"She reclaimed what was left, she became the conduit for the hate. As the beast consumed nothing more than wind, the second strengthened through dubious means, failing the law of men until the day of recognition, the one of her power, then she was dignified before the king"
The sun of the dusk welcomed us as we reached the outskirts of Dardangard. Ponz was but a few meters ahead of us, and stopped to directed his officers, which were following him closely, to go disperse and go to the back. "Hold!", one of the officers said to me while they ran towards the back of the formation. I wasn't keen on holding so I went to Ponz, who having a discussion with another officer, "Commander, the reconnaissance is clear. No matter what we think, Dardangard has to be under cultist influence", he said and Ponz pondered with a hand on his chin, "It is clear. But I'm still wondering which of the two options we should pick". I stood closer and I could see, behind him, light coming from inside the houses of the town, there were people still living there. I decided to intervene, "Commander, sorry for interrupting but, aren't we suppose to go into the town? There are lights, many of them, and I don't see any of the cultist patrolling. It should be safe", I said and Ponz raised an eyebrow, "Safe?", he asked and laughed under his breath, "Those staying inside could be all cultists. And what do you mean, cultist patrol?". I pointed towards the emptied streets, "When I was in Vorvorgard, there were patrols of black hooded cultist going in and out constantly. The streets weren't safe at all. Also, the roads coming into the towns were heavily guarded, we haven't see any cultist beside those two traitors", I explained and Ponz seemed intrigued, "You were in Vorvorgard and didn't tell me? Huh… you may be right. Truth be told, our first plan was to set the whole town on fire with arrows. What do you think then? I want to hear your opinion", he replied.
I thought for a bit but there was only one sensible choice, "Let me go alone, I'll be there for an hour and check if the town has fallen to the cult. I can easily take care of myself and have the power of my sword with me", I said with confidence but Ponz didn't seemed convinced, he looked towards Colt, "And the kobold?", an expected question, "Colt? He's obviously coming with me", I answered, "He was born here, he knows the place better than me". That seemed to satisfy Ponz, who nodded and let me go ahead. Me and Colt took the main road like normal travelers and arrived at the town's entrance, which was completely unguarded, "Eerie…", I muttered as Colt looked around him. "Sir, th-this isn't normal. Dardangard always had people taking strolls or sitting outside drinking tea at least", Colt pointed out, so I asked, "Then tell me, which place is the best to check if the cult is here? Is there any place where people congregate, like a tavern perhaps?". Colt didn't take long to think of something, "I think… there is the congregation center, lady Delilah would sometimes go there. It's right in the middle of town". With that knowledge, we walked the main street, wary of any gazes coming from the windows but, although most houses were lightened, nobody appeared to be looking to the outside. Halfway there I noticed… we were being followed, only one person. "Colt, don't look, there's someone following our steps", I muttered, just to warn him, "What?! Where?!", he exclaimed and began to look around, "Shhh!!!!", I immediately silenced him with a hand on his muzzle and turn his head forward, "Shut up, don't make a noise, just walk".
The stalker surely knew that we knew, sorry for the redundancy, and relented from following too close but didn't completely left us. "T-this is the plaza… is so empty", Colt said as we walked throught the main plaza, and just at the end of it stood a big building that looked like a church. We sneaked towards the front, from the windows I knew there were people inside but couldn't exactly make out what was happening inside, until I heard the faint sound of voices, chanting. "Stay back Colt, I'll go see", I said, then peaked to see inside. The building had been recently ravaged, marks on the floor spoke of furniture ripped off and moved away, creating a great hall that was filled with people, most of them hooded with joined hands and in silent chanting that, thanks to the many voices, it became a hum of praises directed to it, to Delia. If that wasn't enough for me to see that the town had fallen, at the end of the hall a scenario stood and, on top of it, three poles with flayed bodies, one cut in half. Won't pull out anything that would compromise me- us, "Colt, the town fell to the cult. Let's get back to the army, fast", I said and we left the plaza in a hurry, still with that stalker following close, I could sense them. "Over here", I muttered and turned a corner, pushing Colt against a wall, "Wait…". I knew they were getting close, better take them out before it alerts the others.
Just as they were about to pass us by, I reached around the corner and snatched the stalker by the neck, it was a guy. I quickly muffled any scream he could make with my hand, "Mhhmhmhm!!!", he screamed, I felt his warm breath on my palm. With my right hand I undid the top part of my baldric, allowing the sheath of my sword to go lower and letting me take it out with ease. "Mmhmh-- Huait, huait!", the guy kept screaming, and licked my palm. "If you scream or make any loud noise I'll do it slow and painful, understood?", I warned and the guy nodded, I slowly let my hand off his mouth and he took a breath before speaking, "I'm not with the cult, I swear". Didn't fully believe him, and Colt cleverly went came to us and rolled up the guy's sleeve, "H-he's lying, he has a mark!". I placed my blade against his neck, letting the steel scrape his throat, "Nice choice of words you liar, better give me something before I get bored", my threat made him tremble and he pleaded while keeping his voice low, "T-the mark, it's something they made me do… I'm not with them, I swear, swear on the gods. I-I can help, I know stuff". Tempting offer but I couldn't risk having this fanatic with us, I was about to end his life when I looked to my side to gaze at Colt's expression, his eyes clearly asking for mercy for this man. Naive perhaps and ironic, this man and the cult despises kobolds with burning passion, Colt knows this well, in Vorvorgard he experienced this first hand and still... and still he wants to spare him? Fine then. I withdrew my sword, allowing the man to catch a breath before closing my hand on his neck, giving a last warning, "You'll be coming with us. Don't make a fucking sound or try anything stupid, alright?".
