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//: MARLON
> Noon the next day
Marlon found himself awoken by the sound of shifting rubble. Light filtered through what looked to be a mostly collapsed cellar stairway. The distant sound seemed to have alerted others to the presence of others as several injured people rose, bloodied bandages wrapping their bodies. He saw the shimmer of spells being prepared and shaking swords.
Slowly, he began to pull himself up. It caught the attention of a mage beside him, who must’ve been a healer considering they were still casting healing magic on a person close to him.
“Sir, stay down! You’re hurt badly!” A female voice called from the healer as she moved closer, staff in hand. “If it comes down to it, I’ll protect you!”
It was hard for the soldier to see her face, but she sounded young. It would’ve almost offended his pride if he didn’t feel the shooting pain in his spine as he tried to get up. Something that only caused his anxiety to shoot up as he looked for that magic weapon he had before.
“This is the Empire!” Someone called out. “Anyone alive in there?!”
A voice boomed from outside, along with it, a wave of relief as he watched the armed persons around him lower their stances.
“Aye! In the cellar!” The swordsman closest to the stairs called out.
Calls came and left as whatever group shifting through the debris spent close to half an hour digging through it all to them.
Light poured in, and illuminated the room they were in to reveal it was an administration office. Large parchments were pinned to the wall with quest formulas, hunting zones and several unsent packages on an “Out table”. Several of the wounded were his own soldiers, outnumbered by adventurers. The ones who were on guard looked to be this branch’s guild administration employees. A tag was pinned to the healer’s disheveled uniform, above her right breast that marked her as “Assistant Guild Healer, Constance U.”.
He was right. The girl could be no older than fifteen, with her youthful complexion marred with sooth and fear. A staple of children who experience war. War that should not have been here. Because there was no war…. Yet, was it not that from the sheer violence they had experienced? That was not on the level of gang warfare. That he knew. Corporate warfare? That he knew as well. No, living on the border had enlightened him to many he suspected those in the heartland would never have.
One of them was unbridled violence that came between two powerful entities – True War.
They were set here to investigate what should’ve been monsters fraternizing with one of the few remaining wild beastmen tribes. What hit them was just as organized as they were, and far outpowered them with their magicks. A small doubt began to form… Maybe they were not investigating the possible beginnings of a pest problem, but the opening shots of another continent-wide war?
He put aside those thoughts. He was a soldier, and soldiers fought in wars, not thought about their implications.
The healer called out to the rescuers, notifying them there were wounded soldiers and adventurers. Of course, that meant that the soldiers were tended to first by the Army’s healers. Followed by the adventurers. Several were declared beyond the help of magic. The healer who’d promised to protect him leaned against the stonewall, her worries relieved and began to sob.
More of the same began to spread throughout the cellar as the survivors realized their night of terror was over. Rescue was here. Activity within the cellar rose quickly as privates shuttled out the wounded. Officers did brief interviews with the healthy, and any solder regardless of their status so long as they were awake. Marlon was healed and thrown into the chaos of rescuing others. The moment he stepped above ground, it was like he’d stepped into the aftermath of a besieged town… No… Because the town had been besieged.
All that remained of the Guild Hall was but broken boards, charred wood pillars, and the cracked stone foundation. A backward construction for a backward town, built only to satisfy the legal requirements to keep its status within the then-dying kingdom. Despite that, it had been built well. And now it had been reduced by an unknown force.
Soldiers of the 46th Company who’d guarded the rear of the town were combing through the ruins. Archers and mages kept watch from atop rooftops and chimneys – their eyes searching for their attackers.
“Mister!” The young guild girl called out to him as she reached the top of the stairs. “You forgot your weapon, Mister!”
The mage weapon he’d used last night was placed in his hands. It had been charred, beaten, and scuffed. She also dumped 4 of the spell munitions into his pockets while he’d examined the Aimer.
“Sorry,” She cleared her throat, a blush taking her cheeks. “I-I got them off the other Mage when we took stock of weapons. I-I figured they went to it when we examined it. Im not going to get in trouble, are I?”
Marlon chuckled at the irony of it. “I doubt it. I requisitioned it accidentally off one of the mages before it happened. Im more apt to be punished if anything.”
The girl looked around concerned as if avoiding something but then looked back to him, worried more. “Um… Is it okay if I stick to you right now?”
“Why?” Marlon asked.
“Well… I dont think Branch Leader made it… And its mostly just a few support staff that made it. A-And Im not from here… So… I think it would be better if I stay with the Army, right? I am a healer! I-I can heal!” She grew more quiet, and she sounded on the verge of crying.
Marlon patted her head. “Look, Kid. I dont mind. I got respect for healers, so I have no problem taking you with me. We’ll just have to pass it by
with the higher-ups. I doubt you’ll be turned away at this rate.”
