Over the last 3 hours, Faust had been able to run away from the stray orcs, running deeper and deeper into the forest. At some point, he had stopped thinking and let his survival instincts take over. Many times already had he believed himself to be at his end, yet he persisted and continued to run.

He knew it would eventually have to end, but he would be damned before giving up.

‘I’ll just… keep running.’ He had incredible endurance, but his chainmail weighed heavily on him and the fatigue from the last days made it hard to run. He tripped several times and only barely caught himself, continuing to flee.

He repeatedly just wanted to drop to the ground and wait for his death… but in those moments he saw Leona’s face before him as she mouthed the magic words: “I love you.”

Or so he believed. He couldn’t be sure, but in this moment, it was a fact to him.

‘Leona…’ he thought of her, and it allowed him to focus again, whenever his field of vision started to turn grey. All of his determination did not do much to help him though. Breathing had long since become a painful, exhausting necessity that burned and hurt.

His physical state was nothing short of a disaster. His shoulder was broken, and the rest of his body was about to break down from exhaustion. To top it all off, due to his speed falling off the orcs had closed into a little more than 50 meters distance.

He was running forward when he realized that he was approaching a large cliff. It was still a hundred meters away, yet he frantically turned around.

He could hear screeches from nearly all directions except the front. His flanks were also covered by the orcs. They had him cornered.

‘To think that I would die here… away from civilization, hunted down by orcs, driven into a dead end like a hunted animal.’ He thought and smiled weakly.

‘At least my friends are safe… at least… she is safe.’ He thought as he closed in on the cliff. It looked like a 20-meter-high wall. The screeches started getting excited.

‘Yeah, excited for your dinner? Do orcs even eat humans?’ he was astonished he could even ask such stupid questions at such a time. His body was about to give in when his eyes focused on something at the bottom of the wall, now only 30 meters away from him.

‘Is that? A cave?’ he wondered and ran towards it.

‘Why can’t life just stop giving me hope and let my maltreated body rest in peace?’ he sighed as he forced his limbs to carry him this tad bit longer. He was unwilling to give up yet.

‘It’s a fucking cave!’ he exclaimed as he ran into the path before him. But as quickly as his excitement appeared it left his body. He heard a loud noise. And it wasn’t the orcs closing in from behind him.

It was the sound of water. Lots of water flowing.

‘A river?’ he asked, by now completely dumbfounded. There were too many impressions. He ran deeper into the straight cave until he could barely see anymore. This was when he saw it. The river.

The cave expanded into something larger, but he could only see that the river was at least 5 meters wide. He couldn’t see an end.

“A dead end… so it finally ends…” he lets out a sigh as he turns around to face the entrance. Orcs had started to enter the cave. The screeches had turned ecstatic. They knew they were in for a treat. His mind had long since been in a state of delirium.

He stands with his back to the river, watching the shadows approach him.

A tear trickled down his face and he smiled. ‘Leona… I hope you can forgive yourself…’

Then he finally relaxes his body, and all strength leaves his body, and he lets himself fall backward, into the water. Faust had no intention of leaving his body as a meal for the bastards. He would much rather surrender his body to the dark currents.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Mother… I am coming to see you. Finally. My death was a meaningful one.’ He had a genuine smile on his face and closed his eyes as his face was swallowed up by the dark water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day later, in Caurium

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON’T LOOK FOR HIM?” Cassius’s voice bellowed throughout the entire camp, and it made Lucon and Trajan who stood before him visibly uncomfortable.

The two men had a difficult decision to make, and Cassius did not at all agree with them.

‘How can these goatfuckers not send a search party for Faust!’ Cassius seethed with rage. Aquila and Leona stood behind him exhaustedly. Leona looked like a kitten that had been beaten up by its owner while Aquila’s face showed a mixture of pain and unwillingness.

‘It's all my fault… he died for me… and they won’t even look for him…’ she had been repeating the destructive Mantra in her head the entire day. She felt so incredibly guilty. The grief didn’t exactly make her more reasonable either. Nobody except maybe Aquila and Cassius could understand what she was thinking.