I turned to Colt, who gazed at me with a smile and grateful eyes, and then to the man, "Name", I said and the man took some breaths, "Uf… ah… I'm E- I'm Ernest", he said and lowered his hoodie, I could see that his head was completely shaved, he was wearing only the tunic and parts of his chest had cuts and scratches. I grabbed Ernest and pushed him forward, "C'mon, we'll leave". Remaining cautious, we left the town, and half-way to the army's encampment, Ernest asked, "What is going to happen to me? Is this somekind of prisoner situation, where you ask me questions, I answer and that's it?". I could've answer but I wanted to keep him wondering, produce a bit of fear and uncertainty... but then Colt answered for me, "We are going to get you to meet Commander Ponz, he is planning the assault and he will-", I stopped him from talking with a hand on his muzzle. "Don't need to think much about it", I said to Ernest, "Just going to ask some questions and, depending on the answer, you might be able to go free". It took us half an hour to return as the army had put up its encampment farther away from the town, once we were seen by the officers we were directed to the commander's tent where Ponz was having a meeting with his peers. "Ponz. Got you something", I said as I entered the tent, prompting him to raise his gaze, "A cultist?", he muttered and stood up, dismissing the others and calling for two soldiers to tie Ernest to a chair. "Is- Is this really necessary? I'm here almost voluntarily!", Ernest complained but to no avail. "Can't leave a cultist untied", Ponz replied, "Yesterday I almost got murdered by two of your kind", then he turned to me, "Good work Tak. I suppose, just by the sight of this man, that the town is under cultist control". I explained what I saw and he let us both stay while he interrogated Ernest.
Didn't even need an hour, Ernest spoke about the cult's movement in the town in clear detail, he explained that the town had seen most of its fighters heading west, forsaking Dardangard altogether in favor of Vorvorgard and other, bigger settlements. He also told us that he was a mere shopkeeper that was forced to convert and bear the mark on his wrists, that he never believed in Delia or the cult and that most of the town thought the same but kept a facade out of fear. "I see", Ponz said and pondered, "Would be easier just to torch the town and not risk it. You could be lying but… I sense that you're not, at least in some parts. How many cultist do you believe will be willing to face us?", and Ernest quickly replied, "Oh, no more than fifty that's for sure!". Fifty? That won't be any problem, "See, no need to rush things and burn an entire town down. I can take fifty fanatics with my own hands", I stated while chuckling a bit, and Ponz smirked, "Really?", he said, "Then tomorrow, in the morning, you'll be going in alone, clean a bunch of them and announce our arrival while at it, understood?". W-what was this guy saying, was he serious? I tried to find anything on his face to see if he was being for real, "Is that a joke?", I asked but he shook his head, "No, you'll be at the vanguard, remember?". Well fuck. Anyway, what could fifty fuckers do?… ugh, no matter, I can do this.
I reluctantly agreed and went to my tent to get ready for my lone assault. Colt stared at me as I took my armor off, "What?", I asked and he got closer, "I… Uh… shouldn't I help you with that?", he said and tentatively reached for my shoulder pads. I sat down in response and got to his reach, then directed his hand to the clasp, "There". He thanked me while helping me out of my armor, "Tak, thank you for before, for sparing Ernest. I-I know it's hard to know who's a foe and who's not but, I still cling to the hope that most things can be resolved without having to resort to violence". His way of thinking was too naive, and one I used to had some time ago, "I know, It would be lovely if most thinks worked that way, no?", I replied, "Violence is usually the first choice, you might try to avoid it but nothing makes it certain that the other won't go straight for your throat… anyway, I hope that sparing that man wasn't a wrong choice". Midway through the morning, I got ready to leave, didn't exactly know how to carry out this assault but it didn't matter as when it came to killing, well, sometimes it came natural to me. Just when I was about to leave the encampment, Ernest approached me out of nowhere, "You're Tak, right?", he asked in a weird normal tone, as if he hadn't been taken as a prisoner just yesterday, "Uh… yes?", I said and he opened his tunic a bit, revealing that he was carrying a sword, "I'll be going with you. Commander Ponz thought that someone that knows the cult's operation in the town could be of use". Ponz freed this man? Well, an extra pair of hands is always helpful. I shrugged, "Alright, come on".
As we made our way down the hill, and devised the town, it was clear that there were many people still living in Dardangard but, unlike before, their clothing was less colorful and most were wearing those same black hoods we saw yesterday. "We're going to stand out like a sore thumb, better find another way in", I said and Colt suggested, "We could try going around, the horse house could be a good start". Hehe, 'horse house', nothing but a stable with a fancy name, anyway, we went around the village, at first keeping an eye for cultist guards but Ernest reassured us, "They aren't watching the outside of the town, they're probably securing the sacrifices for next week. They mostly stay inside the town, monitoring for any sign of 'heresy' or treason". We were half-way to the horse house when I sensed something coming to us, "Crouch!", I exclaimed, and a barrage of arrows flew close to us. I turned to see five cultists in horseback, not much of a problem for me if I was alone, but now I have to keep in mind that Colt is close and that-… where the fuck is he? I looked around me, just seeing Ernest who had his sword out, "Where the fuck is Colt?!", I asked and he shook his head, "D-don't know, focus!". Fine, I took the Godsword out of his sheath and saw how one of the cultist came to me, on top of a horse, blade in hand, so sure of having the 'high ground', only for his sword to split in half in contact with mine, then a simple spin allowed me to open his chest and side fully, guts and blood falling and tainting the ground. The other two were farther away, so I dashed to them and threw my sword to severed both, letting it come back to me and decapitating another one on its way back.
