Last time, the alliance tried to reclaim Feoh only to fail once more, thanks to the plans of Traysek and Greil...With the recent capture of Fort Hroka's commander, they can now focus on where to go next...
Chapter 59
Counter-attack! - The Assault on Ur!
The City of Feoh... Castle meeting room...
12:00 pm
Most of The birds of prey, except for Swain and the two brothers, members of the monster armies command, and Traysek with, Rela, Lucien, and Klein were gathering in the meeting room. They were discussing when it was time to move, one wanted to take the time to let the enemy rest...While the other...
Traysek sighed deeply, "Look, Griel, I'm not disagreeing with the fact that most of the lost men need a funeral...But it's too soon for that. The enemy is weak and battered. We took more from them than they did us, We need to hit them now before they fully recover!"
"While your enthusiasm might be a boon to us, we need to follow Elven traditions to help the souls of the fallen to rest." Greil explained, "There wasn't an instance where the burial rituals were postponed."
The Redguard nodded in agreement, "I'm sure there never has been, and there's nothing wrong with tradition...But we've also never had a golden opportunity like this, nor the momentum...Enthusiasm's got little to do with it, this is about priorities, Greil..." He corrected, "Taking a few days off and letting the enemy heal while we tend to our dead, is highly unwise... And given what Klein has uncovered about who's been behind all those experiments, even more so..."
Reverting back to her true self, Prim hummed before saying, "The more we wait, the less we can succeed at defeating them while their numbers are low. Not only that, but if the Emperor of the East decides to join forces with them... we might have a problem to deal with."
"I agree with the lass," Niall nodded, "As a military commander, I say let's go and pressure them while we have the advantage."
"This way, not only can we prevent more of this from happening, but that will be TWO cities under the banner..." Traysek informed, before turning to the others, "What do you the rest of you think...? anything to add, Master G? Olga? Jen?"
"Normally I would agree to attack..." Gronik sighed, "But after living among Dark Elves for more than 400 years... I do understand the importance of these rituals."
"These are not normal funerals." Olga explained, "If not performed, the souls of the dead won't find rest, and if dragged for more than a day after death... their souls would disappear and not join their ancestors. I'm sure that wherever you're from, you can ignore burial rituals, but here, they are important, and denying the rest of the dead would end up in a tight situation."
The Redguard hummed on that, about to retort until a thought crossed his mind...
'"Let's see if you can adapt yourself to this new world with its own order.' Remembering what the death god had said to him prior, putting him in a deep sigh...
"Didn't know it ran that deep here spiritually...And to answer, we TOO have a god that presides over funeral and death rites...It's just the fact death there is far more common than here..." Traysek admitted, with a long pause, arms folded, "As much as I'm against our enemies gathering their strength to rail all behind us with...letting souls who haven't passed on yet disappear can be disastrous...there's already plenty going on in the land of the dead..." sighing in defeat, "Fine... We can get this going, make sure they find the rest, but after..."
"I... maybe that I have a solution..." Jenelica stated after thinking about something, "The burial ritual can take place, and at the same time, the preparations to advance toward Ur. Since they have low morale right now, it would give us a chance to breathe, which would be both the funerals and the preparations, and according to my intel, no messenger could get to the east... strange knights were killing them."
Traysek thought on that, "Very well... My men and I can help out with the preparations with Niall and Prim, and You, Greil... can do the funeral rites...that way we don't have to overlook the fallen... They can rest properly and we don't have to take time off to be ready, sound good...?"
"That does sound like a good compromise." Greil nodded.
"Alright, with that out of the way..." Traysek sighed, his expression business-like, "Now for the assault plan itself...I may have an idea on how to get the jump on our mind controlling priest..."
"Yeah... I was told that it has something to do with me singing..." Jenelica stated, unsure if it's true.
"Mostly, yeah...But before then, we gotta know..." The Redguard started with, "Can your Singing counter this priest's power in some way...?"
"I don't know. All I know about my voice is that it can reach other people's hearts and make them happy." Jenelica replied.
The Redguard slowly nodded, "Right... but what I was saying was if it can...Then by all means this priest can't know you're there..." he concluded, "I had planned on taking a small unit behind enemy lines, and in the process, we can get you in a good position...Somewhere high and out of sight,"
Both Jenelica and Niall looked confused at that.
"Why do that?" Jenelica asked.
"What? Us Sneaking behind the priest or positioning you high up...?" Traysek asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Why?" Jenelica asked more confused, "That would put me in their hands directly."
He blinked twice at that, thinking about it, "Yeah...good point, I forgot the archers...I just figured you'd needed a vantage point to use your powers...I Don't know how far that goes for you..."
"Actually... it can go way farther than you think." Jenelica nervously smiled, "As a half Pixie, my voice is... very unique... all I need is a source of magic to increase the range."
"I see," The Redguard slowly nodded, a slight blush, "Now I feel embarrassed for the extra step...But thanks for clarifying..." clearing his throat, the blush fading, "Still... We'd a way behind security...A tunnel or hidden road to it... I haven't been there myself, so I wouldn't know where to go from there..."
"By the orders of the king, all secret entrances were sealed away by filling them with rocks and corrosive liquids." Prime smiled, "All except the one I know. But still, you need to get inside the city first, that's where Lord Regis will help us."
Traysek thought, "Hmm, that's a name I barely know...Swain mentioned him before, but I was surprised he didn't show up for the awarding ceremony, regardless, might be a time to meet him now..."
"He is quite busy helping the people of Ur by trying to find a way to free them from the brainwash." Prim smiled, "What a shame that I should order the death of my parents~ after all, there's no way that they could be saved~"
At this point, Traysek, Lucien, and Klein all had sweatdrops on their cheeks, glancing at each other and then back to her...
"Okay...I have to ask...Their surrender would've probably been enough, but why do you want your parents dead, Prim...?" The Redguard asked, nervously smiling.
"What a naughty boy~ you shouldn't pry on a girl's secrets~" Prim replied, still smiling.
The Redguard slowly nodded with a narrow-eyed smirk, "Uh-huh..." shrugging, "That's fine...But I thought you should know..." his grin slightly widening,"I Could... provide services like that too, it's just not a cheap one...especially concerning royalty...Comes with a free disposal service too, "No body, no problem" is the motto,"
"Was that a sales pitch, boss...?" Lucien asked with an unamused expression.
"Indeed it was..." Traysek admitted without missing a beat.
"That's nice and all~ but I prefer free services~" At that a Dark Blade exited Prim's shadow, "No paying, no hearing them talking, no bodies found afterward..."
"Ah...Oh...I see you've got that all worked out, already" The Dragonborn said, noting the emotionless glare he was getting, "Good for you...I'm taking a seat now..." quickly sitting down, "Yeah..."
"Why so nervous...?" Klein asked with a frown.
The imperial chuckled, "Because he let slip his sales pitch to murder and that's why the dark blade is glaring hard at him..."
"Oh..." The former knight hummed, nodding.
"Besides, I'm sure that the great priest would do the heavy lifting for me~" Prim added.
"Like what Beasley did to the royals here...?" Traysek added in, "Assuming he does that, we don't know what's going on over there, yet...For all we know, it could've already been done..."
"That would be stupid of his part since father's signature is near impossible to forge." Prim giggled, "Although, once we march toward Ur, his usefulness would come to an end."
"I think I'm getting it now..." The Redguard nodded, "Alright then since it's your turf we're going to next, where would we need to look to find Regis?"
"You won't find him~" Prim smiled, "He'll find you~"
Traysek hummed at that, "So it's going to be one of those meetings, glad to know," nodding in agreement, "Okay, since we got figured out...The next thing..." Pausing and taking a deep breath, turning his head to Niall, "I know we just got him in there, but if we're to throw them off...We're gonna have to let commander shit stain go..."
"Not just letting him go, but also make sure that they don't await for more forces." Gronik pointed, "That's why we gonna need that someone feeds him false information about our forces with him believing that he somehow got hold of it of his own."
"Hmm, now that is the concern now isn't it...?" The Redguard thought, "There's so many ways we can do that..."
Lucien slightly raised a hand, "Uh, may have a few suggestions on that, if none of you don't mind that is..."
"Go for it..." Traysek simply answered with.
The imperial turned his head towards Greil, "You remember what you did to us when we invaded...? How you took the most vital things...I was thinking along the lines of something... similar...I can forge signatures very well...We can even, "Leave" a key or the door open for him. We just need to ensure he gets the "Info" he thinks he'll need..." smirking, "And from there, that can be our window..."
At that moment, a knock was heard as someone entered the room, a tall man with a rather large build. He has glowing dark blue eyes and long black hair that protrudes from the back of his helmet and over his shoulders. His helmet obscures his face. He wears a typical dark winter coat. Underneath the coat, he wears a black bodysuit with golden chains and accessories. He also wears a pair of clawed gauntlets.
"Ah, Captain, I'm glad that you're here! We would need your help for this operation." Greil greeted the man.
"I had other things to deal with." the man replied, "After all, the Adventurers Guild isn't affiliated with the military."
"Still, someone with your disciplinary mind might be what we'd need at the moment." Gronik pointed, "Not to mention, you have already been in Ur before."
"Yes, that's true." the man known as the Captain nodded, "I do know my way into the city... which would mean that you want me to lead the forces..."
"Normally, we'd ask Niall, but he'll be occupied with something else." Greil stated, "He'll be targeting an outside garrison that houses weapons."
"That can be arranged..." the man nodded.
The Redguard looked the newcomer over, giving an approving nod, 'Huh...' Never seen him before, but he looks and seems pretty strong, must be if Greil's considering him...' he mused over, regarding the captain with a head nod, "Welcome~" offering a smile, "We were just discussing what to do with our current prisoner, and what role he plays in this..."
"I see..." the Captain nodded his head.
"Speaking of which," Greil handed Traysek the keys of the cells, "Can we trust you to deal with it? You seem more experienced in that field..."
Traysek caught them, "Sure~" standing up as the rest of the crew did, "We'll get started on that, once he's out we'll set out for Ur," giving them a bow, "Good day~" he waved, heading out with the other three following.
"How are you going to make it happen?" Rela asked.
"Well, Lucien had the right idea, using his own nature against him is genius," The Redguard started with.
"Thank you, boss, I knew I had the right idea, now we just need to find where to leave the ke-" The imperial went on with until...
"-Yet it was full of holes..." Traysek finished, making him sulk to the floor, "What? I said it was a good plan!"
"But did you have to add the "Holes" part to it...? What's the holes?" Lucien asked with a hard frown.
