-Enter captain; take a seat- indicated the young officer.
A seasoned man entered the room, his uniform impeccable, the sleeves of the missing arm were neatly folded, and the patch in his eye was polished and flawless. Minor scars covered his seasoned swarthy visage, aside from the scar that went up from his eye patch to his left eyebrow, his face showed to be neatly washed and his beard evenly trimmed. On his dark hair and beard, gray hairs started to brush in little patches, visibly stating that the man had seen many pulchrones in service.
The insignias on his blue and silver half plated uniform were the three light-silver upward swords and two circles between the hilts that showed the captain rank, the circle-shaped button with arrow and sword crossed, indicating the man was a veteran, and another badge that represented that the man had survived the Battle of Veevos, a silver circle with a small blue dragon with wings expanded.
The captain sat on a wooden chair, the room was damp and the rock walls were mossy, a single window led to yard of the Harrlen Castle, where more soldiers patrolled, some of them very relaxed and talking to each other. The young inspector sat across the small table –Very well, captain, shall we begin? - He asked, fixing his chair to be closer to the table, on it, several scrolls, inkwell and feather.
-Of course inspector, where should I begin? - asked the captain politely, seeing that this was his first interview for an honorable position among the Silver Soldiers, a specially ranked unit amid the rest of Magateeran soldiers that are privileged with investigation funds, housing among the higher military families, and access to the Bargensire Records. None of which would interest the captain, being the straightforward man he was, his ambition didn’t lie beyond those of his duties as a soldier to his nation.
-Ahem…start where you see it fit sir, perhaps the highlights of your career as a soldier, the purpose of this interview is to know the soldier’s perspective regarding his duties and how we, as the Army’s Administrative Office could improve our service for our soldiers, taken from your tales and vision as a Magateeran- The interviewer explained, and the captain nodded with a slight grunt in compliance.
-I…there are many stories to tell…instructor, best we get ourselves some drinks and wenches- the captain tried to break the ice with his old fashioned soldier’s humor, the inspector smiled – I have all the time in Terra captain, but I will comply for that first request, please excuse me- The younger man stood up and went over the open door –private, take this badge and go to the wine cellar, bring us two bottles from the first shelf, the one labeled “at soldiers request”, move without delay please- he ordered, the even younger soldier grabbed the badge and walked at a fast pace.
The captain looked surprised that official matters like this could be solved with wine at hand, but then again, the Great General Yedar Damatias had been a drinker ever since he had pubes as he himself stated. The captain chuckled and began –Well, the first time I remember being in battle was….-
Pulchrone 696, Stellar of Cáscaro. Riot of the Red-Eyed Magateerans.
“There I was manning the northern quarters’ front door, when my companion, Lazul hears screams coming from downtown – what is happening downtown? - He asks –what do you mean? - I put my hand on my on my helm’s visor to appease the sun’s intensity and see people running mostly –should we go? - Lazul asks –Hell no, our orders are to stay manning the gate- I reply steadfast since I am a man that never backs down from a given order –But, our families!- he insists, trying to drag me down his desperate need for action. I stood my ground and he ran from his position, toward downtown.”
-You speak of Lazul Eleita, the deceased sergeant who perished at the Battle of Bargensire? – Inquired the interviewer –The very same, sir- the captain replies. The interviewer nods –please proceed-
“He was long gone and I awaited instructions from our quarter’s colonel, Frank Goratias by that time. But no order came down, later, a group of soldiers stormed out of the quarters in direction of this castle right here, after them was Captain Auvlen, who galloped that horse softly –Private, why are you still manning the quarters? Have you not heard we are being attacked from the inside by rebels? – he asked me, I was surprised, but I replied with honesty – I have not been given the order to move from this spot sir, my last command was to defend this gate from intruders or unauthorized citizens, sir- he looked at me seriously, as if trying to detect truth in my words, or fear.
