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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerulean_Wings" data-source="post: 4037643" data-attributes="member: 55060">So I'm still sick, which means I don't get to go to work. On the flipside, I have enough energy/creative juice to write up yet another update. You lose some, you win some, or so the saying goes.So here ya go, next chapter, with a cliffhanger included as a bonus. Man, I love writing those! Now I understand why Lazybones does so many...  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" /> Chapter 22The game of lifeThe group ate a quick meal in the inn after Kahleen (and not surprisingly, Gon) had assured the rest that the food wasn’t poisoned. Vincent had voiced his opinion regarding the level of caution they were taking, but Gilliam wouldn’t have any of it, and dismissed his suggestions to lower their guard. Afterwards, they went for the rooms upstairs, and since they didn’t plan to change clothes there, Kahleen was allowed in the room with Gon and Vincent at the same time. Gilliam admitted they could use some extra sleeping hours, but the mercenary was hell bent in leaving Wellspring before the next day.“We can’t linger here too long; the wizard, Ignus, will probably send something or someone else to hunt us down, whatever his motives” he had told the others. They slept with their doors locked, one of the room inhabitants awake while the others rested. This didn’t last for long, only until the late afternoon when everyone got together in Gilliam’s room to discuss what they would do.Five minutes later everyone was outside the Wellspring Inn, each of the companions walking in a different direction. Well, all save for Gon and Darius, the pair of soldiers remained impassive by the inn’s entrance, watching the three others walk away to perform the tasks they had distributed.“What are we supposed to do, if you three are taking care of the food and equipment?” Darius called after them from where he was standing at. Gilliam turned his head to reply as he walked. “I don’t know; go do something fun together. You have an hour, so use it wisely”. And with that, he kept moving away, leaving Gon and Darius in the same dilemma. Both men looked at each other warily, like beasts do when observing the opposing alpha male in the herd. Gon’s face was still masked by the handkerchief, but his expression was all too clear in his gaze.“So” Gon began in a flat tone.“So” his counterpart repeated, shifting uneasy as he glanced around, looking for an excuse to get the Hell out of there.Gon sighed in annoyance and did the same thing; but alas, there wasn’t anything or anyone around to avoid the blond soldier. Darius raised an eyebrow at this, not really expecting that reaction from the usually cheerful man, and began walking away without a word. Much to Darius’ displeasure, the red-haired soldier followed him, with his hands deep in his pockets of his leather trousers. “Do you have to follow me around all the time?” Darius protested. “There’s no one else to talk to, so I might as well” the other soldier replied, his tone far from sounding joking or mocking, as it usually was. Gon kicked a stone lying near him far away as he got closer to Darius.They walked in silence, side by side, encountering several Mountaineers on the way who seemed keen in patrolling the area, along with several town folk who greeted them warmly. Their walk lead to the very center of the town. Four buildings were there: the mayor’s house, the one temple of Berethor, the Mountaineer’s barracks, and a large abandoned building, which probably served as a guild house in the past.  It was the late afternoon, with the twilight fast approaching, and not a soul was near the two soldiers of the Honor Guard at the time.“Where’s everybody?” Darius wondered out loud, coming to a stop by the stone fence surrounding the mayor’s house, which was almost as tall as him. Gon did likewise, folding his arms and taking a look around, but didn’t respond to the question.Several silent moments passed by, as neither man opted to strike up some talk. “Let me make it clear to you, Broken blade” Gon said at length, drawing Darius’ attention. “I. Don’t. Like. You” he declared, saying every word slowly, separate from the rest. “The feeling is mutual, Gon” Darius responded dryly, although he was surprised by this revelation. “I can’t say I enjoy your presence, with all your senseless talk and overly cheerful jokes directed at me. At my expense, no less”.“And I can’t stand your ‘I’m better than you, and so I act serious and important’ attitude, Broken blade. Makes me want to slice your throat open” the roguish soldier retorted, his tone equaling the intention of his words. This shocked Darius, who couldn’t hide his startled expression at first. Then they spent several seconds in a silent stare, but eventually Darius sighed and looked away. “Why do you say things like ‘let’s end this little game of ours’ when it comes to battling our foes?” he asked.Gon’s frown disappeared and he shrugged. “Life’s a game, Broken blade” he explained in a more casual tone. “You lose, you die; you win, your opponent dies. Easy as that”.