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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerulean_Wings" data-source="post: 3982554" data-attributes="member: 55060">CHAPTER 8Night hunt“How many will accompany me into the building, sir?” Vincent asked politely, not really expecting anything. Any number greater than zero was enough, in his mind.Master Ender revised his notes, all placed neatly on top of his elegant and sturdy desk, before replying. “Four regular soldiers from the Honor Guard, and a priest of Berethor to provide you with healing, as I'm afraid it will come to spilling blood once you make contact with the spies”.The room was illuminated by a lantern that hung from the ceiling, with the assistance of the dying sunlight from the window. It was practically twilight, now.“Kahleen, the shaman, will be assisting you as well, out of her own free will” he added.Vincent nodded. “Understood”.“Have you any questions about the task at hand, squire Vincent?”.“Only one, Master Ender”.There was a knock on the door, which sounded a bit insistent, but Draegen dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Speak, then”.“Do we need to leave all of the spies alive, or will only one suffice?” Vincent asked. “They have information about the factions that are plotting against our House and House Dagoth, but I'm unsure on how much we value the knowledge each one of them has”.The old man considered this for just an instant. “If possible, bring them all alive back to Valor's Banner, so that they can be properly interrogated” he commanded, standing up from his chair to flex his leg muscles and regain some circulation.Someone knocked on the door from outside the room again, this time even more insistently, and rapping the wood more violently. There were also some words being said by the anxious visitor, but the wood dampened their sound and meaning.  “Who is knocking my door in such a manner?” harrumphed the veteran warrior as he moved towards the door. “It better not be one of the guards, or he will have to face my ire and his early departure from the Honor Guard!”.Vincent just stood there, watching Master Ender reach the handle and open the door. Gilliam was on the other side, slowly pacing away from the room entrance, his hands clenched in fists at his sides. He was breathing fast, as if he had been running recently.“...I'm going to slaughter the whole keep if he doesn't open the god damned door...” he was saying to himself as he waited.“Your plan of making a massacre out of the keep has been foiled by the highest ranking officer finding out about it before you could even start, mercenary” Master Ender commented dryly from the doorway. The mercenary spun around, clearly caught by surprise, and stammered a response. “I-I didn't mean that” he said, pointing a finger at Draegen. “and you know it”. “Even if you did, you would've been in no position to accomplish the promise, in any case”. The Master of the Honor Guard took a slow breath to calm his own ire. “What's this about, mercenary? Why are you back? We did give you your payment for protecting our squire”.Gilliam settled down at that. “As a matter of fact, yes I do, Master Ender” he admitted.Draegen merely awaited from the doorway, an eyebrow raised.“I would like to renew the contract, and to continue acting as Vin-ahem, squire Vincent's bodyguard”.From within the room, Vincent smiled to himself, but didn't say anything, with Master Ender being within earshot.“An interesting change of opinion, in so little time” Draegen observed.Gilliam shrugged. “There are some who have... very convincing words”.Draegen nodded. “If that's the case, then I see no reason to not take you back as a bodyguard. We do need as many strong arms as possible” the man said, turning back into the room he was just in, and starting to walk towards his desk“Squire Vincent, do explain the matter to your bodyguard, so that he may be well informed before the mission. We'll get the paperwork done in a minute, Gilliam”.The mercenary, hired once again, walked into the room with some caution, trying not to make any sudden movements to upset the Master of the Honor Guard. Vincent was practically beaming at him as he entered.“So tell me, squire Vincent” Gilliam begun with exaggerated politeness. “Where are we going this time, and when do we leave?”.The elf walked closer to Gilliam so that he wouldn't have to speak too loud. “We must go to a warehouse in the Port district, accompanied by five others from the Honor Guard, one of them a priest, and capture the spies that will go there”.“When will these spies reach the place?”.