He then gave me his spare horse and simply ordered –Watch my back- I followed him of course. The city was a mess, food and fruit stands bloodied and destroyed, people running rampant while my brethren defended the most important buildings, people were crazed with red eyes and attacking seemingly anything that moved, even some soldiers had fallen to that infection as they called it, General’s order was to defend and capture the infected, to contain the situation with minimum casualties, fight the hardest way, without trying to kill.
-There are rumors of a traitor behind Magateeran lines- captain Auvlen said, looking at me from his shoulder –A traitor in Magateeras’ Army? - I inquired with most naïve face, looking back at it I think the captain was trying to size me up, see if I had anything to do with that, since he found weird that I would obey the order given to me if everyone was so panicked and eager to fight. The way I saw it, I was doing exactly what binds an Army together, discipline, I mean, what’s a man to do if he’s given a direct order? What’s a man to do?”
The tale continued for some minutes, the interviewer quickly noted by feather everything said by the captain, but he transcribed in such a way that large pieces of information would turn into simple sentences. The young soldier entered and silently put two cups and two bottles of wine, lowered his head and withdrew himself from the room to his guard duty.
“-…at last, after avoiding injuring many citizens and battling some crazed soldiers we found the traitor escaping the tactician’s house, he had some scrolls about him –Capture and apprehend, do not kill! - Ordered the captain –Aye sir! - I replied and we both moved in to pursue the man, he ran about the square and into the northern houses, it was difficult to pursue him by horse because of all the mess around the district and the narrow spaces between houses and alleys.
We finally caught up with him and I jumped from my horse to continue by foot, and I was just about to grab him when he completely stopped in the corner of an alley, he tossed the papers I couldn’t see where and faced me –I surrender- he said, with arms up high, when I closed in, he was stabbed in the back by a hooded figure now holding the scrolls, hell, both of us were shocked as the man fell, I think he himself didn’t believe what had just happened, I carried out my orders nevertheless, I apprehended him, but he was dead of course.
That time things went a bit out of hands, a bunch of investigation cases were filed and a lot of questions were asked, some people got kicked out of the army and some got promoted, myself included, the captain had recommended me for the Corporal position for my “impeccable discipline as a soldier”. In the end I never got to serve with him again, and the hero of Lazul saved some people and defended houses, mainly where his family was, commendable really, but he didn’t get a promotion.”
The two men paused and took a sip of wine, one cleared his throat and the other massaged his right hand with the left; they admired the courtyard of the castle for a while and continued.
-You were at the Battle of Bargensire, correct?- The interviewer asked, to which the captain nodded again while taking another sip of the beverage, it was bittersweet and fizzy, quite better than the standard grape wine sold at the bars and brothels.
-Ah yes, quite a battle that was, I belonged to a city squad now and I was second in command, we were under Sergeant Hok Damura’s command, tough one I must say, maybe one of the toughest I’ve served under, but quite an honorable one too- the veteran reminisced as his eyes went from the table to the blue sky out the window.
Pulchrone 699, Stellar of Mystica. Battle of Bargensire.
“The front walls had already been breached after several days of siege by Farustia’s White Army, they were under the command of the White Colonel Patrick Spikan, and I guess they also didn’t know what that man was capable of back then. The Faerians had already pushed through our lines defending the breach at the gates and they had spread throughout the city.
Many were attacking the important buildings such as the Castle, the quarters, even the hospitals, those Faerians never really cared for any honor I guess, just plain cold tactics. But the real intention was to steal sealed records off the Bargensire Palace, which Sergeant Hok knew because his superior had told him that something like would happen if the Faerians ever attacked Magateeras, keen one that captain, never really remembered his name though.
-We move toward the palace, we have to defend its gates at all costs!- the sergeant ordered, we moved in two bulks, the reconnaissance team and the shock troops, me and Lazul were in the shock troops, which I could command if anything happened and we got split. We didn’t stop to help the Magateerans clashing in battle, nor we stopped to save civilians, although I knew that Lazul was about to break formation to either ask or go by himself.
