Chapter 28: 28. Captain John Fraser
CHAPTER XXVIII: CAPTAIN JOHN FRASER
It was a cold foggy morning. The sun was just barely rising above the horizon. The cold air of the morning drifted along the camp. All was quiet with nary a soul awake. Except of course for a certain young woman by the name of Freya Mikaelson.
She hid in the bushy branches of the tall forest trees. Looking out into the forest. Scanning for any abnormalities within the forest. Mana flowed through every nook and cranny of her body. Staying ready for her to move at a moment's notice. She had been awake a few hours but her instincts were still sharp. Dawn was the most dangerous time of the day for an ambush. Just like yesterday. She was not taking anything for granted.
As she reminisced of the prior morning her thoughts immediately went to Eto Shapan. His actions still baffled her. The way he was behaving before prior to intending to killing her closest friend just didn't make sense to her. She realised she didn't know the real Eto but to her it was like 2 different people.
One moment he was cool and distant as always. Kind of in his head about something. Maybe planning something or who knows what? The next moment his personality changed like the weather. He was way too aggressive and wasn't really thinking through his actions. Different from the person she had been observing for weeks.
Suddenly a rustle in the bushes below caught her attention. The rustling intensifies like a predator. She readied herself to move. From the bushes out jumped a small little white rabbit with long sabre tooth teeth. It continued to jump across and disappeared into the forest. A few moments later the forest returned to its eery quiet. Nary a sound came for a good 5 minutes.
The next sound that came wasn't a rustle in the bush but the rumbling of the ground. The ground shook like a quake. Freya quickly realised it wasn't from the forest but the grass plains on the north. She jumped down from the tree tops and landed on the forest floor smoothly. Immediately running across forest. The trees turned to a green blur as she continued to run.
In almost no time at all she reached the edge of the forest. Hidding underneath the tall grass she peaked over to a welcome sight. By her count at least a hundred men and women all on horse back. All wearing that familiar uniform of the Rostalio Army. Similar to the plate armour worn by the Royal Guards but lighter and easier to move in. They didn't need the extra protection like the Royal Guards. These guys, part of the Cavalry division of the Rostalio Royal Army had enchanted armour. Their armour wasn't as thick or heavy but the enchantment made them thrice as light and four times as hard.
She immediately recognized the the man at the front of the unit. Unlike the rest his armour was full body. Even his horse had plate armour unlike the rest which had minimal protection. He had a blood red cape that fluttered beautifully in the wind. He had a serious scowl of a look in his face. On his face there was a scar that extended across his left eye. On his right chick was also a similar scar giving him a very manly face if such a thing exists.
His name, the infamous Captain John Fraser of the Rostalio Royal Army. A legendary peasant captain that rose through the ranks thanks to his almost inhuman fighting sense. His fighting was very reminisced of the Beastkin. Very aggressive almost beast like. Using animalistic instincts to fight.
Relieved by the arrival of the reinforcements Freya rose from the tall grass.
"Captain Fraser!!" She called.
Suddenly the entire unit stopped a hundred meters away.
"Idenitify yourself!!" Fraser demanded in a firm manly military esc voice.
"Sergeant Freya Mikaelson of the Royal Guards! Army Code 23-FM567!!" She answered in an official tone of voice.
"Sergeant, where is the Duchess!?" Fraser demanded.
"She's with Captain Tark and the rest of the Guards!"
"Tark is here? Excellent! Lead the way soldier!" He ordered.
"Of course sir! Follow me!" She said and signalled them to follow. Almost all the Cavalry stopped at the edge of the forest. Only Fraser and two others followed Freya into the forest.
"My Lady! An honour to meet you! I am Captain John Fraser of the Rostalio Royal Army. These are my subordinates Lieutenant Abigail Mills and Lieutenant Colonel Ichabod Krane." Fraser greeted Helena and extended his arm.
"Thank you for coming gentlemen." Helena said and shook all three's hands.
"Fraser, it's been a while!" Captain Tark joined in.
"My old friend Tark. It's good to see you again." Fraser returned the greeting with a wide smile.
"How's my brother!?" Tark asked.
"Same as always. You should meet him soon enough."
"Of course."
"So what is the situation old friend?" Fraser's face quickly twisted into it's default of almost blank and serious.
"There was an incident yesterday where we lost almost half the Guards. Before that we were ambushed by a group of Beastkin but fortunately it wasn't as bad. It seems however that there are quite a few elements at play here." Tark briefly summed up the situation.
"Indeed. We have suspected as much but I cannot go into details at the moment. The General will explain at Fort Defal." Fraser explained.
"Of course captain. We should be ready for departure in under five minutes." Helena added.
Just as she said, they finished packing up everything in under 5 minutes. With an escort of Captain Fraser and his two lieutenants they exited the forest. The northern grass plains were vast and almost exposed. Very few hills or mountains. Even fewer trees and obstructions covered them.
Fortunately without any trouble they began their journey across. As they traveled further the grass shrunk from a meter high to just a few inches high. Soon the towering black walls of the fort came into view. Like a black mountain it watched over the plains and the border that was less than a day's journey away by foot.
Sitting at the front of the carriage. Freya became awe struck by the magnificence of Fort Defal. A legendary fortification that's existed for over 500 years. Even older than the Vermilion Empire.
It's walls formed an almost perfect rectangular shape that encased the town. The walls rose as high as 25 meters. Made of pitch black stone embued with magic to be almost impenetrable. It's gates were on the four compass points and each was as tall as 3 meters. Made of a rare also pitch black metal that was super light but embued with magic to be almost unbreakable. In it's entire 500 year history, the fort had been penetrated only 3 times and non in the last 400 years. The last to do it was the founder of the empire. It has served as a safe haven for the people of Rostalio for the last 250 years.
The party of travellers continued to reach ever closer to the southern gate of the fort. With its high walls dwarfing any and all. A group of familiar dressed soldiers signalled Fraser to stop. It was he and Tark that stood at the front of the pack. Leading them from the front.
"Captain Fraser, that was fast. You just left this morning!?" One of the soldiers said.
"They were closer than we anticipated? Is the General in!?" Fraser immediately got down to business.
"He should be at his office! You know the procedure before we let you in!" The soldier said blankly.
No need to mince words just because of kinship. Already familiar with the procedure Fraser simply reached under his armour. What he took out was a sort of identity card registered to his magical signature. He showed the card to another of the guards sitted by a table in the entrance. The guard then proceeded to write down the Captain's details as returning.
One of the reasons the fort remained a formidable force over the last 3 centuries is because of its policies. One of the first is the requirements of the residents to each carry a specially made identification card registered to the user's magical signature. That way should any wrongdoings happen everyone is accounted for and can be traced.
Secondly is that all temporary residents must pay a certain fee upon their entrance. They also get a temporary permit of access to the fort that expires within a week, or a month or up to 6 months. Depends on the price. Any city official or soldier or city guard can request for your identification or permit within the walls of the fort. Refusal to show your identity can result in imprisonment and exile or even execution.
So things continue to flow. All the soldiers already residing in the fort entered. Those for temporary access were handed temporary permits, including Helena. Not even the royals get special treatment. The party continued to travel uninterrupted unbeknownst that they were being watched.
To the east were a group of Beastkin hidding their bulky bodies under the tall grass. Making sure not be spotted by the lookouts atop the towering walls of the legendary Fort Defal.
Unbeknownst even to them was a second observer hidding in the plains just out of eye sight. Dressed in all black and riding a black stallion. With a black cloak and hood that covered his entire face.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone