“The Last Sigurds.” (Henry)

‘Why, why did I remember that only now. That quest was a minor side quest chain so it is no wonder I forgot about it. But what triggered me to remember that now?’ (Henry)

While thinking about his memory he changed his soaked clothes. Henry was trembling, the cold sweat was still pouring out of his body. He was trying to calm himself down from the nightmare. His dream was a mixture of his previous life’s memories and his current life. He saw the epilogue of the quest. A wall of text describing the downfall of an eastern duke and his whole people to an ancient evil. He remembered that the duke led the final charge against demons and their minions but fell to the onslaught of monsters, and that the duchess was consumed by hellfire summoned by high class demons.

‘They were duke Alfred and duchess Eleonora, my parents. There is no mistaking it. The names match, but what must have triggered the memory was meeting the quest giver. Elizabeth, a poor woman who lost her husband in that very charge. She and her son were among the lucky few people who managed to escape before the corruption took over the land and made the once fertile fields and green forests into a hellscape.’ (Henry)

Large tears trickled down his face. There was no helping it, after all, what he saw might be the future that awaited his two loving parents. He did not care about the prestige or the luxury; he cared about keeping his parents safe. The feelings kept rushing out from deep inside Henry, and soon the room was filled with sobs he quickly buried his head into a pillow to prevent any sounds from escaping his room.

‘Luckily the memory did not trigger yesterday, if it did I would have looked like a crazy person.’ (Henry)

After a while Henry managed to calm down, tears were still flowing and his eyes were red but his mind was much calmer.

‘Crying won’t fix anything. Two things, I must do two things, confirm if this is actually that game’s world and second prevent any misfortune that might befall my family.’ (Henry)

***

In the morning, before the first rays broke over the horizon Henry washed his face in ice cold water. He needed to decrease the swelling and wake himself up. After a few minutes he managed to decrease the swelling and, after looking into his mirror Henry returned to bed. He stared into the ceiling and awaited his father’s arrival.

He did not have to wait long. A gentle knock broke the silence in the room and, after Henry answered, Alfred entered the room.

“Good morning Henry, did you sleep well?" Alfred looked at his son before continuing, "Son, your eyes don’t look rested, would you like to sleep some more?”

“No daddy, I slept enough, I just had a bad dream.” (Henry)

With this he managed to persuade Alfred and the two went to the dining room where Anna and Elizabeth were having a conversation. As soon as they saw Henry’s tired face the two women rushed and started checking if he was sick. But after Alfred explained that it was just a nightmare they relaxed.

“Mommy, daddy can I start my lessons? I want to help you with work.” (Henry)

He did not have high hopes for this first step, as he was well aware that no child of two years can start any serious lessons about governance but it was only the first step.

“Honey, you are much too young. After your fourth birthday we will start your first real lessons. Enjoy your free days, once lessons start you will miss them.” (Eleonora)

“But I want to help you, can I start learning sooner, I want to spend time with you.” (Henry)

“Well if it is just to spend time with us it will be ok to tag along with me or Eli when we do our duties in the mansion. Will that do for now?” (Alfred)

While his parents were satisfied as they expected that the boy would give up after a few hours of sitting and looking at them do paperwork, Henry was rejoicing inside his mind as he would be able to gain more knowledge about the world.

‘Yes, just what I needed, a closer look at the situation.’ (Henry)

“Yes daddy, can I?” (Henry)

“Anna, Eli, you agree with our proposal?” (Alfred)

“Yes!” Eleonora was happy that she would spend more time with her son today, he would get bored, but still it was necessary for him to understand that he was much too young for any serious lessons.

“I agree as well. Lord Henry, you will have to do your best today, even if it is boring, do try to spend the whole day with your parents, but do not interrupt their work, understood?” (Anna)

“Yes nanny Anna!” (Henry)

***

After breakfast Henry went outside with his parents to take part in their morning training. As they exited the main gates they saw a messenger running down from the main gate. The messenger bowed before the duke and, after taking a moment to catch his breath, announced the arrival of some unexpected guests.

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“My lord, you have guests, the representatives of the elvish council and the dwarves have arrived.” (messenger)

“Good, let's go and greet them. Go inside and tell them to send someone to inform Anna and Oliver about their arrival. Have them prepare guest rooms and move the lunch forward, they might be hungry after the journey.” (Alfred)

“Yes lord Alfred!” With these words the messenger rushed into the mansion to deliver the duke's instructions. Alfred looked over to Eleonora with worried eyes and took Henry’s hand.

“Son, I guess you will learn a bit about our territory today. The people who came are different from us, try not to stare at them too much, ok? But don’t be afraid, they are good people and our good friends since a long time ago.” (Alfred)

“Yes daddy. I will do my best!” (Henry)

The door was some distance away and his parents started telling Henry about the people who live in the northern part of the territory.