The last cultist was swinging at Ernest, who could surprisingly hold his ground by doing a strange technique with his sword; thrusting it forward and letting the tip impale the cultist's chest. All five were taken out but my alertness didn't falter, I couldn't see where Colt was, "Colt!", I screamed multiple times, until I saw him peaking from inside a barrel. "T-Tak! I'm here!", Colt exclaimed and fell to the ground, barrel and all, scrambling to his feet before coming to me, "I-I hid, like you told me once". What a relief, he was actually pretty fast, didn't see the moment he hid, "Yeah", I replied, "Good, w...well done". Turning to the fallen cultists, they were wearing their usual black attire and their wrists were all marked, their weapons were rusty and badly damaged, if all of the cult's soldiers were like this, then they don't stand a chance against the army. "Let's continue", Ernest said, "The sooner we get to the stable, the faster we can leave this place behind". Leave? I caught him by the hoodie, "Leave you say? Who told you we were going to leave?", I asked and he seemed to get nervous, "I-I thought… I thought that you wanted the same, no? Take the horses and leave, we don't have to follow the Ponz's suicidal orders", he said and freed himself from my grip, "I've heard that you're supposed to be at the vanguard at all times. Surely you don't want to die for this stupid cause, no? You're a mercenary after all". This guy was becoming more and more of a mystery, and when I was about to question him further, Colt beat me to it and asked, "You aren't actually from here, right? D-don't want to pass as smug but I recognize most of the people that live here and I've never seen your face before", and Ernest, visibly shook, immediately denied, "N-No! You're mistaken, you probably don't recognize me because I… I got my head shaven, yeah, that's why. Now, let's continue before more cultists appear".
I remained skeptical of Ernest, and Colt increased that feeling further, "Sir Tak", he whispered, "He isn't from here. It might seem minuscule, but nobody in Dardangard calls the 'horse house' a stable, he's lying, I'm sure of it". Yes, even if he wasn't, he isn't trustworthy enough to come with us, don't know why Ponz let him out of his incarceration. Once we had the horse house on our line of sight, it became clear that the cultist knew of our presence, the place was filled with them, around twenty, on the watch for any incoming intruder. "Fuck, fuck, fuck", I heard Ernest said under his breath, so I reassured him, "Relax, we can take them out one by one… we meaning me", and approached the horse house, then went around and into a tree line nearby and, because of the danger, I decided to let Colt know this was going to be nasty, then instructed him with something, "Colt", I whispered, "I need you to do something, something really important". Colt effusively nodded, "Y-yes sir, what is it?", so I got close as to not let Ernest hear, "Sneak back to the army's camp", I said, "Let Ponz know that he can send the army, that we know, for a fact, that there aren't that many cultists", with that information, Colt, without making any sound, ran away from the tree line and to the far side of the town… I gotta say, I'm more nervous about letting Colt alone than to face twenty cultists, on one side I prefer him no to be here, not only because he's a liability but because he would be an easy target, but on the other side, him leaving on his own might be more dangerous. Fuck it, any decision is valid.
"What are you going to do, Tak?", Ernest asked, sword in hand and with a worried expression. "Simple, I'll go in there and kill as many as I can before they realize", I replied, not out of confidence but from experience. As I glared at my blade, I feel the thrill of it, two things in my life I developed a taste for; alcohol and fights, the latter proving to be difficult but still exciting. I went from the tree line and sneaked into the horse house's house… or main house, quickly getting a glimpse of two cultists chatting while sitting at a table, didn't care for the topic of their conversation, my blade shared the same sentiment as it chopped both heads cleanly with a simple throw, calling a recall as fast as possible as to not let the metal hit anything and cause an unwanted sound. Up next were five of them watching the house itself, it wasn't as cleanly as with the other two because of the blood that ended up tainting the walls, there also were two miscalculated cuts that cause some guts to be spilled… it happens. By just waiting, I managed to kill eight more that came into the house and, finally, with just five left, we could begin to make progress into the town and go back to the army. "Hey!!! Get him!!!", I heard from outside the house, I quickly went to the window to see that Ernest was getting on top of a horse and trying his best to steer it, this stupid bastard had blow our cover but at least it gave me a window of opportunity to take three more and go finish up the last two.
"H-hold… ngh… still!", Ernest struggled with the horse, ending up on the mud and unable to get back up. "This one is mine!", one of the cultists exclaimed before I severed both of his arms with a throw, recalling my sword to impale the chest of the other. "Get up Ernest", I said, slowly making my way to him as the last cultist stared at his now missing hands, just blood-spilling holes, before collapsing. "Ngh… fuck… ar-are they all dead? Did you kill all of them?", Ernest asked, getting up to see the horse house eerily empty, "They were a bunch of armed peasants, shopkeepers or whatever, aren't going to do even a scratch on me", I replied and helped him to a chair. "I think, I think that I damaged my ankle- fuck!", he complained and removed his footwear, his ankle was clearly swollen but nothing that can't be fixed in a few days, "A medic from the army can look at that, nothing too serious", I reassured but he bit his lips and hit the table in anger a few times. We stayed in the horse house for thirty minutes or so, until a small patrol of mercenaries from the army found us, Colt was nudge in between them but came running when he saw me, "Tak! I-I told them to come sooner but-", he was saying to me but then he fell flat on his face, quickly scrambling back to his feet to hug my side, "I'm glad you're okay, h-how is Ernest?". I turned to my side where Ernest remained staring at the horizon, probably lost in thought, "Ernest", I called, "Ernest… Ernest!", but he was unresponsive, then Colt went to him and accidentally kicked his ankle with his kobold feet, causing Ernest to scream, "Agh!! Y-you fucking kobold!", and he tried to land a kick on Colt, missing and prompting me to my feet, my blade quickly finding a way to his throat, "Laid a hand on the kobold and lose it", I warned and Ernest rose both his hands, "Y-yeah, sorry, sorry! What is it? Help arrived?". Only then he realized he had a group of mercenaries in front of him? This guy was a loose canon, better hand him back to Ponz, not going to deal with him anymore.
We went along with the small group to the plaza where Ponz had set up arrangements for an announcement. Around the whole plaza there were citizens gathered, their expressions were nothing else than pure happiness, the women were dressing in their most colorful dresses; those sames I saw the first time I came here, the men were chanting and clapping, the children were playing with each other, a scene I've never seen before, for a second I mistook the cultists for the Calamity, Dardangard for Mön and Ponz for me… a fantasy my head created in a split second before coming back to reality. The group made way through the crowd, I had to deliver a few handshakes of congratulation, pats on the backs and such. Half of our division was in the plaza with Ponz at the front, next to him remained the soldiers from the Princedom, and to the back, the far back, we were the mercenaries and adventurers. Ponz took his time accepting the gratitude of the commonfolk and the applause of his men, before standing in a makeshift scenario and doing a speech, "People of the town at the valley's heart, Dardangard. I, Liam Philippe Joan Levid Ponz, fifth commander of the royal army of his highness, Prince Henry Elias Colstrum. Declare that on this day that by the hands of the soldiers, by the will of the people, the good, the just, the town of Dardangard has been liberated from the yolk of the cult!", his words were followed by deafening praise and clapping that lasted a minute or so before Ponz rose his hand to silence the crowd, and continued, "This is but a first step into reclaiming our land back, so be sure that we'll do our best to restore order in our fatherland". One of Ponz's officers went next to him and whispered something, prompting Ponz to address everyone again, "There is something of the upmost importance we need to disclose. As to avoid confusion, we ask of everyone to follow our instructions so we can remove the mark from everyone's wrists. We cannot risk any infiltrator or deceiver among our peaceful settlements, so the garrison staying here will watch closely and protect everyone. Anyone who refuses to get the mark removed, will face immediate execution. That should be all, if you have any question please refer to your nearest authority!", well, that ended on a sour note, however most, if not all, people began to organized themselves in lines, ready to get the mark of the cult removed from their wrists as soon as possible.
By the evening, half of the town was mark free and returned to a certain normalcy, and the army set up camp on the outskirts while leaving a garrison as, sort of, a townsguard. The whole day I've been trying to reach Ponz to no avail, after he supposedly liberated the town, he's been barraged with praises by different people who's been coming in and out of his pavilion. What I wanted was for Ponz to tell me if our division was actually going north, as I've heard from different soldiers that we weren't after all. And if we weren't going north then to ask him to give me a written permission to join the north bound army. I remained patient for two full days, two days of sitting doing nothing, worsened when Ernest came back with his ankle healed and no mark, he seemed… not as loose as before and more enthusiastic, but immediately tried to convince me to abandon the army and go north with him, something that became more enticing by the minute. Finally, by some miracle, one of Ponz's officers came to me and led me to Ponz's pavilion, where he was sitting with a big, and pretty detailed, map of the Princedom. "Tak, nice to see you alive and well", Ponz greeted, his gaze not leaving the map, "I've been told you managed to kill more than ten cultists on your own, is that so?". Didn't expect this kind of greeting, "More like twenty", I corrected and smirked but quickly remembered what I needed to tell him, "Ponz. I need to know if we are going north, if we're not then I'm just wasting my time here". Ponz didn't raise his gaze, "We are", he said, "After we're ready we'll head out". Ready? Ready for what? There isn't anything else here, "How long? Ready when?", I asked but before Ponz could reply, an officer came into the tent, "Sir! I-Is one of the mercenaries, one from the Oriental Express!". Ponz grinned, "Really? Unbelievable, please, let them in", and the pavilion flaps moved aside, the massive figure of Kan entered, he slowly made his way towards us, stopping to gaze down at Ponz who raised his eyebrow, "You? You are the mute… why would you be the one coming here? Anyhow, tell Borsos to come immediately, I would love to have a report on-", Ponz went silent as Kan pulled from inside his robes the proof, joined together by a fine thread, like the one he used to kill a traitor before, severed forearms, each one with the mark of the cult. Kan pulled and pulled, it seemed unending, they were about fifty, and created a disgusting pile on the ground. Ponz was out of words, and Kan, on the other hand, pulled one last thing, a note, and handed it to me.
"What does it say?", Ponz asked and I began to read, "Commander Ponz, it's me, Borsos, hope this letter finds you safely, these words might not seem mine as I've asked someone to write while I dictated. If everything went well, you should have fifty five forearms, all severed of course, belonging to cultists that no longer form part of the world. Lesengard saw us slay three hundred cultists, and we are now at the gates of Saiga, by the time you receive this, I'm certain that the cultists cowering behind its walls will be joining their god. I've sent Kan as he is not only an amazing warrior but also our fastest, he will return as soon as he knows that this information has been conveyed to you. We expect to see each other at Vorvorgard in a day and a half after receiving this. Will see you there". At that last word, Kan turned and left the pavilion like the wind while Ponz clapped and laughed under his breath, "Amazing! And some doubted these five. Well Tak, you've received your answer too, we'll leave for Vorvorgard today, we have to meet Borsos and the others".
