Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Coward
*Adje had a habit of impromptu visits. Believe it or not but there are armies that have tried several times to invade the island. Their bodies have been used as fertilizer to grow tomatoes or in some cases to fuel winter fires. The Killicks are used to all sorts of impromptu visits, but a ghost ship was a truly rare occurrence. Especially when the boat was supposed to have a full crew. The warrior Dagur picked up that day was named Gothrun, he looked young but with the Killicks it was hard to tell. It took him two days of enforced rest and full treatment at Efrat to be able to speak. Berenice watched him throughout his recovery on Dagur's orders. And when the rest was now complete the young aristocrat Killick joined him in the guest room to be able to question him. The Killick was still confused, staring out the window at the city for the first time in a long time. The young warrior let his emotions explode and began to laugh at the top of his lungs. In the room with him there was Kord who had decided to wear a top and smelled less of alcohol. On the other was Berenice who wore a short skirt and a round neck shirt. Opposite was Dagur sitting on a chair, wearing just a white suit and regular pants*.
-Sorry it's just that... Ha, it was stronger than me. It seemed unrealistic to me.
*The way he had to speak as if he had been released disturbed Kord and Berenice but Dagur remained focused on what interested him*.
-I'll be honest with you Gothrun. *He started*.
-Call me Goth please.
-Goth, if I took my time and my patience to heal you and restore you, it was certainly not out of pure charity. You have a story to tell and there is someone I am interested in.
-Someone who... Oh now that i look at you closely, your face tells me something...
*He leaned forward and tried to pet him but Dagur backed away slightly and he retracted*.
-Tell us your story.
*Gothrun*
*It happened about a few months ago. Since the prohibition for the army of Adrun to intervene in the nations of their zone of influence the job of mercenary for Killick skyrocketed. When I was little my father once told me that it doesn't matter how virtuous humans claim to be, as long as there are still two humans alive on this earth*.
-One of them will want to off the other. *Said Sinley*. I know the one my uncle already told me about..
-It's the law of killers, not mercenaries. *Jedan says to me*.
-I know but I don't see why it wouldn't apply to our job. *I answered him*.
*That day we had just cleaned up a village on behalf of another. The same village that had hired us before to clean up its short rival, it was complicated. Our team was composed of about twenty warriors, 4 died during this expedition. We were all from the same generation so we get along well. Jedan and Sin's boyfriend or fiancée. He liked to dress like humans he always had their style of clothing on him, I always found it weird*.
-What Jedan is saying is that you always use the wrong proverbs depending on the situation *says another girl*.
*Caliope. A real pain in the ass with sneak attacks. Her favorite thing is to slaughter her enemies in their sleep so as not to make noise. A real lazy one in short *.
-That's not going to stop him from trying. *Said another who was throwing a body to burn*.
*Erdoga was my cousin, we ended up in this team together because no one liked him. He was the tallest and most physically imposing. But he was also the guy with the most common sense*.
- So why don't we burn the cattle If it's still part of your plan? *he asked*.
*Sinley was the leader of our group, she was the only one who could feel efrat but she didn't master it yet or use it. Still, she was the fiercest warrior I knew. She had a very weak body and she was smaller than me, but no one could ever put her down. No one*.
-We leave here the bodies in evidence and we leave the food. For the knights who will come to investigate this will only appear as a gratuitous act of violence. What do you think will happen when they find the bodies? *she asked*.
-They will believe it is a violation of the treaty and will send the knights to bring justice. *Says Erdoga*.
-And who says war says that the weakest kingdom will hire mercenaries to fill the gap. *Say Jedan*.
-Oh what a happy coincidence that I have 16 bloodthirsty warriors on hand. *She said sarcastically*.
-EFAYA EFAYA
-AHOU
-Hold on a second. *I say raising my hand*.
*Everyone stared at me as if I had said shit but it was my role to break the mood*.
-Sorry but there is a flaw in your plan. Before any war there is a phase of negotiation. They will necessarily send emissaries to try to negotiate and if possible ask for compensation.
-Ah, he's not wrong. *Says Erdoga*.
- Indeed except that the guy who must lead the negotiations will not have the choice. *says Sin*.
*I saw her display her famous sadistic smile. What else had she done?*.
-I changed his granddaughter by mutating with my blood. Seeing such a sight happen before his eyes traumatized him and his wife. I promised to restore it to its original state if he willfully scuttled the negotiations and started a war.