She nodded her head as she held tightly to her staff as it was cradled between two –
He cleared his throat and looked around. He spotted a soldier with the rank of sergeant on his armor. He and several others were half-circled around a pile of debris discussing something. Marlon gestured for the young healer to follow, and picked his way over to them.
“We might as well bring it with us.” The sergeant said. “The egg-heads would love it.”
A First Lieutenant huffed. “Might as well — Ah, Sargent Marlon. Nice to see you’re alive. I see you got yourself a pretty pet of thing there.”
Marlon saluted. “Yes, Sir. She’s a field recruit as of a few moments ago. Guild Healer, decided she wanted to throw her lot in with us. If its not a problem, may I know what’s going on?”
The 1st LT nodded, his eyes only hovering over her momentarily before turning itself to the pile at their feet. “It wont be a problem. If it looks like it will, we can just have her assume the identity of someone else. As to the situation, the Lt. General and his staff were killed, along with a majority of the officers posted in town. Rather, most of the troops posted near the fort were wiped out. Seems whatever you guys did pissed off the monsters.”
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Marlon nodded. “They captured a beastgirl last night and took her to the dungeons.”
The LT. nodded. “That must be it. Anyways, this is all that remained of the attackers. They’re made of metal, but there’s so little of their bodies left. Tsk. Regardless, most of your squad survived since they sent you into town. You’ll find them posted at the back gates. Regroup, pack whatever belongs to us, and get ready to move out.”
Marlon nodded. He spared the pile a glance, only noticing several pieces of armor, rather than the body. The monsters were burned into his memory. The sheer targeted precision they were able to inflict was nightmarish. It would not surprise him if in a few months they became the newest species in their world to take up a corner.
A walk through the town showed little damage. Only the town-square and the fort had been hit if the chattering residents were to be believed. The townspeople were fervent in their gossip. Words of how a Beast of Thunder swooped over the town, or how tens of monster spiders combed through the streets. One said his daughter had been molested by one. Another man claimed he’d been molested by one…
It was odd, yet intriguing how their stories varied wildly, but still agreed on one thing. The monsters had come, spread throughout the town, and left after destroying only Empire and Guild forces. None of the townspeople had been touched from what it seemed – or at least, from what he could tell if their talltales were to be believed.
The rear gate was heavily damaged. Collapsed, a tedious path had been cleared over the rubble. Dirt had been pushed over it to make a haphazard path. More dirt was added as they approached and being pact down. A hodgepodge of soldiers adding to the pile as beasts were used to carry large stones away. It seemed the army didnt bothered with clearing, and was using wayward path to ferry out whatever supplies they could. The residents themselves had taken on this burden as they were kin to moving things in larger loads.
Marlon waited a bit before he and they healer were able to use the path to exit the town. A large staging area in what looked to be a burned field had been erected. Wagons were lined haphazardly in a double crescent moon fashion and large tent had been erected opposite of the staging area where soldiers were filing in and out.
Godswood squad was found immediately as they were stationed closest to the exit.
“Marlon!” One of his men called out to him. “Leave it to you to bring a beaut with you after a siege! Hahah!”
“Jet.” Marlon nodded. “This here is…”
Marlon just realized never got her name.
“Constance.” The girl bowed to him.
Marlon continued, keeping his mistake to himself. “Shes a Guild Healer. Since there’s no guild here anymore, she signed up with us. Don’t mess with her.”
Jet chuckled. “I’m not touching her, Boss. Shes all yours!”
Constance blushed as Marlon glared at Jet, but the situation was diffused as more of the men turned their attention to the duo. They jested towards him and the young woman, but quit when they noticed it harmed the girl. Most apologized before they returned to their duties. The survivors had directed them to their assigned wagon, a long heavy duty transport wagon used by several inter-county transport companies.
The Sergeant helped the healer into the back where the driver smoked a pipe while relaxing. Dressed in a semi-dirty coachmen’s outfit rather than a military uniform told him that it’d been a hire rather than a forceful requisition of their wagon.
He looked to the Healer. “Healers assigned to individual squads is unheard of. You will most likely be reassigned once we reach Harlequin. The Army had just stationed several divisions there for the county, and we’ll be debriefed there. Unless we fudge your identity, you’ll be contracted for a year, understand?”
“Yes.” She said meekly. It seemed that her choice was slowly beginning to dawn on her, but she looked more nervous than regretful to the soldier. “I hope I can be of use.”
An hour passed in relative peace when the squad had finished their duties and gathered around the wagon’s rear.
In that time, Marlon had visited with his new superior. A plan placed, and was here to now inform his team.
