Felix rubbed his tired eyes as James closed the wooden doors leading into the longhouse. The strange young man had given the council his honest answer on the ship that the marauders had left behind. He had told Nora that he did not know that they had left him the ship and its cargo, along with the note. He knew none of the marauders and he had no clue why they did what they did.
Felix himself wasn’t sure if James was being honest about the entire thing, but he knew James was unaware of the ship. Still, with little knowledge to go on, they had dismissed James to speak about it in person.
As soon as the blond man left, Otis gave a dejected sigh.
“That man is trouble,” the elder spoke out finally, groaning as he stretched.
“More than trouble. He’s a danger to us all,” Nora added. She turned to stare at Felix, who was already moving to leave as well.
“Felix Arlo!” she called out as the guardsman stopped his path to the wooden doors. “Don’t think you can skimp out on your duty as a council member,” she said, her voice shrill and beyond annoying.
Felix gritted his teeth. “Why not? You two don’t seem to care about my own opinions on the matter. Might as well be running this town on your own,” he shot back at the middle-aged woman, his gaze turning to meet hers.
“Don’t take that tone with me unless you want to be exiled out of this town for good,” Nora threatened.
Felix held back his tongue, not wanting to get into another argument with her. She was the definition of a short fuse, anything slightly annoying setting her off. He would gladly give his role up, but he had no desire to become exiled. He was the sole surviving guardsman, with the rest gone missing or dead.
The position of council member made him responsible for defense of the town, and Felix would be damned before he let any of the other townspeople take up that responsibility. Still, Felix hated to work with Nora, especially since she ran the town like a tyrant, twisting Otis’ arm to get him to agree so she would gain a majority in the council. She was a control freak and a paranoid idiot.
‘How did you ever deal with her, sir?’
Felix remembered the guardsman’s captain, Mansly Dell, who had previously held the role of councilman of defense.
Said captain was probably dead, his body buried at sea along with the other town guards who had accompanied him back when they had left Yorktown to get help against the marauders. Felix knew he shouldn’t be thinking of the worst, but he knew better than to think they had successfully gotten past the marauders. Even if they somehow survived, he doubted they’d get to Vindis or any other town without encountering pirates or orcs.
Felix sighed and walked back to his seat. He had his duties as a councilman and a guard. To protect this town and make sure its people didn’t tear themselves apart. Besides, he knew Nora would try to exile James, or imprison him if Felix did nothing.
‘Best if I try to keep this dunghead from exiling the man who had saved this town…’
Felix thought back to that fateful day. As much as he held a grudge against James, he couldn’t deny that everyone would’ve died without his interference.
‘I just wish Thomas was among the ones who survived,’ Felix thought as he sat down in his seat, already getting ready to deal with Nora’s shit.
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James stared at the ship before him, which floated peacefully on the waters before him. It reminded him of those brigs he saw in textbooks and history documentaries. The black hull was marked with red symbols, most of it unreadable. There were images depicting death’s skull and its long skeletal hand, which stretched out in an open grasp across the length of the hull. James looked at the runic symbols above the disturbing image, his eyes focusing on them.
“What does that say?” He asked. Harald, the veteran who had helped James train before the raid, stepped up next to the young man. He squinted at the symbols, rubbing his gray beard.
“It’s the ship’s name. Frostbite,” Harald answered. “Written in partial godspeak.”
“Godspeak?”
“The runic symbols. Different from the ones used to cast spells,” the veteran explained. “Ancient language, mainly used for inscribing and symbolism.”
“Interesting,” James responded with a mutter.
Harald had been helping with the town’s rebuilding, though differently. Instead of repairing things, Harald worked with the council to maintain order in the town. Especially since there was no functioning town guard. James wondered if there were others hired as ‘guards’, but he decided it’d be best to ask another time.
James looked back at the ship that was docked at the small harbor of Yorktown, taut ropes securing the ship to the dock. He had come here straight after leaving the longhouse, wanting to see what the council was talking about. Sure enough, there was a ship there, left behind by the marauders.
