"In summary, the land will be healed soon?"
"That's right."
"And this is because of your Hatchery?"
"Yep."
"..."
"..."
"You will be healed as well?"
Darren let out a sigh disguised as an exhale at Aenwyn's question but said with a small smile, "I'll be fine. I just wasn't expecting that hard of a beating to be honest."
It was about two hours since Darren and Indulf had sparred. At first, things were going pretty well with Darren managing to get past Indulf's guard a few times. There were even moments that it looked like he would land a hit on him.
Then the king took it up a notch.
The first thing that alerted Darren that he wasn't faring as well as he thought was when he got clotheslined. The second was when he landed flat on his back with his breath leaving his lungs. The last was when Indulf's sword was pointed at his neck. From there on things took a drastic turn.
It turned out, Darren was woefully unprepared for the spar along with the next few as he got his ass handed to him on a silver plate for his trouble. He didn't want to undermine his own achievements such as dealing the final blow to a Rock Eater Wildling or taking down a Rogue Magi, but he did have help at the time. The first was due to using Jack's spear while the second was due to the help of Cooper and Declan.
In conclusion, Darren was lucky so far. He could always fight back with swarms of zerg, but what if there was a time when he couldn't rely on his units? If he was going to have a chance at fighting someone with more experience than him one on one, then he was going to have to train much harder, now more than ever.
That could wait though, for the moment, there were more important matters at hand. Like how Darren planned to lay on the nice ground for as long as possible while he healed. He clenched a hand and winced as a twinge of pain traveled up his arm. Maybe a few more minutes of rest would do the trick.
"I saw that, Darren," Aenwyn admonished with a frown. "You are clearly not as well as you say you are."
Darren winced again. After everything had ended, he was surprised to see that Aenwyn had stayed with him when the others had left. When Aenwyn explained that she was worried for him it made Darren feel a bit guilty, but he still appreciated her actions.
"I said I'll be fine, but thanks for worrying. Anyway, what did you think of my zerg?" Darren asked in an attempt to steer the conversation towards a different topic.
Aenwyn raised an eyebrow clearly knowing what he was doing, but she answered his question regardless. "They were… interesting to see."
"A good interesting or a bad interesting?"
"I am somewhere in between."
That was fair. The general consensus after everyone had seen Darren's zerg was that while his creatures were unordinary in shape, they were still mundane enough to Beta level Wildlings or other summoned creatures that very few would know a difference unless told. Some even said that the insectoid look of the zerg was only slightly more disturbing compared to past experiences. It was actually a bit underwhelming to Darren, to be honest.
The only reaction of note was Head Magi Bennett who kept muttering about needing to update his bestiary, though Darren was hardly paying attention to the wizened man at that point.
The fact that Darren kept the true number of how many units he had secret could have factored into the group's reasoning that Darren's zerg were normal by their standards. Most Summoning Magi had about one to five creatures with them at times. Darren had an army's worth to call upon. Food for thought.
Speaking of his units.
Darren sat up slowly and took in the sight in front of him. The newly spawned overlord had opted to land and was currently sitting next to the Hatchery. The new zerglings had started to play-fight with Cooper and Declan and used the overlord as an oversized playground, much to Darren's private amusement. Lastly, the drone had just floated around aimlessly near the borders of where the creep was covering.
"For such fearsome looking creatures, they are quite peaceful when kept to themselves," Aenwyn remarked.
"Well, you've seen Cooper and Declan act like that before so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that all the zerg can be like them," Darren said. "I only hope that they're just as well received by everyone though. I'm still not sure what the rest thought of them."
"That will be dealt with when the time comes. For now, rest. You are still injured and if your words are to be believed, you will not be here for long."
Darren sighed again but complied. The moment his back touched the ground, the creep began to seep into him, slowly but assuredly speeding up his natural recovery.
Then he shot up straight with a shout, "I almost forgot!" He bent over in pain the next second as his body reminded him of its current state. "Before they all left, Abraham said he wanted to talk about something," Darren ground out.
