Bright beams of sunlight illuminated the inside of the five meter wide, quadratic tent in a mixture of blue and white, as it penetrated the fabric. Four figures, soldiers, the commanders and captains of the mercenary band, sat around one half of the circular wooden table that marked the center of the room. Kandor stood fully armed - only his gloves and helmet on a stool behind him - by the side of the table, waiting. No one spoke, but they exchanged looks occasionally, or took another glance at the map on the table in front of them as they waited. Kandor picked up one of the wooden pieces that marked the position of a troop on the map, and turned it a couple times in his hands, idly observing its features. It had the shape of a rock to which a halo was chained. Oddly specific and artistic for something that had a mere practical purpose, he thought, placing the piece back to where it was. He noticed how two of the men, his superiors, were looking at him, their heads shifted slightly.
"Anything you are curious about, Eighth?", one of them said. It was the commander, the highest figure in the Band of the Cormorant. He was The Cormorant. His breastplate was shiny and beautiful, the silhouette of a bird, a cormorant, carved into it, wings wide, beak pointing towards the sky. The cormorant chuckled slightly as he called the boy by his official position in the troop. Eighth. Usually, the numbering system was only used to refer to the four or five highest positions below the commander, making the vice-commander the First, and the captains of the second and third largest divisions the Second and Third man of the band. Kandor was the Eight. He considered it still impressive, given his young age, and he knew that the Cormorant only called him by it, because it was impressive. Kandor was almost twenty years old now and Eighth man in the Band of the Cormorant, the estimated fourth largest mercenary band that was currently located in the Kingdom of Atura.
"Why is it called Band of the Holy Chain?", Kandor asked bluntly, using the chance his commander has given him. The man sitting on the left rolled his eyes, seemingly annoyed at the boy. Rendol, Second man of the Band of the Cormorant and captain of the raider squad. He was a dick, to pretty much anyone that wasn't higher ranked than him, and given that only two were, he was a dick to pretty much everyone. He was ugly, too, his teeth dislocated, his nose broken many times, one eye a little larger than the others. Kandor wasn't sure if he was a dick because of how ugly he was, or if he was beaten to that degree of ugliness because of how much of a dick he was. The Cormorant didn't seem to notice, or simply didn't care, and responded.
"Well, they are a religious army, believers of Arkantorx. The chains are supposed to stand for how grounded, chained to the ideals of their god they are. Something like that. Their General is a fucking fanatic, if you ask me. Though, they were founded couple hundred years ago, don't know if what I heard about them is what their original intention for the name was or if its a new interpretation. God knows, fucking Arkantorx."
The Cormorant looked at Kandor the entire time as he spoke, and the boy had trouble keeping eye contact, looking down at his hands and the map on the table multiple times. Even if the Cormorant was always nice to him, as surprisingly the majority of the mercenaries was, he still felt a lot of pressure whenever he was in the presence of all the commanders.
"Whole town is filled with lunatics to be fair though. Munkheim, shithole", the Third man said. Samson, captain of the flank squad and Kandor's direct superior. Great man, Kandor liked him a lot, and he knew it was mutual, otherwise he wouldn't have been made first officer of the flank squad already. He joined the flank squad in his second year with the Cormorants, and spent the last three climbing the ranks. A recent wiping of a large portion of the flank helped him, as tragic as it was, to reach his current rank.
The Cormorant and his First man just nodded at Samson's comment. The First man was called Barsk, a huge guy, probably a good twenty centimeters taller than Kandor, who was already slightly taller than the average cormorant soldier. At least that's what most of the other men told him; he often still felt comparably small which he assumed was because of his age, but he could never pinpoint the exact feeling. Barsk was the vice-commander of the Band of the Cormorant, and often considered to be the craziest fighter of them all, said to be a true monster on the battlefield. Kandor rarely got to see him in action, since the Flank squad mostly attacked from a completely different angle, cut off from the main troop; which was also why they got wiped so commonly. Mistiming the attack from the flank could easily leave them exposed to enemy auxiliaries or in the worst case the open hands of the opposing main troop, which in many cases will easily decimate the comparably small but fast flank. People told him it was an unnecessary risk to join the flank, but Kandor considered it no more dangerous than the other divisions. A battlefield was a battlefield. Maybe he was just that stupid.
