Capítulo 4: Unwavering Loyalty
The world stopped as did his breath.
For a second he felt as if his legs were about to give up, a single drop of sweat fell from the tip of his nose to the ground.
"Are you deaf?" The voice asked with noticeable irritation.
Das hesitated, but slowly turn his head to the side to catch a glimpse of the man behind him, for even if his interactions with the King were few, a voice like his is something difficult to forget.
And the wave of emotions that invaded him could be described as anger, relief, shock, and many others.
For the man standing behind him was not the king.
High General of the Blutlöwes Army, the maximum authority on any battlefield he lays foot only surpassed by the King himself. The living example of the new form of life the King wishes to impose on his subjects, the landless duke, Edel Klingenfeuer.
Almost six feet tall and his body is covered by a shinning steel armor with golden designs and a lion's head for the breastplate, its maw opens wide in a threatening manner. His left shoulder, arm, and back are covered by a red cape that almost reaches the ground. Without the faulds and cuisses, he had dark green linen pants.
His skin is dark brown and exotic, eyes grey like clouds of smoke, and facial features sharp and defined. eyebrows always lowered that gave the impression he was in a perpetual state of minor discomfort. Coal black hair tied behind him in tight dreadlocks that fell a little over his shoulders.
"Forgive me, General" Das said still recovering from the barrage of emotions, strength finally returning to his shaky legs for him to stand up "I mistook you for the King" He finished once he stood completely right, turning his body towards Edel and looking away.
The throne room was huge, three floors tall, with wide stone pillars that stretched all the way up to the roof, the red carpet was decorated with silver edges and the banners of the kingdom rested proudly in every corner, as well as the banners of all conquered duchies and lastly, every noble family.
The throne itself was reached by walking up a dozen steps, it was big and looked imposing yet comfortable, with two bronze lions resting on each side of it.
"Had I been the king, your head would be rolling on the ground" The animosity irradiated of his sharp and loud voice, as well as his stare of disdain directed at the archmage "Although it surprises me you would attempt suicide in such an early stage of your life, why the delay?" Edel asked without changing his expression, making it difficult to tell if he was genuinely interested or not.
"I...do not know, the gatekeepers must have not heard me" Das raised his eyes briefly to watch the two guards whose shoulders shook, hiding their amusement at his expense.
Edel turned around and saw the same scene, the guards immediately got tense, which only aggravated once the General began walking up towards them. Each step was loud and heavy.
He stood a mere meter away from one of the guards.
"What is your name, guard?" Edel asked calmly.
"W-Walter, High general" The guard hit his chest with his free right hand since the other held the spear.
"What were your orders?" Edel stared directly into the eyes of the guard through its visor.
"To open and close the gates of the throne room. To defend and protect the King. To attack and kill anyone unwanted in the palace." The guard said loudly.
"Why did you left the archmage out, when he asked you to fulfill your first duty?" The guard remained in silence for a few seconds but as he breathed in to answer, Edel continued "Did you thought it would be funny, perhaps?" Another moment of silence "A dog can learn to sit, stand up and roll. Teach it enough times and it will do each command without hesitation when demanded. Yet you choose to uphold your own personal amusement over a direct order given by your King?" His voice raised and the guard's stare lowered to Edel's right fist, clenching with anger "Were you trying to get the King to execute the archmage? do you wish to weaken us? are you a traitor or an IMBECILE?!" He yelled as the guard dropped his spear and stuck his back to the gate.
"No! I- I thought he was- It wasn't-" The guard stuttered, agitated and frightened.
"A dog!" Edel steps forward, his face close to the guard's helmet "A dog would be begging forgiveness and yet you try to excuse yourself!" Edel steps back and with incredible speed punches the helmet off the guard sending him crashing to the floor.
The guard struggles to keep his consciousness from slipping away, coughs once, then twice, blood staining the ground each time, little white and hard pieces drop to the increasingly bigger pool of red beneath his face.
Then, as his mind manages to endure, he drags his body around and bows to Edel so low he could kiss the floor.
