Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

"Enough Barafin! Take your men and begone already!" Gallick bellowed out with a flushed face.

"I will not! Neither I, nor any of my men will be going any where tonight." Barafin resolutely replied.

"What right do you have to do that in MY clan's territory, you damned motherless bastard?! Or do you intend to occupy the lands of my ancestors right under my nose!" Gallick barked back in accusation.

Sighing in complete exasperation, Barafin says in a tired voice "For the hundredth time Gallick, I have no interest in your lands. I only wish to stay here for only tonight. I have no ulterior motives."

"And for the hundredth time, I ask you which fool would simply allow a foreign army to encamp before the entrance of his city, when said army arrived with no prior warning or notice, all based on a hunch?!" Gallick argued back.

"The type who trusts his best friend and brother in law!" Barafin shot back with a sharp tone that cut through Gallick's anger and suspicion, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Stepping forward, Barrafin reached out his hand and roughly grabbed Gallick's arm, refocusing his attention on him again as he said "Please old friend, believe in me this one time, as you once did long ago. An air of ruin has been hanging ominously around us since we left the meeting with those northerners.

I have nothing to prove it to you with, and it sounds mad, I know this, but something is amiss, I'm sure of it." Barafin argued desperately, trying to reason with his age old friend.

Staring into Barafin's pleading eyes and listening to his sincere words, Gallick finally relented as his anger subsided, like a flooding river receding back into it's path after the end of a storm "Fine. Stay for tonight, but you better be gone by the time the birds sing their first song, and I don't want to hear that a single soldier of yours entered the valley."

"You have my word." Barafin replied smilingly.

"Keep your word, you've already given it too many times tonight." Gallick jokingly said, eliciting a hearty laugh from Barrafin, before he continued as he turned to leave "I'll have someone send you good wine and plenty of meet. Your men must be hungry after all this time."

"Thank you." He replied with gratitude and a small smile on his face, as he saw him turn around.

But then, like an ice blade, a voice as chilling as winter's frost; as sharp as it's lashing winds and as domineering as it's raging thunder cut through their private moment of serenity, saying disappointedly "That ended with far less bloodshed then I anticipated."

Snapping their heads around so quickly they hurt their necks, both patriarchs stared wide eyes at the man they met only earlier today with a shell shocked expression, as the presiding thought in their minds kept repeating endlessly 'How did he appear here without any of us noticing?!'

And soon enough, both their men began to notice the strange man as well, and though less intense, they began to mirror their leaders' shock and confusion.

Drawing his short sword and releasing his fourth rank aura, Barafin loudly bellowed out "Guards!"

Instantly a couple dozen men radiating the aura of a third rank martial artist leapt from among the ranks of the Dolgan Clan warriors and encircled Hamilcar on all sides, with their blades raised boldly towards him.

Smiling slightly at the scene unfolding before him, Hamilcar played along with their little play, like an old man amused by his grandsons' little game, and remained perfectly still.

Seeing his guards so effortlessly surrounding him, Barafin was given the illusion of safety, so he confidently asked "What are you doing here, Lord Hamilcar? And how did you manage to arrive here so silently?!"

Hamilcar, completely unbothered by the guards' gleaming blades, calmly responded "I have come to deliver my emperor's judgement upon the Olgan Clan, while also making use of their flesh and blood to hone my inexperienced soldiers' blades."

A pregnant silence instantly ingulfed the surrounding air, as everyone looked at him with the same eyes one would use to look at a raving fool, spouting utter nonsensical drivel. All of them thought this, except the two patriarchs, who despite only meeting him once and for such a short time, had already gained a miniscule understanding of Hamilcar's character.

So they knew full well that he was not a man who would waste time mincing meaningless words

Helpless against the sudden chill marathoning across his back, Gallick fought against his better judgement and refused to believe it, as he roared back in defiance "What rubbish are you blathering, you damned northerner!"

Raising his hand to stop his friend, Barafin looked coldly at Hamilcar and said coldly "I suggest you leave, lord Hamilcar. Or I won't be able to guarantee your safety. Or our continued alliance." He finished as all his guards took another step towards him simultaneously.

Chuckling at this, Hamilcar replied "I'm afraid the issues of my safety and our so called alliance are the last of your worries. As for the prospect of me leaving, I will certainly do so, after of course having achieved all my objectives."

