Chapter 3:
A/N - Skip to non-bold text for just the story.
Good morning folks! Or afternoon - or evening. Doesn't really matter whenv he - I've come up with a little idea, now that the plot and story is beginning to unfold, I'm exploring ideas and themes that I'm encountering in my actual life in major scenes. So, I thought why not have a little fun with you readers and see if you can review or dm me what messages and themes I'm exploring each chapter. I can reveal the answers in the beginning of the next chapter starting from this one if you guys want me to - If not y'all can just read for fun.
Oh! And I will be addressing reviews at the bottom.
Anyhow! Story time :D
A bright maroon red sprawled over a thick, temperate forest, summer's early morning sun beginning its ascent over the grey mountains. Two silhouettes raced against each other; one navigated the terrain, bouncing from tree to tree - running along branches - as if they were an extension of the forest themself.
Animals scurried away from their stream, abandoning a cool drink, frightened by the other who whilst visibly not as graceful as their competitor at traversal, was in turn unbothered by the scorching heat. He maintained a constant sprint, more annoyed by his cumbersome load than the roots on the floor or occasional animal that quickly fled from his path. Nonetheless, he was more than eager to prove his teacher wrong in her judgement of his capability.
"Stop here - this'll do for today." Kerillian cut her sprint short, having arrived in the middle of a forest clearing, adjacent to the creek but still surrounded by a dense thicket of trees.
Nico pierced the foliage a half a minute later and dropped the heavy equipment he was forced to carry with a breath of relief, the sack sinking deep into the mud. "You got it chief."
Checking over the various assortment of weapons and medical supplies to ensure nothing was missing during their arduous trek, he awaited for his next instructions - expecting the usual physical drills and practical theory-crafting as he grew accustomed to over the last few weeks, complete with the elf's trademark snarky remarks and moderate to intense child-bullying, only to be met with a deafening silence.
Feeling slightly perturbed, he asked, "Uh, Kerillian? Everything good?" He looked around for his teacher only to find her missing, a receding scuffing his only companion.
Sensing something amiss, he immediately eyed his surroundings looking for hints. In the periphery of his vision, he subconsciously noted a blur passing between the trees, however his attention became directed at the deep gash in the earth which accompanied the fading imprints of Kerillian's boots, his mind immediately raced as he tried to calculate what she was planning.
'Her swords were strapped to her belt, still sheathed last I checked - I can't hear her footsteps - so I'll have to listen to any sort of environmental cues.'
His ears picked up the rustling of leaves in the morning breeze, a faint twang masked beneath the chirping of birds. A piercing whistle soon followed.
Pivoting on his heel and raising a hastily grabbed shield, quick reflexes prevented the arrow from embedding itself into his spine.
A loud exclamation left his lips. "Give a fella a warning at least - Jesus fucking Christ."
Mocking laughter echoed from the foliage, Nico unable to pinpoint it's source, as Kerillian weaved between branches faster than he could identify. "It's more fun this way - if you happen to die then it's just natural selection taking place."
"Psycho bitch. Game's on now." Nico murmured under his breath, brandishing his spear as he spoke, intent on dislodging the arrogant knife-ear from her perch.
Three more arrows embedded themselves into his shield in quick succession, the wood insufficient to provide shelter from the longbow, each arrow halted solely by a thin metal sheet, which protected its user. "I heard that."
'I can't pinpoint her location, she's too well hidden and far too fast. Think Nico - how do you neutralise someone's agility'
Absorbing arrows with his increasingly weighted shield, he once more eyed the terrain. The splitting of wood became nothing more than a dull drone in the back of his mind. His mind entered autopilot as he ducked behind his fortification, thoughts pertaining to how to escape his predicament.
'If I could enter close combat - she couldn't shoot and if I keep up a constant barrage of heavy blows, I can tie her up, they spend too much time dodging - sort of how Space Marines fight the Eldar. Alternatively, if I can't close the distances I could also try tying her down to one approach which will let me do that, the creek runs into an enclosed glade, the shrubbery is too thick for arrows to permeate. Maybe I can-'
Faint footsteps and splashing water behind him indicated that he'd spent too long in thought. The hilt of Kerillian's sword impacted the back of his skull sending him reeling to the dirt. He somehow missed her circling behind him.
'Think before the fight - focus on your surroundings and theory craft before your opponent makes their move. Nico you fucking idiot. This is the complete fucking basics.'
His train of thought was interrupted by the elf. "You're a terribly slow thinker mayfly. You'd think after several weeks of doing this you'd at least be faster than Kruber. I've seen him learn to read faster than this."
A proud smirk hidden behind her mask, she squat down next to Nico who was still lying face-down in the mud after receiving a nasty blow to the back of the head. She relished the feeling of power granted by her superior skill set. "It's almost like you want this to happen."
A muffled grunt was all she got in return as he stood back up, rubbing the back of his skull. "You could be gentler you know - this is the first time you've done this." Nico spat out the last of the mud as if it were the cause of his pain.
"Where's the fun in that?" She mocked intense thought. "Actually, I could also break both your legs and make you walk back. That'd be fun."
The 'now quit your complaining and get back up' was silent.
Letting out a defeated sigh, he picked his shield up off the floor and levelled his spear, adopting a mediocre defensive stance, the tower shield covering most of his body too far forward leaving him over-extended.
"Keep your shield closer - you want to move it as little as possible when defending from attacks otherwise you waste energy."
He pouted "But I wasn't tired."
"You will be if you kept up what you were doing long enough, battles can go on for hours." She ignored him, picking up fresh arrows and continuing her lecture before retreating once again to the tree-line. "Now are you ready?"
