the son of the last true Warden of Green City?"
No one moved, not immediately. The tension became unbearable. Even the horses seemed restless beneath it. Then Muddock burst into laughter again.
"You truly believe any sane man would abandon me for a crippled dwarf?" Mockery dripped from every word. "You overestimate yourself."
But before he could continue, movement suddenly broke from his own lines. One rider slowly guided his horse away from Muddock's side.
The battlefield froze. The rider crossed the space between both armies carefully before stopping beside Kelvin.
Muddock stared at him in disbelief. "You fool," he snarled. "You will die beside him."
But another horse moved, then another, and another.
Muddock's face darkened rapidly. More riders broke formation. Some looked terrified while crossing over. Others kept their eyes lowered entirely.
Within moments, nearly fifty soldiers had abandoned Muddock before the battle even began. And for the first time that night, fear entered the Warden's eyes. He thought he had secured their loyalty through brutality but he just discovered that he was wrong.