From the last Events the Red Dragons had met Blaidd and Iji to repair their gear or at least try to...with Rey's condition in the open, will he live to learn from this? and why exactly does the village chief want revenge on him? Will the crew find out? and if they do, what will change?
Chapter 29:
Sins Of The Past...
Feoh...Free knight's healer tent...
Rey, woke up with a loud cough, looking around, vision blurry...he wiped his eyes to find himself in a tent, body covered in bandages...
'Where am I...?' spotting the gold knights on patrol outside, 'Guess I made it back, but who dragged me here...?' he mused, as the tent flap opened with a healer walking in.
"You're awake, good, now I can get back to my duties." the healer walked back outside as someone else entered.
Rey blinked twice at the newcomer, barely any time to react to what was said to him, "Um...who are you...?" he asked calmly.
"The name's Sylla." she smiled, "It's good to see you recovered from the Scarlet Rot."
The young knight let a bitter chuckle out, "Thank you, you'd be a rare few...given that healer's attitude, things haven't changed..." sitting up, "The Name's Reynold Von Musel, a pleasure,"
"Well, you do strike me as a Golden Order tight-assed good boy... but it's nice to know that's only an armor that you were wearing, it's not like you're loyal as the same knights that wear the same armor, right?" she smiled before stretching and yawning.
Rey blinked twice at that, "I...don't know what this "Golden Order" is but, I was a holy Knight when I came here, yes, still am from the looks of it...But I'm trying to join Niall's knights and so far...we have a rocky relationship..."
"Does that mean that you aren't like 'I live for only the light until my death' kind of guy?" she asked.
Rey shook his head, frowning, "No, it's got nothing to do with faith or light, that's not why I joined the holy knights, it was to honor my family name, my father served and his father before him,"
"That means that you're ready to serve the famed Dark Queen?" she asked again, raising an eyebrow.
The silver-haired man slightly scowled at her, "I didn't say that...In fact, that would shame our family name, considering we've been fighting alongside the Levantines for decades now..." before thinking on something, "I was SUPPOSED to have gone to the final battle there with the Captain, but I haven't heard much since..."
"So you'd rather stay with the faction that causes oppression rather than fight alongside the oppressed, I see..." Sylla sighed before adding with a chuckle, "At first, I despised the Recusant because one of them killed me as I hated her at my last breath. But then, I realized what she told me; that if she had to become Elden Lord, she'd have to prove her strength by killing other Tarnished. And the irony was that she was honest with herself, she killed Tarnished, gets stronger, and doesn't deny it. But you, you lie to yourself saying that you're worthy of these knights around you, worthy to join them while you continue to lie to yourself. That doesn't change the fact that I cured you from the Scarlet Rot, even if I begin to see why they don't like you. Well, I'll let the hypocrite lie to the world while I go see if anyone needs my help."
Rey gave a bitter chuckle, "Heh...and what if I didn't want to be one anymore...? A holy knight... No one ever asks what I felt joining them or how feel now with them...maybe in the beginning, when things made sense... I enjoyed being one, protecting people and fighting the good fight..." frowning at himself "But now...? I'm not too sure of that now, especially lately...times like this, I wish I would've gone to the black fortress...I would've died, sure, but that would've been a mercy compared to...everything back there," giving a sad smile, "Thank you for at least being honest..." before turning back over.
"Another brat who wants to be pitied." Sylla shook her head before leaving the tent.
Reynold shook his head, 'Another one...seems like the universe has it out for me at his point...as if...I'm the Monster...but why?' he mused, lying there, remembering what the Dragonborn told him on the field, scowling, 'And YOU...! I took your advice and look where that got me...I was better off before it and now I'm paying for it...so much for that idea...'
At that moment, Niall got in.
"How're you feeling?" he asked with a concerned tone.
The young knight sat up, "Commander...I feel better and yet...torn at the same time,"
"At least you aren't rotting anymore, huh?" Niall sighed with relief, "You do seem like you fought a walking nightmare."
Rey nodded, "Something like that, I just completed an assignment by Lord Ruthven, who I still," getting out of bed, "Have to get my report to..."
"Lad, don't overwork yourself." Niall said as he put a hand on his shoulder, "Go rest and take a good and healthy meal, take a good night's sleep, then go see the old Ray- I mean Ruthven."
Rey nodded, but remained standing, "I'll take your advice on getting something to eat, I am starving, but there's something I need to ask him...something important,"
"Kid, you just recovered from the Scarlet Rot." Niall said with a serious tone, "Give your body time to rest."
Rey was about to protest, until he sighed, "Alright, I'll wait until tomorrow for the report, can I still get something to eat?"
"Sure thing." Niall nodded, "Go to the inn and say that I sent you, it will help you a little."
Rey nodded and left, putting his cloth shirt on, but leaving the armor heading towards the inn...
Once at the inn, he noticed that none of the people there were paying attention to him as their eyes were glued to the bard who was singing.
The young knight raised an eyebrow at her, 'I see Jenelica's performing...still at it huh? if only the crowd knew how she ACTUALLY was...' heading over to the Bartender, "Excuse me, Captain Niall sent me? I'm here for food,"
"Sure thing." The bartender nodded, "What do you want?"
Rey thought on it, "I'll take some steak, mash potatoes with gravy and some ale, that'll be all,"
"Alright, I'll be back with it." and the bartender left the front.
Meanwhile, people were applauding and asking Jenelica to sing more.
Reynold watched as the crowd cheered and applauded, chuckling to himself seeing how happy there are, 'And yet...she can put those smiles on, something I do envy...'
"What do you want to hear?" the bard asked as she tended an ear toward the crowd.
"Oathbreakers! Oathbreakers!" the crowd cheered.
"The people spoke the answer. And I, as the bard of the people, must sing." she said in a theatrical way before turning to the crowd, "Let's do it!"
The crowd cheered as Jenelica began to sing.
When the song began Rey was still at the counter, watching the bartender bring out his food, sitting it on the counter...
"There you go." the bartender put the food in front of the white-haired boy.
"Thank you," he told the bartender, watching him go back to work before turning around back to the performance, 'For once, I don't mind drifting to her voice...even with the malice with it...'
The longer she sings, the faster time passes... leading to her hearing for the next request.
By the next Song Rey was nearly finished with his food, gulping down his ale, 'They are relentless, at least I'm nearly done eating, compared to Luckwarden, this food is actually better,' taking a bite out of the cut steak.
Thorne, drop-off point...
Volt arrived at the spot where he agreed to have the shipment dropped off, finding a large crate there, making him smirk, 'Guess he kept to his word, now...let's see what goodies he left us...' going over to the crate and cracking it open, finding a whole array of good quality weapons, "Oh, today is indeed a good day! time to call the men here..."