The Dragonborn sighed deeply, "The problem with that plan is that knowing he's riding the commander high right now, he wouldn't just free himself...he'd free them all, now while one isn't a problem...Do you think we want to risk dealing with vengeful knights...?"
Lucien thought on that, "Good point...I had forgotten that small detail...And after what we heard from Marquel..."
"Yeah, no way, can we let them wander the castle on their own and count they won't destroy anything..." Klein added in.
"That said, I do have a way to improvise, I'll need the office though...and lots of paper and ink..." Traysek grinned, "Don't worry, it won't take that long..." heading towards...
"Which office are you going to need?" Rela asked.
Traysek thought on that, "With some luck, Beasley's old office, I'm certain they haven't cleared everything out yet...at least not the writing tools, hoping that's still around, otherwise...it's back to the house..." with a sweatdrop.
"They're still investigating it." Rela pointed, "You'll find what you'll need."
"I'm sure I will," The Redguard nodded, "Especially if they're still investigating it..."
Lucien grinned, "Well, while you're getting those "Documents" ready, I'll head back to the others, and bring them up to speed,"
"Same here, I'll head back as well, just let us know when you're ready," Klein added, heading off to the main lobby with the imperial.
Moments later...
The dungeons...
In the cell, Rey sat on the bed with his head sulking down, until he heard the sounds of the locks being unlatching, the door opening up, finding both Traysek and Rela approaching him, the latter holding a stack of papers...
"The hell do you want now...?" The imprisoned commander scowled, "Here to torture me again...?"
"Nope," the Redguard replied, surprising him while sitting a stack of papers on the bed. I'm here to tell you that you'll soon be free to go. The dark queen, Greil, Niall, and I talked about it and decided that we're not going to have you lot taking up the jails with your stink."
"Oh, how generous..." Rey sarcastically spat, "You expect me to believe that after all of this...?"
"You can believe what you want to believe, I'm over trying to convince idiots of the truth, anyway" Traysek shot back with, "I have my orders, it's up to you how you interpret them, and if I were you...I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth too much..."
"And what happens if I say "No?"" Rey narrowed his eyes.
"Well, then my dear Reynold, the Queen will see to your executions, you will be hung by the neck until you're dead, or you will then see the guillotine or headsman's axe... it Depends," The Redguard said, narrowing his eyes equally low.
The young commander thought on that, sighing deeply in defeat, "Fine...I'll take the leave, my men and all..." He groaned, looking back up at him, "When are we leaving...?"
"As soon as Niall finishes the paperwork, he's almost done the last time I checked..." Traysek answered, "I just came to inform you of what's to come, when I go back, I'll suspect he'll be done...the next time you see me, it'll be to vacate you from the city..." With a smile, wilting it after, "Don't expect a heartfelt goodbye from the citizens though, human or monster..."
"I got it..." Rey sighed, glancing at the folder, "And what's that?"
"That...Is none of your business, you wouldn't be able to comprehend it..." The Dragonborn said, narrowing his eyes on him again.
Rey snorted, "This you calling me stupid...?"
"I mean, if you were smarter, would you really be in here?"
The young knight took a deep breath, "Never mind... just go do what you need to do...The less I talk to you, the better I feel about this..." going back to sulking.
"Fine by me...Let's go Rela, leave the crying commander to his bitter tears..." Traysek sighed, shaking his head, heading out of the door.
"Fuck you!" he shouted, throwing a cup of water at the wall near the door.
As Rela was heading out, she threw one last disgusted glare.
He scowled at them hard, as the door closed and locked, taking a deep breath...glancing over at the folder, 'Forgot something dumbass...? I should go through it anyway since you think I'm too dumb to figure shit out...' he snorted, reaching for it and picking it up.
...
Once Traysek and Rela were outside, they remained against the wall...
"Just give it a few minutes, we'll grab him when he's had his read..." The Redguard said in a low tone.
Rela held a sign that said, "Can you kick him afterward?"
Traysek quietly chuckled, before holding up a similar sign, "Sure, but how hard?" it read.
Rela turned the sign that showed, "Hard enough to have him rethink his gender."
He sighed, with a smirk, "No promises, but I can probably kick him hard enough for his voice to be high again, sound good?" in a low whisper, "If not Niall's got that covered..."
Rela only nodded to that.
Meanwhile, back in the cell, Rey was reading over what was left behind...His eyes carefully scanned everything over...
'Incomprehensible"' My ass! I can definitely comprehend this! and this is a battle plan for how they're going to take Ur! From what I'm reading, this says they'll be coming 300 forces strong and...' narrows his eyes at something, going wide, 'They intend to cause a mudslide?! By the goddess, if they enact that on the city, the number of deaths...' gritting his teeth, feeling a smile come back, 'Maybe it's a good thing he's letting me go...This may have just gotten me a second chance with those commanders too...' finishing the reading, putting it back.
Minutes later...
Once again, he heard the cell being unlocked with the noble-dressed Redguard and Rela walking in...
"Alright, sorry that took a while, I hope you're ready," Traysek greeted, glancing over at the folder, "Ah, I wondered what I'd left in here..." picking it up, "Hope you didn't read into it..." with a suspicious glare.
Rey snorted, "No...I didn't...Anyway," standing up, "Let's go...I don't want to be here any longer than I've been..." heading out of the cell.
At the Southern gate of Feoh...
