Chapter 443 - Unpleasant Surprise.

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Zaos watched the main army during the whole day and for a while as they set their camp at night. Now more than ever, they were wary of a new attack, so Drannor decided to put some heavy infantrymen in the outer layers of their camp. Attacking still was an option, but Zaos doubted that things would go so smoothly. The number of infantrymen in all directions was high, so any fight that breaks out will receive the help of other groups before the first skirmish even ends... 

In the end, Zaos decided to rest for a while and then check things at midnight. Even if he doesn't do anything, those soldiers will grow tired after marching during the day and keep looking out during the whole night. Unless they stop at some point to rest, they will self-destruct.

Much to Zaos' surprise, nothing changed at midnight. He stayed awake for another hour but then again, nothing changed. Drannor had become quite the gambler… or was he really that confident that his army could take down the mercenaries while they were exhausted. Even if they count the magic items that they obtained and developed over the years, they still couldn't compare to siege weapons, which was the specialty of the mercenaries for hundreds of years. Even if they use mages to destroy those, the battle wouldn't be easy...

Zaos decided to spend the rest of the night sleeping and recover from the last few days. The next day, the main army only began to move several hours after sunrise. Zaos confirmed that they slept in turns during those early morning hours.

"I didn't see them receiving any message from lookouts… not even ravens reached the main camp," Zaos said. "How is Drannor moving in a straight line like that? Isn't he afraid of ambushes?"

Something felt weird… When invading another nation, one needs a lot of intel before the battle to choose the best moment to strike and when to advance. Without lookouts, Drannor could only rely on spies and deserters. Still, Zaos doubted that he would have infiltrated enough people on the ranks of the mercenaries in the last few months. Did he plan that ahead and do that in the last few years? Maybe he succeeded in making some spies join Perkis army. He was quite dumb, after all. However, Elkim and Helen would at least notice any attempts of that…

"Something is not right…" Zaos muttered.

Once some doubts appeared in Zaos' head, he failed in making those go away. Drannor's plans had been pretty good, so why would he do something so reckless like advancing toward the enemies' army without proper information about the path ahead? Zaos tried to find some valid explanations, but nothing came to mind. In the end, he decided to check Elkim's town and leave Drannor's army behind; they will be waiting for more attacks for the next few days, so their advance will be slow…

After riding for a full day, Zaos confirmed that his instincts were right. Something was very wrong… he didn't find any signs of Elkim, Perkis, or Helen's army anywhere. After the last few days, Zaos knew that he shouldn't push Moody to work too hard, but he didn't have any other choice and made his dash toward Elkim's town. Around midnight of that day, he finally reached his destination, only to find a fortified town that was completely closed. Zaos could see hundreds of men guarding the walls… Elkim wasn't stupid enough to wait for a siege when his siege weapons would give him some edge on the battlefield. So, something smelled really bad…

"... Did they betray me?" Zaos asked with his eyes wide open. "We didn't trust each other, but they should have known that this war would take a heavy toll on their country… unless…"

Zaos recalled something… if he had recognized Elkim as Elmar's brother, why wouldn't Drannor realize the same? He should have a high and very proficient intelligence network. Even if the mercenaries had taken the lives of many of his friends in the past, the current Drannor would forget about that if he could recover his daughter and deal with Zaos.

"Shit!" Zaos screamed so loudly that Moody jumped, scared.

How come Zaos didn't realize that something was wrong sooner? While Zaos and Moody traveled back home, he racked his brain trying to find signs that would have revealed that the whole war was just an excuse to move him away from Milliendra. Elkim, Perkis, and Helen probably attacked his base during that week after Zaos talked with them. Drannor probably offered them some high-reward, like half of the Ashiris kingdom. As for Elkim, avenging his brother would be more than enough for him to cooperate. Everything else would be just a bonus.

Zaos couldn't find anything in his memory that would make their behavior look suspicious… but that didn't matter anymore. He had to head home as soon as possible and then help Aleni protect Milliendra.

Zaos hurried to the secret passageways the assassins used. Still, despite the fact that he would gain some time by using them, Zaos had to stop to rest since Moody was on his limit. The magic items that Zaos made and the power of his healing were no longer making any effect after two days of nonstop travels. 

Zaos was also pretty tired, but the only thing that made him stop to rest was the fact that Moody was about to collapse. In the end, he said sorry for his long-time partner and then stopped to sleep for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, while sleeping, he only had nightmares where his imagination showed him his base completely ravaged, and with hundreds of corpses around, Aleni was one of them, but Milliendra was nowhere to be seen.

When Zaos woke up, he couldn't sit still and keep his head cool. The nightmare was bothering him while he was even awake. Zaos considered leaving Moody behind to recover and then rent some horses in the towns along the way, but he doubted that it would help. Moody was way better than horses for rent, not to mention, there was a chance that those three left some traps in the towns along the way to stop Zaos.

In the end, the trip that was supposed to last nine days only lasted four, but then Zaos confirmed his fears… his main base had been destroyed, and many people had been killed.

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