The sun hung low over the hillside battlefront, sounds of clashing steal and cries of anger could be heard in the distance. A single warrior stood as he used his chipped sword as a cane to stay up, all around him were the corpses of many other knights and warriors, the smell of blood stuck to the air. The standing warrior suddenly hunched over and began to cough violently through a mix of exhaustion and his own injuries that bled through the gaps in his armor and once his coughing fit stopped, the man looked around at the horrid sight of slain men. His eyes burned with tears and the grip on his blade only strengthened as he looked at the motionless bodies, many with their weapons still in hand or stabbed into the ground. The warrior looked up the hill to see an eyepatched elf standing atop it, looking down at him with disdain and anger while holding his own sword which dripped with blood.

“Are you ready to admit your folly?” The elf asked, spurning a reaction from the warrior who shouted back.

“I don’t admit anything!” The grip on the warrior’s sword grew so strong that his hand began to bleed. “Our people didn’t deserve this! The enemy didn’t either!” The warrior ripped his sword from the ground and took a fighting stance as the elf moved down the hill.

“But you did.” The elf retorted with the same level of anger. “We were your family, but you casted us aside as though we were nothing!” The warrior ran at the elf and their blades clashed loudly as they attacked one another, the two weapons locked together before the warrior managed to free his weapon and struck the opposing sword away from him. The two warriors stood facing each other, panting from pain and wavering strength but neither willing to back down.

“And that means it was alright to kill all these people?!” Tears ran down the warriors face. “All because you didn’t want to accept the fact that I was trying to be something more?!” The elf’s angered face grew harsher as he began to swing his sword again, this time the warrior could only guard each blow as he felt every strike rattle his bones. The elf pushed the swordsman back as they both tried to avoid tripping over corpses.

“I couldn’t accept that you believed such a farce!” The elf’s blade crashed into the swordsman’s and the chipped blade snapped in two with one powerful stroke before he sent an aura infused kick into the chest of his foe, the warrior let out a pained gasp as he was sent flying back before barely maintaining his balance. The warrior staggered for a moment before falling to one knee, never once letting go of his now broken sword or looking away from the elf. “So long as they exist, we will never be more than what life ordains us to be.”

“If you say so,” the warrior struggled to say as he tried to stand back up. “I don’t know what she’s done to you, but you’re not my brother anymore.” The eyepatched elf suddenly looked hurt before his look of anger returned.

“Then I guess we’re done here,” the elf replied, never taking another step forward but raised his blade high in the air. Suddenly, a new figure appeared and shielded the warrior for what was about to come. The warrior saw long, dark hair and a spear that had a unique cross head that belonged to the figure. Before the warrior could say anything, a blot of red lighting tore through the air and the two bodies. Pain wracked through the warrior as he and the new figure fell.

The warrior could only remember images and sudden sounds at this point…

A mournful cry…

A broken pole arm…

Silence on the battlefield and a hillside of bodies…

A pair of blood and mud covered hands...

Doran woke with the sounds of water splashing, he turned his head to see that the sun had just begun to rise on the makeshift camp and that someone was kneeling over the riverbed. The pale man sat up from his blanket and looked around the area, he saw Abby still asleep as she sat and leaned her toned body against a large tree while wrapped in a thick blanket. Not too far away was Silvern, slowly stirring but was using Becky as a bed as she was curled into a comfortable ball. Doran assumed Carlyle was in a tree as he noticed Silvern’s Bicorn grazing not too far away from the cart. The religious knight slowly stood up and looked back at the man he now knew was Cyrus, he seemed to be washing his face in the surly ice cold water of the river.

As he quietly walked to his dark skinned friend, Doran couldn’t help but look at all the pale scars that littered Cyrus’ bare and muscular back. Many were obvious what they came from, but one in particular seemed worse. The scar rested on his right shoulder blade and looked as though it came from a jagged stab that not only pierced his body, but burned him too. Doran stood there silently, his own bare chest seeming unfazed by the chill morning. He seemed to have trouble speaking before Cyrus noticed Doran’s presence and turned his head slightly.

