The funeral pyre blazed.
The bodies of Skeb, Miki, and the two others whose names I hadn't known lay upon the burning timber. Holeria hadn't returned and was ostensibly considered dead.
Vurt had run out of energy almost as soon as we got back to camp. Several people had tried and failed to convince him to go to sleep, but he refused. He sat on a stool at the edge of camp, staring into the pyre with bloodshot eyes.
"You alright, laddie?" Bodelee asked, walking up next to me.
"Yeah."
"You know, it's okay to admit you're sad. Newcomers always try 'in keep this stoic face, but there's no shame in mourning."
I give him a little smile, "I'm alright. If anything, I feel bad about the fact I didn't get to know them better. Didn't even try."
Bodelee nodded in understanding. I looked over at him and realized he had a few bandages, as well as a few minor cuts and scrapes.
"You haven't been treated yet?"
"Hm? Oh, these little things. No, these aren't worth bothering over. I'll see Nika in the morning. That poor girl ran herself dry helping others, then got in a state over poor Holeria."
I feel my smile widen, "How did someone that nice end up running with this lot?"
Bodelee chuckles, "It's a funny story, that. I remember when she first joined us, Zeph wanted nothing to do with her. Tried to boot her out, several times in fact. But she's stubborn as a mule, that one. Even without Zeph payin' her she helped out just about everyone. Didn't bother asking, just went straight to cookin', cleanin', and healin'. Eventually Zeph realized if he actually managed to ditch 'er he'd have to make a new company, cause nobody would'a stuck with 'im."
"Why?"
"What d'ya mean?"
"Why was she so determined to join?"
"I did ask 'er about that once. Said something about 'balancing out the hate in the world.' I dunno, it didn't make much sense to me. I think it's likely she's just somebody with a heart too big to know what to do with it."
"Still, it's not very smart to go forcing your way into a mercenary company on a whim. Especially when you're not very good at fighting."
"I dunno whether she's lucky and picked the only merc band I know that wouldn't'a seen her as a toy, or if she's got some sorta force guiding her. But I'll tell ya one thing, lad. I have never known her intuition to be wrong. There were a few people she warned Zeph about, only he didn't listen and they turned out to be quite unsavory."
"Sounds like quite a tale."
He shrugged, "Not really. They stole a wagon and we killed 'em for it."
"Oh."
He laughed and clapped me on the back, "Nothing's ever complicated around here, Stein. Zeph keeps it simple for us and we pay 'im back by being useful. C'mon, let’s have a drink."
Seeing movement past the pyre, I say, "No thanks, had a bit earlier. You go on without me."
Walking away from Bodelee, I move towards the treeline past the edge of camp. The trees cast pillars of shadow among the flickering orange firelight as I make my way into the woods.
I follow the shadow as it hastily tries to make distance, knowing I'm following.
"I don't think it's very smart to wander out into the middle of nowhere right now." I call out, "Last I checked, there's kind of an enemy army stationed nearby."
"Go away," Black called back to me, "It's none of your business what I do."
"Okay, maybe you're right, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with just watching you go off into a potentially dangerous area alone."
She laughed mockingly, "Ha!" She turns as I catch up to her and shoves her finger into my chest. "So I'm to believe mister 'I talked to the most dangerous chick in camp' is suddenly concerned over my well-being? Forgive me if I don't buy it."
"Yeah, okay, maybe I wouldn't believe that guy either. Guess it sucks when you make yourself out to be the least approachable person around the only one who bothers to even pretend to care is 'that' guy." Even as the words leave my mouth I regret them.
She gives me a look that says, Yeah, that's what I thought. The accusing finger against my chest turns into a palm that shoves me back. Stumbling backward, I trip over a root and land on my ass. By the time I stand back up she's disappeared into the shadows.
Well that was a profoundly dumb thing to say.
I try to console myself by saying this socializing thing is a learning process. What would be the next step? Probably an apology. No, definitely an apology. Black has disappeared into the forest, but I've followed her enough times by now that I have a pretty good idea of her patterns.
Let's see. She usually meanders to the right at first, then circles back a bit and looks to the left to make sure she didn't miss any prime areas. So if I wait about… here, I think I might get lucky.
Leaning against a tree, I try and mimic her style of blending into the shadows. Luckily, I'm wearing dark clothing, so it works somewhat well.
After a few minutes of waiting, I hear rustling among the fallen leaves. I watch as she walks right by my tree, completely unaware I'm here.
"You know, if-" I don't get to finish my sentence, before I can get the next word out there's a flash of steel in the dim light and a dagger is pressed against my throat. The tense look on her face is replaced with anger as she recognizes me. "If I were an enemy, you would be dead already."
She scowls, taking the dagger away from my throat. Without saying anything, she turns away and begins to angrily stalk away.
