We returned to the Company, in a worse state than we had left. This was not because we were worse for wear. But the conditions seemed to have significantly gotten worse and even though Kassie wasn't showing it, she was incredibly pissed.
And me, I just kept pitying this person called Blood Mage.
Whoever this man was, wherever he was hiding, he had just earned himself the focused attention of the Tyrant Empress, the Blood Conqueror, a woman who had dismantled an entire empire in order to bring down the church. He was probably somewhere out there right now, thinking he had sent a message.
'Buddy. You just signed up for a war you don't even know you're in yet.'
We walked through the front door and I immediately noticed something different.
There were boots by the entrance. Two pairs. One I recognized, expensive leather with gold thread stitching at the heel. The other was worn and plain, the kind that had seen more terrain than comfort.
'Those are...'