At last some good fucking news, I couldn't hide my smile as I walked out of the pavilion, going back to my tent and getting ready to leave. Colt, who was, unsurprisingly, reading a book, noticed my happiness, "Sir, something happened?", he asked and I threw him a leather bag before replying, "Fill it with your extra clothes, we'll be leaving this place today, straight to Vorvorgard from here", and Colt, instead of displaying happiness or starting to pack his stuff, looked at his side with a doubtful expression. "What is it?", I asked but he stayed silent for several seconds, then closed his book and slowly came to me, "Sir", he said, "B-before we leave, I want to go somewhere first… would you mind waiting for me?". It was strange how he asked me that, is not like I was going to refuse, "Fine", I said, "Let's pack things firsts so we're ready, then I'll go with you". A smile painted Colt's face and he nodded, quickly beginning to pack his stuff and helping me with mine. After that, I accompanied him into the town, following his steps to a destination that became clear after a while, what I've noticed from the stroll was the lack of kobolds which I guess were taken out by the cult long before we arrived… just like what happened in Franck, it pains me just thinking about it. Colt finally stopped at the front of a building, it was none other than his birthplace, Delilah's tea house, which lacked the sign and had the windows boarded up.
"Sir, could you… help me get in?", Colt asked and I obliged, didn't give too much thought on the method to get inside, I just used the sword to cut the door in half, "There", I kicked the rest of the door and went inside. Just a month and a few days ago this place was open and running, now completely empty, eerily silent and with cobwebs on every corner. "Thanks, I'll go get what I need", Colt said as he ran up the stairs, I, on the other hand, began to check the rooms out of curiosity. Besides Colt's old room, there were three rooms with left over furniture, one of them appearing to have been the rooms the kobolds stayed in, another was one big room with carpet floor which I guess used to be Delilah's, the last one was a tiny room without windows and with two wall mirrors… weird. Anyway, Colt seemed to be taken too long so I went upstairs, I could hear him making a fuzz inside a room so I went there. "Got what you need?", I asked, peaking inside the room to see Colt on his knees, taking from, what appeared to be, a hidden drawer, some books and pilling them. "Tak, I just… uh… This place used to be were Delilah hid my books. I wanted to take all- I mean, some of them with me, now that I have the chance to come back here", Colt explained with a bit of worry on his tone, knowing fully well he cannot take all of them, "Alright…", I sighed and kneeled next to him, "You can take three, let me see what you got". We scourged through twenty books, I gave a look to each of them to see if they were any good, Colt would excitedly explain everything from each one. It took almost an hour but Colt finally decided on three, then I saw, hidden deep in the drawer, a book with a black cover, "What's this one about?", I asked myself, the cover didn't have a name, only when I opened it I could read its name, "Tales of the Beyonder".
This time I didn't dropped the book, this time I didn't feel fear, I turned to Colt and asked, "Colt, did you read this?", he came to me and looked closer, "Uh… I don't think so…", he replied but his eyes immediately lighted up when he saw the name, "Oh yes! I read it before! Tales of the Beyonder, t-this one was written by that famous person… uh… what was his name…". Famous he said? I began to search the insides of the books for any sign of the name but there was nothing, "There's no mention of the author...", I muttered, and placed the book on top of the other three we were going to bring with us, "I've read this book before but I hardly remember any of it… just that it had this guy that had superpowers or something. Colt, do you remember anything from it?", I asked and Colt pondered for a bit, grabbing the book and quickly scooping through it, "Oh, I think, I think that I remember something", he said, "The book's narrator is supposed to be one of the gods, who tell us the story of a man turned deity… it was weirdly grim I remember, It was one of the first five books I've read… uh, I think that, at the end of the story, the man- the 'entity' it… swallows the earth? Or something along those lines?". Well, that tells me jack shit, "Okay, let's stop fucking around, get the books and let's get back to camp", time to forget about this… matter, and go back to our mission.
With the sunset on our backs, we arrived back to the camp, where everyone was ready to part, we went straight to the top of the formation where Ponz stood surrounded by his officers, I was meaning to go to him, see what the plan for the next assault was, but I was stopped by Ernest, who had changed his clothes to ones that looked fancier; white pristine shirt with a vest that had flower motives, striking blue pants and buckled shiny shoes, "Tak, there you are! Glad Ponz finally decided to move. Care if I join you and your… kobold?", he said, even his voice appeared more… 'refined'. "Colt, his name is Colt", I replied and moved past him, trying to ignore him as we went with the army. I pay no mind to Ernest, who spend three hours lingering around like an annoying fly, talking about nothing, trying to get me or Colt to talk to him.
We went throught the same roads I took with Colt a month ago, when he still had a family to go to before we knew the truth, passing by the same trees that, deep inside, hid that tiny shack we used when Colt got that allergic reaction. Anyway, once the moonlight greeted us and the army got ready to set camp, a group of soldiers came to meet Ponz at the head of the formation, these soldiers came from the north, so they weren't from our army division. After a few minutes, more and more soldiers appeared, Ponz decided to let everyone know that the fourth division would join us in the assault to Vorvorgard, we were now around eight thousand strong. The next day, early, everyone, by Ponz's orders, broke camp and resumed the way north, It took us but a few hours to get close to that village where the detour I took to that 'murder house' was, we obviously didn't chose to do that detour and went straight, crossing the bridge to the other side of the Blue River. Something to point out was the lack of any cultist on our way, there weren't any important settlements, but the lack of any cultists, wandering the roads, seeing if a lucky sacrifice could be snatched, meant that probably all of them were quartered in Vorvorgard… a big fight awaited us.
Ponz calculations were mostly right and, by the early dusk, we had arrived to the outskirts of Vorvorgard; we were still various kilometers away from the town itself, which stood inside a forest. Ponz set his pavilion up, calling for his officers and, surprisingly, me. "Gentleman", Ponz greeted and extended a big map on the table, "We are ten kilometers away from Vorvorgard. The move we should make is obvious", and one of the officers shouted, "Yes, attack directly and without mercy!", and the others agreed but Ponz shook his head, "No. We are right about the fact that we are more, our force overwhelms theirs five to one, but we shouldn't risk ourselves", he explained, pointing with his finger the perimeter of the town on the map, "They called it 'The town of the Sacred Hand', disgusting… they've also fortified it with wooden walls, ten meters tall, that surrounds it completely. We don't have siege equipment nor ladders". Ponz words filled the officers with doubt, whom began to discuss among each other ways until Ponz cleared his throat, "But…", he said, "We got the men and we got axes. How long would it take? Two or three thousand men to cut down some trees and do some ladders? I'm willing to guess less than three days". The officers all began to smile and nod, their doubt easily replaced by over confidence on their win. I didn't say or do anything, just listened, then, when Ponz dismissed his officers, he motioned me to come closer. "Tak, I've got a mission for you", he said almost whispering, "A reconnaissance one".
I left the pavilion with a new mission, go to Vorvorgard and check their defenses from afar without engaging, an easy mission if you asked me, and one step closer to leaving the Princedom. Ponz did asked me to do this today, so I went straight to Colt and took him with me, and when I say took I mean literally carrying him five kilometers or so, that way we would reach Vorvorgard before the sun left us without light. Now closer to the town, I let Colt on the ground and we walked, there was something off, first thing was the complete lack of patrols on the road, unlike last time when we saw one immediately, but that could be attributed to them hiding inside the town… then, two kilometers shy of reaching the town's gates, I saw some cut down trees and managed to see a pit that was among the trunks, from where I could smell the faint scent of burning. One kilometer away from the town's gates was when I saw the bodies, some tied to the trees, others hanging from branches, most on the side of the road, almost all of them were burned, these bodies varied in size and I began to wonder if the cult resorted to killing everyone and forsake what they had, that was until I saw the entrance to the town itself, its gates broken and laying on the ground, and from the top of the walls I could see a flag; all brown with a white stripe in the middle and, inside of it, a brown crown, it was the flag of Centralia.
"S-sir, that is…", Colt muttered. "Yes, it is, let's see if anyone's home", I replied and we cautiously made our way inside, only to get immediately spotted by a group of soldiers; in armor and wearing brown clothing underneath, "Hold it right there! Identify yourselves!", one exclaimed, we were completely surrounded, they had crossbow man on the top of the houses, pikemen ready in formation and everyone had their weapons drawn. I could, maybe? Take some of them out, but it wouldn't help at all, they were clearly not our enemy, so I did the rational thing and let my sword down on the ground. "Seize them!", the soldier ordered and they bound my arms but stopped when they saw Colt, "Sir, he is with a kobold", one said and the other raised my sleeve to check my wrists, "And this one doesn't bear a mark", they freed my arms and the soldier told us to follow him. As we followed the soldier, I took the chance to look around the town, which was completely void of life; the houses were wrecked and burned, there were stains of blood on every street, something that made Colt cover his nostrils, and once we passed throught the plaza, he also covered his eyes, probably due to the memory of Aisha. We were then took by horseback to the top of the hill where Boris mansion is, now decorated with the flag of Centralia, and we were led inside where a big table, with many soldiers around it, stood. A man in the middle of the table caught my attention; with short black hair and beard, being the center of attention. "Captain Titos! We found these two entering the town", the soldier exclaimed and the whole room turned to us, and filled the room with whispers, mostly surprised by the presence of a kobold. "Alright, you're all dismissed", the Captain said before turning to us, "You two, come forward", the soldiers shifted away to let us approach the table, that's when I noticed, next to this Captain, a man in full shiny copper colored armor, that man wasn't an officer or soldier, I was sure that it was a knight.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Derek Titos, captain in charge of the east division, under the orders of his grace, King Adler. Who are you and what are you doing here?". Titos, huh? Wasn't Titos that guy that lost to Cassandra in the south… anyhow, "I'm Tak of Sonnda and this one is my squire, Colt", I replied, "We are with the fifth division of the Princedom army". From behind I heard one guy laugh but quickly stopped at Titos's indifference, "Princedom army", he repeated and sighed, "Stopping the cult, liberating the subjugated towns, seizing and imprisoning cultists, all of that were responsibilities of the Prince. Shouldn't have to end up like this, with centralian blood spilled in a foreign land", his words prompted a deep mourning silence, then he coughed and asked, "Tak, was it?", and I nodded so he gave me an order, "Tak, do me a favor and deliver the news to your commander, tell him to meet me here". I obviously obliged, they were kind enough to lend me a horse so I could travel faster, there was something in the back on my mind though, how will Ponz react to this? Well, the answer came up quickly as I arrived and immediately went for his pavilion, only to see him, sword in hand, slicing pieces off the wooden chairs and table, breaking things, next to him were Borsos and the other four of the Oriental Express.