"Yes boss." He mentally prepared to get thrashed once more.
"Good." Kerillian instantly disappeared into the tree-line.
Learning from his previous mistakes, Nico immediately reacted, retreating into the densely packed brush that was too thick for arrows to penetrate from the sides.
Covering his back with the shield as he ran, he blocked the opening he just came from forcing the elf to come at him from infront where he could see.
Nonetheless, the protection to his flanks provided little consolation. He was still highly wary of the elf, the lack of ranged weaponry and the disadvantage it gave him dawning on his mind as he slowly acknowledged the difference between events happening in a game or book and reality.
Ironic to the longevity of her race, he knew Kerillian lacked patience. He knew he had to wait out her ammunition stock or more-likely, confront an irritated charge.
Shortly after he heard the elf discard her bow and unsheathe her swords with a low growl.
In the time it took him to register the arrows stopped firing, she dropped down, almost from on top of him. Immediately pouncing on his position, she hammered against his sword with a hail of intense blows - trying to get him to lower it with blunt force trauma - testing his endurance to the repetitive strain.
More than used to this approach, Nico stubbornly held on, knowing that the numbness in his arms was nothing more than a mental block. He just had to endure.
'Newton's third law - you'll feel the force of every strike just as much as me.'
Minutes passed, and true to his prediction Kerillian slowed her assault, accumulative fatigue kicking in.
Given the experiential difference and centuries of practice she must've had, Nico knew she was toying with him.
He noticed the elf shift her weight onto her front leg once it became clear he had superior endurance to this sort attempting to side-step past his guard and hit his exposed flank.
'She's standing exactly the way I do when I want to get past someone's guard. I think I can catch her.'
A loud crack resonated throughout the enclosed area, Nico's shield collided with the over-eager elf causing her to stagger back disoriented. Pivoting again to face her front, and taking advantage of her confusion - Nico lunged forward and levelled his spear at her throat.
Kerillian looked at him, lifting a hand to her face coming back tainted red with her blood. Cuts lined the side of her cheek just above her mask where the embedded arrows shafts tore her skin.
"I'm not as stupid as you think. Maybe you missed it when I told Kruber - we have some experience. I will admit you are far better than me, but it only takes one lucky shot to win a battle."
"Ohohoho - Lecturing your teacher now are you? Arrogant mayfly. Talk to me like that again and I'll cut out your tongue and shove my knives down your throat." She swept his leg out from underneath him and dived on top of him, blade sinking into the dirt next to his throat. "Dead."
Lying on the floor, Nico noted that the elf weighed less than someone of her build and size would suggest. He half-considered using his shield as a fulcrum and launching her off of him, over his head but advised against it, simply filing away the information in his mind for later.
Nonetheless, he was irritated by her mannerisms, he bit back his remark not wishing to give up his ability to speak quite yet. "Alright, I get your point. I was overstepping my bounds. I apologise."
"Hmph, next time I'll just kill you." Kerillian stood up, pressing her boot into his stomach as she did so in mild compensation for her injuries. "You struggle to use that spear effectively with a shield. Try something else mayfly."
'Fuck. She was looking at how I was doing with what I had. I feel bad now.'
"Yes, teach." Rolling back and getting to his feet, the teen ditched his shield and spear instead picking up a two-handed longsword from the pile. He weighed the blade in each hand noting that it was a fairly heavy sword for its class. A faint memory surfaced in his mind of a youtuber explaining sword-fighting patterns and styles in fiction vs reality.
'One of the key issues with dual-wielding swords is the inability to penetrate armor, and stop a two-handed weapon due to momentum and single arm strength vs whole body.'
"You coming or not mayfly? Is your brain too slow to comprehend my words?" The elf taunted her student with two fingers making a 'come hither' motion. She wanted to kick his ass for questioning her methods.
Nico ignored her, taking a few experimental swings to adjust to the blade's momentum, simultaneously deep in thought.
Her taunts continued, "I may have all day - but you do not. I wonder how many decades will pass before you even learn how to swing that thing."
"Alright, fine. I get it." He stepped forward thrusting the blade towards the elf's midsection, who in turn side-stepped the blade, pushing it away with both her own. Nico adjusted the trajectory to slice downwards only to once again be parried.
The exchange continued for several minutes with the teen using all possible techniques he knew and observed from watching Kerillian spar Kruber as well as prior instructional videos. None of these strikes met their intended mark however, the elf proving too fast for him to land a decisive let alone surface blow and his body still acquiring the bulk muscle needed for the blows to apply any significant damage.
Deciding his skill to be subpar to her own, she began leaving skin-deep cuts on his extremities every time he attempted an attack. The teen began accumulating injuries, minutes turning into hours.
'God dammit. Nothing is working. I'm too slow.'
Pushing off the blade of his opponent, Nico created a size-able distance granting him respite and the first opportunity in hours to reassess his situation.
'Alright time for weird shit.'
Nico twirled the blade in his hand removing one from the grip - grasping the flat of the blade - pinching it between his fingers and palm. He swung the blade towards a surprised Kerillian who ducked underneath the strike, stepping out of distance.
"What are you doing mayfly?" The elf looked puzzled by Nico's actions who also stopped surprised by her lack of recognition.
'She's never seen this?'
"You're actually stupid." If possible, she looked even more incredulous as he adjusted his grip slightly before swinging again in an identical fashion.
She blocked the blade once again, only to be taken off-guard as he pressed the pommel into his chest and swung his elbow across. Nico's elbow cracked against her shoulder armor, the bark splintering as it dug painfully into her skin.
