April 10th

Year 2120

Southern Mountain Range

Southern Wastes, Gartaena

“So the others were just a distraction, huh. Well, this should be fun,” the man said, grinning. “Hello again, Kayline. I didn’t know for sure before, but now, there’s no doubt anymore.” Kayline looked at him puzzled, trying to understand, and then he added, “What is it, Kayline? Don’t you recognize me? Don’t you recognize... your father?”

“F-father?” Kayline muttered with a trembling voice, her heart beating so hard in her chest it felt like it was about to explode.

Kayline had never known what had happened to her father. To be honest, she had never really thought about it. When he had left, she had tried to move on, not thinking about him. But, to think he had become… a bandit. She just stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do. She had been ready to slash through anyone that stood in her way, but this… There was no doubt it was him. He looked exactly as he looked when she had left her. He was definitely Garnent Sherdaine.

She hadn’t been ready for this. She couldn’t have been. Out of anyone that could have stood between them and Merdilen, why had it had to be her own father…? It felt as if fate itself was laughing at her.

“I have an offer for you, Kayline, my daughter,” her father, Garnent Sherdaine, told her, breaking her thoughts. “Join me. Kill this guy next to you and join me. We will be a happy family once again. Your Transmutator friend here will be alright. Maybe, if I’m pleased, I can even bless you with the same powers that I have. What say you, my little girl?”

Kayline wanted to cry. This was too much for her. The temptation was real. She had never really known her father, and she had always really wanted to. But… she couldn’t kill Alvoren. During their short journey together, she had grown quite fond of the great hero Axerhos. She couldn’t betray him. Forcing herself not to think anymore, she prepared her two swords.

“What say you?” her father said, grinning.

“I…” she started, her voice trembling, but soon regaining confidence, “...will never betray my friends!”

With that, she sprung into action, rushing Garnent with her swords. Alvoren prepared to fight, too, guarding the entrance. She slashed twice at him, forcing herself not to think, but Garnent just moved his hands to the side. A wind current pushed her arms to the side, and it took all her strength to not drop her swords. Then, her father made a pushing motion towards her, and she flew backward, pushed by some unknown wind force.

“Kayline, they’re coming!” Alvoren exclaimed from the other side of the room.

Kayline hit the farther wall, pushed by the wind, and fell to the ground. She forced herself to stand up, and although it hurt, she did it. She prepared her swords once more, and out of the corner of her eye, saw Alvoren fighting a horde of bandits, trying to protect the entrance to the room. She then noticed. She couldn’t hear the sounds of battle beyond anymore. The Anti-Transmutation Strike Team had lost.

Were they killed? Kayline wondered. No, no, they’re too strong for that. In that case, did they run away…? Damn it! She tried to rush Garnent once more, but another wind current pushed her against the ground.

Her father started walking towards her, shaking his head from side to side in apparent disappointment.

“Okay, Kayline, I’m giving you two one more chance. Your friend must not return; you must think about my offer. See you.” With that, he kicked her hard in the head with a wind-powered foot, making her pass out once more.

Kayline woke up once more. Remembering what had just happened, she looked around, nervous. She was in the middle of a desert, her hands and feet tied up behind her with some kind of strong rope. Panicked, she realized she had never seen this place before. She was in some kind of large desert that seemed to expand infinitely, with nothing but a few cacti here and there.

Where… am I? The problem was, Merdilen had had their map. So they had no way of knowing where they were. She crawled towards Alvoren, and kicking him softly in the leg, woke him up. As soon as he looked towards her, he started to panic too.

“Where are we? Where’s Merdilen?” he asked, nervous.

“We… failed,” Kayline said, disappointed in herself. “We rushed in without a plan, the Anti-Transmutation Strike Team wasn’t enough of a distraction, and the man’s—my… father’s—powers were way stronger than I thought, so they knocked us unconscious and my father ordered for us to be dropped here, in this unknown desert.”

