A horse was coming hard up the road. Brindally couldn't see it in the dark but the rider drove the beast down the hard packed earth with haste. The sound preceded them for a mile in the stillness. It was too soon for a message, it was too soon but the message had come nonetheless. Bad news.
 
 
 There had been a lot of bad news in this war. Bischette's enemies, the Valkans, had sent their legions to attack the mountains to the East. The men of Bischette had gathered their army and marched, leaving only the women of the provincial armies behind to guard the capital and heart of their nation. The battle had joined and the Bischetti stood victorious in two battles, and drove the foe back one town at a time. Brindally now felt foolish at the rejoicing she had done as the captives of the first victory were led in parade to the stables of the titans. As she watched the men and women of Valkam trained and prepared for their eventual sacrifice to the titans she had noticed the trap. Valkans were arrogant, greedy, and extravagant to a fault in their proceedings. For all that, no one ever claimed that they lacked ability in combat or the bravery to sacrifice themselves when needed. The Valkans were also known to despise waste and the sheer amount of captives seemed to indicate an army that was hardly trying to win. One look at the naked flesh of the offerings-to-be betrayed them as farmers, weavers, and every other profession under the sun aside from soldiers. The Valkans had committed a token force to distract the Bischetti army, disguising their auxiliaries as legionnaires to draw the army of Bischette away from the capital.
 
 
 The elders had listened as Brindally implored them to muster the army. Brindally was the most victorious and celebrated commander Bischette had ever known. She had been given command of the largest provincial force in the history of Bischette, three thousand shield maidens. While the women of Bischette were every bit as fierce as the men, there was nothing that number could do against the ten thousand men and women of the three Valkan legions and their auxiliaries she faced.
 
 
 Brindally rose from her cot and dressed to meet the messenger she knew was bound to her tent. Even before the rackett caused by the messengers arrival sleep had been impossible for Brindally to achieve. Sleep and a victory had a lot in common lately. As the guards challenged the messenger and the news that something important was passed along until Brindally's aide stopped outside the flap of her tent.
 
 
 "A messenger from the forward force has arrived." The woman said with a resigned expression on her face. She could see which way the wind was blowing too it seemed.
 
 
 "I'll see her immediately, go gather the commanders for a meeting once we're done." The aid saluted by placing her hand over her heart and left. Outside she could hear a brief exchange between the aide and the sentries.
 
 
 "Go with speed, and a titans pox on the cocks of all Valkans!" One of the sentries called.
 
 
  The Valkans would have men with them as well as women. They mixed their armies and auxiliaries together, asking all of their people to defend their homes and take from their foes. Be they male or female, too many Valkans were spreading the footprint of Rhal, their god of war. They didn't revere the titans as Brindally and nearly everyone in Bischette did. The Valkans chose instead to honor the gods that had fought with the titans against the dark ones. Brindally wasn't sure why so many people thought this was a failing as both religions had a version of the saying revere the titans/gods, but give the gods/titans their due. The messenger entered and cut into Brindally's reverie.
 
 
 "The Valkans did not allow our plan to go forth, my lady. They had a provincial auxiliary unit spread out ahead of the main body to give warning as we approached. When battle was seen to be futile the commander ordered a retreat and force march to the main army. They will arrive around midnight. The enemy still advances as one unit."
 
 
 "Anything further?"
 
 
 "No my lady."
 
 
 "You are dismissed, get some food and rest. You will need it." The messenger saluted and left the tent as well. Brindally nodded slowly as she considered this latest bit of bad news. She had wanted to stop her enemy at the bridge crossing just inside her lands. The enemy had force marched a legion to reach the bridge first and hold her at bay until the rest caught up. She had meant to split his forces by leaving a garrison hidden at Terma to menace their rear. The enemy commander had solved the problem by marching his whole army the long way through Terma, dislodging the garrison with two legions while the third marched past. The weight of numbers had allowed their army to win the battle and continue on without even breaking their pace. The maneuver would have cut Brindally off from the capital she was to defend and encircle her if she hadn't considered the possibility of just such an action as she watched children playing at leapfrog.
 
 
 "Kahl has grown to be quite the handful." She mused, referring to the man who led the legions of Valkam against her. In spite of everything she was proud of the younger man. She had known him for his entire life in their neighboring border towns and treated him as though he had been raised in the same stable as her. As the two aged, they joined the armies of their respective nations and rose to take up commands. When war had broken out several years ago, they crossed swords as enemies. Brindally had enjoyed herself as she outmaneuvered and crushed Kahl's forces. She had enjoyed the sight of him kneeling at her feet and swearing his oath of captivity then as well. She had enjoyed it a bit too much, in retrospect. Hearing him release his very life into her hands had crushed her image of him as a little boy and replaced it with the heady feelings of a woman in control of her man. The new feelings had been exhilarating, perplexing, and frightening. Captive soldiers were taken as sacrifices to the victors object of worship. Captive commanders could be taken for one's own, sacrificed to the titans, or released with the victors mark upon their flesh. Unwilling to end his life by making him a sacrifice and unable to look him in the eye after he had revealed feelings she was not aware of inside her, she opted to mark him and send him away. He had fought hard and redeemed himself a hundred fold since then. She heard that he had torn away the sleeve of every uniform he ever owned, leaving her mark visible to all as a sign of his ultimate goal to face her again. Hard to believe that he had only just finished puberty back then, with her only a year ahead of him. Harder still when she realised that she was still on the younger side of the curve compared to the average age of her army.
 