"It was a thoughtless thing to say. I'm sorry."
She continues walking away, giving no indication she intends to stop or respond in any way.
"There's a cliff I know that would probably make a good spot."
She stops. She gazes around the forest before asking, "How far?"
"It was by the field, so 20 minute walk maybe?"
After a minute she nods. Walking up behind her, I take the lead and head towards the site of battle. We walk in silence. The only sounds are those of the forest, the rustle of leaves and the scurrying of critters through the underbrush.
"How do you even know where this cliff is?" Black asks from behind me.
"I- Mm. I'd rather not talk about it."
Soon enough we find where Miki and Skeb had fallen, the only indication they had been there being the red stained underbrush where they had lain. Moving past, I retrace the steps of that fight as well as I can. Along the way, I find the rapier I had lost.
Oh, great. Since Bodelee made this one for me I'd hate to have lost for good.
Putting the rapier in my belt, I press on. From here it's pretty easy to retrace my steps, as I had left a nice trail of blood to follow. It doesn't take long to reach the cliff.
Stepping out of the forest onto the edge of the cliff, I'm relieved to see its stargazing potential was as high as I had hoped it would be.
Well, I hope maybe this is good enough to-
My thoughts are interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. Turning back to Black, I see her point off to the side, a quizzical look on her face.
Looking at where she's pointing, I see the figure of another person sitting along the ledge. With the improved visibility of the unobstructed starlight, I could see the fluffy tail and animal ears attached to his figure.
"Friend of yours?"
"Uh, no. Not exactly," I say, drawing my rapier.
Hearing us, the beastkin spearman turns, and I see his face is a horrific patchwork of dark blue and purple, with several cuts interwoven between. Using a tree as a support, he stands up, and I notice him favoring a leg. "Oh, it's you," He says.
"Why are you here?" I ask.
He shrugs, "Not many other places to go, really."
"Your own camp sounds like a pretty good start."
"I'm… not exactly welcome at the moment."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means he's out of a job," Black says.
He does a little snap and point at Black, "Bingo."
"How exactly did that happen?" I ask.
"Well, after I left my unit to go pick off a certain little scouting party I happened to see in the woods, they got utterly annihilated. And since I also happened to fail at eliminating said scouting party, I was accused of desertion."
"Sucks for you I guess, not that I care. Why don't y-"
Black cuts me off, asking, "What are you?"
"Sorcerer, first tier." He responds to Black almost immediately, ignoring me.
"And you're willing to sign on a new contract?"
"So long as the terms are agreeable."
Black walks past me, taking a seat on the ledge. Addressing me, she says, "Take him to Zeph, he likes to pick up ones like this."
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"You do realize he tried to, and almost succeeded at, killing me, right?"
"Comes with the territory. Now go."
"You're just going to leave me alone with him?"
"He's unarmed, and hasn't had his wounds tended to. You're armed, rested, and in peak condition. If he somehow manages to overpower you I will be nothing short of amazed at how badly I overestimated you."
"But I-"
She turns her head to glare at me, "Your apology is souring more and more the longer you stand there and continue to annoy me. Leave."
I'm starting to think getting friendly with this woman is more trouble than it's worth. Turning to the beastkin I say, "Come on then, you in front."
He nods then begins limping out in front of me as I follow behind, rapier still at the ready. I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider stabbing him in the back, but considering how our positions had turned out I couldn't feel like I could justify bearing such a deep grudge, so I let it go as we walked.
"It's Orelio, by the way."
"Stein."
"So what are you anyway?"
"Battlemage."
"Yeah, I got that. I meant, sergeant, lieutenant, master at arms, what?"
"Recruit, why?"
"Yeah, all right. Be that way."
"What?"
"You seriously expect me to believe I was bested by a battlemage recruit?"
"Okay first, from my perspective I most definitely was not the one who came out on top in that fight. Second, why don't you elucidate me on what rank you think a battlemage should be."
"See, when you do things like that it makes me think you gotta be some kind of officer."
"Stuff like what?"
"Using big words, overanalyzing, using such a fragile looking weapon."
I sigh, "I was trained by our master at arms."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I thought for sure you must have been an officer, with how skilled you are and all. Damn, guess I needn't have bothered trying so hard."
"Here, wait up a minute," I say, spotting something in the trees. Orelio takes a slow and pained seat on a fallen log as I walk a bit off the path.
Walking up next to the hollow I had seen in the trunk of a tree I ask, "So, you planning on spending the night out here or do you wanna come back to camp with me?"
Holeria gives a little shrug of her shoulders, doing her best to avoid my gaze. Her outfit is a contrast to the gear of the many other tired soldiers I had seen that evening. Its barely got any dirt or grime on it. It does have a small splattering of dried blood, but no tear as far as I can see.
