Post III<br/><br/>The general’s mood was swiftly starting to drop. The rotten form of the ramen had disappeared into the dark, leaving the commander of the yahnus with precious few entertaining targets. Although the attack had been going swimmingly well, the targets had somehow rallied and come to their senses. They were still outnumbered countless times, but they were fighting back with a good degree of finesse. It would have been a simple matter to simply kill them, but oh no, the Kaiser wanted them alive. All of them, even the runty little vulpari and the clearly deranged elf.<br/><br/>Initial reservations about the plan that the general had confided in the Kaiser were coming true. Even with such an inordinately large force it would have been tricky to prevent the small force escaping. Those fears, it seemed, were coming true now.<br/><br/>The general took out their anger on a slumped Aviari near the edge of a smouldering platform. A single shot from the blazing pistol cut the creature in two. Yet even that pointless act of violence did little to improve the general’s declining mood.<br/><br/>Then it happened. The powerful voice blasted with unpleasant loudness into the mind of the general. They paused and looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound but found only the dead and the dying and a host of yahnus warriors clutching their ears with distracted horror. Although the general was made of much sterner stuff than the foot soldiers, the pulsating words of the prophecy made the commander pause and listen.<br/><br/>It was over quickly enough. The words boiling away into nothingness. The foolishness of trying to capture the girl alive once again struck the general, but the Kaiser’s orders were immutable. Everywhere around the general the yahnus were gathering their wits again and returning to their slaughter.<br/><br/>The general summoned an aide immediately.<br/><br/>‘Something has changed. I want a significant portion of the troops diverted to the docks immediately. Have the marksmen take positions as high as possible and above all, get more soldiers to the target’s last position. Whatever that voice was, whatever it meant, I suspect that we no longer maintain control over her.’ Barked the general. ‘Now go. I am going to see to this girl personally.’<br/><br/>Familiar and unwanted anger was starting to bubble up inside the general. Control of the battlefield was slipping away from the yahnus. There were fewer and fewer bodies dotted around the place. It was clear that the filthy birdfolk were starting to escape, fleeing the encircling yahnus toward the sea. The general’s mind raced and churned. The yahnus were doing their job well, but that wouldn’t be enough for the Kaiser. He would be furious, the targets, all of them were going to get away unless the general did something dramatic soon.<br/><br/>Thus the general began to climb, effortlessly scaling the trees to which the village clung. All around were the signs of murder and destruction. A good deal of the village itself was aflame, burning wildly out of control as the cavorting outlines of the yahnus danced around the flames to get to their next targets. There were still screams and the beautiful sound of dying, but it wasn’t as rich in the air as it had been.<br/><br/>It was a pathetically easy climb for the general. The rough bark gave plenty of hand and footholds to cling to and they propelled themselves upwards effortlessly. Finally the general managed to haul themselves up, onto a platform littered with yahnus dead. Bloody ruin had been carved into their ranks, one even appeared to have been partially consumed.<br/><br/>The taste of yahnus flesh was known to the general and they could easily understand why the meal had been abandoned. It was clear to the general however, that this had been the site of the human girl’s capture. The dead were grouped around a ripped net, dying to a man with obvious professionalism and camaraderie.<br/><br/>Other yahnus scrambled up after the general, pouring up onto the platform. Below them the commander could see their underlings moving to obey the issued orders, sweeping through the village toward the docks.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>