'I wonder why people didn't do this more often in history.'
Cold steel pressed against his Adam's apple.
'Ah.'
A glimmer of respect dawned across her features before once again being replaced by her normal cold superiority. "I'm surprised you even thought of that. If you're going to do something like that make sure you follow it up. Don't let up."
"I see" He nodded. "Thank you, that was helpful." Pondering whether or not to ask permission to try wacky things, he decided no harm could be done. "Do you mind if I try some unusual things against you?"
Much to his surprise, the elf simply shrugged and said "As long as you don't bore me. Sure - let's see what your mayfly brain can come up with." He heard her tone shift, clearly hearing the grin underneath the mask. "Besides, it'll be fun tearing you to shreds."
'Okay I'm considerably slower but I'm still very slightly stronger than her, even when tired. If I can tie up her speed I may have a chance of beating her. I also can probably surprise her with what I know, but I've got to be efficient with my movements.'
For what felt like the umpteenth time, they set themselves apart several metres away from each other. "Are you ready mayfly?" Two swords were drawn and ready, pointed at him.
"Yes sensei."
This time there was no word of warning, she sprung at him even faster than before.
Even when at his peak capability, Nico knew he stood little chance of matching her speed. After a quick mental deliberation, he focused on re-directing her strikes in the manner he himself struggled to break, opting to discern how she broke his guard.
A series of debilitating strikes battered his defense - a hurricane against a stalwart fortress. Both combatants pushed themselves to their limit in pursuit of their respective goals.
As time progressed, Nico's mind was barely able to comprehend the elf's movements, let alone react in time. Somehow through pattern prediction, and Ranald's blessing he managed to barely stave off the worst of the damage.
Until he made a critical mistake.
Kerillian kicked his over-extended front leg in a painful chamber kick. Her tibia audibly cracking his femur under the strike. The teen immediately collapsed to the ground, crying out in agony as his muscles contorted and contracted in unnatural ways, all the while protesting their cruel treatment.
"Dead. Again. I'm disappointed, at least Kruber could get a few good hits in." Kerillian absentmindedly fiddled with her swords, her gut twisting as the trees told her she went too hard and got too eager to get back at him for surprising him. "Looks like we have company."
Nico could barely notice the curious animals that had begun watching from a safe distance, attracted and intrigued by the constant clashing of steel. His eyes watered with tears as the pain outstripped all other senses.
A few of the braver animals ventured close to the two combatants, a particularly adventurous stag snuck over to Nico from behind, antlers disarming his weapon, (dislocating his shoulder in the process) which he'd somehow managed to keep a hold of before carrying it off in a sprint.
"Hey! I need that! Come back here!" He scrambled to his feet, attempting in vain to ignore the pain of his broken leg and reclaim his equipment.
"Stop. Now."
Nico crashed back once more to the ground, his leg unable to support his weight. He could feel the pulse of his frantic heart in his leg. A warm feel radiated throughout from the point of impact, accompanying a wave of excruciating pain with every heartbeat.
"Your leg is broken and it looks like I burst your femoral artery. Don't move."
A cold shiver sent its way down his spine. With the adrenaline fading away, the multitude of cuts adjoining his body became more and more apparent in his mind. He'd later look back on this event and wonder how he never screamed.
The elf procured a health potion from the abandoned sack. "Drink this or you die."
Nico tried to grab the bottle, missing repeatedly as his vision blurred and became increasingly dark. Seeing his predicament, Kerillian leaned down and forced the contents into his stomach looking to stop the guilt piling up as she seriously injured a young boy who had been nothing but polite over the last few weeks during their lessons, putting up with her harsh demeanor.
Nico gagged under the unexpected intrusion, lungs spluttering as it tried to draw in air amidst the vile, foreign concoction. "I know it tastes horrible. But drink, or you die."
His vision stopped dimming, the cuts he could make out healing at an accelerated rate, scabs forming instantly before falling away to reveal new healthy skin. The pale tinge to his skin however remaining.
Next to go was the throbbing sparks of pain in his leg, which slowed ceasing entirely not too long after. His leg remained warm as the leaked blood spread into the surrounding tissue in mass volumes. He could feel the torn tendons in his shoulder mesh together, connecting together like a fabric underneath his skin.
It did nothing to put his shoulder back into its socket.
He'd need to get Tristan to fix it, although confident in his friend's medical skills, he seriously doubted his friend could do anything to help with the cold feeling that lingered from his lowered blood volume. His oxygen deprived brain vaguely recalled reading about the cold being a symptom of hypovolemic shock, caused by low blood volume after severe injuries leading to people almost bleeding out.
Its contents emptied, the elf pulled away the container, Nico immediately coughing up large amounts of the remaining brew that had found its way into his lungs.
Kerillian avoided eye contact with Nico, "I… will admit I got over-zealous. You are too fragile for your stubbornness."
'That's the closest I will get to an apology. You don't need to apologise for the failings of your race. It's not your fault your ancestors decide to be a bunch of superior ass-hats.'
"It's fine." Nico wheezed out in between coughing fights. "I used to train some people at some things I was good at, I know what it's like to have someone keeping up with whatever you throw at them."
'I also know what it's like to almost lose to people that should never come close to you. Damn that lucky right hook…'
"You're done for today. Take the next few days off, you'll need to recover from that." With that, she disappeared from his vision leaving him to collect his bearings. The animal audience dispersing afterwards sensing anything of interest to be over.
"Yes, boss." He got to his feet, tentatively putting his weight on his afflicted leg. Deciding it to be suitable for use despite the dull ache that remained, he picked up the sack and began his journey back to the keep.
"What have I got myself into now?" His question would remain unanswered, the only audible thing in the area being the steady crunching of leaves underfoot as he travelled back to the keep under the afternoon sun.
"Tristan mate, you can stop now. You've been doing these drills for the last 8 hours." Markus appeared from the Elf's tent, carrying old leather-bound sheets of parchment and a spare rag.
He'd been searching through his room for his teaching notes all afternoon, only to remember they were stolen by the Elf earlier that morning, laughing at the fact that he couldn't read nor originally wrote its contents. He couldn't even get out of bed before she got her daily jabs in.
Fortunately, she did admit that there were some decent comments in there, but didn't elect to share which ones they were. Something about different learning styles. Bollocks if you asked him, his regiment learned, lived and died in the same way.
He chucked a spare rag onto the teens face, blocking his vision as it stuck to the sweat adjoining his face. Oil dripped from the pseudo-armour he'd instructed the teen to wear, covering the ground; it looked like someone dumped a barrel of greasing oil on top of him.
"I've got to get these into memory." Tristan did pause for a moment, wiping his face off, and pulling at the mail gibbon, allowing some of the evening breeze to cool his scorching body for the first time in hours. "Besides, I have to keep up with Nico, he's been gone since early morning."
"That's just how the Elf works, he's probably going to be back any minute now. Look at the pass."
Nico could be seen off in the distance ascending the mountain, one arm held statically in the air whilst the other carried a large sack of weaponry.
Tristan declined to comment, picking up his training sword, pushing himself to go through the drills that Kruber taught him earlier that morning as efficiently as possible.
The knight shook his head again, chuckling at his determination to not be left behind. "Listen mate, as admirable as this is - at this point it's not effective practice anymore. You're too tired to do it properly."
"I'm fine" He continued to swing.
"Suit yourself." Markus sat nearby, on a platform that overlooked the training ground. He glanced upward from the now open journal, occasionally commenting on Tristan's posture or footwork.
"I thought you couldn't read azumgi?" Bardin poked his head out from the forge, beard stained with ale. "By the way dawri, that's one of the improper swords. You'll build up poor muscle balance."
"Not if I train both sides!"
"That's the spirit manling." Tristan met Bardin's eyes, both ashine with mirth, as they jokingly began to discuss the inadequacies of the training equipment.
"He's got a point, they both have the makings of promising soldiers." Kruber voiced aloud his thoughts to no one in particular, jolting in surprise as Sienna appeared from Saltzpyre's quarters.
"Sure, I don't mind," replied Tristan.
"He's a kid, Markus. Let him be." She looked exhausted from dealing with the witch hunter's ranting about her impending trial. "Don't encourage either of them, Tristan."
"Too late." He went back to his training.
She chanced a glance towards the mischievous duo in question. "Aqysh preserve me."
"They'd be of age in Karak Eight-Peaks! Come! We must drink some ale and sing songs of old."
"Didn't you come up with some new songs recently? Something about slaying a troll or whatnot-"
"Ah yes, it came after the verse about your mercenary hat. Shame, it was a pretty thing. Made for a good song at least."
She groaned in exasperation. "Bardin, no one wants to hear you sing about the time you ate Kruber's hat."
"I still don't understand how you didn't choke on that feather. It was as large as my shield." Kruber grumbled good-naturedly.
"It was a delicious hat, let me tell you. Anyhow, I'm off to secure some more ale…" The dwarf vanished into the keep's cellar, a frantic Lohner chasing after him chastising him for trying to finish the remaining reserves.
"Never underestimate a dwarves' appetite, Sienna. They put the cows I used to graze as a kid to shame."
"Just for that - I'm not helping you read your journal." She pointed to the open book of illegible scribbles. "Looks like someone in an asylum wrote that anyway."
She sauntered off, asking Olesya for passage to an abandoned village she could "visit" to let off some steam, disappearing in the shadowbridge seconds later.
Bardin re-appeared as she left, carrying two barrels, one slung over each shoulder. How he managed to outpace Lohner with such a weight, no one could say.
"I'd help Azumgi, but I can't read Manling. Wutelgi could help but she'd probably kill you for desecrating her sacred trees for paper," he shrugged, glancing at his two wooden barrels.
Lohner cursed as the dwarf escaped into the forge, locking the door behind him. "Those were the last two. It'll be days until our next shipment." He walked off to communicate with his scouts, wondering how he could possibly speed up any shipments.
"I could teach you." Tristan piped in, having put away the sword and taken off his armour during the light conversation.
"You're just over half my age. How would you know how to read and write?" Kruber looked incredulous; he had not heard of anyone under the age of 25 being able to write.
"Because we spend the first 15 years of our life in school as a minimum. I've learnt to write since the age of five," he explained.
"Blimey, you guys spend half your life studying? Must be hell."
"It's not that bad actually - and it's more of a fifth or so. People live until they're around eighty, I wanted to actually study longer but then I got dragged here. I quite enjoy it myself."
"How are you finding that actually? I'm not sure how I'd feel being dragged into this nightmare of a world. Yours sounds a lot more peaceful if you ask me."
Tristan snorted. "Life is difficult everywhere and ours has its own troubles. As for how I feel, hmm…" He stopped to think for a minute. "It has got its ups and downs - not my first choice but I don't particularly mind. Nico's absolutely over the moon compared to me, so just don't ask him. He'll not shut up for at least a week." The knight nodded in assent.
"Wanna sick him on Saltzypre?"
Tristan didn't hesitate as he grinned, "Yes."
"Who's being set on Saltzpyre?" A pained voice interjected into the conversation.
