Lynsie had stopped just outside Brine’s shop. She roped Sorbet to a post, and headed inside.

The shop was made out of mostly wood, but Brine had layered sections of the shop with strong metal. The tables were messy with tools, books, and other objects that were strewn around the place.

“Aha! There ya are Lynsie!” Brine boomed as he got up to greet his close friend. “Heard from the guards parading your new role as leader of Shtoppenheim! Wonderful! You’ll do great I’m sure!” Brine happily exclaimed.

“We’ll see” Lynsie responded. “What exactly did you want to show me?” Lynsie was intrigued about this new creation Brine had for her.

“Ah, here let me get it for ya lad.” Brine walked into the back room and rustled around before returning to Lynsie. “Here it is! The first in the market! I figured you should be the first to try it!” Brine happily explained as he handed Lynsie the creation.

Lynsie looked at the creation. It had a short handle, a long open barrel, what appeared to be a button, or a trigger. It was made out of wood and metal, and was quite decorative. “How does it work?” Lynsie asked.

“Simple!” Brine explained. “You take a small cannonball like this!” Brine picked one up and showed her. “And you pack it in with this powder called gunpowder!” Brine explained as he showed Lynsie how it worked. “Now hold it, from the handle and use your finger to pull that trigger!” Brine said excitedly.

Lynsie grabbed hold of the tool, held it properly, and aimed at the target and pulled the trigger. “BULLSEYE!” Yelled Brine. “Great job!”

“What shall we call this then, my friend?” Lynsie asked

Brine thought for a moment. “What about...Flintlock Pistol? It’s unique and short!” Brine finally said.

“Yes, I like it. Thanks for the new tool Brine!” Lynsie said “It surely will give an edge on the field!”

“That’s what I designed it for lad!” Brine called back. “I’ll see ya soon!”

Lynsie walked away and waved before going outside, saddled onto Sorbet again, and rode to the battlefield again, ready to fight for three more days.

. . .

Lynsie had been travelling for several hours, and decided to take a quick break to let Sorbet rest, and so Lynsie herself could eat.

“Well now Sorbet, I’ll take a quick bite to eat and then we’ll head off again” Lynsie spoke to the horse. Lynsie ate a small snack consisting of an apple, a cold bowl of oatmeal, and a bottle of cider from the Inn. “Ahh” She gasped “That hit the spot, now come on Sorbet, let’s get to battle!” Lynsie packed her bags again and hopped onto Sorbet and they rode off towards the battlefield.

A few miles down the path Lynsie reached the clearing which led into the campgrounds of Ludurn Fort’s finest warriors. Something was wrong. Lynsie looked around and saw no one bustling, not a sound to be heard but the soft rustling of the leaves of the trees and the fabric of the tents. The warriors seemed to be missing. “Where’d they all go?” Lyn asked into open air. Lynsie moved forward into camp and discovered a newly fashioned wooden structure that was posted on either side of a large dip in the field. There was a beam connecting the two posts and in the centre of the structure there was 4 warriors, 2 from Ludurn Fort, and the other 2 from the opposing enemy known as ‘The Shilk Warriors’.

“Bloody hell...” Lynsie whispered to herself. She dropped down into the trench-like area, and walked underneath the hanged warriors. She saw another of the wooden structure in front of her. With 4 more warriors hanged. She soon realized what had happened. Everyone of her warriors had been killed and so had the front-line of Shilk’s. “This is definitely not the Monday I expected to have, Sorbet. Let’s head back to Ludurn Fort and find ourselves some new warriors. I’ll need the best that I can possibly acquire. We have a new enemy, therefore we must defeat it. Let’s go.” Lynsie said to her horse, as she grimly looked back at the slaughter, she turned her back on the gruesome display, saddled up onto Sorbet and rode back to Ludurn Fort, hoping that things didn’t get worse.