Despite my father’s attempts to stop me, I had managed to get a glass of alcohol for myself, but I quickly learned my new tastebuds absolutely despised the bitterness of the drink. It was nothing like the drinks in Aurielle’s memories. My reaction as I spit out the vile beverage got more than a few laughs from Donte and the surrounding soldiers. Though I was unable to enjoy the drink, it was still a night full of entertainment that led to more than a few soldiers getting reprimanded.
With the first light of morning, discipline returned to the victorious armies of the Novus kingdom. Looking at the soldiers now, standing at attention as they were assigned roles within the fortress, you would never be able to tell that only a few hours ago most of them had passed out from drinking too much.
I did not have too much time to worry about how well the soldiers hid their hangovers. This morning I was extremely busy. After finishing our regular morning training, my parents immediately assigned chores to everyone. My mom, Donte, and I needed to restock the wagon with supplies, while my dad and Charly got to work on re-drawing all their glyphs so we could be prepared for whatever came next.
The work took a few hours, during which time I was in and out of the family wagon dozens of times. More than once, I wanted to go talk to Charly, but I could not build up the courage. I did not understand why he was still upset, but he was incredibly quiet all morning. If I asked him a question, he would only reply in simple one-word answers without ever looking me in the eye. He focused solely on his work drawing glyphs and completely ignored me as much as possible. I felt a pain growing in my chest the longer this dragged on, but I had no idea what to say to him. For now, I decided to just ignore it and hope he would talk to me later.
During a brief break in our morning chores, General Arthur walked over to my parents. His familiar red jacket and bright smile made him shine like a beacon when walking among the drab greys and browns of the soldiers around him.
“Ye have been busy all mornin’. Care to tell me your plans?” General Arthur asked as he leaned against the wagon.
I nodded as I fed another piece of meat to Nox. The kitten purred contently as I spoke, “We are going to the Kala Kingdom to meet with Svend the Bear. No more delays.”
General Arthur glanced at my father. “What exactly do you hope to find there?”
My dad shook his head. “I am just following Wren. She says we need to go, so, I will go.”
I looked at General Arthur, then curiously at my dad. “Do you have a history with the Kala Kingdom?”
My dad reached over and ruffled my hair with a small smile as he replied, “Nothing you need to worry about.”
I frowned as I tried and failed to untangle my hair while glaring at my dad, but decided not to press him for answers. My dad would tell me if it was really important. Until then, I would be patient.
General Arthur chuckled at us before staring off into the distance for a moment. “What are ye goin’ to do about Irene?
My men can Escort ye to the edge of the Novus border, but if they go any further and enter Kala territory, it will probably cause ye problems with the locals. Irene will not pass up the opportunity to attack if ye try and travel alone.”
I glanced over to where General Arthur was looking and saw a lone figure standing on one of the distant cliffs overlooking Bastya fortress. I did not have to see the glow in its eyes to know that it was one of Irene’s undead.
“I might have a plan for that,” I said, motioning towards a group of men at a far corner of the fortress’s courtyard. Unlike the soldiers, these men were still happily drinking without a care in the world. They were loud and rambunctious, constantly distracting others trying to work.
“The mercenaries?” General Arthur asked.
My dad narrowed his eyes as he observed the men. “Do you really trust them to have our back in a fight?”
I shrugged as I placed Nox down with a few more pieces of meat. “The mercenaries proved reliable during our infiltration of the fortress. They are professionals. They could not do anything to General Izmos, but neither could I. Most importantly, based on what I picked up from their conversations, they are from the Kala region. Even if they are not willing to fight Irene’s undead, having a guide would still be useful.”
My dad rubbed his chin as he eyed the mercenaries carefully. “I am not completely against the idea, but we need to guarantee their loyalty. I do not want to get stabbed in the back by someone I trusted to protect it. If there is any chance of them getting bought by our enemies partway through the trip, I would rather risk us traveling alone.”
“The only way to find out is to talk to them,” I said. Placing my hands behind my back, I left my dad and General Arthur behind and walked over to the carousing mercenaries.
The thirty of them were singing a song in a language I did not understand as they swayed their drinks back and forth and laughed. The leader of the mercenaries, Esben, was currently sitting on a large boulder as he blew into a small wood instrument. The instrument was not pretty. It was just a small block of wood with a few holes drilled through it. It looked crude and hand-carved, but the sound it made was beautiful. I stopped and listened to the song. Despite the joy of the men around us as they sang, the song sounded sad and full of regret.
