Rayla and Callum joined Helmond at his table. They were both annoyed. The prince had spent the night sleeping on the floor, jealous of Rayla in her bed.
What he obviously didn't admit to himself was that he could've talked to her and figured out why she wouldn't tell him what was going on.
"Morning", the two said in grouchy unison.
"Indeed", intoned Helmond, stuffing his face with oats.
"They are not morning people", Selchin mouthed at Talaar behind the bar. He couldn't do anything other than shrug.
Callum's inability to let her little secret go unresearched was starting to annoy Rayla. When he had asked about it again this morning, she had considered just telling him. But, maybe forgetting the whole thing was a better idea. Who knew if he would even appreciate her effort? She sighed, somewhat downtrodden.
Callum settled for some moonberry juice and an omelette. Rayla chowed down on a cheese and fruit platter.
"May I inquire what your discussion has yielded?", Helmond asked after they had finished eating in relative silence.
"We're goin' to do it.", Rayla said firmly.
"Excellent. I wish to repeat my promise of attempting to spare their lives if possible. We are going to start our operation in the afternoon once the night watch has had some time to rest.", he got up, "I will see you in the town square then, Sicarius.", turning to the prince, he said, "Please come with me."
The prince followed the officer with a confused look at his girlfriend who watched them leave with a quizzical, almost distrustful glance.
They entered the barracks where four of the eight guards stationed here were busy eating breakfast, in full armament.
"I would like you to wear this. It's a light armor and body suit made for scouts but it will serve you better than those human plain clothes. It is not as… dressy… as the Sicarius' uniform, but it will offer you some amount of protection."
Callum accepted the gift thankfully, under the watchful eye of the soldiers. Helmond guided him outside. The prince weighed his options for a moment, then asked, "Helmond, you saw that book, right? What is it about? Rayla is being short with me and I don't know how to get her to talk. She's never been this guarded with me."
Helmonds mien sagged. He was not going to do this. "This is something you need to figure out with her, not me. I am the last person you will want to ask for advice on how to talk to the people sharing in your secrets."
The door closed in Callum's face. Frustrated, he made his way back to the inn.
Talaar was behind the bar, stocking it, while exchanging amused barbs with his summand Selchin in the kitchen. "Hey Callum! What can I get you?", he asked cheerfully.
The prince dropped the armor on the bar. "An explanation, actually. Rayla got that book from you and now she's just being… weird. Secretive. She lied to me yesterday. I thought we were beyond that."
The barkeeper and his summand regarded him with some upset. Talaar scratched his head, "Callum, that's probably something she considers a secret shared between you. You can't just drop that on us."
"I… I'm sorry, Talaar, I don't have a good handle on how to ask these sorts of things from you."
The keeper nodded, "I guess humans aren't as worried about their inner world?"
"No. I just really need some advice, this is driving me crazy!"
Talaar looked at the prince, then at Selchin. The latter shrugged encouragingly, then got back to the kitchen. "You have been together for… how long?"
"Three months. Oh, unless you mean, a couple", Callum counted mentally, "Around two weeks?"
"I see.", he chuckled, "That's not enough time to really trust your partner without question, is it?"
Callum shrugged. "It's not that I don't trust her, it's just that…", he wrangled for words but couldn't find any.
"... you don't trust her.", Selchin finished his sentence from the kitchen door and dipped back inside.
"Get out of here, you! Callum, you'll have to believe that what she's doing isn't going to hurt you. She likes you a lot and from what I understand you've been through a lot", Talaar said.
"Oh, I'm not worried she's going to hurt me, I'm worried she's going to do something that ends up hurting her. She does that. Puts too much on her shoulders and doesn't tell me."
Talaar shook his head. "I don't think you have to worry about what she's doing. She's just doing a bit of research and… hm.", he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I think saying more would give it away. Callum. Give her the satisfaction of surprising you. Learn to trust her without a lengthy explanation, she means well. Plus, you would think that a Siclaribus or whatever her rank is would know what's good for her."
Selchin popped out of the kitchen. "There's a lesson you still need to learn about yourself!"
With that Talaar got back to his barbs and Callum resolved that he was not going to bring it up again. Now he just felt like a jerk.
Of course he trusted her. He should've just talked about it yesterday.
Rayla was pacing a groove into their room's floor when he got back.
"What did you guys talk abo… oh. He gave you armor."
"Yes, and he said nothing much else other than that your outfit is `dressy`."
She snorted. "Yeah! The Auxilia likes to think they understand armor design for Assassins, but they really don't. Even their lightest armor is still too heavy and inflexible for our fightin' style.", his girlfriend answered with a flourish, her fist passing by close by his face, which made him flinch.
"Careful, save the walloping for that bounty hunter.", he quipped.
Without another word, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"I'm terrified."
He nodded, cold fog in his chest. "Me too. I mean, if he can hurt you he can pretty well kill all of these soldiers on his own."
She shook her head. "The Milites know how to deal with these kinds of enemies head-to-head in the open. He is terrifyin' to me because when I fought him for the first time, I didn't have an out. I was basically dead on the ground. I was like a doll to him! He could've just shoved me into the fire."