“Oh, mornin’ Doran.” Cyrus said pleasantly, the bangs of his dark hair were wet and droplets of water fell down his handsome and friendly face. “Nice way to wake up, right?” Cyrus went back to washing his face as Doran cleared his throat, his usually stoic face wavering for a moment.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Doran asked.

“Nah, I just wanted to get up early is all. I slept like a rock.” Cyrus stood up and looked out at the water, not turning to face his friend.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I mean if we wake up early enough we’ll reach Moran by noon.” Before Doran could say anything more, Cyrus said they should try on their new gear that Holt was nice enough to give them.

“Of course, we were wearing raggs until this point after all.” Doran replied, giving up on talking and his stoic face returning. The pair walked past the scorched earth that had served as the location of their campfire, the fishbones from last night's dinner still littered the ground. Doran remarked that he was surprised that neither Silvern or Abby, who didn’t know how to cook, passed making sure meat was cooked enough to eat, Cyrus said it was still better than wyvern jerky.

Silvern slowly woke up and saw Cyrus and Doran changing their gear as Becky shifted her paws to keep her master in place, to which Silvern struggled a little before he popped his short and slender frame out of the wolf’s grasp. The dark elf walked over to the pair as he rubbed his eyes lazily, questioning what they were doing up so early.

“Cyrus wanted to continue on early,” Doran replied as he pulled on a white, loose fitting shirt with slightly oversized sleeves that matched his trousers onto his pale frame, his new clothes still having the Fioran crest on his back but seemed to be more sturdy than a normal set of clothes and offered better movements for his swordsman body. “If I ever run across Holt again, I”ll have to ask where he got this.”

Cyrus only stood off to the side as he tugged on the straps to his new leather armor, his gear had a slight red tinge to it and was snug in all the right places. His new armor left his biceps bare but came with fingerless gauntlets that were designed to help with his grip. Silvern noticed how quiet Cyrus seemed to be and asked what was going on, Cyrus seemed to hesitate before answering and said that he was just having trouble figuring out his new gear.

“Sometimes these straps aren’t too easy to work with, am I right?” Cyrus laughed a little as Silvern sighed. The dark elf turned his head to look at the still sleeping Abby before shouting at her, saying they were getting ready to leave and she should wake up. The white haired beast woman groaned a little as she shifted her body off her tree and complained that Silvern’s voice was too annoying first thing in the morning. The short elf only laughed as he saw his comrade stand up, her thick braid having a few twigs stuck in it.

“You can gripe at me later,” Silvern replied as he shook Becky awake after strapping his bicorn back to the cart. “For now, we need to hurry and meet our contact.” Abby picked the twigs out of her hair as she walked to meet the others at their ride, she noticed Cyrus and his usual smile and couldn’t help but feel a little angry.

“I’ll ride up front with you, Shorty.” Abby said, Silvern demanded she remember to drink her medicine beforehand. Saying he didn’t want to wear last night’s dinner. Abby’s red fur tail waged for an instant out of irritation before she rummaged through the medicine basket to take a bottle of the foul tasting concoction. Within moments, the four were back on the road with Cyrus and Doran riding in back as Becky followed close behind.

As the four traveled past the orange colored trees, there was an obvious silence in the group. Abby turned her head to see Cyrus had fallen back asleep while Doran was looking through his bible, she turned back around and spoke loud enough for Doran to hear.

“Cyrus sure does like to sleep, didn’t he say he was eager to get back on the road?” Doran heard Abby’s question loud and clear, he closed his book and put it on the seat next to him before responding.

“Sometimes he wakes up too early, tends to rest a little throughout the day at times.” Doran went through a sack that Silvern had filled with berries from the night before and offered some to the beast woman, seemingly to try and change the subject. Abby turned him down and asked if he had anything else, Doran gave Abby a grimace look before going through his bag to show the woman his piece of wyvern jerky.

