Chapter 12

The curtains covering the world abruptly pulled away. In the blink of an eye, Victor sat upright in his bed, his head dashing back and forth. A thick void held the barrack in its grasp, cast back only by dim light trickling in under the threshold of the door. Footsteps pressing on the cobblestone crept closer to the room, louder and louder by the second. His roommates groaned; Terris called, and they weren’t ready to answer. The footsteps stopped, and were replaced by three soft knocks on the door.

The door moved forwards into the room, blasting the barrack with orange light. Onto the threshold stepped a guardsman wielding a torch in his hand. With loud groans, Eric and William raised their heads from their pillows. “Lads, it’s time for breakfast,” he said. His mustached face crooked into a smile. “It’ll be all gone if ye can’t get those lazy arses out of bed.”

As their bodies adjusted back to reality, the company rolled out of their beds.. “Good morning, guys...” said Eric prior to a large yawn freeing itself from his dry throat. The two Initiates greeted him back. “Damn, is it really morning already?” he continued, as he struggled to change back into his adventuring attire.

“What is that smell?” said William. Victor sniffed the air. His nostrils became engulfed with a stale, repulsive scent. He reflexively gagged and let go off his pants, which now sagged from his waist.

“That’s sweat, and it’s ungodly strong. Ugh,” Victor said. “Let’s get out of here guys, I feel like I’m about to vomit.” He blitzed through the changing procedure, one hand busy with his clothes, the other pinching his nose. With his heels sticking out above his boots, he stumbled out of the room, and speedily walked towards the stairwell.

His two friends dashed to catch up with him. “Vic, are you sure we’re meant to go upstairs?” Eric asked.

“Where else do they eat? Do you think the cooks’ll run downstairs, breakfast in hand, specially for us? I seriously doubt that. Besides, do you actually want to eat in that sweaty abyss?” Victor replied.

Eric shrugged. “‘s true.”

The company ascended the stairs back to the ground floor. The sounds of forks clattering and general commotion came from the far end of the vestibule, from an adjacent room. After marching over the window lit blue carpet, they were indeed met by the sight of the expeditionary leaders, guild members and court personnel calmly chewing away on their breakfast.

As they themselves entered, a man wearing a full dark blue imperial uniform hailed them. He had a thick, fluffy mustache, and a masterfully groomed head of hair, both of which had paled with age just as his wrinkled face had. Despite his age, he was jolly and full of energy. He had them seated next to one another at an empty part of the large dining table, and left to get their food.

“That’s the nicest old man I’ve ever met,” Victor said, sinking into his tall chair.

Eric nodded. “Yeah, totally agree with you there. Turns out age isn’t guaranteed to make you cranky, so there’s that,” he said, followed by a chuckle.

William raised an eyebrow. “You guys sound like you’ve never met a kind grandparent, what’s up with that?”

Victor threw his hands in the air. “Well, in my experience with old people, let’s just say they seem to be in a permanent state of agitation.” He contracted his facial muscles, and weakly shook his fist into the air. “Raah, you stupid kids, get off my lawn!”

Eric and Victor laughed away, William joined in, albeit not as strong. The old man then returned, carrying a platter with three plates and three mugs of milk, which he placed before the company. He wished them a good breakfast, and walked off once again. Victor eyed his plate. Eggs, bacon and sausage were on the menu. The texture of the food was just right, and the plate had been arranged in an aesthetically pleasant manner. Next to the platter stood a bowl of blue fruits.

“What are those?”

“Oh, I know,” William said. “Those are Justitian Apples. I remember having one of those when I was younger once. They’re good.”

Victor took one of the apples in his hand. It gave off a dull shine when he held it in the light pouring in from the windows hanging high on the wall. The blue skin was fragile, and dented inwards with the slightest press. After hesitating and observing the fruit from numerous angles, he bit in. Immediately, the sweet flesh contained within the azure made its mark on his tongue. A sensation unlike any other, it was a crime for him to not have tasted such a gift earlier. The saliva flowed like pouring rain into his mouth, increasingly so with every bite.

After wholeheartedly devouring the apple, he chowed down the remainder of his breakfast, which disappointd after such a treat. It was at the tail end of breakfast that he finally remembered that which towered over the horizon. The raid. When breakfast had concluded, the guildmaster and Roderick ordered all the guild members to march with them back to the square they arrived on yesterday. A small contingent of other guild members was there when they arrived, alreeady in position.