“Tonight”.Gilliam raised an eyebrow and had to resist the urge to make a comment about that.A soft knock on the door drew the attention of the three men in the chamber. The door was open half-way, but Kahleen had opted to be polite and knock anyway.If it wasn't for her missing eye and messy brown hair, no one would've recognized her: instead of dressing with her tattered leathers, she was wearing a fine suit of green, scaly leather, which covered her lean figure from top to bottom. It seemed to be made out of a lizard, rather than a deer, the typical resource for leather armor. Hanging from her shoulder was a longbow that looked quite old, but at the same time remained sturdy. It was made of wood dark as the night, and it appeared to have been carved flawlessly, leaving no imperfections on its figure.“That's what you meant by 'equipment', back then” Gilliam noted in a low tone, so that Draegen wouldn't hear him.“Ah, miss Kahleen, you have returned. Please, come in” Draegen observed as he looked up from his desk in the direction of the shaman. “You've found your things, I take it?”.“Yes, everything was as I had left it” the shaman responded with a bow after entering the room. “Even Blood Moon remains in perfect condition, and this bow has lived its fair share of years”.“Good. You arrived just in time: the squire, here, was just explaining to his bodyguard, Gilliam, about the place where they will go in a matter of hours”.The shaman nodded. “Very well”. She then looked expectantly at the duo of Vincent and Gilliam.“We'll tell you as we walk” suggested Gilliam, too tired to hear the explanation, no matter how short it had been.“If you say so, Gil” Vincent agreed, but quickly caught himself and added “-liam”.The three of them moved out into the corridor, united once again. Gilliam chuckled, once they had cleared a fair distance from Master Ender's chamber.“You can call me Gil, if you prefer; no need to be formal”.“Likewise. You may address me as Vince, unless you like my full name better”.“You may not call me anything other than 'Kahleen'” the shaman declared, rather unexpectedly.Both men stopped walking and looked at her with curiosity.“Why not?” asked Vincent.Kahleen smiled “Because I like my name” she responded simply, and kept walking, just like that, leaving squire and bodyguard by themselves in the corridor, no less confused than before.“She's a weird one, I must say” Gilliam commented as he looked at the shaman walk away.“Definitely not a common personality in these lands” Vincent concluded.Then they looked at each other, smiled, and resumed their walk.---oOo---It was pitch dark outside the warehouse, save for a couple of lanterns that were kept alive by the guard at night, but they offered little illumination, as the nearest one was twenty feet away. The building wasn't close to any main structures of the Port district, and judging by its appearance, it had seen better days, probably years ago, if not decades. It had two levels, and the higher one was accessible by stairs that were inside the place. The front doors, made entirely out of wood, were locked by a crude metal mechanism that could collapse at any moment.Eight figures stood outside the entrance, practically enshrouded in darkness.“An abandoned warehouse, huh? Best place to find spies, if they're stupid enough to utilize it” one of them commented. Four of them wore similar uniforms, which consisted of breastplates, along with short spears, a back up longsword, and a small steel shield. They dressed just like regular soldiers of the Honor Guard, each and every one of them.The fifth one was clad in a chain shirt, for added mobility, and carried no weapons. Priest's of Berethor rarely if ever could be caught carrying instruments of war. The followers of the God of Clarity didn't believe in violence as the only answer, and thus offered their services as healers to the city guard. The man had his holy symbol with him, a silver medallion with the image of an open eye, glowing with power.    The other three were Vincent, Gilliam, and Kahleen. The shaman had stayed as she was before, with her lizard-hide armor and dark longbow. Vincent wore his full-plate, a symbol of status as a member of House Kashtar, along with his short spear and heavy steel shield. Against Gilliam's critics, the squire refused to carry a secondary weapon, in case his spear is lost during battle. The mercenary resigned himself to worry about his own equipment, for the time being: his twin bastard blades were in their scabbards, his chain shirt was properly adjusted, and his knives were hanging loosely from his leather belt, in case he needed to grab one for melee or throwing. As always, he counted them, never being complacent that everything would go his way whenever he wanted.