Nico appeared from the pass looking like shit; a thin sheen of sweat covered his unusually pale frame. He looked uncomfortable, left leg limping as he walked. Despite the intense evening heat, he still shivered slightly as he kept his right arm raised above his head at an odd angle, his left shook whilst he struggled to keep a grip on the sack of equipment. Somehow, he managed to carry a deer with the equipment.
Tristan could also see faint tear tracks line his friends cheeks.
"Dude what the fuck happened to you? Where's Kerillian?" Tristan rushed over, Kruber following shortly after as they helped Nico settle down. Tristan gently pied his friend's shirt off, seeing the multitude of cuts in the fabric. He cocked his eyebrow seeing nothing but unblemished skin. "You should be cut."
He shrugged in response, "Health potion. Also not a clue."
"Regardless, I told you to wear armor you dumbass." He glanced downward, instantly becoming perplexed as to why one leg was larger than the other. Kruber had already noticed, propping up his leg on a spare stool, reducing the blood flow to the region - only for Nico to kick away the stool.
"My leg is fine - my shoulder's fucked though. I'm also hella cold." He adjusted himself, sitting up and making himself more comfortable by leaning back on the stone wall. He shuddered as his naked back made contact.
"Isn't it the same one you landed on? I'm not surprised given your track-record. What did you do?" Tristan interrogated his friend whilst he wrestled with him, Nico squirming underneath his touch. He resisted Tristan's attempts to take the shirt off, sprouting off protests all the while. Eventually, Tristan gave up and ripped the whole thing off.
"Not cool man! That's one of the only few items of proper clothing I have left. I'm not wearing some dodgy cotton shirt."
"You lose that privilege when you start looking like death incarnate. Now tell me what happened."
"Dislocated, I think - the tendons tore but they seem to be okay now. Just stretched a little bit because they've been like this for a while." Nico winced as he gently rotated his shoulder in question to demonstrate his point.
"Oh that's easy. I've seen how to fix them in a second on a youtube video." Despite his words, he could see Tristan lacked confidence in his ability.
Kruber rubbed his moustache, "I'll let you do this one. Might be good practice. Besides it's been a while since I've seen the medics put a shoulder back proper."
Sensing his friend's continued uneasiness, he attempted to alleviate the situation with some light humour. "Don't trust you but claro que sí doctor."
"Huh?" Kruber was understandably confused as Nico switched language.
Nico sighed, explaining what he just said, seeing his attempt fall on deaf ears. "It means 'of course doctor,' you don't have to worry. I'm not a chaos cultist just-"
His sentence was interrupted as Tristan painfully yanked his arm around, muscles stretching under the aggressive treatment. "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST." His fist snapped into his friend's face. He also swung at Kruber with his good leg who dodged out of the way, reflexes kicking in.
"Nice kick you've got there mate. Why the distant leg though?"
"Oh - Kerillian cracked my femur. Legs swollen with blood but 'tis all good now."
"...What?" Both Tristan and Kruber looked shocked at the revelation. They hiked up his pant leg to see the skin was tinted red and looked painful.
"Walking back probably didn't help, but hey. Good exercise on willpower right?" Nico's rhetorical question went unnoticed.
"I expected you to be bruised - not half dead. I'm going to kill the elf when she gets back."
"I agree with you there. Have you got a spare rifle?"
Nico interrupted before they could continue their train of thought. "Don't, it was my fault. I fucked up, she punished me for it. I caused this to happen."
"How do you accidentally break someone's leg?" Kruber cried out. "She tried to kill you."
Nico slammed his good hand into his face, body visibly shaking as his patience began to run thin; sarcasm seeped into his words as he deconstructed Kruber's faulty logic. "If she wanted me dead I'd clearly be dead wouldn't I? I'm clearly able to beat her in a fight because I'm absolutely better than someone who's had centuries of practice."
"Fair enough. Still bloody harsh though."
"Besides I should get used to this sort of pain and almost dying, it's bound to happen at some point on the battlefield."
The knight visibly recoiled. "That's not something you train. You should hope it never happens."
"Don't get me wrong. I don't ever plan on dying. But it's something I'd be foolish to not mentally prepare for: hope for the best and prepare for the worst."
Markus remained silent.
"Alright, well I'm hungry. Anyone feel like deer tonight?" Nico attempted to get up only to be stopped by Tristan who placed a hand on his shoulder. Pain flared from the pressure causing him to inhale sharply.
"Hold on a second - I did it wrong the first time" Tristan prepared to put his shoulder properly back into its socket, feeling out the region beforehand to ensure he didn't pinch any nerves or vessels again. Nico grit his teeth anticipating another wave of agony.
Tristan wrenched his arm. A cry of pain spilt from his lips, his pain endurance already having been put to the test since the early hours of the day. Familiar waves of pain throbbed from his shoulder as blood flooded to the area, the area already feeling tender and warm as his body attempted to fix it.
"Don't sleep on this side. You're lucky you managed to fashion an improvised body pillow, I'm not sure how supportive hay is, but it'll do something. I officially prescribe you with no pillow hugging. Unless you can feel you can function with one arm..."
He immediately pouted. "...but I have to hug something otherwise I can't sleep."
"Yeah well just sleep on your other side then you idiot."
"Oh yeah."
Markus pressed his fingers to his temples, stressed at the blatant dismissal at their nonchalance towards death. "Sorry can we get back to the fact that Kerillian almost killed you?"
Nico sighed, "Look, I'm fine. At the end of the day, I'm alive - I have the next few days off because of it. She seemed sorry enough, saving my life afterwards."
"That's still not enough time to recover."