The knight had said in passing that, if Darren had the time, to come to his office. He had something to offer to him that he might find interesting. Abraham had been vague about what exactly it was, but Darren was still curious to find out about it.
Before he could fully get up though, he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders stop him. "You still need rest before you go," Aenwyn remarked. "I am sure Abraham will understand if you are just slightly late."
"But-"
Before he could continue, Darren felt Aenwyn pull him down gently but firmly until he laid down again. His back met the ground for a second time, but his head was laid higher and on something much softer. Confused at the difference, Darren looked up and froze as his breath caught in his throat.
Aenwyn looked down at him as his head rested on her lap. "It may not be the exact situation," she said slowly, "but just like how you told me days ago that I needed rest, I am telling you that you must rest as well. Keeping your body in pain will only serve to hinder your efforts later on."
Darren was silent as he processed her words. Then he released the tension from his body a moment later and relaxed. "You're right," he said. "Besides, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I fought back." His eyes met hers and he smiled. "Thanks, Aenwyn."
She gave a small smile of her own and patted his head. "You are welcome, Darren."
Taking in a breath, Darren closed his eyes and felt his body become somewhat lighter. In mere moments he drifted off to sleep with a softly hummed melody in his ear and a hand gently resting on his head.
Abraham looked over the document with an analytical eye before signing the paper and placing it on a nearby stack on his desk. He then took a document from the opposite end of the table to repeat his actions before leaning back and stretching his arms over his head. A quick look out his window told him that the day was turning to night, the sun soon setting to its twilight hours.
His eyes eventually turned to a nearby letter with the infamous symbol of Serenity stamped on it. If what was written on it was correct, then the information that he had found out from it was more than worrying.
His thoughts then turned to the Summoning Magi who he wouldn't hesitate to call a new friend. Abraham had asked to meet him today, but it seemed that he would have to wait until tomorrow.
BANG
The knight's head snapped to the door in an instant with his sword halfway out its scabbard. He let out a sigh of relief and sat back down when all it turned out to be an out of breath Darren. Abraham took a few deep breaths of his own to calm his racing heart.
"I-I," Darren gasped as he caught his breath. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I was trying to heal then I was talking to Aenwyn and then…" Darren trailed off as a blush slowly formed on his face before he shook his head. "A-Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?"
Abraham stared at the younger man curiously before gesturing to the seats in front of his desk. "Before we talk, have a seat. You seem exhausted."
"T-Thanks." After a few moments, Darren was back to normal. "I tried to run back as soon as I could when I realized what time it was. Is now a good time to ask about whatever it was you wanted to talk about?"
"Your timing is actually perfect. I was just about finished with my work and was about to have a servant tell you to meet me tomorrow. Anyway, I want you to take a look at this." Abraham handed the nearby letter to Darren. As the younger man started to skim over the contents, the knight said, "Before our… confrontation with McKenna, Aenwyn found this letter among his belongings. It details a few happenings that I believe Serenity has had a hand in, but the most important would be the village of Coalfell."
Darren nodded at Abraham's words as he read through the letter. From what he saw, it listed actions taken by Serenity to increase their influence around the kingdom. Coalfell however was mentioned much more often than any other thing in the letter. "What's so special about this Coalfell place?" Darren asked.
"In truth? Nothing," the knight said quickly. "The village is unremarkable, all things considered. It doesn't ask for much, its people are quiet, and it's quite bland. The only way it stands out is that its main export is coal." Abraham's eyes widened as something seemed to cross his mind. "Although, that might be why Serenity is so interested in it."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. A quiet place with very little recognition or care from outside forces would be perfect for an organization like Serenity. If no one knew where to look then they wouldn't be found."
Darren leaned back into his seat as considered Abraham's words. "So what now?"
"Now, I intend to investigate this matter thoroughly," Abraham replied. "With the information in that letter and the backing of King Indulf and Queen Catherine, I have enough reason to go down to Coalfell with a small force to find out why Serenity has so much interest in that village."
