“I was born in a village to the east”, Arthur began speaking, his eyes already lost in reminiscence.

“It was a small place, only 20, maybe 30 families and, even among those, my parents were considered outsiders. We didn’t care; we were happy on our own, just the three of us. Then, one day, while I was cutting wood, an accident happened at my house: A horse went crazy and stomped both my parents to death. Heh,” he let out a peal of dry laughter, “how frail life is… theirs ended as simple as that, by a single wrong turn of fate.

The villagers never liked us, and they refused to take care of me. I was all alone. I ran into the woods and would have probably starved to death if a stranger hadn’t found me. Like me, he had no place to go. He was a dwarf, but had been exiled from his country for many years and been forced to become a street performer in our kingdom to survive. Even though he could barely make enough money to survive himself, he took me in. He raised me like a second father. I was eight years old at the time. We were about the same size, so I could join him in dancing when he was performing for strangers. Thanks to that, we could make a little more money and get by. Meanwhile, I had realized that fate is too fickle, too capricious, to be left alone; I would not let it dictate my life any longer but, through strength, I would grab the reins myself. I decided to become the strongest man in the world, naive as I was, and trained myself with the sword whenever I had a chance.

As I grew up, I became much bigger than my second father in size. Therefore, we began running comedy shows, starring the big human and the small dwarf. But at some point, his exile period was over and he could return to his country, to live decently. Dwarves have shorter life spans than we do, and he wanted to make up for what he had lost during the ten years he had been in exile. I couldn’t go with him, as I wasn’t a dwarf, so we agreed that I would go to the army and make a name for myself. I joined the Green House just before he left, hoping to hone my skills in actual combat, before enlisting in the Red House. A few months later, in a skirmish with some bandits, my entire squad was annihilated and I was left injured and unable to move. I thought I was going to die; and yet, as the bandits were ready to kill me, a new enemy appeared and wiped them out instead. He was General Escers.

When he saw that I was still young, he didn’t kill me as he might have, and asked me if I wanted to join him. I don’t know what he saw in me that day, but it's thanks to his kindness that I am still alive. That was when I joined the revolution, and I vowed once again that I would become the strongest of the strongest, so that I wouldn’t need anybody to take care of me. One day, I told the General about my past and how I would like to see that dwarf again and thank him, and he promised to help me. So when I heard that there would be a mission at the Dwarf Kingdom, I couldn’t stop myself from reminding the General of his promise. That’s why I shouted ‘dwarf.’”

Arthur’s words were followed by a pregnant silence, the one that often comes when people are unsure of what to say. Their small outing had originally been to the training hall but had been quickly derailed into Arthur’s storytelling.

“I’m sorry for making you say this, Arthur”, Nigel tried to apologize.

“I don’t mind”, the big man shook his head. “I have no reason to hide my past.”

“It’s refreshing to hear that from someone who has a reason to say it”, Nigel smiled bitterly. “What do you think the leader wants from Vreil, anyway?”

Vreil had parted ways with the two of them after a messenger had fetched him on the orders of Sayfire.

"How am I supposed to know", Arthur responded coldly.

"Are you still mad at him?" Nigel asked hesitantly.

"Hmph..." Arthur stopped walking. "I'm not mad, just... disappointed. And confused. I thought he was a nice guy, but I really don't like that side of him."

Nigel sighed. "Well... I guess everybody has a darker side. What would you do if they had killed the dwarf that took you in?"

That gave Arthur pause. Well, right is right and that's that, he thought to himself, proceeding towards the training hall, their original destination.

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

Vreil was upset. Of course, the whole mountain was shocked that Jiovanni would rebel, but he himself had come pretty close to the man in the last few months. Vreil couldn't help but think that he should judge people better from now on. He also couldn't help but consider that if they wanted to, Jiovanni and Edward Teach could have easily killed them on the way back from Justice. It was only their greed and their desire to kill Sayfire that saved him and his friends. Vreil gritted his teeth. I MUST get stronger.

Knocking and entering the room, Vreil came face-to-face with a familiar layout. Maps and parchments covered the many tables and a few of the luxurious room’s walls, while Sayfire herself stood behind a big, round table, her gaze focused on a large map in front of her.

“Hello, Vreil. How have you been?” she asked kindly, raising her eyes to look at him. “Are you still tired from the Black Beard mission?”

“Of course not, my lady”, Vreil gave her a shallow bow. He wasn’t sure why she’d summoned him, but he was certainly curious.

“Then I have a new mission for you.” The lady of the revolution cut directly to the chase. “You will be part of a diplomatic mission, led by Ashter, to the elves.”

“Ashter is back?” Vreil exclaimed in surprise.

“Not yet, you will pick him up on the way.”

“Oh, I see", he deflated a bit before his eyes perked up again. "But if I may, my lady… weren’t the elves our enemies?”