"No need." Gideon walked to him with a purple bell, "Why tire your men, when you can call spirits." After ringing the bell, four strange soldiers appeared and lifted the crate.
The black dog was surprised by his arrival, watching the spirits carry the crate, "Gideon! I thought you would've been searching for something, did you find what you were lookin' for?"
"Not yet." Gideon replied, "The texts that I'm going to need aren't in my hand, so it will need time. But, I do believe that I know where it might be... I'm going to be unavailable for some days, so I thought that I'd better put the Ashes of War first."
"I see, Well while you're doing that, I ought to let you know that the preparations for Feoh are underway, Beasley has done his part well, even managed to pull more than a few knights to our cause, and with these weapons, the battle will go even easier," Volt pointed with a smirk.
"That's if the men are competent enough." Gideon pointed, "How about Niall, did he find a way to remove him from Feoh?"
The Black dog shook his head, "Still has yet to get him out, our little noise back at the fort caused him to show up, allowing him the time needed, but now..." sighing, "He's having issues coming up with something, still wondering why he doesn't just poison him,"
"Niall can't be poisoned easily." Gideon pointed, "And the damage done, won't be enough to kill him. And to make things worse, a Tarnished joined; one that's too dangerous."
Volt raised an eyebrow, "He's got another one of those strange soldiers with him? no matter, if we can get the princess to submit, it won't matter if he's got a weapon like that or not,"
"You should worry." Gideon said as he looked into his eyes, "That woman... isn't any Tarnished. It took another Tarnished that brands the power of Rot and Decay to take her down. If Niall sends her to hunt you... You can be sure that she will find you. Especially since she's a former member of the Night Cavalry."
The mercenary whistled, "That big of a deal huh? Well then, let's hope Beasley can actually get that commander and his new knight out of the city, With them there it'll be much harder to conquer, otherwise the rest of them shouldn't be hard to deal with,"
"It depends on how skilled your men are." the Tarnished replied, "Gloat all you want, if they can't use these Ashes of War, the battle of Feoh will be one that'll put you as a failure."
"We attack a week from now, my men will know how to use these by then, hopefully," Volt added, following the spirits back, "For now, I'll have to figure out how to pay Dong Zhou back for these, maybe another treat like last time?"
"Or you can ask Oboro to hand him some of the finest girls she has." Gideon suggested, "That man is only interested in women and gold."
Volt nodded, "That would be the plan, IF I could get in contact with her... Last I heard she was in Feoh for a while, no idea where she went off to, but that's how she is," he shrugged.
"She's heading to her lair near Ken." Gideon said, "She said something about meeting some friends to sell her merchandise."
Volt frowned upon that, "Really now? I know where that is, I'll make a visit then, been too long since we've seen each other and I know she'll want to catch up," with a grin.
Gideon only shook his head as they got to a cave.
The next day, Ulak Village...
8:00am
The night peacefully passed over, giving birth to a new day, as the villagers carried on...some, however, were still asleep due to their shifts, especially the guards. At Bruk'daz's house, the same could be said for the crew, which is what led to Keelia knocking on their doors...
"S-Sorry to bother you! But I'm here to tell you that the breakfast is ready." She said after knocking again.
There was an audible groan heard from Traysek's door, "Alright...we'll be there...thank you..." his tired voice told her.
The half-orc nodded before heading to the other doors.
After she visited each door, the crew was finally up, getting ready before heading to the main house, the Redguard yawning and throwing on his upper garb, walking out.
Eventually, they made it downstairs to breakfast, sitting around entire plates of food. Some had strawberry pie slices, other plates had chocolate cake with lemon cream as icing on top, and others had cookies on them. In front of each crew member was a bowl of fish soup.
Traysek looked breakfast over with an approving nod, "Making it a point to eat here every morning, Bruk'daz," he joked, picking up his spoon.
"Agreed," Inigo added in, already eating the soup, "This is better than how we make it, almost want to ask how,"
"Can't think of a reason you'd want that, Inigo," Lucien chuckled.
The khajiit snorted, "If that's a cat joke, you're not funny..." he deadpanned.
Yuriana ate a piece of the strawberry pie, "So are we checking up on our gear? it's been the whole night,"
"They should be done by now, Our clothes might be ruined but our weapons should be okay, or close to," Recorder added in, eating the chocolate cake.
"They finished cleaning them yesterday." Dargo pointed, "But you might need to repair them."
The Redguard nodded, "That's good, should be on the minor side when it comes to that, we might decide to check out that ruin Lucien and Ethan were in...depends how sooner or later we get our magic back,"
"Well, that commander did say a day and a half, so possibly today we'll get it back, but it can't hurt to visit it, especially since everything's been cleared out of there," Lucien pointed.
Yuriana sighed, "That might not come back until later on tonight or the next day, so I really hoped you cleared everything out..."
"Well, since we're still waiting on your magic, I can check on Zephry, and find out how she's doing...with any luck, she's recovered from her backlash," Erik said, with a worried expression.
Recorder gave him a look, "As much as I wish for that too, she might be worse off than the rest of us, her own air poisoned her, and that's harder to come back from,"
"From what I heard, they had to move her back to Yamakhroz." Dargo stated, "They need to operate her to replace some organs."
Erik had a shocked expression on his face, "I-I see...it was that bad huh?" eyes going low.
"Hey now, it just means she's back in the city and with some luck, you'll be able to visit when they're done..." Inigo assured.
Traysek nodded, "Assuming we know where the healer's building is there, we've never been, but when we do find it, you'll be able to visit her...if they let you that is, they might not,"
At that moment, Rhea came in full armored and with two double-headed spears that were forming a cross.
The entire table went silent, in shock by what they saw...Traysek visibly gulping..."Um, that's an...interesting outfit to go hunting in..." He nervously chuckled.
"Must be uh...quite the boar, those spears look rare even..." Lucien nervously complimented.
"I just wanted to train to get the rust off of me." the Dark Elf replied, "After all, blood must be drawn out of the coward." She then headed outside.
Recorder watched her leave, slackjawed, "You sure we shouldn't try to...I don't know, change her mind?"
"There's nothing we can say that'll make her consider differently, Rey just better hope he stays out of her radar," Traysek sighed, shaking his head, grabbing a strawberry pie slice, "That's all we can hope for, We've got too much of our own sins to worry about,"
Inigo nodded, "As cold as it sounds, it's true, and that's if we don't fight him as an enemy ourselves, think about it,"
"I am, Inigo, It's a shame too, he seemed to be a decent lad," Lucien added in, "But you're right, we might be enemies the next time we see one another, hard as it may seem,"
Yuriana took the last bite of the strawberry pie, "If it turns out that way, then we take him down too, they'll be no choice in the matter,"
"Perhaps you'd want to see what happened to her sister." Bruk'Daz asked, "I know a ritual that can send your spirits to the past."
