If you saw me republishing the earlier chapters of this book, that was just me adding maps and renaming the chapters. Nothing to worry about.

While the majority of the army wait outside River's End village, a small section of each army and each of the Generals enter the village, finding it as deserted as Jerome and Preston had reported. Without speaking, they dismount from their horses and walk a little way into the village, but not too far. The ghost-town like atmosphere keeps them at bay.

"What do you reckon happened to them?" Robert asks, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jumper uncomfortably.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Adam says. He waves his hand, gesturing to the buildings around them. "The villagers here had no reason to leave and they can't be dead, otherwise their bodies would still be here. Considering our attack on the small villages and on Cyfarfod, the Squids would know - or at least suspect - what we're doing. So they're trying to get one step ahead of us."

"You're suggesting that they've forced all of the villages out of here," Lachlan says. "And have presumably taken them to the Capital?"

"I'm not saying that, I'm telling you that that's what's happened."

Vikk remounts his horse, gathering up the reins. "Let's not jump to conclusions. We'll continue on our course. If the other villages we come across are also empty, we'll head for the Capital."

They leave the village and the marching order goes out among the assembled armies. As they march, they pass several small villages scattered in the land to their left. Each group of warriors who are sent to each of these villages comes back with reports of it being deserted recently as houses are still intact and, in some cases, the remnants of food are only beginning to show signs of decay. After three days of a constant flow of empty villages, Mitch finally makes the call.

"There's not way this many villages can suddenly be abandoned, no matter how small they are," he says. "We're going straight for the Capital. Now."

It takes almost a full week for the Pack and the Sky Army to reach the Capital, standing tall and proud at the river mouth. There is no point in attempting to keep their presence a secret as the Squids would have known they were coming and would have certainly seen them approaching one or possibly two days ago. They are, after all, a sizable group. Before they begin the final approach on the city, however, the Generals gather together for a meeting.

"So how are we going to play this?" Seto asks, his map once again spread out on the portable table they were standing around.

"The Squids aren't stupid, we all know that," Robert says. "They won't try and attack us outright."

"But we can't just walk up there and attack them either," Preston adds. "If they've got the civilians in there, they could kill them all in an instant if we provoke them."

"So we'll have to siege them," Lachlan says. "We'll form a circle around the three exposed sides of the Capital and cut off their food supply."

"The food stores in the Capital aren't huge," Adam puts in. "With our sudden advancement, they won't have enough food to last more than two or three weeks and if they force everyone to go hungry, they risk a riot from the civilians."

"Doing a siege will put us at a stalemate, Lachlan," Mitch points out.

"But it will eventually force their hand."

"What if they threaten the lives of the civilians if we don't leave?" Jerome asks.

Seto shrugs. "We'll do what they say. We'll go back to Nad'ij for a month and then come back and do it all over again."

Jerome gives a large sigh and leans back. "And here I was thinking that this would all be over within the week."

The armies deploy their forces and form a large three-quarter circle around the walled city. They have no scaling ladders or catapults, but with a large forest nearby and close to 400 people who have spent the last 12 years as tradesmen and women, they can create dozens of ladders at will. And the Squids know it. Their warriors peer nervously at the milling mass that sits around three hundred metres away from the base of the wall and whisper among themselves.

Boredom sets in among the besieging armies over the next few days as the Squids and the civilians remain in the castle, the only signs of life being the glint of metal from the top of the wall as a piece of armour catches the light of the sun. The large, heavy wooden doors of the Capital remain bolted shut and only the barest hint of noise drifts over to the armies. As two weeks slowly tick by, the situation in the Capital becomes more and more desperate. The large city was never meant to hold the number of people that are now crammed into it.

"What do you think the Squids will try to do, Adam?" Seto asks as he, Adam and Mitch walk along the part circle that the army camps in. Adam shoves his hands in his pockets and glances to his right where the Capital sits, frowning thoughtfully.

"I've never besieged them before," he says slowly, "so I'm not entirely sure how they'll act. They could do what Jerome originally suggested and threaten the lives of the civilians if we don't leave but that seems too crude for them, and they don't get anything out of it except to delay us. And they won't try to take us on with strength, obviously. The most likely thing I'd think they'd do is to bargain."

"Bargain?" Mitch asks in a confused tone.

Adam nods. "It'll be something with high stakes, but it'll also be something that we can't refuse."

"Do you know what it might be?"

The Sky Army General shrugs. Mitch sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I guess we'll just have to be ready for anything then," he says. A Benja captain calls the General's name from the army and he mutters "Oh boy" before leaving the other two Generals. They stop walking, both facing the white walls of the Capital. After standing in silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts that are actually quite similar, they both turn and head back the way they came.

Two days later, a large piece of white cloth with a haphazardly painted green olive branch is waved from the tops of the Capital walls. This causes a stir among the armies of the Pack as they rise up, finally seeing some development in the stalemate. A Bacca warrior who was posted to the inner boundary of the armies dashes into the tent that the Generals are meeting in.

"Excuse me Generals," he says rapidly. "The Squids are flying the treaty flag from the tops of the Capital walls. I believe that they want to make a deal."

"Thank you," General Mitchell says, standing up from the table. He looks around at his fellow Generals and a faint grin comes onto his face. "Let's go talk politics."

End Part 3

*whispers* You guys should all check out the latest book I'm writing, System Failure. 

What will the Squids' deal be?

Will the Pack and the Sky Army (and Seto) accept it?

What is happening to the civilians inside the Capital?

Will everything end happily?

We may never know.....

...Until Part 4