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Chapter 6: Breach

  Hiro watched as three of the men in Squad One ventured into one of the adjoining halls, after receiving a silent signal. He supressed the impulse to follow, eager to do something useful. His arm twinged in pain as though it were a reminder of how badly he'd been injured. His wrist had only brushed against the side of a loose panel on the wall. They did not return for some time. Shiden sent two from the remnant of the squad to find them. Hiro paced back and forth in the room. He did not remember coming into the guildhall; the fog was indeed coming indoors. There was a darkness inside now. The others were visible but only if he focused very hard.

  Hiro was about to call out to the spellcaster, who was nearer to the building's tall entrance. One of the doors was open wide to the street. Suddenly there was a melodious call from outside. Shiden rushed back to the center of the room, and swept his scepter through the air in front of him when he turned to face the door again. For some time after, he could see better than most of the others. Finally, as though the noise frightened them as well, the other knights returned running on tired legs.

  “Nothing, young one,” called out Squad One's leader. “I saw nothing – what was the screeching?”

  “I know what it was – but I want to be wrong. There are scratches on the doors, and Blast damage. Scuff marks in the dirt outside. You really found nothing?”

  One of the other knights spoke up. He was by the collecting pool. “There's blood here. Stonework is cracked – a fight. No signs of life in the dormitory in the west wing, either. They could have simply evacuated.”

  Shiden turned to address him, but their attempt at deciphering the strange clues was pointless. Their secrecy had been in vain. The rest of the company took up positions in the entrance hall. The sound of crossbows being set with bolts was loud, strangely cathartic to Hiro. He recalled a raid he'd taken part in a year earlier, but he hated the rest of the memory. Hiro backed away, Shiden close by him; the caster seemed to have the same idea. There was a door leading off from the stairs. The spellcaster checked it, but it was locked. Another call came then. It sounded closer.

  As Brelann searched another section of hallway, the last two of the other squad ran through it to get back to him. He held the position with one other. There was definitely something inside, slinking through the hall.

  “Damn it. Caster! Throw a light this way, towards the pool.”

  Shiden raised his scepter and muttered something. A ball of floating light shot forth and illuminated the dark room for the briefest of moments. The spell lamps in the foyer flickered on because of their proximity to the light, but went out immediately once it had passed them by. Shiden's spell did not last more than a few seconds either; it was, apparently, only temporary. Hiro was even more terrified and wondered if there was a stronger casting of the spell, one to make it stay active longer – there must have been. He knew there was something there, too.

  A window burst somewhere in the building's depths. Hiro drew his sword. The act was none too soon. Dark shapes prowled along past the front windows, and a beast entered the main door. It slunk inward. The beast's flesh was squirming. It did not move like an animal, but almost like a man crouched, moving on all fours in an imitation of one. They might have found it comical if the beast hadn't looked so horrible – Shiden cast another lighting spell at it; the beast's back was bowed, and it was nearly bare of hair, being infected maybe.

  Brelann's head turned none too soon. Something seemed to streak by his face; his visor was raised. “Not normal runners – these are not normal animals! They are deceptively strong, go for kill shots. No glancing blows!”

  The caster returned to his friend and kicked the door next to Hiro twice. The latch broke. “Hiro, stay back, none of your antics. This is not the War Quests. These creatures can kill with a sting, if they're old enough. Watch their damned tails, will you?”

  Brelann yelled across the room. “Runners are breaching the windows to let them in. Kallan – you deaf fool, behind you.”

  His brother turned to an enemy when Brelann pointed in the other direction. Kallan shot another runner; it leapt towards him. The bolt struck its chest, and Kallan dropped back to set another bolt in his weapon. The beast stank. Part of its torso was torn to shreds after a loud boom – Kallan had used an explosive bolt. Shrapnel, blood, and bone flew everywhere when the bolt in its chest detonated. Hiro raised his shield; his shield arm was almost too weak to properly use the defensive tool, but he kept a tight hold on it.

  “Spread out and stagger your shots – and save your explosive bolts for the bigger ones!”

  Multiple beasts came inside. One crashed into the windows at the front entrance and came in; its flesh was cut badly by the breaking glass, but this did nothing to hinder its attack. Hiro could not see well. Shiden was sending forth many more orbs of light as fast as he could, for the others to see by, but they were growing weaker with each new one he created. Shiden's other hand was holding a knife with a dark blade; it was shimmering, whether by the light of his spellwork or because the blade itself was enchanted. There was a violet light coming from it. Hiro looked around; finally, his chance came – another creature leapt down from the railing above on the second floor. He struck at it multiple times with many cuts. His sword cut down the enemy.

