War was never an art.
It’s fine. It’ll all be fine… a commander will show up soon and… they’ll be killed.
I’ve only just learnt my second magic… I’ll die if I try to fight a whole crew of vikings.
There’s a Thane… one of the rich landowners from Keraxe. I’ve heard that Wotan and his sons let them basically take what they want from enemies…
I’m doomed. Liz is doomed. Amarut is doomed.
Hell. What if they take a vase? I only just got them repaired. The alchemist in Caitara is expensive but they can do some great stuff.
How did their ship even bypass the blockade? Have the Generals fallen? Has Rosehenge been destroyed? No… surely it couldn’t have.
They must have sailed past - how though? Through the dark sea? Now that I look at it closer their hull definitely seems reinforced with something. It might be able to survive some of the rough waters but… the other horrors lurking beyond the fog? I… don’t want to face people who don’t fear…
Oh no. I think they’ve spotted me. I’ve gotta fight them off. Wind magic, I’ll launch myself above them, summon some sort of sandstorm, blind them.
Great, they have flintlocks. Aimed at me.
Bang!
Thoughts blown out, broken. Smoke blinded me. Blood - which, despite it only dribbling down my left arm - seemed to be everywhere. I saw blue, bright blue - and gold, close by. The smoke was clearing, and its source was the blue. Not the blue exactly, but a Navy member. I heard the words. “Commodore… Commodore Splint is it?” and my heart jumped. Commodore Splint? The whole entire Commodore Splint? The guy was interviewed by some Agora editors and said that he refused a promotion to Rear Admiral because he felt that it was too close to a ‘Puny office job.’ My god. It might really be him
The blue figure, in his right hand, has a yellowish-grey blade which blazed with some sort of white fire. I can barely look at it without feeling blinded. That’s not a normal arcanium sword, it’s enchanted with something seriously rare.
More words were being said. A conversation, who could have guessed. “I’ve heard that a Navy Deserter, who raided Silverhold a couple months back with some strong mage was spotted around here. I was in the area and I owed a few to Kai and Amelia so decided to see whether I could find them. This young woman is a civilian, I would guess. You wouldn’t be attacking civilians, would you, Thane?”
I looked over, trying to ignore the damn pain in my arm, and saw the Keraxe soldiers putting away their weapons.
Their leader stuttered out a few words. “I uh… I when, thought, um, they were a mercenary, Commodore.”
“Did you now… Don’t worry, I’ve already heard about what happened to Port Mistral, and let me be clear. Once I get the go ahead, everybody responsible for the events that day will be personally hunted down by me and have Tyflóslepída here sl-”
Another person is behind me. There’s a nice little party going on here again. They seem to be mostly ignoring the fact I’m here so I may as well get up and leave.
“Commodore. This is a Kingdom Matter now, I appreciate the help but, I can deal with these invaders.”
“Ah… I see… Oh well. Heed my warning, Thane.”
Smoke smothered my eyes again. Great, now the cool Navy guy is gone.
Crack!, Crack!, Crack!
Copper coloured metal spikes. Pretty. Also really close to me. Standing hurts… Sitting hurts… it all hurts. Screams, bodies. The Keraxe soldiers are dead.
Huh, that’s nice…
Glowing green things are surrounding my shoulder, they’re warm. So are the arms I’ve fallen into.
Hey… it’s Nasir’s son.
“… Adham… nice to see you… again…”
Darkness.