"Tak! So happy to see!", Borsos greeted me and gave me a hug that almost made me vomit my lungs, "Ugh… me… too…", I replied before he broke the hug, he gazed at Ponz while explaining to me what happened, "I tell commander what we have seen. North of Saiga we saw many, many, brown soldier, centralian soldier they told. Kan came before, a minute before, he seen same brown soldier on north town of Vorvo… Vovor… Vorovor… north town". Ponz, still enraged, turned to me, his eyes wide open, "You! Who? How many?", he asked while approaching me, grabbing me by the collar, something I didn't appreciate. "Commander, calm down first", I said as his face contorted in anger, skin red, mouth holding curses in, "Commander", I repeated and he breathed deeply and released me, taking a few steps back and sitting on one of the chairs he sliced a leg off, so he was kind of angled. "Alright… tell me", Ponz said and I thought of what to tell him first. "Uh well, first of all, the town was liberated by the… 'east army of Centralia', lead by a guy named Derek Titos", I replied and Ponz blurted out a comment, "Ha! Derek? That fucking twat, that fucking rat, he surely wants to make his daddy proud, that's why… fucking… fuck…", as he muttered curses I continued, "Yeah, so, they are less than us but they don't want to fight. Titos wants to talk to you personally, in Vorvorgard".
Ponz angrily talked under his breath, "Meet him in Vorvorgard?!… that bastard, why doesn't he fucking come down and meet me here, uh? What a f-… agh!!!", he seemed to be drowning in his own hate but, after almost ten minutes of this, he stood up, grabbed his cape and tidied up his armor, "Fine. Let's finish with this". Ponz took his horse, five officers, the Oriental Express and me, and we went back to Vorvorgard. They saw the broken gate, the blood on the cobblestone streets, the burned houses, despite the darkness of the night hiding most of the gruesome details, and continued up the hill and reached the mansion, where the centralian forces greeted and took us to the main hall. We reached the table that now only had Derek and the copper knight. Ponz stepped up and spoke, "I am Liam Ponz, commander of the fifth division of the army of his highness, Prince Henry Colstrum. I take that you are Derek Titos, aren't you?", and Derek didn't answer, he just stared at Ponz, who frowned and asked, "Don't you know that you are standing on soil belonging to the Princedom? Haven't you seen a map before? Centralia is to the west, and you are leading an invasion army, give me a reason not to order all of you to be taken as prisoners". Ponz words kept a semblance of elegance, but as the seconds passed without Derek answering, the same anger from before began to manifest in Ponz's face, "Can't you speak? Are you a mute?!", he shouted to an unflinching Derek, who only then replied, "Good evening first, no? High ranking officers should always keep their manners". I thought that that was it, that Ponz would drawn his sword and a fight would ensue, I mean, that's what I would do, but he did not, instead, he bowed slightly, "You're right", and asked with a soft tone, "What is Centralia doing here?".
Derek didn't appear to be gloating on Ponz's anger over this brief humiliation, he remained with an unshaped expression, urging us to sit and then explaining, "Invading another country is not a decision taken lightly, I myself find distasteful having to enter and fight in the lands of a nation I see as friendly. You and the Prince doesn't know… actually, the Prince might know now, or be receiving the information as we speak, but we were requested to see the northern border of the Princedom secured by all means, this was requested by the Duke of Sallas", this prompted Ponz to raise from his chair, "The Duke of Sallas?! What in the world has he to do on our nation?!", but quickly sat back as Derek motioned him to let him finish, "I know. This was requested a few months ago, and the king didn't act as it could mean war against the Prince, that was until the end of the war with Roda. See, Sallas is going to be hosting rulers and important nobles to sign a peace treaty, in light of this, the council of Centralia unanimously agreed that securing the space between Sallas and the cultists settlements was paramount, they forced the king to send the army". Ponz raised back from his chair, "But this… this doesn't change things, who does Adler and Sommer think they are to just… just invade something that doesn't belong to them! There are treaties! There are alliances and truces in between, let Falkfak hear of this, he will be pissed, he might even attack Centralia!", he retorted but Derek explained even further, "That won't happen. This invasion has the support of Empress Liza and the Supreme Dictator himself, they want to reach Sallas without any contrivances that might arise from deranged fanatics. Or would you let Prince Henry ride a caravan throught a cultists Vorvorgard? Even if he sailed, any other noble going through land would be in grave danger. Not mentioning the risk the cult meant for our, and the duke's, towns and villages, a risk that the Prince, sadly, took too long to resolve".
With that, Ponz deeply sighed and sat back, I'm not a fan of this Derek guy, but he was making a heap lot of sense. "Also", Derek said, "King Adler was permissive, the council, the duke, the empress and the dictator, all of them agreed on one thing, to depose the Prince, but he refused and ordered us to only focus on the cult". This made Ponz hit the table, "That's!… you cannot expect me to believe that!", but Derek shrugged, "Believe if you want, or don't, I don't care. Our mission here is done, you can have what remains, we'll be returning home. You're welcome, by the way, for the blood we have spilled". Derek excused himself and left the room while we were told, by Ponz, to wait outside. Some of the centralian soldiers came and shared some of their bread and ale, they struck conversations with Borsos, surely curious about their foreign looks and strength, others talked with me and were curious about the fact I had a kobold squire, from the way they spoke I could tell, maybe for the first time, a lack of disgusts or hate towards Colt as a kobold. Maybe in Centralia the kobolds were treated well? Don't actually know, but it intrigued me. From the corner of my eye I saw the copper knight, he had a red cape that contrasted with the darkened metal, he went pass me but after a bit, returned along with Derek, who entered a carriage and left, going down the hill, then Ponz appeared, his face one of defeat, "Everyone with me", he said and we did just that, he continued, "If what Titos said is true, then the Princedom might be cult-free. Borsos, you took Saiga and Lesengard while the centralians took all the settlements from the west to the north. It is good news, don't get me wrong, but a bitter victory nonetheless, especially considering that Vorvorgard might as well be gone, there were no survivors. I must go back to Prime Bay as soon as possible and convey what happened to the Prince, what Centralia did cannot go unpunished".