Rendol made a growling sound, as silence fell over the tent again, only the constant noise from the camp around them filling the emptiness. Men's chatter, the occasional muffled thumping of hammers on metal and leather, the more common clinging of blades in combat practice. Every now and then they could hear someone shout something outside. Apparently, the brute majority of mercenaries primarily shouted insults or stupidities. Kandor grinned at one particularly stupid exclaim, but the other four men didn't seem to react, so he suppressed the chuckle. Then a soft trembling of horses and an uneven clattering of wooden cart wheels over rocky ground began to emerge in the distance. Kandor looked at the Cormorant, who nodded at Barsk and Samson. The noises slowly grew louder as the cart approached, suddenly coming to a halt right outside the command-tent, in which they were waiting. The Cormorant, Barsk and Samson stood up, Rendol did not. The commander stepped around the table, facing towards the entrance to allow him to directly greet whoever was to step through it. The wagon's doors were opened, and he could hear four separate pairs of feet approach the tent, now only a few meters away.
The tent entrance was pulled open, causing more sunlight to stream into the room, pushing away some of the blue-inked atmosphere as the unfiltered light found its way into every corner of the tent. Two guards had positioned themselves at either side of the entrance, holding up the fabric, struggling a bit as they tried to figure out which way it was supposed to be rolled up. A dark-blue and green sigil slapped onto the chest of their textile uniform, which partially covered the long chain vest underneath. It was the symbol of Voestrun, in the design of a house splitting a waterfall. It was a pretty dumb-looking sigil, Kandor thought, but then, most cities in Atura had sigils similarly meaningless to this one. His gaze was caught by the two other figures that now entered the tent. The Mayor, a nobleman of unimpressive statue, a common face, regular half-long, combed-back hair, and for his position rather plain clothing style. He wore a green robe and vest, black leathered shoes, and a pair of brown pants that reached out below the robe. The only jewelry to stand out was the golden bracelet hanging deep down his wrist, symbolizing his position as Mayor of the town. Kandor was not very impressed by his appearance, but maybe that made the nobleman more likable than he would have expected beforehand. Behind him followed a girl. Her immediate beauty caught Kandor off guard, and he forgot all about the Mayor in an instance. Her face was soft and uniquely detailed, her eyes a shimmering blue-grey, and the blonde, silver-strained hair fell around her shoulders in graceful curls. She wore a blue dress, reaching just to her knees and accenting her present but still young curves to little extent. Kandor then realized that he had no idea why she was even here. She was probably the Mayor's daughter, but a war council was usually not the place one should bring their daughters along to. Kandor had trouble hiding his confusion, but nobody seemed to pay attention to him anyway, as the Cormorant greeted the Mayor.
"Greetings, Mayor. I hope your journey to our camp was not an unpleasant one", the Cormorant began, extending his hand as it was the convention in Atura. Kandor wasn't sure if it was normal for a non-noble to offer a noble a handshake, but he knew that the Cormorant didn't see himself as worth less than any noble in the entire kingdom. The Mayor took his hand and shook it firmly, a smile on his face. Maybe Kandor's general perception of nobles was wrong, this one didn't seem too bad.
"It is nice meeting you, too, Cormorant", the noble said, the smile extending a bit, obviously fake - Kandor cringed as he took back his previous thought - before adding, "it was an uncomplicated journey, thank you."
The Cormorant offered their two guest the seats across the table from them, before returning to his own seat, where Barsk and Samson were still standing, observing the scene neutrally. Rendol looked rather bored, didn't seem to consider the importance of the event, and Kandor wasn't sure why the commander even required the ugly man to attend. He was sure that there was some reason for it, but he doubted that the raider captain would contribute to the conversation in any valuable way.
Kandor noticed how the girl was looking around the room, a curious expression on her pretty face. He caught himself staring again, but this time it was a bit too late, as their eyes met before he quickly looked down to his hands. God, Kandor, just a girl, he thought, this was a war council, get your shit together.
