“Now then”, said Ashter. “Do you have a moment to talk about righteous revolution?”

“Yes”, Vreil replied solemnly. You have to walk the walk, as his father used to say before he died. Vreil grimaced.

“Okay then, listen closely", Ashter adopted a scholarly tone. "The ones ruling this country are the king and the government, where the government is comprised of some of the king’s consultants, some nobles, and the leaders of the five Houses. As you know, the Blue House protects the seashore towns, the White House protects the islands and seas, the Green House protects the mountains and forests, the Red House protects everything as needed and the Black House protects the capital."

Vreil nodded; everybody knew that much. Ashter continued.

“The current king shows little interest in ruling the country. He prefers to indulge in life’s pleasures, neglecting his duties in favor of debauchery. And unfortunately, without a strong king to hold the reins, the government by itself is unable to regulate and protect the nation. There is a reason we need a singular, powerful monarch; the government is made of made people and, unavoidably, some of those people can easily be corrupted.

A king cannot be bribed; what benefits would be worth losing a kingdom? But the nobles can. Of the five Houses, the leaders of the strongest ones, the Red and Black Houses, are corrupted. Except for a handful of nobles, all others are also corrupted or unwilling to act. Understood so far, boy?”

“More or less. But you say those people are bribed; by whom? These are the most powerful people of the kingdom!”

“But there is more to the world than just our kingdom”, Ashter smiled bitterly. “And the allure of power can cloud the minds of even the purest people; the elves. Too long has their nation prospered. Now, their gaze is turned outward, eyeing their most vulnerable neighbors. Us. The elves are rich and powerful, and they intend to take over this country without losing a single man in battle.

For that, they have to throw the country into chaos, so they can appear as saviors. They are secretly aiding the bandits and pirates, and are weakening the Houses that safeguard this land. At some point, they will ignite a wave of attacks by bandits and pirates against several towns, instigating treason by some of the Houses too, and humans will lament in despair. Then, the kind elves will do us the favor of taking over this country, for our own good. Oh, the audacity”, he shook his wizened head. “Our goal is to stop that from happening and put someone worthy in charge. Did you understand?”

“More or less", Vreil repeated. "So the people in power are evil?”

“Not necessarily all of them, but ours are”, Ashter revealed a toothy grin.

Vreil thought about it. What the wizard had told him agreed with what his father often said after returning from long trips, at least when it came to the government. That, by itself, was not enough for him to accept Ashter’s words and follow him; but what other choice did he have? Go to the Red House? He might as well follow the wizard and investigate his doubts at a later time.

Vreil let himself trust Ashter, for he had nothing left to lose, nothing more to be afraid of. He locked all his doubts and hesitation away, at least for the time being.

If what Ashter had said was true, then it was Vreil’s duty to protect his country and all the humans that lived in it. But more than that, his youthful heart yearned for adventure and excitement, yearned to fight for what he believed in. For now, he would follow. And if these words were true, he would do his best to make things right.

Passion bloomed inside him, luckily - or purposely - overshadowing the dark thoughts that occupied the back of his mind.

“Ashter, can you swear that what you just said was true?”

“I swear”.

“Then I, Vreil Light, will help you change this country.”

Ashter laughed loudly for the first time since Vreil had met him. “I knew you would not let me down, boy. Welcome aboard! We are glad to have you as part of our effort. Now then, Vreil, do you have any plans on what to do from now on?”

Vreil frowned. What plans could he have?

“None.”

“What about your family? I had no choice but to leave the city before, but I hope you don’t have any family inside.”

“No, my family is…” He lost his composure for a second. He had cried a lot and come to terms with it before he left his village, but the incident was still fresh in his memory. “My family is dead. They were killed when my village, Aldmark, was attacked by pirates five days ago”.

“Oh”, the wizard’s eyes widened, before he looked at Vreil warmly. “Oh, my boy… I had not realized this. I am sorry. I would have acted very differently if I had understood what you were going through. Are you okay? If you need to talk about anything, I am here. I will not let anything else happen to you”.

Vreil was surprised. He wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction. The old wizard’s eyes were warm and, for the first time in five days, he felt safe. He knew they were still too close to the city and had to move fast, but he couldn’t speak. It was all too overwhelming for him at this point. After all, even if he was intelligent and mature for his age, Vreil was still a child.

He thought he was fine with being alone, but this interaction reminded him of what he had lost. Something broke inside him. He tried to hold his tears back but he couldn’t. Soon, he was shaking and crying desperately.

Why did this have to happen to us? What have we done to deserve it? Not just mom and dad, everyone in the village were good people, too good to die like this. Why did the Blue House leave the coast unguarded? Why did the Green House not guard the forest behind Aldmark? Why wasn’t the Red House there? Why hadn’t the White House exterminated the pirates?

A thought flashed in his mind, booming like silver lightning.

Was it due to corruption? Did the Houses purposely let the pirates through?

Through his own sorrow, Vreil suddenly felt a deep connection to what Ashter was talking about before. It wasn’t vague notions. It was here. In his home.

In what used to be his home.

In order to protect more people from what had happened to him, he had to change things. He had to make Ailcron, the Southern Human Kingdom, into a safe place to live in. And one more thing: he had to kill all the bandits and pirates. Especially the Black Beard pirates, the ones who slaughtered his village. Among his tears, Vreil clenched his fists so hard that fingernails dug into his palms.

I will fucking make their heads roll.

“Vreil,” came Ashter’s deep voice, “what is done is done. You cannot change it. But you must not lose yourself to revenge either. You must resist the darkness inside you. Focus on your good side, the side that seeks to protect, not harm. Do not let more people suffer. You can save them. They need you. To avenge your family, get rid of all those who want to harm this nation. Let the rage inside you build up to something good. It will be the hardest thing you will ever have to do, but it is worth it. And when everyone is safe, go to their grave and let them know. And then their spirits will smile, and Heaven’s blessing will be upon you. Do you want to go bury them? I can help you.”

Vreil’s tears began to dry as he hiccuped. He calmed down. He had formed his resolve, or at least the closest thing to that he could currently manage.

“Thank you, Ashter. You have now saved me twice, and I will definitely repay you one day. But there is no need to go back. I have already buried them.”

The look in Vreil’s eyes had changed. Ashter could tell. His eyes were the eyes of a man now, not a lost child as they were moments ago. It looked like he had managed to beat beck his darker emotions.

Astounding maturity, for a child, the old wizard hummed in approval as he stroked his beard.

“And what do you want to do now, my young friend?”

“I don’t know. Too much is going on. I want to help you, but I don’t know how.”

“I am headed to our headquarters”, he hummed again. “If you want to join me, I can show you how to use magic on the way, along with the basic principles around the use of some weapons. You have little to no experience, but you are an Arknas, so you will learn quickly. And when we get there, I will have a more appropriate teacher show you the way of the sword while I teach you some more advanced magic. Are you okay with that?”

Vreil didn’t need to think about it. He had already made his decision. “Okay. Where are your headquarters?”

“In the town of Waterslide, across the kingdom. It is about one month on foot from here but we will be moving faster, as we are being chased.”

“Let’s go then”, nodded Vreil, continuing after a short pause. “And also, Ashter… On the way, train me hard. I want to become strong. Strong enough to protect those who need it.”

And to kill those I want to.

“I see. That is a good decision”, smiled Ashter. The energy of youth was something he dearly missed. He, too, had once been like that, so many years ago. A flash of pain in his eyes went undetected.

“I just like seeing happy faces”, Vreil added silently. But Ashter’s sharp ears heard him, and he smiled yet again.