“They are”, she smiled, amused at his curiosity. “But we still haven’t burned all bridges. If there is even a small chance of convincing them to stay out of this, or an opportunity to leverage the situation and cause them internal strife, the revolution will become a lot easier.”

Vreil thought about it. Makes sense.

“Also, there is one more thing you need to know”, she continued. “Sting will be accompanying you.”

“Sting? The pirate?” Vreil’s eyes narrowed.

For that, Sayfire explained last night’s events, with more details than she had publicly announced earlier.

“And so”, she concluded, “Sting will be joining the revolution, and he will be coming with you”.

“My lady… I know it is not my place to speak, but..." Vreil hesitated. "I really don't feel comfortable with him. He was with the Black Beards and they… they killed my family and friends... Slaughtered my entire village..."

Sayfire’s previous amusement had by now turned into annoyance. She could humor the curiosity of a very promising soldier, but she would not accept his doubts, even if they were partly justified. With a position as delicate as hers, soft-heartedness was absolutely not something she could support.

"Everybody has been through a lot, young Vreil, but we are soldiers. We do not do what we are comfortable with, we do what we are ordered to do. And by we," she replied coldly, “I mean you.”

Vreil bowed, hiding the cold gleam that flashed through his eyes. Then don't blame me.

"Are you familiar with the map of the continent, Vreil?" she asked, nodding. Her approachable attitude returned as she waved towards the table, hidden under a large map.

Vreil took a look. As he remembered from the maps his father had shown him, the continent they were on was, very roughly, a hexagonal shape surrounded by the Ocean. It was divided into seven areas, one in the center and six surrounding it.

Like every time he looked at a map, Vreil was impressed at the symmetry of it, with all six kingdoms having roughly the same size and shape.

Their Southern Human Kingdom occupied the southern part, while the Northern Human Kingdom had the northern part. Rotating clockwise from the Northern Human Kingdom were the halflings, the dwarves, the Southern Human Kingdom, then the elves and finally the trolls.

In the very centre was a big, roughly circular area about the size of a kingdom, titled the Dark Area. Vreil shivered as he remembered the stories about this no-man's land.

"I am, yes", he replied.

“This is the route you are going to follow”, she traced her fingers across the map. “From here, you will head northeast, following the border all the way to Northguard. That is where you will rendezvous with Ashter. From there, you will make a beeline for Laterna, the capital of the elven kingdom. Any questions?”

“A beeline?” Vreil’s eyes widened. “As in, through the Dark Area?”

“Precisely, but there is no need to worry - Ashter will be with you. Very few things can faze that man, even in the Dark Area. Unless you are prodigiously unfortunate, you will have no trouble. The reason I am briefing you on these is that, until you reach Northguard, I want you to lead the mission.”

“Me?” Vreil pointed at himself, but Sayfire’s irritated gaze cut him short. “As you command, my lady. Besides Sting, who will be with us, if I may ask?”

“You will find out when you depart. You leave at the second dawn, at the same time as Escers’ convoy. He will be leading a similar mission, but to the dwarves. Rough men like him tend to get along with the short ones”, she revealed a rare smirk. “This mission means a lot to us, Vreil. I have faith in your abilities. Do not disappoint me. Dismissed.”

Vreil gulped silently. He felt like he was already testing the lady’s patience, but there was one more thing he just had to ask. Steeling his resolve, he opened his mouth.

"Can I ask one more thing?"

She regarded him blankly. "You may."

"What about Black Beard?"

Sayfire hesitated. "A lot of things have happened and are happening... He needs to be put through trial, but there's no time for that now."

Vreil frowned, but Sayfire continued.

"But he will certainly die; for that, you have my word. And until then, he will stay in prison. Now you do your duty. Dismissed."

After Vreil left the room, he smiled. Sayfire wasn’t much older than him, but her leadership abilities impressed him to no end.

Still, why would she put him in the lead of something this big? Now that General Escers and his troops had returned, there were many capable people available. Oh well, she's calling the shots.

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

When the second dawn came, there were three separate departures at the same time. The first was Vreil’s convoy, heading north. Next was General Escers’ convoy, heading east. Surprised, Vreil noticed that not only Arthur, but Nigel too was a part of that convoy. He would like to ask, but he had some last-minute arrangements of his own to take care of. The final departure was by Sayfire and a group of loyal followers from the White House, also heading east. From what she said, the government was gathering in the Capital and she was going to attend.

"Until we meet again", Escers shouted, leading his convoy away.

"Until we meet again", Sayfire replied with a voice equally loud and commanding as his.

There was a small delay as everybody watching looked at Vreil, who was the acting leader of his convoy until they met up with Ashter.

"Until we meet again", he shouted, blushing as his voice cracked. Screw them, why didn't they tell me about this beforehand? he thought while everybody else was laughing.

When the sun rose, all of them had set out.