“Henry, our guests come from the region in the base of the huge Broken Ridge mountain range, they rarely come to visit us in such a formal way. They were supposed to come in one months time to celebrate your birthday with you.” (Alfred)

“They have an important festival in their territory right now, as it is the month of the Moon, so they said they would come once the festivities are over. This is a surprise visit, but still do your best, ok?” (Eleonora)

Henry nodded and Eleonora gave him a quick hug. Alfred used the opportunity and jumped in as well, this moment would last a bit longer but a cough interrupted their family time.

“We really should find out why they came over in the middle of The Festival. It is not with a light heart that they would leave their families at such an important time.” (Anna)

They continued their talk while walking towards the gates. When they arrived at the gates, what greeted them were 8 guests. They bowed graciously and the two leaders stepped forward.

“Let the silver light of the Moon shine upon this meeting my lords, my ladies.” (elf)

“Greetings my lord Alfred, my lady Eleonora, Vice Captain, little lord.” (dwarf)

“Welcome master Grendir, master Ulv. Thank you for making the long trip to our home. Allow me to introduce you to my son Henry.” (Alfred)

As he said these words Alfred placed his hands on his son’s shoulders.

“Masters welcome to our home. I thank you for making the long trip.” (Henry)

His words were stiff, as was his bow. The people looking at him had warm eyes as they believed that it was due to the fact that the people before him were different from the humans which lived in his home. But in Henry’s mind these men were another proof that this was indeed the world in which his family was doomed.

“Lord Henry, you should relax. Ulv might look scary but he is very soft on the inside. Please, raise your head.” (Grendir)

“Oi. Grendir stop with the jokes, the young lord will get the wrong impression. You should act more to your age!” (Ulv)

“Now, now, please don’t fight in front of the lord’s family. Let us go inside, lunch will be served soon. Also you need to inform us on the reason for your visit.” (Anna)

As always Anna was there to get the conversation back on track. The two men, as well as the people standing behind them changed their expressions.

“Yes, let us go inside and talk, please arrange a safe room with no one eavesdropping…” (Grendir)

***

After a walk, during which the atmosphere was lifted thanks to Henry and his constant attempts to steal glances at the strange visitors. The group arrived inside and was led to the dining room where they were served tea.

“Henry, you may leave if you wish…” (Alfred)

“Daddy, can I stay? I promised Anna I would stay with you and mommy for work today.” (Henry)

“Indeed you did, alright my boy, stay, but do not interrupt the talks. They made a long journey so we need to be nice and listen to them before we speak.” (Alfred)

Henry nodded and entered the room holding his father’s hand. He took his seat and did his best to keep quiet and not stare at the people sitting opposite from him.

“Lord Alfred, there appears to have been movement beyond the mountains. The ra… the people over there are starting to use the shadows of the mountain to amass a new expedition.” (Ulv)

The duke's side of the table made a troubled look. There were only two reasons to amass troops so near the border. An expedition into the mountains against the monsters or an incursion into the kingdom.

“Lord Alfred, calm down. It would appear it is not the worst case scenario. The force is much too small to invade our lands. Unfortunately they appear not to be going for the monsters that dwell in the mountains, either.” (Grendir)

“Then, why? Could it be that they are going to raid the border zone?” (Alfred)

“It would make no sense, that territory is just a bunch of pioneer villages with our military and farmers. There would be no financial gain. What's more they would lose money from such a stupid move.” (Anna)

“They are cockroaches but they are not stupid. They must have some goal they want to achieve. But, wait, they might be after our response. Either we respond and they know we have eyes in the mountain, or we fail to respond and they get a small win to brag about.” (Eleonora)

“There is another reason for this movement. Were there any tamers or beasts among the raid party?” (Oliver)

“Yes, indeed there were at least 2 tamers. Several large and a few dozen small cages were counted. But what does that have to do with anything captain Oliver? They use them all the time…” (Ulv)

Oliver raised his hand to stop Ulv from continuing. “There might be another reason as I already said. They will raid our border villages and use the monsters to make it look like our forces perished in a desperate struggle against the minions of evil.” (Oliver)

“All their dreams would come true. They would provoke us, cover up their actions as a monster raid, even our reputation would suffer because it would seem that mindless monsters snuck through our scouts and forts. That would make the East and the kingdom look inept.” Alfred's frustration could be felt with every word he spoke.

“And any attempt to blame them for it would be seen as us trying to cover up our own failures by the other nations.” (Eleonora)

A heavy atmosphere covered the room. But they could not spend too much time thinking about what is to be done. The silence, which was short, but seemed like an eternity was broken by Alfred.

“Oliver, send people to get the nearby knights and have them come to the mansion. Tell them we are going to have a training march.”