As I listened to the song, I closed my eyes. Memories from long ago flashed through my mind, and I remembered one of the early battles from when I first joined the Five Calamities. It was a hard-fought victory. We had sacrificed so much for a completely unremarkable mineral deposit. I remembered afterwards I laid in the dirt, too exhausted to move as I stared up at the sky and laughed. The laughter turned to sobs as uncontrollable tears streamed down my face. We had won the battle, but was it worth it?
The music came to a stop and I was abruptly brought back to reality. I was surprised to find I was actually crying. I scowled, angry at myself as I quickly wiped away the tears.
I looked up to see Esben smiling at me as he hid away the wooden panpipe in his pocket. “If it is not our little savior. Did you need something from us?”
I nodded as I tried to pretend I had not just been crying by speaking with a gruff tone. “When I rescued you and your men, you agreed to do a job for me. Now that you are free, I want to hire you.”
“I did say that, didn’t I,” Esben said, scratching his head as he glanced at his men. He let out a defeated sigh and slumped his shoulders when one of them nodded at him. “Well, I am a man of my word. What kind of job is it?”
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“My family and I are going on a little trip to the Kala Kingdom. I would like you to escort us there.”
Esben looked at me in surprise for a moment before glancing over at my family’s wagon in the distance. Esben cleared his throat as he spoke softly, “Are you sure you want to go to that Kala Kingdom?
I know I agreed to do a job for you, but an escort mission like this will take weeks. Not to mention your family…” Esben paused as he bit his lip for a moment. “What you are asking for is no simple mission.”
“It is even more complicated than you think,” I said, glancing towards the distant ridge where the undead still stood. Even from a distance, I could feel its eyes watching my every move. “I have a rather annoying enemy. She is capable of controlling undead using glyphs and I have no doubt she will attack us with them while we are on our way to Kala.”
“Undead!” Esben shouted as he jumped up in surprise. I quickly noticed all the other mercenaries also react to this word with extreme emotions.
“Is there a problem with undead?” I asked curiously.
Esben scratched his head again as he stared off at the distant cliff. “You are really putting me in a bind here. Vaktare… Undead to the Kalan are… Well, let’s just say that fighting them is a big taboo.”
“Does that mean you will not take the job?”
Esben hesitated for a moment as he glanced at one of his soldiers. “What do you think, Habil?”
The mercenary, Habil, was a gruff-looking man that was covered in scars. From what I could see, he was probably the oldest of the mercenaries present. He had long red hair that hung low on his face, hiding a patch and a nasty scar that covered one of his eyes.
Habil crossed his arms and closed his eyes for almost a minute before he finally replied to Esben's question, “You said your enemy uses glyphs to create undead, yes?
It is not an Innate talent? Does this enemy of yours have any connection to the Raddare… What do you people call her… The Undead Tyrant?”
“Raddare? That is a new one,” I said with a smirk, “I will not say she has no connection with the Immortal Calamity. The two of them can be considered mortal enemies.”
“Mortal enemies?” Esben asked, raising an eyebrow.
I nodded. "Irene Corvus… she can only control undead with glyphs because she grinds up the Immortal Calamity’s undead to make the ink for her runes.”
Esben slammed his fist into the nearby boulder in a sudden fit of rage that made me take a step back in surprise. “She dares to defile one of the Vaktare for her own gain!” Esben shouted furiously. The other mercenaries also reacted much the same, suddenly looking like they were going to start a fight then and there.
Esben took a deep breath, calming down slightly before he turned back to me. “What did you say this woman’s name was, Irene Corvus? Tell me about her.”
I could not help but grin at the rage Esben displayed. I did not know why he was so angry, but any enemy of the Corvus family was a friend of mine. Anything that made trouble for Irene put a big smile on my face.
“Irene Corvus is a counselor for the Novus Kingdom, and a traitor of the Ninth Division and humanity. She has allied herself with the Demon, Envy, and is helping him break into this realm.
I have a bunch of reports on her from Chancellor Otto of the Free Cities if you are interested in details about her life over the past few decades. However, if you want to read them, you have to agree to escort me and my family to Kala.”
“Yes, absolutely!” Esben replied enthusiastically, “Anyone who defiles the Vaktare are enemies of my people. Even if you were not going to Kala, I would have to return there to deliver this information. So long as this Irene Corvus lives, the Novus Kingdom will not have a single moment of peace!”
“You should be careful saying that out loud in a fortress controlled by the Novus Kingdom,” I said, failing to restrain my smirk.
“Yes, yes, got a little excited there. I will gladly take this mission to protect your family, free of charge as promised.” Esben held out his hand with a big smile on his face.
I shook Esben’s hand, noticing the many calluses that covered it as I looked up at him. “Be ready. We leave for Kala at first light tomorrow morning.”