“The hell is that?” Abby said, reaching back to take the hunk of dried meat from the swordsman. She gave it a quick sniff and immediately pulled it away from her face. “It smells like a dirty boot.”

“Wyvern jerky,” Silvern replied plainly. “Dired wyvern meat. Cheaper than most rations at only one copper a piece, all the nutrients you need for a whole day, but it tastes like it smells. Usually only used during war time to save on food.”

“Well, I’ve eaten your cooking so I can say I’ve had worse.” Abby stated with a bluntness that only comes from years of knowing someone. “At least this will taste like something.” Abby opened her mouth wide to take a bite only to receive shouts of objection from both Silvern and Doran, startling her and preventing her from taking a bite. “What?! If you didn’t want me to take a bite you could’a just said so!” The woman shouted angrily at Doran.

“We just saved you from breaking a tooth!” Silvern shouted in retort. When Abby asked what he meant, Doran took back his piece of meat while pulling out a knife with a blank face. He stabbed the meat with enough force that the blade snapped in two, causing the blade tip to fly away from the cart. Abby’s eyes went wide as Doran explained that one would need to cut it into strips before eating it. The only reason why they aren’t pre cut is that they dry even more shortly after being cut and become inedible.

“Everything about that thing is nasty.” Abby said bluntly as she opted to take some berries instead of the most disgusting thing in the cart, Doran tucked his piece of jerky into a pocket that rested on his chest.

Cyrus lay on his seat with his eyes half open as he watched the scene unfold, the tired man couldn’t help but let a small smile show on his face before trying to go back to his nap. Doran had noticed the change in Cyrus’ face and he himself grew a little more relaxed as he returned to his book. Abby looked behind her at the two men and gave a small frown, when Silvern asked what was on her mind she only retorted that there wasn’t anything wrong… yet.

The cart eventually came to a large wall, if you were to look at either side you could see a slight curve to it that showed that it was keeping something safe. The massive gate in front had two guards posted at it, the guards were dressed in medium weight armor and held spears at their sides as they watched the adventurer’s cart come into view. One of the guards motioned for the cart to stop once it got close to them, Silvern looked behind him to see that Becky had stopped in her tracks and had taken a seat in the middle of the road.

“What’s your business here?” The guard who requested the stop asked, his voice was stern but his face showed he’d listen to the group.

“Just passing through,” Silvern replied as Doran shook Cyrus to wake him up. “We’re to meet a guide here to Heimdallr, we’re members of the blue star guild.” The guard looked at the group, taking a solid stare at each of the adventurers, Silvern’s Bicorn, and Becky before asking for a sign of proof. Silvern removed one of his gloves to show his blue star crest while Abbly held up her arm to show off the same mark.

“Alright,” the guard said before looking at the large wolf again. “I take it the beast is with you? I’m sorry but I can’t permit its clearance to the city, we’re under watch at the moment. But it can stay outside the wall so long as it doesn’t try anything.” Silvern looked a little hurt before accepting the guards terms, he turned his head and shouted at Becky to wait in the tree line and that he’d call her to meet him later. The large wolf let out a deep bark before moving off the road and easily slipping out of view into the tree line.

“You said the town was under watch,” Cyrus said as he rubbed his eyes. “Why?”

“There’s a knight sent directly by King Valden here, we’re making sure all is right with the town to ensure his safety.” The guard replied, leaving the four travelers to understand that their contact was indeed in Moran. The group thanked the guards as they let them pass, the sounds of the bicorn’s hooves and the wooden wheels moving switched from dirt to cobblestone as they passed through the barrier. One of the guards let the group know they should go to the Crow’s Perch Inn if they wanted to find the knight they were looking for.

Cyrus and Doran looked around in slight shock, the streets were filled with people of all ages and races as they rode through the town. The stone buildings looked worn but well cared for and many shops could already be seen, the people walking by looked at the travelers and whispered to each other as they gossiped over who they could be. Carlyle suddenly dove from the sky and perched on Silvern’s lap as a few women pointed out how unfeminine Abby was, to be fair she was built with more muscles than the rest of the women in this town would ever hope to have.