"Let me introduce you to our commanding staff, Mayor", the Cormorant's speech sounded unusually selective and clear, almost as if he was a noble himself, "Vice-commander Dettlau, Raider Captain Barsen, and Flank Captain Rothm." He held his hand out to each of the men next to him, respectively, while the Mayor nodded a long. He didn't seem to care too much, nor was he going to introduce the girl he brought along, probably thought it obvious that it was his daughter. And maybe it was obvious, if even Kandor was able to come to that conclusion. Kandor looked at Samson, who returned his look, smiling calmly and encouragingly, before turning to face the Mayor again.
"Shall we talk about your proposed plan, Cormorant?", the Mayor said, as he idly placed his hands on the table before him. The girl was now fully invested in scanning over the map and the figures on the table. She sat, hunched forward, her fingers drumming in her lap, as if to keep her from reaching out for the figures. Kandor was sure that he was the only one to be able to see it, besides the Mayor maybe, so maybe it was an unconscious tick of hers. God, it was hard to keep his eyes off her, but then there didn't seem to be much reason to try, as no one was paying attention to him at the moment.
The Cormorant began explaining their plan for the upcoming battle with the Band of the Holy Chain. He explained how they were at an inherent disadvantage due to the number difference, but how they could use the unique terrain around Voestrun and their specifically prepared battle strategies to decrease that disadvantage. Kandor was barely listening, he knew the plan in and out, had heard it many times, had thought through it many times. For some reason, it felt fairly solid, but also kind of seemed to depend on them simply walking straight into our set up. The Cormorant had referred to that as the defender's advantage. They are marching to Voestrun, so we could pick the battlefield anywhere in between Voestrun and Munkheim along their march path, which there weren't many options for. Still, the odds weren't great, and the possibility of the entire band getting wiped in this war was not zero.
"... our main force will stall their bulk at the riverfront", the Cormorant pointed to an open area on the map, which had a thick blue line drawn through it. Then he signaled Kandor, who immediately stepped forward, eyes focused on the map, trying not to let the Mayor or his daughter distract him. He had practiced this many times. Too many, for how simple of a task it really was. He moved the majority of the wooden figures with the shape of a chained halo towards the riverfront, as that area was where they were projected to pass through. Easiest area to allow passage for a large army. Then he moved four of the little winged and white painted wood figures to meet them. The main force of the Band of the Cormorant, led into battle by the Cormorant himself, and his Vice-commander Barsk Dettlau, who alone could probably take a hundred of their men. At least Kandor liked to believe that, even though he knew that it was a massive exaggeration.
"At this point, our raider squad will attack their auxiliaries from our hideout in the northwest, which will then allow the flank to attack and break through their bulk from the east. Without their auxiliaries they will stand no chance against the attack from the flank and our main force, which will cause them to disperse towards the west, hence winning us the battle."
It seemed too easy of a strategy, as Kandor moved all the wooden pieces in accordance to the Cormorant's plan. He looked at his commander once he was done, who nodded in his direction, allowing Kandor to step back again.
"Breaking their formation with our flank squad is our only chance at winning this battle", the Cormorant continued, looking back at the Mayor, "but there is no need to worry. I have a lot of faith in Captain Rothm and his first officer Condotti here." Blood rushed to his face, as the commander announced him by the last name he had adapted four years ago. Kandor looked down for a moment, before realizing how childish it must look, and instead decided to face the looks of the nobles. The Mayor didn't even seem to notice him, but the girl was now looking straight at him, her head tilted to the side, an interested smile on her face, as she seemed to study him from the bottom to the top. She really had intense eyes, and an incredible self-confidence, even when stuck in a tent with five mercenaries.
The Mayor appeared to be disappointed. "So this is the only chance we have?", he was keeping himself upright, but his voice gave away his fear of losing the war. It would probably mean the end of him and his family. The Cormorant was about to respond, when the girl's voice rose for the first time, surprising Kandor, and probably also the other men. Her voice was clear, felt precise, flawless almost, probably the most beautiful Kandor had ever heard, but he figured it might just be due to the combination with her visual beauty.