“So… that was actually your father?” Alvoren asked.

“:..Yes,” she answered, sadly. “But I don’t get it. He left us when I was just a few years old, and it turns out he was being a bandit all along? It just doesn’t add up. I’d always thought people would become bandits out of need, but we were economically stable before he left us. I don’t get it…”

“...I’m sorry,” was all Alvoren was able to say.

“...You have a compass, right?” Kayline then asked him, changing the subject.

“Yeah. It should be somewhere in my backpack. But to take it out, I need to unbind myself first. Have any clue on how to do that?”

“Maybe,” Kayline answered, crawling to a nearby rock. She placed the rope binding her hands on top of it, then started to rub it strongly against the rock. The rope started to weaken, becoming thinner, until it finally snapped. “Yes!” she exclaimed.

She then repeated the procedure with her feet bindings, and later Alvoren did the same.

“Nice,” he commented. “Okay, my compass should be somewhere around here…”

Alvoren started to look around in his backpack, and after a short while, took out his compass victoriously. Its glass was partially broken, but it still seemed to be functional.

“But… what good will it do to us if we don’t know where we are?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because we know civilization is up north,” Kayline said. “Pretty sure we’re still in the Southern Wastes, as bandits wouldn’t want to waste much time. Therefore, the kingdom of Fergahn is up north. If we keep going that way, we should eventually reach a village or town. We’ll need gear if we want to have another shot at saving Merdilen. It is our best—and only—choice.”

“True that,” Alvoren said. “You’re quite smart, you know that?”

“Seems like it,” she jokingly answered, grinning. “But we have no time to waste. Let’s go.”

With that, they started to walk north, on the lookout for any settlements.

Damn him! Merdilen thought once again. It had been a bit more than a day since Kayline and Alvoren had tried and failed to rescue him, and the man—Kayline’s father—had never stopped mocking them since then. Worst of all, Kayline was his own daughter, but he didn’t even seem to care. The last few hours, Kayline’s father had been telling him all about how Kayline and Alvoren didn’t care about him and had run away on their own, but Merdilen knew that wasn’t true. Merdilen trusted in his friends.

But still, that was a despicable man. He had treated Kayline terribly, trying to manipulate her by bringing family into the conversation. Kayline had once told them about her father, in a conversation about family. He had no right to talk to Kayline like that. Not anymore. Still, he treated her like a daughter, just to manipulate him into joining him and killing Alvoren. He was truly a despicable man. With him, Merdilen felt an emotion he had never felt towards anyone else before.

He hated him.

Merdilen would never do what he wanted. He would resist. Because he trusted in his friends.

After several hours of walking, the desert ended, and Kayline and Alvoren finally arrived at a small village. They were lucky, as it seemed to be one of the few villages in the entirety of the Southern Wastes. It was composed of several small farms lining up in the countryside, alongside a few shops around a small central plaza. They looked at it in relief, approaching the main square as villagers looked at them all around, most in curiosity, but some even in disapproval. Not finding any cartographer shop, they headed towards the town hall.

It was a two-story simple house, similar to the rest of the village’s houses, except for the fact that it had a big sign hanging from its door, reading, ‘Town Hall, Village of Hedron.’ They got to it, and Alvoren knocked on its wooden door. After a short while, a tall and thin man opened the door. He had a sophisticated aura, one that funnily offered a sharp contrast to the rest of the countryside village.

“May I help you, kind strangers?” the townmaster asked them.

“This is gonna sound really strange, but where exactly are we?” Kayline asked.

“The youths of today,” the townmaster commented, sighing, but then spoke. “You are in the renown and sophisticated village of Hedron, as it says in this sign over here.”

“Well, yes, but like, in a map?” Alvoren explained.

The townmaster raised an eyebrow, but then gestured them to enter the small town hall. The town hall wasn’t any more impressive on the inside than it was on the outside, with just a few blue desks and chairs and a big map hanging on the farther wall. The map showed the kingdom of Fergahn, along with a portion of the Southern Wastes. The kingdom of Fergahn part was very detailed, showing every forest, river, and lake, but the Southern Wastes part showed just a few settlements. A silent reminder to the mysterious unknown.

