Cal passed through the inner-city gate and looked around him. Inner city felt like a completely different city. The houses were clean and looked stunning compared to the ones in outer city, the stores were all well-maintained, and there were guard patrols everywhere. Even the streets were all paved and had flamestone streetlamps evenly spaced out on the sides. If they put flamestone streetlamps in outer city, then it wouldn’t even take a day for them to be stolen.
There were four important buildings in inner city: the City Administration Office, the White Flame Cathedral, the headquarters of the city guards, and the Lord’s Manor. Commander Iris’s office was in the headquarters of the city guards which was close to the Lord’s Manor in the centre.
They arrived in front of the building after a while. Compared to the garrison in outer city, the headquarters of the city guards was a beautiful building which functioned more as an office. They climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and entered Commander Iris’s office after knocking.
Unlike the interior of the ornate building, Commander Iris’s room was much more militaristic. There was a window at the back that had a desk and chair in front of it. A bookshelf could be seen to the right of the desk and a sword plaque holding a majestic sword on the left wall. The desk had a flamestone desk lamp on top of it which was currently turned off by a metal curtain. Besides the sword, this was the most extravagant object in the room.
Commander Iris was sitting on her chair and reading a report without looking at them. They walked in and stood in front of the desk waiting for the Commander to speak.
Iris looked up after five minutes and said, “You’re late.”
“Forgive me, Commander, I had a hard time looking for him all over the city,” Reginald replied.
“What did I tell you about excuses captain?” Iris asked in an icy tone.
Reginald shivered and replied in a powerful voice to mask his fear, “It won’t happen again, Commander!”
Iris looked at him for a moment before dropping the issue, “Prepare all the enforcers under your command for a massive cleanup operation captain. I have already informed the others, so you are the last one to know. We are killing every shade starting from the beginning of the deep mines all the way to the border of the abyss. Make sure everyone is ready in two days.”
“All the way to the abyss!?” Reginald asked in astonishment.
“Is there a problem?” Iris asked.
“No of course not Commander, but a lot of the enforcers will die,” Reginald replied.
“And it is your job to make sure that the casualties are at the minimum,” Iris commanded. “That will be all for you. Go and start preparing now. Also, leave Callahan out of the operation. I have a special job for him.”
“Yes, Commander!” Reginald said before saluting and leaving the room.
Iris set her eyes on Cal and paused for a moment.
“It’s been a while Callahan the Dawnblade,” Iris said. “Have you thought about my offer? Wait, don’t speak I already know what you are going to say but hear me out first.”
Cal was about to reject the Commander’s offer to join the guards that she gave him a couple weeks ago, but he didn’t say anything when she told him to stop.
“A delegation from the church will be coming in about 10 days to make an expedition into the deep mines and finally deal with whatever supernatural phenomenon is lurking in there. The city officials will let the residents know in a few days to raise morale, but I’m letting you know first because you will be their guide in the deep mines,” Iris said.
“Guide?”
“Yes, guide. The deep mines are easy to traverse for you enforcers but the delegation from the church doesn’t know anything about it. It will take them more than a month to go in there and reach the heart of the abyss if they don’t have a guide. And even for the enforcers, the labyrinth of the abyss is very difficult to navigate. Only the most senior enforcers have ever laid their feet in the abyss. And out of all those seniors, only you have managed to return alive after staying there for more than two days. So, you are obviously the first choice,” Iris explained. “Any complaints?”
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“No Commander. But is this an order or a request?”
“Why you scared?” Iris said with a hint of a smile. “While it’s an order, there is a way for you to not accept it.”
Cal could already guess what the Commander would say next.
“Leave the enforcers,” Iris said. “Normally you need to wait a month for your resignation to be accepted, but I can make an exemption for you Callahan. Join the guards and you will not have to be a guide for the delegation. I will speak to the Marquis and get someone else to do it.”
Cal asked something else before addressing her new offer, “After the delegation is done with the expedition will the supernatural phenomenon inside the deep mines be resolved?”
“Preferably,” Iris replied.
“Then I will not refuse the order, Commander. I will guide this delegation all the way to the heart of the abyss,” Cal replied with certainty.