Having heard enough, Gallick instantly drew his bow and nocked an arrow upon it, as the aura of a third rank danced menacingly upon the arrowhead, showcasing his exquisite control over his aura.

Fearing he might do something stupid, Barafin quickly rushed to hold Gallick's hand, but it was too late as he had already released it with a resounding boom, that mimicked the sound of cannon being fired.

The arrow tore through the air so swiftly, it was almost impossible to even glimpse let alone track with your eyes, and despite Barafin being too slow to halt it at this point, he could still tell that Gallick hadn't completely lost his rational and aimed his shot at Hamilcar's right shoulder, which shouldn't be able to kill him, especially if their earlier estimate of his power being at the fourth or fifth rank of martial arts.

At most Gallick's attack would slightly injure him, but nothing too serious.

But what happened next was beyond anyone's imagination, as suddenly Hamilcar raised his hand and casually swatted Gallick's arrow away, sending it's splintered remains of iron and wood across the faces of the guards, as if he was merely shewing away a pesky fly that had been bothering him with it's incessant buzzing.

Though most of the gathered men didn't accurately see what happened, they still understood it's implications as all of them raised their vigilance against this man tenfold. But the truly shocked were non other than Barafin and Gallick, who clearly understood the insurmountable difference of sheer power between them.

'When Komak came to recruit our two clans, we tried on numerous occasions to gleam some information from him about the state of their army and commanders, but he always dodged the question entirely, or never answered specifics, that's why we assumed that these northerners didn't have many powerful people and simply relied on numbers, but it seems we were wrong!

Could it be that Hamilcar is sixth or maybe even a seventh rank martial artist?!' Both of them thought at the same time.

But before they could complete sense of the situation, two men radiating the aura of a fifth rank martial artist, with aging grey hair appeared before them defensively. One was tall and thin with a bow in his hands and quiver full of arrows on his hip, while being encased in green scale armor.

The other was shorter but more muscular, and carried an exquisitely made silver short sword, while being incased in glistening red plate armor.

"Uncle?" Both Barafin and Gallick muttered confusedly.

"Lord Protectors!" While the other men dropped to their knees.

These men were obviously the two fifth rank martial artists of the two clans, that gave them their rank of medium grade clans. Yet both men remained perfectly still, completely disregarding their surroundings as they kept their eyes and weapons trained on the man before them.

"Stay back Patriarch. This man is too dangerous." The Dolgan Clan protector said gravely in their native tongue.

"Gallick, quickly translate what we are about to say." The Olgan Clan protector urged.

Hamilcar meanwhile silently watched the proceeding events calmly, while waiting patiently for his men to arrive.

Then Gallick stepped forward and said "The Lord Protector of the Olgan Clan, Taipan; and the Lord Protector of the Dolgan Clan, Canis; greet you Lord Hamilcar."

But contrary to their expectations, Hamilcar said nothing back and continued to stand in his position.

Gritting their teethe, they spoke again, and Gallick translated "You are undoubtably strong, but fighting would bring no benefit to either of us. So what do you say we each take a step back today."

Shaking his head Hamilcar replied "The fate of the Olgan Clan has already been decided, and nothing can change it. As for the Dolgan Clan, they may leave unscathed, as we have no intention of harming them. But if you choose to stay, then I don't mend making an example out of you as well."

Both Protectors were incensed by his words, but kept their rising tempers in check, knowing that they were not this man's opponent, but they still held on to the hope that they could still intimidate him using the fact that he was on their land and surrounded by their men.

Even though they knew it wouldn't be easy, and they would have to pay a hefty sacrifice, they still believed it was possible, that's why they wished to continue persuading him.

But it was at that moment that a string of light, emerged upon the crest of the hills behind Hamilcar. And very quickly this string doubled, and then it tripled, on and on it went until that former string became a golden tapestry of enchanting, yet dreadful light that covered the whole of the heights before them.

"Capture him!" Taipan roared, as he unleashed the string of his bow, while Canis and the guards rushed at him from all sides.

'We can't delay any longer. We must capture him prisoner, so that we can have a leverage against them! We must, no matter the cost!' They all thought, but it was all for naught, as soon as Hamilcar moved.