The lively and boisterous atmosphere of the Old Elm tavern was in full swing. Two old men in checkered shirts and canvas trousers entertained the patrons with folk songs from a small stage next to the counter: one singing, the other playing the accordion. Wine flowed in abundance, and every table was occupied. Rubicund and corpulent faces of laborers and peasants devoured lamb chops and plates of tagliatelle alla boscaiola, while bustling waitresses darted between them with carafes and trays. The warm, subdued glow of kerosene lanterns cast a cozy ambiance, and the wood of benches, tables, walls, and floors had absorbed over time the aromas of the dishes prepared daily. A stuffed deer head hung conspicuously above the cash register.
Anker entered with a scowling expression, sharply contrasting with the tavern's cheerful mood. Viryl, on the other hand, was at ease and eager to sink his teeth into a piece of meat and bring the day to a satisfying end.
A waitress, who had just finished taking orders, approached the newcomers. She informed Anker and Viryl that the tavern was full and that, since they had not made a reservation, they would have to wait for a table to become available. Anker quickly scanned the room for Geltram, but to no avail. However, he noticed Kalira and Bersept seated at a half-empty rectangular table that could seat eight or ten people, engrossed in devouring a leg of lamb with roasted potatoes.
“We're with them,” Anker informed the waitress, pointing to the knights.
“Oh, of course, how could I not have thought about it!” the waitress exclaimed, fixing Anker's uniform collar with a dazed expression. “Please, make yourselves comfortable, I'll lead the way.”
*****
“Well, well, Madja, I didn't realize you were growing wrinkles, a white beard and a cock!” Bersept exclaimed, greeting the newcomers with such vulgar remark.
“Madja is dead,” Anker replied, annoyed.
“Oh, really?” Kalira responded, genuinely surprised but without a shred of compassion in her voice. “We're dropping like flies, haven't they been a bit harsh on us?”
“Another lady I’d like to have smashed bites the dust,” Bersept said, miming the act of wiping away tears.
“Get lost, you dork! You would’ve never had a chance with her. Madja would never have messed around with a calf like you. The lady was happily engaged to Romelion of Sperlarbia, a true gentleman. What could you have done about it, you boorish animal?”
“Oh come on! At least let me dream.”
Viryl and Anker had sat on the bench opposite the pair of knights and watched them in silence, not amused at all.
“But tell us, Anker, who is this charming gentleman at your side?” Kalira asked with a wink.
Viryl remained silent but gave Kalira a thorough once-over. A toned and robust girl with short light brown hair and freckles. Sharp ice-cold eyes. To a man his age, she was nothing more than a psychopathic brat, one to be kept away like the plague. But he couldn't deny that her cruel and dissolute gaze unnerved him.
“He's Viryl of Zelfiria, the one who was originally supposed to be our target. However, we too, like Geltram's group, were attacked before we could complete the mission,” Anker explained, deliberately omitting the details of the story.
“Oh, I see. So you've joined forces with him for the time being. I imagine that he will want his Exoplion back, when everything is said and done. And that you’ll have to fight over it. But you're not the type to kill a defeated enemy, Anker. Give me a call when you’re finished with him. He must be fun to play with, I'd love to cut his throat and savor his warm blood,” Kalira said, licking her lips and staring Viryl in the eyes. Viryl couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle. His appetite was getting spoiled.
“No, Kalira, we have a pact. I took a vow to retrieve his Exoplion and he was my witness, so he won't get in my way. Viryl has other interests in this matter,” Anker lied. Viryl didn't intervene to correct him.
“A vow, really? Serious stuff, not something to be dismissed in a few words. If you keep being so mysterious, Anker, it makes me want to know more. Come on, spill the beans!” Kalira exclaimed.
The conversation was interrupted by a much prettier waitress than the first, with a plunging neckline, who asked what the newcomers would like. “Whatever they're having?” Anker asked Viryl, and Viryl nodded. The waitress jotted down the order on a notepad and headed to the next table.
“I live on a mountain,” Viryl began, unexpectedly taking the initiative in the conversation, “They came to my place totally trashed in the middle of the night. A pack of Vespertine Bears had done a number on them. I tended to the girl, and I promised your friend to hand him my Exoplion the following day. But we were attacked during the night with some hallucinogenic fog, and we have no idea what sort of ugly shit happened thereafter. In the end though the girl was dead and my belongings were gone, including the Exoplion and my golden pocket watch, a memento of my dead wife. We’re going to Corlona to get some leads from a contact I used to have back in the day. I must get those bastards.”
“What a sweet lamb you are, rough on the outside, soft on the inside. It makes me want to nibble on you all the more!” Kalira observed with a grin painted on her face.
