The final resolution of the Siege of Eagle Nest was far more uneventful than even the wildest predictions from all sides over the previous months.
When the Goldflower Kingdom's hastily assembled grand coalition—complex in composition but undeniably over a hundred thousand strong—barely finished gathering south of Eagle Nest and began pressing northward in a slow but imposing formation, the siege had already lasted more than three months. After a brief initial standoff and probing clashes, the equally exhausted Sauron army wisely chose to withdraw.
This was no longer the certain confrontation outside Osric Fort. This time, Goldflower had assumed the posture of a decisive battle, and the list of commanders was enough to make any Sauron general's scalp tighten—Earl Rochefort, Karl, Duke Schmidt, Friedrich, Count Boles...
The strength, cunning, and tenacity those names represented were things the Sauron had long experienced in past border conflicts. And now, they had actually come together.
Harald weighed the situation and had no desire to fight a decisive battle with no assurance of victory while far from his own supply line, with enemy reinforcements newly arrived, and his own besieging forces equally worn down.
After minor clashes and a show of force, the main army slowly withdrew north, retreating into the hilly lands beyond Eagle Nest. A small number of elite cavalry remained behind to cover the retreat, while rumors of "luring the enemy deep in" were deliberately spread.
A strategic decisive battle that should have run with blood and determined the fate of the Northern Territory—even the kingdom itself—ended hastily in a fashion that began like a tiger and ended like a snake.
Friedrich and Karl were ordered to lead the cavalry in pursuit. They took the heads of more than a hundred rearguard Sauron cavalrymen and achieved a negligible tactical victory, but