Could I have done things better? Maybe. But the thing what’s done is done, the key now is to not think about what I’ve done, but to keep moving. No more over-thinking my actions and their consequences. The goal is to leave this thing called the “past” behind. The oath still awaits, but there is no one to give the oath to. The nearest hall is three weeks travel by boat, not to mention the Anolat is still frozen till spring. Ahh fuck it, who cares if no one is there, I will finish my business with the Legion and move on.

Nothing changed.

And nothing will change.

I look around, the bodies still litter the floor. Do I have to explain myself to the Lord of Emeral? No, even if I do tell him, he will already know. And by then my story will be too late, nor is the Legion here to sway him. Even if a legionary was here he would take sides against me just to get on the good side of Protus. The past will neither forgive nor forget.

I walk out of the inn and in the direction of the hall. The trip was oddly silent, even if it was during winter. As I approach the gates I channel mana into my legs and slam against the closed gates, it takes two kicks to open the gates. Entering the building, I find it empty except for the statue of Zeron, covered in snow. Doesn’t matter, I will finish it one way or another. I walk over to the statue, cleaning off the snow as best I can. Standing before the statue I take off my shirt and armour, taking out a small dagger I cut a horizontal line into both of my palms, after I return the dagger back to its place. Taking a deep breath I start.

“We the Legion,

The Ones Who Stand,

The Ones Neither Dead Nor Alive,

The Ones Who Crush the Skies and Bend Fate,

The Ones Who Never Rest,

The Ones Who Fought What Must Be Fought,

The Ones Whose Blood Will Never Die.

The Blood River flows and never stops,

A thousand dead for each drop.

We stand together,

One drop lost, and ten billion more to flow.

We the Legion.”

I finish the oath and place my palms on the statue. Now I was to channel mana into the statue, but I’ve never been able to, reinforcement of muscles was the best I could ever do with mana. The “Defective One” as some called me, a monstrous amount of mana, but useless if one can’t use it. I don’t care about this religious bullshit but I made a promise. Even though the ones I made it to are dead it doesn’t release me from my oath. Sorry Kilan, I still don’t believe in this “Father of Blood” stuff. I’ve never been touched, never seen his will nor felt his warmth. Only the crushing feeling that everyone I cared about are gone from this world. Our personal numbers will be listed in the Blood Archive, but only I am left to remember our true names. Some documentation should be filled out right now, but as I have neither access to blood communication nor does anyone else here. So I’ve only got one option, I draw my dagger scratching my number, B117, into the wall and cross it out. That should be enough, and if it’s not, I can’t do anymore.

The city is smothered in darkness, the sunlight is gone but at least the blizzards period ended, and the moons reflect a pitiful amount of light. Shit, I don’t have enough time, I still need to get to Toaan before the ice melts, and grab the first boat heading south. And getting to Toaan will take nearly a month on foot. Ok, minimal goal established, now let’s review my current situation. The mayor must know that a Legionary is in the city, he must know about the dead guards in the inn, result of granny’s tongue most likely. Any action I could take would require quite a bit of time, and time is what I’m severely lacking. Best thing I could do is leave right now, I haven’t filled my rations, or repaired my equipment. I could probably find some game even with all the snow, and I doubt the guards could catch a fox, or set a trap, so I’m sure there must be plenty of “free” things laying around.

Wait, shit, guards, they could have a skilled Enforcer, maybe even a Wizard. My body still isn’t ready for anything extremely taxing. Fuck my ass sideways. I have to move, and now. Why am I so fucking retarded? Did I drop my guard because I’ve been living I in the middle of nowhere, where the most intelligent being could barely speak in full sentences? With my current state I couldn’t take them on, my body has barely healed to an acceptable state. More meat on my bones, but still not enough for a serious fight. And they have the home turf advantage.

I start to run outside towards the south gates. I hear footsteps and duck into an alleyway. Guards, running in the direction of the Legion hall, and the western gates. Wait, west? Did they think I would run to the Zeronel’s capital? Are they brain-damaged? There’s five-thousand kilometers between here and the capital, filled with danger, and it would take at least half a year to reach there from here. Come on, concentrate, I need to be stealthy, in which my incompetency shows itself. I move between the alleys relying on my keen hearing and sight. Reaching the south gate, I survey the area, there are to many guard running around, definitely overkill for a single person.

Okay, two guards on top of the gate and two in front, the gates are closed as expected. Great, just fucking great. A lone guard runs to them shouting at them, after speaking with them he runs off with the two in front of the gate. What is this? Lady Luck on my side for once? This must be a trap, but I have to take the opportunity that has so kindly shown it’s back to me.

The two on top are standing still, looking south and north from the gate. I sidle up to the wall, crouching as I get closer to the gates. I come to a stop close to the stone stairs leading to the top of the gate, and make a snowball. I throw the snowball at the roof of a house not too far from me. No reaction, shit, let’s do this again. I make a bigger snowball and throw it at the same house, it lands with a thud and causes some snow to fall to the ground making even more noise. A rush of noise from the stairs as the guards run down the stairs towards the sound, swords drawn. The ACTUAL fuck, both of them are going? Are they retarded, who’s going to guard the gates if they’re gone? Fuck it, doesn’t matter. As soon as they turn the corner I scale the stairs, and freeze, there was another guard that I couldn’t see, luckily his back is to me. He’s holding a bottle, and takes several large gulps, putting the bottle down the leans heavily against his spear and starts snoring. I creep past him, walking to the stone fence, looking over the edge I see there’s enough snow on the left side of the gates to muffle my fall. I crouch and reinforce my legs and jump, the landing shouldn’t be that bad,…right? Wrong, it was most definitely not smooth, but I’m down and running towards the south.

This is too much, this can’t be possible, I was far too lucky, or perhaps unlucky, today. Anyways I have to get as far as I possibly can get from Emeral while the weather holds.

…

I found a small cave about three to four kilometers from the city. This should be far enough for now. I’ll continue in the morning. Checking that the cave is empty, I start to circulate mana to warm my freezing body. Tomorrow I need to get an early start, they might have hunting dogs, and there is my blood in the city. Was it a mistake to give the oath there? No, I promised. Sorry brothers, this was all I could do. That chapter of my life is finished and a new one is starting.

I really want to see you guys.

I hope there’s an afterlife.