  “They're coming in from upstairs, too,” yelled Hiro. “There's roof access up there.”

  Shiden backed away into the room with the stairs again; he did not tell Hiro to get inside the area beyond the broken door – it was a broom closet. “I told them to make sure, my friend. Very well. Defend our flank.”

  Shiden whistled twice, and apparently, signaled two of the knights to come to him. They seemed to know what to do, because they paused by Hiro, and when another three creatures came rushing down the stairs, the two knights shot them. One drew a saber and slashed the third beast in the neck. In the light of one of Shiden's spells, Hiro saw the corpses of these horrid creatures up close. He went to one, barely withstanding the disgusting smell coming off it. The head had stringy, greasy hair. It looked like a man to him. There was what appeared to be an extra set of teeth in its horrible mouth and rotting flesh in it. It had to have eaten recently. It had a tail, with a bony spine at its end. The farmhand swept his sword again and cut the head off out of spite. He was not ready for this.

  The War Quests were pathetic games! What is this? What is this thing – this is not a Runner! I cannot fight. . . whatever these are. But they do remind me of the Runners. Something corrupted natural beasts, just like those things.

  Shiden accidentally dropped his scepter, and the noise of it hitting the floor drew Hiro's attention. He tried to aid the spellcaster, but the man recovered instantly. Shiden dropped to a knee. One of their enemies ran at him, but Shiden was experienced against them. He slashed the enemy twice, and drew back his arm. A fearsome technique was next – a Blast. Several flashes of light radiated from the end of his black dagger, purple in color; these shots eviscerated his foe. It dropped dead, but its claws ripped through Shiden's arm.

  Hiro watched as the spellcaster picked up his scepter; he touched his wounded arm with the sapphire on its end. The wound slowly began to recover – the shed blood stayed, for the spell was not reversing the damage or the attack, but it was slow going. In mere seconds, whatever he was casting with his scepter seemed to speed up the natural healing Shiden's body would have taken weeks or even months to do. Hiro grew worried despite the marvelous feat. Shiden was trembling violently, and almost seemed to be trying not to vomit from the stress, or something else. Hiro ran to his friend. He was astonished.

  “My last one, Hiro. I cannot use another healing spell again for a while – keep back and use your shield! It looks like they're thinning out. But look! – our friends are failing.”

  Indeed, three of their allies were dead. Nothing could be done. One had a sharp spine in her neck; Hiro still did not understand where they'd come from – there were many more spines broken off and these had been embedded in the floors and the walls, but the enemy corpses still had their tails. Hiro went to her body; he knelt beside her and closed her eyes. He thought she looked rather young to be in the blue armor. He had never seen such an ignominious death, not even when he saw others die in War Quest accidents.

  “She's pretty. About as fair as the loveliest dancers I've seen in the festival performances. What a waste of life.”

  Hiro scowled. His temper got the best of him. “Why do our people do this – every time there's a rumor of trouble, the damn fools on the Council ignore it! Then something like this happens – but this not a raid. This is not some game, Shiden, you were right. I – I was right here, and couldn't help.”

  Shiden said nothing to him. No one else spoke. There was no comfort they could give Hiro by kind words. They had all come to terms with it. They'd seen it before, many times. Now Hiro had as well. A tear fell from Shiden's eyes.

  I know, my friend, but you get used to this. Even if it seems callous, you must bury it and get on with the day. I hope you don't have to see more – but that is only wanting. More will come. I hope you can take it.

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  There was a lull; more combat might have been easier to endure than a long silence. Only two of the knights from Squad One were left in the hall. The others had scattered through the building's front areas. Brelann was still there, gathering what ammunition he could, and taking spare, unused wound dressings from the deceased. He moved bodies into a line next to the pool on one side, and covered them with their own cloaks. He placed gold coins next to each one before he did so. Hiro aided him as best he could.

  Others were behind Hiro, the two men who had been aiding him. They were still watching the stairs. Hiro crouched, his back against the door frame of the room with the collecting pool. There was nothing he could do to help in a fight, unless he had an enemy close in on him enough for a melee attack. Hiro had no crossbow – he was not strong enough to use one. He sat and wondered idly, at what the guild masters might have used the water in the pool for, and how they cleaned it. Two dead beasts were in the pool, and they had fouled the water. Dirt and blood were in it, and the same grime he saw come out of the runners with their own blood. An odd feeling came over him. Something familiar – he felt as if he'd gone through this before.

  Shiden sat next to him. “She was a healer. A trainee. The Blue Company needs its own healers – can't count on finding teams in the areas we often go to. I do not know where the others are. Can you carry on without much help?”

  “What was the point of this? It's an empty guild hall! Why come here?”