Roll call began. A few stragglers weren’t present when they were called for, only for them to stumble into the crowd midway through. “Hold it, you fools. Stand where you are, and don’t you dare try to get in,” the guildmaster spat out through his teeth whenever it happened, his voice audibly agitated. That crowd piled up; some twenty poor bastards in total at the end, bracing for the verbal attack coming their way..

The guildmaster slowly turned in the direction of the stragglers. He stamped one foot on the ground. “Look at you all, what a sad bunch of pathetic morons you all are,” he said. “Is this seriously the best you inbred bastards are capable of?”

“No sir!”

“Then why can’t you lazy bastards be here on time, like the rest of us? We’re trying to keep the peace here and eliminate criminal scumbags, do you seriously think this is good enough? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Consider yourselves lucky we’re not changing tactics at the last moment to have you lazy bastards charge in first!”

“Yes sir.”

“Yes sir, no sir. Useless. Absolutely useless. Don’t embarass us before our guest next time,” the guildmaster said, pointing at Roderick standing next to him.

“Now, now.” Roderick took his hood off for the first time since Victor had been introduced to him. His red hair elegantly flowed down behind to the bottom of his neck, where they neatly stopped. With pure jade eyes, He gazed peacefully upon the crowd of stragglers with his pure jade eyes, yet it was as if he had his eyes upon everyone. As if he addressed them all personally. “Let us not spend our energy on tiresome little altercations such as this. The task at hand ominously looms overhead, to not let it fall is crucial.”

All that could be heard were the gales swooping through the city streets, and the people that dwelled upon them. “Indeed, what he said.” said the guildmaster after a blast of wind struck the square. “Men, we’re moving out. Remember what we’ve practiced, and let’s get this over with.”

Now in formation, the guild marched through the gate, the men who stood sentry hailing them as they departed. Out in the front, a man wearing imperial colors stealthily approached the head of the column, and whispered something in the guildmaster’s ear. Victor heard none of it. The guildmaster nodded, and signaled into the forest. The column resumed its march, now heading directly westward.

The thick treecaps of the Nightsilk Forest dimmed the skies, even though the day reigned. The ground squelched and splashed under Victor’s boots, and foul odors rose into his nose. This was the edge of the forest, where the treecover of Nightsilk mixed with the watery ground of the Sunlit Marshes. Victor sighed, and reached for his refilled canteen. No light was there to guide them this time. Let this be over soon, please. I hate swamps.

* * * “Halt!”

Alas, to Victor’s great frustration, that order came an hour after the start of the trek. In the distance, beyond the trees, the outline of a makeshift hideout could vaguely be made out. The column split up into groups, who one by one ran to the front, and vanished from a spell cast by Roderick. There was no panic. This had all been a part of the plan, and the guild had practiced for this in the days leading up to the expedition.

The tactics were simple enough: the guild would split up into three camps, each consisting of a few groups of ten. They were to surround the compound on three sides, and on the mark, they would storm in, and strike everyone inside down before they had the chance to react. The guildmaster had, along with the assistance of an imperial captain, come up with this plan. “This is how I like to do things,” he said about the plan when someone had asked about it once

Victor had no protests. After all, he had no experience to speak of in the field of tactics, and the guildmaster had years. Yet, fear and doubt surged through every vein. This was actual combat. No prophets were amongst the ranks of the Civil Defense; death lingered as a possible outcome for him and his two friends, neither of which were in his group. They had been assigned to the left flank. All he did was pray, hoping a holy force would preserve them all. Justitia, Divinity, it didn’t matter.

His group reached the front, and Roderick muttered something softly. In the blink of an eye, his body became transparent. “Go,” Roderick ordered. The group stalked away between the many trees and through marshy ground, and reached the very end of the right flank. There, they lay in wait for the call to sound. The compound was only a few trees removed from their position. Its fragile walls and entrances stood stood quiet, as if they had resigned themselves to the fate staring square at them.

Wind swept through the trees above, leaving rustling leaves in their wake. Silence held the forest in its grasp. It was quiet. Far too quiet, in fact. Victor’s legs became cramp, as he unsheathed his steel sword. His heart pressed against his chest, as if it wanted to escape. The quiet went on, and on. Several squalls took the opportunity to ominously rustle through the treeshroud, a performance for the hundreds of souls gathered.

“FORWARDS!”