A grim look came upon Nico's face. "It will have to do. We don't have time. We have a few years at most to train up before we save the world from blowing up." The moment he finished his sentence, his eyes widened, face matching that of the deceased deer just adjacent.
"Hold on the world blowing up? I thought you guys said your goal was to just help us out."
Nico looked towards Tristan for help, the teen doubled over laughing at his slipup.
"You're on your own here. You get to explain now."
He groaned in response. "I'll explain later, right now I'm hungry and want to eat. I also need to plan with this pendejo here." He jammed his thumb towards his friend who was still laughing at his misfortune. "You saucy boy."
"What you egg?" Tristan sprung to his feet, unsheathing his sword, crossing blades with Nico who had drawn a sword from the nearby bundle of equipment. A stare-off soon ensued, only ceasing when Nico's stomach growled. "Someone's hungry."
Nico rolled his eyes. "You're cooking. I need to wipe my face down."
"Okay, after you do that, there's some parchment in Kruber's room. Ask Lohner for some maps as well. We need to start planning what we're going to do."
"Do I get a say in it? Cost me good money, that parchment."
"No."
"Oh okay. Better be one bloody good explanation then."
"Quite. I expect sufficient reasoning this time." Saltzpyre spoke up from behind the trio, Kruber and Tristan immediately fled the area with hasty excuses leaving Nico behind, unable to escape. "I'm rather intrigued by this… explosive world you speak off. Explain. Now."
Nico could confidently proclaim he wasn't afraid of much. However, dealing with a fanatical witch hunter to their face was certainly much more frightening than he ever anticipated, despite several weeks of practice edging sensitive conversation with Sigmar's devoted.
"It's a metaphor for Sigmar's wrath?" Nico hoped to evade the conversation.
"Do not lie to me, lest I find you guilty of heresy." The finality in his tone left no room for escape.
Nico closed his eyes, inhaling sharply before speaking.
"The End Times are coming."
Those were the wrong words to say, Saltzpyre immediately pulled out his pistols and levelled it at the teens forehead. "I knew you were deranged. Any last words heretic?"
He bowed his head, eyes still closed as he anticipated his end. "In our world this reality is nothing more than a game. Tristan and I have knowledge about events to come, and more than that have already happened."
The barrel of the gun pressed deeper into his forehead. "Perhaps so, but many have claimed to foresee the future. Many were wrong, and even more in league with the dark Gods."
A small chuckle escaped his lips. "Believe me a servant of Tzeentch all you want, Victor Saltzpyre. You'll be committing the same mistakes as you did when you killed that girl in Skaggerdorf mine. Killing someone innocent that could be saved. Not only that but you'll be damning the rest of the world with us."
A finger began pulling on the trigger. Nico felt the small shake of the hammer impacting the gunpowder. He felt the rush of hot air that preceded the bullet as time slowed.
"Huh. No life flashing before my eyes. That's kinda cringe."
From the wind emerged a supernatural tinge, an aura of commanding divinity washing over the two, lasting but a split second. In that time, a branch had fallen onto Victor's arm, knocking the bullet off course to skim Nico's hair. Victor's eyes bulged in a combination of shock, and suspicion. He frowned disapprovingly. "Very well then. Divulge your tale, and leave nothing out." He discreetly rubbed his arm, numbing the pain.
"Sweet Lord Jesus Christ, if that was you I will make sure that I convert Tristan. That was close." A melodious laughter ringed inside of his mind, warming his soul and granting him the strength to deal with Salts' upcoming interrogation, it too lasted a fraction of a second leaving Nico to wonder if it was a figment of his imagination.
"Alright let's begin with the big one. Sigmar is currently trapped within the elven vortex…"
Tristan covered the table with a large map, dictating the current borders of the empire and a few of the nearby nations. A fraction of the sheet was covered by the details of the land.
Nico pulled out a pen from his rucksack he managed to bring through the portal, along with his phone he's kept carefully preserved. He handed the pen to Tristan as he tried to recover his nerves after speaking to Saltzpyre. Even after eating with the group and the Witch Hunter's own re-assurance once he finished relaying all the knowledge he had, his hands still shook.
Taking the pen, Tristan blinked, staring at the map. "I didn't realise that the empire was so big. It's so small when you look at it ingame."
"Same with me in literally any photo." Nico replied, pointing out a few images in his gallery as he searched for a Total War screenshot. One of them showed the two on a camping excursion they once did for school. "Damn that was a few years ago, felt like yesterday."
"You do realise you can't charge your phone right? Might want to hurry up."
A wave of the latino's hand dismissed his comment, aftershock beginning to fade. "I'm on about 80% charge, besides, I've got my revision notes on here - maybe our physics lessons will finally come in useful. Did someone say DC electric dynamo?"
"How are you going to get the magnets though?"
Nico stopped scrolling, placing the phone on the edge of the table. An image of the final turn before world conquest illuminating the room. "Now that my friend, is an excellent point."
"You're on the wrong image." Tristan pointed to the screen, with the two owning the entirety of the map except for a single settlement in the badlands.
"Oh… right…" He quickly flicked through the collage of images that showed various turn counts, cursing as he realised he could just look at the first one. "Okay now there we go."
"When you think about it, a lot of the stuff we would expect to see in the military is really complex. I'm not sure how many we can ." Tristan grabbed a pencil, returning the fountain pen to its owner's hand. "Don't mark in pen - we may want to erase things later."
"Yeah well - at least it's something we can think about moving forward. Also this is parchment, not paper - it's going to tear.. Pen is also a lot more visible than ink. That's not even to mention we can just copy the map again later if we need to."
"Mhm, okay."