“This red spot out here is Hedron,” he told them, pointing with a long and slender finger at a red spot in the old map. They also saw the Southern Mountain Range, to the east, and it was… far away. About a day’s travel to the southeast.

“Uh oh,” Alvoren muttered. “We got even farther away by walking to this town.”

“May I ask where you’re headed to?” the townmaster asked with curiosity.

“...Preferably not, I’m sorry,” Kayline said. The townmaster frowned but didn’t press on.

“And, another question…” Kayline then said. “What date is it?”

The townmaster raised his eyebrow once more, but answered, “It is almost nighttime of Sunday, April 11th.”

“April 11th, huh,” Alvoren muttered. “So it’s been a day and a half since that happened…”

“Merdilen must be so worried…” Kayline added, and then addressed the townmaster once more. “Thank you very much, sir. We’ll be going now.”

With that, they exited the town hall, looking for a smithy in which to get weapons. They immediately spotted one; a small brick shop next to the small plaza with an anvil in front. They headed towards it, but when they got to the door, Kayline remembered something.

“Hey, Alvoren, do you have any money?” she asked, nervous.

“N-no, I don’t,” he replied, paling slightly. “I thought you had the money.”

“Uh oh. No, I don’t. Then, how are we meant to get the weapons we need…?”

They weren’t able to get to any conclusions, but having no choice, entered the shop anyway. Its walls were lined up with weapons and armor, and a big and burly man was sitting at the counter, looking at a sword.

“Hello, strangers,” the man told them. “I’ve got swords, axes, maces, whatever you want. What are you looking for?”

“Uhh, we don’t have any money,” Kayline said, trying to ignore how stupid she sounded. “Is there some way to… get weapons for free or something?”

“Of course not,” the man answered, frowning. “That’s not how shops work. Come back when you get money.”

Alvoren tried to add something, but the man had already gone back to inspecting his sword, dismissing them. Kayline sighed, and they headed out once again. They sat down on the fountain, wondering what to do, when they heard a roar coming from somewhere they couldn’t pin. But both of them recognized the noise instantly. A shadow monster.

“Everyone inside!” the townmaster exclaimed, emerging from the town hall. “Shadow monster emergency! Everyone inside!”

“Hey, you two!” a woman called out to them. “We’ve been through this before. Get into a building. It always comes. If you’re lucky, the monster won’t find you.”

“It always comes?” Alvoren asked.

“That’s right!” she answered in a hurried tone. “Now come into a house!”

Alvoren looked to Kayline, who nodded.

“We may be able to do something better than that,” Kayline said, and both of them rushed into the smithy.

“We’ll be borrowing these,” Alvoren said as both of them took weapons without waiting for an answer.

Alvoren took a sword and a shield, and Kayline two swords. They couldn’t allow the village of Hedron to be attacked by shadow monsters anymore.

“Same strategy as always?” Alvoren asked.

“That’s right,” Kayline confirmed. “It’s our best option.”

With that, Alvoren rushed the shadow monster, distracting it and blocking its attacks with his shield. Meanwhile, Kayline circled it and started to climb. She soon got to its top, and crawling forward, quickly and efficiently slashed at its eyes. The shadow monster roared, and Alvoren thrust his sword into the monster’s mouth. The shadow monster roared once more, falling to the ground, dead.

“We’re getting good at this,” Alvoren called out to Kayline, grinning.

“Practice makes perfect,” Kayline answered, nimbly jumping down from the massive body.

“I, the great hero Axerhos, and my loyal companion have slain the monster!” Alvoren exclaimed towards the village.

Slowly, hesitantly, the villagers started to come out from their houses, looking at them in amazement. The townmaster approached them, dumbfounded, not believing his eyes.

