Screams echoed through the now tattered streets of the small kingdom. The chaotic symphony rang off the walls and could be most prominently heard from the grand balcony outside the king's palace.
There stood a lone elderly man in disheveled robes adorning a melancholic smile. A golden and slightly bent crown loosely hung in his right hand that followed the limp movements of his arm swaying with the wind.
"Sadly... The rain never ceases to stop..."
The old man slightly turned his posture towards the mutterings from behind him while his eyes remained cemented on the solemn scene that spanned out from the balcony.
"Mmm... Yes... Life cannot hinder progress and yet progress breathes life." Croaked the old man in response.
"But what of war?" He asked after finally removing his gaze.
"War is just a mean to an end." Answered a shadow flickering next to the entry of the balcony, dimly lit from the flames below.
"Do you believe so?" Replied the elderly man as he slowly walked towards the shadow but stopped a pace away.
"Then what do you believe?" The shadow asked without tone.
"I believe it is a beginning, a construct, and a lie." Said the old man as he slightly lifted the dented crown.
"Look before you. What do you see?" He questioned while walking back towards his previous position.
"I see chaos and madness." Uttered the shadow.
"It is change... Change is what you see... Which births progress... And finally yields results. But whom decides these results? The citizens? The government? Life?" Questioned the old man.
"The powerful." He said as he stooped over the balcony once more.
"But what determines power? Is it strength? Bravery? Courage?"
"No, it is the wise who are truly powerful. They control what is deemed correct. They establish what is true or false. They instruct the strong, make powerful the weak, and disguise their self."
"They create life." Finished the old man as the fire from below reflected in his hollow eyes.
The once flourishing plaza in the center of the kingdom was still swarmed with citizens but compared to when Kellen first watched the bustling energetic crowd it was now in an utter frenzy.
"Where is the prisoner?" Shouted Strom as he and Kellen raced towards the café on the other side of the frenzied waves of people.
His questioning eyes trailed along the multiple bloodied soldiers slumped against the tables and wall.
"Th... There was... an infiltrator." Quietly muttered a soldier with blood slowly recoating the stains near the corners of his mouth.
Kellen watched in confusion while Strom grasped the now fading soldier's collar as he stared into the remaining consciousness left in his eyes.
"Iii... iiittt... wasn't only th... the rebels..." Gasped the soldier as the remaining light slowly darkened and trailed away from his eyes.
Strom slowly lowered the soldier back to his previously slumped position against the wall and wordlessly stood for a moment.
Kellen could see the man struggling to suppress his anger. Blood began to drip from his clenched fists as Strom sighed and lifted his gaze from the soldier.
"For now we must reconcile the situation until the legionnaire arrives with backup!"
What remained of the few soldiers scattered about the café solemnly nodded in agreement with their captain's orders and hastened to form a rigid defensive formation.
"Kid! Stay close and follow me!" Ordered Strom as he flung the blood from his hands onto the already stained pavement and kicked open the busted door to the poor café.
As Kellen followed Strom into the building, the traces of the recent slaughter that plagued the café could still be seen.
Multiple wounded soldiers laid atop the few tables with recent wounds coloring their armors.
'What the hell happened while we were away?'
Wondered Kellen while brushing past the soldiers as he continued after Strom.
They stopped after reaching the bar littered with shattered glasses and spilt food. There Strom searched beneath the counter before standing back up and slamming his fist down.
"Shit!" He shouted while the counter cracked beneath the sudden force.
"Strom what the hell is going on?" Kellen question in confusion as he still could not understand the current situation.
The seething captain glared at the broken counter as if it was his worst enemy before responding.
"We didn't just subjugate this kingdom for any damn reason." He began as he loosened his aggression.
"The whole war here was just a façade. It was a cover up. The real mission assigned to my men and I was to collect an artifact that this kingdom's king supposedly had in his possession."
"A legionnaire from the empire wouldn't have been coming out here just for some small scuffle. It was to retrieve the artifact after getting our confirmation." Finished Strom as he massaged his creased brows with his hand.
"So this artifact or whatever was here? What is it even for? Why go through all the trouble?" Asked Kellen as he tried to process this new information.
"It's got something to do with a blessing or so I was told. But those were only found in myths and legends from the legionnaire gods' time. I'm not even sure if that bloody ring was it. All I know is that the empire wants that useless trinket and now... Now we are fucked." He said before walking out from behind the counter and towards one of his remaining men.
"Sillus!"
"Yes sir!"
"Were you able to identify the infiltrators?"
"Not quite sir. We were swarmed by a squad of about fifty men. At least forty of them were from the rebels' party. If it were only them we wouldn't have had a problem, but the last ten complicated things."
"What did these ten people look like? What were their weapons, their style, and skill like?"
"They all were completely different. Each had a unique skillset and different weapons. I haven't seen something like this before. They also seemed to be foreign."
"Were they the ones that took the king and artifact?"
"No... They only took the artifact. It didn't look like they cared about the king at all. The rebels were the ones that took advantage of the chaos and stole the prisoner. The foreigners just grabbed the artifact and ran off with them."
"Shit... Okay, our priority is to retrieve the artifact. Tell the other men to prepare for a search."
"Yes sir!"
Strom rested his hand on the hilt of his sword before turning towards Kellen.
"The academy will have to wait. Since we are short of hands right now, I would appreciate your assistance with this. Just make sure you don't get killed or I'll kill you myself! Ya hear?"
"Don't worry about me. I was itching for some more practice anyways." Responded Kellen enthusiastically.
"Alright, we need to at least find the whereabouts of the artifact before the legionnaire gets here. I suspect the rebels know more about these foreigners than we do so let's track them down." Said Strom as he beckoned two of his men still standing guard inside to follow them.
As the group of four made their way into the raging streets, Kellen began to wonder how they would locate the rebels, but was even more concerned with what would happened if they did not.
'This is definitely the worst possible scenario... We don't even know when the legionnaire and their group will get here... Or what will happen when they do arrive...'
Eventually, the group found their way to an alley near the slums. Unlike the once beautiful plaza and market, the slums atmosphere remained the same. Kellen wondered whether the ensuing chaos even had an effect on the people here whose lives already seemed to be a living hell.
Compared to his own life, this war, this struggle, and the strife sewn throughout the kingdom felt all to familiar. It hit to close to home.
'Where there are humans; there is war.'
This Kellen could determine.
The current situation of the kingdom and the powers he had met so far proved this fact. But the pain and sufferings he faced could not be quelled through the small amount of understanding he felt for these people.
Kellen could only shake his head to clear these thoughts as he followed after the group to a semi-collapsed store.
They halted next to the brown stained windows of the barely standing building.
"Are you sure the intel stated this was the place?" Strom murmured to one of his men.
"Yes sir, according to our spies, the rebels have a secret encampment beneath this location."
"Good. On my signal Marcus and Ceric will rush from the front. If there are too many to handle on guard, Ceric is to flash his light skill and we will join you."
Marcus and Ceric smirked at each other before nodding in agreement.
"Alright, let's show these rebels why the seventh regiment is feared!"