Two days later, after leaving town bright and early, having done some last minute shopping for potions and basic necessities, they were on their way to hunt Goblins.
Marlin and his band of minions and friends, walked in relative peace and quiet. Billy with Milly on his back so she could attempt to focus on meditating. Not like she managed, the constant bumping around, Billy hopping on every single piece of elevation he could see. Marlin’s attempts to make Billy stop hopping around on elevation’s when walking over the years, had failed spectacularly.
Milly didn’t complain, her stamina was the worst of them all and Billy simply took the weight as extra training.
Gary, serious as ever to prove his worth, lead them down the well trodden road towards the forest, checking under each rock or log for treasure or danger. as quietly as possible.
“Hey Gary! Don’t forget to have a little fun ok? Masters orders!” Marlin called out.
Gary huffed and forced himself to ‘look like he had fun, doing a silly dance that looked absolutely comical’.
Billy bleated out his approval. “I would never have thought you! to have the makings of a court jester! Keep going brother!”.
The uncharacteristic insult to his fragile little ego was too much and he went straight back to not letting a single stone unturned.
“Someday I will loosen him up my lord”. Billy said in his most comforting bleat. Marlin, Jerry and Bary shared a look behind Billy’s back.
“What are you talking about?” Kotak inquired.
”That Gary is too serious, Billy calling him a Jester and Billy promising me, he will Loosen Gary up”. Marlin recapped.
Bron chuckled, “that goat could do some loosening up himself. Always trodding around like a pure blood steed.”
Billy bleated offended “I am a pureblood!”
Marlin snickered. “Yes, you are a pureblood goat, that puts the pureblood horses to shame”.
They kept up a good pace. As novel as it had been to visit a City such as North Haven, Marlin was grateful to be on the road again. Lost Haven, he realized, had been filled with people who really didn’t care much for someone’s evil or righteous thinking or background. Actions spoke loudest.
Here in North Haven, he felt that the buzz of the rumor mill would drown that out.
He could tell it would take him a lot longer in North Haven, to regain his former reputation. Still he was grateful.
The ‘official declaration of war’, by the Avalonian empire had been issued.
Stating that: ‘they could no longer stand idly by, while a region of land was overrun by Dark lords and cultists. Spreading the plagues of Sarrtha’. How they knew all that, was not difficult to figure out. Daini the spy, still not found.
Bradford had been brooding about that declaration for weeks, and only told Marlin yesterday, after Marlin had overheard a noble talking to his retinue.
Bradford had discreetly tried to contact his and Betty’s family, no response. Which had been worrisome. It wasn’t often that Marlin’s parents received letters from their families. especially Marlin’s grandfather, Bradford’s Father, had taken a long time to come to grips with their voluntary exile.
However the Letters over the years, always held a genuine affection and care, every single one of his aunts and uncles would write a few lines in the letters. Marlin himself had built a small rapport with his Uncle Larn over the years, who like Him, was a Warrior.
Marlin had seen the worried looks on his parents face and couldn’t shake that something felt off about it all. It felt like a trap was set.
A battle for Lost Haven, would be held in a month. 5000 men and women on each side, in accordance with the agreed upon skirmish.
Bradford as part of his Asylum request, was honor bound to fight for Valkor. By moving his house to the neutral territory of North Haven he had prevented Marlin from having to participate as a freebooter.
“we should camp here, easily defended”. Marlin spoke. They had come upon a small cave, that looked like it had belonged to a bear but was long gone.
No one disagreed and went to work setting up camp. Marlin had hoped to distract himself from the dark clouds hanging over his mind with this hunt, his inner nerd had squealed in delight about hunting goblins two days ago.
No matter the horrific tales elicited from a few drinks offered to veteran freebooters. Marlin felt it in his bones, Goblins represented a Mile stone a real adventure it had gotten his blood boiling but now, all he could think of was Bradford, who was obligated to fight.
He himself had fought in wars in his old life back on earth. The memories of children body parts, due to forced suicide bombings never faded from his mind, burned into his soul as a core memory.
Him pulling the trigger, the gun had never sounded so loud.
Him exacting cold vengeance on the scum using children, together with a few of his buddies had almost gotten them all dishonorably discharged.
If it hadn’t been for ‘the sarge’ stepping in, fishing out a few reports out of the paper machine, they would have.
‘The sarge’, as everyone called him, valued initiative over rank and file, always looked out for his men. Everyone loved that guy, he had your back.
Seeing him get blow up by a grenade, mere 5 feet away, had killed something inside of Marlin whatever that was, he never recovered, not in his old life or the new.