"Alright, so you have a plan to hopefully uncover another presence of Serenity. But you still haven't told me why I'm here."
Abraham blinked before letting out a chuckle. "That's right, I forgot. I want you to come with us."
Darren sat up in surprise. "What? Why me?"
"On missions such as this, the group sent is required to have a Magi accompany them. It usually increases the chances of success along with the chances that everyone comes back alive." Abraham nodded over to Darren and added, "You've worked with my group well so far and I trust that you'd continue to do so. So, what do you say? Will you join us?"
It only took a second for Darren to think. "I'll be ready. When and where do you want me?"
"Wonderful. Then in a few days, get to the front gate and we'll leave just after dawn. I sent a messenger out earlier to get Gilbert and the rest to join us. After that, we'll get to Coalfell to find out what's happening as easily as possible. If not," Abraham paused before continuing, "well, let's just hope it goes smoothly."
Darren nodded but stopped before leaving the room. "Since it's going to be some time before we leave, would you be opposed to me bringing along some… friends?"
As the sun slowly climbed into the sky, Darren let out a yawn as Cooper and Declan padded behind him. Today was the day that he would join up with the group that was investigating Coalfell. As he got to the gate, he realized that he was the first to show up. Darren shrugged and took a seat on a nearby box, Cooper and Declan opted to rest at his feet.
Turning his head to the sunrise, Darren thought about what had happened in the past few days. After Abraham had told him about Coalfell, Darren had started to train in earnest. Instead of using trees or rocks as he had done before at his base near Counter, Darren had asked if Abraham would be able to help him, something the older knight had said he would happily do.
In that time, Abraham had started Darren with the training regimen that his knights went through. After that, there was sparring practice with a few people that Abraham judged good enough in order to see how well Darren would fare against trained combatants. In short, he was mediocre. It wasn't the trainwreck that sparring against Indulf was but it wasn't anything too good either. He could overpower his fights against younger recruits, but the technique employed by more experienced knights would win out instead. Still, Darren found the experience invaluable and the lessons he learned to be just as noteworthy.
"Oh hey, Darren!"
Turning to the shout, Darren saw Jones waving at him with a group of knights following behind him. As he returned to wave, he also saw Gilbert and Abraham quietly discussing something near the back.
"Are we all ready to go?" Darren asked as he hopped off the box.
Gilbert nodded to Abraham and took a few men with him somewhere. "After we get the horses then we'll set off," Abraham replied. "I expect it to be about noon once we get to Coalfell. In the meantime, make sure that you have everything." The older knight walked away to speak with the rest of the knights after.
"I didn't think you would be here," Jones said. "I was thinking that you would be in Vasilikos a little longer studying magic or something."
"Eh, not really. Abraham asked me to come and there wasn't anything I needed to do, so I was free."
"Well, it'll be nice to have you with us."
The two continued to chat, most of it being about the upcoming mission until Gilbert returned with horses for everyone. The journey to Coalfell was slow going as nothing of note happened until they arrived at the village.
Like Abraham predicted, the group arrived at the village by noon. Darren noted that it was of similar size to Counter, but there were some very large differences to the place.
There was no wooden wall surrounding the village. Instead, half of the village was surrounded by a medium sized hill while the other half was left open. At the back of the village, Darren spotted what looked like the entrance of a mine. The buildings were small and made of wood, something comfortable enough for a small family to live inside peacefully. There were tools for mining scattered around the place.
It took a moment for Darren to realize, but there was something unnerving him as he observed the village. And then it hit him.
It was silent.
Darren scanned around the village again but failed to find anyone. There were no children playing in the streets, no people working some designated job. There wasn't even smoke coming out of the chimneys of the houses to tell that anyone was there. It was dead silent.
To the side, Darren saw Gilbert urge his horse to trot up to Abraham's to speak to him. "Abraham."
"I know," the senior knight replied tersely.
"What do we do?"