-Oh damn. *Says Erdoga*. Sorry but it's disgusting you didn't have to go that far.
-You can get out Erd nobody will blame you. Those who want to follow me and take advantage of the next conflict raise your hands.
* It was like that with Sin everywhere we went she sowed death. The important thing for her was not to win but how to win. With each new mission a new scenario in this crazy mind. Each time she asked us for the impossible, but the impossible was quite rightly returned to her. Erd decided not to participate in this raid, it happened from time to time*.
-With hindsight. Maybe I should have done like him.
*The kingdom whose villagers were slaughtered was called Galveron. A fairly large kingdom with descent military power. On the map it was right below Kremis and therefore between Adrun and Osmandis. Go find out why it hasn't been invaded yet. Anyway the emissary did the job as requested by Sin without knowing that the mutation process was irreversible. The war broke out and we had a great time, the contracts were raining and we were taking advantage of the chaos that Sin had created. Galveron's soldiers were rather downhill fighters, they were disciplined well trained with good equipment. Alas, we had a superior sense of combat, even without armor our axes hurt them*.
- Stop being depressed. *Caliope said to me*.
-Erdoga has surely already returned to Adje. *Said Jedan*
-Or maybe I cut off his head in his sleep. *Sinley said smirking*.
*I immediately stared at her with a horrified look but she started laughing*.
-I'm kidding hahaha. Isn't leaving him alive a proof of my mercy?
- Wow, you scared me.
* The war continued. One day Sin decided we had to take a fortress. The enemy general who was guarding it had gone to the front as reinforcements for his allies. We had only taken advantage of the trouble to loot the castle. We infiltrated through an underground cave leading to the inner courtyard*.
-There is always an underground cave. *Said the young man sitting in front of me*.
-It's always true.
*Everything was going well, we had killed half of the occupants of the fortress and we had opened most of the treasure chests. But we were far from suspecting that this castle sheltered a real monster*.
- A monster you say?
*At this point in my story I paused. The memories were painful for me*.
-You... You won't believe me.
-Ohey you started you finish. *Said the expert warrior on my right side*.
*I let out a sigh barely frightened by his threats*.
-The first to die was Rufus. We didn't see it coming because his body had flown miles through the air. After him was Mila, split open like one cuts through butter. It was when the guy in front of me exploded and his blood covered my face that I became aware of the danger.
-What... What are you talking about? *Asked the boy intrigued*.
-It's not as if we hadn't tried to defend ourselves but... How do you fight against something invisible? No it wasn't invisible however we would have heard footsteps or heard a noise it was as if a ghost were attacking us. We were being massacred so we had to fall back. Jedan and Sin stayed behind to buy time for us to escape. But as I was leaving... The underground door closed behind me. I tried to....
*My tears started to flow and I burst into tears trying to wipe them away with my hand*.
-I really wanted to, I swear I tried. But I couldn't do anything except hear them scream and call for help from the other side.
-Looks like it was hard for you there.
-If only I had mastered the Efrat I could have .... No, in fact, it wouldn't have changed anything.
-Your arm, how did you do that? *asked the woman*.
-My arm ?
*I lower my head in shame*.
-Speak you coward. I should open your head right now. You left Mistress Serina alone on the battlefield.
-Enough Berenice. *Said the boy in an icy tone*.
*He looked me straight in the eyes with a look that gave me goosebumps*.
-Your arm. How did you lose it?
-Well... I fled through the tunnel, but as soon as my foot touched the outside my right arm flew in the air.
*When I collapsed on the ground bruised with pain I turned around momentarily. At the top of the hill where the tunnel was stood a woman, she had the sun at her back so I couldn't see her properly, but she was laughing at me saying something like *.
-"So the powerful Killicks can feel fear." After that she let me go.
-She let you live. While you were at his mercy? And aren't you ashamed?
- Berenice, calm down. *Said the adult beside*.
*At the end of my story I saw the young boy take on a reassured look after having sighed a good blow*.
-Thank you for sharing your story with me. I feel reassured all of a sudden. I know what I have to do.
- But... Did you hear me? Sinley, Caliope Jedan and the others. They may be... No if that woman caught me then they're probably dead.
-For the others I don't know but for Sin I'm sure. I'm going to Galveron bring my sister back. And you Gothrun will guide me.
-But she's... She's invincible.
- Don't worry kid. *Said the adult*. This woman may be overkill. But she ain't Azur Head.
*End of chapter*
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