“It’s been a bit since we’ve been in a walled in town,” Cyrus commented to Doran as he let his excitement calm down.

“It’s a pleasant change of pace, I’ll admit.” Doran agreed, appreciating the craftsmanship of the city around them. Silvern laughed at how easily amused the pair could be while Abby looked around the street, trying to spot the inn’s sign.

The group got lucky and found the inn relatively quick and Silvern found a good place to leave both his Bicorn and cart as The others began to pick up their weapons. Abby strapped her shield to the back of her waist as she looked at the Inn, it was only a couple of stories tall with a ratty sign that proudly displayed the building’s name. Aside from the bad sign, the inn looked rather pleasant. Cyrus placed his spear comfortably on his back and Doran managed to get his short sword mounted on his right hip just as Silvern parked. The elf told the other three to get inside and ask for their contact as he began to strap his steeds to the hitching post while his red and orange bird flew above him.

The trio walked into the inn and saw a joyful sight, it was a welcoming hall that was serving food to the patrons while people laughed and talked. Abby looked unimpressed, saying the energy back at the guild better than the current sight. The spear fighter chuckled at the woman’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Come on, Abby,” Cyrus said casually while keeping a smile on his face. “Seeing what the town is like is part of the fun of traveling.” Abby sighed as she understood his point, but her frown only grew when she looked at Cyrus’ face. She wasn’t sure what her issue was today, but she could worry about it later. Before Abby could ask Doran his thoughts, she noticed he had already gone to the front desk and had begun talking to the man manning the counter. “He’s always so impatient!” Cyrus groaned as he and Abby walked over to the swordsman’s conversation, the pale man’s face showed great discomfort as he heard what the innkeep had to say.

“Thank you for your time, I’ll be sure to inform my comrades of this information.” Doran said just as his traveling companions met him, the pair asked what he was told. “I’d rather just say it once.” Doran sighed as he walked back to the front of the building, Abby demanded the holy warrior just say it but was cut off by Silvern now joining them.

“Oh, that was fast.” The short elf said. “Where’s our contact?” Doran gave another sigh before responding, his three allies looking at him as he responded.

“According to the owner of the establishment, our contact has gone to the local brothel down the road to the east.” Doran rubbed his eyes with embarrassment as Abby laughed and Cyrus looked at his friend in shock. “I’d rather not go to a place like that but… Where’s Silvern?” He asked when he opened his eyes to see the dark elf had vanished and the front door of the inn was swaying back and forth, as if someone had just sprinted from the location.

“He… He,” Abby said as she struggled to speak through laughter, the reason for her laughter seemed to be because of the missing elf. “Shorty ran off the second you said ‘brothel’. The man’s been on a dry spell for the better part of thirty years, I’m sure he was looking for an excuse to go to a whore house!” Doran groaned a little before saying that he’d take his bible to the short man’s head if he was in bed with a woman by the time they find him.

“Why don’t you stay here?” Cyrus said, patting his friend’s shoulder. “We can go find Silvern and our knight, bring them back, and hit the road. Plus I’m sure you’d kill him by accident with that book of yours.” Doran gave his friend a look of relief and said he’d take the spear fighter’s advice, Cyrus and Abby gave the holy man a friendly wave before leaving the building.

Doran sat down at a table and commented to himself how foolish the dark elf was, though he couldn’t fully blame a man for seeking a woman’s touch. A few tables away from the pale swordsman sat a lone patron, the person turned his head to the door Cyrus and Abby left through before pulling up a hood and calmly exiting the inn. Doran gave yet another sigh and without turning to face the leaving individual, spoke to himself.

“It can never be that easy can it?”

It took some time, but the duo found the building they were looking for. It was much larger than the inn, having three floors and made of much higher quality stone and metal. Silvern sat outside with a look of dissatisfaction, leading Abby to ask what the issue was. The dark elf grumbled his response and sounded like an angry child.

“Let’s just say, this isn’t the kind of place I was expecting. But I found our contact, he’ll be out in a moment.”