I wonder if Skeb or Miki saw her. They had a good vantage point over the entire field, and should have been able to see her split off from the main force.
"Vurt's worried to death over you, you know."
She gives a small nod, a tiny smile appearing on her face before it dissolves almost as quickly as it appears.
I crouch down next to her and ask, "You want to talk about it?"
She's silent for a long minute. Part of me wants to say something else, but I can tell she's slowly working up the courage to say something on her own, so I let her be.
"I thought… I thought I could bear through it. I thought I had steeled myself, that I could handle the screams, the death. But…" She buries her face in her arms, "I couldn't."
As gently as I can, I ask, "Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head, "It's… It's his."
I nod, "It's okay, talk me through it."
She breathes deeply, then begins, "It started fine. Vurt and I were together, we had each other's backs. It was like… one moment we were waiting in line for our daily loaf of bread and the next there was violence everywhere."
She stops and takes a shaky breath, "This guy rushed me and my body just reacted, my blade was in his throat before I even knew what was happening. It was like all the sounds around me faded out and all I could see, all I could feel, was the fear I saw reflected back at me in those eyes. I'm not too sure what happened after that. All I know is I came back to my senses still looking into those eyes. Those dreadfully empty eyes."
She lapsed off into silence. I knew I would have to prod her back into it, "And then?"
"I looked over, where I heard Vurt fighting, looking for something, anything to latch on to. But I didn't see him there, not the way I knew him at least. I always liked how charming and witty he can be, you know? So it was… shocking to see him covered in gore and hacking through another person."
Charming and witty isn't how I'd describe him, but best I don't mention that right now.
"You must hate me," She said, a tear falling down her cheek.
"Why?"
"You tried to warn me. You did, and I didn't listen. And now I realize that you were right, I'm just a coward."
"I never said that."
"No, but I know it's what you meant. I know it's what everyone will think if I go back."
"I don't think that's true."
She gives a choked up laugh, "You think a group that sells their lives for gold will think anything else of someone like me?"
Trying to think of something, anything, to say I ask, "Tell me, when you looked at Vurt in that moment, covered in blood and whatever else, did you think he was being brave?"
She looked down and shook her head. I press on, "What did you think of him?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know, but you didn't think he was being brave, did you?"
She shakes her head again.
"So if going into battle, fighting with the goal of taking a life isn't bravery, then how can the fear of taking a life be cowardice?"
"Maybe."
I sigh, "Alright, I don't know much about a warrior's honor or whatever, so maybe I am just talking out of my ass. But I'll tell you something I know for certain. What you're doing right now? That is cowardice."
She looks up at me as my words surprise her.
Continuing, I say, "You're out here hiding in the woods, long after what you're afraid of has passed. It's not a battle you're running away from anymore, it's your friends. If you wanted to run along back to Yord, you could have done that hours ago. Yet you're out here in the woods, too afraid to make a choice."
She looks off into the distance, weighing my words.
"I don't blame you if you want to leave. Hell, I'll help you do it. But this sitting out here in the hollow of a tree crap? I'm not going to stand by and let your cowardice rule you."
She gives a small smile, "You talk like you know what it's like."
"I know what it's like to live like that for years."
She's silent for another minute, thinking things over. When she's ready to speak she says, "I don't want to leave. I still want to repay Zeph for all he's done for me. But, do you really think he'd take back a failed recruit?"
"I'm sure he'll find something for you to do. I mean, it's not like Nika ever does any fighting."
"Nika… that's right, I could have Nika teach me how to heal."
"Good luck with that. She tried explaining a bit of it to me earlier, but I barely had any clue what she was talking about."
Standing up, Holeria says, "Well, you can't help it you're so dumb. Who else would would willingly stay a coward for years?"
"You may have a point. Come on, I still gotta take this bum back to Zeph."
Standing up with a pained expression, Orelio says, "Are we resorting to petty name calling now? I had hoped we could move past this."
"Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon after you stabbed me."
"Okay, well in fairness you broke my favorite spear and threw me off a cliff."
"That doesn't exactly balance the scales when you dragged me off it with you!"
"You two get along great," Holeria said from behind me with a chuckle. Walking up behind me I feel her hug my arm. Speaking softly, she says, "Thank you, Stein."
I pat her on the head with my free arm. In truth, that simple thanks had me feeling over the moon. For the first time in what I could remember of my entire life, my mere presence had been enough to help a friend out of a struggle. And that felt damn good.
"Ugh, I'm gonna be sick. Can we save the lovey dovey junk for later please?" Orelio clearly did not care much for heartfelt moments.
Holeria quickly jumped away from me, "Er, what? I mean, I was just…"
I laughed, "Come on you two, back to camp." I motioned to Orelio with my rapier and he took the lead again.