"Why do you sound so unconvinced?" Nico's confidence wavered as Tristan so nonchalantly dismissed his reasoning.
"Maybe because you're an idiot?"
"First Kerillian, now you. 'Et tu brute' much?" Nico's sarcasm matched Tristan's own.
Tristan's eyes rolled, "I think almost dying after like 4 weeks when we're not even fighting is indicative enough."
"Let's leave that one out of the equation."
"Nah, I think I'm onto something here. You've missed out the Wargrove of Woe by the way." Tristan gestured to the roughly scrawled lettering dictating the approximate location of Krugenheim.
A few quick scribbles rectified Nico's oversight. "You're missing the entire sea-donut."
"Do you know how many cities there are for the dark-elves?"
"At least two." A proud smirk adorned Nico's face, ignoring Tristan's unimpressed look. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
They continued scrawling major cities of every faction onto the map, occasionally correcting mis-construed terrain and making amendments where necessary.
"Okay, so now that's done - we need to actually figure out what we're going to do. Any ideas?"
"I think we need to focus on clearing out any major leaders - sort of like the 5 normally do. What year does vermintide take place?"
"2523 for the first game, second one was around 2524 based on the encroachment of the chaos wastes onto the moral realm."
"Well then we're screwed - it's too late to make any changes."
"Judging by the fact we don't see the chaos wastes influencing anything just yet, it's probably 2518 or 2519."
Tristan looked at him. "There's still a 5 year gap between when chaos really kicks in and your estimate. Why should we go off that?"
He stuck his tongue out. "Because Saltzpyre told me the year when I asked him."
Tristan facepalmed. "Lead with that next time."
"Where's the fun in that? Anyway, that gives us just a year or two to make preparations before the End Times really begin."
"In that case we're probably better off working with the 5 to assassinate key figures, I think we could probably take out a few major ones that'll go a long way."
"Who? Like Archaeon? We might be able to with modern gear - but that's going to take a hell of a lot of time to replicate. That also depends on whether or not the same materials exist in this world. Last I checked Gromril doesn't exist on the periodic table."
"I'm thinking more just insurrections in Bretonnia, there's Leoncour's son Marqueblade or whatever, that'll free up a lot of the Bretonnian army."
"That wouldn't do that much. Besides we should focus on freeing up the Empire instead. Strongest nation in the old world? Remember? Imagine an entire regiment outfitted with M16's or M4A1's instead of muskets. That'd be sick."
An image of a hundred men firing round after round into hordes of greenskins, holding a choke point against a mass of thousands ran through their minds.
"I'll steal a ratling gun, use their own weapons against them."
Tristan emerged from a hidden crevice wielding such a weapon, a hailstorm of green bullets decimated a flanking unit of Goblin-Spider Riders.
"Don't forget me! I'll pin a giant in place whilst you decimate him."
Debris flew as the Giant swung around the teen, waving between club swings and the Giants legs, annoying it by leaving surface gashes whilst Tristan aimed his shots. A salvo of green fire signalled the death of the monster.
"Okay. Back to topic. Key events we'll have to stop no matter what are the Skaven's attempt to bring the warpstone moon onto Lustria, prevent the resurrection of Nagash - Killing Arkhan the black and Mannfred to ensure that."
Tristan added a few additional notes. "Taking out Mannfred also stops him from keeping the vortex destabilised by killing Gelt. Also stops him from taking Gelt on as a student for a while."
"Wouldn't that also keep Sigmar trapped inside the vortex?" Nico questioned.
He shrugged in response, not really caring about the mortal-turned-god. "He probably wouldn't mind. He'd do the same thing if the roles were reversed."
"We'll look for a way to rescue him. Maybe Teclis can help."
"What do we do about Tyrion and Malekith?"
Nico began pacing around the room, trying to think. "One of the reasons he goes mad is because of the sword of Khaine, another would be the kidnapping and death of his daughter. I think it also had something to do with Alarielle being forced to marry Malekith, that's some shitty writing from Games Workshop there."
"We can take out Mannfred during his ambush near Karak-a-karaz. We'll have to be time sensitive about it. If we fuck up then that may be game over." A few more notes were scrawled onto the parchment. "Don't forget about Ikit Claw. Did somebody say 'Into the Nest' on steroids?" They chuckled at the terrible joke.
"Let's just be glad we have some knowledge of the lore. Speaking of which, we'll need to draft up some battleplans..."
Tristan zoned out as Nico switched to vocalising potential battle-strategies and campaigns. He was theorising immediate responses to situations, considering terrains and equipment regiments and battalions would train and use.
His mind filtered out the information instead looking for weaknesses and flaws, knowing his friend had a tendency to overthink and overlook the fundamentals.
"...I'd instruct archers to take up positions on three crevices, surrounding the valley, along with helstorms on nearby hilltops. They would fire at units based on what I think is most dangerous in the situation..."
Tristan interjected, cutting him short. "What makes you think that you can do that? This isn't Total War where everyone is in sync and you can instantly command units over half a kilometer away."
"Well… I'd have a line of commanding officers with instructions on what to do based on pre-planned engagement. They will do the coordination based on signals."
He could see Nico begin to formulate a way to accomplish it, and whilst it may work if he kept on questioning him long enough to cover all the mistakes. He knew Nico would entirely miss the point of what he was doing.
"They would have to make judgments on what to do if things start going wrong though - if there's something you don't expect then it breaks the system."
Nico shook his head in disagreement. "That shouldn't happen. If I do things right and plan ahead we'll never have to improvise."
