Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

The mighty Tamarthul Clan, that presided over the lands south of Madra. The Damned Tamarthul Clan, the most reviled archnemesis's of the Dolgan and the now extinct Olgan Clans. The cowardly yet ambitious Tamarthul Clan, who were the proprietors who slew the past patriachs of said clans with insidious methods; all in the blind desire to swallow the two clans to bolster their own might. The hateful Tamarthul Clan, whose armies used to constantly plagued the waking thoughts and sleeping minds of the two young patriarchs, like a persistent infectious wound!

Those were the ideas that flashed through Barrafin's mind when he heard this name, as his fists and jaw instinctually clenched to the point of nearly hurting him.

Noticing his reaction, Avestan said nothing and merely waited for the young patriarch before him to calm himself. Which didn't take long as Barrafin asked in cold tone, that barely masked his true feelings, a few seconds later "Why would we head there, my lord?"

Avestan paused for a split second, before turning around to head back to his men, whilst answering with a question of his own "...What if I told you that our mission was to convince the Tamarthul Clan to abandon the Northern Tribal Coalition and instead defect to our side?"

"Is it because of their clan's speciality?" Barrafin quickly caught up and inquired again.

"...Indeed." Avestan answered, fully paying attention to every minute reaction of the man beside him made.

But Barrafin, oblivious to the fact he was being examined at this moment due to his own emotionally clouded mind, merely sighed while unclenching his fists, and replied "I understand."

In actuality Avestan's words did not surprise Barrafin in the slightest; the reason being that even he craved the rare power of the Tamarthul Clan.

Why?

For one simple reason. Unlike most Murathicus clans, who were martial clans, as in they were specialized in various forms of martial arts, such the the Olgan Clan's bow arts or the Dolgan Clan's short sword arts, the Tamarthul Clan specialized in the priestly arts of healing, which were even rarer than the sorcerous clans of the south, who focused more on the mysterious magic arts.

As for why the priestly clans were so rare, was mainly due to how frail they were in comparison to the clans of the same rank as them, which is exactly why despite being a large clan, they couldn't defeat the combined strength of only two medium clans, when ordinarily a large clan if it was either martial or sorcerous could sweep through an alliance of ten medium clans with little effort.

But that didn't mean that priestly clans were just lambs waiting for slaughter. No, not at all, as in a world as war torn and brutal as this one, the ability to heals ones wounds was often times valued more than an entire mine of gold, silver or even Etherus steel. Since no matter how strong you are you will require healing sooner or later and that is where the priestly clans thrive.

For often times exorbitant fees, a member of one of these clans would go and treat your injury or ailment, and if you were even more wealthy you could even hire their services for the duration of entire wars, healing not only you and your strongest fighters, but even the ordinary rank and file, which would greatly contribute to the war effort.

And so the priestly clans gained a tremendous amount of not only economic power, but political leverage as well; after all who would want to offend the people who could possibly save you from the eternal grip of death in the future.

"You do not object?" Avestan asked in genuine surprise.

"No, my lord I do not." Barrafin calmly replied.

"Even though you clearly hold a great deal of dislike towards them, you still won't raise any argument against possibly allying with them?" Avestan questioned again, as if to make sure of his response.

"No, I will not." He again replied, but even more firmly this time, before continuing "I, more than most, know full well the power of the Tamarthul Clan, as well as the great advantages we would gain if we truly managed to win them over to our side. So even if my heart was against such a plan, my mind can not deny the boons if we were to succeed, and sadly; we simply can not win this war by only relying on the whims of the heart."

Hearing his words, Avestan paused his steps, before suddenly erupting in uncontrollable laughter, as he humorously repeated as if it was the funniest joke in the world "Seems my lord's eyes are as sharp as ever. I was a fool for doubting him!"

Barrafin, who stopped a single step in front of Avestan, was wordlessly staring at the scene before him with utter marvel and shock, having never before seen Avestan crack even a single smile, let alone such side aching laughter.

"My lord?" Was all Barrafin could think to say, as he waited for the seemingly jubilant Avestan to calm down.

Which he did only a full minute later, as he wiped the tears threatening to roll down his scarred face from his eyes, before finally explaining himself to the completely bewildered Barrafin "Worry not young lord of the Dolgan Clan, for you have honestly surprised me by passing with such flying colours."

"I was being tested?!" He asked in shock.

