There exists no consensus on why night spawns always appear to be one rank above the highest mage. There exists no sentient night spawn and studying the dead yields no information. Spells which can detect a creature's rank show the mana leaves their body upon death.”— A Scientific Treatise on Mages, Volume One
The Walled City of Castera, the Kingdom of Ilsylvania. Day -20.
Castera was separated into four major districts; the Central Dominance, the First Ring District, the Second Ring District, and the villages and farmlands beyond the city’s walls. Tyree lived in the Second Ring District, which was made up of Castera’s “upper middle class”; small land and business owners, moderately successful mages and merchants, and adventurers who had gotten a lucky score on a dungeon dive. Tyree and her family belonged to the last group.
The neighborhood they lived in was almost entirely retired adventurers. As Tyree walked up the street towards her home, she found one such sitting on his porch in his rocking chair.
Regis was something of a landmark in the neighborhood, having moved here long before Tyree’s house had even been built. He waved to Tyree with a friendly grin that was missing more than a few teeth.
“Tyressa? What are you still doing in town? I saw your family leave a few days ago. I figured you’d be right there with them.”
“Duty calls, my vacation was cancelled,” Tyree said flatly and Regis gave an apologetic shake of the head in response. “But it ain’t all bad. I’ve been assigned to Pella with them for at least as long as our vacation.”
“Who’d you kill to make that happen? Say…” Regis trailed off and stood, reaching just inside his doorway and pulled out a small package. “Pella puts you near Old Man Logan. Do you mind giving this to him? Your wife mentioned it before you left and I meant to give this to her before she left.”
Tyree looked at the small package he was holding. Small and rectangular, it was wrapped in brown paper with twine keeping it neatly together. On one side of the package was an insignia; a small oval with a circle inside it. A line ran perpendicular to one broad side of the oval and two parallel lines ran perpendicular to the opposite broad side.
Regis must have interpreted her inspection of the package as hesitance. “It’s just a book. I’ve held onto it for so long, Logan’s probably forgotten all about it by now.”
“I’ll take it to him,” Tyree said as she took the book.
“Just be careful with it. It’s far, far older than even I.”
“Don’t worry about it. What goes in my bag is safe in my bag.” Tyree gave her bag a pat.
She looked back up at the old man and saw he had a fair bit of stubble on his usually clean face. She’d missed it because his hair was so thin and white, it was nearly invisible on his pale skin. He looked so much older since the last time she’d talked to him.
“Regis, are you going to be alright while we’re gone? I know Alyx and Lynn sometimes help you with your chores…” It was a weak question, but Tyree didn’t feel comfortable prying into the older man’s life.
“Yeah, I think I’ll be able to manage on my own. Not so sure about everyone else, though.” He scratched his stubble, then added, “I heard rumors the Guardians are gone. This city has grown relaxed since they showed up. People have forgotten how to deal with anything tougher than the occasional goblin swarm on the farms. I have a feeling things will become less… stable. Promise me you’ll be careful on your trip.”
Tyree’s throat went dry. He had echoed the very same thoughts she’d had the night before. She cleared her throat and asked, “Do you think the Guardians are gone for good?”
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“Hard to say. They come and go. Individuals disappear for decades at a time, only to pop back up. I fear this is different. All of them gone at once? It’s the first time I've seen it happen. I hope they come back. We’re damned if they don’t.”
“Yeah, I hope so, too.” Tyree said.
Regis went back to rocking and sipping from his drink. Tyree waved goodbye and moved to the community stables behind her house.
Felt perked up when he saw her. The five year old buckskin gelding had an inquisitive and friendly demeanor that made him unsuited to the task of a war horse, but made for the perfect riding companion.
She glanced over at his feeding trough and saw it had been recently filled. Aliyah had taken care of scheduling Felt’s feeding with her neighbors while she was away. It was nice to see they didn’t let him go hungry.
“Ready yourself, Felt. We go riding on the morrow,” Tyree cooed softly to the horse as she led him out of the stables.
There was slightly more pep in his step after Tyree secured his saddle. She double and triple checked the locks around the house and waved goodbye to Regis. The old man assured her he would watch over her place while Tyree and her family were away.
***
Back at the barracks, Tyree had Felt fitted with a proper soldier’s saddle and light armor. Tyree had a set of horse armor at home, but it hadn’t been fitted for Felt and was much too heavy for the young horse. Fortunately, the army had a wide selection for her immediate use. She left Felt in the care of a stable boy who said the horse would be treated well.
With Felt and her home taken care of, Tyree went to her next task and made her way to Kronos’ office.
She knocked lightly on the door, but it wasn’t until the fifth, louder knock that he acknowledged her presence.
“Ah, Captain. I apologize, I didn’t see you. Can I help you?” He had been poring over a stack of papers that threatened to spill off his cluttered desk.
“I wanted to apologize for yesterday,” Tyree said.
“Thank you, but it wasn’t my career that was—”
“Not that,” Tyree said with a laugh. “No, for scarring your favorite shield.”
Kronos rumbled out a low chuckle. “Apology accepted. Truth be told, I needed an excuse to get it refinished. I’ll have to use my second favorite shield until the blacksmith returns it.”
Tyree laughed and let a bit of silence pass between them.
Kronos quickly picked up on the fact that there was more she wanted to talk to him about. He set his papers down, crossed his fingers, and gave Tyree his full attention. “I know you didn’t just come here to give me an apology. What is it, Tyressa?”
“Can I speak honestly with you?”
“You always can.” He gestured for her to take a seat.
Tyree moved to close the door, then took the chair across from Kronos’ desk. “Are you really okay with us withholding aid to the Serethi for nothing more than politics?”
Kronos gave a frown and spoke in a serious voice. “I follow the lawful orders assigned to me even if I do not agree with them. That is exactly why I volunteered for this mission.”
“You volunteered for it?”
“Ordinarily, this scouting mission would be led by someone of a lower rank than I, but when I saw the candidate pool, I had to step in. It's an open secret that a growing faction within Ilsylvania distrusts the Serethi. Many might even see the disappearance of the Guardians as an escalation of tensions between our peoples. I couldn’t trust some of the people on that list to not find monsters where there are none. We will be impartial. And we will give aid to any who need it. And that’s the last I will say on this subject.”
“I understand, thank you.” A tension Tyree hadn’t realized she’d been holding in relaxed as a wave of relief washed over her.
“Now, was there anything else you needed? I do have a lot of work to finish up before we go.” Kronos’ typical good-natured demeanor returned.
“There was one more thing. I saw we’ll be inspecting several outposts along the way. I thought those fell under the jurisdiction of the villages near them.”
“And you would be right, but many of those outposts haven’t been maintained in the decades since the arrival of the Guardians. We’ll be compiling a list of what repairs need to be done and any outposts that are too far gone to be salvaged will be torn down and rebuilt. Anything the villages themselves can’t do, they’ll have to request aid from the King.”
“I’m glad Command is taking the disappearance so seriously.”
“It was actually my idea to add those to the list. King Hael really does want better for the people of Ilsylvania. And not just those here in Castera. I see bringing the outposts back in line as an extension of that policy and Commander Leon agreed.”
Tyree had to agree with that. Though the late king had been well loved, his reign had largely been just another name in Ilsylvania’s list of kings. His son and successor, King Isaias had done much in his three years and he showed no signs of slowing down.
Kronos gave a thoughtful look before adding, “That, and they are spaced in such a way that we won’t have to ride as hard to avoid traveling at night. That was their original purpose, after all.”
Tyree shuddered at his meaning. Anything to avoid the nightmares that were nightspawns was something she could get behind.