A short while after Sir Plato had conversed with the fiery knight, Lady Utopia, whom Sir Plato had brought back, was conveyed to the Axalon border town, the fortified city of Berwapontra.
Lady Utopia was led into a dimly lit chamber, wherein stood but a single table and a solitary chair. The unconscious Lady Utopia did at length awaken, as the afternoon waned into evening.
"Where am I? WHERE IS THAT CURSED FIERY KNIGHT?" was the Lady's fierce exclamation upon regaining her senses, her rage blazing forth.
"Hark? Wherefore am I bound?" The Lady instantly perceived that her arms were tethered to the very wall, thereby constraining her every movement.
Anon, there appeared a knight, whose grey iron armour was veiled by a crimson cloak, bearing the crest of The Eight Swords at his throat. 'Twas none other than Sir Plato, who entered with a smile and forthwith seated himself before her, offering a salutation.
"Greetings unto thee, Utopia."
"Plato, wherefore am I thus bound? Make haste and explain thyself!" Utopia cried out, her vexation clearly manifest.
"Ah, 'tis no great matter, I assure thee; thou didst rage most uncontrollably, and thus I was compelled to bind thee, that thou mightest be brought to heel," Sir Plato spoke unto the Lady with a smile of frigid mien.
"Liar! Very well, release me forthwith!" the Lady did exclaim.
"Not so swiftly, fair Utopia, or perchance should I address thee by the name Aurora de Grace?" Sir Plato uttered.
"SILENCE! UTTER NOT THAT NAME BEFORE ME!" the Lady cried in a furious outburst.
Plato merely smiled and took a draught from his goblet of wine. "Dost thou comprehend why wine doth possess such exquisite taste?" Plato inquired of the Lady.
The Lady remained silent, observing Sir Plato from behind her fractured mask.
"Is it by reason of its protracted fermentation? Or by virtue of its distillation? Or perhaps because... it is mingled with affection?" Sir Plato questioned, a smile still gracing his lips.
Instantly, Sir Plato rose from his place of repose, approached the Lady, and poured the contents of his wine over the Lady's very head. The Lady remained motionless whilst thus abased.
"The answer, I tell thee, is... because ye, the very refuse of humanity, have perpetually rendered it captivating with your blood and your sweat throughout the eons," Sir Plato spoke as he poured his wine upon the Lady's head, his smile unwavering.
Having poured his wine, Sir Plato forthwith hastened to depart the chamber, leaving a missive upon the table.
"Oh, and furthermore, the restraints shall unbind themselves when the sun hath fully descended beneath the horizon. Forget not thy bounden duty as one of The Eight Swords. Farewell," were Sir Plato's words moments ere he quitted the room.
The Lady merely watched Sir Plato from behind her mask. The Lady's silver hair was now sullied and tinged with a reddish hue by reason of the wine.
After Sir Plato had gone, the Lady cast her gaze downwards, then to her left, until at length her eyes fell upon the wine glass which Sir Plato had let fall.
"How utterly shameful," the Lady murmured, gazing upon the wine glass.
----------------------------------------------------------
The sun did at last fully set, and the bonds on the Lady's hands forthwith loosened. The Lady, unprepared for the sudden release of her restraints, fell to the ground with the clatter of her armour.
The Lady sought to rise, steadying herself by grasping the table before her. She at last stood upright and immediately read the missive.
This letter, it turned out, contained the orders for an assault upon all villages on the border between Axalon and Skoland.
The names of these villages were:
Blegor Village
Kallin Village
Rutherford Village
Skalin Village
Having read the missive, the Lady immediately proceeded to the armoury within the city to change her armour and reclaim her spear and rapier.
Upon reaching the Axalon armoury in the city, she approached the elite knight guarding the storehouse and commanded him to depart for a brief interval.
The elite knight reluctantly left his post. When the armoury was deemed sufficiently empty, the Lady exchanged her full body armour for light armour, which merely protected her chest and arms.
She changed her armour, believing that mobility was paramount. The advantage of light armour lay in its capacity for swift movement, whilst still safeguarding vital areas such as the chest and shoulders.
After changing her armour, she took up a porcelain mask of a different visage. The Lady chose a mask with a sorrowful, weeping countenance around the eye-holes.
Thereafter, the Lady donned a cloak bearing the Axalon crest, fastening it about her neck. When all was deemed ready, the Lady walked further into the armoury to retrieve her rapier and spear.
The Lady sensed that her rapier and gold-emblazoned spear lay within a chest marked with the crest of The Eight Swords.
Having located the box, the Lady forthwith destroyed its padlock with her magic and immediately took her rapier and spear.
"Forgive me, my children; this time, Mother shall not disappoint ye again!" the Lady whispered to her weapons.
When all was deemed prepared, the Lady hastened out of the armoury. The elite knight standing guard outside immediately beheld the Lady, who presented a figure both graceful and terrifying.