Another beautiful bullshit core memory surfaced. His shrink declaring officially, he didn’t suffer from PTSD. The fact that he digested pain, and mental issues in a funny way was seen as him not suffering at all. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Some official bootlicker, had low key ridiculed him. Telling him his whining cost the government precious resources, Money that should be used for people with actual problems. The rage, the burning fury, the drums of his heart, had started back then.
The desire to snap the man’s neck had been so inviting, the lure of vengeance had tasted so sweet on his lips. It had seemed so easy.
”Marlin?”, he snapped back to reality, Milly had spoken softly, gently holding both his hands, sitting next to and looking at him, with deep concern.
He hadn’t thought about those particular moment in years, forgotten. This brought it all back.
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The thought of Bradford, his father, having to face former allies, brothers in arms, perhaps even family, was nerve wracking.
Bradford had assured Marlin that his extended family, lived too far from the border to be drafted. As usual Marlin had picked up on his father’s tells, Bradford was many things but a liar he was not, there was no guarantee.
His grandfather was among the top 200 in Avalonia. Chances that he would be summoned was a distinct possibility.
“Do you want to talk?” Milly inquired softly.
Marlin sat there quietly, the all too familiar lump in his throat of talking to loved ones, about how deeply troubled you are as a person, people who didn’t get it, they hadn’t experienced it.
Bron and Kotak didn’t have their usual bickering, and quietly looked into the fire.
He was squeezing Milly’s hands for comfort, at some point he started talking, why or how he didn’t know, it didn’t matter. Once the dam broke, it all came flooding out. He spoke of the bad, the ugly, the tragic and the hurt.
None of the T’jut said a word and simply let him speak.
Kotak POV.
What he heard Marlin describe was horrifying, he had mentally prepared himself suspecting Marlin had memories of a war he was in, it still shocked him to his core. As someone who fought to protect the honor and safety of his tribe, had seen his share of violence, got used to it.
Hearing about the sheer, overwhelming brutality of war really hit home how wasteful and callous it all was. He couldn’t help compare,
The skirmish of 5000 men and women on each side was a groundbreaking event in their world. The biggest one anyone heard off in 20 years.
Compared to what Marlin described it was a but a minor war compared to ‘earth’. Marlin had fought in two.
Veterans, except the truly powerful above level 10 would usually be exempt of a war after participating in one. The Kalta wars had been a war of 3 kingdoms, each with 3000 men and women on their side. The reasons for that war had been convoluted and vague.
The war before that, had happened far away down south.
War’s was a drain on one of the most precious resource available to them.
Levels.
the constant scourge of evil lurking, had most countries and kingdoms in tight knit alliances. Goblin hordes, Orc raids, Ogre hunts were all described and hammered into his and every sentient person as the true evil. That the Kingdoms despite their differences, should stand together.
This war was shocking. It went completely against everything taught to him and all others from an early age.
Avalonia had been in a tight knit alliance with the Valkor and Eluneth kingdoms. Eluneth had taken a neutral stance. So had the Hjab, which they always did.
What got to Kotak the most was the indifference Marlin showcased, it appeared and he himself admitted, that the trauma he experienced simply wasn’t processed, too much so his Mind went blank, dead. After Marlin had said his piece, he excused himself and crawled into his tent to go to sleep.
”It’s worse than I thought.” Milly spoke as she looked at the night sky. “It’s not just the scope but the brutality. Don’t get me wrong our world is pretty brutal but it’s.” She paused looking for the right words.
”Moderated severely. Even this war, with all the consequences included won’t really affect the lives of civilians except to whom they pay their taxes.”
Bron didn’t say anything, just pondered. “I wonder if i will have to face that sort of thing for the tribe. Doesn’t seem all that glorious anymore.” He said after a while, more to himself and the sky then his friends.
Him and Milly spoke for a bit more, before Milly excused herself as well.
Kotak, thinking for himself, barely paid any attention to what the Canta’s were talking about. He had slowly felt more and more relieved and felt gratitude to Marlin for sharing his inner troubles. It showed that Marlin thrusted them.
Lately Marlin had begun to look ‘larger then life’. His birth, his fate, his undeniable strength had all fueled the image of an unstoppable force.
It was good to see the man and not the reputation. it helped tremendously with putting things in perspective.
The older T’jut were blind to it and he knew they had their reasons on and on about hammering on the dangers of those born under the shadowed star.
In the last couple of months Kotak had begun to respect Marlin. He was dependable and he saw him as a friend.
