CHAPTER 2: THE BLOODY MAIDEN

Two days after the assembly, the Imperium Guard were upon Lerdia, led by Ursa Equitos, an Imperium knight who was given veto power to thrash the rebellion in Lerdia and whom Sarsson had some steamy history with. As the 250-strong Imperium Guard unit marched into the village they walked straight into the traps the villagers had laid out. The trap was a shallow dug hole with several containers of oil and tar buried under them which could be ignited by a flame.

As the soldiers reached the village square they found an 80-man-strong militia and at their head was the Sarsson, the Scourge of the Imperium. "You bastards have bitten the hand that fed you and decided to commit treason against the Imperium which is so benevolent and good to scum like you..." Ursa yells at the top of her voice, "...and for this treason, you will all die!!!".

"You have it all wrong Ursa, these people are not treasonous for not wanting to give up their means of livelihood..." Sarsson said. "If it isn't the deserter, the one who turned his back on his country and his duty", and "It will be an honor for me to present your head to high command and that is just what I will do". Ursa had a special reason to hate Sarsson apart from desertion. He had broken her heart when they were younger.

It all started when Sarsson got into the Warriors' Hall, a school for nobles who wanted to serve in Seppora's armed forces. Ursa was an instructor in the academy at that time and about 3 years older than him but when she saw him as wily as he looked she took a liking to him. She made moves so he'd be in her deployment and she grinded him to his barebones. Sarsson always wanted to get stronger so he would go to her for night training sessions. Those late-night training sessions eventually culminated in a romance and most late-night training sessions became hot intimate sessions.

After his training, Sarsson was the best graduating recruit in his class and he owed his success partly to Ursa's coaching. They got betrothed and she used her influence to accelerate his rise through the ranks and soon he became captain. Everything seemed to be going well till she caught him pants down with another girl. This broke her heart to many pieces and she couldn't believe he had done that to her after everything she'd done for him. He tried to apologize and explain to her but she wasn't having it. She broke the engagement and was done with him and love for good. He eventually got sent on an expedition with his troops and they didn't hear from each other again for years until this point in time.

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"CHAAAAAARGE!!!" screamed Ursa as she urged her men on and the soldiers rushed at the tiny 80-man resistance with bloodlust. "Hold...", said Sarsson, "Hold...", "NOW!!!", and BOOM, the ground beneath the Imperium Guard soldiers exploded as one of the men fired flaming arrows into the ground where they stood wiping out about 50 men and leaving about a dozen more severely injured. The resistance cheered as the Imperium forces were dazed due to their trap going off. Being more experienced and disciplined, the Imperium Guard regrouped and relaunched another assault while leaving their healing mages to attend to their wounded.

The villagers under the command of "The Scourge of The Imperium", had somewhat prepared for this battle and the Imperium Guard had underestimated them. The villagers had sharpened some wooden spikes and weaved them to form wooden barricades which they buried in the ground and tied to ropes and as the soldiers charged on them again, they sprung these traps and many soldiers were impaled. The remaining soldiers still numbered over 120 and they finally broke through the last trap which was a wall of fire that was ignited to cause some chaos on the battlefield.

The Imperium Guard fell on the villagers and started stabbing, hacking, and slashing the unarmored villagers. Sarsson a top-level swordsman fought hard felling the men who once fought by his side, but now they had nothing in common anymore and were his enemies. As he hacked and slashed he heard a familiar voice from behind him letting out a shrill battle cry. He knew who it was as he evaded her assault.

"I see your problem with loyalty is deeper than I thought...", "You just can't be loyal to anything..." Ursa said removing her headgear and tossing it aside. Sarsson replied, "I missed you too sweetheart". They both squared each other up on the battlefield as the smoke and dust began to clear and all the fighting around them became somewhat visible.

Sarrson knew he could take her but he couldn't underestimate her either. She was one of the best swordsmen in Seppora. She was called the bloody maiden for a reason. For a moment he began to question himself. 6 months ago, had someone told him he'd be raising his blade against the Imperium, he would have probably beaten them to a bloody pulp, but here he was squaring up against one of the greatest soldiers Seppora could boast of. "I will make you pay for your treason you damn maggot", yelled Ursa as she charged at Smith brandishing her sword looking to slash him and wound him fatally. Smith sidestepped the blow and kicked her just around the spot where her liver was. She held on to her side and cracked a smile mumbling the words "you sly bastard...." as she slashed at him again aiming for his neck this time.

