It was an hour into Geras's desperate chase that he realized he had
been tricked. Kalis Deiran had eluded him again.
During the splintering, Geras's life had been miserable, with Visla urging him to find and slay his Calpathion counterpart...to say nothing of that dimmable Aleran Nightblade.
Perhaps Aleran was a moot point, considering it was Geras who dispatched him in the end, an act which earned him extreme credit in the eyes of General Visla Deiran.
Geras halted, his teeth grinding together, a series of curses erupting from his mouth. The Death Watch had lost this battle...Sariss was dead, Taren missing, who knew where Mahk was?
Visla's obsession had done this! Geras frantically sought to pin the blame on their general, convincing himself that it had been Visla's fault entirely Sariss had died, that the Death Watch had lost...
"Commander?" A weasel cautiously replied. "What do we do now?"
Geras's answer was simple. "We run...back to camp...we hope the others rendezvous with us!"
Geras turned on his heel. "And a hundred gold coins to the soldier who secures our way outta this hell!"
***
Visla had recalled his forces from the settlement to the Death Watch camp...all sixty of them....
Damn Kalis for all of this! His brother had masterminded the completely slaughter of nearly SIXTY troops...almost half of the entire Death Watch!
Visla turned to Mahk, the stoat clutching a torn shoulder, his cobalt eyes fixed on Visla's slate gray ones. "Take a count...where are the other commanders? I know about Sariss, so don't bring her up."
Mahk froze, this information obviously news to him. The stoat snapped a hasty salute. "Men sighted Geras returning to camp...Commander Taren was found near the waterfall..."
Visla's eyes widened in surprise and a small bit of regret entered his voice. "Taren's dead...?"
Mahk shook his head, Visla breathed a sigh of relief as the stoat replied, "He's wounded...we found him unconscious..."
Visla growled, his unpredictable mood changing instantly. "You are bothering me with him why then?! Did we take any prisoners?"
Mahk shook his head. "No sir...it wasn't a situation where we had chances to..."
Visla growled, the large weasel's burnt and scarred features furrowing with rage. "We're moving out soon..."
Mahk dared to venture a question, dreading the answer. "General? Why...why did we attack this place? Why did we attack the settlement? We didn't even know about the Calpathions until earlier..."
Visla smiled, that smile disturbed Mahk more then any rage. "Its simple...you know how my burns pain me this time of year?"
Horror appeared on Mahk's face as understanding dawned upon him, speechless, he could only nod.
"That ford nearby could have helped lessen the pain greatly...water tends to do that...and there aren't any other fords around for miles...we would have had this region as well as the ford..."
Mahk shook his head, eyes staring at his mad General, Visla grinned. "Let's keep this between us, Mahk..."
Mahk nodded speechlessly. "Sariss...Sariss died...for that?"
"IT was her privilege to die for me, Mahk..." Visla smirked, "You all pledged yourselves to me...it was her duty..."
"Duty...?" Mahk whispered; paw closing around his sword hilt, scenes of him striking down Visla playing in his mind.
Visla grinned and turned away, wincing slightly as the fiery pain from his burns spreading across his body. "Get ready! Dismissed!" ***
Taren de-Droka stirred, groaning slightly as consciousness hit him...immediately, he wished it had not...his entire body-especially his chest- hurt...damn Eroket Nightblade...that ermine had been good...very good.
And that ermine had left him live...that was most intriguing...well, Eroket's stupidity would kill him in the end...Eroket Nightblade would die by the blade or paws of Taren de-Droka...he had to fight Eroket again...kill him this time...Eroket had made a dangerous enemy indeed that night...
It was an hour later of lying in his tent that Mahk entered, his face grave. "Taren..."
"How did the battle go?"
Mahk sighed. "We lost...Taren, there's more-"
"Sariss!" With no regard for his injuries, Taren flung himself to his feet, wincing at the pain, nearly stumbling over the makeshift stool, long red hair hanging loosely over his neck. "Where is she?!"
Mahk lowered his eyes from his friend, unable to respond.
"Where is she?!" the scream tore itself from Taren's throat...deep down he already knew before he asked for the second time...but he had to believe there was a way she could be alive...had to accept she had miraculously been saved..."
"She died...trying to capture Kalis Deiran..."
The grief tore to Taren's heart then...the change was instantaneous...his emotions vanished, his eyes hardened to chips of dual colored gems. "You are certain?"
"It was witnessed...by Geras and his men...they were too far away to help her..." The last part was a bit of a lie...but Mahk thought it best to not make it known Geras had been indirectly responsible for Sariss's death.
"You can leave now..."
"Taren-"
"GO!"
Mahk nodded to his friend hurriedly and exited.
For a long moment Taren stared at the charts on his makeshift desk...then the whites of his eyes were filled with crimson mist, screaming in rage, he ripped the charts into pieces, hurling them aside, a heave of his paws sent the desk onto its side.
With another howl of rage, Taren grabbed for the blanket on his cot, shredding it into as many pieces as possible.
The stool was next, gripping it tightly, the fox slammed it upon the desk three times until it shattered, the legs scattering to the ground.
Bereft of anything to destroy, Taren fell to his knees. Over and over, he howled his grief to the uncaring night, screaming out the name of his lover, Sariss.
