In a room filled with high-ranking military officials and men with other functions the king sits down and gestures for them to start. One of the officials stands up, bows and starts talking, pointing to a large map that hangs across from the king on the other end of the long table. It's a map of Estravar.
"The main force has been advancing without any major issues these past two days. The sub armies have successfully encircled Ambervale and Caelvorn, putting them under siege. Ambervale is expected to fall tomorrow but there are concerns regarding Caelvorn."
The man looked around the room. All eyes were on him. He glanced at the king to see if he had permission to continue. When the king gestured with his hand he turned back to the map.
"The enemy forces on the border were quickly overwhelmed, causing them to retreat. The main force split them in half and the river Vale running in between Ambervale and Caelvorn makes a quick crossing impossible. It seems most of the forces went to Caelvorn, knowing that Vale makes the north of the country a death trap. The concern is that enemy forces will break the siege on Caelvorn and possibly attack the main force from behind, which is advancing on the east side of the river in order to have a defendable position in the case of an attack from the west. Advancing on the west side would make them have to cross the river in order to retreat."
The king looked at the map for a moment before he spoke.
"The main force will keep advancing until it reaches the Shalen. Give our soldier the ability to use any means necessary to win. Caelvorn is not crucial for our victory. If the siege is to be broken, retreating behind the Vale is an order unless our soldiers are able to defend a position closer to the city."
One of the officials stood up and bowed, silently asking for permission to speak. Once the king nodded, he began.
"We will create plans around your commands as soon as possible."
The king smiled. "And tell me, why are we struggling against soldiers that have never held a musket in their hands?"
"They have swords, bows and catapults. Our soldiers aren't equipped with armour so when clearing buildings they can face…unpleasant surprises and arrows raining down from windows. There have already been cases of cannons being used to reduce the buildings they hide in to rubble."
The king waits for a moment before nodding. "You may continue."
"Well, there have been a few other problems…"
The man's voice faded into the background as the king thought for a moment.
Good, this man knows what's going on and is definitely competent. Any other answer to my question would have to lead to slight changes.
The king turned his attention back to the man speaking. "The army sent to conquer the south has stopped, reporting they have been stopped by…"
The man nervously looks around the room before his gaze landed back onto the king. The silence was deafening, broken by the man's sigh before he spoke.
"They have been stopped by magic, as the generals report. This…clear and obvious attempt to disobey orders must be punished, your highness!"
The man said. The room went quiet again and the man shifted in place, unsure if he overstepped. Then the king raised his hand.
"There is no need. What about the other kingdoms? What are their responses?"
"There aren't any."
One of the men quickly answered. The king held back a smile. He looked at one of the men who was sitting quietly.
"Hand out the letters to the magic show all over the capital. I want people to be waiting near the stage tonight. Is the church repurposed so we can start worshipping our beautiful lord of blood and flesh? We don't want our people to bow to some…fake god."
The man nodded and picked up a piece of paper from the table in front of him. "We could skip final checks and open tomorrow morning." The man suggested.
"Do it." The king said and stood up, everyone in the room did the same. "I shall take my leave now." Everyone bowed and the king left the room.
The king closed the door behind him and the two guards who were standing by started following him. He was unable to hide the grin that came to his face.
Currently in a small village in the kingdom of Mordavel:
Five armoured knights riding on horses entered the village. All of the buildings made from wood were destroyed and the ones made from stone had damage mainly on their roofs. The captain of the group stopped his horse in the middle of the village and looked around.
What in the world could've caused this?
After a few more moments he ordered his men to start searching for survivors. Except for the captain, they all stepped down from their horses and the men spread out, covering the entire village. They checked the ruins of the wooden houses.
One of the men, Castellari, walked around a fallen house and found a small opening where he could go deeper. He removed some of his armour and placed it on a single pile. He got down on all fours and crawled in.
Because it was daytime and they weren't informed about the exact state of the village, they didn't have any lanterns with them.
"Don't get too scared in there!" Another man joked. He happened to be walking past the same house.
Castellari stopped for a moment, sighed and shook his head. "Idiot." He says to himself. What the man found was a little bit of blood on the wood around him, nevertheless he kept going deeper. He couldn't see too well, relying on the sunlight going through the gaps.
After thirty minutes of searching the captain calls everyone back to him. Three men came back. "Have you found anything?" The captain asked, looking down on his men from his horse. He expected Castellari to return in a few moments. The only answer is that they found blood but no bodies. After a moment they all noticed that Castellari hadn't returned.
"Where is Castellari?"
The captain asked.
"I think I was the last one to see him. I'll go check on the house he went to investigate."
The man that made fun of Castellari when he crawled into the collapsed house spoke up. The captain allowed him to go investigate, turning back to the other two men. After a quick jog he arrived at the fallen house, seeing that the pile of wood was more spread out from one side and Castellari's armour was all over the place.
"What in the world? It looks like the wood from the top fell down."
The hole through which Castellari crawled in was gone.
"Continue the investigation. I'll replace Castellari." The captain said to his men before the three of them dispersed.
The captain then rode his horse to the last known location of Castellari, expecting to find the man he sent out to look for him. What he found was…nothing.
Where did they go? This is suspicious.
The sun faded as a large, grey cloud took up the sky. Thunder echoed in the distance. The captain yelled out to the other two men, but when he rode back to the centre of the village, he was alone. No one had answered his call. Even the horses were gone, only blood remained where they stood. He turned the horse around and began riding out of the village as fast as possible, sweat dripping down his face and heart pounding. It started raining.
Then it pounced. A creature hid in the ruins and set up an ambush. It jumped out and bit down, swallowing the captain whole. The horse screamed in pain and trashed around in its mouth before being killed by a hard slam into the ground.
The creature itself had a strong jaw filled with teeth made to crush bone. It resembled a crocodile but with a shorter skull, longer limbs for running and armoured scales all over its body, even the stomach. On all fours, it was double the height of an average human.
It had killed all five men and was calmly eating the horse now. It originally hid in the collapsed house that Castellari went to explore. Of course, it is unknown how nobody was able to hear it when it climbed out or when it killed the horses.