Fred’s eyes remained glued to the Iyrmen, who were in the middle of enjoying themselves, chatting about their fights. Even Bavin had fought, and though he had crushed his opponent, he had remained eerily silent. Though Bavin and Nobby were similar in many ways, Fred felt something colder from Bavin, something more deadly. Even though Nobby had been trained by two of the scariest people Fred knew, Bavin was born in the Iyr, where blood was almost currency.

He could feel the corruption of the Iyr begin to seep into his heart.

‘I want to fight too.’

A soldier eyed up the Iyrmen, the very same Iyrmen who had completely demoralised the camp with their strength. In his forty year career of being a soldier, he had seen his fair share of Iyrmen fighting soldiers, many of them victorious, but he hadn’t seen a group this young with a streak this long.

The older veteran sighed, before approaching the dour young man. “You’re surrounded by monsters, eh?” He chuckled lightly. “Iyrmen.” He had said it in that kind of way, the kind which caused him to shrug casually.

“Iyrmen,” Fred agreed, nodding his head.

“You an Aldishman or a Florian?”

Fred paused for a long moment. “I’m from Rock Hill.”

The older veteran’s smiling face dropped. He nodded his head slowly, keeping his eyes glued to the young man. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He tipped his helmet lightly. “Captain Phil’s from Rock Hill too.” He motioned his head, inviting the young man to one side, towards his unit.

Captain Phil was an older man, just like the veteran who had brought Phil over. He had short hair, a thick beard, and carried a blade at his side. He wore a breastplate over chain, betraying him as someone of higher rank, and the medals on his belt revealed more than the title of Captain.

“Captain, we’ve got a kid from Rock Hill,” the veteran said, nodding his head.

Phil eyed up Fred, his dark eyes taking in the sight of the boy. He glanced down towards the boy’s chest, before raising his brow. “So you were still a boy?”

“Aye,” Fred replied, throwing a look at the Captain’s neck, noting a small bit of string which disappeared into his armour, between his chain and breastplate. “Didn’t get my stone before I left.”

“You from Pasmund?” Phil asked, feeling a vague sense of familiarity from the way the boy spoke.

“Roundmund.”

“Ah,” the captain replied, nodding his head slowly. “Same shit.” He held out his hand, a wide grin on his face. If there was one way to rile up a boy from Pasmund or Roundmund, it was to say they were from the same place.

Fred shook the captain’s hand, the pair holding a firm grip, before they ended the handshake by bringing up their fist in front of them. “I’m Fred.”

“It’s good to see a boy from Rock Hill doing well for himself. Ain’t seen many youngsters like you, only the old ones like me. Might be funny to say as a soldier from Rock Hill, but my unit was stationed elsewhere at the time. We were meant to make our way, but they told us to stay for an extra month to keep an eye on the Aswadians.” The Captain inhaled deeply, pushing the pain deep inside of him, for he was a soldier who fought for other people’s homes and families, his own now the fort and his comrades. “We’re tough bastards to kill, though, us lads from Rock Hill.”

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Fred nodded. “Which district did you grow up in?”

“Ah, my father was one of those farmers who worked on the outside.”

“Mine too,” Fred admitted. “Outskirts of Rounmund, near Gunthers.”

“Ah! Gunthers!” The captain’s eyes lit up, having not heard of the place in years. “Where boys got their first drink and first kiss.” His laughter filled the air, causing the soldiers nearby to lighten up too.

Fred smiled, nodding his head lightly. His smile was tamed by the sorrow of the memories he could no longer relive. ‘Gunthers…’ He had been in Gunthers the night before he left Rock Hill.

Phil pat the young man’s shoulder. “Got any ‘ol with you? Spied a few barrels. Might be nice to share a drink, catch up about Rock Hill. I’d requisition some from the supplies, but the young lady’s been toughening up since we’re running out.”

“I’ll go ask.”