“But tell us a bit about yourselves,” Anker anticipated Kalira before she could ask another question, “You seem cheerful and lively. I gather that your search, unlike ours, has been successful.”
“Not at all,” Kalira said.
Bersept took the trouble to explain a bit better, “We chose to retrieve the Exoplion of a fallen knight from Corlona. A drunken sea dog. It seems he fell precisely because he was always drunk, and someone in the upper echelons didn't like it. In any case, the guy, Marreot of the High Wave, had decided to go hunting for sea monsters to make some dough. Intelligence told us that when he wasn't at sea, he was hanging around a shack at the river port, and it seemed like the perfect time to go looking for him since no one in their right mind would set sail with the storms of this period. Well, he hadn't set sail, but the stench coming from his shack, not exactly the stench of rotten fish and piss that you breathe in at the port, gave us a heads-up. We found him dead. Strangled on a bunk all naked. A job done about a month ago, so you can imagine the sight. Obviously no Exoplion.”
“We thought we'd hang around Corlona for a couple of days before heading back. The mission was a failure anyway, so why not indulging in some fun to forget about it? But then Geltram's alert came and we decided to join the investigation. We’re gonna crack some skulls and, who knows, we could even find the stolen Exoplia. Cheer up, Anker, it’s gonna be fun! Why the long face?” Kalira asked.
“Let's just say I haven't taken Madja's death well.”
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“Oh, come on, I'm just finding out now that that bony little doll was a real heartbreaker. Enough to make you take a Vow of Dedication, Anker. I'm starting to get jealous, what did you find in her?”
“That's not the point, Kalira... let it go,” Anker replied, disheartened.
An awkward silence fell between the four diners. Bersept picked up his fork and knife and cut himself a generous slice of leg. He began to chew it noisily, then, with his mouth full, declared, “They cook divinely in this place.”
Kalira poured herself half a glass of wine from the carafe and began to sip it, while staring intently at Viryl.
After a few minutes a waitress came to lay the table for Anker and Viryl, and another brought their order. The two began to debone the leg and eat it slowly, cutting the meat into small pieces. They weren't very hungry at first, but the lamb was juicy, the potatoes crispy, and the wine cleansed their mouths pleasantly, so the lump in their throat loosened and their appetite returned.
*****
Geltram arrived past nine, out of breath. He apologized for the delay, took off his slightly damp uniform jacket, and sat down next to Bersept. He began, “Well? Are we the only ones?”
“What did you expect, little prince? That all the knights of the Lower Table in Sanchiria would rush here for the alert of a novice with a pompous name? I'd say you're lucky to have us,” Kalira replied to him.
“I can't argue with that, but I expected at least a couple of local knights to show up. Just to hear for themselves what I had to report,” Geltram explained, as he rubbed his buttocks on the bench and looked for a more comfortable position. Once he found it, he looked up and observed Viryl for a few moments. “Who is this gentleman?” he asked.
Kalira and Bersept's eyes fell on Anker, who started from the beginning to tell the modified version of his encounter with Viryl. He was just getting started when Geltram's stomach grumbled loudly. “Excuse me, Anker, I'm really starving, I haven't eaten since this morning,” Geltram said, then stood up and shouted, “Waitress!” and lunged towards the one who was closest.
After Geltram had ordered, Anker resumed his story, and then it was Kalira and Bersept's turn. When Geltram finished eating, he too began telling his own story.
*****
Geltram and Fenkell, his companion, chose to retrieve the Exoplion of the fallen knight Rodnick of the Scarlet Axe. Their target, a ruthless individual, led a den of brigands on the Thorn Plateau in Morchigia.
The two knights reached the whereabouts of the enemy base on the evening of the 19th day of Dodrestes. They set up camp in a vantage point, where they could observe the brigands' movements without being noticed. They remained on alert until the right opportunity to strike presented itself.
On the afternoon of the 21st, a squad of brigands returned from a successful raid. The whole gang started to celebrate, until they were all dead drunk and began to collapse from exhaustion and their altered state.
Taking advantage of the aftermath of that wild party, at dusk Geltram and Fenkell sneaked past the lookout posts under cover of darkness and first eliminated Rodnick so that he could not activate his Exoplion. Then the two knights took care of the rest of the brigands, which were just cannon fodder under their inclement spells. When the camp was cleared, before snatching the Exoplion from Rodnick's corpse, Geltram and Fenkell decided to settle the duel right away.
They sparred for nearly half an hour without either of them yielding. Abruptly smoke bombs and explosives flew all over them. Geltram fought blindly against the enemies until three spears pierced his back, right through his chest, and everything plunged into darkness.