“That monster had been terrorizing this village for three years!” he told them. “I-I can’t believe it. Thank you so much! Is there anything we can do for you?”

“Well, we need weapons and a map,” Kayline said, smiling nervously towards the smith.

“Of course you can have weapons and maps!” the townmaster exclaimed. “You are heroes. Take all that you need.”

“Thank you very much,” Kayline said, and they both sheathed the weapons they had borrowed onto their own scabbards, Alvoren hanging the shield over his shoulder. Kayline also took a dagger, tucking it into her belt.

“Would you grant us the honor of staying for dinner?” the townmaster asked.

“I’m sorry, but we’re kind of in a hurry,” Alvoren explained. “Maybe next time.”

“No problem! Thank you again very much,” the townmaster said.

With that, Kayline and Alvoren left the town with new weapons, a map similar to Merdilen’s, and knowledge of their location. Now all they had to do was get once again to the Southern Mountain Range and think of a plan to save Merdilen.

Alvoren and Kayline walked for several hours, late into the night, back to the Southern Mountain Range, and after a long and tiring trek, they finally spotted the mountain which housed the Crimson Ruby bandits’ lair. They crouched behind a big rock in the darkness, observing it. But, it wasn’t like it was before. In front of the mountain, in the valley beyond and the surrounding hills… was a camp. A big camp, fit for about three hundred people.

“W-what?!” exclaimed Alvoren at seeing it. “That wasn’t there before! Is… is there an army there?”

“L-looks like it,” Kayline answered as surprised as she was. “But, why are they just camping there…? Why don’t they attack?”

Alvoren wondered that for a small while, until he finally answered. “It’s a siege. That mysterious army knows it can’t defeat the bandits in their own lair so, knowing they have the numerical advantage, decided to just wait it out. The bandits are bound to get out eventually.”

“A siege, huh,” Kayline pondered. “It’d make sense. But, why? And why does it have to happen right when we need to save Merdilen…?”

“Hmmm… They are Fergahnian soldiers, are they not?” Alvoren commented, looking at the soldiers, seemingly kingdom soldiers from the kingdom of Fergahn.

Kayline looked at the soldiers, squinting. “Good observation,” she finally said. “Yeah, they seem to be Fergahnian soldiers.”

“And the whole kingdom of Fergahn is hunting down Merdilen, right?” he then added. “The Anti-Transmutation Strike Team is just its main force of attack.

“Yeah… oh, ohh!” Kayline exclaimed, realizing something. “So they’re here… for Merdilen. They’re trying to capture Merdilen so they can make sure he is killed. They must have had this army at the ready the whole time.”

“Seems like that’s the case,” Alvoren agreed. “Uh oh. The best strategy would be to wait for the two armies to fight each other so we can steal Merdilen in the distraction, but this is a siege. That won’t be happening for at least a few weeks.”

“We haven’t got that much time,” Kayline declared. “We have to save Merdilen as soon as possible. But, how are we meant to make these two armies fight? There doesn’t seem to be any other good plan, especially considering they’re completely blocking the lair.”

They kept pondering about their problems and discarding plans for the better part of fifteen minutes, until Kayline finally came up with something.

“I think I have an idea,” she said. “But it is extremely risky.”

“We’re already risking our lives by siding with Merdilen anyway,” Alvoren commented. “Say it; what is it?”

“So, I was thinking of ways to make these two armies fight, and the perfect way would be for both of them to think there are reinforcements coming for their opponents. That way, they’d hurry up. So if we fake letters for an army and give them to the enemy commander, both armies would think they have to hurry up, effectively fighting as soon as they can.”

Alvoren pondered it for a while, until he finally said, “It… might actually work. But, all military letters always have the commander’s signature. No one will believe us until we can get those signatures.”