The Lady continued her walk, paying no heed to the elite knights.
Perceiving that they had observed the Lady for too long, the Lady suddenly stood motionless and gripped her spear tightly, as if preparing to hurl it.
The elite knight, realizing this, felt fear and immediately ran into the armoury.
The Lady, witnessing this, continued on her way to meet the commanders of the Axalon forces in the fortified city of Berwapontra.
The commanders of the Axalon forces in this fortified city were, it transpired, holding a council within the fortress. As they were busily deliberating, the back door of the fortress suddenly burst open with great force.
Someone had opened the door as if vexed by it, and slammed it shut. The four Axalon commanders were startled and immediately drew their swords. Little did they know they had drawn their swords upon the Lady.
"What do ye, commanders? Do ye intend to betray Axalon so swiftly?" the Lady inquired from behind her mask.
"N-nay, we were merely startled and on guard. Forgive us, oh noble Lady," one of the commanders uttered.
The Lady remained silent and immediately took a chair to sit in the midst of the council.
The four commanders forthwith grew nervous and spoke no word. The Lady's aura was indeed truly fearsome.
"What is amiss? Why do ye not proceed with the plan?" the Lady inquired.
"N-nay, very well, we shall continue with the plan," one of the commanders replied.
It turned out that the four Axalon commanders were discussing their plan for a renewed assault on Aber Harbour, which Lady's forces had previously failed to accomplish.
The Lady merely observed how the commanders planned all things.
It seemed one of the commanders had already dispatched three men to observe the conditions at the border, particularly in the forest between Kallin Village and Blegor Village, which was a strategic point to ascertain if there were any large Skoland forces.
"They should return by first light tomorrow and bring us vital intelligence," the commander stated.
The Lady, having heard enough, immediately stood. The Axalon commanders were startled and fell silent, observing the Lady.
The Lady walked out of the room without uttering a single word and immediately closed the door firmly once she was outside.
"H-have I erred? I still wish not to die, at least not by the Lady's hand; I wish not to become a Crafter!" one of the commanders exclaimed in a hysterical tone.
"Enough, enough. If thou hadst erred, thou wouldst surely have transformed this very instant. We are all safe. Enough, let us conclude this council forthwith. Glory to King Oswald!"
After all the Axalon commanders had given their salutations, they hastened out of the council room to return to their chambers.
The Lady's sudden arrival and cold gaze left them unable to sleep peacefully, indeed, even causing them to suffer ill dreams.
----------------------------------------------------------
At the break of dawn on the morrow, the three scouting knights who had been observing the forest returned.
The Lady and the four other Axalon commanders had already assembled to hear the reports from these scouting knights.
"What is the outcome of your reports, ye knights?" the Lady inquired of them.
"I shall elaborate, Milady. I oversaw the deeper parts of the forest, and I must report that there was no movement from Skoland forces there, Milady," one of the knights stated.
"Very well, now it is my turn, for I oversaw the eastern forest. I too observed no movement, nor the light of torches from Skoland forces, Milady," another knight spoke.
"Indeed, I was the one overseeing the western part of the forest. I did espy a tent, yet this tent appeared not to belong to Skoland forces, Milady; it seemed rather to be of a villager's make. As I searched about for any person, I did hear some footsteps, Milady, but I could not ascertain who the individual might be," the knight concluded.
The Lady merely remained silent and forthwith summoned ten Crafters to seek out this person. Upon hearing the command, the Crafters immediately hastened forth, leaving all others behind.
The commanders and the scouting knights shuddered with fear.
After the Crafters had departed, the Lady too prepared to leave them.
"Ye are to focus solely upon the plan ye have devised; I have a different matter to attend to than ye," the Lady spoke before quitting the chamber.
After the Lady had departed the room, she walked towards the main gate of the fortified city of Berwapontra.
The knight observing the fortress gate watched the Lady with an anxious demeanour. "Open!" the Lady commanded the knight.
The knight obeyed the Lady's command and forthwith opened the main gate. After the gate was open, the Lady immediately walked through it, and once she had passed, the knights guarding the gate swiftly closed the great gate tightly.
The Lady, now alone outside, immediately summoned four thousand Crafters to attack the four villages she had been commanded to target.
Each village was to be assailed by a thousand Crafters. For these Crafters, which the Lady now created, did not use corpses as their base.
These Crafters were weaker than those she had created during the assault on the fortified city of William de Fort.
The four thousand Crafters immediately hastened to disperse and attack these four Skolandian villages.
After they had all departed, the sun began to rise, its warmth striking the Lady's armour, yet her porcelain mask still conveyed a sense of emptiness and despair.
Thereafter, the Lady walked alone with her spear, until at length she sensed that the ten Crafters she had created earlier had vanished near the forest.
Upon perceiving this, the Lady swiftly departed for the place where her ten Crafters had disappeared.