The knight was unable to tell how much time had passed when he regained consciousness, but it was still night. He had lost a lot of blood, but given his good medical training, he managed to stop the bleeding and regenerate the wounds with the potions he brought with him.
*****
At this point, Geltram interrupted the story to proudly show the scars under the tights of his uniform. Kalira made a sound of admiration, while Bersept covered his mouth and burped, bending his chin into his neck. Viryl and Anker exchanged a knowing look.
*****
Fenkell, however, had not been as lucky. The attackers had been particularly relentless towards him and by the time Geltram recovered, he was already dead. Also, the Exoplion was no longer on Rodnick's corpse. Geltram climbed a watchtower of the brigand’s camp and saw a dozen torches moving away in the night, and among the torches, the glint of the Exoplion. His hippodrone was too far away and its noise would have risked exposing him, so he decided to follow the attackers on foot.
He managed to keep up with them until dawn, and in the first lights he was able to see them more clearly: there were fifteen men and their uniforms were embroidered with the emblem of an unknown organization. On the emblem he recognized a V shaped sign with a fist in the center, a clear iconography of anarchist origin.
By mid-morning, the attackers emerged from the plateau forest at the point where they had left their horses tied up. Geltram had ten energy vials at his disposal, and he immediately gulped one down to make up for the stamina of the horses. He followed the anarchists from the undergrowth and managed to keep up with them because the horses were forced to trot on that winding road, while he cut through the slopes of the hills.
Once they reached the main road to Corlona, leading from the province of Morchigia to Further Sanchiria, the anarchists headed east at full gallop and the pursuit became more difficult. Geltram kept track of them until dusk, but eventually they disappeared beyond the horizon. He decided to rest after finding a makeshift bed.
Reaching Corlona the next day was yet another adventure. Some bandits tried to rob him. He helped a woman cross a forest because she was afraid of being attacked by wolves. A boy had slipped into the Lona River and he dived in to fish him out.
In short, all sorts of things had happened during that day and that was why he had arrived more than four hours late.
*****
“You're a real tough nut to crack, Geltram,” Anker said with admiration once his comrade had finished his story.
“Maybe, but I've used up all my potions and rations. Tomorrow the first thing I have to do is stock up, guys.”
“So what’s the plan?” Bersept asked impatiently.
“Look, I would say that the basic principle is that we have to carry out our research incognito, so we will have to give up our knightly privileges during the investigation. Though the two of you have been a bit too conspicuous in Corlona in recent days —” Geltram started, hinting at Kalira and Bersept.
“How do you know that?” Bersept interrupted him.
Geltram ignored Bersept’s question and continued to talk about the strategy he had in mind, “— Perhaps it's better if you split up and go searching the villages to the north, to extort some information from the peasants. As for me and Anker, it is to be assumed that our enemies have seen our faces when they attacked us. However, I think they took us for dead and we have no reason to believe that they have spread our identities to the rest of the organization, so unless we run into the very guys who faced us, it is unlikely they will recognize us. Since we have never entered Corlona in uniform, we can take care of exploring the city ourselves.”
“So, basically, we're the ones who get the dirty work,” Kalira observed polemically.
“It won’t be easy for us either. I don't think the anarchists are stupid enough to have set up their base in Corlona. Once we're done here, we'll go scour the villages to the south. In the meantime, we could organize ourselves like this for tomorrow morning, Anker: I would like to visit the general market and the river port, then I might go to the suburbs. You could go to the station, the fish market, and Duomo square.”
“No objections,” Anker replied, “And I would also have a proposal to make. If we manage to infiltrate, it could become difficult to communicate the location of the enemy base. But I have designed some automatons that might be useful. They are cute self-propelled gadgets the size of an insect, capable of recording conversations and images. These can be sent directly to the speculum of all the others, as long as we have sympathionic connection.”
Kalira looked at him with disdain, Bersept seemed almost annoyed by the idea of walking around with a bug on him, as if he had something to hide. Geltram, on the other hand, approved, “That sounds like a fantastic idea, Anker. Well, as for your fallen knight pal — ”
“I won't be joining you,” Viryl cut him short, “I need to find my informant.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth: if your informant is as reliable as you say, he can't have missed any suspicious activity in town. If you find anything out, let us know.”
“I won't fail to, and I expect the same from you.”
“You should buy yourself a speculum first, Viryl,” Anker interjected.
“He doesn't have a speculum?! Well, then that means we'll have to buy him one first,” Geltram said, astonished. Then he looked around, and no one added anything. So he concluded, “And that should be it. Rest well, guys. Tomorrow will be another long day.”