He seemed to tough it out because he knew nothing would be accomplished by breaking the chain of command, I felt a little proud that he came to sense this time. –Take care of Veina’s forces- sergeant Hok warned us, Veina Kines was leading an assault troop directly to the Palace’s gates, with a small yet incredibly deadly force, elite archers and infantry, all wearing different kinds of armor and weapons, mercenaries paid heavy coin to bring about what they wanted. There were also the captain’s troops there and some allies from other regions.
The battle was fierce and that was the first time I saw the Son of Honor working together with the White Raven and their friends. Those boys fought fiercely and heavens be my witness I never saw such an amazing battle before, they had a Focus with them, none other than Markas Dameth, the Guardian of Tripola, lighting the place up with all kinds of fires and rays.
-We must take out the soldiers trying the pincer tactic from the other side or the captain’s squad will be annihilated!- yelled Hok and all of us got moving across the battlefield, it was a crazy move but the sergeant never cared for tactics or strategy, he jumped into battle with teeth up front, so we followed.
We engaged the Faerian soldiers, who attacked like a single-minded unit, all behind their squared shields with lances up front. Luckily we had Hok with us, who broke their formation with his sheer strength, I kid you not, the guy grew weary of waiting for an opening and made the opening himself, he crashed against the shield wall and pushed back at least five men all by himself, we followed in an broke their line in two, it got pretty bloody after that.
-Corporal, take Lazul and kill their squad leader now!- Sergeant Hok ordered and of course I was ready to go, I had been bruised but was overall ok, and Lazul was known for his lethal swordplay. We moved through the Faerians with difficulty, they proved to be very resilient with their tactics, so we had to improvise, it was Lazul’s idea, I would’ve never thought of a wild plan like that –Corporal, please cover my back, I know what to do now! - He yelled at me while my unit was engaged with their leader’s personal troops – Cover Lazul and guard the flank!- my brethren complied while covering the front, lances and swords occasionally pierced a shoulder or chest, but we held formation as per basic tactics.
-Archers! Kill that corporal and then strike the big black goro behind them!- their leader yelled with cold and despotic voice, referring to me and to sergeant Hok, who was battling four soldiers on his own. The sergeant was like an untamable beast those Fearians never witnessed before, he drove their attacks down with incredible ease, diamond shaped shield up front and his long sword perfectly balanced on top pointing outward, his stance was flawless and impenetrable, although he had done little damage to his opponents, it seemed he could just wear them down by raw stamina and strength.
When the Faerians started to pin us down and taking out some of our soldiers, Lazul appeared from behind with two horses, he rode one and with his left hand pulled the other one, his intent was to break the Faerians’ formation, but as he saw that we were already entangled closely with them, he rode directly towards their leader and his archers.
-Infantry! Maintain position and cut them down! Archers! Kill that man, lest we be run down by a fool! - He ordered bluntly as he grabbed his own shiny and engraved halberd and pointed it towards the horses. –Magateeras will not bow to you again!- screamed Lazul, he was passionate and valiant, us soldiers who witnessed that brave act felt so inspired by his noble performance we pushed back the enemy.
Two arrows flew directly at his chest as he rode closer, he almost fell off the horse, but he grabbed the reins tighter and yelled with his soul –Maaagaaateraaaas!!- As he trampled the Faerian leader and archers with the horses, we pushed on and I got through their last lancer, pushing him out of the way. The auxiliary horse had trampled one of the archers down, leaving him contortioned and very much dead. The other archer moved out of the way and was helping himself up, the Faerian’s halberd had struck the horse right in the chest and the weapon’s hilt was almost stuck in the stone slabs, the horse was diagonally impaled in such a way that the shape of the floor, the halberd and the horse made a triangle.
Lazul was on top of the Faerian leader, dead from the wounds; the leader was stunned and was coming back to his senses. I ran up to the archer and he drew an arrow in his bow, but when he pulled, the bow broke in half; he looked perplexed as I dove in with my sword in his chest. I got the sword out quickly and moved to the Faerian leader to finish him off.