The centralians offered us to stay with them for the night, they were going to be leaving the next day and go back to their homesoil, but Ponz profusely refused, stating that he needed to get back to his men, and couldn't rub elbows with the 'enemy', so we left and went back to the camp. Our arrival prompted the officers to swarm Ponz and, behind them, the army was fully ready to attack, fully equipped and armed, they even had made some ladders for the supposed siege. This all die down once Ponz told everyone to stand down, he chose some of his officers to accompany him back to Prime Bay and left orders to reinforce all the garrisons on the other liberated settlements. Before leaving, Ponz personally came to me and handed me a metal badge, the winged sword; the symbol of the royal army, "Have this, you deserve as much", he said and I questioned, "Why are you giving this to me? I'm a mercenary, am I not?", but he shook his head, "This will be given to every one that participated in this conflict, well… everyone except for the Oriental Express, there are foreigners. You may sport this inside the Princedom borders, and you'll be respected as equally as a royal soldier. This is farewell, you are relieve from your duties, and you may go north as you wished. There's also the matter of your payment, you'll receive it tomorrow". I stared at the pin, it seemed like silver but it wasn't, it shined pretty though… anyway, there was one thing I had to tell Ponz, "Commander, there's one thing I need first. I gotta get my horse back, surely the service army has it, it's a black one, with big eyes and-", I was describing but Ponz motioned me to stop, "No need for all of that, you may ask that to the horsekeeper, also tomorrow". Me and Ponz exchanged nods and he left, galloping full speed. "H-he was kind of nice, don't you agree?", Colt said, his voice startling me a bit as I had forgotten he was standing next to me, "You've been quiet this whole time, here", I replied and gave him the metal badge, "You can keep it, let's set up the tent".
Our tent felt tinier, probably due to the fact that we weren't sharing the big one with the Oriental Express; they were called back to the capital and I couldn't even say goodbye to any of them. Colt helped me out of my armor, cleaned my sword and set the stove, "You're getting the hang of it", I said but he didn't answer, didn't even gazed at me, he seemed lost in thought, "Everything alright?", I asked and then he snapped out of it, "I… uh… I was just thinking about something… well, not something, that man, the knight that was next to Captain Titos", he said, sparking my curiosity, "What? You know who he is?". Colt pondered for a bit before remembering, "I think… that, that man was Sir Denan Dörm, his name alone isn't that recognizable, everyone knows him as 'Bronzeblood', one of the most important knights of Centralia". I rose an eyebrow, "You said 'I think' but just dropped quite the description. If he's important then, why is he here fighting mere cultists?", I asked, letting Colt finish adding salt and spices to the soup before explaining, "Well, I guess that, because the war ended, he might've been given the role of watching the Captain's back? I d-don't actually know Centralia that well, most of what I've read about them is from the Princedom's perspective… so a lot of bad things, things about the famines they've suffered, different revolts, their expansionist vision and more… there was also a lot of defamation towards King Adler just because he's blind". Don't know why but I chuckled at the king's condition, "A blind king? That must be why they got that council thing going", I said but Colt quickly corrected, "N-no, you're wrong… sir. Haven't you heard of King Adler before? King Adler 'The Blind'? He's been in power long before you were even born… no offense", he coughed a bit, it didn't really bothered me if he got a little heated when discussing, I actually kind of like that, seeing him get a bit mad, he stirred the pot while telling me how things seemed to work in Centralia, "I-It's actually strange how the royal court works in Centralia, there isn't a royal family and the council is elected throught a voting process, the seven elected council members vote on who becomes the next king. It's been that way since… what was it… I think since they deposed the royal family in the War of Reclamation, that was almost eighty years ago". Colt's usual history lesson always lighten my mood, he had that way of speaking, 'like a professor' Lainman used to say, he couldn't be more right.
With the sun of the morning, we neatly gathered our things and went to look for my horse. Thankfully, Ponz had lived up to his promise and shortly afterwards a service man from the royal army came to me with my horse, which seemed to had fattened, don't know what these guys been feeding it. I gave my thanks and left the camp, heading back to Vorvorgard, or what was left of it, and crossing the northern gate of the town towards the last stretch to Sallas. We were half-way to the border by noon, when a drop of fear went through me, there could be cultists hiding or living among these lands, I know that Centralia hadn't gone this far north as they had came from the west. Even if I wanted to get to Sallas before nightfall, I had to go slower and pay attention to my surroundings. Just like every road in the Princedom, this one was deserted, no caravans, no carriages, no nothing, and the feeling of uneasiness became worse as we had to go around a blockade in the road; trees that had been cut out and put in a line, these blockades appeared every five kilometers. Then I saw the sight that told me that the cult had been deal with, as the blockades stopped appearing and, instead, were replaced by a thin wooden pole on the side of the road, repeating every two or three kilometers, each one with a cultists impaled and a sign on their rotting necks, "No mercy for those that defy the faith". It was clear, this was the work of the army of Sallas, maybe even the private army of the duke himself; one of the strongest military forces on the Levan. Knowing this, my fear of the cult dissipated completely and was exchanged by a fear for Colt, how would they react to him? The faith doesn't treat kobolds fairly, that I know of, but some nations swing from killing them to barely tolerating them, I hope that him being with me is enough to keep him safe.