Abraham was silent as he observed the village for a few more moments before ordering, "I want us split into groups to cover the area faster. For all we know, we just came at the wrong time and everything is fine, but I don't want to leave it to chance. We'll reconvene in the village center after an hour to relay our findings. Keep your eyes peeled, I don't trust how quiet it is."
In the end, it was decided that they would be split into groups of three. Darren's group consisted of Gilbert, Jones, and himself. Instead of having Cooper and Declan with him, Darren had decided that it would be better for the zerglings to search the village themselves. He knew he could trust the zerglings to do their job.
Once the three arrived at a nearby house, Gilbert knocked on the door. After no one came to answer, the knight tested the door to see if it was locked.
CREAK
The door opened slowly without hindrance. Gilbert looked at the two behind him before going in. "Stay alert and keep your weapon up." Darren and Jones heeded the knight's words and followed close behind him.
The first thing Darren noticed in the house was that it was clean. There was no furniture that had been destroyed or anything that indicated that the residents were in distress when they had left. Gilbert went into one of the bedrooms while Jones went to the kitchen. Darren was still looking around when he heard Jones raise his voice.
"Hey, I think I found something!"
Darren went to the kitchen just as Gilbert arrived. Like the rest of the house, the room seemed undisturbed. Jones however was looking at a nearby table with food.
"Look," the younger knight said as he pointed. "All this stuff is still set out, but it's all cold."
Taking a look for himself, Darren nodded. A meal of some kind of stew had been laid out neatly on the table. While that by itself wasn't very interesting, Jones' observation of its current state was.
"It looks like whatever happened must have been just a few hours ago," Darren said.
"Correct," Gilbert agreed. "Have you two found anything else of note?" At their shaking heads, he huffed. "Me neither. It seems we'll still need to search for clues then."
And that was exactly what they did for the rest of the hour. In each house, they found something similar to the first. There were signs that someone was living in the place, but their disappearance was still a mystery to them. It continued to lend credence to the idea that whatever happened must have occurred just the day before.
Just as Darren was coming to the conclusion that they wouldn't find anything else, he felt a ping come from Cooper. A brief image of a door nearly hidden by a crate flashed through his mind along with a questioning feeling.
Realizing what Cooper was waiting for, Darren sent his orders. Wait for me. I'll be there soon. He felt a ping of acknowledgment before the connection was cut.
"Hey, guys," Darren said, quickly grabbing the other two's attention. "I might have a lead."
"How?" Jones asked.
"Just trust me on this." Before they could ask any more questions, Darren went to find Cooper. The two knights glanced at each other before following him.
After a few minutes of walking, Darren found Cooper standing guard at the door of one of the houses. The zergling trotted up to his master and let out a little bark before going back into the home. As Darren walked in he took note of his surroundings. Visually it was similar to the others in shape and setting, the only difference being that there were far more wooden crates stacked in here with very little room to maneuver.
Cooper began to navigate through the crates and Darren followed him just as Gilbert and Jones arrived. Moments later, they stopped at what seemed to be a dead end until Cooper started to prod at one of the nearby crates. Looking at it closer, Darren saw the nearly hidden door from the image that Cooper had sent to him earlier. Getting next to the crate, Darren pushed it to the side to reveal that the door was kept closed with a rusted padlock.
"Step aside Darren," Gilbert said as he pulled out his sword. "I have this." With a quick swing, Gilbert broke the padlock and slowly opened the trap door before backing away. When nothing jumped out of it, the three inched toward it tentatively to see a ladder leading down.
Darren shrugged and began to climb down the ladder where he found himself in a room that was much more spacious than the one above.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were made with stone rather than wood like the house above it. On the left, Darren saw cupboards filled with jars and strange materials. Looking at it closer revealed that the materials ranged from dried plants to bones and small limbs. On the opposite side of the room was a table with what looked like alchemy equipment. It was an absolute mess with how various glasses and tools seemed to be laid around haphazardly with no sense of order anywhere, a stark contrast to the careful placement of materials on the cupboards.