Now outside, Rey took a deep breath of fresh air, back in his new gear with the sword sheathed... He and his men marched towards the south gate with Traysek, Rela, and a few of the guards who aided in the release...
"Pick up the pace!" one of Niall's men kicked one of Rey's men, "The less we see you the better."
A rock was then thrown, nearly hitting Rey and smacking another knight instead...
"Booo! You're not heroes!" A dark elf child shouted, being the culprit behind the first thrown rock.
And then a series of rocks, pebbles, and tomatoes were hurled at them by the rest of the children, shouting insults at them.
"I lost my dad because of you!" An orc child shouted with tears in her eyes, throwing another tomato.
"All you do is make life harder for us!"
"Thanks to you I'm an orphan! I hope you all get eaten!"
"Just get out of town already!"
Rey sighed at the things shouted at them, as the Redguard shook his head with a chuckle.
"That's... a lot of kids pelting shit at you," Traysek sighed, casually ducking from a misthrown rock, "If I were you...I wouldn't be back for a LONG while..."
"If this is your attempt to mock me...Save it...This hurts worse than your words right now..." The young commander retorted with, eyes dark and low.
"Come now...You had to know this was coming..." The Redguard sighed, "You can't expect to kill people and not have it come around...That's something even my group and I aren't immune to..." Narrowing his eyes, "And these kids aren't the only ones you've hurt..." motioning his head towards the adults.
"Murderers!" it was a woman, a human one.
"Traitors!"
"Bootlickers!"
"Get the fuck out of OUR city!"
"That's a lot of hate." Rela pointed out, "From all the times I felt hatred from people, it's the first time I felt such amount."
Traysek whistled with a head shake, "Check that, I wouldn't return at all...Forget us banning you, I think the townsfolk themselves have done it..."
Rey had nothing to say as they made their way to the gates...Eyes shadowed over...
"Alright we're here~ Get the hell out and don't come back...or we'll impale and leave you on the wall for all to see~" The Redguard said with a friendly smile and wave.
"Act like a jackass, get treated like a jackass," Rela added.
Rey shot them both a nasty glare as the knights made their way out of the gate, turning back around...
"Wait Rey, one more thing..." Being stopped with a hand on his shoulder...
"What do you wan-" The young commander went to retort with, Until...
The Redguard gave him a powerful front kick, charged with wind, sending him flying forward in blind speed, screaming as he flew away...
"Bye! Hope you land properly!" Traysek waved, brightly grinning.
At that moment, Greil walked toward them, "Is everything ready?"
"Just got him out here, he'll make his way to Ur soon enough, left a good bait and he took it," Traysek informed, "On the forefront, Niall and Jen were handling things there, We're about to join the others and prepare our leave for there as well,"
"Now that the funeral's done, we can begin our real advance toward Ur," Greil stated.
"I have the thing for just such an occasion, been a while since I've donned it, but it should come in handy," The Redguard grinned, pulling out a black smoke bomb, dropping it, and covering himself in smoke until it cleared... Revealing him in the Nightingale armor with only the half mask to his face, cloak flowing with the wind, "Now I'm ready..."
"I see." Greil nodded, "The Captain called in some members of the highest-ranked adventurers to aid him in the advance."
"That so? Well then, guess we've got quite the team going," The Redguard nodded, "Here's hoping it goes smooth on the way...Let's go Rela," heading towards the castle.
Rela nodded as she followed him.
Once they got to the castle, they noticed the Captain accompanied by three other people, the first appeared to be a young man in a yellowish-brown coat that had fur on the cols over a white shirt with brown leather gloves, he also wore a white mask that shows a glowing yellow eye as the other seems to be covered by silver hair, He also wears grey pants with brown boots, and wields a white staff that has a yellow glowing stone on top of it.
The second one is a giant and muscled man of around 7'20 with pale skin, a tall blueish green hat, a blueish green coat, and black pants. He also wears a black mast over his eyes, leaving only his left eye to be seen glowing in a blueish-green color, as well as black metal pauldrons attached with black straps, a pair of heavy metal boxing gauntlets, and black boots.
The third being one being a young woman with long black hair, fair skin, and sky-blue eyes. She wears silver armor over a brown gambeson, silver pauldrons, and silver gauntlets. She also wears a silver tasset over a black skirt and long silver sabatons. The most unique thing about her was a couple of trinkets attached to her waist; with one being purple and having black mitsudomoe, while the other is red with a strange symbol in it. She seemed to wield a rather large katana that had runes on it.
Traysek had a hand on his mask-covered chin, 'So...These are the high-ranking adventurers eh? Hmm, they seem strong...But I've yet to see them out there...I'm sure my crew won't have any problems...Hopefully...' he mused.
"I feel a lot of elemental energy from them," Rela whispered.
"Yeah...There's a lot of power surging from them, especially, the woman..." Traysek commented with a frown, "Getting nearly the same feeling from her, as I do from Sylla and Hildegard...She might be tarnished..." narrowing his eyes, "Come on, let's not keep them waiting," heading towards them.
"While I'm going to need you two to protect the front lines, Katya will have a different role to play." the Captain stated, "You'll join the infiltration team and make sure to disable the security of the castle. Can't have them round up the troops on some of our friends inside."
"I understand, Captain." the young woman nodded, "What do you want me to do once it's done?"
