Chapter 24 (J) - The Order's Questions

As we walk, one of the men lights a torch to guide us once the sun sets. The man with the axe, who I presume to be the leader of this small group, decides to pester me with a few questions. “So, where ya from? Don’t look much like yer from around here.”

“I’m not really ‘from’ anywhere, as far as I care. As soon as I got the chance, I left the life I’d lived up to that point, and have been traveling the world since.”

“A rebel, huh? What kinda life did’ja live before then?”

“...Nothing I’d wish on my worst enemy. …And I think I’ll leave it at that, if you don’t mind. I don’t enjoy looking back on that…”

“I hear ya. Guess we all got stories like that, then. Damn knights try and pressure us into living the lives they want us to live, following the word of some fake Solaris.”

The man with the sword joins in. “Yeah, seriously. D’ya think they’re just too stupid to realize they’re living a lie? Or d’ya think they know they’re full of it, and just keep going with it to keep everyone under their thumbs?”

The bowman speaks up too. “Who cares? Don’t matter one bit if they’re dumb or evil. They’re supportin’ some fake Solaris, and tryin’ to get rid of all us Order members who know the truth. Hell, maybe Eclipse is even leadin’ em herself, or somethin’.”

As the conversation continues around me, Calypso groans in my ear. “Ugh, these idiots don’t know anything, do they?” Apparently her opinion on this conversation mirrors my own. “They just buy whatever crap their leaders spout at them, and never question anything they’re not told to. Makes me sick.”

“Hey, I got a question.” My attention snaps back to the men around me. The leader is staring at me. “You got some black thing in yer ear. What’s that about?”

He’s noticed my earpiece. I can’t tell him the truth about it, if he’d even believe it to begin with, so I have to make up something believable. “It’s… something I picked up a few weeks ago. Some strange bandits or something tried to attack me at night. Not sure who or what they were, but when I looted what was left of them, I found this in one of their ears. I didn’t know what it was, but I put it in my ear, and suddenly I could hear better. My ears have never been too great, so I figured I’d keep using it.”

“So it’s some sorta… hearing booster?”

“Basically, yeah.” I realize my chance to explain away my other gear. “This hearing thing stopped working when I got far away from him. There was some other weird stuff on him still, so I put all that on too, and now it works anywhere.”

“Huh. Seems handy.”

I step with my burned leg a bit strangely and stumble, catching myself on the branch of a nearby tree.

“Are we, by chance, getting closer to wherever we’re going? I don’t know if I can walk much farther…”

“Not far now,” the bowman answers. “Hold out five minutes or somethin’ like that, and then we can get that leg looked at and introduce ya to the General an’ everything.”

“...The General?”

“Yeah, the General! Survived the war in Gaela, he did! They say he fought that infidel King Edrick, an’ got saved by the goddess herself! Then he made his way down here, and he’s been tryin’ to bring enough of us together to start a counterattack! I’d bet he’d love to meet’cha! He meets all the new recruits himself, ya know? Get ta know everyone personally.”

…This General gets to know everyone under his command personally? From what I’ve read of the Order’s generals, that sounds rather uncharacteristic. “...Well, I look forward to meeting him.” It seems no one can think of anything else to say, so we continue walking in silence.

It isn’t long before an ancient structure comes into view. The stonework of the building is covered in so much vegetation- moss and vines, mostly- that I can’t tell what color the stone itself is.

“Is… this the place…?”

“Yep! Don’t look like much from out here, but there’s more stuff under the ground. Them knights used it as a base when we took Stormhall in the war, but no one’s come ‘round since.”

“...Are you sure anything is in there? It looks dark.”

The man with the axe smirks. “Well, course it does! We’re not about ta leave the lights on in the entrance for some knight to notice! Makes the place look abandoned, keepin’ it this way. There’s lights further in, though. Should be enough light to see where we’re goin’ till we get there. Now c’mon, let’s head in before we’re spotted.”

The three men step forward into the ruined structure. With no other real choice before me, I step into the darkness after them.