Tristan figured a more blatant approach was required. "If. Nico - this is all if. The real world isn't built on hypotheticals. You're making plans based on things that may not even happen. It's highly unlikely you'll even become a general."
"What else am I supposed to do?" Nico questioned, catching on to Tristan's intent.
"It's simple. We work with the Ubersreik Five to take out the major threats. Maybe it won't stop it entirely, but it'll certainly buy some valuable time for other people to pick up the slack and fix our problems. Besides that's almost guaranteed considering we're still with them."
Nico moved over to one of the beds, collapsing onto it and pulling his pillow close, exhausted from the strenuous exercise, strategising and near-death experience.
"Just like you said this isn't Total War - this isn't like Vermintide - we can't just lop off the head and hope all the problems go away. Chaos also doesn't care about champions - they always appoint a new better one. Except for Abbadon. The little shits beyond useless. Salt also agreed with me that we can't stick around to try take out champions. He calls the current military inadequate, and thinks I'm capable of making the necessary judgements."
"Fine. Say we go with what you're thinking; we can't both become commanders. Suppose that we could - which is highly unlikely - that's still not really suited to what I'm good at. We might have to split up." Tristan folded up the map, tucking it away in a rudimentary cupboard and extinguished the table candles.
All that remained to illuminate the room was a few lanterns too high for Nico to reach, along with cracks of moonlight filtering through the door along with the soft whistle of the mountainous breeze.
"You could always just join as a bodyguard or captain."
A large sigh escaped his lips. "That's just an excuse to keep me close and you know it." Tristan sat on his own bed on the opposite side of the room from his friend, who changed to lie facedown on top of his pillow; cuddling it for warmth.
"We're a long way from home man. Our siblings and parents are probably worried sick for us. Well, at least for you. Mine weren't my biggest fan anyway. Can't blame me for wanting to keep you close."
"Mhm, we've still got a job to do. Don't forget that."
"Mhm. Alright, fine. We'll split up eventually but we'll still work together for the moment and down the line alright?" Nico had stopped listening by this point
"I can agree with that. I will just say - hold on just a second - something'd wrong." He eyed the door warily, "I think someone is spying on us."
"What makes you think that?"
"Call it gut instinct. I've been hearing shifting from outside the door. It's very quiet."
As if on cue, a wooden beam creaked, the sound almost invisible to their ears. "Well clearly someone's there." Whilst Nico sank into his pillow in disappointment, he called out playfully. "Stop sneaking around. You're not very good at it."
Out of the corner of his eye, Tristan saw Nico sink further still into his pillow, disappointment turning into mild annoyance. "There's no one there. Everyone's asleep. You just want something to happen."
"Shut up and listen."
Nico could've sworn he heard footsteps as someone backed away from the door; Tristan opened the aforementioned door only to find the training ground empty and no one visible on site. The wooden platforms above their room remained barren with no soul in view, apart from nesting birds. "I guess I'm just hearing things. You're probably right, sorry about that."
"Actually it did sound like someone was there for a second. It was either Saltzpyre or the Elf. Judging by the fact we don't have pistols in our face it'd probably be Kerillian."
"In which case we'd both already be dead. Yeah, fair point."
"Also because I told Saltzpyre everything."
He ignored Tristan's incredulous expression. "What?"
"You and Kruber both ditched me. It's that or I'm dead. Anyway, go to sleep. She'll interrogate us sooner or later." A yawn escaped his lips - Nico falling asleep before it finished, entirely spent.
Observing his friend who looked happy despite his injuries and rough interrogation earlier that day; Tristan noted a soft, peaceful smile dawning on his friend's face, something that very rarely occurred before they transitioned between worlds.
He motioned to put out the final sources of light. In the midst of extinguishing the final lanterns, a gentle knock could be heard. Behind the door stood Kerillian who was eyeing up the sleeping teen.
"Is he asleep?"
Tristan glanced back to see Nico still unconscious. "Yes."
"Good. We need to talk."
Daily dose of Banter:
Today's episode: Nico and Tristan bullying vermintide characters.
*Playing vermintide 2 again*
Kerillian: "Ugh, Disgusting little bomb"
N: Shutup kerillian, you say that like you're beautiful.
T: You really did her like that
N: Destroyed.
T: If the weave is so good Kerillian, where's the weave 2
N: *Laughing*
Kerillian: "That heavy tread, arrogance in every step. It's a - (chaos warrior)
N: It's an elf!
T: These guys (Blightstormers / Leeches) talk so tough and intimidating but they look like an overweight teletubby.
*Literally every match since then*
N: *Sees Burblespew Halescourge or Nurgloth the Eternal*
N: STAB THE MARSHMELLOW!
Review(s):
GETH Prime: First of all thank you for reviewing, that's awesome man! Really got me moving to finish this chapter soon rather than later - second of all, our plans generally revolve around The Empire for the most part considering the timeline and how things revolve in the lore, but there will definitely be elven shenanigans involving Tristan later down the line, at least according to our current story plans. The way I see it which is sorta explained in our discussion towards the end, is that any major event the Empire could successfully stop would go a long way to stopping the End Times because they'll have essentially a force strong enough to cover any front available to help out elsewhere. So whether that's successfully repelling chaos, or clearing out the vampires they can relocate to where is needed. Having said that - the overall goal will be to create a self-sufficient mentality so the Empire can properly run itself from this point onward, even if there isn't a total conquest victory, whilst also eliminating any major key threats or enough of them for the aforementioned point to do the rest.
(P.S Ty for the Everchild's name, I had already planned on referring to it as a key point for later on but I had no clue what the name was. It allowed me to know just that bit more which is really helpful, Can't thank you enough!)