The sun shone brightly in the sky as he and his men crossed the last hill before the capital of the Sycan plains came into view. The nomadic city was as busy as ever with traders coming from all directions to do business in the city. With guards patrolling the city inspecting stall and keeping some semblance of order.
Near the center of the city lay their destination the local church chapter of the region. He had to report to his superiors that he failed to apprehend the void mage. It was a humiliating failure on their end to be sure.
Falling for such a simple trick four of his men had been injured by that explosion. Then when he and two others followed in pursuit there had been a big flash of light that took out another two his men. Leaving only him in pursuit.
Then a young girl with fox ears appeared from the wagon and stared at him with some unworldly power from what he felt. Her stare scared him to his soul unlike anything he’d encountered before and as a result, he fell off his horse and knocking himself unconscious from the fall. Which left just their medic in action. Who was already tending to the men caught in the man’s trap.
So their target was able to make a clean getaway and they had to give up the chase as they’d probably taken shelter with some locals that already bore resentment to the church for past misdeeds and failures. So after patching everyone up, they had ridden back empty handed.
“Sir Lyon you’re back! How was your mission?”
“We failed. The void wizard gave us the slip, and we were unable to pursue him.”
“Oh, well at least everyone made it back at least.”
“Yes, I am grateful for that at least. Has anything happened while we were gone?”
“Orders from headquarters sir. It appears there is some high priority bounty they want them apprehended ASAP. I don’t know the exact reason though the bounty was quite vague.”
“I’ll have to ask the bishop for details when I meet him. Alright men, resupply and get your equipment repaired. Afterwards, you have the night off so enjoy it boys. Just remember don't get too crazy.”
“So we’ll see you later tonight lieutenant.”
“Sorry but I think I’m going to get chewed out quite a bit for this but don’t let that stop you guys from having fun tonight sergeant.”
They left with smiles at the thought of a night on the town while Johnny looked at me with worry.
“Did it go that bad Lyon? Everyone made it back didn’t they?”
“Yes. but it still doesn’t excuse me for failing to not only lose the target but failing to interrupt his magic jeopardizing the area and its inhabitants.”
“I’m sure Alfan won’t punish you too much for it.”
“Then you haven’t heard I’m guessing.”
“Heard what Lyon?”
“Apparently our men are being harassed around the whole region. They tolerate our presence here but we still have not done enough to gain their hearts and minds.”
“Why? They should be grateful we come and spread the true word of God to all.”
“You're too naive Johnny.” I ruffle his hair as I laugh. “Change never comes quietly and it goes against their entire culture for generations. It might be barbaric but we must give them time to accept God’s word and not force it upon them only then will we achieve the results that will bring about true salvation.”
“Thank you for your wisdom, Lyon. I wish you the best.”
“Thanks, kid!” I wave back as I proceed inside the church.
The light dimly illuminates the space. The windows in disrepair from the lack of funds coming from both the tithe and from the outside.
The congregation is deep in prayer as Alfan leads them in worship. The bishop looks worn through his trials here but he never lets it show giving off a warm vibe of comfort to his congregation.
I take a seat in the back and let him finish his message as I meditate in the back. I closed my eyes in prayer as I give thanks to the Lord for bringing my men and me back safely. His will works in mysterious ways and I know he shows me the way to bring about his salvation.
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As everyone leaves for the night as dusk approaches I approach Alfan and salute to him in a show of respect.
“I have returned from my mission, sir.”
“Good! What news do you bring?”
“I believe we should discuss this within the confines of your office, sir.”
Normally I would be taking orders from a knight templar, but due to circumstances he perished and Alfan had to take over due to both low manpower and being the only other official of high enough rank or qualifications to perform the responsibilities. There was news of a replacement coming but it would take months for him to reach us after hearing the news. The stress of responsibility came to his face as he closed the door to his office.
“Let me guess. You failed to apprehend the mage?”
“I’m sorry sir we were too late in apprehending them and they were able to successfully complete their magic luckily everyone returned safely with only minor injuries.”
“I’ve had enough of this! It’s almost like they’ve doomed us here! That messenger came today with this!” Throwing down the bounty in front of me. “But no word of support or supplies. Just saying that this was an immediate emergency that must be taken care of immediately.”