"Why don't you set up an ambush and create an illusion?", she asks, obviously not done, "if you place your archers within range of the bulk force, won't you be able to decimate it before having to stall it? Place the flank squad by the side of the archers and have them attack first. That will create the illusion that your troop is much smaller, until your main forces attack from the side and back. If they try to break and march through Voestrun with a smaller division, your archers and flank can retreat to protect the city."
Her father, the Mayor, sighed heavily as she finished talking, not wanting to be so rude to interrupt her in front of lower folk, but a definite expression of regret on his face. The Cormorant had listened closely, while Rendol, the prick, was just rolling his eyes. Kandor had just stared at her as she talked, following every movement of her lips, and only realized that the Cormorant was signaling him to move the troops again, when Samson said "Kandor?", making him snap out of his gaze. He noticed the girl's eyes on him again, as he stepped forward, trying to remember everything she said and arranging the wooden figures accordingly.
"While I do have to compliment your eye for the battlefield, young lady", the Cormorant began once Kandor was done placing all the figures, "that plan won't work out for us. Our flank could never hold their main force if they see us coming, and our auxiliary troop is in comparison so small, that they would hardly bother their main force. We mostly use it to provide suppression fire to allow our raiders or flank to retreat. Also, our main troop has barely any horses, and could never effectively ambush due to its size. It is an interesting thought, and if we were able to utilize more speed and a different terrain that would allow our main force to hide out, it would definitely be worth consideration."
Kandor demonstrated his commander's explanation, moving the majority of the wooden figures symbolizing the Band of the Holy Chain almost all the way to Voestrun. The girl seemed intrigued by the Cormorant's words, looking for a response with a concentrated look on her face.
"That is enough, Lia", the Mayor said, interrupting her thought process and forcing her to look at him, "these men know what they are doing, we will have to trust in them. Their original plan is fine, we will proceed with that."
Lia nodded in apology, before looking down, as if that would make everyone forget about her speaking up, before going back to looking around at everything and everyone. Lia, Kandor thought, definitely got guts to pull such a number during a war council. She couldn't be much older than him, maybe a couple years younger even. He had never been good at estimating a women's age, or anyone's really; knowing and understanding other people has never been his strength. Kandor stepped back again, while the Cormorant and the Mayor continued their conversation. It was mainly about money, how much they'd pay in advance, how much if they'd win, how much compensation they would retrieve per death, etc. Kandor didn't like the talk about money, but it was a necessity. He noticed how closely the girl was listening and felt stupid for not doing the same. He could probably learn a lot from these negotiations, but he couldn't really be bothered with the sheer prospect of counting and calculating numbers. Maybe that's why the Mayor had brought his daughter along in the first place, to learn about negotiations? Kandor really couldn't imagine any other reason, but even that seemed unusual, as noble women usually were married into another noble family where the husband would again be responsible for these kind of things. But then again, he didn't really understand the way the nobles worked out their affairs, so maybe what he had heard was not true for all of them.
"We are happy to work with you, Mayor", the Cormorant said, standing up, and walking back around the table to extend his hand again. Kandor just watched, as the Mayor, Lia, Barsk and Samson also rose, while Rendol remained seated again. Just as Kandor expected, the abomination of a man had not spoken nor contributed to the council at all, but maybe it was better that way.
"We are glad you are willing to take on this dire battle, Cormorant, you are certainly our last hope", the Mayor responded, shaking the commander's hand respectfully.
"We will do what we can, your people will be safe."
That response seemed rather uncharacteristic for the Cormorant, Kandor thought, but maybe honey-coating the nobles into believing mercenaries worked for more than just coin was part of some scheme. Maybe he was just being polite though, Kandor couldn't tell. The Mayor just nodded in response, seemingly ready to leave right away. He probably did not feel too comfortable, but Kandor couldn't blame him for it, nobody would ever feel comfortable as long as Rendol was in the room.
"If you'd like, we would be honored to offer you a quick show-around of our mercenary camp, I'm sure you'd like to see the men you are paying to protect your city", the Cormorant offered. This was also rather uncharacteristic, Kandor couldn't remember that ever happening before, but he had also never been part of these councils before. The Mayor hesitated to respond for a moment, he didn't seem to be greatly excited about the idea.
