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The Unfortunate Guard

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Synopsis
A Captain from the Braliou Mercenary Company is escorting a merchant and his baggage across the Kingdom of Miraos alongside his colleagues - until they are ambushed by the Witch of Kambriv's men. Under orders from his superiors he heads an investigation and assassination of the Witch alongside some of the famed Pavyslavist Knights. They venture deep within hostile territory and fight their way toward the Witches capital, and eventually, find her and her minions - who aren't who they seem to be. Ivrolec is thrown into the deep end of a political fracturing wrought from his father's incompetence, with naught but sons and daughters to pick up the pieces.
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Chapter 1 - From Colnev Comes

The tavern was alight from the hearth-fire in the centre of the main hall. Small lamps sat idle on pedestals in the darker rim of the room, beside thin-panel windows that viewed the cobble street of Colnev. Cheer and song echoed alongside the tapping of dances and the beating of cow-drums, while those partaking in services of the tavern, those drinking, found themselves in groups loud and smiling. However, not all the men of the hall were accounted for within the more brightly lit middle; in one corner sat a pair of men, roughly away from the attention of staff and merry-goer alike. The smaller of the two watched his watered down ale. Sipping on it occasionally, he watched the rest of the room in boredom; but it wasn't long until one group had caught his eye. Merchants wearing blue cloaks were gambling their money to each other openly. Flouncing their wealth to the poor of the tavern in their prideful snobbery they called fun; townswomen gave them attention for their coin, the staff made watch for chances for tips and sale. Those in the corners of the room such as this man, were considering fouler actions. Theft and murder.

But this would not be the night in which they made their catch; these fish were guarded.

The table over from the merchants was a – somehow – louder group of men who wore small knives and axes at their waists as they drunk merrily, singing songs in foreign tongues. The small rough man watched them carefully, looking only when he was not being looked at back. This wasn't much luck for him, however. His associate, whom had been sent to him by his employer from further up the Kambrivi frontier, was clearly not very experienced with subtlety; when the shorter of the pair had ventured to relieve himself, the larger had bought the guards some drinks – an otherwise innocent offer of alcohol. But their Captain knew better than to trust an otherwise innocent drink.

When the smaller man returned, he returned to his associate being spoken to by two large men. The smaller of those was still much broader than himself, and fashioned a scar on his neck. He had his side turned away, but was clearly the superior of the taller man. The scoundrel hoped that these men would leave peacefully – and soon.

The inebriated guards had been speaking to his associate regarding the Merchants, and his colleague, clearly overconfident, challenged them to a fight with the hopeful aid of his new 'friend'. This was met with swift retribution. The larger of the guards had bronze-skin, and it was visible as his uncovered arms bulged with movement as he lashed out with an immediate strike. The hit immediately rendered the large man on the chair unconscious, and his head slammed into the table.

The yet unmoved of the guards turned quickly to the other smaller man after having noticed him, and despite best efforts to withdraw, he found himself grappled and thrown into the table beside them. Falling to the floor, the thief's last thought that night was how much the fists of this scarred man were hurting his face.

The larger of the two straightened his back but leant his head, "Do you think that's enough of a message Iv?"

The smaller man nodded gently as he got off the floor, "Yeah I think so Erd, I've seen at least three of these pairs tonight. So many thieves lately wanting what isn't theirs. You'd think the town-guard would be on it." Erdin smiled and Ivrolec laughed in response. No, they wouldn't beat anyone else tonight, the Captain thought to himself.

Erdin sighed dramatically and smirked, before drinking the rest of the large man's drink. He turned and raised the cup back to the guards at the table and they all cheered after a second to take them to notice. Ivrolec laughed again, happy that his Sergeant had such rapport with his men.

As they ventured back to the table, the tavern-keep stopped their approach. "Why did you just beat two men in my establishment?"

Ivrolec gestured silence to Erd who was already leaning forward, "The short man called my mother a whore after the larger fellow called your pub a place for rats to soak in their own piss. I thought it wasn't very nice to insult my mother like that, so I beat him for it. I think that was fair, don't you Bey?" Ivrolec looked at Erdin with a smirk, and received a fast nod in response.

The keep considered it for a second looking the men up and down. He quickly realised it was probably easier just to keep these gentlemen happy than pursuing some pointless endeavour. He stood out the way for them to pass before continuing on his work.

The rest of that night they didn't notice any trouble, and the Merchants happily played games amongst each other for some time. The guards received no more drinks that night for free, but they did notice the bar kept watering their drinks down. Poroiln noted it, "Tasted like shit," to Ivrolec before going back to the Inn with a woman the others suspected Poroiln hadn't noticed to be a prostitute.

The morning arrived quickly, though Ivrolec was woken by Erdin gently shaking him. "It's dawn, I've the horses being readied and got Gondil to go and wake up the Merchants. Your choice further, Captain." Erd mockingly saluted his Officer before laughing and leaving the room, leaving Ivrolec to stir himself up.

