This is my second ever writing in the Vindictus Fanfiction Archives, and the second chronological event in Errantem Nemo's life. Please, enjoy the selection I have writtten and please leave reviews. Thank you.
(Please note that the Errantem Nemo Saga will be published in Anachronic Order)
"Corporal Errantem Nemo, where have you been?" Captain Gwynn of the Royal Army said to the plump soldier, who just bumbled into the Mercenaries Outpost.
"Sorry ma'am, I was at the Inn, eating breakfast. I woke up a bit late as well. Tieve, made pancakes again this week." The young man, wiped some of the milk off his face, saluted his Superiors, and stood in front of the blond woman. He looked around the room for Gwynn's subordinate youngster. Her apprentice and student, Ellis, was talking to Sgt. Lann about the Hoarfrost Hollows, possibly one of the coldest regions in the countryside, laced with nothing but snowy spiders, and Kobolds. He regarded Lann as one of his heroes. "Ellis is such a sweet kid" Tieve would say. She hoped he'd be a great soldier in battle someday. Errantem shared her sentiments.
"Well, don't fatten yourself up on good cooking, we've still got a conflict here." Gwynn, led Errantem to a long table, where various mercenaries of shapes and sizes, Captain Aodhan and Lieutenant Marrec sat. Marrec, wore a helmet, that covered his face except for his eyes, and adorned himself with the standard Bluish-green markings of a Lieutenant. He greeted Errantem with the following phrase:
"It's good to see you lad. I hope you rested well after the conflict with the Gnolls."
He referred to Errantem's fight with the 100 Gnolls in the Perilous ruins, how they were all decimated and routed. Unless anyone else was there, if Aodhan was there in fact, he'd be paying him at least 7,000 more gold pieces than rewarded. Upon the greeting call, he shook hands with Marrec, and sat. He could tell Marrec had a lot more respect for him now, unlike back then where all he did was call him out for having sympathy for the Royal Army, or something stupid. As the meeting began, Errantem listened, but dazed off now and again. He hearkened unto the important details, about who was being sent where, and what happened then. He looked at Sgt. Gallagher, with his cheap smirk, and his squinted left eye. Gallagher was the kind of guy, the annoying guy, who'd always say he'd owe you if he borrowed your money, in exchange for information. Then he never gave it back. Scumbag.
"Errantem," Gwynn firmly pounded her fist on the table. "Stop day-dreaming about Tieve."
The room roared in mild laughter, as Errantem smirked himself just a bit. He wasn't actually day dreaming about Tieve. He could of, but, not at the moment. He could do enough of that back at the Inn. He looked around the room, and found it a lot more vacant than when he entered. Much of the soldiers and mercenaries were already given their quests, and duties. Apparently, he was next in line.
"You are aware of the Gnoll Chieftain, are you not? The Red skinned fiend of the Perilous Ruins?"
"Yeah. He died in the Ruins didn't he? He was defeated by Lann, Fiona, Evie, Karok, Ka-"
"Who defeated him, is not important. What is, is the fact that he's still out there."
A concerned look, ran on Errantem's face. Not only was the most dangerous Gnoll known in Colhen still alive, but other possiblitites about what could be, arose as well.
Captain Aodhan, stood and told Errantem.
"We need you to accompany one of our finest mercenaries into battle." Aodhan interjected. "She has shown a lot of dedication and skill into this line of work. And we need you, to help escort her on this mission."
Errantem asked, "And what is this mission you may ask?"
"To defeat him of course." Gwynn added.
"However, since you were almost pummeled to dust in the ruins, we decided to choose someone else to go as the leader. She's the best at arcane and defense against the dark arts."
Errantem inquired,
"And, who is she?"
"Her alias is: "The one with no regret" but her actual name is Fatanm, and she's a witch from the City of Valenwoud a few days from here. A bit young, and inexperienced, but she shows mighty prowess against her enemies."
Lann turned his head toward Errantem, and added an anecdote.
"She's a woman you should fear, Errantem. I've seen her fight Kobolds in the Hoarfrost Hollows. Even Evie respects her. And I can swear on that by my Twin Veterans"
He held his swords tightly, causing Errantem to raise and eyebrow.
"Hmmm...well, Evie is a devilish witch as well."