Traysek actually thought about this, on one hand, he couldn't judge him but on the other, he had to know how much of a coward he was, remembering what Jenelica told him, before nodding, "I wouldn't mind that, not the first time I've seen someone's past here, but I'm not sure if they could handle it,"
"I imagine it's like an out-of-body experience, never been in that situation before," Inigo added.
"This ritual will cast your spirit into the past." Bruk'Daz explained, "It won't be a memory, but time travel. That's why only your spirit will be sent there."
"I want to see," Dargo stated with a cold resolve.
"Meaning we'll get our own perspective on it, it won't be through someone else's," Lucien put together, "Alright, I'm in, the idea of time travel fascinates me,"
Yuriana nodded, "I'm in too, I might as well see what she meant by calling him a coward, hope it's not as bad as I imagine,"
"Since most of everyone's in on it, I'll join too, I don't want to get anything wrong with this kid," Erik added in.
"Same Erik, now I want to know what happened, just to be sure..." Recorder said, giving Dargo a quick glance.
The others nodded in agreement, Traysek turning back to the Orc...
"Looks like we'll have a full-on class with this," he chuckled, "Alright, after breakfast, we'll undergo this ritual, should be less painful than the dark blade's variant of it,"
"I'll begin in preparing in it." Bruk'Daz got up before looking at Keelia, "Draw the circle."
the Half-Orc nodded before rushing outside.
After some moments, Bruk'Daz was in front of a circle, drawing forms around it.
The group arrived outside and found the large white circle in the middle of the field...
Traysek hummed at it, finding the orc chanting something, 'Must be some ritual, never seen it drawn out like this before, and I've had Vaermina's torpor..."
Once finished, Bruk'Daz turned toward them and said "All you have to do is to get in the circle."
The Redguard raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? That's it? Good to know, the simpler the better," stepping in first.
"To time travel we go!" Lucien cheered, not hiding his excitement, and stepped in.
The others soon followed suit, causing the circle to glow up.
Wind began to pick up as a tornado of sand began to swirl around them. When it's done, they find themselves in a village attacked by the Holy forces and being defended by soldiers of the Dark Army.
Traysek frowned at all the flames burning around the village, "This must be a few years ago...looks like his ritual worked, I'm in a clear mind here..." looking around.
Inigo scanned the area, spotting a small knight, "Over there, look!"
Recorder and the others turned to find a small silver-haired knight, in combat with one of the defending elves, they watched him get knocked into the ground, hard.
"Ouch..." Lucien winced, cringing at the impact...
The Elf was wielding a spear and a short sword.
"I told you that I won't let you pass." the Elf said as the boy got back up and charged her again.
"Fine, then I go through you!" The young Rey yelled in an angry tone, giving a barrage of violent swings, the elf parrying them.
Traysek sighed, watching him struggle, 'He can't get through her defense, it's nearly perfect, at least to him...hmm...'
Recorder watched the armored elf, fend off the child knight, "It's like watching him trying to take his favorite toy back, this is embarrassing..."
The Dark Elf warrior shoved him, unbalancing him before kicking him to a wall, "It takes a warrior to harm me." she then looked up, seeing some sort of signal, "All of the enemy forces are inside..." She hit the ground, creating some sort of grey wall around the village, "Now none of you lot can get past this point."
Rey stumbled, standing up, "Damn you!" he growled, sheathing his sword as two knights approached him, as young as him, "Daniel, Kris! glad you both made it! almost bit it there, where were you?"
"We were caught up between the monsters and the elves here, Looks like they've barricaded the way in, going to be hard getting to our team inside now," The Redhead, Daniel responded.
"You look like Hell, Reynold, did that one elf work you over?" The blonde teased, getting a scowl.
"Shut up! I'll get back at that one as soon as we're in!" Rey snapped, "Speaking of which, what's Commander Claudia doing about this?"
Daniel sighed, "Looking for a way to weaken the walls with our cannons, so far," pausing when one of them went off, hearing the sounds of walls crumbling, "It's a work in progress,"
"Then we join her at the front, surely they need our help more there, come on!" Young Rey said, leading the other boys with him.
The group was watching the scene, The Redguard sighing deeply...
"Looks like we right, they were using child soldiers, I just thought it was only him that age there," He remarked.
Inigo slowly nodded, "He seemed to have friends too, wondered why he never mentioned them,"
"If you think that you can get rid of this wall, you're wrong." The Dark Elf began to advance slowly toward them, "As long as I have a soul, those walls will never fall."
"The Invincible Fortress..." Dargo pointed, "This means that she wasn't fighting using her all..."
Traysek frowned at that, "What do you mean? Does that technique drain you? didn't seem like it did,"
"Yeah, almost like his raise wall spell, except with that, he's gotta focus on the magic constantly, or it goes down," Erik added.
Dargo turned to Traysek, "I believe that you saw something similar, right?" he then turned back to the Dark Elf, who was fending off the three knights, "Cehili trapped the enemy with a barrier that allowed only the ally to pass through... even if it eats at her life force and stamina..."
"Impressive, so the enemy can't leave but allies can come in and help out, that's pretty useful," Yuriana commented, folding her arms, "But very risky, especially against three opponents,"
The Redguard nodded, "Yeah, back at the goblin village, the barrier that kept most of the holy knights out, similar to that...so her life was literally draining from her during this fight," watching Rey duck under a spear swipe, spotting Daniel leaping at her for the kill.
"Now to earn my first mark!" The young Auburn knight shouted, swinging his weapon at her neck.
Cehili maneuvered with a graceful spin that made her evade the strike without a scratch before impaling the knight.
"Even then... she knows that she has to push herself to the extreme to make sure that the civilians survive." Dargo pointed as Cehili kicked the corpse away.
Rey watched his friend roll over lifelessly, "Daniel!"
"No!" Kris screamed, before they both rallied up together, in a stance, "Okay Rey, it's just us two left, Our victory decides if the rest get in or not, let's combine our attacks!"
The young knight nodded, before they both charged at her, giving powerful swings in a sequence, going for her sides.
"You are still years before touching me." Cehili disappeared in a puff of smoke before appearing a few feet from them, "Taste this spear," She dragged her spear on the ground and holy spears erupted beneath the blonde knight.
The spears impaled Kris, as they dissipated, leaving him in a pool of his own blood...
Rey gritted his teeth in anger, gripping his sword even harder, "Those were two of my friends, you're going to pay!" glaring at her with so much hate.
