Just because we’re in a new age doesn’t mean we should let our old morals take flight and embrace degeneracy in its stead, Roxie. I warned you about doing this last week, so why did you proceed to do it anyway?

Lucian Grimes - the Warlord - Passing judgment at a trial for Clucker’s slaughter. The defendant, Roxanne Martin, the Oracle, was found guilty on all charges.

____

Stepping outside, Meera set her jaw and clenched her hands. “While you were chatting with your brother, we went over to Brigette’s home. When she asked how you had located your brother, Olivia claimed you had spoken with a Seer.”

Silas arched an eyebrow. “Sure. And?” It wasn’t exactly a secret for him to pussyfoot around.

She sucked in a breath. “There are people I need to find: my son and my husband. I was wondering if…” Stopping mid-sentence, she reconsidered and suddenly bowed low enough that her head was in line with her hips. “Please help me.”

For a moment on hearing her request, he was exasperated, wondering how she had the audacity to ask for his help when his plate was piled high with shit as it was; it was so shamelessly selfish. And yet, he recalled how he had done the exact same a week before when he had deserted Riverside during a tumultuous period in search of his siblings - he hardly had the right to chastise Meera for holding her family dearly! Seeing himself in her, he puffed his cheeks and blew slowly as he tried to think past his hypocritical exasperation into any way he could help her. It was only after a long pause that he spoke, “Do you know where the Seer is?”

“Yeah, Olivia said he’s in New Derby where she used to live,” Meera replied. He noticed she had crossed her fingers.

“Right, it’s south-west of here, probably four days’ walk if you go straight. Anyway, the Seer is a guy named Montigo, but to get to him, you’ll have to go through the council which is the difficult bit.” Silas’s brow crinkled up. “There’s a guy I knew there, a Runesmith named Skully: he was kind and helpful to me, so if you go to him and mention my name, he’ll hopefully offer you the same treatment. If not, find the captain of the 3rd elite platoon, Harlan, and do the same thing. If neither of those work out, you can directly go to their defence minister, Jane, or their mayor, Floyd, but I would advise that you take care around them.” Silas nodded to himself, “That’s pretty much all the help I can give you: anymore and I’d have to come with you, and I just can’t do that.”

Meera hastily bowed once more. “Thank you so much - that’s already plenty.” Her voice cracked with emotion, but Silas knew it wasn’t because of his help, rather due to the reignited hope of finding her loved ones again.

“Ah, it’s fine. I’m guessing you’re leaving at once?” he asked, trying not to show his lack of enthusiasm. If she went now, they would have one less man for the coming mission on which they were already short-handed on, but at the same time, he couldn’t find it within himself to ask her to stay.

She nodded sharply. “I wasted so much time slaving for the witch that perhaps it’s already too late, but I want to hear it from the Seer with my own ears before I let myself rest.” Glancing up to gauge Silas’s reaction, she appeared to see past his mask. “I’m sorry about leaving now, but I can’t forgive myself if I delay it any longer.”

He shrugged, his listlessness showing in his slumped shoulders. “You’ve gotta chase after what’s important to you, I get it. And listen, you’ll find them safe and sound, I just know it, so don’t push yourself too hard.” She nodded thankfully and was turning to leave when an old plan popped back into his head. “Actually, Meera, could you do something for me while you’re there? Could you ask Jane or Floyd to send a company here? Tell them I’ll pay handsomely for their help and you too if you choose to return.” In the scale of things, a company was pin-sized relative to New Derby’s massive army, but the hundred extra troops would be a godsend here in Valrun’s Keep. This cry for help would also go over better if a human delivered his message rather than a giant, monstrous owl.

She blinked, then nodded again. “Sure, I can do that. And no need for any rewards; I’m indebted to you as it is, so you can consider this me paying off what I owe.”

After exchanging a handful more polite words, Meera set off. It would be a long time before Silas saw the Huntress again, and it would be then that he truly learnt how far small acts of kindness could go.

****

Returning to the building, Silas seated himself and explained what had just happened to the other three there, ultimately categorising it as a shot in the dark. There was no certainty that New Derby would send people over simply because he had asked, and even if they did, it would be a minimum of eight days before they arrived, in which time the ratkin could have attacked several times over. Still, in the off-chance that it did all work out, it was the greatest boon they could ask for as it would allow them to match forces with Princess Amara. Regardless, given the uncertainty surrounding it, they decided not to plan around it but rather continue on as they had been doing.

“You said the princess’s royal chambers had a balcony, right?” Mia asked.

“Correct, however it is fortified and you cannot force your way into the chambers from the outside,” Clio answered.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She frowned thoughtfully. “Why not?”

“I am not its designer to know its inner workings, but I am aware that the entrance has a mechanism to resist destructive external forces. Besides, this is a futile path to think along as you can hardly climb that high given the slope of the walls.” The shaerd appeared to smile wryly. “And in the occasion you plan to use your avian companion, I recommend you reconsider as our crossbows there are not for show.”

“Not the owl, me,” Mia said, stabbing a thumb into her chest. “I should be able to lift Silas up that high with my telekinesis.”

“Really?” Silas said in surprise. Sure, he was aware that her telekinesis was powerful, but to lift him over a hundred metres was still an insane feat of strength. Then he recalled the sight of her lifting the alabaster mink in the tutorial: if her abilities had grown at a similar rate to his since then, it was almost certain that she had enough firepower to do as she claimed.