“You know, I never really understood why you are the way you are: annoying, energetic, overtly cheerful, and so on” Darius commented off-hand. “Maybe if we knew more about each other we wouldn’t be at odds constantly”.Gon’s laugh filled the silent streets of the town’s center briefly. “Really now!” he said at length after his laugh was over. “Is this what you people do? Travel to places, kill anything that stands in your way, then chat amongst each other about your personal history in between the killing?”. He laughed once more, apparently finding humor in this.“Would you rather talk about it while doing the killing?” Darius retorted. Gon shook his head as Darius said the words, his face showing pure amusement. “You are funny, Broken blade, very funny; I’ll grant you that much”. The blond soldier didn’t know if to take this as an insult or praise, and remained silent. “My past is my own, and I have no need to share it with anyone”. Gon glanced at Darius before adding, “Especially with you, an uptight-good-for-nothing-soldier”.This drew a scowl from Darius, who turned to fully face the man, clearly angered by this. He didn’t get to say a word in return, however, as Gon knocked him down with a flying tackle, taking Darius completely by surprise as he was taken to the ground in a heap. “What in the Hells is wrong with you?” Darius shouted from his now prone position as he tried to push Gon away. The other soldier didn’t need any pushing, apparently, and he got up in a blink. In the span of a second, Gon had his light crossbow in hand, aiming high towards the abandoned guild house across the street.“You can thank me later for saving your life, Broken blade” Gon said as he pressed the trigger and allowed the bolt to fly through the air in direction of the building’s window. Darius saw that there was a darkened figure in there who got hit by the bolt squarely in the chest, but this didn’t disable it.Still sitting on the ground, Darius looked back at the spot where he had been leaning against the stone fence, and only then did the notice the arrow that had been shot at him, stuck against the fence. There was a shout from somewhere, probably from within the guild house, and Darius didn’t waste another moment, coming to a standing position and drawing his long sword, trying to discern the location of other enemies.The guild house’s door spontaneously opened wide in order to allow two rabid-looking dogs charge towards Darius. They cleared the forty feet of distance between them and their prey quickly, jumping at the end with their jaws wide open. But the soldier had been waiting for such an attack, and he dispatched the first jumping canine with one slash of his sword by using all of his enhanced strength in the strike. The other dog managed to bite him in the arm after the attack, but the wound wasn’t very severe due to his armor’s protection.Instead of trying to shake the dog loose from his arm, Darius let go of the sword with his injured arm, opting to plunge the blade directly into the animal’s chest with his remaining sword arm. The dog yelped, releasing Darius’ limb before collapsing to the ground, dead.Darius looked to the side, about to ask Gon to give him cover with the crossbow, when he realized that the soldier wasn’t there. Desperate, Darius shifted to a more defensive stance, lest he get attacked again by surprise, all the while looking around for a place where to hide. The fence behind him would do the trick, but he wouldn’t be able to retaliate from there. A twang alerted him of another attack, but it wasn’t directed at him. The arrow zipped over Darius and struck the mayor’s wall. Judging by the footsteps behind the fence, it had to be where Gon was standing a moment ago.“I’ll distract the archer, get inside the building!” Gon whispered as high as he could from behind the stone fence, his voice accompanied by the sounds of a crossbow being reloaded. Darius nodded in acknowledgement before making a beeline for the guild house. Out of instinct, he drew out his short spear after sheathing the long sword in its scabbard. He didn’t know what to expect one inside the place, but the spear’s potential to be thrown added flexibility to his attack maneuvers. Darius had almost made it to the opened door, and was almost forgetting about the dog’s bite when searing pain erupted on his right shoulder. He didn’t have to take a close look to understand he had been shot from above with an arrow, so he braced himself, ignoring the recent wound as he entered the guild house. There was still some semblance of natural light outside, but the interior of the place seemed to be anathema to it. Taking a cautious step forward, rather than charging in while yelling out his full name, Darius held tightly to his short spear, every muscle in his body tense. He could only hear movement above, on the second floor, but then again, he was dealing with people trying to kill him, and stealth was one of their many allies. Upon crossing the threshold, the soldier could smell “old” in the large and spacious dark room. He spied fallen chairs and tables around the corners, along with a book case that was still standing up in good condition. Directly across from the door was a wooden staircase going up.Darius took another step inside, as he didn’t see any threats in the vicinity. That was precisely when the door closed shut behind him, and several crossbows clicked at the same time, all aimed at one target: his heart.</blockquote>

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