"And those you killed here meant nothing to me?" Cehili asked, "You invaded this village, killed many men and young boys, captured women and young girls... and you dare talk like I was in the wrong for defending myself?"
The child knight growled, charging at her with angered blind swings, "Speaking as if you're innocent, the fact you all serve the dark queen is enough!"
The Redguard frowned, "Very different compared to how we met him...I expected Naive, but this..."
Cehili was parrying him like it was nothing.
"She's about to begin to feel the drawback of using the Invincible Fortress..." Dargo stated before hearing cries coming from a house nearby, "This is... this must be what distracted her."
When Cehili noticed the child, she kicked Rey hard toward a house, rending him unconscious, before breaking into the house where the child was and getting her out.
"You don't have to worry." The Dark Elf smiled before a Minotaur, that Recorder recognized, was rushing toward her.
"I remember him, we met when were looking for Keelia, looks much...younger..." She commented, watching the scene.
"Hey! Cehili!" the Minotaur arrived, panting, "How're you doing?"
"About now, fine." the Dark Elf answered, "But keeping this wall is too much..."
"Don't worry, only a little, and the civilians will be out of danger." the younger Brathur stated, "Still, to separate them into small groups... not bad."
Cehili handed him the child and said, "Take her to safety, I'll stay here to keep this barrier up." she then looked at the child and smiled, "Don't worry, the mister here will take you to a safe place."
After taking the small Dark Elf, Brathur looked concerned as he said, "Make sure to return back to Ulak."
"Don't worry about it." Cehili gave a thumb up to the Minotaur before a blade pierced her guts from behind.
Behind her, stood a bloodied Rey, with a new cut running down his cheek, "That...was for...my friends..." twisting the blade and tearing it out, watching her go down, huffing angrily, eyes bloodshot and crazed.
Cehili got up painfully and looked at the knight, "Didn't know that there would be a coward." she smiled.
"Cehili!" the Minotaur was about to grab his weapon.
"No!" the Dark Elf snapped, "Go take the girl to safety, I'll-" she stumbled before using her spear to get back, "I'll buy as much time as I can."
Brathur stood there for a moment before mumbling, "Sorry..." he then ran through the barrier with the child crying while trying to reach Cehili.
"No need to be sorry." Cehili smiled before getting in position, "Let's do this... coward."
"You don't get to call me that!" Young Rey roared, charging at her as she struggled to maintain her stance, fending him off.
Lucien stood there, bewildered, "I don't get it...she's already footsteps in the grave, why go at her like that...?"
"It's Because she's weakened, he can go at her like that...he wasn't as confident as before, since he dealt that blow however..." Traysek explained, watching her bleed profusely, "Now suddenly he can contend...but you're right, it is wrong to go at someone at their weakest...especially when they're bleeding out like she is...one would indeed call that cowardly...Lady Rhea wasn't wrong,"
"Gods, we don't even kill our enemies like that, we'll backstab them, sure, but we make sure they're down, either by knocking them out or killing them then and there," Yuriana added, "At this point, he has to know she's suffering, from both the wall and the wound..."
Inigo shook his head, "I think he knows, but doesn't care...to him, she's the evil one that killed his friends, his rage is proof of that...but horribly misplaced, after all, these aren't lands they are defending, but invading... It's hard to show sympathy for someone like that, even if they're child soldiers..."
Erik scowled at the whole scene, "The moment he wielded that blade he stopped being a child, I'd kill him myself if I was there...this is worse than you guys with the Gnolls... At least you three a chance to be forgiven, this? there's no forgiving this..."
Rey managed to get through her defenses, slashing at her side, drawing blood, sweeping low at her legs, and scoring a large cut on the left leg and the shoulders, nearly piercing her neck with a stab, making her stumble back.
"Heh, seems like I won't drink with you again, Dargo..." she mumbled as she parried another strike, "If only I had a cute girl to send my last thoughts to..." she then blocked another hit before deflecting it to the ground.
At that moment, Dargo's eyes ignited with rage as he saw her falling at the same time as the walls.
Young Rey gave a battle cry, running her straight through the heart with his sword, blood spraying out as the group winced, tearing the blade out with a spin, forcing her to spin the ground...Blood drenching his sword, he paused for a second, as if pondering what he had done, before going over to her, putting his armored boot on her, and holding his sword up, giving a loud yell for victory...
Recorder was shocked, shaking her head, "My god...he celebrated this...he really fucking celebrated this..." turning to Dargo, who looked ready to boil over...
Traysek was watching with a narrow scowl, "Felt that good huh...? I don't even have an opinion here...just..."amazed" that he's happy with that accomplishment...I can't say the same..."
"I don't think either of us could..." Lucien added, "I almost felt bad for him, until seeing this...Now I don't know what to feel for him..."
Erik glared at him, "I do, to oblivion with him...! I can't forgive that, he took advantage of her suffering to win, that is cowardly...he'd be executed by either army back home for it..."
"Unforgivable..." Dargo mumbled with a cold voice filled with anger, "Unforgivable..."
At that moment, reinforcements led by a Centaur arrived.
Rey took his boot off, fleeing the scene, right as more reinforcements from the holy alliance arrived, clashing with the monster forces.
Traysek knelt down to the dead elf and closed his eyes, silently praying as the others stood there, still in a state of shock...
Sand began to swirl around them.
The Redguard stood up as they ended back up in their current time, in the circle in which the light had dimmed, being greeted by the orc.
"How're you feeling?" Bruk'Daz asked.
"I feel better than my first spirit trip, but events there left me...disturbed..." Traysek said with a slightly shaken look, "Deeply...I was just going to be neutral about this, now I don't know..."
Recorder nodded, "Same here, and to think we couldn't judge him at first, guess we wrong..."
"Horribly...at least we know what happened now...that poor woman," Yuriana sighed deeply, "I can't imagine that kind of suffering..."
"Neither can I, That...left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially near the end..." Erik said in a low tone, trying to hide his anger...
Inigo slightly shook his head, "You know, you think you know a person until you see them out of their element...gods..."
"Yeah, I think personally...we need to keep as much distance from him as much as possible, not out of fear, no, but I don't think we need that association tied with us...that would only bring us down," Lucien added in, glancing at Dargo, "And it would make life harder with us and our new friends, trying to keep that one...I don't hate him, I just rather not be a part of that..." getting agreeing nods from the rest of the crew.
Dargo was silent before beginning to walk away from the group, with ice creating a path behind him.
Recorder spotted him leaving a reached out, "Dargo..." about to go after him until a hand was placed on her shoulder, Belonging to the Redguard, "Boss?"
"Let him go, Record...he just witnessed his friend die in a brutal way, he needs time..." Traysek told her in a low tone, "He'll be back later, but if I were you, I'd give him some space,"
She was hesitant at first but nodded in defeat watching him tread further away, "I...see...I'll leave him be..." eyes shadowing over.