  The spellcaster laughed bitterly. He almost choked up. He'd lit the end of his scepter, which was still on the floor. Noises came to Hiro's ears, shuffling perhaps, and boots making footsteps. Shiden did not seem worried, so he did not worry either. The twins came back with other knights, rescued from their earlier fight. “I don't know,” replied the spellcaster. “They never do have goals besides feeding or – never mind. Do you recognize anyone?”

  “What?” asked Hiro. A chill ran down his spine – he did not comprehend his friend's query at first, but he looked at some of the dead, and worried, like he was missing some necessary detail he'd been required to memorize, and the time had at last come for needing it. It felt like he was close to panicking.

  “They're not animals, Hiro. They're people – humans. Look.”

  Hiro got up and walked over to a dead enemy again. The blue light from the scepter made the faces look even more grotesque. They were already decaying, but it was as though they'd been mutilated, and there were scars, and the skin on some looked as though they'd stretched too much; the bones were all wrong and had grown; pale, they were. Hiro nearly retched. He dropped to a knee beside one. There were rags on it, some remains of a tunic, and breeches. “They were runners at one point? I was correct?”

  “Yes,” said Shiden. His voice was shaky. “They change as they age, they get more. . .bestial. These are more deformed than usual.” He gestured with his hand, moving it from in front of his mouth in an outward direction. “There are some which look almost. . .lion-like in their facial structures. In their silhouettes, at least. Too bad there are no Heroes in the country right now, we could use more aid. Well, I have had enough of this nonsense. Brelann! Call the others. Gather them. Where has Luran gone?”

  Brelann shook his head and shrugged. He had no idea, the others could have gone anywhere. He drew forth a wooden flute from his belt pouch, and played several notes from it which sounded almost like a bird call. He put it back where he took it from, and stalked off into the darkness. Kallan was nearby, resting on a bench. There was only one other member of the company in the room, and she was next to Kallan, tending to his lower torso. His leg had already been bandaged; blood was seeping from a wound on it. The knight was helping their ally. Shiden called out to her anyway.

  “Lin. Hurry up with him. We need to go soon.”

  Hiro wondered. “What is your plan, Shiden?”

  The caster came back and helped Hiro to his feet. “I know you are about to complain – so don't – and I do need to get something across to you. But I have to leave.” As he said this, Brelann and Luran walked up from the other side of the room. Luran's helm was dented, but he was otherwise mostly unchanged – his face was cut, and his lip swollen.

  “Of course. Leaving me with the farmhand? Very well, off you go. Take the boys – I'll get him where he needs to be.”

  Hiro grunted. “Will you? Fine. Where to?”

  Luran's words were unintelligible – he spoke in the Raiiya tongue, and Hiro could barely follow, but he thought he recognized the word for 'citadel'. He may have been wrong, because Shiden answered back in the local dialect. “No. Not the palace. The passage was blocked – we cannot go there. Not that way. There's a large garrison there. Central's gone, too. I passed a few other guild halls.”

  “What were they like, then?”

  Shiden shook his head. “You two think this one is bad. The palace road – the palace is occupied, as are all the main roads. You two would be shot on sight, and the enemy forces employ spotters – bowmen too, more deadly than the runners. Avoid it. They'll see you coming a mile off. They've been hiring bandits, as well.”

  Luran sighed. “Who, the ol' bandit lord Hollan? What a joke of a man. Nearly killed him once. Tried to behead the―.”

  “Enough, Luran. Let's go. My leg is giving me trouble again, the sooner I get where I need to be, the better.”

  A soft-spoken man called out as Hiro searched a cabinet on the wall – it was next to a pedestal for a sentry man to stand atop. The voice had been Kallan's, and Hiro realized it was the first time he'd heard the other knight speak. However, his interest was piqued and he turned his gaze elsewhere when Luran mentioned a familiar name: Hollan, a known bandit in the southlands. Hiro went over to where the others were, coughing. The fog was to blame, he thought. He did not know too much about the fog, but Hiro had heard the rumor of it. “What do we do, 'caster'?”

  “West. Go west – toward the citadel,” said Luran. Shiden agreed immediately.

  “Very unlike you – what are you up to, I wonder? But never mind, you're right. This boy will get us caught or killed. Very well. The citadel it is! May find refugees at the arena, or deserters. Here. Some rakan meat I got off a hunter when I last patrolled the game trails.”

  Shiden took something from Luran after he pulled a canvas pouch from his gear. He'd had a rucksack stashed somewhere, but Hiro did not find out where it had been stored. He took some of the meat when it was offered to him as well. Dried rakan meat was popular for its ease of preservation, rather than its delicacy. Hiro ate it quickly, and drank a portion of the water in a canteen Luran gave him from his rucksack; the knight kept a second one for himself, wrapping the canvas strap around his belt and clipping the container to a belt loop. The locals had long ago made many innovations in convenient wear and militia gear.