He reached to the bedside cabinet and drunk from the cup. It was several days old orange juice, and tasted rancid. The rancidness, however, was exactly what helped him wake up. Throwing his feet over the side of the bed, he stood up and got dressed, before putting on his ruby signet ring and taking a prayer to the dawn. The light radiated against his pale skin and he smiled warmly. He put on his chainmail hauberc, as well as his laminar neck and shoulder guard. After, he strapped both his war mace to his side and tied his sheathed sword to his waist. Closing his eyes, he held the silver-trimmed pommel in silence. 'One day,' he thought, 'one day Wauera, I'll prove to you my worth.' With his prayer done, he kissed his ring and left the room.

He walked out of the Inn to the courtyard where he met Erdin and the horses. Erdin was a good man; he had worked under Ivrolec for over a decade by this point, and they had grown close in that time. Their most recent job was this one – over the course of half a year, they were to escort the Saltswishers of the Black Mountains (those that mine and distribute salt across the Davvar Gap) all the way to Bohevar and back. It wasn't a hard job, though the Kambrivi and the Gatha were the toughest areas by a long shot. They'd already served in the Kambrivi before, and they'd toughed their way through Gatha earlier that year. Ivrolec was sure they'd be fine this year, it'll be like any other job.

After a few moments of waiting, the rest of the guard came out. Some were still sluggish under their hangovers, while others were already chatty, insulting those not as perky.

The guards mounted their horses and ventured across the town. They met with Gondil beside the convoy of Saltswishers led by the portly Idriv; they greeted one another warmly, and the groups shared their grievances to the quantity of alcohol they had taken. Gondil reported relative quietness in the streets of Colnev that Ivrolec accepted, though had already noticed on the walk over.

The newly formed convoy, the eleven guards and two wagons of merchants, began their journey towards Kelavel. It was a quiet journey. Ivrolec noted deer piquing their heads up toward the moving caravan, farmers tending their growing crop, and even a bear some distance up the highlands of the mountains. The convoy went on with little more than a murmur amongst its members, with some banter being thrown by merchant and guard alike.

Erdin rode forward from the rear to be beside his Captain. He spoke low with a smile, "I've got a bad feeling about this Iv. I feel it in my stomach, something's going to happen."

Ivrolec tensed his jaw. Erdin wasn't usually wrong when he worried, but the Captain hoped he was. "I'm sure we'll be fine. It's a good day today, and I doubt the bandits that have been active round here are going to think us an easy target." He flashed the pommel of his sword towards his friend. "Head to the front with Thessian, he'll annoy you until you forget." Erdin followed order and tagged Thessian to vanguard alongside him.

The Captain marched alone again, though now watched the edges of forest and field with more attention. The journey since Colnev had been uneventful, though it did little to dissuade him of further to come. It had been a few hours since leaving, and he decided it was probably time for a break. He spoke briefly to Idriv, while getting Erdin and Thessian to find them a spot to eat. It wasn't long until they found a small outcrop in a thick wood. Perfectly defensible, he scanned the area as they arrived, but we're open if they manage to have a path in.

He ordered members of his staff to do a quick sweep of the area, with only Jeleur reporting anything of note; apparently there was a particularly fat hog nearby. Wasn't really that interesting to Ivrolec, but he still appreciated the report.

The guards tucked into their lunch, with the Captain calling for Gondil so they could do watch, while the others relaxed. He joined his superior and they walked to the path entrance. Ivrolec leant on a tree, watching one way down the path. He had taken his helmet off as it was getting hot, and took his weapons off, leaning them against a stump nearby. Gondil was wearing his armour, motionless with his spear as he watched the other way down the path. They stood in silence for a minute before Gondil began to speak.

"Erdin seems worried." He prompted, ceding a quick glance back toward the group.

"Not exactly like this is nice territory. He has well enough reason."

"But this is Erd, if he worries, we all should. I know you've it in hand, but I think it's probably better if we-" Gondil stopped, his voice breaking as he did so. The light sound of heavy steps could be heard from further north on the road, though it wasn't that close yet. "Can you hear that?"

"Yeah. Go grab Erd, Thess and Caumari." Gondil nodded and marched back. Ivrolec picked up his weapons, strapping his sword back to his waist and holding his mace to his side. He walked to the end of the path and watched for passers-by. The sound got louder, and was definitely the trot of horses. Gondil returned with the other three, all carrying their preferred weapon; Erdin with his voulge, Thessian with his greatsword and Caumari with his dürer sword and kite shield. Gondil fashioned a war mace, much like Ivrolec, but unlike his Captain it wore spikes on it's end. The four stood watch at the end of the road for a long moment in deathly silence before the trot revealed itself.

A pair of mounted men, bearing black chainmail and silver spears stopped and looked at them. Ivrolec opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the man furthest from him. "You enter the Witches land. State your business."

Erdin and Caumari scoffed, and Gondil scowled. Ivrolec looked the two of them up and down before choosing his words carefully. "We fancied finding ourselves some pathetic slabs of meat who fancied a beating."

Neither laughed, but was retorted without pause, "I'm sure you think that, your skin tells me you don't go out often."