Erik gave her a pat on the back, "If he wants to talk to you, he will, it's just not a good time right now..."
"Emotional damage is the worst kind of damage that one can never recover..." the Orc stated out loud.
Inigo nodded, watching his ice trail, "Yeah, I know how he feels right now...I wouldn't wish that on anyone..." eyes going dark and low.
"Makes me think of Rey differently now...in a way I don't like, if he kills like that, why's he taking in monster orphans then?" Lucien questioned.
"If I had to guess, he's trying to clear up his conscience...which I could see happening, he did seem to be the "heroic" type...maybe that's the M.O.," Yuriana answered.
Recorder scowled thinking about, "He better hope I don't run into him, I might actually hurt him and I won't even mean to..."
"I hope he runs into me, I'd like to teach him a lesson myself..." The Nord growled, "Especially after I know he was rewarded for this..."
Traysek slowly nodded, "Maybe...but I think it's time to check on our gear...get our minds on something else," turning to Bruk'daz, "Thank you, for showing this to us...it's... a lot to think about, that's for certain..."
"Do you know a place where to repair your equipment?" Bruk'Daz asked.
The Redguard rubbed his chin at that, "Honestly, we don't know where the repair station for that is, We're going to check to see how broken this stuff is, Some of it was custom made, meaning it'll be easy but that depends on the damage,"
"I was going to suggest a friend who stays south of here," Bruk'Daz said.
"Really now? well, that might be what the doctor ordered, especially if this stuff is beyond repair," Lucien thought on.
Traysek grinned at that, "I'll take you up on that, but first thing's first, gotta see the state they're in," turning to the others, giving them a nod, as they began their way to their gear, Recorder staying behind staring at the ice trail.
"Record, let's go, he'll be fine, I assure you..." Inigo assured, with a sad smile.
She gave the trail a somber look, before following the others to the held gear...
Dargo continued to walk until he stopped. He stayed still for moments, and then an icy explosion happened.
"Seems like I won't drink with you again, Dargo..." her last words echoed in his mind as he stood on an icy plain looking at the memories he had of Cehili.
/Flashback 1/
A young Dargo entered the barracks looking around, nervous.
"Hey! You're new, right?" a younger Cehili stood in front of him with a grin.
"What do you want?" Dargo asked with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Don't be like that." Cehili said, still grinning, before grabbing his arm, "Let's have a tour."
"Let go of me!" Dargo's attempts to escape Cehili's iron grip were in vain.
/Flashback 2/
Both Dargo and Cehili were fighting a giant with blue skin and tattoos made of lava.
"Watch out!" Cehili warned as Dargo evaded the hammer of the giant.
"He's kinda tough..." Dargo mumbled before using a long sword to conjure an ice wall to block a fiery breath.
"Nothing a couple of Kletzkiegs can't handle," Cehili smirked as she created a stone wall beneath the giant, making him lose balance before being launched a few feet away.
Dargo stabbed the sword into the ground, conjuring ice pikes that pierced the giant.
"And that's how we do it." Cehili had a smug expression.
"Do you really have to be happy for defeating one?" Dargo sweatdropped.
"That means that our strength is growing!" Cehili proclaimed with a proud tone.
"Seriously?" Dargo simply shook his head.
"By the way, you need a weapon more akin to your style." Cehili pointed, "Sheathing and unsheathing a longsword will be hard on your hands."
"What do you suggest?" Dargo asked.
"I was thinking that you could get one of those single-edged swords that are in Rad." Cehili answered, "I know a rune master who can make you a blade and enchant it for you."
/Flashback 3/
Both Cehili and Dargo were resting on a bench, eating cut fruits.
"I was thinking of asking that girl who works in the General Store to go out on a date with me. Do you think that she'll accept?" Cehili asked.
"She does seem like she's your type." Dargo pointed.
"I was hoping that you could go and see if she would be interested," Cehili said with a grin.
"Wait, why should I go?" Dargo looked confused, "You do know that I already have someone."
"That means that you won't try to take her for yourself," Cehili smirked as she answered him.
"You can't be serious..." Dargo looked annoyed.
"Hey! If I ask you, it means that I trust you." Cehili retorted.
/Flashback 4/
Dargo was in front of a crystal, looking a bit annoyed.
"You lost your big sister's Ceremonial Leaf?" he asked.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Cehili's voice responded, "Look, can't you come to help me?"
"I have my own things to do here," Dargo responded, crossing his arms.
"Please. If big sis found out that I lost it, she'd kill me." Cehili pleaded.
"Well... she was known as the Storm of Steel..." Dargo sighed, "Fine, I'll come."
"Thank you so much!" her voice was similar to that of someone who received a miracle, "I'll treat you to a drink when I get my pay in a few days."
Dargo was still standing as the ice began to become colder and the air itself began to freeze.
"Earthmother... please, allow me to wield another element... give me your blessing... to get vengeance on the one who killed Cehili..." Dargo mumbled as the ice began to melt, giving place to a red fire that began to swirl around him.
Meanwhile at the armory tent...
The crew along with Bruk'daz finally arrived there, finding their weaponry and armor on different tables, going to each one and inspecting the damages on them.
For Traysek, the scythe was completely cleaned off of all rot, glowing its traditional purple flames when he picked it up, smiling at it...however, the rest of his gear, such as his scouter, radio, and flintlocks looked deformed from the rot, melting almost, making him frown...he then checked his duelist long coat, finding the pants and jacket to be fine, but the undershirt had completely rotted to scraps, sighing after,
"Well, I wasn't expecting things to be pristine after that, but even then wasn't expecting some of this to melt...gods that disease is something..." he murmured, gathering his nearly broken gear and backpack, finding the contents inside to be rot free unchanged, strapping it on.
Recorder checked her swords, finding them nearly melted down, despite them being ebony, along with her two guns, the barrel nearly melted inwards, her rogue outfit barely holding itself together, "Dammit, I was hoping these were okay..."
Erik on the other hand, the armor was dented and warped, but not unsalvageable, his silver axe guns actually held firm, but the firing pin was melted, and his shield although deformed, still looked sturdy enough, "Not too bad, not much to repair either..."
Inigo checked his bow, finding the wood to be warped along with his swords, much like Recorders had melted and deformed, his flintlock was in no better condition, coming apart when he tried to pick it up, "Looks like that rot did more damage than we thought..."
Yuriana inspected her melded-away armor, sighing at it, as it came apart with the slightest touch, her stalhrim flintlock due to its components; survived the rot, the enchanted ice remaining strong as it was, "I expected worse, it's going to be a pain repairing this armor..."
"Yeah, I was here earlier, I already took what was salvageable and had them toss out the rest, including my netch armor and dwarven sword," Lucien explained, "I'm surprised I still use some of my own weapons, but the stuff in our backpack should be okay, I just wouldn't recommend eating or drinking anything we've may have in them..."
The Redguard nodded, "Good call, If you have any potions or food, dump them now, there's no way they can clean that off, We'll get and make more provisions when we return..." turning to Bruk'daz with a grin, "Looks like we're taking the offer to that repair shop after all, we'll fix what we can toss what can't, simple enough,"
"He doesn't have a shop... but lives in a cave south of here." Bruk'Daz explained, "He's helping the rebel army with weapons that he makes for them to fight Geofu and the Prime Minister of that kingdom. Well, if you see him, don't attack him on sight... even if he appears to be not friendly..."
Traysek waved him down casually, "You don't have to worry about that, we're disciplined in that aspect, as long as he doesn't try to attack us, there won't be a problem,"
"Trust me, we've...had our episode with that once...not exactly willing to repeat that history," Inigo sighed, shaking his head at the memory...
"Well then, I'll get you to him." the Orc said as he guided them out of the village.
A few moments later...
On their way through the forest, they began to hear howling.
The crew stopped and frowned, looking around for the source of it...
"Anyone else hearing that? Or is the skooma withdraw?" Inigo asked, looking around.
Traysek shook his head, "No, I'm sure we can all hear that, it sounds like a wounded wolf, where's it coming from though?"
Recorder scanned around, until she looked up, spotting a shadow with large wolf ears, howling at the sky, "Uh, guys, I think I found the source...look up there..."
Inigo glanced up, taking a smell, "Yeah, that smells like a wolf, I can't mistake that smell anywhere...never seen one with a sword before..."
"I have, back at the cave...but that was years ago, there's no way that wolfman could be alive now..." Lucien added in, also looking up.
Yuriana frowned, "Is there a way to call him or her down here? they might be friendly..."
"Uh...with that massive-looking sword, highly doubt it..." Erik gulped in sweat, until he thought about it, "But then again..."
Bruk'Daz looked up and said, "Oh, him... he's not going to chew you like a bone. In fact, I think that you'd like to meet him." he then snapped his fingers, gaining the attention of the wolfish creature.
They watched the wolfman land with a loud boom, before the shadow faded, revealing the armored wolf with a scar over its eye, The crew was stunned at his size...
"By the nine, what have you been eating...?" Traysek asked, eyes the size of dinner plates.
"Long time no see, Bruk'Daz." the creature said, "Why are you here?"
"They need to repair their stuff." the Orc replied.
"Looking for Iji then. I see." he then focused his attention on the group, "The name's Blaidd nice to meet you."
"Likewise, I'm Captain Traysek, nice to meet you," The Redguard smiled offering a handshake.
Blaidd sniffed him a little before saying, "You smell like trouble..." he then sighed before shaking the Dragonborn's hand, "But I don't think you're the wrong kind of trouble."
Traysek laughed while in the handshake, "Well, depends on what you mean by "Trouble" perhaps you'll find out one of these days,"
Inigo walked up to him, "The name's Inigo, and I've never seen a sword like yours before,"
"As the Shadow of Lady Ranni, I was given this sword... even if I don't know if I'm still worthy to wield it..." Blaidd looked at the sword, as a feint sign of regret could be seen, "If only I was strong that day..."
The rest of the Crew raised eyebrows but didn't say anything, along with Inigo...
"I...see...not sure what you mean but regardless, it's nice to meet another fuzzy warrior out here," The blue Khajiit chuckled with a handshake extended.
"You don't seem like a warrior." Blaidd pointed, "Scrawny and... no magic. You seem more like those backstabbers who work for Godrick. The other one does have a strong aura, and a powerful scent... things that are absent from you."
Inigo nervously chuckled, "Eh, you got me, I'm more of an archer than a warrior but I do like to alternate at times, I prefer the bow though,"
"Well, there's nothing wrong in using a bow. Although, you might need to build some muscles if you want others to believe that you're a warrior." Blaidd then stopped and thought for some moments before adding, "That Tarnished did use Radahn's bow after the festival... I wonder how she's doing..." he sighed before adding, "You shouldn't shroud the fact that you're an archer. Some people might not like deceit.""
Inigo waved off, "Eh not trying to hide it, the only bow I had is warped from scarlet rot, that's why I'm not wielding it, that and I used all the arrows on a combination of dogs and holy knights,"
Yuriana stepped up to him, "Tall, fluffy, and handsome...I like it, I'm Yuriana, it's nice to meet you~" she introduced.
"It's... a pleasure." While Blaidd was taken by surprise, he regained his posture before adding, "For some reason... you remind me of Sylla."
Yuriana raised an eyebrow, "Oh? A past lover perhaps?~" she teasingly asked, getting slightly shoved out of the way by Recorder.
"Please stop, you're going to scare him before we all get to know him, too soon," She told her, turning back to Blaidd, "I'm sorry about her, that's normal for her...anyways I'm Recorder," she introduced with a smile, "Nice to meet you, but I just have one question and I'm sure you get this often..."
Blaidd only tilted his head in confusion.
There was a long pause until she took a deep breath...
"How fluffy are your ears? Have ever checked?" She asked in an innocent tone, making the rest of the crew facepalm.
"That is even worse!" Inigo groaned, "For that reason, I don't let you touch mine!"
"I... think that only Lady Ranni tried it..." Blaidd answered, 'What a strange group of people...'
Lucien nervously chuckled, pushing both of them to the side, "Excuse me, but before you think we're all weird, I'm Lucien Flavius, explorer, and scientist, I'm also the brains of the group, nice to meet you,"
"Still pending at the moment..." Erik deadpanned, "But since the nerd introduced himself, I'm Erik the slayer, an aspiring mercenary, nice to meet you!" in a proud tone.
Blaidd looked at Lucien before saying, "I do feel magical powers coming from you. Nothing at the level of Lady Renalla... even if she was on par with gods." After mumbling the last part, he turned toward Eric and added, "You, you smell and look like a warrior, no doubt about it."
Erik chuckled, "Didn't know that was something one could smell, but I appreciate the compliment,"
"There was actually a mage on par with one, Interesting..." Lucien said, going into thought.
"Anyways, is the big guy able to see if their stuff can be repaired?" Bruk'Daz asked.
"The old Iji doesn't have anything to do for now." Blaidd answered, "And if it's about the Scarlet Rot... then he's the best to talk to."