They had told her it wasn’t her fault, yet they couldn’t get through to her. Nobody could. Not even Lucon who tried shortly after their arrival.

“Look, Cassius. We cannot send a search party after Faust! What you experienced out there was not normal! There must be something bigger going on! We can impossibly send out troops to look for someone who has gone missing over 24 hours ago! No matter who he is!” Lucon was on the verge of exploding.

“Oh yeah! You only talk like that because Faust is not your friend and just a commoner! If it was Schenk or some other noble you would send an entire army and lead it yourself! Coward!” Cassius spat on the ground. He was infuriated.

Leona saw Lucon’s right eye twitch. She wanted to intervene, but it was too late.

The veteran had reached his limit. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”

He shouted and with his full force slapped Cassius across the face with his heavy steel gauntlet. Cassius dropped to the ground and groaned. Lucon was about to kick Cassius in the guts when Leona cried out hysterically.

“LUCON! STOP!” he wanted to continue, but her begging scream couldn’t leave him cold. Two tears ran down his face. He looked furious, yet also hurt.

“HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF NOT CARING FOR MY MEN? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? SEND FORTY FUCKING GOOD MEN TO THEIR DEATHS? WILL YOU TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES? WILL YOU PAY THEIR WIVES? WILL YOU RAISE THE CHILDREN?” he spat out each and every one of those words, getting more and more hysterical before calming down. He breathed heavily and looked at Cassius who looked at him with big eyes.

Aquila couldn’t help but gulp. His friend had openly insulted his superior. He had called him a coward and questioned his authority and loyalty to his troops. He couldn’t help but shake his head. He had never seen Cassius like this. What had happened to the happy and bubbly diplomat? Where was his courtesy?

Lucon spat onto Cassius and turned around to two soldiers. With a hoarse, low voice he said: „Take him to the doctor and then to his tent. He needs to rest…”

Lucon appeared several years older as he walked away without another word. Leona tried to call out for him, but he dismissively waved her off. He didn’t care as he walked back to his tent.

Leona was shaken. Was this the uncle she knew?

‘Were Cassius’s words really that outrageous?’ she asked herself, but she knew the answer.

Two guards approached and helped Cassius get up. They carried him off to see the only doctor in the fort.

Aquila smiled weakly at Leona. Before they could say anything, Trajan approached them. They couldn’t read his expression at all. As he walked by, he sighed.

“He won’t pursue the matter further. Cassius has hit a nerve he shouldn’t have. You need to rest and mourn. I’m sure you understand why we cannot send a search party out even if we want to.” He half apologized and walked after Lucon who had disappeared in his tent.

Trajan walked on the dusty ground after the veteran.

‘He had to remind Lucon of Organum did he?’ he sighed as he entered the tent.

Lucon was sitting on his bed, a big bottle of alcohol in his right hand as he was resting his elbows on his knees. His head was hanging down and the black hair fell down his head messily.

“Fuck off Trajan,” Lucon mumbled, only half serious. His appearance didn’t reflect his usual commandeering attitude at all. He seemed like a man without a soul as he looked up at Trajan who shook his head decisively.

“I won’t leave you like this.” He said causing Lucon to grunt.

“Then at least drink with me.” He offered Trajan the bottle who sat down opposite his friend and took a deep jug of wine. It was strong.

Lucon buried his face in his hands, taking a deep breath.

“Trajan. My behavior was unbefitting of a commander today… I could not control myself…” his voice sounded pained and yet so honest.

“My friend,” he said and put both hands on Lucon’s shoulders. “there is not a single man in this world who would not forgive you if they knew what happened all those years ago.”

Slowly Lucon’s head rose to look at his friend’s face.

“Did I ever tell you the whole story? Of what happened at Organum?” he asked, staring right into Trajan’s eyes. He shook his head. No emotion could be seen in Lucon’s face. Trajan shivered at this expression. The last time he had seen that look was on the battlefield, drenched in blood.

“I am here to listen brother.” He exclaimed as he picked up the wine bottle.

Lucon raised an eyebrow. Then sighed and leaned back. This would be a long night.