Fatanm, the name rang in Errantem's head. She sounded menacing, by the description
and stories they've told him, she is to be respected, and trusted in combat. Even Evie, the most famous Witch in all of Colhen, student of Brynn, the Magician, respects her.
"She sounds like she's a tad full of herself," Errantem spoke to Aodhan.
"But, how much am I getting paid?"
Aodhan took out a sack of gold, and placed it right before Errantem. It landed with a large, thud, and a few gold pieces spilled from over the top.
"I can deal with this. I'm sure this..."One With No Regret" is quite the lady."
Captain Aodhan, came up behind Errantem and patted his back.
"I know you can do me good, Corporal. She'll be waiting for the supply boat at Pier 8, at the docks."
"Thank you, Captain."
Errantem, got up from his seat, and he saluted his superior officers, bid them well, and left the outpost there after.
At Pier 8, Errantem, and two other dual-wielding swordsmen accompanied him. These other two, were other Mercenaries, given the same task to aid Fatanm. There, they sat on the Boat, waiting, and waiting. And waiting. More Waiting. The Sun burned intensely that day, with the salt of the Ignacht River in the air. Fishing vessels, drifted along the Horizon, eventually disappearing into the Ocean. Errantem and his comrades, grew bored, and started tossing things over the ship. They stopped, until they realized they had wiped out most of their supplies. When the Sun was at its peak(and bought more supplies), Errantem had lost his patience. He stood up, and started walking to the docks.
"You know what guys, I don't really like this mission. Our host is really taking a long time to get here. I bet she's not even coming."
"She'll get here, don't worry Errantem. She's usually like this." said one of other the Mercenaries, the one dressed in an armor of Errantem, with a darker shade of green. He stretched his hands above his head, sitting on the deck of the vessel. He took a bite of one of the newly purchased apples, and looked at Errantem. Although, he has his share of doubts, Errantem knew what duty was, and frankly, Fatanm didn't look like she was competent enough.
"Look, she seems like she probably just skipped the mission off hand already. What was supposed to be a few minutes, turned into hours. I feel like I'm wasting time here."
"Think about the money man." He replied.
The money. The money. Oh, what he'd do with wealth. It's a shame the inflation here in Colhen is outrageous. Even so, Errantem would've bought a large estate, with servants, and kinsman. He'd be a rich lord amongst the land of other countries. He'd help the needy, and his progeny would prosper. What good they would do in this world of decay and fear. How hope would prosper, if he had the power of kings and monarch. Power was the thing that mattered in the world, the temporal world. He'd utilize it, use it to the extent of his abilities. He would be benevolent, a gentleman of sorts, off the field of battle. Of course, this was his dream.
"Well, I do suppose you're right." Errantem replied.
As he started walking back to the boat, a sparkling light started to flicker on the Pier. He turned a round, to see a visage of light, brighter than the sun, appear on the dark. It resembled, a woman, but, as the radiance of the light decreased, the true form of the visage appeared. Dressed, she wore a Black skirt, and her blouse was black, with scarlet buttons. The fur of her cape, was that of Gnolls, soft and silky. Her hat, tall, and pointed, was just as black as her eyes, with a long red tassel, coming up from the tip of the hat. Her pallid, chalk skin, created an intense mood in, that contrasted with her crimson skirt, red loafers and white stockings. She held a staff, with two silver wings upon it, sharp enough to cleave a man's head right off. Her dark eyes glared at the crew, gravely, looking as if she was conflicted. Yawning, she uttered her first words to be heard by Errantem.
"Sorry, I'm late again guys." She sang.
"Fatanm, where were you?" Errantem said, with a bit of irritation in his voice, fed up with patience.
Stretching her arms, she decided to do a series of exercises that warmed her body up. Still yawning, she produced a party invitation from a puff of smoke, and it floated all the way into Errantem's hands. By the looks of it, the paper had been under a lot of pressure, stained by a bunch of wine, and the address of a young man named: "Cedric Bothaitha".
"There was a party last night in the tavern at Rocheste, and all of the mages, dual-wielding swordsmen, and warriors were invited. And...I think I'm still just a bit tired from dancing hard all night."
As she continued to warm her body up, Errantem looked at his two comrades, who equally stared back at him. The one with the apple in his hand simply shrugged.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" She chimed.
Fatanm grabbed the invitation from Errantem with her mage hands and made it disappear, into another cloud of smoke. She jumped into the air, and floated gently over his head. Landing softly, she exclaimed.
