Oliver, The Boy in the Blue Uniform

The flame in his chest flickered and surged as he called upon its power. His grip was clumsy from inexperience but with a little exertion he began to shape and channel power into purpose, directing it at the man holding his hand. The colours of the world distorted into icy blue hues as the cool burning sensation overtook him. Turning his attention inward he took a mental step forward, arms reaching outward. A moment later he began to sense what he wanted as fleeting hints of the man’s emotions began to tickle the border of his senses.

Confusion and uncertainty dominated the strange soldier’s thoughts. Oliver recognised these as being easy products of witnessing the flame for the first time and pushed past them, surface level thought could teach him little of intent. There, a quiet determination and feeling of responsibility was mixed in with the flooding doubt. He sensed silent confidence and a hint of pride watching from the depths. However most importantly there was no feeling of malice, nor was there naive over-eagerness or vicious zeal. Satisfied that the man harboured no treacherous intent Oliver pulled away from the flame, allowing the world to settle back into its natural state.

“That must have been quite a shock, are you alright?” He asked as he released the man’s hand.

Alter’s face was pale as he pulled his hand away, his eyes had widened to dinner plates and his eyelids flashed and flapped across them like fish struggling on land.

“Whh-” He began. “What was that? The hell did you do?” His voice seemed caught between a surprised shout and a fearful whisper.

Oliver frowned slightly at the reaction. Tales of the Soulkindlers and their powers were popular across the entire continent, every child grew up hearing stories of the flame. He did not like to advertise his abilities, however on the rare occasions he felt it prudent to show them off the initial shock was quickly replaced by bubbling excitement from those that witnessed it. This man was not from around here, and from the visible confusion on the faces of the other two nearby neither were they. But they had to be local, why else would they be travelling this remote path?

“I admit that I didn’t immediately trust your intentions. However, having examined your emotions I think we can discount the possibility that you're planning to betray us. Though I must admit to having more questions, if I may?” Oliver motioned for calm as he continued.

“Oh. Right. Sure, ask away.” Alter swallowed and relaxed his shoulders but was not able to hide his guarded expression.

“Why are you out here?”

“We are travelling in search of fresh work.”

“What sort of work?”

“Hmmm. Protection mostly, both property and people. We’re also adept at hostage rescue, point assault and infiltration, reconnaissance, assass-” Alter halted his speech and glanced off to the side.

“Which direction were you heading?” Oliver began to grill him for details.

“West.” Was the answer.

“Where were you based before this?”

“I … I cannot immediately tell you that.”

“I see. Final question for now, why are you so happy to help us? After all, we’ve promised no reward.”

“Because it's the right thing to do.” Alter’s previous answers had been delayed and uncertain but this last statement was both instant and delivered with gravitas.

“I believe you, and I won’t press any further.” Oliver spoke quickly to avoid any possible confrontation. “We should get going soon, but I’d like a private talk with my companion here before we depart.”

Alter nodded smartly and motioned back towards the road.

“Not a problem, I need to gather my men for a briefing anyway. Join us on the road when you’re ready.” He raised one hand to his head in some kind of salute and moved off.

Oliver watched him depart with curiosity as the captain motioned the others to join him, the pair quickly falling into step on either side and speaking in quiet whispers.

“What do you think?” Lucille asked as she sidled up alongside him, her expression a similar mask of puzzlement.

“There’s something about the captain. The voice, the face, the mannerisms, the obviously fake name. The fact that he seems to lack common knowledge, the caginess about where he’s been. Not to mention the clothes and whatever they’re all carrying, add that to the strange medicine and the banging noises when they dealt with the raiders. Who are these people?” Oliver rubbed the back of his neck and groaned.

“I think this ‘Alterfate’ is a Vaurker.” Lucille put simply.

Oliver looked at her in surprise for a moment before returning his gaze to the retreating figures. Of course, that would explain the accent, and the hair. Oliver had met Vaurkers in the past when he had accompanied his father to diplomatic functions and the resemblance, while not striking, was certainly there. Vaurkal was a small and isolated nation far to the southwest, its people maintained a secretive guise and treated outsiders with suspicion. That could explain why he was so surprised at his use of the flame, and why he didn’t want to speak about their movements. Another detail crossed his mind and he shook his head.

“Hold on, it does make sense that the Captain is from Vaurkal, but I’m pretty sure his healer is from Solfin.”

Vaurkal and Solfin were neighbouring nations who had been at each other’s throats for more than a century. Trapped together on the Porret Peninsula by a much larger nation, the two populations would sooner rip their own throats out than be seen speaking to each other. If it wasn’t for the Empire of the Fourth Calling’s hungry glances at their homes then they would’ve wiped each other out long ago.

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“Both countries keep their militaries close at hand in case the other comes calling. Are they outcasts, do you think?” Lucille added.

“Thrown out for consorting with the enemy? That would’ve got them executed, not kicked out. Not unless they fled before they could be discovered.”

“They wouldn’t be able to run overland, the Empire’s eyes watch too closely. It makes more sense for them to go by water around The Butcher Cape. I’d like to know how they ended up on the east coast of Rillestia.”

The eastern coast of their nation was sparsely populated due to the unusable extent of the Adderbite Badlands, however there were a small number of trading ports scattered along the lonely coastline for ships to resupply in or seek shelter from the powerful storms that ravaged this stretch of water during the summer months. The two of them and their entourage had been visiting one of those minor ports on their own business and were now returning to Rillestia proper.

