"Reckless, truly, but so long as you keep guiding him, he will remain useful," The sentinel says, sniffing quietly a yellow flower in his hand "In fact, that was precisely why I chose him, so for the moment, his rash choices still benefit us"

"I am happy to serve Honta's will" Ludica replied bowing slightly.

"Very well, and with the burning of the temple back at the Betrayer's city, everything is going well" The sentinel orders as he inspects the flower, which burns away into nothing in an instant.

"I don't understand, why undermine the name of the priests of the realm this way?"

"Ludica, you have a role to play, and your role does not require you to make questions," The Sentinel says with his hands behind his back, lost in thought as he stares at Honta's spear.

Ludica bows once more and walks away, out from the decorated room of penance. The elaborate pillars, the crystal clear shallow pool of water, and Honta's spear in the middle, a vine full of yellow flowers growing up to its tip. She gets on her Unhuayoj and flies away from the castle, making her way back to the front of the war effort.

Liam had demanded to be given the time to return home and mourn his father and people, being a hero in the making not even a noble could refuse him, so he was let go. Ludica had the duty to report directly of this news to the Sentinel, and she cursed under her breath at it.

His personal Kon, that she was. A glorified messenger bird.

But her mind still wandered, to decypher the Sentinel's plan. Why hurt the priests and temples by branding them as corrupt? Why give away the Akanian sword to a random man, even if gifted with strength? She had been tasked to find a suitable target and among all the wanna-be heroes, he chose him.

There was no doubt in her mind that the Sentinel was behind the Princess's disappearance. But for what reason put on the throne someone as unpredictable and reckless as the young man now sitting on the throne, was beyond her. What type of game was he playing?

As time passed and she got closer to the military encampment more of the sky riders could be seen, practicing with their Unhuayoj mid-air, to be prepared for war. And soon the large camp could be seen.

The watchtowers had been erected along with a short palisade that swallowed the entire camp, proper dirt roads have been made and by now the entire camp looks more like a newly settled town. With scorn, her eyes glance at the place where she meant to make the landing, now filled with prostitutes from the border cities looking to make a quick coin with bored soldiers.

And she could easily go down and ignore them, where not by the healthy appearance of the most sought-out after whores, surely belonging to The Betrayer. So forced to go somewhere else she finds a spot with a caretaker near the ground where the young squires are training, and after grunting knowing there is no better place, she guides the giant monstrosity and lands perfectly in the circular spot, where the caretaker quickly rushes to take the reins as she steps down, whispering kind words in the ears of the tormented beast to soothe it.

Taking a glance she saw the youth in training, under the guidance of another champion, the elf leaving the front to check on her property that had been targeted. She chuckled at the thought of it.

A goblin? Each year it seemed like people grew dumber, but to believe a goblin could come up with the logistics necessary to attack so deep inside the kingdom was a stretch.

"Ah, priestess!" The champion guiding the teens shouted from afar and waved. To Ludica's displeasure, making his way to her quickly, it was time to smile.

"Champion, I thank you for protecting the realm, and dedicating your time and abundant experience for the betterment of our youth," Ludica says with a practiced smile as she offers a courtesy bow.

"Oh please, you humble me," The jolly champion says playing with his mustache, a grown man getting on in years. His eyes were incapable of looking away from Ludica's ample bosom.

"Now if you excuse me, I must see to my personal affairs" Ludica excuses herself, not patient enough to deal with another lustful man.

With her sight, it was easy to see all the intentions coming out from the man. He was practically fucking her with his eyes, and must certainly be doing it in his mind. She almost gagged, were not by years of diligent training to avoid such a thing.

"Wait! I meant to talk to you about Gotz, Liam's protegee?" The champion quickly catches up to her.

"What about him?" Ludica says, managing to sound somewhat interested.

"It's just that, the boy has a gift with the blade I tell you! It's incredible how quickly he can grasp the techniques needed to master the sword" The champion could barely contain his excitement as he shared with her "Sometimes it takes him a few days of training, but others, with a single look he can copy every move and swing to perfection, like if he had been training for years!"

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"Well, Liam's protegee must be as great as him, won't you agree?" Ludica says, hoping to get rid of the champion to go back to her tent.

"Indeed, but wouldn't you like to watch him train?"

"I don't know, there is a lot to do and I don't want to...distract the boys" Ludica's comment forced the champions to stare away from her chest and to her face.

"You won't have to worry about that, the boy is training under my tutelage directly!" the champion boasts proudly and now manages to interest Ludica a bit more in the conversation. They both stop walking "As I said, the boy is impressive, so I teach him personally to squeeze out all potential within him, and there is a lot"

"...perhaps I can check on him, his heart must be troubled as well, knowing everyone he grew up with is dead"

"Undoubtedly, but if I'm allowed to say this, I believe the rage and desire for retribution have helped a lot to keep him motivated. Follow me"

Ludica and the champion make their way through the camp, the champion telling tales of adventures and impressive feats he has done in his life. How many of them were true? Less than half, just how much of an idiot do you have to be to lie in front of a priestess with the Sight? But as the man rambled on about his imaginary feats, Ludica thought.

