Zornhut: Chapter 3
Author's note: Zornhut, or Guard of Wrath, is one of the main guard positions in medieval sword techniques. Also, I've opted for the game's default name for the tactician, Mark.
The day had grown increasingly hot; Raven found that it was getting rather difficult trying to breathe the dried air. It had been over a week since the company had left the small village and its comfortable inn and resumed their journey towards Missur, and now deep into the Nabata desert.
He looked at the small crowd a short distance ahead of him; the three nobles, Eliwood, Hector and Lyndis, led the company and with them were Mark, Nils and Ninian. Bartre and Dorcas trailed after them, Bartre talking excitedly about something while Dorcas merely nodded in response once in a while. The rest of the party had fallen slightly behind; most of the mounted members of the company had difficulty moving in the unfamiliar terrain, while the rest were most likely just tired.
Raven wiped away the sweat on his forehead and in his mind, cursed the searing heat.
I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to nightfall. Instead of being burnt alive, I'll be freezing to death. How can this place be so hot in the day and turn so cold at night anyway?
His sole consolation was the thought that Hector was suffering even more than he was in this heat. The Ostian lordling had to be more than just hot and uncomfortable in that heavy plate armour.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a faint voice calling out to him. "Lord Raven?"
He turned to look behind him and saw Lucius walking swiftly in his direction. "Lucius," he said in greeting when the monk caught up with him. "For a moment there, I thought you were the Master of Rudeness himself."
"I beg your pardon?" Lucius asked, confused.
"I was talking about Wil. He has this annoying idea stuck in his head that he should call me 'sir' or 'senior' and I thought he had added 'lord' to his repertoire of addresses."
"Really? I was under the impression that you somewhat liked him. After all, I keep seeing him talking to you."
"Only because I can't seem to get him to go away." There was a long pause before Raven grudgingly admitted, "He's not all that bad, once he stops prattling nonsense."
"Ah. Here," Lucius said, handing him a broad sheet of linen, "Priscilla thought you might need this. Drape it over your head and shoulders--it's not much, but it does offer some respite against the heat."
"Thank you."
"You know," Lucius said, lowering his voice, "you really ought to spend more time with her."
"I know," Raven answered, "but..."
"But?"
"She wants to hear about our parents. I'm not sure what to tell her--or if I should even tell her anything at all."
"I see."
Raven shook his head. "Perhaps it's best she doesn't know what happened to Father and Mother. After all, the Caerleons knew of their fate and chose not to tell her, and I see no reason why I should do otherwise."
"Is that why you have been avoiding her?"
"One of the reasons." There was a long pause before he continued. "Do you know the name of Hector's man-at-arms?"
"Sir Oswin, you mean?"
"Yes. I thought he looked familiar, then I remembered that he was posted in Cornwell for a short time when I was much younger. This was before your arrival."
Lucius nodded in understanding. "You think he might recognise you."
"Yes. I'm sure that he knows who Priscilla really is, and he probably remembers how she used to follow her brother around all the time back then." Raven allowed a brief smile to appear on his face before he continued, "It's been a great deal of time since he last saw me, but Priscilla and I do share a resemblance. Not much, but it is obvious when we're seen together. It's not all too difficult for him to put two and two together."
Lucius hesitated somewhat before he asked, "What do you think he would do if he did recognise you?"
Raven shrugged. "Hard to say. He might consider me a threat to his charge and inform Uther about me. Who knows what goes on in Ostian minds?"
"I think," Lucius said carefully, "that he would do nothing at all."
"Perhaps, but I'm not taking any chances." Raven grasped the hilt of his sword. "If, at any rate, they wish to be rid of me, they are welcome to try."
"Lord Raven--"
"Enough, Lucius. I will never forgive Ostia for what they did to Cornwell. The only reason I'm here right now, fighting on their side, is because I want to make sure my sister is safe since she intends to stay on with this company till the end of this madness with Nergal. She's also the only reason why I haven't killed that fool brother of Uther's." Raven's eyes narrowed. "But after all this is over, I will settle my score with House Ostia and there is nothing you can say to me that will change my mind."
If Lucius was hurt, the monk hid his feelings well. "As you wish, Lord Raven."
"Sir Raven!"
Both men turned to the sight of Wil running towards them, waving wildly with one hand and holding a waterskin in the other.
Raven groaned. "Wil," he said when the archer joined them, "I thought I told you to stop calling me that."
Wil opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw Raven's expression. "So, Raven," asked the archer, taking a good step back, "is that scowl on your face your normal scowl, or your angry scowl?"
