Freeday, 3rd of Febrinna, 5662 AE, 468th Year of the 5th Era
A few hours had passed since we had successfully defended our encampment from the cultists’ brutal siege and the midnight sky was still shining, lit by the fool moon. It was a savage fight and because of that, our expeditionary forces were forced to suffer its first casualties with three brave men of the militia of Surlock having been killed by the elite guard of the Malcanis cult. We were currently standing around the three dead bodies of the militiamen as the Reverend Mother said a few prayers for the men. It was an unofficial action taken because of our lack of a priest though due to Feldonia’s protestant nature, things weren’t as rigid as how one would expect a proper catholic observance would be. Regardless, this world’s religious turmoil - though it reminded me a lot of my own shortcomings during the protestant reformation by Martin Luther - were not of my concern as even though I’m through and through a Roman Catholic, my spiritual allegiance to the Church in Rome I feel wouldn’t translate to this current world with a distinct lack of, well, Rome.
Soon, Ivan had kneeled next to the bodies as he touched them before ice started to form around them and soon enough all three of them were encapsulated in ice to preserve them until we could give the men a proper burial. It wasn’t much, but it’s the least that we could do. Our expedition force of fifty or so people were now a couple of rangers short. The men’s equipment and any items or loot they had were stored within the storage and munitions wagon to be given back to their next of kin once we had returned from this grueling mission. Should we not find their next of kin in the case that they were orphans or without any family, the equipment would be distributed by the leaders of the expedition, though considering they were militiamen, nothing much of value could be expected to be found even if their equipment were redistributed.
Many other men within our forces also sustained considerable injuries from the previous fight, mostly the knights who had borne the brunt of the besieging forces with only their skills and force of arms against the wolves. Due to these circumstances, after reciting some prayers for the dead, without a second of reprieve, the Reverend Mother quickly returned to her duties as a healer as she alone was taking care of the near dozen men who were injured at many different degrees of severity. No matter how powerful Mother Margaret may be, the amount of work she had been putting in for the entirety of the expedition would surely land any normal human being into an early grave. In fact as I saw her slightly sunken cheeks and ever so subtle puffy eye bags I could tell she was a little worse for wear. Perhaps bringing only a single bonafide healer on this expedition was a misstep in calculations on our part, but her dedication to the role was frightening nonetheless.
Soon enough, the men had dispersed to each of their tents to turn in for the night while a few knights acted as sentries to stand guard and watch over in case the enemy would try something, though after their previous failure, I highly doubted it. The few hours of rest Ivan and I were given was enough for us to recover physically but mentally we were still very fatigued. Once again we were sitting down in front of Hunt’s tent with Churchward and the other adventurers as most of us had mugs in our hands for water and some bread as rations. However, the atmosphere was a bit lighter compared to before as Churchward and Hunt were opening some drinks. A lack of discipline like that would usually be disappointing to see, but after what we’ve gone through, hell I could use a drink.
“Would it be inappropriate for me to ask to join in?” I had asked as I held out my mug towards Sir Churchward who had poured a little bit of wine from his wineskin to which he laughed boisterously and immediately obliged.
“Of course, milord! Anything for the hero of the expedition! Hahahahah!!” The knight said excitedly as he began to fill my cup. I had stopped him halfway as he seemed intent on filling my mug to the brim with wine which honestly isn’t how you should consume wine, but out here on the field, I could really care less about all that. I just needed something to lighten my thoughts, regardless of my body’s awakened physiology making it supremely difficult to even get tipsy without drinking a copious amount of alcohol.
“Oh please, Sir Churchward. If it wasn’t for the rest of our forces acting as support, Ivan and I would’ve at the very least lost a few limbs during the battle, hah! Besides, did you not see how our branchmaster here dealt with all those beasts basically single-handedly? Sir Hunt deserves most of the credit for not only his prowess but for his sage wisdom in ordering us to fortify ourselves upon this very defensible position.” I exclaimed as I motioned towards the veteran adventurer, trying to move the attention towards him. However instead of bashfully accepting the compliment, Hunt merely gave a weak smile and shook his head.
“Charles, in two moons time, Lord willing, I will be celebrating my fourty-seventh birthday. Just before I had received the letter at the guildhouse from the Prince-Imperial that I was to embark on this mission, I had gotten a letter from my eldest daughter saying that I was a grandfather.” Hunt started as he shared a little bit about himself with a somber tone as he was sipping on his winecup. I had realised this was actually the first time that I’d ever really hear the man talk about himself or his own personal matters. Of course it shocked me to find out the man’s actual age and the fact that he had a grandchild as I could’ve sworn the man looked to be in his late-twenties or early thirties at best, but considering my own situation, It seemed odd to be shocked but still. “My little girl Judith had married a young knight a year back, the son of an old friend I’d made back in my younger years as a knight’s squire for His Grace, Robert II de Montverde, the Duke of Grifftongue…”
Jenny had widened her eyes as she heard Hunt tell his story. It seemed it was the first time she heard the man say it… but now that I think about it, that House name would mean, “You were an esquire for my late grandsire?” Jenny had asked the question which surprised me as I thought she would know something like that considering she had been in the man’s party for some time now.