She thought and pondered about the boy. To her, he was more or less a nuisance, someone she didn't like, nor hate, like most people in her life. He was complete, beneath her concern. But there was something that intrigued her about him, something great, and once she reached the secluded spot where Gotz trained with a sword, she could see again the object of her curiosity.

It was the unrelenting, unforgiving, rage.

It escaped the boy's body like a raging fire. It almost burned her to just look at it and especially now, after hearing what had happened to his village, the wrath that emanated from the body of the boy was so strong that if she wasn't as trained with the sight as she is, Ludica would have a hard time telling if the source of the energy is a human or a monster.

He was inside a large tent. Within a circle in the dirt where he constantly swings the blade from side to side, so fast and with such force it whistles as it cuts the air, and the sweat stains the dirt with each swing.

"Gotz! Prepare yourself, I will test you!" the champion shouts as he walks inside the circle, from his hand a magic sword manifests. And Gotz wastes no time making a stance and pointing his longsword at him.

"You will spar with him?" Ludica asks, incredulous.

"Oh I will, but calm your worried thoughts. The boy is gifted, and I will show it to you"

Worry? Oh no, it was amazement, and doubt. To spar with a champion would mean Gotz is many times more skilled with the blade than the regular soldier and at his age. Unheard of.

But soon, she watches in shock how the champion lunges forward and a fight ensues, Gotz moves with speed and precision despite his prosthetic hand limiting the effectiveness of his grip on the blade. Surely, were not a magical blade in hands of the champion, the swords would make sparks fly all around with the strength behind their swings.

And as the seconds pass Ludica's mind, begins to work.

A young boy such as him, with no parents, but such a bright future, such talent. A thin smile begins to grow on her face as with each swing and grunt she imagines the boy as a grown man, fighting against his enemies with a ferocity unmatched, and a loyalty to one person only. Her.

Soon the champion loses his jolly expression and gets serious, no longer toying with Gotz, he attacks as if he was fighting with a real opponent, and Gotz is not defeated. As more seconds pass Ludica watches in amusement how the champion's energy begins to change from the pink of lust and orange of happiness, into a dark red of anger.

But as his swings become stronger, finally, Gotz begins to slow down. His ragged breath gave away his exhaustion. The champion doesn't stop his swings and at long last, with one precise strike, breaks Gotz's hand and forces him to drop the blade, falling on the ground in pain as he bites down, containing his cry.

"Woah! You are...you really are gifted, made sweat even" The champion vanishes the sword and laughs loudly, wiping the sweat from his brow "See? This boy is-"

"GOTZ!" Ludica shouts with such honest-sounding concern that manages to startle the champion, who steps away as she rushes to the aid of the boy "You broke his hand!"

"Y-Yes, there are a lot of priests so-"

"No! I'm taking him with me to heal him" Ludica helps the confused Gotz to his feet, who is in too much pain to really say anything "You sure have proven that you can beat a young boy, champion" Ludica spits with such poison that the shocked man can only look away in embarrassment.

Ludica leads the wounded Gotz away from the tent and to a nearby one belonging to a few soldiers, whom she shoos away. Once inside, she sits Gotz on top of a nearby bed and sits next to him.

"Here, chew this," Ludica says taking out a tiny square object, brown in color, and putting it in Gotz's mouth. After a single bite, he looks at her surprised "Is not medicine, it's just candy" Ludica says with a short giggle as she begins to heal his hand. The flames quickly swallow his hand and as the symbols begin to appear she gets to work on putting everything back in place. Humming a cheerful melody, like the ones she often does when cooking to seem more innocent.

"Why?" Gotz asks, the lessening pain facilitating speech.

"Because you did well in your training"

"No...why, this?" Gotz looks at his hand and then at Ludica, whose expression changes to that of sadness in an instant.

"I heard what happened to your village" For a moment, she almost jumps away from the explosion of anger that strikes her flesh, burning it for just an instant "Such a horrible thing...Gotz, I know I have kept my distance, but understand that it was only because I didn't want you to think I wanted to take the place of your mother. I know such a bond is unbreakable even if she is no longer in this world"

Gotz's anger diminishes quickly, and it's replaced by a mixture of sorrow and wrath. But before he can say anything, Ludica finishes healing his hand and embraces him tightly.

"I promise to do better from now on...alright? You won't be alone ever again" She whispers, caressing his hair lovingly. And even if he doesn't return the hug, she can see it has an effect, as small sparks of orange pierce through the flames of red and blue.

The Sentinel uses her as a pawn in a great game he is playing. Like chess, a king in white collecting pawns to set the stage for a one-sided game...but not anymore. The black king was now placed, and with Gotz, Ludica had her first pawn.

Whatever the prize at the end of the game, she wanted it.