Traysek nodded, "Yeah, most of our weapons have been warped from it, including our other gear, We just had to toss out all our food and potions due to it, I'm not happy with it, but, all that can easily be replaced, this stuff? might not be,"
"Well... some things can't be recovered." Blaidd stated, "After all, not even General Radahn, who was the strongest Demi-god that held all the stars in place, could fight it off. But anything can happen."
"That's true, anything can, but if he can't fix some things, again, we can always make another to replace it, especially with Lucien's new blueprint book," The Redguard added, "But I digress, We still need to see him, so it was nice meeting you, Blaidd, I hope we run into each other again," with a smile.
"Same here." Blaidd nodded.
Traysek turned to the others, motioning his head to continue onward, The crew slowly followed behind, saying their goodbyes to their new friend.
"Nice meeting you, With any luck, when this war starts, we'll be on the same side," Inigo said with a nod.
'A war, huh?' Blaidd sighed, 'Is this why you asked Iji to help the rebels?'
Yuriana gave him a wink, "I hope to see you again, you kinda remind me of someone, he's tall and handsome too," before being ushered ahead by Erik, who sighed shaking his head.
Recorder shook her head, "I'll see you around sometime, Maybe you'll let me touch those ears next time, eh?" noting his expression, "I'm joking, I'm joking! but they do look soft though,"
"Enough Recorder, let's go!" Traysek called from ahead, making her sigh and follow.
"Fine..." She groaned, pouting like a child before following them.
The Nord sighed, "Don't mind them, they're weird, but their hearts are in the right place," giving him a grin, "Be seeing you,"
Being the last of the crew, Lucien chuckled, "While I would like to ask more about that sword or where you came from, I have to go, Perhaps next time, it's been an honor," being the last to leave.
As they continued to walk, they arrived in front of a mountain.
"The one who's going to see with your stuff is behind an illusionary wall," Bruk'Daz stated.
Traysek frowned at the wall, "Another fake wall huh? not our first time seeing one,"
"You mean back in the city?" Inigo asked, getting a nod.
"Similar, but I don't think a city's what's waiting behind this wall," Recorder added.
"He tries to stay away from the Holy Knights since he's working with the rebels." Bruk'Daz pointed.
"I can't say I blame him, knowing how their...mannerisms are, they haven't exactly been good for everyone's health," Lucien sighed, shaking his head.
Yuriana nodded in agreement, "Yeah, but that's the second time I've heard about this rebellion, The first time was you, boss, giving us a vague description to now, sounds like a big enough deal to be worried,"
"Maybe..." Erik started with, turning to the wall, "This blacksmith can tell us more if he's up to it, I'll understand if he doesn't either"
"I'm sure that he'll answer you," Bruk'Daz stated before going through the wall.
Once they reached the other side of the wall, the Red Dragons were treated to a workshop within a cave, finding many strange and gnarly-looking weapons and armor, some more exotic than the others.
Inigo whistled, looking at one of the bows, "Very nice~ I like the design on this bow, the others aren't bad either..."
"So many swords and axes, many we've never even seen back home..." Erik said, amazed at some of their quality.
Traysek looked around at the collections of weapons and armor, as they neared the sounds of metal being struck, "Well, this might be a good opportunity to ask, seems like he's in," heading toward the sound.
When they got there they found a colossus with a large mirror helmet and seemingly naked, striking metal on a giant anvil, as the orc neared him first...
"Been a long time." Bruk'Daz greeted.
"If it isn't the one who claims to fight only for himself." the giant said with amusement in his voice.
"Shut it." the Orc mumbled with annoyance.
"Now, now, why would you come here to disturb me while I was working on the order of the rebel army." the giant said before looking at the group, "Does it have something to do with these people?"
The Redguard nodded, walking up to the giant, "Aye, I'm Captain Traysek and this is my crew," he motioned to them, "Bruk'daz here led us to you, said that you could repair Scarlet rot damaged gear, hoping you could do the same for us,"
"You have an interesting collection of weapons, I've never seen most of these before," Yuriana complemented, spotting a crossbow with a large loading chamber "Is that a repeating crossbow?"
"All of those weapons are to go to the resistance army." the giant said before adding, "But, where are my manners? My name is Iji. As for your weapons, You can put them here, I'll see to it once I'm done with these weapons."
"Of course," Traysek grinned, handing him his guns, scythe, and backpack, "Take all the time in the world, there's no rush, we're not expected anywhere...yet..."
The rest of the crew handed in their weapons and gear, moving away from the anvil...
"So now that's done, what are we going to do to pass the time?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow.
Inigo pondered on that, "Depends if we can stay during, otherwise, I left our cards home, didn't think we'd need them,"
"Until now..." Recorder deadpanned, "I wonder how Dargo's doing though? we've been away long enough,"
Lucien pulled out the red book, "Well since we're going to be here for a while, I might as well show you what's all in here, we might be using this stuff soon anyway,"
Both Bruk'Daz and Iji looked between themselves before looking back to the group.
Ken...
Swain's residence...
Swain stood and looked at some papers before a maid entered.
"My Lord. The Goddess Reborn is here," she said with a bow.
Swain nodded before exiting his office and walking to Celestine, who was standing near the front door.
"Thank you for coming." he said with an exhausted voice, "Ever since I arrested the nobles who had slaves, I thought that having them here is better than a place where... external interference can put a hand on them."
Celestine gave him a bow, "The pleasure's all mine, thank you for inviting me once again," before she furrowed her brow, "So, you're keeping the arrested nobles here, which family names are involved?"
Swain took a deep breath before listing, "First, there's the Cordius Family, they are the ones who bring in slaves and sell them to the other families. The Aulus Family gives protection to the exchange between the Cordius Family and the Red Snake. The Herius Family gathers the payment with... parties where other nobles give them gold under the pretext of charity. The Opius Family uses slaves in drug plantations, as well as other things that are best left alone. Of course, there are others, but I concluded that I should arrest not only the ringleaders but also the consumers."
The goddess thought on that, "Interesting...these are names I haven't heard from in a while, some of these even kept to themselves, but I'm beginning to understand why now," sighing, "As for who's asking for these services, do we have any leads?"
"Officers in the Holy Army, as well as members of the church," Swain replied.
Celestine frowned at that, "My own church has ties with this...? I see...What has the Dawn Templars done in regard to this? they were charged with rooting this out,"
"No doubt that they were paid to keep their eyes closed," Swain answered.
"That...shouldn't be possible..." The goddess said, in shock, "The Dawn Templars are not under the church's authority, only answerable to Claudia and I...accepting any bribe is against the rules, they all know that..."
"They may say how loyal they're to you, mortals are only following their needs." Swain pointed out, "If they see it fit that they should accept gold and slaves as bribery, they will."