The Captain took a map and pointed to something, "That's your next objective; freeing people that will be sent to slavery. Make sure that you don't get them killed like before..."
"I-It wasn't my fault!" Katya protested as she puffed her cheeks, "I had to get those poor dogs out of those cages!'
The Captain only sighed at that.
"Hello there~" The heard a voice calling out, turning to it, finding the Masked Redguard and dark elf woman approaching, "You must be the team we're working in joint with, I take it everyone's accounted for...?" Traysek asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes..." the Captain answered.
The Redguard stared for a second, "Good," Was his response, "Once I rendezvous with my team, we'll be ready to set out...Get acquainted on the way," with a nod, heading towards the lobby.
When Rela caught up to him and waited until they were far enough she whispered, "I found the origin of their elemental powers... it's from some sort of trinkets."
"Hmm, must be some kind of artifacts or weapons they possess," Traysek deducted, "Unlike our magic that comes from within, that's what they depend on...I can see that, Still... to get to the top ranking spot, they must be quite the trinkets..." with a small smile.
"What's the plan about them?" Rela asked, "It would help us a lot to have them as allies."
"Perhaps, but I can also tell they're not looking to make friends either," The Redguard added, "You seem to forget with professionals, they understand we're here for a job, nothing more...If we're able to succeed in it and get friendly after, I have no issues, but during...? Let's focus on the job at hand first, then worry about it,"
Rela nodded as they approached the others.
Inigo who was talking with the others about something, noticed them coming, and nodded in their direction, "My friend! I was wondering what took you! I see you've brought out the nightgale armor... How'd it go? he took the bait?"
"Oh I'm certain he did, gave him more than enough time," Traysek chuckled, "By now, he's on his way to Ur...gave him a bit of "head start...'"
"Please tell me you gave him a hard kick in the arse this time..." Lucien commented, "He'd deserve it after what he just put everyone through,"
"Or in his pin-sized dick, as far as I'm concerned he deserves two," Yuriana muttered.
The Redguard smirked, "Well, lucky you... That's exactly what I did when I got to the gate, sent him screaming into the woods, I think I even saw a bit of steam coming off his ass after I kicked it,"
The rest of the crew laughed at that, including a few passing guards who had snickered when they heard it...
"Hahaha, Nice!" Recorder snickered, "I wished you would've recorded that though, I would've liked to see his face before and after!"
Traysek waved down, the laughter dying down, "That despite how funny that was, we need to set course for Ur, now," he informed, his expression going serious, "Greil, Niall, and Jenelica finished up on their end with preparations, as for us, we'll be going with a team of high ranking adventurers from the adventurer's guild,"
"Ah I see, so that guild's helping out," Erik deducted, "And you said they were high-ranking adventurers?"
"That's right, although the word you're looking for is "Professional" adventurers, no different than us..." The Dragonborn nodded, "Means, we don't have to carry them, don't expect it the other way around either...I'm sure they have the same idea,"
"Naturally," Yuriana nodded, "There shouldn't be a problem, long as they don't start anything..."
"If they do...be a bigger person," Traysek checked, "You doing the job, carries more weight than a "Comeback" does...That goes for all of you," looking around at everyone.
Most of the crew looked unsure of that, Inigo and Lucien glancing at each other, before back to the captain.
"If...You say so, boss..." The imperial concurred, "But should they persist...?"
"Make them eat their words," The Redguard sighed, "I cannot tell you enough, that making a person eat their own statements, will shut them up effectively..." he finalized, "So with that, those that have them, change into your stealth gear, we leave in five..." pulling the half mask back on his face.
"Still though, you don't seem very enthusiastic about working with them." Sylla pointed, "Is there something that we need to know?"
Traysek shook his head, "No problems at all, I'm just telling you all what to expect...They're polite but very powerful...One of them has the same tarnished aura, as you do, Sylla,"
"Another Tarnished, huh? Interesting..." Sylla went into thought.
At that moment, Dargo walked toward the group with both Endra and Zephyr.
"Hey guys, I see you're coming too," Inigo greeted, grinning.
The Nord looked up to find Zephyr armed and ready to go, "Zephyr! I see you're back up," before a slightly worried look, "I'm surprised... I'd figured you'd be resting up... what happened to you last battle was pretty scary..."
"I'm tougher than I look," Zephyr pointed out, "It takes more than that to keep me down."
"Besides, we decided to move away from the city," Dargo added.
"Wait why...? I figured things were better over there than they are here," Recorder said with an eyebrow raised.
"We have our own reasons," Zephyr replied as Endra smirked.
"Do pray tell... what drives you two" he stated as Dargo kicked his ribs.
Traysek raised an eyebrow, before a small smirk graced his lips, "Oooh~ I see now..." with a slow nod, a smile coming back, "Regardless, you guys made it in time, we were just about to head out," bumping Endra on the shoulder after, with a playful smirk "And you... missed out on the city defense battle, where were you, huh?"
"They sent me to the west." Endra replied, "From what they told me, a large group of monsters grouped themselves somewhere and began raiding the few villages... When I got there, I found many of them sharing the spoils."
"Which is weird that happens," Zephyr pointed, "Ever since the Gnolls took control over the desert, raiding and looting became forbidden. Especially to the Orcs that are there..."
"Interesting...We haven't heard anything about from the General and others," Lucien hummed at...