During the splintering, Geras's life had been miserable, with Visla urging him to find and slay his Calpathion counterpart...to say nothing of that dimmable Aleran Nightblade.
Perhaps Aleran was a moot point, considering it was Geras who dispatched him in the end, an act which earned him extreme credit in the eyes of General Visla Deiran.
Geras halted, his teeth grinding together, a series of curses erupting from his mouth. The Death Watch had lost this battle...Sariss was dead, Taren missing, who knew where Mahk was?
Visla's obsession had done this! Geras frantically sought to pin the blame on their general, convincing himself that it had been Visla's fault entirely Sariss had died, that the Death Watch had lost...
"Commander?" A weasel cautiously replied. "What do we do now?"
Geras's answer was simple. "We run...back to camp...we hope the others rendezvous with us!"
Geras turned on his heel. "And a hundred gold coins to the soldier who secures our way outta this hell!"
***
Visla had recalled his forces from the settlement to the Death Watch camp...all sixty of them....
Damn Kalis for all of this! His brother had masterminded the completely slaughter of nearly SIXTY troops...almost half of the entire Death Watch!
Visla turned to Mahk, the stoat clutching a torn shoulder, his cobalt eyes fixed on Visla's slate gray ones. "Take a count...where are the other commanders? I know about Sariss, so don't bring her up."
Mahk froze, this information obviously news to him. The stoat snapped a hasty salute. "Men sighted Geras returning to camp...Commander Taren was found near the waterfall..."
Visla's eyes widened in surprise and a small bit of regret entered his voice. "Taren's dead...?"
Mahk shook his head, Visla breathed a sigh of relief as the stoat replied, "He's wounded...we found him unconscious..."
Visla growled, his unpredictable mood changing instantly. "You are bothering me with him why then?! Did we take any prisoners?"
Mahk shook his head. "No sir...it wasn't a situation where we had chances to..."
Visla growled, the large weasel's burnt and scarred features furrowing with rage. "We're moving out soon..."
Mahk dared to venture a question, dreading the answer. "General? Why...why did we attack this place? Why did we attack the settlement? We didn't even know about the Calpathions until earlier..."
Visla smiled, that smile disturbed Mahk more then any rage. "Its simple...you know how my burns pain me this time of year?"
Horror appeared on Mahk's face as understanding dawned upon him, speechless, he could only nod.
"That ford nearby could have helped lessen the pain greatly...water tends to do that...and there aren't any other fords around for miles...we would have had this region as well as the ford..."
Mahk shook his head, eyes staring at his mad General, Visla grinned. "Let's keep this between us, Mahk..."
Mahk nodded speechlessly. "Sariss...Sariss died...for that?"
"IT was her privilege to die for me, Mahk..." Visla smirked, "You all pledged yourselves to me...it was her duty..."
"Duty...?" Mahk whispered; paw closing around his sword hilt, scenes of him striking down Visla playing in his mind.
Visla grinned and turned away, wincing slightly as the fiery pain from his burns spreading across his body. "Get ready! Dismissed!" ***
Taren de-Droka stirred, groaning slightly as consciousness hit him...immediately, he wished it had not...his entire body-especially his chest- hurt...damn Eroket Nightblade...that ermine had been good...very good.
And that ermine had left him live...that was most intriguing...well, Eroket's stupidity would kill him in the end...Eroket Nightblade would die by the blade or paws of Taren de-Droka...he had to fight Eroket again...kill him this time...Eroket had made a dangerous enemy indeed that night...
It was an hour later of lying in his tent that Mahk entered, his face grave. "Taren..."
"How did the battle go?"
Mahk sighed. "We lost...Taren, there's more-"
"Sariss!" With no regard for his injuries, Taren flung himself to his feet, wincing at the pain, nearly stumbling over the makeshift stool, long red hair hanging loosely over his neck. "Where is she?!"
Mahk lowered his eyes from his friend, unable to respond.
"Where is she?!" the scream tore itself from Taren's throat...deep down he already knew before he asked for the second time...but he had to believe there was a way she could be alive...had to accept she had miraculously been saved..."
"She died...trying to capture Kalis Deiran..."
The grief tore to Taren's heart then...the change was instantaneous...his emotions vanished, his eyes hardened to chips of dual colored gems. "You are certain?"
"It was witnessed...by Geras and his men...they were too far away to help her..." The last part was a bit of a lie...but Mahk thought it best to not make it known Geras had been indirectly responsible for Sariss's death.
"You can leave now..."
"Taren-"
"GO!"
Mahk nodded to his friend hurriedly and exited.
For a long moment Taren stared at the charts on his makeshift desk...then the whites of his eyes were filled with crimson mist, screaming in rage, he ripped the charts into pieces, hurling them aside, a heave of his paws sent the desk onto its side.
With another howl of rage, Taren grabbed for the blanket on his cot, shredding it into as many pieces as possible.
The stool was next, gripping it tightly, the fox slammed it upon the desk three times until it shattered, the legs scattering to the ground.
Bereft of anything to destroy, Taren fell to his knees. Over and over, he howled his grief to the uncaring night, screaming out the name of his lover, Sariss.