Echoes of the command lingered in the trees. As over a hundred screams descended upon the complex, the invisibility spell wore off. It caught Victor off guard, and he hesitated for a moment, resulting in him being the last among his group to reach the building. The Veteran in the front kicked the fragile door in, and the group dashed right in. Gasps, followed by screams sounded moments thereafter. Victor ran into the room, just in time to watch one guild member receive an axe to his sides. He crumpled towards the ground, and lay stilled alongside three men wearing rotten leather armor.

The veteran from earlier dashed out from the other guild members, and shoved his sword straight into the thug’s abdomen. He staggered back against the wall, dropped his weapon, and sank to the ground, where he received a slash to the neck.

Victor stood motionless as his compatriots headed into the next room, where more screams sounded. His lungs screamed out for air. Five bodies lay at his feet, flooding the room with red liquid. Crates lined the walls of the room, on top of which were makeshift beds, all splattered red. A highwayman lay in one of the beds still, his eyes lifelessly staring at the rough wooden ceiling. Oh gods, what have I gotten myself into?... Don’t die Victor, please don’t.

Victor shuddered, and muttered to himself to stay calm. He ran into the next room, and collided with someone as tall as himself the moment he blindly crossed the threshold. Both staggered back; Victor fell on the floor, the other fell on a guild member’s sword. The guild member threw the corpse onto the floor next to him, and pulled him off the ground. “Thanks,” Victor said. The guild member nodded back, and gestured for him to follow.

Stepping over the bodies of another five dead, the group continued onwards. Two options lay before them. The door parallel to the one they entered the room from bursted open. Another group came through. One option remained: A door with the words “Main Hall” scribbled in an almost illegible brown substance on the surface.

The veteran kicked the door in, and the two groups charged, Victor as the last man to cross the threshold once again. What greeted him was a killing ground: guild members had already pierced into the room from all three direction they had attacked in, and they cut through the highwaymen like a saw through wood. An arrow hit the door frame next to him. Victor staggered backwards, and whipped his head to the direction the arrow came from. His gaze met with another man, standing in an opened door behind a group of men holding a last stand. That man stared him square in the eyes. Victor felt it in the back of his head. As if that man pierced into his soul. As if this had happened before.

A hand grabbed the man’s arm, and he was pulled away. The remaining resistance didn’t hold out for much longer. They put up a good fight, a far better one than the rest of their gang had earlier. Their battle shouts of ‘Divinity! ’ rang across the hall, as they struck down some of the attackers. But alas, one by one they were picked off by archers.

When the final thug was struck down, the roars and swords of the guild members rose into the air. Is… it really over? That soon? Victor paced about the large hall, carefully stepping around the corpses. Indeed, all hostilities had ceased. A small group had escaped the bloodbath, but that was it.

The main hall had been turned into a mess hall: Chairs, various foodstuffs and other miscellaneous items had been scattered about the place. A tattered banner hung on the far side of the room, where the highwaymen had made their last stand. The tip of a sword was pictured on the orange banner; its wielder had been ripped away.

“Hey, you.”

Victor whipped his head around. The veteran that had been in his group stared him square in the eyes. “Yeah, you. Come here,” he said, now pointing at him as well. His face carried a deep frown.

“Err.. what is the matter?” Victor said, as he slowly stepped towards the veteran. What does this guy want from me?

“You know damn well what I’m talking about, Initiate.”

“I don’t ‘damn well’ know, actually. We’ve won, have we not?”

“Why, we’ve won alright. Not thanks to you that is.”

Victor recoiled backwards. “W-what do you mean, not thanks to me?”

The veteran scoffed. “What, you think I’m a moron? Come on, all of us saw you stand back like a scared little girl when we charged. Thanks to you being a cowardly little baby, our lines were incomplete. You gave them an opening, and let Wilson die, someone who was far less of a coward than you. Own up to your mistakes, whoreson, and leave this guild. NOW.”

The blood boiled under Victor’s skin. “How dare you call my mother a whore! She has nothing to do with any of this! I tried my absolute best, this is only my first time getting into combat!”

“Your best is a joke, rat!” In the blink of an eye, the Veteran had stepped up to Victor to start yelling into his face. “That’s right, rat! My friend is dead, how are you going to bring him back to me, you wimp, you dirty, worthless subhuman Initiate!”

A hand shoved the Veteran aside. It was Eric. “Who’d you think you are, talking to my friend like that? Wanna talk? Talk to me then!”