“Of the total men stationed here, only around 200 are left.” Marlon announced. “Whatever hit us, hit hard and with vengeance. The prisoner the Rangers is reported to be taken. So we can assume the attack was as retaliation, and to retrieve the beastgirl.”
“Shit. We lost that many?” Jet asked.
“I heard most of the ones who survived in town were mainly those furtherest away from the Fort.” Another said.
Marlon quieted them by raising his hands. “Doesn’t matter. Only one-third of the survivors were stationed in the town. None from front survived. Another portion of that number is wounded and the rest will be combat ready. Everyone’s been up all night without rest. We will be doing a fire-watch-esque sleep rotation on the trip For the first day, we will be doing four-hour nap rotations until we stop tonight at the halfway point to let the animals rest.”
The Sergeant pointed out 2 men, then moved around the group until everyone had been put into an order. “Starting with the first 2, that will be the rotation until everyone has gotten rest. I will be assisting other squads to get them in order as we will be evacuating the town as well.”
“Now we’re going to have the townes with us?!”
Marlon nodded. “Our commander has deemed it unsafe to leave them here to be attacked again. They’re citizens of the Empire now, thus we must consider their safety as well.
“That will slow us down!”
“If you think about it, we’re not in a rush right? If those things come back, they might just attack the town until they’re statisfied”
“The town is a three-day trip from here at a normal pace, but it might take a whole week with stragglers!”
Marlon waved off their concerns. “Doesn’t matter. Thats our orders. We only need to escort them to Harlequin. Afterward, we dump them, pick up fresh mounts; maybe fresh wagons and horses, and we head towards Port Tress. Its up to the Emperor, or Army Command what we do from there. Though, I suspect we will be given reinforcements and sent back to subjugate the threat.”
Finally, the team was quite.
“Anything else?” The Sargeant asked, awaiting more input seeing as his men had a lot to comment on. When they stayed silent, he continued. “Then that’s it. Secure your equipment and get ready to leave. We may have civilians seated with us, and I dont want to be the reason everyone waits to depart.”
With that, he dismissed the team. The following two hours was all of them watching the gate be cleared. Afterward, civilians began to leave along with more wagons. They all stopped at the tent before they were pointed out to different wagons. What Marlon could tell was that they were attempting to keep families together, but singles were filtered into each wagon in order. This took another hour, and was mainly just helping children and the elderly into the wagons.
Arguments broke out often as civilians attempted to bring their possessions with them. Arguments that were settled just as fast as they started when soldiers began to met out physical punishment that diswayed the rest.
By the end, a large group was being escorted around the wagons. From the looks of it, on the hunt for any open spots as one or two singles boarded wagons until it was a small group. Marlon boarded his own wagon when he noticed the front wagon – the one closest to southern boundary – began to slowly take off followed by the others.
“Godswood Squad, any space?” An admin officer stopped at their wagon, opening their flap. “Need space for one.”
Marlon looked around and noticed there was one spot directly in front of him. The last one. “Yes, sir. Exactly one.
Part of the wagon had been reserved for supplies. He examined to see if they could make more room, but figured the men had been good at squaring off their packing. When he turned around, he caught his breath.
He was greeted by the sight of a beautiful raven-haired woman. Her face was flawless, studded with piercing stormy grey eyes semi-sharp upturned nose, and delicate rose-pedal lips. It was then that Marlon found himself staring at her midsection that he’d instinctively bowed to the woman. She wore a simple light-brown dress that stopped just above her knees to reveal practical woreboots. Rather… It looked to mimic that of worn boots, but a closer trained eye of someone who religiously cared for their own boots to notice the artificial nature of the waring.
“M’Lady,” Marlon said as he corrected his posture as he looked to the officer who brought her, but he had scampered off already.
“Hello.” She said, an almost bored expression.
A Tress shortsword hung off her left hip, attached a fine leather belt. She had medium-sized leather bag over her left shoulder.. As if she was attempting to mimic an Adventurer, but it was too… put together. Her features unblemished. Yes.. It clicked that to his brain, he instinctively took her as a Noble.
“Are you a noble?” He asked curiously.
She shocked her head slightly. “No. A simple mercenary.”
Red flags rose. Her clothes were too clean. No. They were perfect. No imperfects – something only nobles could afford despite the color.
“Mercenary? Here? Were you born here, or did you come from somewhere else.” He asked.
“No, I’m from Port Spear.” She said. “I came to protect someone, but they were killed in the attack. Im leaving for greener pastures now that my contract is over.”
He narrowed his eyes and nodded. He planned to keep an eye on her. That was until the healer interrupted.
“Oh my god, you’re so pretty!” Constance said as she leaned across several people to extend her hand out. “Im Constance, do you think you can give me some beauty tips?”
The woman gave a sweet smile. “I’m Opal.”