“That’s right,” Kayline agreed. “But we can’t just sneak in and steal them stealthily. We’d get lost and caught before we got anywhere. So here’s what we can do: first, we’re gonna infiltrate the two armies, steal a random letter from each commander, and replace the text with a letter saying reinforcements are coming. Then, we’ll meet up, exchange our letters, and give them to the enemy commander. Later, during the battle, we’ll meet up again and save Merdilen.”

“Wow. It seems extremely risky though, but there’s no other choice…” Alvoren muttered. “Still, we gotta do this. For Merdilen!”

“Yeah. For Merdilen. So, I was thinking I could infiltrate the bandits, as my father had already offered me that in the first place, so it’d make sense for me to join him. You can infiltrate the Fergahnian soldiers, given that you seem to have more military knowledge than I do.”

“...Seems good. But, what will I do if I encounter the Anti-Transmutation Strike Team?” Alvoren asked. “They might recognize me from the battle in which Merdilen was captured.”

“Uh oh. That’s right. I… guess you just gotta make sure they don’t see you. Just keep your helmet on at all times.”

“...All right,” Alvoren agreed. “So, should we go now?”

“Sure,” Kayline replied nervously. “Good luck. We will both need it.”

“Yeah,” Alvoren agreed, also nervous. “Good luck to you too. See you at sunset in, say, two days. In this same spot.”

With that, they left the rock and separated, Kayline heading to the bandits’ lair and Alvoren heading to the soldiers’ camp, both ready to do whatever it took to save Merdilen.

Kayline headed towards the bandits’ lair, crouching, sneaking behind rocks, ledges, and more to not risk the Fergahnian soldiers from seeing them. Unfortunately, though, all entrances were guarded. She’d need a distraction. And fortunately, in the rock-filled mountain, there were plenty. She headed to the biggest boulder, one atop a ledge near the side of the mountain, and pushed. The massive boulder didn’t budge at first, but it then started slowly giving way, slowly moving forward. The boulder reached the end of the ledge it was in, and it fell, rolling noisily down the mountain. It crashed against one of the tents, causing chaos in the camp, and leading most soldiers—including the ones guarding the entrances—towards it.

Kayline took advantage of the distraction, dashing towards the entrance, and quickly got into it, her heart beating in her chest so hard she could practically hear it. A bandit stood up at her arrival, alarmed, and pointed at her with his sword menacingly.

“Hands over your head, girl!” he exclaimed.

Kayline complied and said, “Take me to your boss. Take me to Garnent Sherdaine.”

“And who are you to give me orders?” he asked in a dangerous tone.

“I’m his daughter. You don’t want to make him angry, do you?”

“Oh, you’re the girl from before!” the bandit said in recognition, to which Kayline nodded. “Follow me,” he finally said.

Kayline followed the bandit towards the interior of the mountain, nervousness tensing her body. After a short while of wandering through the labyrinthic tunnels, they arrived once again at her father’s office. He was sitting in his desk, not aware of their entrance. For Kayline, it hurt to see him again. Knowing that he was alive and that he wasn’t with the family… But she had to be strong. She had to endure this.

“Your daughter came back, sir,” the bandit said right before exiting the room, leaving them alone.

“So you considered my offer,” Garnent said with a wicked grin.

“Yes, I did. And I changed my mind. I decided to accept,” she said, playing along and trying to sound as natural as possible. “It was the smartest choice, especially if that means Merdilen will live. And, besides, I couldn’t say no to that power,” she finally added, grinning too, trying to sound reasonable.

“Good choice. Did you kill your partner?”

“I did,” she said, nodding. “He won’t be bothering us again.”

“Hmmm,” he pondered. “I’ll believe you for now. Consider it a courtesy. Anyway, it’d be dumb for you to try anything stupid, as you’re in our turf now.”

“Of course. I’d never.”

“You must know I’ll have you under strict vigilance. But, if you have half the brains that I do, you’ll recognize it will be worth it.”

“No problem,” she said, trying to play along. “It will be worth it.”