"We would love to, right father?", his daughter responded for him, looking up to him, grabbing his arm.
"Don't worry, it's not a dangerous place", the Cormorant assured him.
"S-sure", the Mayor responded, a faint smile on his lips as he looked back at his daughter. Her smile beamed at him, and the Cormorant chuckled slightly at the vision. He signaled Kandor to join him, and the boy stepped forward, to stand just slightly behind his commander.
"Kandor and I will show you around", he said, a friendly grin on his face, before he offered the Mayor to step outside.
The sun was still painfully bright as the four of them walked through the camp. They had left the other captains and the vice-commander behind in the tent. The Cormorant and the Mayor walked in front, talking about the exact numbers and functions of each division and troop. Kandor doubted that the Mayor really cared, but it was his job to pretend to, and it was the commander's job to deliver. Kandor himself walked next to Lia, the Mayor's daughter, who was looking around curiously. Then she looked back at him, and he noticed, trying to avoid her gaze directly.
"You are quite young to be a mercenary. How do you manage?"
He was put off by the question, not sure as to what exactly she referred to.
"I'm… I have been with them for a couple years now, not the youngest anymore. Got pretty lucky that they needed a lot of men when I joined." It didn't really feel like the right answer to the question she asked, but then he didn't know how to, so he left it at that. Trying not to be impolite, he gleaned over to her, noticing her studying gaze on his face as he spoke.
"I figure it is good that you were allowed that opportunity. Although, personally, I don't believe that it is the best line of work, being a mercenary that is." She sounded fairly sophisticated, but not all too smart-alecky.
"But I don't condone it", she added with a smile, seeing Kandor raise an eyebrow at her. Kandor decided it was best not to question her motive of saying that, so he didn't respond right away, just shrugging.
"I was curious", he began after a brief pause, "how you know so much about war strategies. You go to these war councils often?"
She looked at him with a bright smile, obviously appreciating the question.
"Well, I read a lot. I have read every book in my father's library. Most of them evolve around war, and some of them even are journal logs from former generals. It really interests me for some reason. But no, Voestrun has not seen a battle in decades, this is the first time I have been to a council." She spoke with a lot of energy, emphasizing very clearly and keeping eye contact to Kandor almost the entire time. Though her response surprised him. Not that she read a lot, but that she read a lot about war. It seemed rather uncharacteristic for a girl at that age, or for any girl, really. Maybe his perception of nobles and women was just that off, but for now he would consider her an exception.
He slowly nodded at her response, not sure what to say.
"Do you read?", she simply continued.
"I… well, I have read a book once. It's one of the reasons I became a mercenary actually, at least I think so." Kandor responded, shyly, but willing to talk. He rarely got asked about his past, but he didn't hate the prospect of talking about it. Well, she didn't really ask about his past, but the answer included it, so it felt as if it was her intention. Weak, he thought to himself, you are just weak, Kandor.
"Only once?", she seemed surprised for some reason, what did she expect to hear when asking a mercenary that question? "It must have been either a very good or very bad story to have decided a fate such as this."
Her style of speech still felt unusual to him, so selected and straight-forward, knowing exactly what she wanted to say in such a short manner of time. It was impressive, he had never talked to someone like this. Yet, she felt genuine and friendly in their conversation, it didn't actually feel like she was talking down to him, which was unexpected. Perhaps she was actually younger than him. He couldn't tell.
"It's the only book I had", he responded, "was alright." He never thought about the quality of the book, didn't have anything to compare it to, but his stepfather has always said that it was a classic, an important piece of Aturan history, though Kandor wasn't sure how he could know that.
