Elm and I stood static at our enemy’s declaration of wanting to have a nice conversation. Looking a bit deeper at the two, I could see neither of them carrying arms, although that didn’t mean they were defenseless. Either of them could be hiding a weapon or even have an attunement..

It’s gotta be the taller one, right? He wouldn’t be this cocky without an attunement.

The taller man called out again.

“HELLO? CAN I TALK WITH YOUR LEADER?”

I turned to Elm, and his only response was a casual shrug. My gut was telling me something was off here, but there was no feeling of hostility from the two men. Fastening a burner to my hip and putting the igniter on my back, I took a deep breath and began to make the slow walk towards the two men in the middle of the clearing. The burners and igniters of the soldiers were all targeted at me. When I finally made it up to them, I saw that the taller one was looking me up and down. He looked extremely confused, as if he was trying to read a language that he didn’t know.

“You’re not Major Grayson.” He plainly stated. I looked over to his partner to see him also extremely confused.

Huh?

“Yes? My name is North.”

As soon as I said my name, the two men seemed to have a moment of revelation and turned to each other, letting out an “Ooohh…” in unison.

Am I missing something?

“You’re Grayson’s apprentice from back in the camps. The one who worked under him as a magore technician at the camp, correct?”

I gave a quick nod. “Yeah, I did. What about it?”

The two seemed to give each other a silent message before returning their attention to me.

“So, are you some sort of proxy?”

“A what?”

Is this another word like embezzlement?

“I mean, are you representing Major Grayson?” The taller man asked.

I stared at the two, then took a quick look back at the caravan. Something about this situation was off. There was a line of communication that wasn’t getting through to them. These two knew a lot about me and the caravan as a whole, but they had to have messed up somewhere along the way.

“No. I’m the leader of the slaves.”

“You’re the leader?”

The two men took another look at each other in what I believed was disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m the leader of the group. I led the revolt at the original camp.”

“Not Major Grayson?”

“Is there something about this that is hard to understand?”

They paused for a moment in silence. I could see the soldiers around us starting to get antsy. This entire situation felt like something out of one of the plays they’d do at a festival. After a moment, the taller man cleared his throat before speaking.

“I mean, could you at least get Major Grayson here? We’d like to talk with him as well.”

I let out a deep sigh before pivoting backwards towards the caravan and yelling “ELM! THEY WANT YOU OVER HERE!”

Even though he was far away, I could hear his groan as he began to move into the clearing. Eventually he made his way to my side and began to eye the two men up and down, biting his lip in frustration.

“You gonna tell us your damn names?”

Oh yeah, I never asked for their names. That would have been smart.

The two men turned and nodded at each other before they spoke.

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“I’m First Lieutenant Keagan, and this is Second Lieutenant Theodore. We lead an investigative unit around the Empire, and happened to be in Boralis when your revolt occurred.” the black haired man said. Keagan felt like an odd name for a lieutenant. I decided to check on Elm to see he had his hand on his chin. Something seemed to click, and he immediately pointed at them.

“I remember you two! I heard about you when I was still working in the capital. You were the ones who took down the illegal slave ring and got that noble a one way trip onto the snake, right?”

“There’s illegal slave rings?” I unwillingly blurted out. Elm shot me a deep glare before his attention moved back to the lieutenants.

“I didn’t think the legendary major would know about us. Key and I weren’t even lieutenants back then. Nearly killed our supervisor with how many times we violated code to pull off the crackdown.” Theodore pridefully explained.

“They still talk about me? Thought they would try and sweep me under the rug.”

“It’s more rare, but you’re well remembered despite your actions. Well, your rampage is also part of your fame. Most people know you because of the slave… cuffs…” Theodore’s voice began to waver as he said those last few words, realizing that they weren’t the best for the current situation.

“Ain’t really the legacy I would like. I’m fine talking about the Empire and reminiscing and shit, but that’s not what you're here for, is it? Because you don’t fly that symbol and not have something in mind.” Elm gave the two of them an accusatory stare. The tension that had temporarily dissipated came right back.

“Yeah, you’re right. The reason we flew that was to see if we could get an opportunity to talk. We want to make a deal.” Lieutenant Keagan said, slightly deflated.

An image of Galen flashed through my mind again. I knew they weren’t him, but simply hearing an Arlinian offer a deal felt like heavy deja vu. It was a different context and there was a definite difference in power, but the feeling of it all was the same.

“An Arlinian wants to make a deal with a rebel group? That doesn’t seem very in line with normal conduct, unless things changed while I was gone.” Elm crossed his arm and eyed the lieutenant doubtfully.

“You’re not wrong. What I’m about to do is going to piss off everyone above me, maybe except for the Emperor. I’m offering you a deal of peace, simple as that. Turn around, head back to the north and go to Mylia. Get yourself on a ship and get out of the empire. Doesn’t matter where, as long as you aren’t here and don’t go into Corith.” The lieutenant looked bitter, as though there was a bad taste hanging in the back of his mouth.

“And if we say no?” I said, finally speaking up.

“We fight. Win or lose, both sides will face severe casualties. Even if you win this fight, you become an enemy of the empire and will inevitably face eradication by Arlin’s forces. Camp security will be ramped up and the mining slaves will face more oppression than they already do now. I’m offering you an out.”

To my surprise, the smaller lieutenant pushed slightly in front of his partner to face me.

“We know what you want. You want to liberate camps and free the slaves. As a mage myself, I get why you would hate the mines and the cuffs. It’s a necessary evil that Arlin has to partake in to continue.”

I clenched my fist in frustration hearing those very familiar words. “If it’s a necessary evil, then why aren’t Arlinian mages like you working in the mines? Is there a reason why they can only put this type of labor on people like us?”

Also, the smaller one is the mage?

Theodore visibly winced at my response before Keagan placed an arm on his shoulder and moved him back to his side.

“Please, we’re not here to debate philosophy. Either you turn around and head to Mylia, or we fight and you declare war.”

The four of us sat in silence for a moment. It was a lot to take in. I hadn’t been hoping for a large battle, but it would have at least made more sense. Never did I expect for the enemy to try and be diplomatic with a bunch of slaves. I felt Elm’s heavy hand come onto my shoulder.

“Up to you kid.”

Theodore’s eyebrows seemed to perk up at Elm’s statement as he darted his vision between myself and Elm.

“Oh! Are you two related?”

“NO!” We said in unison.

We don’t even look alike!

“Sorry. Still, we need an answer.”

I took a moment to look at all the soldiers around me, then back at the caravan. There would probably be death if we fought . In fact, it was very possible that I could die right here. Following their suggestion and going to Mylia would save a large group of people from Arlin for at least a time and mean that I wouldn’t have to shed as much blood.

But it would also mean I’d be leaving so many other people behind. We’d destroyed the mines and the factories, but there was still the possibility they could start their operations up in Boralis again. Running away wouldn’t be a permanent solution to the problems of myself and everyone who was relying on me. I didn’t know how to take his remarks about camp security, but something about the way that Keagan talked told me he didn’t feel the need to lie.

I took a deep breath, planted my feet and locked eyes with the First Lieutenant.

“We can’t stop here. Not now. I refuse your deal and will not be heading to Mylia.”

The lieutenant gave a solemn nod.

“So be it.”

I could feel the air shift. Something in the two men changed as I spoke those words. The two men in front of me were no longer the same, now replaced by true soldiers. The earth at my feet began to rumble as Elm started to prepare his own magic, and I could see water forming around the hands of the second lieutenant. My right hand started to move its way towards the burner tied at my hip, and the first lieutenant clenched his fists.

The battle had begun.