Alvoren left on his own, heading towards the Fergahnian soldiers’ camp. He was great at role-playing, so pretending to be what he was planning shouldn’t be hard. Still, he was extremely nervous. Although he knew a bit of military knowledge, he had never infiltrated an actual military camp. A thousand things could go wrong. But still, he had no choice. This was for Merdilen. Alvoren owed it to Merdilen for saving his life when he himself had been captured by bandits, albeit different ones. He walked the final distance towards the camp, trying to look casual.

The military camp was a collection of about a hundred tents, all quickly but professionally assembled. Soldiers roamed the whole place, standing guard, preparing equipment, inspecting the outside of the enemy lair, and doing different activities. As he approached, two soldiers walked towards him, swords in hand.

“This place is off-limits,” one of the soldiers told him. “State your business.”

“Uhh… You see, I hate these bandits as much as you do, and I have some fighting training myself. I wanted to see if I’d be able to join you. I have my own equipment and food, so you’d lose nothing. You’d just have an extra soldier.”

“Name and hometown?”

“A-Axerhos, and I come from the village of Hedron. It’s quite close to here, so we’re constantly getting raided by these bandits. That’s why I want to wipe them out.”

“Now that’s a strange name,” the other soldier commented, raising an eyebrow.

“My name’s not local, sir. My mother was from the North, that’s why my name may sound a bit strange to you,” he bluffed.

“...Okay,” the soldier agreed. “Sir Grendar Bartel will want to see you.”

Uh oh, Alvoren thought. He had to completely evade any and all members of the Anti-Transmutation Strike Team.

“I-I don’t think I’m that important,” he muttered. “Maybe someone of lower rank will do.”

One of the soldiers raised his eyebrow, but then the other one nodded.

“The man Axerhos is right. This is way below Sir Grendar. We shouldn’t bother him with an extra soldier. Let’s take him to Colonel Mandron.”

Yes!

“Thank you very much for your help,” he told the two.

With that, they guided him towards a big tent, drawing several curious glances from the rest of the soldiers. One of the soldiers knocked on a wooden pillar that supported the tent, and after a short while of waiting, a voice invited them in, to which they pulled open the tent’s door and entered.

Colonel Mandron’s tent was way bigger than most others, although it was completely devoid of any decorations. It had a big desk in the middle, and the sides of the tent were occupied by two big shelves, both full of books and scrolls. Colonel Mandron himself was quite thin, slightly muscular but not much, and clearly seemed to be more strategist than foot soldier. He wore a green jacket adorned with several plaques and medals.

Both soldiers saluted when entering, so Alvoren saluted too, thinking it to be the correct thing to do.

“This man wants to help us against the bandits,” one of the soldiers told Colonel Mandron. “He says to be called Axerhos and to come from the village of Hedron to defeat the bandits who raid his village.”

“Interesting,” Colonel Mandron muttered. “Yes, we could always use another soldier. What do you do, Axerhos?”

“I’m a swordsman, sir,” Alvoren said. “I may serve as a foot soldier.”

“Are you so? Okay, let’s test you. Hogrel, spar with him,” he said, gesturing to one of the two soldiers.

With that, all four of them headed out of the tent, and Alvoren and the other soldier, seemingly called Hogrel, took up wooden training swords.

They started sparring, slashing, parrying, and thrusting at each other with their swords. Hogrel was good, but he wasn’t nearly as good as Alvoren. Still, Alvoren just endured through the mock fight, trying to appear of the same level as Hogrel. Being too good a swordsman would look suspicious in a common villager.

Alvoren couldn’t help but remember the times long gone, sparring with his best friend, their old master inspecting them. He forced the memories of the past out of his mind, concentrating on the present. After a while of fighting, he let Hogrel win. But he had already shown his skills. The real winner had been him.

Colonel Mandron started clapping slowly.

“You’re good, Axerhos,” he said, grinning slightly. “You will make a good soldier. You’re in.”

Alvoren grinned too. He had done it. The infiltration had begun.