“Eric? Are you serious? You’re standing up for this twerp?”

“Why yes, I am standing up for my friend, Lenny. Or do you think stabbing a friend in the back is normal, you lowlife?”

Lenny reeled back. “Seriously? Now that’s two friends I’ve lost, thanks to you, dumbass,” he pointed towards Victor.

“You’re a scumsucker, you know that, right? How dare you try to taint my whole family’s honor! My father was a brave commander, far braver than you ever where!”

“You slimy rat! None of that braveness carried over to you, seems like your father wasn’t as brave as you think!”

“You better watch yourself, scumbag-”

“Stop this garbage, you imbeciles.”

Victor, Eric and Lenny turned around. The guildmaster eyed them disapprovingly, and shook his head. “Apparently none of what I said this morning has gotten to you idiots yet. How wonderful to embarrass us all in front of our guest, again. I really appreciate that. I mean really, great job.”

“But guildmaster, you can’t let someone off the hook for cowardice-”

“Silence, Lenny. Don’t interrupt me when I talk!”

Lenny shrunk back. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled under his breath.

The guildmaster shook his head again. “We don’t scream at one another, and we treat one another with respect in this guild. You should know that better than anyone. And you, Vincent, you ought to man up and not shiver in the back like some coward. I saw you stand there all timid a moment ago.”

Victor bared his teeth, and inhaled a deep breath through the small gap between them. “I-it’s Victor-”

“Silence! Don’t interrupt me!”

Victor staggered a step back, almost tripping over one of the bodies in the process. “Sorry, sir...”

“I’ll have to think on this for longer, and see what we’re going to do about you. For now, clean up your act. And fast,” the guildmaster said, spitting out some of his saliva towards Victor. “And you, Edric, what are you doing here amidst these two jesters, none of your business here.”

Eric nodded his head. He stood dead silent. with no visible emotions rolling off his tall body. Victor couldn’t help but to find it strange that he had no protest against the disrespectful guildmaster, who didn’t even bother to address him with his actual name. Then again, what was the point? If a veteran like Lenny failed to escape the guildmaster’s scorn, what could a mere Member such as himself do?

“That’s how it’s done. A simple nod, that’s all I ask for,” the guildmaster said. He turned to the rest of the guild, who had been innocent onlookers the whole time. “What are you all looking at? Start burying the dead, idiots! The sooner we’re outta here, the better!”

Slowly, the guild members came back to their senses and obeyed the order. After all, none of them believed in disrespecting the dead by leaving them to rot, whether friend or foe. A search of the compound’s storage rooms revealed a few shovels. Victor and a few other Initiates were put to work digging graves. Six separate graves for the guild’s dead, and one mass grave for the highwaymen.

An hour of tiring, gruesome work passed. The eternal sleep of fifty souls had begun, and a group of imperial troops arrived on the scene. Only their captain knew any Lokahnic, and even then it was almost unintelligible. Roderick addressed him in Justitian, which made the conversation proceed far smoother. The captain, a man with a thick black beard and a bald head, explained through Roderick that they were taking over, that the guild’s work was done, and that it was time for them to head back.

The guild members’ response was quiet. Well, that’s that out of the way. Victor bit his cheek, and tightened his boots. Of course, there was still the guildmaster’s judgement casting its shade, as it loomed over the horizon akin to the cragged mountain peaks of the Origin Province. All he could do was pray to the gods, and hope for the best, as the guild marched back to Autokratorberg through the marshy woodlands.

* * *

The second arrival at Autokratorberg was similar to the first. Dusk had arrived, and the stars decorated the moonlit skies above. The guildmaster informed his men that they would depart for Ravens Hill tomorrow morning, and dismissed them. Victor’s stomach unleashed a mighty roar, just as he wanted to leave for the court.

“That’s Vic over there, alright,” said a male voice. Victor turned in the direction of the voice. It was Eric, who now covered up his laughter with one hand, and held the other on William’s shoulder. “Something going down there, Vic? It’s always you with the growling stomach, I swear.”

Victor rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, and who gives a damn. I’m starving, and exhausted as well.”

“Let’s go solve that then.”

The three wandered across the deserted, straightforward streets back to court. The guards congratulated them on the successful raid, and told them they were in dire need of a bath. Victor was far too tired and hungry to reply, and stumbled forwards into the grand vestibule like a zombie. “He’s a little out of it right now,” Eric replied to the soldiers in his stead, which he overheard. Even this, he had no words for.