Iris was disappointed by this, “Stubborn fool. You’re young Callahan, stop risking your life like this. What’s so special about the shades?”
Cal remained silent. He himself didn’t know why he played with his life like this, only that he had long stopped caring if he lived or died. He only wanted to enter the mines to look for whatever was calling him.
“Well, I won’t force you to join. I don’t want a resentful soldier under my command. Try your best to not die Callahan. If the expedition is successful then the enforcers will most likely be disbanded. If you survive till that point, then come look for me. You don’t have anywhere else to go either way,” Iris said. “You can leave now. Train, make your prayers, or do whatever you do to prepare yourself for a fight. I will expect you to be ready in 10 days.”
“Yes, Commander,” Cal said before taking his leave.
Cal went outside the building and looked up at the sky. He could see the dark moon rising from the horizon, it wouldn’t be long before night set in. Cal couldn’t stay in inner city for long before the guards started questioning him. The southern gate was always closed so he had to exit inner city through the western gate leading to the port.
He brought dinner from a seafood restaurant near the port and made his way home.
…
The next few days were uneventful for Cal. The city was very peaceful due to the absence of all the enforcers who went on the cleanup mission. Cal mostly spent his day using the training facilities in the garrison and meditating in his room. He went to Victor’s cart almost every day for food. It was during one of these visits that Victor presented him with a paper slip.
“What’s this?” Cal asked as he was making his way through a chicken breast.
“The recipe for my flame-spiced chicken,” Victor answered.
Cal looked at the slip in confusion, not knowing what to do with it.
“I’m leaving Winterport,” Victor said knowing that Cal was confused. “My daughter’s getting married next month. Her husband’s a good man, he sent a letter for me to come and live with them. I am taking the next ship to the mainland.”
Cal was saddened to hear this news even though it didn’t show on his face. Victor was probably his closest friend in the city. He looked after him ever since he first became an enforcer four years ago. He was a completely broken man then, on the verge of suicide. Victor’s care was what stopped him from ending it all. He taught him that no matter how low your life gets you should never stop working on yourself. While Cal could not sympathize with that philosophy, he did find out that if he lost himself in work and training then he could keep the bad memories at bay. At least as long as he was awake and not thinking too much.
“When does your boat leave?” Cal asked.
“Ten days later. Already bought the ticket,” Victor replied. “Listen Cal this expedition that you are taking part in might be the most dangerous and stupidest thing you have ever done; however, I know I can’t stop you. I have watched you grow from a boy to a man and yet in those four years your eyes have never changed. I don’t know who or what hurt you, but you have to move on son. You can’t live in the past. And diving headfirst into danger will not solve your issues. You have a kind heart Cal even though you try to hide it. I think you just never learned how to love yourself, son. I wish I could teach you that, but it’s not something you can or should learn from an old man like me. You must figure it out yourself. Maybe fall in love, it might help.”
Cal listened to Victor’s long speech; however, he could not think of anything to say back.
“Well, if some words were all it needed to fix you then I would’ve long accomplished it. Don’t worry, it’s just some rambling from an old man. Take it to heart if you want or just forget about it,” Victor said after noticing Cal’s silence. “Anyways, take that slip to old Martha over at the Cat’s Tale bar. She owes me a favour so she will add it to the menu when you ask her. Just tell her that Victor Gray sent you. I already spoke to her about it, though she wasn’t so keen at the time.”
“Thank you for everything, Victor,” Cal said with gratitude.
“Eh, it was nothing much. Besides I should be thanking you. Without you, the gangs would’ve long killed me for my temper,” Victor said with a reminiscent smile then looked at Cal and said in a serious voice. “Survive Cal. No matter how hard it gets never give up. One day you will be glad that you managed to persist.”
“I will try,” Cal said in an unsure voice.
“Guess that’s the best I can expect. Well, I will be closing the shop from today onwards. I don’t think I can see you off on your expedition Cal I will be busy packing up,” Victor said with a sigh. “If you ever visit the capital, come to 29 Trafalgar Street. That’s my daughter Abigail’s home.”
Cal nodded. He finished his food and got up to leave.
“Goodbye, Cal,” Victor said with a hint of sadness.
“Bye, Victor.”