Previously in the series:

Tet, a slightly experienced merit hunter for his own good continuing the ascendence road to become a best arrow known to Westeros.

================= Two Names in the Woods =================

KvK was close now. You could feel it in the air long before the horns were blown. The Kingdoms woods tightened their borders, whispered instead of shouted. Castles grew restless, commanders pacing behind stone walls, pretending readiness was the same as strength.

Tet moved through the woods where maps blurred and nature softened. The roads only known to him. Snow crunched faintly beneath his boots. His bow was strung, waxed and tuned - not for the battle, but for a mission.

Unprepared castles should be exterminated. They will see no mercy.

Two names kept whispering repeatedly through the woods. Two keeps standing where they should not. Shields down. Walls neglected. Commanders offline or arrogant enough to believe that peace before KvK meant safety.

Алекс Старый and Алекс Малый.

Tet intended to erase both of them from the woods memories.

------------------------------------------------------ Old Complacency --------------------------------------------------

Алекс Старый’s keep looked tired.

Exactly, not weak but rather tired. Stone dulled by time, towers left unmanned out of habit rather than choice. The kind of place that relied on reputation instead of vigilance.

Tet watched from the treeline, patient. No scouts passed. No signal fires flared. A man like this believed experience alone would carry him through another war.

Tet drew his bow.

The first arrow flew straight and quiet, striking the outer tower just beneath the parapet. Wood split. A support beam cracked sharply, forcing a guard to stumble backward in surprise.

Confusion followed, slow and uncertain. That was problematic.

Tet shifted position, already moving as voices rose inside the walls. From a new angle, he sent another arrow into the gate housing, metal shrieking as the mechanism jammed halfway open. Still no horn.

Old habits died slowly and sometimes fatally.

--------------------------------------------- The End of Алекс Старый --------------------------------------------

Tet climbed higher, boots finding stone that frost had not yet claimed. From here, he could see inside the lord’s room.

Алекс Старый was there, pacing. Arguing with shadows. Hands moving too much, words too fast. A man who had survived too long without consequence.

Tet steadied his breathing. The second arrow was not hurried. It passed cleanly through the open window and struck true. The argument ended instantly, cut short by the dull sound of a body meeting stone.

The keep did not erupt. It sagged.

Guards froze. Orders never came. By the time anyone understood what had happened, Tet was already gone, slipping back into the woods as if he had never been there at all.

Another name erased.

-------------------------------------------------- Youth Without Readiness -----------------------------------------

Алекс Малый’s keep was the opposite.

New stone. Bright banners. Too many torches. Guards standing tall, talking loudly, confident that visibility was the same as security.

Youth had made the mistake of believing preparation was optional while Tet this time, approached from the east, where the light blinded more than it revealed.

The first arrow struck a torch cleanly, snapping the iron mount and plunging half the wall into sudden darkness. Shouts followed immediately - too fast and too loud.

Panic arrived before any thoughts.

Tet sent a second arrow into a guard’s leg as he leaned over the wall to look. The man collapsed, screaming as he fell out of sight crawling out of here.

Orders followed, overlapping and useless.

Tet smiled once, briefly. This one would be quicker.

--------------------------------------------------- No Time to Learn ----------------------------------------------------

Tet did not wait for the keep to adjust.

He moved laterally, firing from a new line. One arrow pinned a defender’s cloak to the battlement. Another dropped a runner crossing the courtyard, blood dark against fresh snow.

Then Алекс Малый appeared.

Too visible and a little too exposed. He was shouting commands that he never used to practice, believing volume could replace authority. Well Tet did not hesitate.

The arrow struck just below the throat, dropping him backward in silence. No final words. No rally. Just a body where "a leader" had stood seconds before.

The keep unraveled instantly.

Men fled without direction. Some froze, unsure who to listen to now. None of it mattered.

Tet stopped shooting. There were no real targets left to exterminate.

------------------------------------------------- Silence Before War -----------------------------------------------

Dawn found the woods quiet again.

Two keeps still stood, but neither would march for a long time. Neither would weaken their kingdom when KvK finally began.

Tet stood briefly at the edge of the trees, bow lowered, breath steady. He felt no triumph. No thrill. Only readiness.

War favored those who arrived prepared - and punished those who assumed they would be allowed to.

Tet turned and disappeared back into the forest, the snow already smoothing over his tracks.

KvK would come. But for two names, it's already passed.

--------------------------------------------- Author’s Afterword ---------------------------------------------------

If you read closely, you may have noticed:

- Unprepared players are not harmless - they are openings for your enemies.

- Precision and timing matter more than numbers.

- Mercy has no place in competitive preparation.

In GoTWiC, war does not start when the timer hits zero.. It starts when hunters like Tet decide the board needs cleaning.

=================================== The End ==================================

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoying this SoW season!

Remember that in GoTWiC you are not only playing the game, sometimes you loot people around you! →_→

AlexHarret