"Had you been any other guard I would have overlooked this offense but ignoring a direct order of the King is unacceptable!!" The guard didn't speak, maybe he wasn't able to "If a demon comes in and asks you to open those gates, if it is supposed to enter, you open them." Nodding furiously, the guard tried to say something but failed, his mandible probably broken "Save it."
Edel then turned around to face the other guard who had been staring silently the whole time, as soon as he did the guard kneeled on the ground and staring down took off its helmet, letting its ear-length wavy blonde hair escape the confines of it, it was messy yet clearly taken care of.
The general walked up to the guard.
"Stand up, no man talks to me kneeled" He ordered and the guard obeyed.
Her eyes like sapphires, pink lips, and thin eyebrows, if she was afraid it was expertly hidden under her pretty and even delicate face.
"Petra Eisenbär, High general" She shouted firmly and directly. Meeting the gaze of the man in front of her.
Edel's wrath seemed to suddenly weaken as his brow relaxed and expression returned to his usual, looking at you like if you were a worm, face. However, this didn't prevent the slap he delivered to the guard's left cheek with the back of his right hand, strong enough to make her lose balance, but not near with the strength he had used before.
"Take the dog to the infirmary and both of you inform the Palace Steward of your immediate demotion." The orders delivered he turned to face Das, who had turned his back on the spectacle and began walking forward.
"Will do, High general" Petra hit her chest with her hand and stood up to fulfill the order.
Once Edel caught up to Das he cleaned the bloodstains of his steel gauntlet with the archmage's cloak and as he did he spoke.
"As you know the kingdom is currently in an open war against the Skalanners inside the heavily forested Grunland. Troops charged with protecting our borders from the raids of the trolls and not show weakness to other kingdoms means we leave our own territories away of the borders vulnerable to vermin the likes of thieves and bandits" He finished cleaning his hand, Das tugged his cloak away from him " Our army stretched thin, the King has relieved me of my duty as field commander and active general, to deal with this trash. I will be here handing you tasks and ordering you to take action against such problems from now on, understood?"
"Yes, High General Edel" Das nodded in agreement, something Edel acknowledged with a nod of his own.
"Your first task is to head to the village of Eversmile, inside the county of Ruhenwind. The count of that place has requested aid after a large bandit group seemingly just took over the village two days ago. A disgrace for all of us that cannot be tolerated" he frowned in anger as he said the last words "Exterminate them"
"I will depart right now" Das did the Blutlöwes respect sign, as every person who addressed a superior must right before leaving their presence, hit one's chest with their free hand once usually while slightly bowing.
"Good, return to me with results today. I will be inside the guard's barracks when you come back" Finishing the conversation, Edel turned around and walked up to the gates.
He stopped right in front of it for a second before realizing no one would open it, obviously. He smirked in amusement before returning to his stern expression and opened both massive gates on his own, making them loudly clash on the walls.
Das stood in silence as he watched the general make his way out of the palace through the long corridor.
The King didn't even bother to come for their first meeting, and of course, he wouldn't after all, he was just a mage. What was he expecting?
"Woohoo!" Drachen flew out of his hood, her smile wide and sadistic eyes focused on the small pool of blood where the head of the beaten-up guard laid a minute before "Got what he deserved!" She stuck her tongue out as her long ears went up and down rapidly.
While the energetic fairy did obscene gestures towards both the blood and the back of the general, Das stared ahead but nowhere at the same time. His mind occupied all his attention.
He had never killed anyone but now, he was tasked with exterminating a group of bandits. As he often did, he tried to use reason to excuse it. They were criminals, people that killed, pillaged, and raped without remorse, to kill them was the only logical conclusion.
However, this did little to alleviate his doubts.
Squinting his eyes tightly for a moment he allowed himself to return to earth.
"Let's go, the sooner we deal with this the better" He said as he began walking forward.
"Oh, sure..." Drachen looked suspiciously at Das as she returned to her personal nest of black hair.
But knowing little she said or did would distract his mind, she remained silent and vanished from view with a sadden reflection on her eyes.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
PenguinSam64
PenguinSam64 Finally out of the castle~ If you are hungry for flashy battles and gruesome sceneries don't worry, they are coming soon. The first sparks are but just beginning and I can't wait to tell the story once its wildfire grows out of proportions!!
Anyhow, have a good day!
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