  Shiden finally spoke to them of his plan. It was not a long tale, when he spoke of it – though Shiden was very verbose at times. He also spoke to them of a cult in the north. “The 'Orchid cult', it was called, a sect known for having the ability to peer into the past, and future, and See different events; whether they'd experienced them personally or not.”

  “You believe that? Of all people?”

  Shiden could not blame his friend for asking. The two young men did not really know much about each other's lives prior to the day they met. “They are real – despite the captain's insistence it was made up to deter would-be charlatans. A warning of sorts – Orchid was supposedly the subject of tales, tales about a disavowed sect of prophecy bearers who were hunted for interfering with events they revealed knowledge of. Even if they had made it up, the Hunters would slay them, or the Overseers, more properly. They executed someone close to me once. Not for such a 'crime', but. . .it happened.”

  Hiro almost successfully interrupted, but a syllable had barely escaped his lips when he saw Brelann shake his head vigorously in the distance. He shut up instantly and changed tack. “Very well. Why are you telling me this story? You're really leaving our side again? You saw what happened tonight. I didn't get wounded, but – I barely did anything worth talking about here, and I'm certainly not good enough to survive another attack by the Shroud.”

  “The Shroud? I did not even mention the – what? No. Orchid has nothing to do with that enemy. Avoid anyone bearing a sigil on their person! It's an orchid, looks more like a constellation, but an orchid is definitely what it's supposed to be. It could be on anything, easily concealed―.”

  “What,” said Hiro, “like a pendant?”

  For some reason, Shiden cleared his throat. He'd kept his scepter lit – it lay across his lap; the air was warm, and it almost seemed as if there was natural daylight around them. His face seemed to go pale. The spellcaster did not speak immediately, but when he did, he was quieter.

  “Yes, like a. . .pendant, or a timepiece, a brand on their flesh even – but something easily concealed, or tossed away at need, in haste. Avoid them, at all costs, Hiro.” His voice broke then. “I – don't think you will encounter one of them, but even so – if you meet one in the northlands and I am not with you: do not follow after them, or heed their advice, or approach one of them openly. They are terrible, my friend. Very much so.”

  “Whatever is upsetting you – I will listen to you. I trust you – you've saved my life twice, Shiden.”

  The spellcaster nodded. He took his scepter in hand and rose from the bench. He went to the broken doors, to check for approaching enemies. His light dimmed as he went. “Very well. And I think I'm up to three tallies, now, don't you? If we're being fair? Brelann? Kallan? You know the arrangement.”

  “With you, like always.”

  The twins followed after him, and then the other two remaining knights, besides Luran, and Lin, the remaining healer. Together, they exited into the dark streets. The spellcaster's trepidation returned. The street lamps had not all lit up. There was barely any light. Hiro watched from his place on one of the benches in the entry hall, uneasily. He wondered if he'd ever see Shiden again, when the caster turned left, and his part of the company moved out of sight. Suddenly, Luran rose and chuckled. “He'll be fine. Let us go, too.”

  Lin followed after them, with a saber hilt gripped tightly in one hand, though she left it sheathed. Hiro was silent – the debris and the fog and fires on the horizon nearly overwhelmed him. Lin seemed to recognize this – she had longer legs than him; she was taller, and almost passed them jogging swiftly. The company's last healer slowed down, and passed Hiro a buckler, before she carried on without a word; Hiro realized he'd left his own shield behind. He saw the name on the buckler he was given, which matched the name on the chest plate of the deceased healer. The workman had paid his respects to her – he'd surreptitiously dropped his last few coins, won in his final War Quest victory, by her side as he and Luran exited the building. War indeed had indeed come again. The ancient Raiiya byword was right – it did not make sense, not to a lowly farmhand.

  'What a waste' , thought Hiro.

  Series Preface

  space ranger sorry, "Relic Hunter", actually DO? What was in the mysterious note that our handsome protagonist Shiden received from his mum at the end of Chapter 2? Why did Cinar Raiya attack our heroes in the first place? Who is the mysterious fire wielder that burned down Hiro's epic starter base? Who was creepily watching the gallant Captain Aurien from the woods around his daughter's house? Where would the civilians of Etirran even go for safety during an attack? Why was the capital so full of smug, black-armored, elitist jerks?! - and what the h*ck are Runners, anyway? Find out next time on...okay, we won't do that reference. I just wanted to avoid spoiling anything, this is only the first chapter. You're gonna stick around, right?

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