Red was the color of triumph, the blood of the enemy soaked the earth red, and the sky shone red on the evening of battle. Victory was celebrated by the fires, the warriors sang of courage. Afterwards, later in the night, the generals discussed the embers.The great mountains were not easy. It was sharp and toothed: the catch of a wolf. The apron of his rocky dress was gray and insurmountable, and the gullies and ravines for no reason. But in one place it opens its arms invitingly and lets people through, and over its back. A broad pass behind which it opens up, the Hyaun heartland, unprotected like the womb of a virgin.But like mad rats on the threshold of the dungeon, the enemy fought back. He scratched and spat, bit and spat, stubbornly held himself under the shelter of the rocks. Didn't the big, gray wolf finally want to shake these vermin out of its fur?Once again the generals conferred with bright red heads, but the King of the Askharers in his cunning o

The general spat the bitter taste from his mouth and prevented further thoughts of what was going on in the palace. Everything would change anyway once he returned home triumphant.He raised his gaze to the two peaks that flanked the pass to Hy. Then he turned in the saddle and looked back at a sea of red armor above which a forest of lances protruded. The army was big and strong, and Kasai was confident. He let his gaze wander over the pass one last time, where a black band slowly began to move: the defenders of the pass were in position!"Then let's go," he said quietly to himself, and little clouds rose from his mouth. His splendid, gold-trimmed armor shone in the sun.The day the general deployed his army was made for it by the gods. Knee-deep powder snow, which would make the Hyaun warriors lose the advantage of their speed, and behind the attackers bright sunshine in a prophetically blue sky - as if the deep celestial body were an unearthly ally of the Roy

After the clans, who had fled over the Nori in the deepest snowstorm, were able to return to their homeland in the shadow of the now safe Junghal Mountains, all the chorten in the central country took in refugees from the lost areas on the other side of the mountains, which of course did not improve the situation . How was all the extra people going to get through the winter? Nobody knewwhat to do , and a gloomy, fateful stupor settled over the whole country. The people prayed to Hyaun in silent swoon and tried to feed their little flame of life from the rations that were getting thinner and thinner every day. It was a fight against time. Before the snow melted and the first nutritious green would sprout in the fields and meadows, there were at least two hard months to survive.The warriors who had returned from the border to join their families were in charge of the clan's supplies. The allocation for each individual was also her job. But as meager as the rations wer

At the foot of the burial rock, the funeral procession stopped, and when everyone was full, the ascent began. Even the weak were pulled up, supported or even carried on your back. Up on the small, hand-leveled plateau, the community gathered around a cone-shaped pile of stones in the uncomfortably cold wind. Prayers had been artistically carved into the stones of this heap, which were in turn decorated with gold leaf and which shimmered gently despite the overcast winter sky. The five vessels with the remains of the dead were placed on the cairn by the high priest while his assistants began the monotonous funeral prayers in the ancient Hy language. After the ritual was over, Roman, Farna's only child, stepped forward and took the jar with her ashes. The children of the other deceased did the same and together they walked to the edge of the plateau. He looked carefully into the depths and then into the distance. The circular choir, the territory of his clan, spread out before him. Th

In the past few years, Askhar had actually been preoccupied with many things other than just rebuilding his army. Because the newly conquered land on the other side of the Old Frontier Sea had been waiting to be repopulated. Of course, King Katthike had raged and raged over the embarrassing defeat of his proud armed forces. He had demoted General Kasai and placed the unpopular task of rebuilding the army in his hands. From then on, the old warrior had to turn his back on active warrior life and take care of the not very demanding establishment of new training camps across the country. Kasai had learned firsthand how great the loss of well-trained soldiers and officers had actually been due to his defeat on the battlefield, and that it would take years for the army to regain its former strength. But worse than the memories of his guilt was Lata's open mockery. The Konsultas had fully savored his favor with the demotion of his rival and his exclusion from the king's closest advisory t