Marlin wasn’t the only one who had strength.
Each of them had something to contribute. To share.
Daini POV.
“Did you manage to uncover the organization? Anything at all?”
Her Liaison at the North Haven embassy interrogated her, again. They must have picked up that her story wasn’t completely true.
The death of her partner had been dissected and disputed, the loss of her cover met with fury from her superiors. but in the end, they only had her word to go by. Her mastery in the Deception skill came in very handy, spinning a convincing story.
When first selected for this deep spy mission, she had been briefed about the suspicions the Empress had, of a shadow organization in the Valkorian Nobility and royalty.
“As I told you before, all the dealings I had with this ‘organization’, was liasoned through bandits. I never spoke with anyone from the ‘organization’ directly. Each bandit had a geas of silence on them, to prevent them from betraying their employers”.
Daini repeated for the hundreds of time.
She had repeated the lines so often now it came out automatically, part of her mind focused on her Predicament. She droned on.
”Each of these bandits had the distinct pleasure of disappearing or dying shortly after talking to me or Tarrani. Especially after that constable Torren showed up.”
Daini sighed, she had wanted to retire. Now there was an official declaration of war that screwing her plans in multiple ways.
What were the upper brass thinking? 5000? A skirmish? It was going to be a bloodbath and for what?
“You would do well to hide your apprehension, the decree for this war came from the GOD Empress herself. It is therefore Holy.” Her Liason was the typical zealous bureaucrat of the Avalonian government. Fully immersed in the propaganda story of the Divine purpose of the Avalonian empire.
Daini just as zealous a mere month ago, pretended to have just the right amount of deference for that statement but it all seemed so surreal.
As a deep spy, she received the honor of discreetly meeting the Empress. The empress an utterly ‘greater than life’, regal beauty. Had instilled in her an intense loyalty. However in recent months it had faltered.
The 3 lust potion’s that her and Tarrani had uncovered in one of the Valkyr’s basements of Lost haven, a place they had hoped had been a hiding place of the organization, had been from the royal fault of Avalonia.
She knew those potions, she had seen them in the fault. The empire’s fault the Empress had shown her. Daini had been told by the Empress, she would be allowed to pick one of the artifacts or riches when successful in her Mission. Daini’s eyes had fallen on the 3 potions.
The Empress had assured her, that the reason for their continued presence was to find an antidote, so far unsuccessful.
A little tidbit that she uncovered later was that these potions were incredibly difficult to brew and had a very short shelf life. As such, they were always bottled into ‘eternal glass’ bottles. Incredibly rare and expensive. Once molded, the glass was unbreakable, with the capacity to keep the contents within the bottle sustained outside of time. A magical marvel closely guarded by Governments. Which confirmed a huge suspicion she had about the cults of Sarrtha, that they had Noble and royal members. Otherwise these potions could never have been spread
At the time, she had just reached 3rd mind with perception and Cognication. Something she had only shared with Tarrani and no one else.
Cognication is the Magical skill set dealing with perception. Boosting and altering it.
Besides her there were very, very few people that had achieved that. It made her capable of perceiving the tiniests of detail and creatures if she focused.
Including things that crawled in her bed, eating slivers of her skin.
She hadn’t cared for the in-efficiency of her build, she learned cleansing magic simply so she could sleep at night. She couldn’t forget the crawling sensations.
Her impeccable memory, allowed her to recall immense amounts of detail, including some very faint imperfections to the eternal glass, of the 3 potions on display in the royal vault, imperfections invisible to the naked eye.
As fate would have it. Daini recognized the 3 potion bottles when she found them in that hiding place.
3 possibilities hammered into her well trained mind.
1, Someone, somehow had broken into the royal vault, practically impossible and she would have been made aware, to recover the lost items.
2, someone on the council of the Empress, someone beyond reproach was in league with this supposed Organization.
3, It was the Empress herself.
She figured after a while that it had to be a combination of 2 and 3.
The Empress was a Mage of tremendous power but a thought occurred to her.
”What if the Empress was a Dark Witch? Unless you knew, dark witches were indistinguishable from mages. Their ability to hide the source of their power was well documented and feared.
Daini couldn’t trust anyone. She couldn’t afford to meet the Empress now. What could she do? This organization was everywhere and she had no way of telling who was a part of it.
The only ones she could rule out, were the honorless. The irony of her situation wasn’t lost on her. The god’s were testing her she knew that. It was time to put her skills to good use. She would have to become a double spy. Infiltrate her own government. She sighed. The road to justice was long.