“What, does he need to finish breaking a bed frame?” Abby asked bluntly as a man stepped out into the street as he was being waved off by a few rather muscular men.

Calling the individual a ‘man’ would be a stretch, the young face of the armor clad knight showed that he couldn’t have been older than twenty and his short, blonde hair only added to his youthful appearance, his white armor shone brightly and without a single scratch. On his left arm was an ornate kite shield that also appeared to serve as the scabbard to an equally ornate sword. The young knight would look regal if it weren’t for the look of panic on his face, he quickly walked over to Silvern and looked at him with relief.

“Thank you for your assistance, Sir Silvern.” The young man said with an excessively polite tone. Cyrus thought the boy would start kissing the elf’s boots with how deep he bowed.

“I’m not a knight or a noble,” Silvern said as he stood from his seat, the elf gave the new face a similar look Becky would give him when he would cry over her getting hurt. “Silvern is just fine, Collin. This is Cyrus and Abby, they’ll be joining us along with the Fioran knight I mentioned.” Silvern motioned to his comrades and the knight gave a polite bow before introducing himself.

“It’s an honor to meet you both, my name is Sir Collin Revan Aranos. I’ll be acting as your guide to and through Heimdallr under the orders of his majesty, King Valden Lucatiel Arnor III.” Abby and Cyrus looked at Collin, Abby with a look of disappointment as she fought to roll her eyes at the long winded introduction. Cyrus gave Collin a look of disbelief, if this is what counted as a knight these days then the kingdom was doomed.

“How old are you, kid?” Abby asked plainly, completely ignoring Collin’s long greeting and forgoing a proper introduction.

“Eighteen, Lady Abby.”

“He’s not our contact! There’s no way that the king would pick such a green knight to be our guide.” The woman was practically shouting as she pointed her finger at the boy.

“It’s not out of the question, he might be talented?” Cyrus said with a forced smile. “But I can tell just by looking at you, you ain’t no elite.”

As the knight began to explain his situation, a large man came out of the brothel and began swearing at Collin. The man accused him of being too picky about his selection of ‘entertainers’ and that he should be grateful at what he was offered. Looking up at the windows, Silvern saw several effeminate men waving down at both him and Collin. The tamer couldn’t blame the boy for being shook, but at the same time he found himself taking a small step towards the street.

Cyrus had his eyes on the knight getting yelled at, he was expecting Collin to pull his weight as one of the king’s knights or perhaps say that the type of ‘entertainers’ the man had wasn’t his fancy for good reason… but what the spearman saw was a young man about to pass out from fear.

“I can’t watch this.” Abby said, walking up to the shouting man and cutting off his one sided shouting match. Cyrus and Silvern grimaced as they watched the beast woman give the owner of the establishment a powerful punch to his face, the large man looked stunned for a brief moment before falling to the ground with a solid thud. “You. Explain.” Abby said as she turned to the knight, Collin now looked like he was ready to soil his armor.

Abby motioned for the group to go to a nearby plaza as Silvern patted the armored boy’s back, seemingly to try and make Collin a little more relaxed or at the very least to get him moving. Cyrus looked up to the watching men and saw they were chuckling a bit at their boss’s clock to the jaw, the dark skinned man smiled and gave an apologetic wave before moving along with his friends. The entertainers all gave the kind looking man a wave and watched the group walk off before deciding who would pick up their boss.

Several feet away was the same hooded man that left the Inn, he watched the four people walk away from the unconscious body in the exact opposite direction of the Inn. The figure held a ruby to his ear and stood silently as a voice gave him orders. After the voice stopped speaking, he moved the ruby to his lips, never taking his eyes off his targets.

“Understood, I’ll wait for my chance. I’ll send a report as soon as I’m able, Garren.” The hooded man’s voice was young but his tone gave away a certain level of experience. “Susan and Roy are still standing by. The stars won’t make it out of the town, nor will the knight.” The young man put the ruby into a pocket before disappearing into a crowd, a level of lethality hidden behind his eyes.