“Absolutely,” she replied with visible pride, “And I’m hoping you have enough strength to break through whatever defence is there. But to be sure, we should test it out first and only proceed if we’re confident it’ll work.”

“I remain doubtful, however it is a better plan than I had in mind,” Clio admitted with no shame. “I assume it is my role to distract the fort’s forces while he tests the defences then?.”

“Precisely. In the chance it works out, we can use the same route of entry to kill Nicon in his sleep. That way, their numbers mean nothing and we’ll all come out unscathed.”

“I see - it would appear Silas was correct in his judgment in recommending you. As you require, I have an event in mind which my companions and I can act out, and it should provide a lengthy distraction. However, I will need to know when you intend to test the defences as my diversion requires preparation,” Clio said.

“As soon as we can,” Silas replied decisively. Every day spent idle in Valrun’s Keep was another day his brother suffered as a prisoner, another day in which Silas had to put up with this sweltering heat and reeking stench, and another day over which the ratkin loomed over with their barbed threat of assault.

“In which case, I propose morrow morning,” Clio said, lifting herself off her seat. “I shall leave now to prepare for it, but we shall meet again before Zyfellir sets. Good day.”

****

Step in step with Mia and Olivia, Silas walked with them back to Ethan’s house. He was surprised how swimmingly it had all gone after introducing the Elementalist to the Clio, and he hoped the rest of the plan would continue on smoothly. “Actually, Mia, is there anywhere I can get fresh clothes for Ethan? He deserves better than those rags.”

Mia flushed. “Sorry, I hadn’t gotten around to changing his clothes.”

Realising his error, Silas suddenly waved his hands to signal she had misinterpreted his tone. “No, no, no. It wasn’t a blow aimed at you; if anything, I should be thanking you for what you’ve done, and I am: I’m beyond grateful for you looking after him. I meant literally if there were any nice clothes I could snatch from around here?”

“Oh,” she gaped slightly, blushing brighter. However, she regained composure quickly. “No, sorry, none that I can think of. We’ve all been living on the same supplies for several weeks now, so I doubt there’s anything clean and proper left.”

Grumbling, Silas decided he would give the clothes he was wearing under his armour to his brother: it was sweaty and a size or two big for Ethan, but at least it was cleaner than what the younger Wycliffe wore now. Sure, afterwards Silas’s armour would chafe against his skin, but that was hardly a concern given his constitution, more a matter of comfort that he could forgo for now.

There was an awkward silence between the trio until Silas broke it again, voicing the question that had been at the back of his mind from the very start. “Also, Mia, how did you end up looking after Ethan? I was surprised when I saw you two together at the start.”

The Elementalist smiled faintly. “I first met him three weeks ago when he offered to share his rations with me even though he had so little. It wasn’t just me either - he offered it to everyone he saw, so I knew he was a good person then. Still, I didn’t take his offer and didn’t hear from him until two weeks after following a particularly nasty ratkin attack: we started with nearly a hundred of us, but after that there were only sixty of us left, half of whom were severely injured. The rest of us made rounds treating what we could, and that’s when I happened on Ethan again. We started talking as I cleaned his wounds and he mentioned a Silas midway - I imagined it was just a coincidence but I thought I might as well make sure by asking.”

“And?” Silas asked by reflex, before promptly facepalming.

“What do you mean, and?” Mia replied in good humour. Even Olivia giggled from beside him. “Of course it was you! We spoke a lot since he was curious about your performance in the tutorial, and I was curious about what you were like before that. And following that initial conversation, I visited him often to make sure he was holding up alright.”

Silas gulped, not knowing whether to be pleased that the people he liked got along well together or to be worried that they may have spoken of particularly loathsome matters from a past he wasn’t proud of. “You only said good things about me, right?”

Brushing the auburn strands from her eyes, Mia winked but kept her lips pursed.

____

Brigette Wagner, the Bladesinger, was originally a construction worker from Austria. Entering the hard tutorial, her habit of humming during combat earned her a powerful class with which she descended to Idroa. She quickly gathered a group around herself and came upon Valrun’s Keep, a settlement already occupied by Shaerd with Princess Amara D’Aegor as its mayor. Through peaceful discussion, Brigette earned her group entry to the village, and although they originally only meant to stock up on supplies, they ended up staying in Valrun’s Keep despite the emergence of other human settlements nearby. This decision is suspected to have been influenced by Nicon, although I am uncertain over the truth of the situation.

Either way, the princess and her high-ranking subjects refused to have their personal luxuries affected by those outside their walls and so left them to their own devices.Brigette took the initiative and commanded the abandoned during successive Ratkin assaults, but less so during the horde attacks which largely ignored the village and went straight for the fort. However, her wounds only grew with each fight until the Reaper himself began to loom over her, waiting for the moment he could take the chop. It was at this time Silas Wycliffe, the Duellist, arrived in Valrun’s Keep in search of his brother.

He found him but became convinced his brother was under Nicon’s charms, and thus immediately spearheaded a plot to assassinate the Shaerd, aided by other resident Shaerd suspicious of their kin’s abrupt rise to power. However, just as they aimed to throw Valrun’s Keep into turmoil, the settlement was besieged by Ratkin once more, only this time it was more devastating than before.

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age