"C'mon sweetheart, you know I rarely lose my head..." said Smith as he parried that slash again with his blade. "Ugh..." she huffed and both of them started exchanging blow after blow after blow after blow. "Why do you fight against your country for the sake of these animals Smith? Why?" Ursa said as she gained the upper hand and cut Smith's side and with a flying kick sent him to the ground. Smith rolled over before she could stab him and got back to his feet. Limping towards her he reminded her of their soldierly oath which was to first of all protect the people of Seppora with their lives. She then reminded him that in the same oath, they swore allegiance to the Imperium. He told her that the Imperium was corrupt and hence turned a blind eye to the excesses of the nobles and lords of Seppora, stripping the people of their rights.

"You are a fool, the only right these peasants have is loyalty to the Imperium whose benevolence allows them existence and gives them protection", this was Ursa justifying treating the peasants poorly. He now understood how perfectly she mirrored the government. Lush green forests and marbled halls made Seppora look divine from the outside but within it was rife with aristocracy and all sorts of mistreatment. If, no, when he got out of this alive, he would certainly do something to change it. He must.

He had lost his sword when he was knocked down by Ursa but he still had his dagger in his belt. He was going to try to take her down with it. He clenched his fists around his dagger's hilt, his wound bleeding and sweat dripping from behind his ear as he struggled to endure the pain.

Around them, the fighting wasn't as intense and the soldiers were making light work of the unarmored villagers. Suddenly an Imperium Guard shouted, "We've been outflanked from the rear...". It turned out to be the women of Lerdia, some held short kitchen knives, others held sticks and others had makeshift lances which they had made from sharpening the edge of sticks. "What do they think doing?" asked one villager who was surprised to see the women whom they'd told to flee and among them his wife.

He quickly dashed towards the place they were and an Imperium Guard struck him down as he screamed for the women to run and get out of there. Seeing this the women were filled with rage and they rushed at the soldiers who tried to defend themselves. Ursa seeing this urges her soldiers to regroup and kill every single one of them. "Kill these traitors in the name of the Imperium!!!", "They do not deserve their worthless lives!!!" ordered Ursa. "You do not deserve yours either for thinking theirs are worthless..." said Sarsson as he lunged at her and sliced her left eye with his dagger wounding her. "Arrrgh, she yelled", as she dropped her sword and held on to her bleeding eye.

"Villagers of Lerdia, fight for your home!!!" roared Sarsson. "Fight against the wickedness of those who oppress you!!!". The villagers had the upper hand as the fighting intensified, reached a crescendo, and began to die down. Bodies littered the village, villagers both men and women, and Imperium Guard soldiers.

Sarsson was beginning to think he had done it, that they had defeated the Imperium Guard soldiers but "the bloody maiden" still wasn't finished yet. She pulled out a small bottle from her pocket, popped it open, and drank the contents. It was a berserk potion. The potion would give the drinker superhuman physical abilities for a period in exchange for their life force. It was forbidden for mages to concoct and was used by certain criminals who wanted to take down a large amount of attackers with themselves usually to give their comrades an avenue for escape.

"We will dine together again in the underworld you traitorous bastard", said Ursa as the effects of the berserk potion began to kick in. She picked up her sword and before Smith could react she was upon him. She slashed his abdomen and with blood gushing out she kicked it. The pain was too much for him to bear so he fell to the ground writhing and holding his abdomen.

She came over and picked him up by his neck and raised him high above her head so everyone could see. She had a terrifying look, one-eyed with the other good eye glowing red. Blackish veins around her face and much paler, dryer-looking skin. The fighting around them had somewhat subsided by then and everyone around was about to see Sarsson die at the hands of the bloody maiden. Sarsson, however, was a tough nut to crack and swore he was gonna die fighting. Unknown to her, Sarsson had slipped her own dagger from her hip while she was picking him off the ground. "Now I'm going to pound your pretty face to a bloody pulp and no girl will ever look upon you with joy". After saying that she began punching his face repeatedly, his nose broke and his entire face swelled but he waited for the right moment and stabbed her through her skull. He stabbed and stabbed her repeatedly until she let go of him and fell to the ground with him falling to the ground too beside her. He had killed someone who was on a berserk potion high before and knew that it was wits, not strength that gave you the upper hand.

The villagers roared in excitement and the remaining Imperium guard retreated leaving their fallen captain and comrades behind, and as he saw that they had won and the soldiers retreated, he chuckled faintly and called them cowards as the world around him darkened…