I stayed in the camp for another three days. Although the duke didn’t trust me to guard the pathways into Le Mans anymore, he made me keep my gargoyles there alongside a few more men.

I, on the other hand, became an attraction for the soldiers to gaze at. I would stand outside of the Lord’s tent, acting as a guard alongside two other men armed with halberds.

When captains came to report back to the duke, they would never present themselves to me, but they would always stare on their way out.

Like that I spent my week except for on the fifth day when surprisingly enough, Luc came to see me.

“Is that really you?” It was the early morning when the troops would go and get their morning porridge.

“Luc?” I asked confused as to why he had come to see me. Or how he still thought of me as me. It wasn’t hard to see that everyone thought of me as a beast as of now… it didn’t matter much to me, but it was nice to see that one person didn’t. “Do you remember me?”

“Yes, Gregoire, how did you become…”

“Like a beast.”

“Yes.”

“It happened when I upgraded classes.”

“Did you have a choice?” It wasn’t hard to see the pity in his eyes, but I’d doubt that he would feel that way if he knew what I had gained.

“It was.”

“…well, good luck. I’ll be going now.”

“Have a good day.”

#

“Gregoire! Come in quick.”

Quickly, I ducked into tent, making sure not to rip the fabric as I entered. Not too long ago I found out that I had little spikes on the back of my head which had a tendency to catch fabrics.

Inside, the duke and Damien were huddled over a letter which had just arrived.

“What is it?”

“The count is finally moving to relieve Le Mans.” The duke pushed himself back, but to get up he was struggling. It is true, I hadn’t seen him move since he had come to get me when I had transformed into a gargoyle.

Damien was quick to give him a hand. “What are your orders sir?”

Groaning slightly, Frederick let go of Damien. “Assemble the troops, Gregoire, you do that. Tell them to assemble at the podium.”

“Yes, my Lord.” I don’t know if it was because this was his first order to me which didn’t have to do with killing or perhaps because he gave me this mission when he wasn’t in the best of health, but it made me feel honored.

Yet, the more I looked at him, nearly crippled, folded in half, his eyes sunken, and his hair sickly, but I felt a certain way. One where perhaps, this wasn’t the man that should lead me. And who could escape the feeling when looking down on a man half his size?

Swallowing the thoughts, I set off and flew into the skies.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Lapping the camp from above to get the people’s attention, I couldn’t help, but be amazed by the number of people here. In the few weeks we had been stationed here, this empty expanse outside Le Mans had grown into a small town. Merchants who had followed us here had opened up shop in the central part of the encampment while wooden palisades had been erected to protect us from any surprise attacks.

Channeling my mana into my throat, I yelled, “All troops gather at the podium! All troops gather at the podium!” It was barely a yell, and more of a screech. It made even my heart skip a beat, but it wasn’t long until droves of men filtered out of the camps. Some sleeping at the edge of the encampment made sure there weren’t any enemies before running back to their tents to put on their uniforms.

I continued to make rounds around the camp as the sight of a thousand men filtering through the makeshift streets towards the podium was a sight only, I could behold. If only I could paint, I would have made a series of tableau. Alas, I could only engrave the sight into my mind.

When all the troops had assembled, I made one last round around the perimeter before diving down onto the platform, just behind the duke.

And as I set myself straight, Frederick let the air settle before he began his speech.

“Men, it is time for glory!” He yelled. His hands firmly gripped the podium, as he tried his best to hide his indisposition. He was evidently sick, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Hopefully, it wasn’t mortal. But I suppose big camps such as these always caused sickness to spread, not even the duke was immune to them. “Today we march out, tomorrow we fight, later we celebrate. Let your energy flow and your children will be rewarded, you will be rewarded, and your future will be great. We are protected by God, we are protected by our will, we are protected by our cunning, and by our strength.”

#

After the speech we marched, and I flew.

The duke had ordered me to survey the lands and find the highest plains where we could set up camp.

It took me a couple, hours, but I managed to find a square of land, perhaps half the size of our initial camp. It would be a tight fit, but it would let us monopolize the high ground.

As the sun was setting, I returned to the duke.

“How was it? Did you find any spots?” His eyes were locked on the path before him. His hands had a firm hold on his horse’s reins as he tried his best not to look sick.

“Yes, it’s about a league east of here. The clearing is just about twice the size as where we were before but there aren’t any waterways.”

“It’s fine, we have enough water for a couple days. But east… It’s not the best positioned." The duke mulled over the words. "The count could outflank us to get to Le Mans.”

That was true, well I didn’t know too much about where the count’s men were. “But couldn’t we steer them towards us?”

“Steer them? They aren’t cattle Gregoire. And their main force has more than their fair share of class holders. It would be nothing more than a suicide mission.”

“Then could we not stall them to let our force catch up with them.”

“And who will do that? Again, it’s no different than a suicide mission. We need all our men to fight them.”

“We don’t need to lose any men.”

It wasn't hard for him to understand what I was implying. “You only have two gargoyles right now, no? You would need at least twenty if not more if you wanted to slow them down for any amount of time.”

“Then you just need to tell me where I can find twenty more gargoyles. I don’t need to sleep. Just tell me where to find them and I will go right now.”

The duke passed his hands through his hair. “Are you sure there wasn't any other fields where we could set up camp?”

“I’m sure. There are too many forests and most of the pastures are surrounded by hills. It would imprison us if the count decided to take the offensive.”

“Then we’ll have to follow your plans. But you won’t be doing it alone. I’ll prepare a cavalry group to follow you tomorrow, but for tonight, here, take this.” The duke pulled out a folded-up piece of parchment paper. “This is one of two maps we have of the area. Do not lose it. You will find that the cities encircled in red are those who seat nobles. Those are your best bets to find gargoyles. I am putting a lot of trust in you with this. Do not betray my faith.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Good, I will reward you accordingly if your plan succeeds.”

Giving a slight bow of the head, I flew off. This was my chance. Probably my last one at that. I couldn’t fail now. I would do whatever I had to in order to accomplish this mission. Why? I don’t know. It just felt right. It was as if the key to the door which appeared before me with my father’s passing was this mission.

I could not lose it.

It would be mine.

I would finally be able to see what was on the other side of irrelevance and powerlessness.

I would finally be able to see what was hidden behind those iron gates and stone walls.

I would finally be more than nothing.