General Han Cunningham looked at the group of 10 soldiers from the Fifth Royal Guard brigade. “That is all. We leave in 10 minutes.”

The soldiers got up from their chairs and left the room, leaving Han alone. He quickly left the room and went to his quarters. They weren’t as big as the ones he’d had during the first war, but they were nice enough. Three rooms, a dining room, living room, and bedchambers all fairly sized. Han went to his bedchambers.

Laying on pegs in the wall lay Han’s sword, Striker, in its sheath. Striker had been Han’s sword since he’d joined the military and he could never have asked for a more trustworthy weapon. Han lifted the sheath from the pegs and hung it on his belt. With that settled, Han turned to leave, and he looked to the small yellowed drawing on the small dresser next to his bed. It was of two rugged-looking young men, grinning as they showed off the two Runes on their hands. One man had a great shield on his hand; the other man had a jagged sword.

Han smiled sadly. What young, naïve fools they’d been, those men. Such carefree fools.

He left the room.

Han rode fast as he and the soldiers rode past the Great Gate of L’Renouille. Muro was a good 20 miles from the capital, and Edorian had already had two days. Han wondered what exactly Edorian was up too. When Han had just become General, Edorian was already a grizzled veteran. He had earned the name ‘The Bearclaw’ because of his ruthlessness and savagery on the battlefield, but he was not just brawn. No, Edorian had intelligence, and he must have known that leaving suddenly like this on the night of a murder of a man he’d openly criticized in front of the King himself wouldn’t go unnoticed. Edorian must have been planning something, but what?

Han found it amusing that Edorian had openly accused Ian of being a traitor to the crown, and now he’d killed a man, and fled into the night. So Edorian was a hypocrite.

Must’ve been all those battles he’d been in. Han hadn’t actually seen much action in ages, being commander of the Royal Guard which stationed mostly as one of L’Renouille’s last defences, but it would seem that war had once again reared it’s ugly head. No telling how long it would be before Han was facing battle again.

The soldiers continued to ride.

It was dark when Han and his troops got to Muro. It was a small village, more like a crossroads with houses on either end. There were fields and barns set back from the road, beyond the houses, and a General store lay closed

At the far end of the village, next to the Church laid Lord Edorian’s Mansion. Much larger then the one to three roomed houses of Muro, Edorian’s mansion had at least 10. He had some guards posted at the gate, and all but one light was on in the house. Han rode up to the front gate and the guards barred the way with their spears.

Han regarded them coldly. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Yes SIR!” One of the guards replied. “General Han Cunningham of the 5th Royal Brigade SIR!”

“Let me and my soldiers pass, guardsmen.”

“I am under strict orders from Lord Edorian not to let anyone past SIR!”

“Very well. You are under arrest for hindering a Royal Investigation.”

The guard stiffened. “Yes SIR!”

Two soldiers got off their horses and came towards the guardsmen. They reached the guards when suddenly; the guards attacked Han’s men unawares. One of the guardsmen successfully stabbed the soldiers through the stomach. He made a gurgling noise and dropped.

Han was called down a Thunder Runner that hit both the guards. They dropped instantly.

“They aren’t dead.” Han reassured his group. “At most they got a bad shock, but the spell isn’t tough enough to kill.”

“What about Davids, sir?” Asked one of the soldiers.

“We have to leave him here.” Han replied. “There’s nothing we can do for him.”

The soldiers rode on through the gate to the door. They dispatched two more guards, dismounted and went in the mansion.

They passed through several rooms, dispatching about 12 more guards until they came to Lord Edorian’s quarters. Han signalled for his guards to be quiet then bellowed.

“Tenek! I know you’re in there! We’ve gotten all your guards, and you have no-“

There was a blast as the door blew apart. The soldiers shielded themselves from the debris, wood clinking off their armour.

A giant blue-skinned, red armoured creature lumbered through the door, Lord Edorian coming behind it.

“Do you like it?” He asked. “It’s called a Colossus. Very powerful Earth based creature. The Sorceress Windy first brought them into this world during the last days of the Scarlet Moon Empire, and now they live in the wild, attacking whatever they find.”

Han dodged around one of the Colossus’ giant fists as they slammed into the wall. “Earth based? Well all I have is a Thunder Rune, but it should do the trick.”

Han cast a Thor Shot on the Colossus. A great blast of Lightning shot through the Colossus, and it let out an unearthly wail.

The soldiers took the opportunity to attack, piling on the monstrosity. But the Colossus hit the ground and a tremor broke through the wooden floor, and hit several soldiers grouped together, they were thrown off their feet, and large uplifted spikes of wood uplifted by the tremor caused by the Colossus stabbed two soldiers, one in the arm, the other in the chest.

Han threw his last Thor Shot at the Colossus and the thing howled. Something on it’s head shattered and the Colossus slumped forward, on to the floor. “No!” Edorian cried. “The Black Rune!”

“Men, take him!” Han cried.

The remaining soldiers charged past the Colossus and made a grab for Edorian. Edorian whipped out his sword and cut down three soldiers. The others stopped and bared their weapons.

“No! You don’t understand! I’m doing this for Highland!”

“How so?”

“You know McGreg was a traitor! He turned over to Jowston during the war! We couldn’t trust him as far as we could throw him! But I knew you narrow-minded fools would put your faith in him! I did what I did for the safety of Highland!”

“No. What you did was Murder a Highlander. That is unacceptable. You will return to L’Renouille to face punishment for your crime.”

“You fools!” Edorian cried. “I am a Hero!”

“Idiot.” Han muttered. “You-“

There was a roar from behind Han. He spun around to see the Colossus getting back up. It bent low and turned towards the group, it’s beady black eyes focused on Edorian.

“You slave me.” It growled. “You pay with final breath!”

The Colossus charged forward, soldiers leaping out of it’s way. Edorian screamed and grabbed his sword. He swung in just as the Colossus as the thing swung its fist down.

There was a sickening crack as most of the bones in Edorian were broken as the fist collided. Edorian fell back on the ground and groaned.

Then the Colossus’ heart gave out from the grievous wounds it had received. It fell forward, onto Edorian, snuffing his life out.

Han stood in front of the grave they’d made for Ian McGreg. He’d been buried while Han was away trying to arrest Edorian.

“Pleasant dreams, Ian old friend.” Han said, smiling. “You are avenged.”