"We've got a Gnoll Chieftain to kill. Cut'ir Uup, untie us from the dock, Gnollbait, hoist the anchors, we're leaving shore."
Dropping his apple, Cut'ir Uup replied and did what he was told, as did Gnollbait. Apparently, they knew Fatanm long before Errantem did.
As Errantem boarded the ship, he was irritated that she came here late, angry that she has the nerve to come up here and waste his time He had to speak out of turn.
"Miss, I have one question to say about you."
She turned her head and turned to Errantem, and smiled.
"Oh, so you're the new guy. I've been needing a new sidekick aft-"
"Listen here Fatanm, don't try any funny business with me." said Errantem, gravely.
"What do you mean?" She said, as Cut'ir and Gnollbait slowly stopped working, and focused their attention on their conversation. Gnoll bait scratched his head in puzzlement, looking at Errantem, mentioned something out of earshot, then back at the conversation.
"I've been working hard to try and appease my superiors, by doing what they say. I've had my share of hardship, but if you think you can order me around like some lackey, then no."
"Then, well, just leave then. I don't need to put up with your insubordination." Fatanm replied, walking back to her crew.
"No, no, no, I'm staying here. All I'm asking for is a bit of respect."
Errantem knew what a proper lady was, in his mind at least. A lady was kind, friendly sweet, and respectful. However, this Fatanm was just full of herself. Her extravagant clothing was of no use in the battlefield. She didn't even have the right armor, or equipment necessary. Nor did she seem to have any charisma at all. Fatanm just looked just plain bossy, and rude. Maybe her bossiness, mixed with her magic powers makes her this so-called fearful witch. Fatanm started walking towards, him, lecturing him on why she's so great.
"Well, new guy, I'll have you know, that Aodhan trusts me, a lot more than you do pal, because I've saved his life at the Bell Tower, not too long ago, dragging his dying body out of the arrow fire. I have fished over three Violent Tatrich fish and one Junior Tatrich! "
She took Errantem by the collar of his armor, and pulled him to her level. Now they both stared at each other at eye level, as she was a petite little sorceress. She wouldn't take orders from a greenshirt, let alone argue with one. Errantem had a look of disdain, that made her knew he had no regard for her. Although, he did show much weakness glancing down to the water to his right. Both of them waited for the time to strike.
"I've fought alongside brave men, and women, who would all die for our goddess, just to even make their enemies bleed, if they cannot fight at all. And, I will do anything to get the job done. Well, what have you done, fatso?" She finished, poking her finger right under Errantem's chin. Looking away, he admitted, weakly:
"...get beat up by a hundred Gnolls?"
She simply put him down, and said nothing. Fatanm walked away, and gestured to her subordinates to continue working, as Errantem wiped off what kind of germs that woman could have had. Perhaps he shouldn't have had try to mess with a woman like her in the first place. He was just angry about what happened today. However, it still didn't make a difference with the attitude, the sheer amount of attitude, of how she isn't taking this thing seriously as she should. Out there, the Gnoll Chieftain was plotting, waiting to exact revenge on the warriors who have disgraced him in battle. The whole town could be in danger, and she was somewhere out partying last night? Her sense of duty, was intertwined with the sense of fun. That just didn't suit the quota for CB Mercenaries. It was time to bring her down a notch. And to have the last laugh as well.
"At least l wouldn't be caught dead in clothes like those, deary. Those shoes with those socks, no way."
Errantem, cheekily folded his, and confidently smirked. However, the victory, would be in all definitions, pyrrhic. Fatanm, stopped in her tracks, and stood silently. Gnollbait and Cut'ir Uup, both equally facepalmed in my general direction. The clouds, suddenly became dark and ominous over the little vessel, but strangely, only their boat was affected, as the other ships, were simply bathing in sunlight. The wind, started to howl, akin to dead men, screaming for salvation from their tormentors itself. The waves, rocked the oat, back and forth, as if a tidal waves approached. Cut'ir up shouted: "Errantem, what have you done?" Gnollbait, lips quivering in fear, he laid his head on Cut'ir's shoulder and started to cry, praying for Morrighan for salvation. Errantem, looked at his environment, and started to fear for his own good as well. Fatanm turned her head around, to face Errantem. The horror, the pure distorted look of terror on his face, could only mean one thing:
He was staring into the eyes of Hell itself.