“Was there a note?” James asked, recalling the council woman's words.
Harald nodded, his hand raising to James. “Thought you’d asked,” he responded, his fingers holding a crinkled old piece of parchment. James accepted the note and unfolded the parchment.
image [https://i.imgur.com/t5WKoZH.jpeg]
Someone had obviously scrawled the note in a hurry, as clear from the sloppy handwriting. There was also a noticeable rip at the top part of the parchment, right next to Deimos’ signature.
“They stabbed it into the ship’s hull. I’m not really sure why they would leave the ship for you or what they had meant by ‘reward.’” Harald crossed his arms, still staring at Frostbite. James stood with him, folding the note as he tried to figure it out as well.
“Yeah… I’m just as confused as you,” James muttered. Even though Deimos had already told James before the fact, James didn’t take it seriously back then. It surprised him to see the ship and even shocked him that Deimos had bothered to leave a note. It all left a feeling of uneasiness in James’ gut as he remembered the promise the marauder made to him.
> “We will meet again, whether it be on the battlefield or on a raid. We will meet. I hope then that you’ll put up a good fight.”
James clenched the note and took a deep, calming breath before he pocketed the crushed parchment.
‘You think he’ll make good on that promise?’ Faust suddenly asked, making his first ‘appearance’ in a while.
‘Oh yeah. He was dead serious.’
Just like that night, back when James was stupidly throwing his life away. Back before Faust, before the constant pain, before the nightmares and that creature. James remembered the same serious tone back when Deimos had stabbed him with his sword. The marauder wasn’t lying back then, and he sure as hell wasn’t lying when he had spoken to James that day of the raid.
James sighed after taking another deep breath, doing his best to calm himself down. This day hadn’t been the best, especially since he had to deal with that annoying councilwoman and her ‘concerns’ about James. He had to use every bit of his willpower today to not explode in complete anger. Thankfully enough, Dahlia had been essential in teaching him how to control his emotions, especially since it seemed like Faust’s spirit had been affecting them.
James let out his breath, finally calm, as he looked over at Harald.
“C’mon, let’s get away from this eyesore,” the young man suggested, turning around to head into town. “Where’s Seamus, by the way?” James asked, looking back at Harald as he caught up to his stride.
“Should be with Haggard, fixing up some buildings around the east side of the town,” Harald answered. “Why? Do you want to find him?” He asked James in a curious tone.
“Nah, just wondering.” James wasn’t really sure if he should intrude on Seamus while he was helping. Instead, he decided to focus on something else.
“By the way… Is it true you’re training people to take up as town guards?” James had heard a while back Felix had been wanting to rebuild the town guard by training some of the townspeople for the job.
“Are you thinking about being a guard?” Harald asked with a surprised look on his face.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Not really.” James wasn’t really interested in being a guard, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t motivated to protect Yorktown. James was more than ready to defend this town by all means, but he would not do it under the orders of that old hag in the council.
“You think you can still train me?” James asked, glancing at the veteran.
Harald looked back, a hint of a smile on his face. “No problem. In fact, I have a lesson on defense coming up. How would you like to help with a demonstration?”
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While there were buildings that survived the fire from the Siege of Yorktown, one particular general store was unfortunately not among them. The store had been owned by a father and daughter, descendants of a family who had migrated to Yorktown away from Lumen territory a couple of generations ago.
The father, Michael Rowan, had been well known in the small community, even having some stake in the council’s decisions. He was also among the many who had joined the town’s guard the day James Holter had fought Deimos. He had watched the young man supposedly die in front of him, but had done nothing to stop it.
Inspired and weighed with guilt, Michael Rowan joined the town’s guard. Like the many other guards, he had also joined Captain Mansly Dell on his journey to leave the town and find help against the marauders. Unfortunately, they had failed to avoid detection from the marauders. Michael Rowan had died with several others on that fateful night.