Lia chuckled at his latter comment, while she was looking around again. They were passing by the smithing area now, hundreds of swords, shields, and spears leaned against a number of wooden racks. Blacksmiths were hard at work, the combined heat of the forges and the beaming sunlight draining them of sweat and energy. It was fairly loud around here, but multiple of the men stopped and greeted the Cormorant and the Mayor as they passed by. The two of them were talking about weapon quality, and weapon-to-men ratios, as Kandor overheard. He liked talking about weapons and smithing; could talk about it for hours. His stepfather had taught him to work metals and leathers. He had become quite proficient in it, and made most of his current armor and his two-hander himself. It took a while to convince one of the smiths to let him use their gear, they were very protective about it. Nowadays, he spent quite a bit of time around there, would even consider himself friends with the majority of the smiths. He noticed how Lia shifted her head in his direction, and his cheeks reddened slightly, but his natural tan hid it quite well.
"It still baffles me that you have such a high rank here. You must be a great fighter to have surpassed the more experienced mercenaries already", she said, smiling at him.
"I… well, I'm alright in battle, I guess", he said, noticing how the Cormorant looked back at him, grinning. Of course that's the sentence he had to overhear, or maybe he heard all? Didn't matter.
"To be fair though, not many are willing to take a higher rank in the flank squad. Find it too risky", Kandor added, "Flank squads tend to get wiped out from time to time."
"If it is truly that risky, why pursue it? You are essentially gambling with your life." Her voice sounded questioning, but the expression on her face was not a judgemental one. It rather seemed like genuine curiosity.
Kandor sighed. He didn't really have many arguments for his decision. He just liked Samson, and he thought he was good at what the flank squad is supposed to do, even if it was risky; so he just said "Someone's gotta do it", before looking away, signaling that he didn't have much to add to it. Thankfully, Lia seemed to pick up rather quickly. She really seemed to understand people, Kandor envied that.
She seemed to think for a minute as they continued walking, and Kandor idly listened to the conversation going on before them. The Mayor was talking about architecture in Voestrun. How did it get to that?! Weren't they just talking about weaponry a couple minutes ago? Kandor looked back at Lia, who seemed to be thinking very hard about something, smirking slightly at herself.
"Everything's alright?", Kandor asked, immediately regretting it. Why would he ask that, he had no reason to.
"Certainly", she responded with a wide smile, as if she was happy about him warming up to her and engaging in idle conversation, "I was just wondering: What is there to do around her, come night time?"
Kandor certainly was not expecting that question, and he could not tell through her smile if she was messing with him.
"W...well, not much, I guess", he said, stuttering for a second, before he got to think about the answer, "you know, we kinda just, dunno, do what mercenaries do. Drink, prepare our gear, gather at campfires, go out to the towns we are camping nearby."
She seemed satisfied with that response, since she nodded.
"Sounds fun", Lia chuckled.
Kandor was gonna add something, but then noticed the Cormorant and the Mayor turning back to them. They seemed to have finished their conversation, or the tour at that, and the Mayor seemed rather eager to return home. Kandor bowed in their direction, he didn't know why, just thought it was the right thing to do when two superiors, and one of them a noble, were looking at one expectantly.
"This meeting was certainly resourceful, if I may say so myself", the Mayor announced, looking at his daughter and back to the Cormorant - Kandor did not really seem to exist in the Mayor's field of vision, understandably, he wasn't important - before continuing, "I'd like to extend my dearest thanks to you, Commander of the Cormorants. Our city will remember, shall you emerge victorious."
"Which we strongly believe", Lia added with a heartful smile. So innocent. And beautiful. Kandor smiled at the Cormorant, who seemed to enjoy these nobles as well.
"Please, we are grateful for the trust you put in us, Mayor, and you, young lady", he nodded to Lia, appreciative of her positivity.
Without Kandor noticing, they had reached the stall area, where the Mayor's cart was waiting for them, while their horses were fed and taken care off. The Mayor and his daughter excused themselves, not without her smiling widely at Kandor one more time. She was really something, he thought as he watched her being helped into the wagon by one of the guards.
"Not bad, huh?", the Cormorant said.
Kandor just nodded. Really not bad.
"She's younger than you by the way."
"How did you know?", Kandor looked at his commander, perplexed.
"Well, it's obvious, posture, speech, experience, the way she looks at you", the Cormorant responded with a grin. The Wagon was now moving off into the distance, leaving the camp.
"I mean, how did you know I wondered?"
"Oh, your face is an open book, son, she probably has read you through and through." The Cormorant laughed. God dammit.