Leaving his shoulder to face him, she continued with a small smile, "But, then you shoved the fire on us. Thank you.", she kissed him, "Please promise me you will be careful out there and get out of the way if he comes for me. All we need to do is keep both you and Zym alive."
He shook his head. "We've been over this. You won't be fighting them on your own."
"Callum, how can I live with myself if he kills you or Zym?", suddenly, she erupted in breathy sobs, "I thought I lost you. When Helmond attacked. I thought you were dead. I can't even describe that feelin'!"
He welled up.
She hugged him even tighter. "If you get to make demands, so do I. I let you fight, you promise me not to die. Don't you dare even gettin' hurt."
He didn't know what to say. In truth, he felt searing guilt for letting the dragon slip from him in the first place and was determined to at least be helpful as a distraction.
He palmed his eyes. "We're going to have to promise that to each other. No heroics. Just keep them distracted long enough for Helmond to save Zym."
She nodded but didn't let him go.
"Rayla, I'm sorry about this morning. I should just let you do what you have to. I'm sure it's gonna be an amazing surprise, whatever it is."
She smiled at him, tearfully, "Thank you."
After a moment, she frowned, "Wait, who told you I was setting something up for you?"
"Uh. You did. I mean, not in so many words, just… For example, you dropped the book and were all flustered."
She flushed a deep indigo, then stuttered, "Th-Tha- the, uh, the book, yeah, uh, that… has nothin' to do with my surprise!"
His girlfriend laughed nervously.
He wanted to ask so badly, her reaction making the secret so much more interesting. It took much effort to leave it alone.
Then, they waited. It was the worst part of the day. Finally, noon arrived and Selchin served them lunch. After they had eaten, they headed out to meet the guards in the town square.
Helmond and Jonin were mustering their troops, testing the seat of armor straps and cleaning weapons. The formation of Milites drew worried glances from the townspeople.
"We are going to pretend to patrol and then come about to join you and Jonin. You will be tied to maintain the appearance of you being prisoners. Hand your weapons to the Octurion."
Rayla passed her blades to the diminutive chief of the guard. Helmond looked at Callum expectantly. "Your primal stone."
The young man smirked and shook his head. "I don't have one"
"Don't be absurd, boy!", Helmond growled, "We do not have time for your foolish attempts at subterfuge!"
Callum drew Aspiro, showing both palms of his empty hands.
The Octuria's soldiers fell silent, gaping.
"Inconceivable", the officer said, now impressed, "How?"
"I'm not really sure yet. I'm the only human I know who can do this and I learned it… little more than two months ago."
Helmond shook his head. "There's depth to your kin that I have not expected.", he then turned to his soldiers and quietly said, "You see what we're fighting for? It's nothing less than a chance at lasting peace. Humans have changed. I may not like it, but these two young adventurers are proof that we can find common ground if we try hard enough. Most of you know what it is like to lose loved ones to the grind at the Breach. We have blamed humanity for these losses and the blame is well given - but it is now on us to ensure these sacrifices were not for naught and that there may be fewer in the future."
There were some quiet nods.
"I know it is customary to announce the departure of the guard, but given the circumstances, let's do it quietly.", Helmond started, then the entire Octuria saluted.
Callum felt Rayla move next to him. She did not salute but nonetheless stood more straight-backed than normal. Sometimes her military training shone through and it was downright creepy. How much conditioning had she had?
Jonin wrapped some rope around their wrists. Rayla immediately tested that they were not actually tied.
"Prudent", said Helmond with appreciation.
Then, he led the Octuria out through the archway, only two soldiers remained to stand guard.
Six Milites, two officers, one old and the other injured, plus two youngsters who refused to kill - Helmond was secretly quaking at the fearful odds. He called himself to reason, remembering the fact that this was not a band of the Lucid, but a heavily armed unit of the Auxilia. It would work. With that, he turned away from the direction of the meeting point Jonin had indicated to him and marched his unit down the road.
Rayla and Callum walked in front of the Octurion, in the opposite direction. Their steps felt heavy and foreboding in the quiet of the autumn forest.
Jonin led them through a long stretch of woods and finally exited into a clearing.
Two humans, looking like they were roughly hewn from granite, stood at the opposite end. The man was sitting on a freshly felled tree stump. Beneath his gigantic legs, Zym skittered, biting at the thick rope that held him tied to the hilt of one of two massive blades, sunk in the earth. The woman stood next to him, cradling a loaded crossbow like a baby.
"We have come.", the officer called out, "Make the exchange."
"'preciated. Ye can leave now - if yer fast enough."
A bolt fired by the woman struck the elf square in the forehead, killing her. They hadn't even given her time to close her surprised mouth.
"Kel, really?", the man tilted his head at her, "That wasn't sportin', but heck of a shot!"
Callum and Rayla were horrified.
"Bah, sport. Bad enough I'll've blue stuck to me armor for days from this 'un.", she threw a hand in Rayla's direction, then turned to Callum, "Nice liverie, Boy! Good of them bruise-skins to dress ye for the dance! Why don't ye come spend some time with yer own kind? Could leave you standin' if ye wanted?"