The Redguard thought on it, "Maybe because Ashar's doing what she can over there if she needs the help, I'm more than willing to...But only if she needs it..."
"I doubt that someone like her would need help with that."Endra laughed.
"Probably not, knowing her," Traysek chuckled in agreement, "Well, guess I'll bring you three up with what's happening,... It's not just us you'll be going with..." glancing in the direction of the approaching team, "We'll be working with members of the adventurer's guild as well, high ranking ones and they seem to have power that lives up to that...we could sense it," nodding his head towards Rela.
"Trinkets that have a lot of elemental power in them," Rela stated.
"Elemental powers, huh?" Endra went into deep thought.
"Must be one of those." Dargo pointed out, "Really dangerous to use as it can kill the user after a day of use..."
"They must have found a way to resist that." Zephyr said, "I remember when I went to register in the Adventurer's Guild, I went to the library and read a lot of things about those trinkets."
Recorder thought hard, "If they're able to get their hands on them, there may be others out there..."
"I'm sure they are, I wouldn't be surprised if Swain knew were to find most of them," The Redguard added in.
"Actually, the Captain is one of those who can get you one if he wishes." Dargo stated, "From what I heard, they're called Delusions, and need very special and strict training to be able to use. It's also the Captain who chooses who can join the training... and his selection is quite strict"
Zephyr nodded and said, "The only other person that exists in this world and can provide you with a Delusion is someone called the Knave. But that case is impossible as only a few selected people can get them. And from what I heard, those who got Delusions from the Knave are orphans from Ansur."
"From what is said around, both the Captain and the Knave have some sort of connection as they formed a mercenary group called the Fatui, formed by orphans and low class people who decided to take arms and make the world better," Dargo added.
"I see, interesting...They almost sound like the Daedra Artifacts," The imperial added in, "They're not as taxing on the user but, there's no equal to them in power... at least not until we see what these can do,"
Traysek nodded, "So it's elite custom training for those worth of them...it would make sense given the power felt off those..." turning around to the other group, "So that guy over there is the one who qualifies, okay, good to know..."
At that moment, the young woman walked toward them, "You're the infiltration team, if what I was told is true." she sighed before adding, "The name's Kuzmich Ekaterina, my job is to disable the security of the castle of Ur."
"Nice to meet you, Katarina," The Redguard introduced, "And you'd be right to assume, I'm Traysek, leader of the nightingales, and this is my crew...Most of them anyway," giving a smirk to the other three with them, "It's nice to know who'll be handling that front, and judging from the aura coming off you, I'd assume you to be a tarnished, correct?"
"Half Tarnished," Katarina corrected, "My mother was one."
After staring at her for a moment, Sylla turned to Traysek and said, "Well, I'm going to join the front troops."
"Alright, just keep in mind, the rest of the forces won't join up until security and the mind control are disabled," Traysek informed, "I wish you luck, on that..." turning back to the half tarnished, "And I see, that would explain it..."
"I'll go too, they're going to need a medic on the front lines to keep them up and fighting," Yuriana added in, "Just if anything happens, don't hesitate to call..."
Lucien nodded, "If all goes right, we won't need to..." pulling out a strange device and activating it, "Just to be safe, I'll have the mech mount autopilot, keep the city surveyed..."
The Dragonborn smiled at that, "Alright, with that set, we all ready to go?"
"Good luck." Endra grinned before adding, "I'm gonna need to go to Geofu, something about coordination with someone."
"I see, I hope it goes well then," Traysek commented.
Inigo fixed up his sword belt, "So what will be rest of us be doing? Klein, Erik, and I?"
"I'm glad you asked, Inigo," The Redguard smiled, "You will need to perch somewhere near the castle, front or back, doesn't matter...Remain on standby and take out any enemy archers up there... In case Beasley or the bishop make a getaway, you'll be there to intercept... As for Klein and Erik, they get a choice... They either both help with interception or join the faux front lines,"
Erik thought about it, "I'll join the front lines then, I'm not too good with the stealth stuff and I know Zephyr is going there as well..."
"As for me, I'll help with interception, I know that church well and where he'll probably end up going," The former knight added.
"If we're going there then..." Dargo began as Emily was seen running toward them.
"W-Wait! Are you really going to get into the castle?" she asked, huffing and taking deep breaths, "If that's the case, can you take me with you?"
The Dragonborn and the rest of the group raised an eyebrow at her appearance...
"We are..." Traysek answered with a frown, "And I remember you...You're Feoh's lightbringer, Emily... it's been awhile, but why do you want to tag along on this mission and..." noticing she's alone, "Where's your sister...?"
"She went back to Ur." Emily replied, "She said that she would talk with Lord Stannos and set things right... but she didn't send any letter. And knowing her, she would have sent around 10 letters by now."
The Redguard thought about it, "Hmm, that is pretty strange, and knowing what his powers are, I can only assume what's happened...and why she's gone silent," with a sigh, "Fine, you can tag along...I'm sure the others won't mind, just don't be surprised if we find her under his mind control..."
"Mind... control... that would explain a lot concerning Ur." Emily sighed, "If it comes to that... I'll take responsibility for her..."
Most of the group had worried expressions, The imperial cleared his voice...
"Well, let's not get grim there, especially with all who's going," He informed.
Traysek slowly nodded, "If it works, I have a sh- technique that could cancel it out, if it can... we'll see..." he assured, "That said, let's head out,"
Dargo nodded, "I'll come with you... I do have a score to settle..."