A pleasant smell drifted out of the dining room. The smell of beef. The company entered the dining room, where the same old man from breakfast greeted them warmly, and had them seated in the same place as the morning. He swiftly brought them their stew, and another three mugs of milk.

Without so much as passing a glance at the food, Victor dug in. He dipped the spoon into the stew, and lifted it into his mouth. Beef and salt reigned dominant on the tongue. Especially salt. But he didn’t mind. He was happy enough to fill his belly, and a pinch of extra salt couldn’t hurt much.

A few spoonfuls later, Eric spoke up. “You guys like the food?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” William replied, as he lifted his mug to his mouth. He slurped down the contents loud enough for those sitting halfway across the long table to take notice.

Eric’s lips curled up into a smile. “Good to hear that. How about you, Vic?”

I’m done for. Victor’s face was as white as snow. He eyed his stew with a neutral expression, and fiddled with his spoon in one hand. A chill crawled up his spine. As if the stew stared right back at him.

“What’s the matter Vic? Is it not good?”

Slowly, he dipped the spoon back into the stew, and pressed it against his upper lip. The warm liquid, comforting just moments earlier, now was akin to submerging oneself into an active geyser. The spoon fell into the stew, clattering against the bowl and spilling liquid over the table.

“Vic? You okay?”

Victor shook his head. “I don’t know. I feel like the guildmaster and all the others don’t want me here anymore. I hesitated for a moment, and now I’m on my way out.” His head drooped down, and his shoulders sank. His mind pressed against his skull. Everything within, both physical and mental, was fatigued.

Eric laid his hand on Victor’s shoulder. “Don’t worry man, I’ve got your back. We’ll find a way out of this, I’m sure of it.”

“Even if I escape the guildmaster’s judgement, that veteran, that Lenny, he’ll still hold his grudge against me. They’re probably conspiring something as we speak. I don’t know, I think I’m falling off the edge either way.”

“No matter what happens…I’ll always be on your side, Vic.” Eric rubbed Victor’s shoulder. “I’ve been friends with you for eight years, and no rank will ever change that.”

A burst of strength flowed through Victor’s veins. He raised his head once again, a toothless smile plastered on his face. “Thank you, Eric. I appreciate it.”

“Trust me,” Eric continued, “people like that will eventually get what’s coming for ‘em. We’ll have the last laugh, I can guarantee you that.”

“Karma, huh? Here’s to hoping you’re right,” said Victor, lifting the mug of milk into the air. Eric raised his mug as well, and went on to sip from it simultaneously with Victor.

“Anyway, how did the raid go, guys? Managed to jab one scumbag in the chest myself.”

“Well, I almost got hit by an arrow in the little time I did spend in the front. That was an experience,” Victor said.

Eric leaned back in an exaggerated manner, and covered his mouth with both hands. “Well, good thing that missed you, am I right?” he said. Victor nodded. “And you, Will-”

A loud slurp blasted Eric in the ears the moment he turned his head. William had lifted his bowl of stew, and drank directly from it. He lowered the bowl, which by now was empty. “Did you ask for me?” he said bug-eyed.

Eric rolled his eyes. “I think I did.”

William bit his lip. “Well, I didn’t do much initially, because I couldn’t really aim at close range, and I was still figuring out how my crossbow works. At the end, I had enough range to start firing, and I managed to get three of them.”

“Impressive,” Eric said. “Guess that’s why they say not to mess with the quiet ones, am I right?” The two Initiates nodded and grinned in agreement. “Anyway, I’m full. You guys?”

“I think that’s enough for me,” said Victor. Just a small puddle remained at the bottom of his bowl.

“I think so too,” said William.

“Alright. Well, I’m off to get clean, and then get some sleep.”

The company would spend the rest of that night getting themselves clean, before heading to bed. The Sunlit Marshes had done quite a number on their hygiene, and nothing was quite as refreshing as a good bath.

The moon spread its light across the world above as Victor slid into his bed, basked in the darkness. He rolled over, and groaned. Today had gone far worse than he wanted it to. Where once was a clear blue sky, a thunderstorm stirred, blasting the lands below with the fury of the gods. Whether his stay in the guild would continue, he didn't know. All he knew, is that there was no option but to march forever forwards.