Rylen staggered back from the surprising headbutt, placing his hand over his nose. It wasn't broken, but there was blood on his palm now. He dropped the prisoner with a heavy punch, and kneed the heathen on the way down for good measure. His men had drawn swords, but he held his hand up to halt their retribution. "Guess the savages have some spirit." he sighed, then looked to his comrades. "Tie him up and haul him up on a horse like the wounded!" 

The mountainous terrain surrounded them as ominously as the odd looking trees did. 50 men at arms under his command, and he still didn't feel ready to be within a thousand miles of a war. That's what it was going to be, he knew. He'd heard enough to have little doubt in his mind. King Hadovad and High Priest Lexicun had called for an end of the foreign tolerance upon their ancient holy land. The other kings had flocked to them in spirit, and a few had decided to join them militarily as well. 

Rylen mounted his horse, his brown hair tied in the back and his refined features matching the eagle eye he was giving their surroundings. "Head out!" he called, and the small raiding party embarked back to Fort Harbinger, the closest keep to what the natives called Heroshida. Rylen had no quarrel with these people, but he was a soldier. He wasn't about to question his king, much less his God. 

The battle had been hard. Those easterners fought like demons. Looked like them too, from what the men could tell. Even their armor, so different from the more fundamental designs the crusaders wore. Chainmail over leather and under a tabard signifying their king and allegiance was how the west had identified themselves in battle for centuries. Not masks of dragons and blood red coverings that made them seem like something out of hell. 

The ride back was uneventful, but even so the men felt uneasy. That had been the first blood shed in years between the East and the West, and many had fallen on both sides. Seems even when there was no war yet, they were determined to fight to the bitter end, tooth and claw. The gates opened, and they entered. The portcullis shutting behind them made this moment in history feel even more final.