I couldn’t react fast enough to get away of his surprise attack, he shoved a broken arrow in my leg and rolled away from my reach. I remember yelling and flinching, he stood up, visibly wounded with a Magateeran dagger right up his stomach –If you have to continue, let me say that I will not fight to the end, I have fulfilled my role. Troops! Surrender at once! No questions asked! - He ordered as coldly as he had given the rest of the orders. I couldn’t understand a single second of that moment, then Sergeant Hok approached –Let him be corporal, we are not to harm defeated enemies, we failed to protect the record hall, but have successfully defended the city- he said in a grave voice, only scratched and with armor and shield scathed.
-But sir, Lazul’s sacrifice…This man must die! - For the first time I questioned my superior in front of enemies and everyone, and even though I didn’t felt it so strong when I was fighting, tears ran down my sweaty face like it was a sliced onions festival, my heart raged with anger and grief, my friend had committed a great sacrifice and the enemy just broke our defenses, and surrendered, it was so undeserved I believed. –It is the way of war corporal, now put down your sword, you did a fine job- he said scornful, but in his face I could see the same rage appeased by an immense willpower I could never know, so I cried like a baby asking for tits and cradle. But then again, what’s a man to do?”
As the captain fell silent with closed eye, the interviewer paused and let go of the feather, making fists and letting go to pump some blood into his weary hand, he then took a sip and stretched his back, the captain also took a sip and stood up, facing the window with a grieved expression –I must say, this interview weighs heavy on my heart, more so than the many deaths I’ve witnessed during my time serving- he sighed as if his lungs were filled with memories from the times he battled.
-We may continue another day if you wish captain- said the young officer politely –hell no, I’m not a man to back down from a fight… Let me tell you, when I remember the times I’ve faced the enemy, there hasn’t been a time where I couldn’t drown it in ales and wines- the veteran said clearing his throat. –That was the time I first met Kruznik Dilveras, Siglen Gorius and Jamnik Chorster, those men were out of this world and heavy drinkers too, mind you, except for the Eagle, that guy was calm, but you could sense a deadly instinct behind his kind self-
-You speak of “the one who lived”, Captain Jamnik Chorster of the Eagles of Honor? – asked the interviewer but curious tone –Aye, he was friends with the White Raven and the Son of Honor, they carried out missions long before the Second Actoraeva, but the time I met them they weren’t along the witch friend of theirs, “just passing through” they said- the man spoke as if he talked about exceptional men, he narrowed his eyes to remember their faces –Ah yes, they used to be in Captain Jason’s unit…but I never really fought with all of them side by side- he worded the last sentence with nostalgia.
-Military records state that you fought “The Defense of Magateeras” alongside Siglen Gorius, also known as the Child of Honor, the Sea Knight, and the Champion of Poctum’s Arena -the young inspector read the long list of titles awarded to the former captain of Magateeras. The veteran smiled as he heard the titles; reminiscing each time that man had done a feat of legendary prowess and returned back to Magateeras humbly to report a job well done.
-Yeah well, it was a very sad event that one, I lost my wife that day, and one of my children- he said with hand tight around his scabbard, holding the leather firmly. –Many of us lost family that day- said the interviewer –The day the very mountains we thought our protectors rose to destroy us- continued the young man. A silence befell the room, raindrops started to fall on the courtyard and grey clouds let only a few sunrays to pass down to the earth outside, the room got colder, and the veteran’s raspy voice began anew.
Pulchrone 701, Stellar of Unge. The Defense of Magateeras: Second Actoraeva.
“-What do you mean the earth is rising against us, soldier? - I asked my squad’s scout, a young and nimble man who rode like the winds and had keen perception about him. By then, I was already a sergeant myself and lead routinely reconnaissance missions to Bellidar Plains to the south, checking our perimeters and resupplying our outposts, always in constant vigil for Tarmaka’s barbarians or any bandit groups that would attempt crossing Magateerans’ borders.