"Indeed you were." Avestan affirmed "You see I doubted you... I doubted your loyalties, I doubted your commitment, and I doubted your competence."

Barrafin felt a sour taste in his mouth hearing those words, but before he could give voice to his thoughts, Avestan cut him off by saying with a wide grin "But not my lord Hamilcar. He never doubted you, and it seems he was right yet again."

Suddenly the grievances he felt seemed to mysteriously vanish, as he asked instead "Wait, but how did I resolve all those suspicions you held?"

"Simple, I've been carefully watching and assessing you all this time, and all my worries of your loyalty vanished when you showed such care and love for your people and family. As how could a man who cared so deeply about his subjects and loved ones ever dream of betraying us." Avestan spoke those words as calmly as one would do when speaking of today's weather, which caused Barrafin to awkwardly smile, as he almost thought that his words could be misconstrued as a threat if not for the innocent look in his eyes that reflected no malice.

"And my other two doubts were resolved with your answer to my question a minute ago. Since a man who was not committed to our goals would never agree to my earlier words of trying to win over the Tamarthul Clan without any push back. Besides when you spoke of my people's cause, you repeatedly used the words 'our' and 'we', which further eased my worries. Besides that answer also served to resolve my last remaining gripe, as a lesser man would never have strength of mind to forgo his hatred for those who not orphaned him and his best friend, but also invaded his homeland to strip him of his throne, all for the greater good of his cause." Avestan finished explaining.

"I see." Absentmindedly muttered Barrafin, when suddenly he asked "Wait, does that mean that this entire mission was just made to test me?"

This time it was Avestan's turn to look surprised at him, as he asked in exasperation "I just complimented your intelligence and mental fortitude and now you say this?!"

Barrafin was taken a back for a moment, as Avestan continued "Your exam was but a secondary objective in this mission, our primary goal still remains undone. Now come we have much to do and little time to do it." He finished as he vanished from his spot, before commanding the army to move at double time towards the Tamarthul Clan.

"We're still headed to the Tamarthul lands?" Barrafin asked as he mounted the chariot next to him.

"Indeed we are. And we need to be there by noon at the latest, understand?" Avestan commanded.

"Understood, my lord." Barrafin affirmed as he began leading them through the fastest route he knew off, and since these men were all martial artists of at least the third rank they crossed that distance in nearly a third of the time it usually requires, allowing them to reach their destination an hour before noon, which was ahead of their schedule, much to the delight of the scarred monster next to Barrafin.

And the moment they beheld the Tamarthul capital city, which Avestan didn't even bother remembering it's name, the disparity between the Dolgan Clan and them became all too apparent. As Madra, the capital city of the Dolgan Clan, was mostly built out of wood and hardened mud, while being less than half the size of the city before them. But this comparably enormous Tamarthul city was guarded by a solid stone wall, nearly twenty meters high and not one, but two wide moats overflowing with water.

And that's not even mentioning the sturdy looking draw bridges that were made of thick timber and further reinforced with iron; or the large ballistae, mangonels and rudimentary cannons bristling out the stone ramparts; as thousands of guards who were presently lined atop the large grey wall, like proud pine trees rooted atop a great mountain range determined to obstruct the ferocious gale winds who were threatening those behind them.

And that's just the outer defences, the city itself seemed to be built of no cheaper material, all white and grey stone with red and brown bricks, with many cathedral like structures scattered across it, like sparkling jewels amid a stone reef.

Looking at this mighty city, Barrafin couldn't help the wandering of his brain as he recalled all the times he'd dreamed of leading his army to the gates of these very walls and capturing it for the glory of his tribe, only to then realize that he was technically achieving that once impossible dream, only nothing like he'd imagined it before.

"Let's get this over with." Avestan's cold voice echoed out beside him.

"...Very well, my lord." Barrafin replied, as he dismounted his chariot and walked to the edge of the range where the various siege weaponry could effectively fire and yelled out in the Murathicus language with his voice empowered by his aura "Warriors and people of the Tamarthul Clan, surrender your weapons, open your gates and offer your allegiance to the Eclipse Empire and his imperial majesty Alexander the third and by decree and assurance of Lord Hamilcar Seth, the Grand Marshal and commander of the army who has crossed the great northern mountains, that all will be spared and no harm will come upon you or..."

Yet before he could finish, a furious roar sounded out from the top of the wall, stopping him in his tracks.