The sound of hammering and the thwacking of axes filled the air. The Styphoni had leveled most of the buildings, but it appeared the majority of the commoners had escaped their slave gangs. Baltor Town was another story, but he suspected things would go much better after he installed Count Vinaldos as Grand Duke. He would do that on the way back, as he had need of the Count’s knowledge for the conquest of Nythros. It felt good to be back in the saddle again, so-to-speak, leading an army rather than pushing a quill pen in his Palace office. That was just one of the problems with being the indispensable man, he needed to be in twelve places at once doing work no one else could accomplish. On the other hand, it beat the Styphon out of driving a police cruiser chasing drunken hillbillies and wife beaters. For once, they were going to have a peaceful winter with plenty of foodstuffs, no imminent invasions, no Investigation and no other threats that he needed to worry about. It was true that his spies reported that King Theovacar was busy raising a new army in Ult-Greffa and building new warships as fast as he could.