“I was - well, technically I still am- a proud knight of the realm.” Hunt answered nonchalantly to which Sir Churchward nodded in affirmation as it seemed he too had always known of it. “I was knighted on my sixteenth birthday after I had saved the Duke’s youngest daughter from a pirate attack, hahaha.”
“So you were the handsome knight boy who saved Aunt Cecilia?!” Jen gasped as she had her hands on her cheek with a shocked expression which only elicited a soft chuckle and a wry smile
“Pfft, handsome knight, you say?”
“Ugh, she’d never shut up about the story! Every bloody time she’d get the chance she’d just rattle off about ‘Sir Jimmy’ to no end! I now feel stupid for only piecing it together after you told me. Did you realise she had such infatuations for you?”
“Hahaha! It made things very awkward for me to say the least…” This was the first time I saw Hunt laugh in a genuinely sincere way. “I could’ve sworn your grandfather had a look as if he wanted to just cut my neck open after he placed his sword on my shoulder when he knighted me. Lucky for me then that the war with the Reichers had started not too long after that incident and all able-bodied knights and men-at-arms were called to raise their arms in defence of our empire… I had been shipped off along with my friend and fellow knight who was also named James. James Fitzwilliam. ‘The two Jimmies of the Tongue’ they’d call us.”
Hunt shook his head and chuckled again as he stared into a fire before his expression seemed to have sunken a bit. “We were at war for years. Brothers not born of the blood from a mother’s womb but forged on the field from the blood that spilled from our brows and that of our foes. We lost many brothers in that God-forsaken war, good men, the lot of them… We had been stationed near a small village for a few weeks at that point in what is today the Grand Duchy of Southerland and as fate would have it he was already sweet on a Southlander girl from the village. That idiot even bloody impregnated her too. It caused quite the commotion with our commanding officer but because of our achievements during some battles, he was allowed to marry the girl to make an honest woman out of her. She was only seventeen at the time and madly in love with that fool of a knight. It was a bloody makeshift ceremony in the village’s decrepit old church preceded by an equally decrepit priest who’d probably been alive since The Conqueror had taken the crown of Feldonia, hahaha.. Regardless, me and all the other boys were so happy for the fool. They even gave us new nicknames. All of a sudden I was now ‘Maidenless Jim’, could you believe that?”
I laughed out loud along with Ivan as we heard the term ‘maidenless’ as I was instantly reminded of a very popular meme that was going around the internet from a certain video game back during our time at the academy.
“It’s alright, you can laugh… Looking back on it now, it was hilarious, but I certainly wasn’t amused at the time.” Hunt continued “I was actually half a mind to set out and get a nubile young dove for myself from amongst the Germans just to show Fitzwilliam who was the greater man. All of that while we were still at war helped us to take our minds off the more unsavoury business. Pfft, the stupidity of youth, if you may. But even our youthful stupidity had to stop sooner or later as not long after that, our platoon had been sent out to join the rest of the main army to participate in the battle of Ladscrossing, just across the border of Southerland and into Reicher territory…”
As Hunt said that, he heaved a deep sigh as his gaze went up to the stars as he closed his eyes for a bit before continuing, “I can remember the battle as if it was yesterday. We were led by the Late Duke of Ardunon. There were ten thousand of us on that battlefield and we had expected the usual pitched battle when we were preparing for the fight and setting up our formations… But things took a turn for the worse as those damned Reichers had unleashed a threat that far outweighed anything we had dealt with before. Men, if you think the cultist numbers we had faced earlier was bad, let me tell you at that field on that fateful day, near a thousand wolfbeasts and several hundred werewolves, armed with weapons and armour that made them just as strong if not more so than the beasts that had assailed us today. And supporting the beasts, was another ten thousand strong Imperial Lowereicher army. We honestly didn’t know what to expect but it certainly wasn’t anything good. The battle that ensued was bloody and so-filled with carnage, I know survivors who’ve gone mad just from the memories of it… Thousands dead and massacred with their corpses spread out across the waters of the crossing, painting the clear water in the red of crimson blood and the state of said corpses either eaten partially or mauled to the point of being unrecognisable. It was only due to the Providence of God that against the odds Prince-Imperial Alfred had arrived with his Legendary Party of Heroes along with thousands of knights and men-at-arms behind him as they acted as reinforcements and eventually, we were able to drive the Reichers back.
