"I did it." The red haired man looked over at the new arrival.
"Did what?" A white haired man sat down on the cold stone floor.
"I lit it on fire." His right eye, a bright gold in color, was fixated on the knife he had just pulled out of his belt. "And I shot somebody." The first man raised an eyebrow.
"Did you kill the person you shot? You're not always a perfect aim." The gold eye, and it's metal-covered counterpart met with Schuldich's eyes.
"Yes. I hit him in the back of the neck. He caused God great pain when he fell into the flames." Farfello put his hand, palm down, on the ground, and started stabbing his fingers in order with the knife. His left eye was not visible for the metal bandana that went around his head and covered his eye. Schuldich watched the man hurt himself for awhile. It was something he was used to, but he was getting blood all over the floor…
"This hurts God." Farfello picked up his hand and looked at the bleeding marks all over his fingers. "This MUST hurt God. And all the churches I've burned must have hurt him, too." Farfello looked distant for a moment. "There will be more churches to burn, and more people to find, and more ways for me to hurt God…" He was warming up for a rant when Nagi walked in.
Nagi stopped in the doorway, chain mail over the black tunic and leggings he was wearing. He scowled when he saw the blood staining the floor.
"You wouldn't mind cleaning that up, would you? And make it fast. Lord Crawford wants to see us." Schuldich leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on a nearby table.
"So soon? What, we have another 'mission' from the big man?" Nagi narrowed his eyes, and one of Farfello's knives came dangerously close to Schuldich's face.
"You are not one to question orders, now, are you, Schuldich?" Nagi asked in a quiet voice. The knife suddenly plummeted back in front of Farfello.
"And who are you to give ME orders, Nagi? Come on. I'm older than you. By a lot." Nagi scowled again. Schuldich grinned and rested his head on his hand. "Are you going to argue with THAT?"
"You're older, I'll give you that. But that's all. We're of the same rank, and you need to – "
"Yeah, I was meaning to talk to Lord Crawford about that. Why are YOU at the same level I am, hm?" Nagi glared daggers at Schuldich.
"Just hurry up and get to the throne room, ok?!" he hissed. Farfello stuck the dagger back in his belt.
"Fine, fine," Schuldich said lazily, standing up and stretching, obviously not caring how long he took. Nagi gave him a dark look. Schuldich didn't seem to have any care for orders they got from their King, but he was one of the best fighters. It pissed Nagi off.
Eventually the three of them made their way down the darkened halls, lit only by sparse torches, and to the black oak doors of the throne room. Schuldich pushed open the doors and the three of them strode down the black carpet to about five feet away from the man, dressed entirely in black, sitting on the throne.
Crawford glared at his three appointed knights, especially hard at Schuldich.
"You're late."
"Sorry." Crawford's nails dug into the obsidian throne at Schuldich's casual attitude. He hid the anger that would usually come out in the form of a death sentence.
"I received word that Farfello accomplished his mission of torching one of Aya's farms….?" Farfello nodded solemnly. "And did he get the note?" Farfello nodded again. Nagi watched Farfello out of the corner of his eye. The man was so perfectly stotic and solemn. One of the few rare times he ever was like this was when he was in the presence of Lord Crawford.
"Excellent." Crawford was still mad at Schuldich for being so calm about everything. Fortunately, he hoped Aya was even madder than he was about the note. Yes…he was going to kill everything that man had…….and then –
"Are you going to give us a mission or something?" asked Schuldich, flipping his hair over his shoulder. "Because there are other things we could be doing."
"One more word like that from you, Schuldich," Crawford growled, looking extremely angry, "and I will have you skinned alive. Are we clear?"
Schuldich shrugged but said nothing more.
"Yes, I do need you three to do something." Crawford took a map from a nearby guard. "You are going to take over a village near the bridge which leads to Aya's territory. You know which one I'm talking about."
It was almost funny to watch the change of expressions on all three faces of the men in front of him. At the least, it was amusing; Nagi's went from contempt to surprise, Schuldich's from way-too-casual to shocked, and Farfello's from dull to….well, his only visible eyebrow raised.
"But…that's…." Nagi began.
"Aya's territory?" Nagi fell silent. "Yes. It's time to start moving in. I want to take over his kingdom, and this will be our start." He gazed at the map, then held it out. "Nagi, take the map and begin planning strategies. Have the city captured in at least a week. Now get out of my sight." Nagi stepped up, took the map, and left, Farfello and Schuldich behind him, both stumbling along like they were in a daze.
Crawford watched them go and sighed when they were gone. He slumped in his throne, his face dropped to his hand, and his elbow rested on the right arm of the throne. He'd planned this attack for weeks, but bringing it out to the three knights had been harder than he'd thought. They'd seemed so surprised that he'd handed them this battle so soon. Well, get used to it, he thought bitterly. You'll have a lot more than just little villages to take over soon.
"What was he thinking?!" exploded Schuldich when they were back in the privacy of their small bunk room. "We're charging right into Aya's territory, and only God knows what he's got in there!" Farfello snarled. "Sorry."
"It's only a small village," Nagi said, putting a pin into the map Crawford had given him. "I'll bet Aya doesn't even regard it as his. And if he does, why would he put any fighters in there? It's tiny."
"A waste of people," Schuldich reluctantly agreed, and flopped down in a chair next to the table with the map on it. "A waste of good fighters. Sad to say they're good."
"Bah." Farfello sat down on the other side of the map and started poking himself with a pin. "So what's the plan?"
"We'll start by moving some units in here," Nagi said, pointing to the map with a pin. "Then move some in from the forest after the distraction takes place. That should keep them busy." He bit his lip, then pointed to the other side of the village. "Then we move even more in from here, and surround them, and destroy the bridge. That'll block their only way out." Schuldich grinned slightly.
"Shouldn't we destroy the bridge first…?" Nagi hesitated, then nodded.
"Yeah…that would work…" he moved some pins and re-spoke the plan. Farfello looked at the map.
"And if anybody comes in from here – " he put a finger down on the other side of the river – "We'll kill them. Right?"
"Right," agreed Nagi. Farfello ran his finger down into the village, leaving a trail of blood behind. He lifted his finger and put it in his mouth.
"Good going, Farfie." Schuldich leaned back. "So when's the attack?"
"Two days from now, I think." Nagi pulled all the pins out of the map and put them in a small box. "We need to prepare the soldiers and get ready for this. It's at least a one day walk, 6 hours if we run."
"And rest," Schuldich added. "We need to give them time to rest."
"Eight hours, then," Nagi growled. He rolled up the map and put it and the box away. Then he pulled off his chain mail and vanished through one door. Schuldich looked at Farfello, who was playing knife games again.
"Get some sleep, Farfie," Schuldich said as he stood up. "You'll need it."
"Uh huh," Farfello said absentmindedly as he stabbed himself.
Schuldich rolled his eyes and stalked into his room, which was the same dark stone as everything else was. His bed was positioned in one corner, and a desk in the other; not like he ever used it. With a sigh he flopped down on the bed, then winced, because he'd forgotten to take off his armor. He flung the heavy metal across the room and put both hands under his head.
The ceiling was dark, and there was only one window. Because it was night, he couldn't see any lights pouring in, and it was above his bed, so….
Schuldich shut his eyes tightly. The blankets pulled themselves up to his shoulder level, and he fell asleep shortly after.