“I took a look at the bounty and read the description under the picture of a foxbeast-man.”
‘Dangerous Spirit Wielder!!! Spirit magician has been spotted attacking the church. May fake innocence to receive support from you church. Arrest on site! High priority target! Take alive!!! He can not be killed as he uses his spirits to revive. Traveling with an elf, human, dwarf, and draconian. If apprehend them as well dead or alive.’
The bounty listed a price of about 1000 times a commoner's yearly salary making it a sizable reward.
“Now we have to be on the lookout for this person as well. I’m glad your alright but this is a pressing issue. I haven’t had contact with squads 2, 5, and 6 for about a month. Teams 4 and 3 also had to merge due to losses. You’re the only one I can ask to do this. But hear this well! I can’t have you come back until you find something on this. This is the third time this has happened with your squad. You many have the least casualties out of all our squads but you failures compared to your peers is overstretching your survivability to much. As a result I’m having your sergent take over your squad while you search for this person.”
“With all due respect sir sergeant Forge is a good soldier but he is still to inexperienced I beg you to reconsider.”
“Silence! I know of his you but no one else is capable of this and your punishment is needed to keep discipline among the troops. As a result I have no other choice. Gather your belongings and depart at dawn.”
“Deus Vult!” I slam my fist to my chest before departing catching the unsure scowling face of Alfen as I leave. I try to keep a straight face but it’s hard to maintain a straight face after that. Losing my squad due to recent failures is fair punishment.
But, I didn’t want to risk my squad and as a result we’d accidentally let our targets slip away. The other squads achieved their results but at the lives of their men. “A calculated risk” they’d say. I couldn’t stand it. I wouldn’t sacrifice my men to bag a target. We didn’t know when relief was coming so we should be making ever conscious effort we can to conserve everything at our disposal including our men.
I also had a hard time believing in some of our most recent missions as well. He was asking us to take out any and all parties that dared interfere in the Lord’s work. Telling us to take them out with extreme force. I’ve been telling him that it is a losing strategy to implement, but he doesn’t seem to care.
In the capitol the locals tolerate our presence because of the threat of another crusade if they dared openly attacked us. Some even had family that believed. So they mostly left the church alone.
Outside the capitol was a different story. There were a couple of mission outposts but for the most part we were openly hated and if they were bold hostile towards us. Our influence was small and diminishing with lack of both communication and supplies.
My guess was we were operating at a bare enough threshold that we’d be fine without support for a while longer. The upper echelons were known to be greedy and without any contact or major news it was hard to tell if it was a communication issue or a change of plans by the higher ups.
I made my way outside and grabbed my only personal item from my chest. A letter from my sister wishing me safety while I was deployed. It was worn from my time here but I kept it as a sort of good luck charm. I didn’t care to own anything else other than what I carried. I was devoted to God and not material items.
I left a letter of Forge’s bunk about his promotion and my new orders before I left. Johnny saw me leaving as he was coming inside for the night.
“How’d it go Lyon?”
“New orders ready me a horse I’m setting out tonight.”
“What about you squad?”
“Forge is in command after my recent failures. Orders from Alfen himself no matter how much I disagree with him. It is the standard operating procedures. But he fails to take account of the circumstances we are in. He’s now having me track down the bounty by myself and I can’t return until I find them.”
“That’s too harsh! We can’t have you leave it’ll hurt the morale of your men.”
“He can’t send anyone else out to do this so it’s only fitting really. Besides it shouldn’t take to long so cheer up Johnny. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I then left under the cover of darkness as the sun died under the plains. The moon my only light as I navigated the darkness in search of this bounty. I set out towards where that mage had performed his void spell. Maybe if I could try to search the area I could ask the locals if they had heard anything about them.
I wouldn’t pick up his trail but it was the only clue I could think of. Wait wasn't that girl that attacked me during our raid a fox? But didn’t she have prominently human features? She also wasn’t a male either. But her companions looked to fit the description. If I came across her I’d have to ask her. Though if she attacks me like last time. I won’t hesitate to defend myself.