“...seven, eight, nine...” he was whispering, but realizing that he couldn't finish the count to ten, he stopped abruptly and looked up to Vincent, who was eying him as he counted. “Number ten is gone”.“Nothing we can do now, I'm afraid” the squire responded. “You'll be able to buy a new one tomorrow, there's plenty of smithies around”.“How in the Hells did I lose one?” Gilliam wondered out loud, trying to think when was the last time he checked his weapons. He wasn't about to commit suicide for losing one knife, but at the same time he thought it troublesome that his weapons could go missing just like that.“Maybe a thief took it” came a suggestion from the side, made by one of the four soldiers. The man's red hair could still be seen in the night, and his young face displayed a smile as he said the words. Gilliam felt something odd coming from the man, but Vincent couldn't say he agreed with the sentiment. “I would've known, Gon” the bodyguard retorted with annoyance and a bit of anger. The man had this suave voice that Gilliam couldn't stand.The soldier named Gon shrugged. “Maybe it was a really good thief, then”. Gilliam could've sworn the man's smile got even bigger, but in the darkness it was hard to tell.“What's the matter, sir?” one of the guards asked, approaching Gilliam as he did. The man had a concerned expression, partly covered by his long blond hair that almost passed his chin. It was practically a transgression, in terms of military rules for haircuts, but the city guard wasn't that strict in such matters.With a sigh, trying to let his anger for Gon out, Gilliam faced the other man. “Nothing important. Don't worry about it, Darius, I can fight with nine knives” he said reassuringly to the soldier “Don't call me 'sir', though; I kill people who do that”.“As you say, Gilliam” Darius smiled and nodded, happy to hear the words, and went back to his previous spot, right by the door. Vincent couldn't help but feel like he could become fast friends with Darius, had the time and place been different for both of them. He observed the blond soldier for a brief moment before glancing at the priest, Lazarus, who was deep in prayer, communing with his deity, kneeling by the nearby wall.The squire nodded to himself, and started to walk towards the four soldiers that House Kashtar had requested. Along with Gon and Darius, there were two more soldiers, both elves. It wasn't uncommon for elves to join the military, as the population of Seawall consisted of almost forty percent elves, the rest inhabited by humans and half-elves.“How do you feel, comrades?” he asked the quartet, each of them doing something different, like sharpening their weapons or adjusting their armor straps.Mathias looked up, as he was sitting on the ground. “Nothing at the time, squire” he replied calmly. “But then again, the anxiousness comes to me right before the clash of swords”.His companion, Janir, was leaning against the wall, fidgeting with his belt. “Can't say I haven't been better, Vincent” was the soldier's response. “I hate having to risk my life, no matter the reason, the purpose”.The elf's eyes met with the other one's in the dark of the night. “I can't help but feel terrified at picturing my wife deal with my death”.Vincent nodded, understanding the man's fears. “You don't have to worry about such matters, Janir; we have Gilliam to guide us in battle” the squire turned half-way to gesture at the bodyguard, who was chatting quietly with the shaman a couple of feet away. “and we have both Kahleen, the shaman, and Lazarus, the priest of Berethor, to pull us free from Death's greedy hands” he reassured him.Janir didn't say anything, but at least he didn't look any more troubled than before.“Gil, when are we going inside?” Vincent asked the mercenary, a bit impatiently. “The soldiers grow uneasy with every second we spend out here in the dark”.“Oh, that's just mister Broken Blade over here, but that's normal” Gon interrupted, signaling Darius with a hand “He's always fretting about his weapon breaking and all”Darius didn't seem to appreciate the comment, judging by the dark look he directed at his comrade. “Shut your mouth, Gon. I'm tired of you humiliating me with everyone we meet” he said angrily. This only seemed to incite the merry soldier to go on with his act.“Humiliating?” Gon asked, as if surprised. “I'm merely informing these new folk about your last name, and how crushingly difficult it must be for you to wield a sword without having your hand tremble-”.