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However, though until today and to my dying breath I shall forever remain grateful towards Lord Alfred for saving us and lending his aid that day, it was far too late as we lost thousands of good men that day. My original knight platoon was decimated from the battle as I saw the torn limbs, severed heads, and corpses with chunks of flesh bitten off of them littered the battlefield. I broke to my knees as I saw Fitzwilliam among the men lying near lifeless on the ground, his body half-mauled and I had thought him dead but as if he was spitting upon the face of the angel of death, he was still clinging onto life but it was clear he was too far gone to be saved… It was with his dying breath that he had asked me to look after his unborn child.
I had agreed to my brother-in-arms request as I held him in my arms. He had passed with tears from his eyes but a smile upon his lips. Not long after that bloody battle, my platoon, having lost nine in ten of its men, was discharged from the war. I myself had sustained considerable injuries, but all of that was nothing when compared to my determination to fulfil my friend’s request. After being discharged from the battle, I was left with little means despite being a knight, but I managed to make my way back to the Southlander village. Alwynn was distraught when I brought her the news of her husband’s demise, but I assured her that I would look after her and the child with all my means. And so I stayed at that village for months until the day came where she was about to give birth. I had pledged to marry the widow but I wasn’t planning on taking her as my wife until after she had given birth to the child in her belly so as to ensure that he was able to succeed to his father’s position as a Knight and any property Fitzwilliam might have still owned or maintained on Grifftongue as I had possession of his deeds and writ of lands. It wasn’t long after that battle when the treaty of the Partitions that had ended the war with the Reichers was signed. With the signing of the treaty, the Empire that many of my brothers had giver their lives up for to defend along with thousands of other young men of Archior had ended and by virtue of that treaty, the village I had been living in for nearly a year wasn’t even Feldonian land anymore as Southerland was now its own independent Grand Duchy.
When news of the treaty arrived, I had confided to Alwynn who was now my fiance about plans to move our family to Grifftongue where we had property and I could properly take care of her. She was hesitant at first but after convincing her that the baby deserved a good life outside of living as some vagrant in a village, she finally acquiesced and so shortly after we packed up made our way to Feldonia. I was excited by the fact that I was coming home after so long with a family of my own in tow, but, again, fate seemed to have not yet run out of its cruel jokes as just as we were about to depart from the town of Ashfall where we had been lodging in for a while as we waited for better weather to travel in, Alwynn had gone into labour and so in a panic we prepared for the babies delivery. But alas, Alwynn died shortly after giving birth to the child. A healthy and strong baby boy he was, and he had a mighty cry as soon as he was out of his mother’s womb. Just before she had passed from excessive blood loss, Alwynn kissed me before expressing her will to name the boy James after his father and myself…
There I was, a young man of only one and twenty with a baby in his hand. Needless to say I was at a loss at what to do. I couldn’t very well travel with a newborn infant on my hands and so I did what I could and paid for a letter to be sent to my family’s small estate as well as to Fitzwilliam’s to inform them of all that had transpired. With the rest of my meagre earnings that I had saved up from the war, I had paid for an extended stay at the inn as well as to enlist the help of the wife of the inn’s owner who was kind enough to act as a wet nurse for the younger Jim.
With little options left to me, I finally made up my mind to register myself as an adventurer at the guildhouse as the association of the time was still dealing with the aftermath of the massive administrative restructuring of the association in the wake of the Partitions. With a new determination to raise a child as well as to better mine own skills and prowess of war, I had managed to gain some early success as an adventurer earning a small fortune from mainly dealing with turncoats and deserters who had turned to banditry in the midst of all the chaos though I would be lying if I said I didn’t understand at all to their situation. Young men and boys disenfranchised by a war that had left them aimless, distraught, and unfortunately, armed without a purpose. Besides that, I had also participated in several successful dungeon raids, distinguishing myself enough in battle that I had caught the eye of the young Lord Aubrey de Lamellarouge…”
I was surprised when I heard the name spoken as it was the name of none other than the Second Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Association. Alfred’s only son and Rosie’s father. Judging by the tone Hunt had as told his story, he too was very fond of the Late Lord Aubrey.