At the end of the room was a desk and chair, both made of wood. A brass candle holder sat on the corner of the desk with melted wax pooled around it. There were some papers strewn about the desk as well, but the main item that took Darren's attention was a leather bound journal. He flipped it open to find entries written in neat cursive. He began to read the first passage.
Day 1
My arrival to this town has gone well as no one seems to have suspected anything suspicious of my coming here. I have to admit, I had my doubts that this village would be suitable for my needs but my thoughts were unfounded. My patron has pulled through with his side of the deal and once the supplies arrive it will be time to fulfill mine.
I cannot wait.
The next few passages generally followed the same as the first so Darren flipped pages until something new came up. He paused for a moment.
Day 8
It's here, it's finally here!
The materials I have requested came in the middle of the night just an hour ago. It was disorienting being woken up so suddenly and I was about to give whoever was at my door a piece of my mind for their rudeness, but the packages they possessed more than made up for it.
The experiments will begin at once!
A large splotch of dried liquid covered the rest of the page and the next few over as if something had spilled on it. Darren turned pages until he came to a page that was clean.
Or after a good night's rest at least, just to be safe.
He snorted as he read the last line before continuing.
Day 15
I've made some progress into my experiments, though there have been a few difficulties.
The first few were catastrophic failures and resulted in the complete destruction of the subjects. My most recent subject has responded better to the tests, but it seems that this one will have to be discarded soon. The current outcomes are not nearly preferred, but they point me in the right direction. I'm going to need more eggs soon though.
Day 27
I have finally found a solution that leads to acceptable results among the test subjects. While those raised in the wild are less than satisfactory, the ones trained and nurtured here are much more reliable than their counterparts.
I knew that such results could be achieved, yet the naysayers called me a madman. Those that scorned me will rue the day they did so and I will once again be at my rightful place. I just need to find some "volunteers" to assist me now.
After the previous entry, everything devolved into illegible scribbles that Darren didn't even bother trying to read. He just kept flipping until the entries became much cleaner.
Day 73
My sponsor has become quite agitated as of late and while I cannot blame them, it is still very annoying how they continue to pester me for updates on my progress. Thankfully, I believe I have finally done it.
The subjects are responsive to my methods with little to no complications. I have sent the first batch of acceptable quality to the location my sponsor has provided while I kept my originals. It really makes no logical sense why I hold on to what amounts to failures, but there is a sense of pride as I behold them.
Food however is one major complication that I have yet to solve as the subjects consume far more than projected expectations. Perhaps the village can provide.
Darren stared at the last entry with confusion and a bit of dread. He didn't like what the journal was insinuating, but he was more than sure that whoever the author was had a hand in the disappearance of the villagers.
He looked up from his reading to see Gilbert and Jones searching through the other parts of the room. They were investigating the various materials on the nearby shelves with both knights seemingly confused at what they were looking at.
"You might want to take a look at this," Darren said, grabbing the attention of the knights. He handed the journal over to them.
As the two read the entries of the journal, Jones seemed to fall further and further into confusion. Gilbert on the other hand had a hard look the entire time. Once they reached the end of it, Gilbert frowned and tapped the cover for a few moments before thinking aloud.
"It's clear that whoever wrote this was up to no good if they chose to hide their actions so thoroughly. However, whatever this person was doing isn't obvious either." He nodded to Darren approvingly. "Overall, a good find. We should bring this to Abraham."
The knight put the journal away and began to climb out of the room with Jones just behind him. Darren went to follow them, but just before he left he looked back at the room. With a small frown on his face as he took in the place one last time, he climbed up the ladder.
A/N: Writer's block sucks. For some reason I just couldn't find a way to write the beginning that made me a hundred percent happy. Everything after is just from spurts of writing so it may feel disjointed at times. Hopefully a bit of setup fixes things. Ramble.
Shameless plug-in: I have another story if anyone is interested. It's a Minecraft one titled An Extended Vacation. :P