His daughter, Kate Rowan, would’ve shared the same fate if it weren’t for Seamus Halvorson. The young man had saved her life, taking down four marauders who would’ve killed her or worse. While Kate wasn’t aware of the man’s apparent breakdown, nor his mental scars from the event, she was inspired by Seamus. Not unlike her father before her. While her family’s shop did burn down following the events of the battle, she had found herself a new purpose the next ten days after. Training under Harald to become a very capable guard.
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James fell onto his ass for the second time. He blinked, unsure if he had even seen Kate’s attack coming that time. Said person’s hand then appeared in front of him, which James accepted with a grimace.
“So, class, what did James fail to do?” Harald asked the small group of trainees nearby. One of them raised his hand, his age not being over 17 or 18. “Yes, Dirk?”
“He didn’t keep his stance steady enough, and because of that, Kate broke his guard,” the young trainee responded. The match had been decided once the young woman broke James’ defense, leaving him wide open. James looked at Kate, who was resting on her side of the dirt ring.
Kate had been nothing more than a shopkeeper a week ago, yet she somehow grew enough in strength and ability to win a fight against James.
‘How did I survive against the marauders?’
James thought back to the battle. Those marauders had obviously done this sort of thing more than once and had definitely been fighting longer than Kate.
‘Simple. They had underestimated you, their sense of skill was probably next to nil, and you had me and Dahlia to keep you from dying. Not to mention the many factors of that battle… You simply got lucky.’
Faust’s voice reminded James of the many times he had nearly died, where he had either been saved or been lucky enough to avoid his fate.
“Exactly,” Harald’s voice cut through James’ idle thoughts, bringing him back as he looked over at the old veteran. Harald had taken James to the training center for the town guards, which was located east of the town, where it bordered the forest and the rest of the island. There, the veteran had James spar with his star pupil, Kate Rowan. James had put up a good fight, without the help of Faust, of course, but in the end, Kate kicked his ass. Twice.
The defeated man looked down at his training sword, which felt much better than the traditional branch Harald had given him back at the hermit’s home.
“Alright, James, are you ready for another spar with Kate?” Harald asked, his talk with the trainees finished. James looked at his opponent again, who was getting back up on her feet again.
“Try going on the offense this time,” Harald suggested before he stepped away from the ring.
James sighed as he assumed his stance once more, his sword’s tip now pointed at Kate. Just as Harald gave his go-ahead, both fighters circled each other, their grips on their weapons tightening.
James was the first to rush, his sword moving for a stab at Kate’s upper body. Kate barely deflected the blow, her body moving to dodge away from the attack as her sword came up to meet James’. She stumbled a bit, but seemed to regain her balance rather quickly. James watched as she tried a counterattack, her sword slashing at him. James instinctively moved his body back, Kate’s sword barely missing him.
The young man stumbled backwards, nearly falling out of the ring before he balanced himself out. Before he could sigh a breath of relief, however, he realized his opponent was moving in for another slash. James dropped to the ground, feeling the wooden training weapon swish past his hair as he scrambled away from Kate. Once on the other side of the ring, James watched as Kate stopped herself, keeping herself from accidentally stumbling out of the ring.
James took the chance for a counter-attack, rushing the woman with his sword. Kate realized this as she moved to take a defensive stance. James was faster, however, and reached the young woman before she could properly defend herself. In an act of desperation, Kate seemed to try a wild swing at James. Unfortunately for her, James saw it a mile away. His sword parried the obvious attack, leaving her wide open for one last attack.
By the end of it all, Kate was on her ass, panting tiredly as James poked her with the training sword.
‘Finally… I won,’ James thought to himself, satisfied with the outcome.
‘Not really… She bested you two out of three times,’ Faust interjected.
‘Oh fuck off, will you?’ James groaned at the spirit.