Hunt continued his story, “Aubrey had invited me to be a part of his party and we had become fast friends. We continued our adventuring for many more quests, earning greater and greater renown as I was also steadily climbing the ladder of ranks within the association. Also, being connected to the most prominent adventurer at the time as well as being a part of what I still consider to be the greatest adventuring party of my generation, I had managed to get much of my affairs in order. I had secured the rights of Young Jim’s succession to his family’s estate and to be given charge as the boy’s legal ward while my own estate was properly funding me with what money they could spare towards my endeavours as I had bought a residence in Ashfall town. During that time, I was also blessed enough to meet my wife, Emma. A beautiful woman, as sweet as a button. She was the main receptionist of the Guildhouse at Ashfall and she was accepting of me and absolutely adored Young Jim and treated him like her own son. We were married the next year and shortly after, she gave birth to my lovely Judith… I kept on working hard, especially after… especially after the raid at Hornmound… I had warned Aubrey that something was off. But he didn’t listen. He’d never listen if he was sure of himself. He was the bloody Guildmaster of the entire country’s association but he insisted on personally joining the raid…” Hunt only let out another sigh as he cut himself off from finishing the story before he looked at me. “I’m sorry, everyone. I don’t feel right rambling on about the demise of the late second Guildmaster… But regardless, I think I should finish my story here. Hahaha… it’s been so long since I’ve talked so much like this. It must be this bloody wine. I swear Bertie, if Sir Blakebow knew you were pilfering his stache, he’d throw a fit! Hahaha!”
“Bahahahah!! Ssssshhhhhh…!” Sir Churchward said as he jokingly put a finger in front of his lips “What the old man doesn’t know won’t hurt him! Besides, facing these bloody wolves again and hearing you tell stories about the old days which I thought you’d never share with the young whelps here…”
This time I looked at Churchward with an interested expression. It seemed he had something to share as well as he referred to the ‘old days’. The knight seemed to have caught my gaze before he laughed a bit and waved his hand in front of him in a dismissive manner.
“Oh, don’t give me that look, milord. Hunt’s already told you all you need to know about those old war stories. I have nothing more to add.” Churchward said as he took a swig directly from his wineskin.
“Oh don’t be like that, Bertie! If you won’t tell him, then I will!” Hunt chimed in again “Churchward here was part of my knight platoon during the war. I thought I was young when I’d been knighted but you could imagine my surprise when I saw a fourteen year old running around on horseback on the battlefield. I swear, your Broadsword was bloody taller than you, hahahahah!!”
“Don’t listen to him, milord. He’s exaggerating. The sword was only three-quarters my height. The sword between my thighs though… that’s another story. Pffft… Bwahahaha!!”
“Hahahahah… What do you mean by sword? You mean that dagger?!!” Hunt had laughed along with Churchward’s crude joke. I won’t lie though, the atmosphere was indeed getting brighter.
“That’s rich coming from Maidenless Jim! Bwahahahaha…!! I’ve bedded more women than you have in your entire life before I even had hair on my chin!”
“Nor your balls…!!” Hunt was getting hysterical as he was slapping his thighs laughing. Lord have mercy as it seems our two commanders were pissing themselves drunk.
Regardless of the unseemly behaviour, I soon found myself laughing along with the two men along with Ivan though oddly enough Jenny didn’t have too pleased with an expression at the rather crude jokes. I’d say she was being hypocritically prudish. But the night was getting later and later and soon enough I saw the Reverend mother standing with her arms crossed glaring at the two drunk louts with a mix of disappointment but also care.
“Alright boys, that’s enough. Clean up your act as I’d like to remind you lot that we’re still on a mission here.” Mother Margaret said sternly “Honestly, you two ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Two grown men making a fool of themselves. Alright up you go. Off to bed!”
“Aww.. But Margiee….!!” Hunt was beginning to whine and I won’t lie, it was hilarious to see. If there was ever a time I missed having my smartphone with me, it would be at that moment as I was then unable to record what I was seeing. “Five more minuteessss… Pleaseee…”
“...Children, I think it’s best for us all to turn in for the night, yes?” the Reverend mother said as she looked at the rest of us with a kind expression but I knew for a fact her smile was hiding a hidden iron. I knew I didn’t want to get on her bad side and neither did Ivan or anyone else, and so I merely nodded as I got up and prepared to go back to my tent with Ivan. The last thing I could see was Margaret kneeling and giving Churchward and Hunt a good scolding. “Alright, listen here you two fucks…! I have been-..”
I couldn’t quite catch all she was saying but, I thought my ears were malfunctioning as I heard the Reverend mother cursing and swearing. But I shook my head as I convinced myself I was mishearing things. There’s no way someone as serious, disciplined, and kind-hearted as Mother Margaret would be capable of such crass behaviour.
And so with that, most of us headed back to our quarters. While the expeditionary forces still needed to rest for a day or more, it didn’t change the fact that the more we waited, the more precarious our situation might become. But still, a period of recuperation was still needed, and I was bloody tired at that point. Whatever tomorrow has in store for me, I’ll be ready for it tomorrow.