Rumors of a cursed knight in exile in the mountains above Plainsworth drew the Legion’s attention. Even now, the Ghost Owls, led by the most experienced of all the regulars, Sverina, avoided Broken patrols led up the thin mountain passes by Rainn. Elaina and Emerald Shadowed Glade followed along behind the squad, watching for signs of undead resistance.
Climbing up was made easy by the overused equipment of the Legion and the expert athleticism that led the way up. The flattening ground between mountain peaks revealed lazy and quiet villages that seemed to be nearly empty of people. Regardless, the legion needed direction to find the exiled knight. They made their way up to a village house, a couple of kids playing outside that quickly ran inside and away from the squad, evidence that someone was still living there.
Elaina approached with her hands out and unarmed as a hand crossbow appeared against the window sill pointed in her direction. “Whatever you have, we don’t want none of it. Now how about you move along you hear?”
“You can see we aren’t from around here. We are from the Legion. We’ve been trying to fight the monsters that disturb your way of life up here. Please give us a chance to speak. We mean you no harm.” Elaina slings her rifle and slowly approaches the house with her hands out peacefully.
Emerald, even though she’s a medic, seems to not have such instincts as Sverina holds her back.
The woman watches and waits as she sees the reaction. She finally starts to shed big tears, slowly sliding down her cheeks. “All the men of our village went to stop those monsters from taking the mountains.” She says through a pained voice that trembles. “Its just us and the children up in these parts now. But we haven’t seen those monsters come up this way yet either.”
“We are trying to get their attention and draw them away. We need help from you first. We have been tasked to go up here and find someone known as the Kingfisher Knight. Do you know of whom I speak?” Elaina asks with her trained Orite sway.
The woman puts down the crossbow and comes out, another lady holding a makeshift club at her side. “Oh, that knight? You don’t want him, he’s cursed. He’s lived a life of solitude up where the ritual site is. It’s a spot known to connect to the Gods.”
“If you could just tell us the way, we could be out of your village and even get this cursed knight away from you.” Elaina suggests and looks to Emerald and she nods as it seems they can even appear to do the local mountain peoples a favor.
“Fair enough. Well, if you want to get up to the cliffs where he resides, the easiest way is to follow the old deer trail right up between that dry creek bed up there.” She points and Rainn gazes off and nods as she points at what looks like a natural break up between the trees that heads up and out of sight into the higher peaks of this mountain range.
“We thank you. We’ll do our best to draw the attention of any Broken that get too close to your village.” Elaina nods and gives a slight bow of respect from her courtly heritage; her mechanical eye adjusts and sets its sight on the appointed path as the squad moves out and starts its way over to the hard to see path.
The squad drops to single file as they climb the rocks, Rainn leading the way with Elaina pointing out a few switchbacks that make the trip a little easier.
Freriya points up into some heavy brush above them. “See the eyes?”
Elaina stops and adjusts her mechanical eye as she peers into the brush. She sees the eyes and then the horns as the face of the Horned One peers through at them. “Curious, it’s the Horned One. Keep moving.”
The trees, thorns, and bushes are so thick near the top, Sverina starts to wonder if the path has been lost and then she breaks through and finds a plateau that is clear of shrubs.
Elaina puts her hand up and commands quietly for the Ember Wolves to spread out. Bapsta pulls out his rifle and starts to cover the squad as they start to move and cover the rest of the ground. A perfectly round ritual circle is carved right into the mountain top and there is an overlook that is clear of blocking terrain and looks down over the Eastern Valley.
Around the corner and behind a large pile of boulders, a shack sat alone and looking fairly well maintained. Masculine clothing hung on a line, drying and a small fire burned down to embers with a pot of what must have been stew still looking like boiling.
The site looked ancient and the markings in the rock were intricate, but that only drew the attention of the squad for a few moments. A knife pressed against Elaina’s throat as a figure stepped up from under a rock in a ditch, expertly concealed. “What are you doing here?” The gruff old man voice asked.
Elaina spoke, “Are you the Kingfisher Knight? We’ve come to seek your aid. Could you take that knife away from my throat?”
His gruffness faded and Rainn’s own knife pushed into his back unexpectedly. “Oh.” He then laughs as he drops the knife. “Well, there you go.”
He kept the knife in his palm but stepped away and finally Rainn brought down her own knife.
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“Well, now that we are looking eye to eye.” Elaina said as her mechanical eye examined him. He was older, burly and with a very thick white mustache.
“What are you doing here? If you’re here for a new Chosen, you’re shite out of luck, none have manifested here.” He says as he walks up and pours some stew into a bowl and holds it out to Elaina.
“Well, actually, we were here to recruit you. I am aware of your great experiences in war, and we could use that.” She accepts the bowl and sits down as the rest of the squad gathers round.
“I am a pox to soldiers. I only work alone now. I’m afraid you have wasted your time. Besides, I am here for a special purpose. This place cannot be left alone to be taken by the Broken. Any chosen that should be born here will need help.” He shrug as he sits down.