“That's enough”. Gilliam had taken the necessary amount of steps to stand right in front of Gon, blocking his field of view of Darius. Folding his muscled arms, the mercenary looked at the troublesome soldier with narrowed eyes. “We don't need this kind of talk right before a battle, soldier”.“Why, my apologies, general” Gon responded, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I'll be quiet from now on”.The bodyguard grunted, ignoring the flippant comeback, annoyed by the fake apology, and moved to the spot where he was effectively the same distance to everyone.“Attention, all of you” he bade, raising a hand to call their attention. The priest had finished his prayers and was standing up. Kahleen and Vincent faced Gilliam's direction, while the rest of the troops did likewise.“We are going to enter the place and find a suitable position to watch the spies, then strike swiftly when their guard is down”. Everyone seemed to be listening intently, and so he went on. He didn't need to speak in whispers, but neither did he see if wise to talk above hushed tones.“As simple as that sounds, the plan might not go the way we intend. The spies might fight back, with weapons and whatever they have up their sleeves, and we will get injured by the end of the night”.“You might be here for one reason, or maybe more than one. These reasons range from your duty” he glanced at the group of soldiers “to the demands of your patron deity” Gilliam turned to look at Lazarus, who nodded in return “or maybe even your desire to help House Kashtar triumph in these troubled times” he glanced over at Kahleen, and the woman didn't make any gesture in response.Gilliam took a breath to steady himself before going on. He didn't get hired to act as a leader, but he knew that he had to remove the fear from the soldiers, at the very least, lest they betray themselves in battle by running away.“But whatever your causes for being here, with us, at this time, it doesn't change the fact that you have to be here, that you are forced to remain here”. “Save for Kahleen, you didn't choose to participate in this mission, and so it may seem to you like there is no choice left. That is where you err, fortunately for you” Gilliam spun and faced the quartet of soldiers with a determined look. “You can choose, anytime in life, no matter how limited your choices seem. For instance, you can choose how you will prepare for this battle: will you train your body as hard as you can, or will you practice maneuvers with your weapons?”Gesturing towards the priest, Gilliam continued “Will you pray all day, or will you go out and spread the word of your religion?”. He went back to the soldiers, arms spread to the sides, palms open. “You see, you can make choices, even if you didn't choose the situation. In this scenario, where you need to capture these spies, you still have decisions to make” Gilliam was now looking directly at Janir “Will you fight with fear in your heart, worried for your wife's future, or will you instead hack and slash your way through your enemies, hellbent on making it back alive, so that you may see your beloved once again?”.Janir was captivated by the man's words, that much was obvious to all, but even Darius seemed moved, even inspired by Gilliam's speech. For that matter, the rest of the group looked no less empowered by his words. They all resembled a band of heroes, ready to meet the enemy with a cry for glory, sword in hand, no matter what happened next.“Since we have the power to choose, I say we choose to fight like this is what will turn the tides of an entire war”. Gilliam  drew one of his swords and hoisted it up in the air. “For...” he was about to say, but held himself back: in his mind, he was going to rally the group in the name of a knightly order he no longer belonged to.Instead, he proclaimed “For House Kashtar”, as loudly as he dared. Everyone else, even Kahleen, saluted at this, and they all drew their weapons, ready to commence the operation.“I didn't know you could be so... inspiring, Gil” Vincent whispered in the mercenary's ear while the soldiers opened the gates.“Neither did I” he admitted. “Or at least, I didn't remember that I was inspiring”.Kahleen whispered something as well as she passed by him. “You have chosen well, Gilliam”.The mercenary nodded, and drew his other sword as well, walking into the warehouse with the rest.Vincent took his spear from his back and followed suit. “I agree” he added, but in a voice so low that not even Gilliam could hear him. Meanwhile, a pair of glowing red eyes observed the eight people move into the building. The silent being, which no one had been able to spot in the dark street, laughed, making an effort to remain as silent as possible.“I beg to differ”.</blockquote>

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