We had joined forces with the Faerian and Terakian forces to defeat Veina Kines’ defiant edge; little did we know that her attack was masterminded by Marak Gorius himself, using Feraxia’s spawns to gain an unprecedented leverage in the upcoming siege of Farustia.
Many of our troops were ready at arms to leave for Farustia’s defense, but something must’ve disturbed the earth beneath us and the ancient creatures that lay dormant in it, for creatures of immense power raised from their slumber to destroy everything in their wake; Earth Giants and colossi attacked Magateeras, Feraxia’s spawns and the dragon itself destroyed entires villages in northern Terakus’ region and The Imperial City of Farustia was besieged from all sides, taking the heavier attack to its southwestern gate.
-Sir, giants are attacking Magateeras, our front wall has been smashed!- the young warrior was exalted and his eyes wide with fright –Dear heavens…Move out at once, Magateeras shall not fall while we draw breath, no giant or creature will make us succumb!- I yelled at my troops, they acknowledged my command and quickly gathered our most essential belongings from the temporary camp we had set in our way back to Magateeras, we were half a day away and the side of Barelle’s mountain blocked our view to our city. We lashed those horses till their skin was raw and rode half a day in only 3 hours, when we finally got there, none wanted to believe the horrendous sight.
-No…my city… Ride! Now! And kill everything in your path! Death is not an option! - I yelled frantically, honestly losing my mind to the view: Earth golems besieging our army in front of the walls, annihilating our men with rocks and trees, apparently they had come out from the northern side of Berum’s Mountain, what we thought was the mountain side was actually a giant and golems blended in there, sleeping for cycles, without us knowing about it.
Our neatly formed lines of defense were shattered and our brethren died by the numbers, squashed by the boulders the golems threw at them, the giant was already inside Magateeras wreaking havoc at the main square, no formation or weapon we threw at it really did anything.
I rode blinded with rage and indignation, my city, my family, my brothers dying because the earth we stepped on had decided to erase us from existence –Fuck the earth! We will tame you! KILL THEM ALL!- I screamed hysterically as I rode my horse against a golem , I was so blinded by rage the collision didn’t stop me at all, my horse died at the impact and I just used the momentum to get on top the golem, in a frenzy, I ripped his head off with consecutive potent blows of my sword.
As it was falling, I lunged to another golem and this one caught me mid-air and swatted me like a bug against the ground, I have never felt so much pain together, my left arm and some ribs got snapped in pieces, a contusion left my vision blurred and I thought I was done for, yet again I rolled as I saw a big shadow forming on top of me, the ground trembled and I had barely dodged that golem’s slam.
-Shoulder to shoulder! - I heard a soldier scream at me, when I got up I realized it was captain Hok –Aye sir! - I yelled and ran up his side –my shield arm is broken sir- I reported to him –Mine has been broken since I started to fight hours ago, now toughen up! We’ve got to bring this earth thing down! - he ordered as if this was any other battle, it was then I realized how long was the distance between a mere warrior like me and a true soldier like him –Yes sir! - I positioned myself next to him; little earthlings ran past us and smashed against other soldiers. This golem ripped the earth beneath him and made a boulder of compact dirt. Things were not looking bright.
-When he throws that at us, we will separate and slice its legs, I got the left leg, and you go for the right leg- Captain Hok instructed me, from his voice and visage I could notice he was long past his strength’s limit, as was I, but we somehow felt it unimportant when Magateeras was at stake, so when the creature rose its arms to throw the boulder, we readied ourselves.
