As battle was joined the stoutly built redhead Aelarothian officer shouted, “‘Get over hell damned louts, are you good for nothing”.

In an instant, the soldiers who had been lounging in the alley between Midwallow’s town hall and the warehouse sprung into action, sprinting towards the frightened shouts of their commander. The fighting was tough and even for the first few seconds before they got into the fray. The four soldiers who had been guarding the halfling prisoners joined in and were able to skewer Selena in a heavy charge. She teleported away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind her echo. The ghastly apparition cut into Isahak’s calf with the blade of its unseemly weapon. The captain also managed to put an arrow into the Aelarothian from the roof of one of the houses which overlooked the square. Isahak saw the writing on the wall and decided to flee from the battle, running back towards the Aelarothian encampment on the moors to the north.

After they had finished dispatching with the enemy footmen, Éilatril freed the halfling prisoners. He asked the crowd, “How many of this town’s citizen’s do you represent? Are there more of you that the enemy took with you?”.

“We are but one third of the citizens of Midwallow”, answered a light haired halfling. “My name is Anara Thornbloom, one of the town’s elders. The soldiers took the other two thirds of us prisoner with them to their camp, including the rest of our elders and the mayor.”

“Do you wish us then to escort you to the castle?”, Éilatril asked.

“Castle Cadworth is but half a day’s walk from here and it is still midday. Once we have collected our things we should make with plenty of time to spare, the road is still protected enough for folk like us”, said Anara.

Turning to his staff, the captain then asked, “Should we return to the castle or continue to scout ahead?”.

“I still have a bead on their leader”, Varissa said. “It might be good idea to figure out what we’re going up against,”

“Aye, you’re right, reconnaissance was our purpose in coming here originally anyways”, Éilatril said.

The party was able to track Isahak back to the Aelarothian camp with considerable ease, following the blood and heavy armored footprints across the moor. It was an impressive encampment, heavy earthworks and a trench dug around the perimeter and an eight foot tall wooden palisade built around the outside. It easily held about two hundred men, enough that the officers would need to retreat and return with their men but a force that The Betrayed could meet evenly on the field of battle if they chose to.

After being nearly discovered, Dr. Blackthorne attempted to create a distraction to allow the party to escape unseen back across the heath. Much to her and the rest of the party’s dismay, legionaries standing guard at the gate they were staking out were quite observant. The soldiers ran inside the camp to sound the alarm, so the group decided to flee across the rocky marshlands towards the hills. It was a hard sprint for a solid mile but they were able to lose the Aelarothian cavalry in the maze-like valleys and hillocks.

Returning back to Castle Cadworth, Dr. Blackthorne and Selena decided to retire to the tavern to lick their wounds while Éilatril and Varissa reported what they had found to the Count and his seneschal. As the pair entered the keep proper, they were greeted by that grey haired Fortrian, who upon hearing their report led them directly to the count’s solar to make their report directly to the lord himself.

Upon hearing for himself the report, Loedgar turned to his castellan and said, “Callum take this down in official record.”

He then turned to the mercenaries and said in a lower, more officious tone, “It shall be that from this day, the 11th of Highharvest, that the Betrayed are hereby employed in the prosecution of war against the Eternal Empire of Aelaroth by House Cadworth of Naissus on the authority of Glorious Eltaria and Her Emperor until such time as such actions are no longer necessary or one of these parties has been shown in a Court of the Empire to have broken faith. Each month for the duration of this writ, a salary of two thousand Imperial shillings shall be paid to the senior officers of the undersigned company, one thousand Imperial shillings to the junior officers, fifty Imperial shillings to each able bodied horseman, and twenty Imperial shillings to each footman. The Betrayed shall retain relative autonomy in their prosecution of such military actions as they are employed by this contract to perform but shall have the responsibility to muster for battle under the banners of House Cadworth if called upon to do so.”

He then signed and stamped his seal onto the completed contract, an act which Éilatril joined the count in. The captain sent out riders to tell the company to move camp to just south of the castle and the officers decided to enjoy a couple of days leave for themselves.