They spend some time convincing him of the need for him to join them. He enjoys the company of many of them and as they speak, he eventually is reminded of one of his greatest friends that he lost due to his curse. He took a big swig of liquor and stepped in and set upon his bed and shed tears quietly as Emerald and Sverina went in to try to comfort him.
The squad looks around and to Elaina for guidance as missions most often don’t involve this level of sitting around. The sun moves through the sky as the day moves into night and yet they still sit and share their food and their moments of joy and relaxation as they attempt the near impossible task of simply convincing this poor, cursed knight that he should put his armor back on and join the legion.
They eat and share stories, Voyis starting to passionately describe not just old battles he fought in, but also to talk about the silly things that soldiers do to pass the time. His scariest story is interrupted by screams in the distance. He looks about and Bapsta actually asks, “Did you do that?” And Voyis shakes his head in response.
As the sounds fill the mountains like the peaks themselves are screaming, Elaina leads the squad with a military marching pace down the slim mountain trail.
The first evidence of the source shows on the sides of the road ahead. Several people lay on the sides, holding at various wounds looking like they were caused by wild creatures. One of them, nearest, reaches out with a blood hand and calls for help as Freryia starts to approach. Just as she is about to lean down to inspect the injuries, Sverina puts a hand on her shoulder. “No, they are hexed.” She says as she knocks the soldier’s helmet off with the back of her axe and a rune glows brightly there as his expression changes and he bites down with his teeth.
Freriya sends her dagger through the man’s throat as they assess the many bodies that look brutalized.
A creature sits in the dark on a big rock looking down at all these things. The squad is on edge and keeps their weapons at the ready as they approach the figure.
“The hexes don’t effect the taste.” A twisted female voice sings as she sucks on a fore arm bone and draws out the marrow.
The Ember Wolves stance relaxes as Elaina puts up a hand to disarm the situation. “It’s the Horned One.”
She grins and her predatory eyes look around at the squad. “They were following us. I decided I needed a snack and they didn’t see me coming anyway.” She slurps up some more of the meat off the bone.
The squad looks over the remains and any of the Hexed that still breathe get daggers and knives shoved through their throats and hearts. The bloody brutal scene would make any less skilled warrior turn their stomach, but the battle at Ettenmark Fields really made this group understand brutality.
As the squad climbs the path back to the cliff top, they see Voyis sitting on a tree stump outside of his shack. Upon closer inspection, he is quietly staring down at his armor, the pieces laid out and the helmet with its distinctive long bill sitting there.
He doesn’t look back as he hears the footsteps as he rubs his long, grey-white moustache. “Well, you can’t win this fight without me, so I guess I’d better be packing up and getting ready to go. The only problem is, I can’t leave this sacred site undefended. What if a Chosen were to be born here and had no attendants?”
Elaina looked over the squad as she opened her mouth, trying to think of the words that would inspire them and lead a volunteer to step forward to remain behind, leaving the legion for this hallowed ground for perhaps forever.
Elaina stepped up next to Voyis, put a hand on his shoulder and took a big breath in. Her mouth opened and then Freriya spoke for her, “I’ll do it. I’ll stay here. I’ve always felt close to the gods and I’ve always felt a calling. I think, perhaps, this is my time.” She sighs out, emptying her lungs and looking to Elaina.
Elaina nods and Sverina stands and confronts her sister, “What? What are you saying? We need you! I need you. You’re our spirit. You keep us going when we get bogged down in the mire.”
Freriya puts her hands on her sister’s broader shoulders. “You were always the fighter of the two of us. I’ve always been the one to pray and to attend to the little things. You can lead them if you want to. You just have to seek out in your soul deep down.”
Bapsta grasped his hand on top of Freriya’s on Sverina’s shoulder. “She’s right. You have this. You will keep us alive and then surely, one day, your sister will be right back by our side.”
Sverina nodded and hung her head down, thinking deeply. It was quickly that time as the Horned One called and each of them said their goodbye to their squad mate that had been with them since Ettenmark Fields. Finally, Voyis leveled some instructions at her and then the squad filed out with their new Specialist Heavy in tow.
The path was bloody and filled with bodies here and there from the Horned One’s ambushes but they encountered no further resistance as they spotted all the Broken patrolling the steady slopes. Elaina pointed out a spot where the rocks looked good for climbing and the team made it to the outcropping and started to prepare for the descent.
Sverina held back tears and found it easy to speak no words as the hooked up the ropes and pitons and prepared for the descent down the steep mountainside. All the others could feel the mood, it wasn’t that Bapsta and the others didn’t also already miss their squad mate. They all watched the cursed Kingfisher knight as he got his armor off and packed it for the descent with the equipment. Had his curse already struck the Ghost Owls Squad and would it do so to the legion too?
With the deep dark that set in with the sun disappearing off to the West, they started their descent down the line between the rocks making up the steep cliff face. One after the other dropped quietly and silently at the base of the cliff only to gather up each of their supplies and prepare for their journey back to base camp at Plainsworth, knowing that soon enough , the legion would move on and leave behind any likelihood that they’d see Freriya again.