Ivrolec bit his tongue, though Erdin had already taken a step forward. The giant raised his hand toward the mounted men and spoke low. "Watch your mouth. You're speaking to Captain Dahvril."

The two turned their horses back the way they came. "He's not much of a Captain, I haven't heard of him." They hastily rode away, leaving Caumari who had begun to march toward them.

The moment of silence that followed was quickly washed away by Caumari cursing to himself. "Bastards deserve a smack for that. Who were they d'ya think?" Erdin sighed loudly, but he noticed Thessian smiled.

"Bastards I reckon, and I think they're planning something." Thessian knelt on one knee, leaning on his sword. He looked up at Ivrolec.

"Obviously." Erdin laughed, looking down at his comrade.

"Enough gentlemen. We'll get moving again. We've got to head the same way they're heading, so it might be an ambush. I want Gondil and Erdin as vanguard, and Thessian you get Anyer and stay in rearguard. They might already be behind us." The men filed back toward the main group and quickly organised themselves and the merchants to travel. They set off once more, with the sun stretching out toward the middle of the sky.

The convoy was quiet as they went. The guards were watchful, and did not trust the noises of the wind. The quiet was struck after less than an hour of walking by the gallop of Gondil and Erdin returning. Even in the hilly forest, the noise echoed through – and it wasn't only them Ivrolec could hear.

As Gondil and Erdin rounded a corner, they met with the guards already forming a defensive wall in front of the merchants on the path. Gondil and Erdin quickly dismounted as they got behind the others, but rushed to join their comrades.

The cavalry that rode round the corner were enshrouded in black metal mail, with flat visor plate helmets and large curved swords. They ran in twos, though quickly slowed down as they saw the blockade of the shieldwall. They quickly dismounted and began to form their own line, though while they were busy organising, Ivrolec surged forward with his men. A crash of metal signalled the skirmish, with the first to go down being Poroiln, the young and brutish Waberher who had joined the company from poverty. He went down burying the spike of his hammer in the shoulder of one of the black armoured men, causing him to scream as he pulled back his sword. In the confusion, Erdin who was behind the poor soldier cleaved his opponent and his armour slightly in two; despite the armour resisting, Erdin managed to crack through. Jeleur, who was on the other side of Erdin, dragged the body of Poroiln away, and the larger of the pair bashed the next man, stunning him before kicking his leg, breaking it sideways. On the other side of the tight skirmish, Ivrolec had stabbed the spike of his warhammer into the side of the head of one of the men, but failed to cleanly bring it out leaving him open. He was quickly lunged at by one of the men, who narrowly missed thanks to the movement of Gondil who struck upwards, dislodging the visor of the man and breaking his chin. He poked forward and tipped the man's head back slightly, before bashing his pommel against him and elbowing the next man. His movement broke a gap into the enemy, and the veteran mercenaries quickly began to try and break down the armour of the enemy. Some would call it luck, but one of the blades of the black armoured men lodged into the floor infront of him as he was shoved by Gondil, who had fallen slightly as he was lightly struck by a mace to the chest. He recovered, but not seeing it stepped backwards and fell over. As he lay on the floor, one of the men took the chance to stab into his open helmet. Grazing his cheek, the man attempted to strike upwards towards Ivrolec who was still enthralled by another. He missed, and instead was cut by Caumari. Bradlin, who had been busy courting the blade of another man, barely managed to notice the spearhead as it stabbed through his visor. Another loss. Caruern, threw his weight into the centre of the opposition and managed to throw them back, letting both Thessian and Erdin advance further. Anyer, who had yet to have joined the front, managed to flank round and cleanly connect into another man, but was thrown into a ditch beside the road by a bludgeon to the head from one of the aggressors. The man fell back, and cracked his spine as he landed. Bradlin attempted to jump in after a gap opened from the casualties that persisted and went to strike downwards with his axe, but was met with a swift downward strike that lulled him backwards. He rolled into the leg of Ivrolec, lifeless and heavy. This was how the fight proceeded - bloodily and angrily. By the end of it, Ivrolec saw just under half his guard as casualties, with only one being injured and the rest dead. The black armoured men were driven off, where they remounted and ran away, realising the trouble they were in if they continued - for the five lost for the guard, the black armoured men lost twelve.

Tired, sweaty, hot and bloodthirsty, Ivrolec had his men take some of the horses and take them, while also giving the funerary rites to the fallen men. Poroiln, Bramei, Anyer and Bradlin were dead, and Thessian was very injured; his wrist had been smashed by the heavy mace of one of the men, and had it not been for the quick help of a merchant who threw a rock, he would have been killed. Holes were dug under the watchful eye of an alert Ivrolec, and each of the men buried in sequence. Fires were made above each of their graves, and they awaited the fires to be put out before leaving. They eventually found a clearing where the Merchants suggested rest, but Ivrolec refused and gestured to move on until they found another location; and just short of an hour later they did. They ventured up a hill slightly and created a defensible area with the wagons and horses, using the hill and foliage to funnel only a single opening at the front. An attack would be slowed significantly by the uneven climb. The night that followed was quiet, though the morning was sudden.