Celestine narrowed her eyes, sighing, "Claudia and I are going to have a talk when I get back, but thank you for showing me this," smiling at him, "If you do find any names of the main customers, I would like to know who they are,"
Swain smiled before saying, "But I've already arrested them. Well, there are still two or three, but I have the rest here, waiting for your judgment."
"Okay, I can set up a public trial for them to do that, but I would like to see who they are before then," She said, "If that's alright with you,"
"Of course." Swain bowed before guiding Celestine toward cells that had 14 men in them.
Celestine looked them all over, frowning at each man there, "Some of these men I don't recognize..." looking at one who looked nervous to be there.
"These are the ringleaders and most of the consumers." Swain replied, "The others were hiding the evidence. As for the Church and the Holy Army... they're out of my reach. To be able to investigate them, I would need you to write the authorization."
The goddess nodded, "I see, yeah, I'll need to get the authorization for you, but it shouldn't take long," she assured, "Once I get back, I'll get the permission you need to go through with it, especially if they're connected to these men,"
"With that, we'll get all the allies of the Black Dogs out of Ken." Swain stated, "When it's done, I'll contact our allies here. That reminds me that I need to travel to the west to see if we can get another ally."
"Very well, I'll sign for it, so you can investigate the other families," Celestine concurred, "And once that's done we'll begin the trial for these...men..."
"That means that I must wait a little more before traveling." Swain pointed, "If I go, the unholy man will try to manipulate you in my absence."
She sighed, "You worry too much, Uncle, The new personal guard you've given me has really been looking out for me, I'm sure I'll see less of him when she's around,"
"Well then, I will have to trust you about that." Swain smiled, "If you need my help with something, call me and I'll get to you as fast as I can."
"Of course and if I Can't... Ophilyana knows to in my stead," Celestine smiled, giving Swain a bow and left, "I'll see you soon, Uncle..."
Swain took a deep breath before mumbling, "Let's see if this Gnoll Queen can be of any help to our cause." he then went into deep thought, 'As the beginning of the conflict will begin, they will try to move Celestine to Thorne... but the problem for us, is that Thorne isn't under the control of the Birds of Prey, but the Dogs... which means that I need to find her a more suitable place to stay in... like Rad.' he then sighed before adding, "I need to see that with the Sword Saint."
Somewhere near Ulak...
Dargo walked until he arrived near a lake before sitting on one rock that was set next to another one. His mind drifted to another memory...
/Flashback/
Dargo sat panting while Cehili was standing.
"You finally gave up?" she asked with a smug.
"Your defenses can't be breached..." he pointed, still panting.
"That may be true, but it doesn't mean that it's impossible." Cehili said as she sat in front of him, " If you try to use some sort of mist that can freeze, it would have a lot of effect on me."
"Still, you used a weird technique on me... where did you learn it?" Dargo asked.
"That's a secret~," Cehili said with a wink, "But I can teach it to you."
"Shouldn't it wait?" Dargo looked at her with some concern, "Your sister said that you can't stay out for long."
"Like I'd listen to her." Cehili rolled her eyes before adding, "I'd like to be as free as the wind that carries the sand to new horizons."
"Well, I need to get back to take care of my siblings." Dargo sighed before feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"No need to worry, big sis said that she'd watch over them when she comes back from her mission, so relax." Cehili pointed with a thumbs up, "You can even be adopted into the family and she'd be okay."
"Wouldn't that be too much for her to take care of three other people?" Dargo asked.
"Pshh nah." Cehili waved her hand before adding, "She's old enough to be their mom."
Dargo couldn't say anything before that his eyes widened as he looked at a figure behind her.
"If you notice her eyes, you'd see how old she really is," Cehili smirked.
"Is that so?" the figure asked, freezing Cehili with fear.
The said Dark Elf tried to run, but an iron grip grabbed her head.
"You must be Dargo." the bigger sister asked, "Nice to finally meet you."
"S-Same, Lady Rhea." Dargo bowed his head before hearing her laugh.
"Please, just call me Heltia, no need to be so formal." she smiled before adding, "Why don't you spend the night with us at home? Your siblings are already sleeping there."
"S-Sure." Dargo could only nod as Cehili was dragged away.
Back to the present...
Dargo drew his weapon before planting it on the ground. He then dragged his weapon, creating spears of ice and fire around him.
"Holy Knight... begin to count your days..." his voice was calm, but his eyes let one drop of tear escape, "I will exact revenge for what you did... no matter who stands in my way... and I'm ready to fight using my all..."
Rookie guard on duty: 2
Omake...
Corvin the city guard was charged with cleaning the lockers of the dark blades with the help of another guard, he made his way down scrubbing lockers, until he encountered a locker with red liquid coming out of it, making him pale...
"Uh... whose locker is this...?" He shakily asked.
Another guard, a Dark Elf, who was also on cleaning duty approached him, "What're doing standing there?"
The Blue Dragonewt shakingly pointed his finger down, "T-trying to figure out whose locker this is..."
The Dark Elf looked at the name, "What's wrong with Lady Udemi's lock-" he stopped in his tracks when he saw what the rookie guard was pointing, "You know what, let's check on the other ones..." he then walked away.
Corvin nodded, following the other guard...They cleared a few more lockers, eventually coming back to that one, the same horrified expressions as last time...
"I-is it just me, or has the puddle under Lady Udemi's locker gotten bigger than before?"
"Y-You know what, let's skip this one." the Dark Elf said as he tried to look away.
The rookie guard gave him an incredulous look, "Huh? we can't skip this one, it's our job to get it,"
"W-W-What if it's really blood?" The Dark Elf lost his colors, "I'm scared."
"F-fair point!" Corvin agreed.
Much later, when they were done and gone, Udemi walked to her locker and opened it.
"Well, that's annoying..." she said with a neutral face, looking at her locker, "The freezing runes stopped working and my strawberry jelly melted."
End of omake...
Uh-oh, looks Like Reynold has a bit of a past too, glad that he survived the rot but now, he's got two angry elves on him...The crew's in total shock over what they saw and even view him differently, but will they be hostile? well, that remains to be seen...and won't be until the battle of Feoh...The Red Dragons have now met Blaidd and Iji, but will the blacksmith be able to fix their warped gear? find out next time.
OniTenshi500- I did tell everyone that I was going add plenty from that game as well as different titles, including Sekiro and Bloodborne, and don't worry, I'm not adding him, maybe for Omakes he'll make an appearance, but for the main story, nah, got plenty to work already.
Cross: Yeah, my Co-writer added another tarnished in, she's rocking a Night Calvary armor set with the Meteorite sword and Meteor staff, Sylla's a gravity build that was killed by the Tarnished that tried to take Reynold out, so expect more from her later, especially around the Feoh arc...