It took us about half an hour to return, Orelio's limp slowing us down considerably. When we did return to camp, the pyre was nearly gone, and the majority of the camp was gathered at the mess area, sharing food and stories.
Nika was the first to notice, even among the bustle of her kitchen area she saw Holeria enter the camp. Abandoning the meals she was working on, she dashed out of the mess area and ran over to us, wrapping Holeria in a big hug.
Vurt notices at that point too and runs over. As Holeria gathers a small crowd I lead Orelio away, towards Zeph's tent.
Outside the tent, Albatos is sorting through some stuff on the wagon. Walking up to him I say, "Hey."
He jumps a little. Turning to me he says, "Oh, Stein. What is it?" Looking to my right he sees Orelio, "Isn't he…"
"Yeah. Me and Black found him out in the woods. The poor little puppy’s been abandoned by his masters, and Black thought we could use another mutt."
"So cruel…" Orelio's ears droop and his tail sags. It might be cute if his face wasn't horribly brutalized. Not that that was in any way my fault. Nope.
"You say something?"
"No…"
"I see," Albatos says. "Very well, I'll take him from here. It just so happens Zeph is speaking to another potential member as we speak, so this timing is good."
"Alright, he's in your care then," I say, putting my sword back in my belt and walking off.
I sit down next to Bodelee at a table in the mess area and say, "You know, if the offer's still available I think I'll join you for a drink now."
"Feelin' better?"
"Much."
While Bodelee and I share a drink, I watch Holeria from afar. The joyous crowd around her has dispersed, and she's off at the edge of camp talking with Vurt. I can't hear what they're saying, but it seems the conversation has gotten pretty heated by the look on Vurt's face. With a last word, Holeria turns and leaves him, heading back to where Nika is waiting for her.
Vurt is left with a stunned expression. Gradually that expression turns to rage as he slowly looks in my direction. Gulping down another swig, I quickly try to pretend like I was never watching.
What did I do?
After about half an hour of casually drinking the night away with Bodelee, Zeph comes out of his tent, "Everyone, gather please."
The camp gathers around him. It never ceases to amaze me how much loyalty Zeph commands. He hadn't even needed to speak up, even his normal voice was enough to get the attention of every person in earshot, and none of them wasted any time putting down whatever they were doing to gather.
"Alright everybody, starting today we have some new faces. I know we lost five, oh wait, make that four. I see the one who was lost has returned to us, good. Anyway, though they can't replace the four we lost, I have two new faces I'd like to introduce to you. Come, introduce yourselves."
From behind Zeph, Orelio and a beefy woman stepped forward.
Orelio went first, keeping it short, "Orelio. First tier, and I primarily use a spear. Happy to make your acquaintance." Nika had found time to heal him in the last half hour, as his face didn't hurt to look at anymore and he no longer walked with a limp.
The woman went next, "Sam. Second tier, and I use whatever I feel like. Or whatever I can find on the field. In the name of lord Reverie, I look forward to splitting heads with you." She frowns, "Uh, other people's heads that is."
So that's one of the followers of Reverie, huh?
"Ah, One-Eye. I see you've picked up some stragglers." Gen had walked up to the outside of the ring of people. As soon as he spoke up the ring broke and made a path for him in.
Walking into the group he continues, "Come now, One-Eye. I had thought you were more of a professional than to pick up trash on the side of the road. To pick up the refuse of an enemy could almost be considered dishonorable."
"It's a good thing we are not an honorable people then, Gen. We remain free to wander and befriend whomever we choose to."
"Mmm. Yes, well, that matter aside, I heard something quite unsettling. One of my lookouts relayed to me that it seemed as though a deserter has tried to reintegrate into your group."
Everyone around me tensed up.
"Gen," Zeph says, "If you want to talk, maybe we should do it in private."
"No, that's alright. Surely you know the law Zeph. A deserter under my employ is mine to do with what I will."
"Yes, but she's not under your employ. She's under mine."
Zeph and Gen stare each other down as the ring of people all hold their breath.
Gen scoffs, "Fine then, keep the bitch. I suppose it would be a waste. Even if she doesn't have the stock of a warrior, there's never any harm in keeping a spare whore around."
"Gen if you say one more word I swear I will cut you down."
Zeph took slow, measured steps toward Gen, and I could vaguely feel the same pressure I had felt back in that Hornhaven alley being used on Gen.
Gen kept his composure, "If you do, you won't live to see the dawn."
"Do you think for a moment that I consider your pitiful army the equal of my ragtag group? Irving won't have an enemy to fight tomorrow if you don't leave my camp right now." Zeph leaned over Gen, using his height to assert an air of authority over the dwarf.
Gen took a few slow steps backward before turning and briskly walking away.
After he's gone I hear Sam ask, "Was that wise?"
Without turning, Zeph replies in a voice the entire group can hear, "We are no one's whores."