"The rebels are mainly mercenaries and simple farmers from Velen.", general Voorhis said as he guided you through the thick veil of green leaves. "They don't fight for Temeria, they fight against the empire."

Understanding, you hummed.

"How well are they equipped?", you asked and took position behind a huge rock to hide from a group of rebels that seemed to patrol around their hideout.

The general almost smiled at that question.

"Barely.", the tone of his voice gave away how pleased he was by that. "We could sweep in and tear them apart within moments."

You shook your head.

"The emperor wants the merchant alive. And the leader of the rebels as well."

"Preferably, but sometimes things don't go the way a plan wants them to."

One of your eyebrows rose in surprise at his words.

"I didn't think of you as someone with stretchable morals, Morvran.", you huffed. "But it's nice to head that even you have flaws."

A dark expression crossed his eyes.

Your words must have hit a sore spot.

Now that you thought about it, the general was quite young for a man with his position. He barely could have been a decade older than you, perhaps even less.

You knew how it felt like to live amongst older generations who thought of themselves as higher and mightier than their kids could ever be.

"Apologies.", you lowered your head to gift him a kind of look that made clear how much you felt his resentment. "We should return to battle talk, no?"

A low sound got stuck in his throat. But he nodded.

"As of now, they outnumber us by about three people per Nilfgaardian soldier.", he explained and threw a glance around the tree he crouched behind.

Your eyes followed him to a mountain that looked like it was nothing but a huge rock, overgrown by trees and other greenery.

You couldn't understand what attracted his attention so much. There was nothing to be seen, no larger animal nor a single bird. You also couldn't feel the presence of something of magic nature.

That must have meant that no one with magic was around nor cursed beings or demons.

All of a sudden, something flickered between two rocks.

A torch.

"Ah.", you hummed and pulled back into hiding. "Your eyes are good for a man with pure human blood."

At the compliment, he smiled mildly.

"I try my best to serve the emperor as proper as I can.", he said and did a gesture to silently tell the other soldiers to round the cave from all sides.

He wanted to trap the rebels like rats in a corner, you noticed. A simple yet efficient tactic. But it seemed to you that he forgot whenever rats felt threatened, they started to bite.

"The cave will be their prison.", he said as he noticed your worried expression.

You glanced at him.

"It might also turn out to be our disadvantage.", you reminded him.

He frowned, visibly confused.

"How so? We are better armed and will be able to withstand their attacks. They won't have a place to run."

"I agree.", you nodded and moved closer to his side to get a better look at what was going on at the entrance. "But if they get trapped, so will we. Our men wear heavy armour, they move slow."

"They can take more hits."

"But cannot reach quick to surprise attacks."

The general pulled his head in and followed you.

Together, the two of you crawled through the dirt, all the way past trees and bushes, until you found just the right spot to settle in the shadows.

Unnoticed, you stretched your neck and caught a glimpse at the inside of the cave.

It was a small resting place, barely impressive enough to be deemed worthy of an attack.

At the entrance, one man with a simple wooden bow stood guard while people gathered inside around a x-mal fire.

Blue clothing shimmered in the dim light. The blue of Temeria.

With that mixed bloody red and a few hints of leather. Probably men of Velen, nothing more than farmers and maybe bandits who wanted to keep their lawless territories safe.

If the empire of Nilfgaard appreciated one thing, it was order. There was no place for bandits and even less for rebels.

Even though these men seemed to be dedicated to defend their borders, you were sure that they weren't as loyal to the cause as some expected.

"Did you try to contact the rebels?", you asked in a low voice to prevent to be caught by the men who kept patrolling.

If there was one thing you had to admire the rebels for it was their sense of military duty. The men who patrolled seemed to know exactly what to do, where to go to, in oder to cover all of the area.

They had a defence tactic, it was easy to tell.

Maybe you needed to be more careful than expected.

Voorhis raised his gaze to show you how confused he was.

"These are farmers.", he said.

"Correct.", you pulled back to hide further in the bushes. "They are poor. They fight because the army of Nilfgaard took everything they had."

A hint of displeasure appeared on his face.

"War comes with a price.", he said. "A battlefield is a battlefield. It's not Nilfgaard's fault that the villages fall into ruins."

"But the farmers care."

"On who's side are you?"

You rolled your eyes.

"I'm not criticising the empire, general.", you risked a glance over to the entrance of the cave. "This is an opportunity."

His eyebrows drew together.

"Explain.", he demanded, while his hand already ran down to grab the handle of his sword.

"They outnumber us because of the many farmers, don't they?", you asked with one eyebrow raised. "They joined the rebels because they have nothing to loose."

"So?"

"The empire should send someone to make them an offer. A hand full of coins can change a simple farmers mind. And probably the minds of some rebels as well. And once they are gone, only the true rebels remain. The ones that truly need to be eliminated."