-Now! - He screamed when the boulder was mid-air, I dodged the boulder to the left and I saw him move to the right. The boulder fell and I darted toward the creature, across the dirt curtain I could see his figure running against the golem’s leg. I felt revitalized and swung hard at the thing’s leg, it took me five powerful strikes to destroy its leg down; I luckily dodged his right hand past me. When the golem fell to its knees I saw Siglen Gorius, running towards it, many earthlings jumping at him to bring him down, but he was relentless, a juggernaut in full plate armor, a golem of our own, he tossed away the smaller creatures away with tremendous strength and jumped at the golem’s face, thrusting it once with his black sword, all the way to the hilt.
I ran up to him as the earthlings gathered and we dealt with them quickly, as we were finishing the things off, we saw how captain Hok was dealing with another golem who was trying to get to the city –Let’s go! - said Siglen to me, his helmet was bent and beneath it, his face bloodied, but his eyes were set for the killing. Such an honor I felt when I was in the presence of so renowned fighters.
We moved to help captain Hok and he already taken a leg out of the creature, which used a tree as a club and swung wildly, when we got there the creature swung at us, Siglen warded off the attack in the most magnificent way, that the blow deviated from its original trajectory, but it still hit me. I had my shield up front but my broken arm couldn’t cope with the massive blow and it separated from my body, shield and arm lost and I flew against a mound of dirt, the impact knocked me out.”
-You were knocked out during The Defense of Magateeras? - Interrupted the young interviewer, with astonished expression in his face –how is it that you live? - He asked, for the first time feeling as a child listening to his grandpa’s stories. –Colonel Saitora- the captain said.
“When I came to, I was being dragged by a long-haired blonde woman, the golem near us was pulverized and I saw the giant in the city fighting another weird looking giant, seemed like a naked giant man with only a piece of cloth to cover his privates. –Captain Hok? - I asked to the woman, who I later recognized to be Colonel Saitora –He didn’t make it, save your strength, we need to regroup- she said coldly and also injured, I couldn’t believe her words, but I also couldn’t breathe right and I had lost too much blood to gather any strength to get up or do anything.
The colonel dragged me towards what had been a tent and looked for medical supplies to fix us up. After some moments more injured soldiers started to gather around the tent, some fixed the tent right back up, some crawled to it and there was this man who brought forth a Magateeran banner, even though his right arm was down, he held the banner high. Pride filled our spirits when we saw our brethren gathered and ready. –What is that flying around the giant, ma’am? And who is that giant helping us? - I inquired the colonel –It seems that flying creature is Markas Dameth’s new friend and he is the one riding it, as for the friendly giant, some soldiers believe it was Siglen Gorius himself, who had been crushed behind the giant’s feet, to then become this giant himself, all speculations, nothing confirmed- she explained to then instruct the men with orders, she commanded us to heal up and to gather the wounded across the battlefield. She scanned for the highest ranks and gathered that there were only privates and corporals, I was the only sergeant there – I cannot work like this, you are captain effective immediately and you two are his sergeants- she appointed me as captain bluntly, but with a keen eye for experienced soldiers, those two newly appointed sergeants had the mettle of champions.
We gathered the injured brethren and rebuilt a platoon, I was now in charge of 60 wounded men and women who had barely survived the hardest battle Magateerans had ever fought, Colonel Saitora sat in her chair and asked for a map, she then sunk deep into that map, leaving the field orders to me. Later we confirmed that Siglen Gorius had somehow turned into that giant and that Markas Dameth had assisted us on the air.
For the remainder of the siege, Colonel Saitora had my men bringing various objects from the destroyed southwestern forges; she put us to work on a device that was basically a massive crossbow with wheels. We then brought the remaining golems to a halt with the newly built siege crossbow. I was perplexed how she came up with such a device on such short and intense time, our strongest men held a line day and night while the rest worked on the Siege Crossbow that was later named The Saibow.
The battle got even harder for our troops were heavily injured, those of us who were at work used the machine until it broke, then we fought old school style, that was when I led my troops against hundreds of earthlings and the remaining golems, colonel Saitora fought among us, though she didn’t exert much physical force herself, her mere commanding presence inspired us to be the deadliest platoon there was.”