The Redguard hummed in thought, remembering what had been told to him, "Fine, you're more than welcome to attend, Dargo," making his way towards the lobby exit.
The others looked between themselves before following him.
Meanwhile near Ur...
Once the knights had been set free from Feoh, they had wondered the wilderness, encountering their unconscious commander who had crashed far into a tree, a large knot on his head.
"Oh no! Rey!" Marquel was the first to rush to him, "By the goddess..." he then looked at the men, "Come and help me!"
The other knights wasted no time in following that order, two of them went to both of his sides and helped him up, making sure he didn't drag the ground, carrying him the rest of the way to Ur...
At Ur's eastern gate...
At the walls of the gate, a couple of city knights were on patrol when they spotted a large group of holy knights approaching, carrying a wounded man.
"By the goddess...Open the gates, quickly!" The first knight ordered, the gate to rise up... followed by a flood of men and healers that came out to them.
Marquel walked up first before showing them a badge, "My name is Marquel, heir to the Fevius family, and second to Commander Reynold. We were captured by the enemy during the last battle to retake Feoh. We need to speak to an officer as soon as our commander regains consciousness."
Immediately after, two officers rushed out, recognizing the knocked-out commander...
"So, he survived, good..." The second officer smiled, "Get him and these men inside!"
The holy knights moved to help the wounded men in, some already being looked at by healers...as the third officer from the tent walked up to Marquel...
"After the battle, we had feared the worst had come...what happened...?" He asked with a worried expression.
"We were captured and tortured by the Sword Defender himself." Marquel replied with venom before saying with a smirk, "The first part of Lady Marpesia's plan to remove his title is done... all you need to do is to extract the commander's and my memories to send them to the Inquisition."
"I see, then this turned out to be fruitful after all," The officer smiled widely, "We'll get to that process once he wakes, I'm curious to know what happened when you got captured myself, for now, you, the men here and even your commander are welcomed to heal, relax and eat at our owned tavern, I'm sure they weren't too generous back there with that..." he chuckled, knowingly, "just show your badges and they'll treat you right, a place called: The golden tankard... can't miss the big mug, "
"Thank you, sir." Marquel bowed his head, "Before I forget, about Lord Abery... is he..."
The officer sighed deeply, shaking his head, "Our scouts found him two hours ago, with a stab wound through the back...Officer Frowl has no longer been seen either...I don't want to jump to conclusions, but from how it looks..."
"I know..." Marquel sighed, "I guess I'll take my leave. I need to be rested for the procedure of memory copying."
"Yeah, you do that, we'll make sure your commander's tended to," The senior assured, heading off to join the men on where they were taking the unconscious man...
30 minutes later...
In a bed, the young commander began to rouse, waking up to his sight being blurry at first, and slowly clearing to find himself in a very clean healer's room, rubbing his bandaged head.
"Ugh... what the hell...?" He frowned, looking around, "Where...am I...?"
"You're awake, thank the Goddess." a nurse said after noticing him, "It would seem that the Doctor's treatment helped you a lot."
"Doctor...?" He recited back, feeling the throb in his head, "Argh...that's right after I got kicked, I flew into a tree...I'm surprised, I arrived here, who brought me in...?"
"Your men found you unconscious in the forest north of here and brought you back with them." the nurse replied, "It was your second who brought you in this place personally."
Rey rubbed his head at that, "I see...Marquel and the others, glad to know it was them and not someone else..." struggling to get out of bed.
"You need to rest more." the nurse stated, "You haven't fully recovered yet."
He waved her off, "You don't...understand, I need to speak with the officers here, now, I know... how our enemies... are going to hit this city next..." he huffed out...
"I see," the nurse nodded, "I'll go call them for you."
The young knight slowly nodded, "Okay, that...would be better..." sitting back down, as she walked out...
It wasn't that long as the nurse returned with the two officers.
"My word...I've seen you in better days, commander..." The third officer sighed, "Still, to see you up, and earlier than expected, you're tougher than we gave you credit for..."
The second officer chuckled, "I couldn't agree more!" with a smile, "Regardless, it's good to see you survived... And from what the nurse here tells me, you've got something important to share, is that correct?"
Reynold nodded, "Yeah, and you won't get guess how I got that..." he started with, before going into detail about everything that happened when he was taken prisoner and what he had learned from the plans...
"By the goddess...Those fiends..." The second officer growled, "I knew they were savage before but to resort to mudslides... and 300 forces in? It'll be a slaughter if they inact that..."
"Agreed, we should inform the archbishop, he'll need to learn of this..." The other officer stated, "If what he's saying is true, this could be a catastropic attack on the city and it's denizens... With the loss of feoh already affecting trade here, a mudslide is the last thing anyone needs right now..."
Rey sat up, "And my men...? Where are they...?"
"At a tavern called: the Golden Tankard, he and your men are taking their rest there," the second senior informed, "When you've recovered, you're welcome to join them, and because it's a holy knight-owned bar, if you have a badge you get a free meal of your choice,"
"Thank you...I could use it...they barely fed us back there..." The young commander thanked, standing up, "I can go now, feeling a bit better, let me get my gear back on," going for his neatly stacked armor nearby...
The knight both gave a nod, before leaving the room, allowing him to change into his gear.
At the golden tankard...