"What do you think?"
Wil took another step backward. "Ah..." he said nervously, "I'll take that as the latter."
The mercenary grunted. "I'm not angry with you. Not yet, anyway."
Lucius smiled. "The heat is just making him irritable, that is all."
Wil nodded, relieved. "It's making most of the company irritable too," he said, "even the knights' horses are in an ill temper. The pegasi aren't too fond of the heat either--I guess they're more suited to cold weather, like in Ilia." The archer held up the waterskin he carried. "Here, I thought you two might welcome some water."
"Gladly," Lucius answered, taking the container and offered it to Raven, who motioned that he should drink first. The monk drank his fill before he passed it back to Raven. The mercenary gulped from the waterskin a few times before he let some water trickle onto his hand and washed his face.
"You didn't run all this way just to give us water, did you?" Raven asked.
Wil looked somewhat sheepish. "Well, Serra was grumbling about how the sun was doing all sorts of awful things to her skin, and then she started talking about how great it would be if she had her own vassals--"
"And so you used whatever excuse you could think of to get away," Raven interrupted, while Lucius was trying very hard to stifle a smile.
"Yeah. Poor Matthew is still stuck there with her," Wil said, grinning. "Serves him right."
"Why?"
"He tried to cheat me at dice the other night. I may indeed be as clueless as you say, Raven, but I'm not a complete fool. No die should have two sixes on it."
"Ah."
---
"I wonder if someone has misplaced his vassals recently," Serra said. "Maybe there's just one lying around here somewhere..."
Matthew sighed. "Not bloody likely."
The cleric pouted. "What makes you so sure that there aren't any lost vassals around here? Who knows, there might be one nearby, just waiting for us to find him!"
Matthew took a deep breath to calm himself before he said, "Serra, we're in the middle of a desert. A wasteland. In case you haven't noticed, that means we're days away from the nearest town. Even if there were any lost vassals nearby, they'd probably be dead." He muttered under his breath, "Lucky for them."
"Hmm? I didn't quite hear that last thing you said."
"Oh, it's nothing important."
"Really?"
"Really. Now--"
Serra never got to hear the rest of what Matthew wanted to say, for he was distracted by a shout coming from the head of the party, then by a series of faint flashes of light in the horizon. "What's going on over there?" he asked, shielding his eyes against the sun with his hand as he looked at the spectacle up ahead.
"It looks like someone's using magic."
"Yes, you're probably right. Erk's spells look something like that when they're unleashed, don't they?" Matthew listened intently for a few moments before he announced, "There's definitely fighting up ahead. I can hear sounds of it! I'm going to take a look!" The thief then started into a run.
"Hey! I thought you never get into brawls! Stay with me!"
"Uh, but Lord Hector might need me on the front lines! I can use a sword too, you know!" Matthew yelled as he continued running.
"Matthew! Come back here!" Serra shouted, but the thief was too far away to hear her, or more likely, ignored her. "Oooh!" she said, stamping her foot in frustration.
---
"Come on, Hector!" Lyndis said, "that man is badly outnumbered--he will need help against those bandits!"
"Hey! Slow down, damn it! I've got all this armour on!"
Eliwood could only look in amazement as his two comrades dashed to meet the enemy, Lyndis leading the way while Hector ran after her, panting slightly in his heavy armour and shouting something about show-offs. Mark and Nils had looks of disbelief on their faces, while Ninian was giggling.
"Where do those two get all their energy?" Nils wondered.
"I have absolutely no idea, Nils." Eliwood fixed his gaze on Mark. "All right Mark, it's time for your skills. Nils, Ninian, stay with the rest of the party. I'll run ahead and make sure those two don't engage the fray just yet."
"Yes, Lord Eliwood," Mark answered and ran back to the main body of the company, Nils and Ninian following closely behind. A few moments later Eliwood could hear him issuing out orders to some of the troops.
Eliwood looked at his two friends ways ahead of him, shook his head and went after them.
---
"Finally!" Wil exclaimed when Mark announced the party were engaging a battle and gave orders for them to join the front lines, "some action!"
"I must join Serra at our positions. Good luck to both of you, and be safe!" Lucius said before he hurried away.
"Let's go, Raven!"
"Wil, I can't believe that you're actually excited about having to do battle in this heat."
"Ah, but think of it this way, Raven! You can at least take out all your frustrations on your hapless enemies! Come on, let's move!"
Raven shook his head and ran after the archer. "The heat must be getting to me," he said to himself, "I actually think he's making sense."
