It was different business that brought Garm and his warriors to Maranthe this day. They were met outside the village by a small group of representatives.

Wasting no time on pleasantries, Garm asked, "Who's in charge here?"

One of the men stepped forward and said, "That would be me, Lord Garm. Nathanael, son of Iessai."

So that was where the name came from. Garm did not take part in the mission to hunt down the forest bandits calling themselves Raddai's Band, but he had heard the reports. They were minor troublemakers at best, but Rowland wanted them to be dealt with before they could inspire any more of the troublesome villagers to take up arms against the Alliance. Garm then remembered that Raddai's Band went by another name before, back when they were even more troublesome for the Alliance.

That thrice-damned Duke Cronos raised a proxy army to fight for him while he and his legion huddled in the western cities. Notian fought Notian so that the Zephyrian could rest easy. They never amounted to much, but the Olympian Bands did serve the purpose of keeping the Alliance busy until the main force from Zephyr arrived.

The group sent to Maranthe called itself Athene's Band. It was thought to be the easiest city to take. However, they were betrayed by villagers loyal to the Alliance and this Nathanael was apparently the one responsible for it all. If treachery came easily to him, then Garm's work would be all the easier.

Nathanael nodded.

Nathanael and the men with him returned to the village while Garm marched his warriors to the north side. It did not take long for Nathanael to return with a couple Alliance agents.

Nathanael gave a slight bow.

With that, Nathanael withdrew. One of the agents saluted Garm and said, "We received word ahead of your arrival, Lord Garm. We will take you to the Darklanders."

Garm had heard that some of the Darklanders that took Iakobin fell in with that Skrelling wench after their defeat. Garm and his warriors would take no small pleasure in avenging their defeat at Iakobin. The Darklanders no longer had the Gorgon to strengthen their hand.

The Skrelling was dead, cut down by Rowland himself when she killed his pet Dokkalf. Without her to lead the Darklander horde, there was no reason to keep them around anymore. The task fell to Garm to finish them off. The new additions made it a more harrowing feat, but it would be accomplished all the same.

Garm turned to his shield-bearer Burkur and said, "Tell Borinn, Golfi an' Dari that I want 'em to take their comp'nies an' get 'round the Darklanders on north, east an' west. 'Ave 'em take two ballistae each. I don't want any o' 'em gettin' away."

Tempting as it was to keep his ranks together, Garm knew that it was more important to prevent any of them from escaping. Even a single monster could cause a lot of damage if it was running loose. The only question was whether or not they could close the net in time. The Darklanders and their creatures were keen of ear and nose. No doubt they already sensed Garm's warriors coming. If they decided to make a run for it, it would be impossible to make chase.

The one thing that saved the plan was the fact that the Darklanders were not entirely wild. A wild animal would have run as soon as the threat was apparent. The monsters had that instinct, but their handlers suppressed it. They waited until the Dwerkhar were in view, but by then it was too late.

The Darklanders had not been idle in all the time they were left in the forest. Garm had been warned beforehand that they fortified themselves in a makeshift city in the heart of the forest. It was impressive for the beasts, but crude Skrelling work that would be no match for the Dwerkhar. Also, being closed in, they were like rats in a sack. What was meant to be their defense was instead a giant trap.

Borinn's company had not yet closed the gap on the north side as they got within range, but it was too late to wait on him any longer.

Garm raised his axe and shouted, "Ready!"

One of the two Yotner reported in the camp was clearly visible over the earthwork wall. They would need to go down first. Garm lowered his axe.

Garm kept the repeating ballistae with his company and one of them put five bolts in the Yotun. Ballista bolts shot into the camp, jostling it to life like a hornet's nest hit with a stick.

Garm raised his axe again and shouted, "Arm!"

Every one of his warriors had a hand ballista in addition to his main weapon. Normally, Dwerkhar scorned the hand ballista as a coward's weapon, but this was not war. It was hunting.

With the Darklanders all stirred up, there was no shortage of targets.

A hail of bolts from the hand ballistae tore into the Darklanders. Some were felled by a well-placed bolt or two, but most were merely wounded. It would slow them down and make for easier pickings.

If the Darklanders were smart, they would have picked a side, formed up and thrown their weight into breaking through the line. Thankfully for Garm, they had no head for strategy or tactics, even less when blood-maddened by wounds. They simply struck out in all directions as a great unorganized mob. Nothing united them besides a drive to attack and, if possible, survive to do it again. What could that accomplish against brave Dwerkhar standing shoulder-to-shoulder with axe and spear ready to vanquish any comers?

A bloodbath followed and it was glorious. The Darklanders threw themselves bodily at the Dwerkhar and the Dwerkhar did not hesitate to cut, stab and chop their way through. Yes, Garm's warriors fell to tooth and claw, spear and arrow, but no one Dwerkh fell without taking two or three Darklanders with him. It was all over rather quickly.

When the last monster went down, Garm took a moment to survey the carnage.

Garm nodded.

Garm rolled a Skrelling's head around with his foot as he said, "Rowland'll want a trophy. Take an ear a head. Then I want ye to salvage whatever we can from the dead, ours an' theirs, then burn the rest."

Burkur passed the orders along and then came back to clean Garm's gear as he oversaw the work. The trophy ears were strung together by twenties and put in a sack. Garm amused himself with the thought of dumping the sack out at Rowland's feat. What better way to show him that the mission was accomplished?

It was not long before the flames went up. There was no ceremony for the Darklanders, so they were first. It took more time to build the pyres for the fallen warriors, but then their flames were added to the others. They could well have burned down half the forest if the fires got out of control. Perhaps that would have been a more fitting tribute to the fallen. They had Burkur to thank for getting as much as they did. Garm had no use for the dead. His only consideration was to give them to the flames instead of to the worms. He expected no more himself when his time came.