 
 The commanders arrived and the meeting began. The first order of business was deciding if they should flee or fight. It was decided in quick order that they could not allow the enemy to advance any further. If Brindally retreated, the narrow theater of the "titans footprints", the mountain passes and valleys anyone must cross to go from one nation to the other would give way to the sprawling plains of Bischette. While retreating would give Brindally and her army a chance to fight and survive, the enemy would have the option to bypass them entirely and bring their nation to its knees.
 
 
 Once it was decided that they must stay and fight they began to discuss the terrain and troop dispositions for such an option. Her commanders knew not to leave out even the smallest details as they explained what they knew. Brindally had schooled them well that even a children's game of hopscotch could have made all the difference in the world had it gone unobserved. The best hope of victory was to fight only a single legion, so that the numbers would be more or less even. A place was found along the march with forts that could hold off an assault for possibly a day with the small garrison they could accommodate. The garrison could hide in the secret cellars of the forts and wait for one legion to pass before manning the ramparts and blocking the rest of Kahl's men.
 
 
 Brindally knew the plan would fail. She had schooled her commanders well but there were details that only one of her experience could see. While the forts could hold themselves and delay a sizeable portion of the enemy, they could not stop him completely. The numbers would shift rapidly. The other obvious flaw concerning numbers was, even if they could get only one legion arrayed before them and win, there were two more legions behind them. Brindally had no illusions about the kinds of destruction even a fair fight against a true Valkan legion would bring. The numbers would shift rapidly even if everything went perfectly according to plan. The most pressing flaw was that Kahl led the Valkans. He had fought using the standard legion doctrine but once in his life and wore Brindally's mark carved into his flesh forever to remind him of that folly. The plan they drew up today assumed that he would do as Valkan doctrine dictated, which Brindally knew for a fact he wouldn't. This strategy was their only hope and their only choice though, so she wouldn't hinder her commanders from seeking victory by pointing out what she saw.
 
 
 Brindally dismissed the commanders to their preparations and sat down on her cot again. Tomorrow she would meet her fate. Death in battle scared her not even a little bit, the titans treasured those who fell in their names the same way they accepted the willing sacrifices that died in their honor daily. Losing but living would most likely mean her end as a sacrifice to Valkan gods. Even then, she could not deny that she felt the universal desires of all women on Mesk. The gods and titans had created the first people to be their food and entertainment. All female livestock of the great creators desired to breed and then fulfill their ultimate purpose of being feasted upon in sacrifice. Males, for their part, seemed indifferent to death but desired to spread their seed where they would, and slay all obstacles in their path. When it came down to it, all death fed the titans and the gods, but not repaying the creator's kindness with a willing gift was the act of cowards and heretics.
 
 
 Kneeling at Kahl's feet and throwing her fate in his hands was also something she would face without fear. Indeed, she would have to admit that she hoped to survive the day so that she could give him the satisfaction he had desired for years. Being his enemy for years had not dulled the affection Brindally felt towards the young man, she had spent years agonizing over her cowardice at not making him hers that day. Kahl would be nine and a half eclipses old now, she wondered if she would recognize him as a man of 19 years without the mark. Even though she feared not death and even though she looked forward to giving her life to Kahl, she chafed at the prospect of what tomorrow's defeat would bring. The legions would power through her force, and no matter how fast the men in Bishette's army marched the Valkans would beat them to the capital. The Valkans would send the captives back to their great city to be offered to their gods who would feast upon her armies wasted valor.
 
 
 ...waste!
 
 
 The Valkans despised waste! A Bischetti victory would send the captives home as tribute to the titans, but the wounded and those who cared for them were left behind. Not so the Valkans. The wounded and captives alike would be sent home to Valkam under guard as though each one was a precious commodity. A quarter of the captives would line the road home all the way to the gates of Valkam as sacrifices to the bloodthirsty Rhal. Another quarter would be given over to Rhea, Rhal's wife and the goddess of slavery and women. The rest would be offered to Oum the goddess queen of their pantheon in the grand temple-theaters that Kahl used to brag to her about as children. The logistics of moving and sacrificing captives was always a requirement of three to one. Which was exactly the odds she faced tomorrow!
 
 
 Brindally called her commanders back in a hurry and explained the details she had left out earlier to her comrades. Some had seen the same thing and were despairing at their failure to defend their home even if they gave their very lives to the cause.
 
 
 "Unless the gods or the titans manifest themselves and feast upon those legions, we fail our duties tomorrow and go to our fates in vain." She said. Those who hadn't seen these things before began to despair, some even began weeping openly at the impending failure. "I ask you, who among you would freely embrace an honorable death if you could guarantee that Bischette would not fall?" All of her commanders raised their hands. Brindally took a shuddering breath and began to strip her clothes before them. The commanders gasped as one when she stood completely naked and spoke again.
 
 
 "I will lay down my life tomorrow for Bischette. I embrace certain death so that Bischette will stay free. I ask again, who would take oath to do the same with me?" To lie when naked was to be cursed by gods and titan alike. Everything one said they would do when nude was to be taken as the most sacred of oaths. Brindally stood displaying her body to her fellows to convince them of her sincerity and certainty that they could save their country. As one the leaders of her army began to strip and even the aids and guards who attended bared themselves.
 
 
 "Bischetti for life! A life for Bischette!" They proclaimed in unison, a repetition of the oath all soldiers of Bischette took.
 
 
 Brindally smiled an exhilarated smile as the adrenaline coursed through her. She had just led three thousand women in a suicide pact. As she explained her plan she began to moisten between her thighs with anticipation, as did all of her fellows upon hearing the nature of their fate. One of the aides reached orgasm as Brindally reiterated that they would all certainly die in Valkan hands but achieve victory because of it. The commanders left the tent in the nude to explain the plan to the army while Brindally lay on her cot and fingered herself.
 
 
 She couldn't wait to see Kahl again tomorrow!