“Hm, didn’t expect you to win,” Harald commented as he rubbed his beard. “It seems like you have much more promising results on the offensive side of things, but your defense is shit. Interesting.” Harald turned to the class, gesturing toward James and Kate. “Alright,” he addressed the trainees. “Who can tell me what Kate did wrong?”
As he talked, James turned back to Kate and extended his hand towards her. Kate took it, groaning as she stood up.
“Thanks…” she responded, wiping the sweat from her forehead before she headed off to join the other trainees.
James wondered about what Harald said to him, about his own defense being abominable compared to his offensive capabilities.
‘Funny…’ James thought idly.
Ever since the day he had left Earth, James had a sort of knack for violence, especially after he was revived. James didn’t know why he had this attraction to fighting, besides from the obvious adrenaline rush it gave him. It didn’t really fit him. He had never liked violence back on Earth since it always ended up in things getting worse.
Still, James couldn’t help but remember the feeling he had when he had broken the nose of the man his ex was cheating with behind his back. The feeling had only grown stronger once he had come to Valenfrost, especially during the Siege of Yorktown.
James shivered at the memory of that day, recalling the way his adrenaline rushed, how his wounds burned, and the way his muscles screamed as his lungs joined them. The taste of blood in his mouth. He clenched his fist, knowing full well that these were not normal thoughts. Yet he craved the feeling of battle again, for the feeling of pain and adrenaline.
‘Is this… normal?’ He asked Faust.
‘No. But I fully understand.’
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Felix Arlo closed the wooden doors to the longhouse, sighing tiredly as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He had been arguing nonstop with Nora and Otis, doing his best to defend James from Nora’s suspicions and paranoia.
‘He saved the town and yet people like her want to outcast him. All because he’s different.’
This wasn’t the first time the council had argued over something so trivial. Felix himself knew a newcomer years ago who had gotten outcast from the town over a dispute he had with Nora. The council's numbers reduced to five, then four, before finally settling on three after the raid from last week. The councilwoman had been mad with power since then. It was a miracle Felix did what he did in that longhouse, pitted against those two morons.
“I need a pint,” he told himself. Thankfully, the tavern was one of the few establishments that was still standing after the siege.
As Felix walked down the cobbled pathway, he noticed two others walking ahead of him, their familiar muttering voices letting the archer know who they were.
“Seamus! Haggard!” he called, catching their attention. Both men turned to meet Felix’s gaze, exhaustion on their faces as well.
‘How long have I been in that damned longhouse?’
Felix glanced at the cloudy sky, which helped a little in terms of what the time of day was. Nonetheless, Felix focused on Seamus and Haggard.
“Have either of you seen James?” He asked, wondering if the blond man had met up with any of them.
Both shook their heads.
“No, I haven’t seen him all day. Though, I’m sure he’s with Dahlia somewhere,” Seamus answered.
“He’s most likely with the shaman,” Haggard agreed. “If he’s not, then he’s probably meeting up with that old veteran,” He added, brushing some stray black hair from his face.
Felix pondered over their answers, rubbing his goatee in thought.
‘I guess the tavern is where they’ll probably be then… or maybe the training grounds, if he really met up with Harald. Either way, James would eventually end up at the tavern.’
It was only logical, as even Harald seemed to have the urge to grab himself a drink every once in a while. Besides, Felix really needed a drink, an escape from the hellhole that the council was.
The guard sighed, rubbing his neck as he looked at the two in front of him, who were already talking to each other.
“Again, I don’t drink!”
“What’s the harm in trying?”
“Nothing, it’s just that–”
“Then why miss out? Just have one!”
“For the last time–”
They were both arguing about something Felix had no part in, but the guard still interjected.
“Hey!” Felix called again, breaking up their conversation. “Let’s quit bickering and get to the tavern. Drinks are on me,” he stated, shutting them both up as he walked his way to the tavern. Felix really wasn’t in the mood for more arguing or bickering, as he had his fair share of it with Nora.
‘I really need that drink…’
Felix silently hoped that Seamus and Dahlia would forgive him after today once he informed James of his upcoming exile.