“Ask?” Captain Phil raised his brow. “I heard all of you were Experts?”

Fred smiled a knowing smile, letting out a soft sigh. “In this group I’m below average, Captain.”

“Below average? A young man from Rock Hill?” The Captain tilted his head, a confused smile on his face. “Come on now.” After all, who didn’t know the kind of warriors Rock Hill raised?

“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, Captain.”

“Heard there’s a few grandchildren of Mad Dog, but they aren’t all children of that crazy old Iyrman,” Phil said, still raising his brow. “Heard he took the arm of a Vice Commander. Thought he was dead, and I couldn’t believe the arm was gone ‘til they said it was Mad Dog.”

Fred smiled, slowly nodding his head once more. “I’ll go ask for some drinks and I’ll tell you some stories.”

“Good lad,” Phil said, patting the young man’s shoulder, letting him leave.

Fred made his way to Adam, who was busy stressing out about why the Commander had asked for more spars. He had even promised the young Iyrmen he would spar them some time later.

“Adam,” Fred called, clearing his throat. “Could I get some ale to share with some soldiers? The Captain, he’s from Rock Hill. Wanted to chat with him.”

“Oh?” Adam replied, raising his brow. ‘Rock Hill…’

“Yeah.”

“Sure. If he’s a Captain, then I guess we won’t get into trouble if we share some.” Adam nodded, motioning his head to the cart.

“Look at that!” Phil smiled. “He’s definitely from Rock Hill, him. Knew he could bring us some alcohol. James, fill up a skin and send it up, don’t want them complaining later.”

“Yes, Captain!” a young soldier said, before taking the cask and filling up a skin with it.

The soldiers sipped some of the alcohol conservatively, watering much of it down with their water, though they brought out some of their treats they had saved from their rations. They all began to share their various food stuffs as they talked with the young man who had come from Rock Hill.

“Three years? That’s quite some time you’ve spent with them.” The Captain sipped more of his watered down ale. “Working you like a dog, huh?”

“It’s like I’m in the army,” Fred admitted. “Iyrmen are crazy.”

“Ain’t that right, ain’t that right.” Phil nodded. “I was alive during the time Mad Dog was active. I had joined the army about the time he disappeared, but he was talked about for years after, him and the others. One arm and one leg? If it’s anyone who can live with one arm and one leg, it’s him for sure.”

“Yeah,” Fred nodded.

“How’d he lose his arm and leg then? Must have been some crazy monsters.”

“He cut off his arm himself, but his leg was cut off by the Blood Knight. He was fighting Lord Asa at the time and the knight had come out of nowhere.”

“Yeah,” Phil whispered. “I can believe that…” The mention of the Blood Knight caused a dark mood to befall the group. “If it’s the Mad Dog I heard about, that sounds right.”

“The girl with the axe and shield, she’s his granddaughter too,” Fred informed.

“Makes sense since she’s got the same tattoo as the lad. Knocked out Old Bill, and Old Bill doesn’t get knocked out by nobody.”

Fred sighed, raising his brows. “That ain’t the half of it. She fought a giant python during the outbreak. All by herself.” He leaned in. “She beat it.”

“Auroch shit.” The captain leaned back. “You ain’t lying to me, are ya, boy?”

Fred shook his head lightly. “I wouldn’t have believed it neither, but I seen it, with my own two eyes. The Iyrmen stepped out the outpost to fight five of them. She was meant to buy time, cause she can handle the venom, the poison, whatever it is, she can handle it better. It’s the way their family fights, I hear, they can handle that sort of thing. Poison, fire, they say they can handle the storm too.”

“It makes sense, since she’s one of the Mad Dog’s lot,” Phil said, still not quite believing it.

Fred eyed up the group, realising they didn’t quite believe him. He couldn’t blame them, who could? But after all he had seen, after all he had experienced, he didn’t doubt any of the words coming out of his mouth.

As he sipped the ale, he wondered if he had become crazy too.