He was Tobias Barca, Commander-General of the Armies of Hannibal. You would expect a man of his rank to be much older, but he was a young man not even thirty, hand-picked out of the ranks of the old Equestrian order to serve in the newly created post that unified the disparate commands under a single representative of the Minister of War. Though his father was a knight of renown, he was not the son of some great lord, nor did he hail from one of the branches of the royal family, so why he was granted this honor was a mystery to all but the Minister of War himself. It caused many an evil eye to be cast his way, especially from the jealous captains-general who saw their power and influence diminished by this upjumped young pup.

Tobias had to be wary of those jealous peers—to include the captain of his old order, who had been as a father to him ever since he was a boy—, but now was not the time to be thinking of such things. There was a grave threat to the kingdom and he was dispatched as a demonstration to the Queen of how seriously this threat was taken. Perhaps being so young and mostly a figurehead, he was more easily sacrificed than a seasoned veteran who would actually deserve his station.

He was accompanied by men of the Black Guard, the newest order among the Queen's men, who answered directly to Lord Bannon the Minister of War. Even with Tobias' nominal command over them, he had little actual authority. They were cold, humorless men who seemed to live only for their mission, whatever it might be. Even the often arrogant and standoffish Dragoons were more approachable. However, for a task like this, there was perhaps no one better.

The seers called her the Witch from Beyond the Sea, a living calamity that could upend the very order of Nature itself, empower the beastmen that hemmed the kingdom on all sides and wreak utter devastation from shore to shore. It was said that she would not come into her full power so soon after crossing into their shores, so there was a narrow window of opportunity to strike first and avert the disaster.

Nine men seemed too few for such a great task, but apparently nine would be as good as ninety or nine hundred against the Witch. Also, there were other creatures that lurked in these woods that would be more easily provoked by greater numbers. Lastly, nine was deemed an auspicious number. The Queen had taken up the eight-pointed star as her emblem. Eight men for eight points with Tobias as the center.

Every man of the Black Guard was known for being a skilled tracker and many of them had a touch of the arcane as well. It was Tobias who felt like an ill fit for the mission. He was a fair hand with a sword, bow and javelin, but what good would that do him against a creature that could supposedly bring down the entire kingdom?

The Black Guard's horses seemed to pad about as quietly as cats. The Guardsmen would go out a short distance for a while, then return to adjust the group's heading. One of them had found the Witch and they were going to move in to capture her. While they fanned out to attack from all sides, Tobias would go down the middle as a decoy. It was about as much help as he could be. A fine use for the vaunted Commander-General.

Proceeding along the way directed by one of the Guardsmen, Tobias entered a clearing and that was where he saw her. She was a small creature and seemed more or less human. Birds and other animals of the forest flocked to her. They were not afraid of her, nor did Tobias' horse show any sign of unease. He had been on raids in the Gebal Forest and the Barklai Mountains. He knew the sense of tension you get when facing the inhuman menace, but he did not feel that here. Surely the living calamity would fill him with dread down to the marrow of his bones.

The animals took notice of Tobias' horse and began to scatter. The Witch turned to face him. He was expecting a shriveled crone or some twisted inhuman horror, but what he saw instead was an ordinary girl, utterly guileless. Could this really be the Witch from Beyond the Sea? It had to be some village girl who wandered into the woods. No, there was not a human alive who could simply wander into these woods alone and live to tell the tale. Was she really as harmless as she appeared?

The sudden sounding of a horn startled Tobias nearly as much as the girl as the Black Guard swarmed at her all at once. It was then that the Witch proved she was not so harmless after all. Though she screamed and cowered as you would expect any girl—and even some grown men—under the circumstances, the ground started to shake and that sense of danger Tobias had not felt before reared its head and made itself known.

Everything happened so fast, it took Tobias some time afterward to make sense of it all. One of the Guardsmen cast a net at the Witch, but as he did so, tree roots broke loose from the ground, springing up like spears that pierced horse and rider both. Another was swallowed up by the earth and a third was trampled by a large boar that burst into the clearing and unseated him after goring his mount. Tobias used one of his javelins to wound the boar, which was then killed with a well-timed lance thrust from a Guardsman.

When Tobias saw the Witch about to get loose from the net, he threw his second javelin to pin her by the skirt of her robe. She turned to look at him, not in wrath but fear and confusion, and he felt the ground shift under him. He may well have been swallowed up like the one Guardsman, but before that could happen, one of the surviving Guardsmen struck the Witch with the butt of his lance, knocking her out cold. The moment she collapsed, the ground stilled and Tobias' horse was able to free itself.

Yet another Guardsman dismounted and went to the horse that was gored by the boar and retrieved something from the saddlebag. It appeared to be a collar. Another Guardsman retrieved what seemed to be manacles from his own saddlebag. They were not common works of iron. Even if Tobias had not been informed beforehand, he knew they were special implements enchanted by the court sorcerers to bind the Witch's power. Once they fixed the collar around her neck and the manacles on her wrists, the Guardsmen stuffed the unconscious Witch into a goathair sack and slung her over the back of one of their horses.

So this was how you put the genie in the bottle, but what would happen if it got out again? If the Witch was truly the danger the seers foretold, taking her alive may well have sealed the kingdom's doom.