“Well if they were travelling as freeblades then I suppose they could’ve had a contract protecting a merchant vessel. Perhaps the captain decided to get rid of them back in Breakdune.”

“And now they’re wandering inland trying to find something to do.” Surmised Lucille with a smile.

The pair grinned at each other for a moment, satisfied with their detective skills.

“I think we can make good use of them, at least until we make it back to your family's lands.” Oliver spoke cheerfully as he moved back towards the horse and hauled himself onto its back.

“I suppose we can. I wonder why they got kicked out? They seem too professional to be slackers.” Lucille answered as she accepted his hand, using quick, fluid movements up onto the horse and into her traditional position in front of him.

“They probably cost too much, you know how merchants are. I doubt they even knew they were being abandoned until they saw sails fading over the horizon.”

“Here’s hoping they’re as good as you think they are.” Lucille shuddered as she looked up at the sun crawling across the sky.

“I’ve got a good feeling.” Oliver put a protective arm around her as he encouraged the horse into a trot.

The past few weeks had been grim for him, he may well have fallen into despair if it wasn’t for Lucille’s love and support. Their sudden trip to Breakdune had borne some fruit, but that small harvest was burning inside the carriage right now. Even so, Oliver felt the uplifting sensation of hope under his wings. He found himself looking forward to teasing more information about Vaurkal from this ‘Alterfate’ character; he'd always been curious about the wider world.

Captain Luke ‘Alterfate’ Ploughman

Alter looked at the gathered faces surrounding him at the side of the dusty road. He had explained the situation as best he could, the squad had agreed with his logic and accepted the identities he’d started crafting for them. He couldn’t help but feel like the wheels had somewhat fallen off the moment he had described the magic nonsense he’d just been subjected to.

“You’re insane. You have to be.” Walross looked him dead in the eyes as he spoke.

“Yeah, man. We all know there’s no such thing as magic.” Pavejack agreed.

“No, no. Me and Booze saw it too. The guy’s eyes lit up like those blue lightsabers and there was this weird static-y, crackling sensation in the air.” Riptide backed up his squad leader's explanation as Boozehound nodded solemnly.

“It felt like he was looking into my bloody soul. I felt like an opened book, wouldn’t surprise me if he now knows all my embarrassing memories from six years old upward. I don’t know what he was looking for, or what he saw, but he seemed to trust me more afterward. Said he knew I wasn’t about to stab him in the back.”

The men spent a few moments in quiet contemplation before Whim looked up at the sky with a slow exhale.

“Welp. There goes the time travel theory. I suppose we can cross off post-apocalyptic societal regression too.”

“Maybe this is Warhammer.” Boats wondered.

“Maybe you should shut up.” Was the quick reply.

“‘Maybe’ isn’t going to help us figure out what’s happening, stow it. Like I just told you, we’re attaching ourselves to Sir Oliver over there and, god willing, he’s going to make sure you have something resembling a bed tonight. So, best behaviour and watch your tongues, alright? It was a flippant comment but Boats touches on a good point. I know you guys enjoy a good ‘For the Emperor!’ shout as much as the next man, but we don’t know if there are any actual emperors kicking around out here that we do not want to associate ourselves with. You get me?” Alter looked at his friends in turn as he spoke, emphasising every point he made with poignant jabs of his finger.

“Yes King.” Pavejack responded with a cheeky grin.

“What did I just fucking say?” Alter snapped back with mock anger as he fought down a smile of his own.

“Alright. Don’t say anything stupid, don’t out the fact that we have no fucking clue what’s going on. Follow orders from Mr Blueberry. Do we know what our next move is?” Boats asked.

“It sounds like we’re heading down the road in the direction they came from to search for this carriage they had to abandon. We’ve reason to suspect that it’ll be burned out or still burning when we get there, and there may well be more hostiles at the scene. Our main objective is this Chloe person, I don’t know who she is but she seems important, the lady thinks those bandits will’ve kept her alive for now. We take a nice quiet walk over there, secure the site and see if we can’t pick up a trail or find a body. That’s all we need to worry about for now.” He finished as the sound of trotting hooves moved up behind him.

“Are you all ready to move, Captain?” Oliver called.

“Ready to go at your order, sir.” Alter answered smartly before looking along the road. “What do you want to do about these bodies in the road?”

“Leave them, it’ll take too long to clear the path, they’re someone else’s problem.”

“What about the horses that survived the ambush?” Alter continued.

Oliver looked at the trio of horses standing awkwardly fifty metres off the road with their saddles still attached and the lone dead rider still frozen in place. Then he looked at the bodies of the horses ahead of them and shook his head.

“Look closely, see how apparent their rib cages are? And those bare patches in their coats? Those poor animals are diseased, half-starved and dehydrated. A couple of days of freedom is the best thing we can give them now.” His voice was sad but determined.

“No further questions then. Alright gentlemen, double column either side of the road, let's make tracks.” Alter called and his friends fell into a standard patrol formation.

Alter tried to ignore the faces of the slain as they picked their way past the dead, instead glancing up at the horse walking alongside him. Oliver’s eyes were focussed on the girl sitting in front of him, who in turn scanned the horizon with concerned eyes. Satisfied, he turned back to the rest of his formation. Other than some muttering and shy steps everyone made it through the bodies without incident. Alter couldn’t help but feel better for walking along a road, something he could recognise. As to what he was walking towards, well, he’d deal with that when he got to it.