Callum quaked with anger, nodding his head at Jonin's lifeless form. "You're monsters! She only did what you asked!"
Kel shrugged, "Itched me earlier, that urge. Didn't wanna let'er go the first time. Still mean it though, walk away from the little wench and we'll keep ye around."
"She's my girlfriend!", he shouted and Rayla believed to see lightning jumping between his still tied fingers.
Both humans looked furiously disgusted. The man got up and walked over to them. "Ya little race traitor…", he got very close to Callum's face, "love's for people, not animals."
At this, Callum exploded in a hail of sparks.
Helmond saw a bright light shine through the trees and ordered the Octuria forward. The humans in the clearing had started attacking. The prince was unguarded but tied to Moon Cleaver's hilt. Scanning the scene, Helmond saw the Octurion on the ground, realizing immediately that she was dead. Ithral was apparently swinging Elfdread at Callum blindly who tumbled and rolled as best he could to avoid the singing mass of metal.
On the other side, he could see the Sicarius, caught in a game of cat and mouse with Kel Ortis, escaping her fists only occasionally. As he watched, the bounty hunter's knife barely missed her again. They were hopelessly outmatched. Him because he was not made for fighting. Her because she refused to stoop to Kel's level.
"Engage!", he shouted and his soldiers fell upon the surprised bounty hunters.
"Attack!", came the command from the other side of the clearing.
With total and utter dismay, Helmond watched as his guard charged into the clearing only to clash with another Auxilia unit, wearing different colors, white instead of brown. This was a unit of Templarii, the personal guard of the Interpreter, and it looked to be three times the strength of his own.
Chaos broke out on the clearing as the three factions engaged in a disturbing free for all.
Where Ithral stood, elves of both banners were clubbed aside by Elfdread, folded like so much cardstock. Helmond's eyes still scanned the battle field. There was no sign of the human boy, but the Sicarius held her ground against Kel Ortis who was now busied with Milites of both forces. The dragon prince was unguarded - but there was Callum now, untying him from Moon Cleaver.
Helmond breathed. Then, he drew his blade. This slaughter of the people he had led was all on him.
Rayla's heart was pounding in her throat. This was not what she was trained for. Mass fights were like meat grinders, sharp edges and points everywhere. Without a shield, she was exposed to all of them. She decided that her best strategy would be to disengage from the fight. Kel's knife painfully tore into her upper left arm as she attempted rolling out of her incoming stab. She threw dirt at the human who shielded her eyes and threw a punch that hit Rayla square in the face, staggering her. The human's knife then came back around, trying to stab the elf's side, which she was barely able to avoid. The blade's hilt snagged Rayla's chest guard and staggered her further, sending her to the ground. From Kel's left, a white bannered elf appeared, thrusting his pilum in her general direction but missing. Kel turned to him, breaking the spear in the crook of her arm. "Can't ye see I'm busy?!" She janked the soldier towards her and stabbed him in the visor of his armor. He collapsed. When the human turned around again, Rayla was gone. "Darn."
Rayla was hiding behind a thick tree, clutching her wounded arm and trying to stem her nosebleed by looking up at the canopy. Why was this white clad unit attacking the brown guard from Larwein? Where was Callum?
The fight raged around Ithral. While the elves were killing each other, he was busy evening the odds for the brown ones. "Ye wanna tell me what the devil is happenin' here?", he yelled at the three elves he was currently fighting. They gave no answer beyond attacking.
Kel whirled around, just in time to see her husband fall to the ground with multiple spears sunk into his back. "No!" She started fighting with a renewed effort, fury driving her hand.
Rayla was surveying the battlefield. She still couldn't see Callum and leaned back against the tree again, sniffling. Suddenly, he showed up in her field of view from the left, dropping to the ground to embrace her. A bundle of soft white fur and smooth scales was struggling between them.
She sniffled, tears of relief running down both their cheeks as they looked at the dragon in their laps. They then started looking for a better place to hide. There was a ditch nearby in which the three nestled, following the battle incredulously. It was gruesome to watch and made less and less sense by the minute.
Kel was embroiled in a three way fight between Helmond and a Templar Milite. All over the clearing, elves were still fighting and the town guard was quite clearly loosing.
"Templarii! Withdraw!", came the command from beneath the trees and the white-clad soldiers disengaged, retreating to a safe distance.
Rayla counted. Of the roughly twenty-four enemies that had shown up, eleven were still standing, some wounded. Given that four of the six town guards were still alive and neither Helmond nor Kel appeared to sport any injuries, that was a terrible attrition rate. Ithral had been a force on his own.
After the chaos, the silence was deafening, even with the moans of the wounded. The bounty hunter had been confused at first but now sprung to action, grabbing Moon Cleaver and running off into the woods.
"Third Quadrilia in Pursuit!"
Four Milites fell out of the Templar's lines and went after the human.
A young, proud looking Elf in heavy, ornate armor stepped out from under the trees. Callum thought he looked somewhat familiar.
"Legate Helmond! I am impressed by your defense, but appalled by the company you keep."
The Legate's blade clattered loudly to the ground. His voice was like rock.
"Torlan?"