-I must say, I am very impressed by your testimony captain, I never expected you to have been through so much, but then again, this is my first time interviewing a captain- the young inspector recognized before the seasoned soldier –To get up in the ranks you have two ways, the academy or the quarters, I chose the latter is all- he said without too much thought, his expression sorrowful as he remembered holding his dead wife and son with his right arm, he remembered the pain of Magateeras' large procession where thousand of Magateerans were buried, burnt and honored by the survivors.
-A personal question sir, how did you lose the one eye? If I may know- the officer inquired, the captain looked back at the window and laughed –I lost my eye during a bar fight, some idiot called names on the Magateeran soldiers being negligent and weak, so I broke his arm and he put a fork right in the socket, he got long jail time and I got this fancy eye patch- the captain told the tale as if it was a joke, the officer looked somewhat amused yet doubtful, but he stayed quiet about the matter.
-Very well captain, it has been a pleasure, I think we’re done here- he finished rolling the scrolls and putting away the inkwell and feather. –The pleasure was all mine young officer, be sure to put in a good word for me- he said with a chuckle, the officer saluted and went about his business.
As night befell, the captain sat alone in a tavern, in the northern district where he now lived, a shiny silver star with blue borders hung from his uniform. He ordered a new jar of beer and quietly flashed back to a memory.
“-I have lost my wife and my second son, now the only ones I have left are my firstborn and my daughter… a woman has been taking good care of them, thanks to her they've growing healthy and strong, sir- I sat in a mound next to a stone that read “Major Hok Damura, The Fierce” and there I told the stone the aftermath of our defense, how then we marched toward Farustia and helped them fend off the invasion, we even saved the child emperor Feulen and captured Marak Gorius.
I remember seeing a dark figure lurking about the graveyard of honored soldier, a spade resting on his shoulder, since it was late at night, he didn’t notice I was there sitting. The man started to dig a hole on one of the graves, I immediately stood up and walked toward him –What the hell do you think you’re doing?- I asked, I hadn’t my sword nor armor, I was just there in plain tunic and not in the best shape, the man stayed still and turned his head only slightly –I have business with some of the dead, they have things I want, they won’t need it, pretend you saw nothing and walk away- the man threatened me with intention to keep doing his grave digging.
-I am Brelen from house Aubias, Captain of the northern quarters and 532nd platoon of the Magateeran Army, drop the spade and follow me to the quarters, grave digger- I spoke loud and with authority, the grave digger stood silently in front of the grave, with his back to me…I should have known that he wouldn’t have complied. He swung his spade 180 degrees toward my face and I crouched, I tackled the man down with ease and put my hand around his neck.
I start choking him and I look directly at him and the unknown gods be my witness he looked just like Lazul, so I draw back and the guy takes advantage, he puts out a dagger and stabs me right there in the socket, I push him back and fall against the grass, my eye bleeding bad and the gravedigger grabs the spade to finish me off, I come to realize that Lazul had a child and that by now the boy should be grown enough to start the soldier’s path –Lazul?- I ask with the strength I could muster, pressing my wound, the young man stops and laughs –hah! That geezer died a long time ago; I just came to get my inheritance- the boy says coldly, with the tone of someone who values nothing in this life, not even his own father’s grave, the man who sacrificed everything for the city he lives in.
He strikes at me with the spade, I receive the hit right on my shield side, old habits, I stand up and he strikes at me again, he is strong, he could definitely be a two-handed sword soldier, I let him swing one more time and grab the spade with own hand, pull him towards me and head butt him so hard he passes out immediately.
-I’m sorry Lazul- I speak to the grave –your son has been neglected of a father and has become a gravedigger, probably worse- I talk to the grave as if my old friend is right there, silently listening –Don’t worry brother, I’ll shape him up, he will be a great soldier someday- I promise to the grave and grab the kid, put him on my shoulder. He’ll be a soldier too.”
“I mean, what’s a man gotta do?”