At a particular wooden and gold-themed tavern, most of the denizens there were either holy knights, either with their squads, some with their families and lovers... A certain group of holy knights, with Marquel at their meals, some with tears in their eyes after tasting the dungeon's food...
"By the Goddess! I missed food!" Marquel sobbed.
Right the knights laughed along with him, Reynold entered the bar soon after that, closing the door behind him...
'So this is the place...Marquel and the other's should be nearby...' he mentally hummed, looking around until he spotted them in the far right upper corner, 'There they are... they seem to be in good spirits despite what they all just went through...' feeling himself smile a bit, 'I think I'll join up with them on that... first thing's first...' heading to the female bartender, cleaning the counter.
"Yes, how can I help you?" she asked after seeing him.
He gave her a smile, showing the badge, "Hi there, I want an order of potatoes, eggs, and steak, well done with onions.. with a glass of wine, please,"
The bartender nodded and said, "It will be ready in about 15 minutes. Anything else?"
He shook his head, "Nope, that will be all, thank you" with a nod, heading toward Marquel's table...
Once he got close enough to hear them laughing and cheering, he snickered...
"Well well~ you guys are sure enjoying yourselves, don't stop on my account~" A familiar voice rang, getting them to quiet down, turning out to be Reynold, casually approaching them.
"Rey!" Marquel stood up to greet him, "It's nice to see that you're alright!"
"I could say the same to you," The young commander smiled, completing the handshake, "That goes for all of you, I'm glad you're alright and... I'm sorry you all went through that, and thank you for bringing me back here," taking a seat.
"Hey, you're one of us! Of course we wouldn't have abandoned you!" Marquel pointed with a small laugh.
"Of course not, and I feel the same way about you men as well," Rey grinned, "That said, that entire thing didn't end entirely bitter, he's as stupid as we thought...The sword defender left their battle plans for me to see...The officers were made aware already,"
"Ha! What a dumbass!" Marquel laughed alongside the knights that were sitting at the table.
"Gonna be a little harder for them to pull that off after three days as they planned..." Rey smirked "As we speak, the officers took that straight to stannos and the others," leaning back in his chair, "Now all we have to do is relax and recover... enjoy it while you can..."
"If we manage to fight them off, retaking Feoh would be close," Marquel stated with a nod.
Rey laughed, "One thing at a time, Marquel...From what we saw back there with those people...and kids...It's going to take a while to win their faith back..." he waved down with a sigh, "But, I have no doubts we'll get that back..."
"If the monsters don't completely corrupt them with their brand of "Compassion" and "Acceptance"... There's nothing wrong with those, but some things have to be judged, not everything can be accepted, there needs to be a line..." One of the knights spoke up, getting nods from the others.
"'Acceptance', what a joke." Marquel narrowed his eyes, "I doubt that you noticed what they did to everything that has a connection to our faith in Feoh."
The young commander nodded, "Yeah...Most of the statues were removed and replaced with different new ones, I saw one with a theme for flame...So I already know that faith has also been lost..." with a sigh, as someone approached with his food and drink.
"If given the chance, anyone would teach those heretics a good lesson." Marquel said as Rey had his food served, "Am I right?" getting nods and cheers.
"We'll get that chance soon, especially if we manage to succeed in fighting them off when they come," Rey added in, turning to the waitress, "Thank you," with a nod, as she walked off.
"Speaking off, I heard that there was a gain of the rebel forces in Geofu." one knight stated, "Despite, the Prime Minister's efforts, they still gain as much territory as they lose some."
"Hmph, if only the dukes could actually do something." Marquel huffed while scowling, "Most dukes refuse to support both the Prime Minister and the Holy Army, seems that they're traitors after all."
The young commander sighed, "Once we're done here, we'll figure out, and presumably after we meet with Master Claudia...For now, let's eat!" digging into his food.
At the church
The two officers were with the archbishop and the other commanders relaying what they had just learned from Reynold and when the attack was to occur...
"And that's the gist of it, they'll be coming in three days," The third officer finished.
"Three days... that's a lot of time for an attack..." Stannos stated, narrowing his eyes, "Either they're underestimating us... or they are in bad shape..." after humming for a moment he turned to the officers, "Have you escorted lord Lorel to the meeting point to have him moved to Thorn?"
"The forces we sent ensured he's made it there, yes," The second officer spoke, "I'd imagine by now, he's been picked up by Thorn's forces,"
"Someone as powerful as him in the political field is still useful to the High Inquisitor." Stannos stated, "As for the enemy, send detached forces to intercept their plan for the landslide."
"Will do, we'll also get in contact with the high inquisitor as well, keep her informed," The third officer assured, bowing with the other, as they both left to go prepare...
"Now... to see if those monsters won't ever learn that their place is beneath us," Stannos said, looking out the window, toward the direction of Feoh.
To be continued...
And with that, kicks off another battle trilogy, I apologize once again for taking as long as I did, but we kinda wrote a bit ahead this time and took plenty of time... Part 2 will be right behind this one, but for anyone wondering...No, after the Treatment Rey and his men got, I don't believe they'll be attending Ur's battle... That being said, he'll show up much later... For now, onto Reviews...
VGBlackwing: I couldn't agree more with that statement, and the worst part...is that he's learned almost nothing from this Because he sees Traysek as Competition... Luckily, reality has other plans for him, but I'll leave that up to a surprise...