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He gritted his teeth as the arrow was removed from his thigh. To think that him, Dela Angi, the last male descendant of Angi the Sunbane, could have fallen so much was a sobering thought. Once the most powerful man in the north, now he was forced to retreat north of the Noutezu, his lands taken by the vying warlords of the south.

“Spirits damn them. They got me this time.” He cursed. Bedinadi, his second in command, grunted in agreement as he disinfected the wound. He had grown increasingly grim as the campaign progressed and their defeat became more apparent. “We should ambush those bastards in the woods, fuck them and their beloved grass.” Another grunt. It seemed that was all the man could say nowadays. Sometimes Dela wondered if Bedinadi had not been born with the curse altogether. He shook his head and reminisced about what had led to that outcome.

His luck turned to worse when he failed to conuquer Agaebu, its inhabitants wary of anyone with royal blood. Then Eiani escaped from captivity and was found dead at the shores of Lake Nigasu by Nauinna Niagi, who accused him before the eyes of men and spirits of murdering an innocent woman. Niagi was a paranoid man, as were many of his contemporaries who had survived the Blind Death, but he was also a smart one, and he did not hesitate to take advantage of Dela’s heritage against himself. If there was one thing many Miecans seemed to agree on, was the curse placed on the Sunbane’s children.

And so half the warbands in the east and the lakes joined Niagi’s rally, as did what little was left of Agaebu. They harrassed him in his own lands, and forced him out of Uroni’s gains in the north-east. Then they invaded the Noutezu, Dela’s stronghold since Mera Bedanadi, the man who raised him after the Quarreler murdered his brother and exiled him to the north, died. He managed to stop them at the river, not one of Dacera’s turns ago, even slaying Niagi with an arrow to the eye, but he knew his days were numbered.

After resting and regrouping, his enemies once again attempted to cross the river, and this time they succeeded. Dela had to retreat after being wounded, and now he was in his camp, reeling in pain. He never saw the dagger wielded by Bedinadi open his neck.