"The Vein River is the lifeblood of the Empire of the Warder Blood Pact. During the days of the Dragon Blood Pact it allowed for the members of the newly formed Republic to quickly communicate and vote for their representatives."— Professor Desmond Uthgar from his work 'The Empire and its Origins'
***
When I was younger, I used to go on fishing trips with my grandfather. It was not that far from here. It was a nice shallow lake, where you could cast out and catch small fish as easy as spreading butter on toast. Of course, you had to throw them back, but the sport was still fun. I miss those moments.
More aptly put I miss him. My grandfather was the first of our family to bring us out of poverty. Only two generations before my birth my family was nothing but downtrodden serfs serving on the Arch Cleric of Igni's estate outside the city. As a boy, he had dived into the Artery crossing to save the Arch Cleric's eldest son. For that, he was knighted. It's those stories that inspired me to take up the sword myself. It's even sadder still he passed away on our last fishing trip.
We keep him in the Vanlor Order Mausoleum. To this day you can go visit his corpse in his own private room. It's a sorry sight, but sometimes it's harder to say goodbye. Sometimes you need that person to talk to. I can't believe last night I took that opportunity for a loved one to be comforted in the same way I was by him.
What's done is done though and I must keep heading onwards. To what? I may never know. Honestly, as long as this gnome can take me as far away from those memories I don't care.
"I never caught your name."
"Oh. I wanted to give you your space. I'm Tanlel."
We'd just tracked our way onto the Imperial Highway and we'd been on the road together for about five minutes for pure silence. I focused on my boots. "I'm Alevari."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alevari."
We continued for another six minutes until we came across a carriage on the side of the stone road. I raised my hand up to tell Tanlel to halt. He bumped into my leg which sent me stumbling forward. I righted myself and he dusted himself off. I placed a hand on my sword as I slowly stepped forward. So far nothing. I took another step forward and then suddenly a large figure fell out of the side of the carriage. He was covered in fashionable clothing that had been stained red. I rushed forward and fell to my knees. They looked up at me blinking. "It seems that I have rather made a mess of myself."
I initially tried to help him sit up but retracted my hands. "Where are you hurt?"
Blood was trickling down their forehead over onto their coat. "I banged my head and got this ghastly cut above my brow, but besides that, I think I'm fine."
Tanlel ran over and looked up at the man with eyebrows raised. "Can you get up?"
The large noble hoisted himself up into a sitting position against the carriage. "Yes, yes."
I tore at my heraldry and tied it around his forehead. "That should help with the bleeding some."
The white fabric immediately started taking on the red hue. "Thank you."
Tanlel looked around. "I don't see any horses or your stagecoach."
The man pointed up the road. "That would be because the mad man cut my horse free mid-ride."
Tanlel got out his notebook. He took out an ink pen and blew on it causing black ink to drip off of its tip. He then looked back to the man. "So did he ride off with the horse?"
"Yes! Just jumped right upon its back and took off like a storm towards the capital."
I squinted. "Who are you?"
They placed their hand over their chest. "I am Herald Bearer Xaviar Brunswick. Bearer to the Arch Cleric of the God Zoab in the city of Blood Port."
"Well, Xaviar. Today's your lucky day. The bridge to the capital is down and the only way your rider has a chance of crossing it is to ford it."
Tanlel looked up at me. "How far is the river from here?"
Xaviar looked over at him. "It's only about a five-minute ride."
I looked down at Tanlel. "Can you pass me your dagger?"
Tanlel squinted his eyes, and after a second of contemplation tossed it up to me. I took it out of its leather sheath and jabbed it into Xaviar's coat. He struggled against it trying to pull it out. "Why did you do that?"
"In case this is an ambush."
I started running down the road. Tanlel called to me, "Wait up!" I slowed down and hoisted him up on my shoulders. "Okay now, this is more like it!"
I began bolting forward at full speed. After thirty minutes of good pace, we arrived at the Artery Crossing over the Vein River. The stone bridge had collapsed after some Geomancer had cast its keystone into the air.
There was a man in full plate armor riding in circles looking at the bridge crossing. Tanlel pulled at my sleeve. "Are we sure this is the right fellow?"
I clasped my longsword and unsheathed it from my scabbard. I walked forward as my armor clanked against the stonework of the road. A bird chirped and the thundering of hooves filled the air. The rider's eye caught me. He reigned the horse in. I pointed my sword at him. "Hold there!"
They stuck their hand out to their side and a long vorpal blade formed in their gauntleted hand. "What seems to be the matter?"
I let down Tanlel. He looked back up at me. "What?"
I looked down at him. "Run. Run for the carriage and wait there. If I don't come back keep on going to the capital without me."
Tanlel nodded solemnly and bolted for the distance. The figure on the horse peered over me as Tanlel ran off. "Where is your friend going?"
I stuck my blade forward. "By the order of the Arch Cleric of Zoab I order you to hand over the horse you have stolen."
"I do believe you are mistaken, Dane."
"How so?"
"This horse is rightfully mine."
"Really now?"
He whisked his red cloak over his shoulders. "Yes, the Cleric himself gave it to me as a gift."
The Arch Cleric of Zoab by tradition is female. Whoever this is, did not steal the horse. I rested my blade. "You must excuse me. I apologize for the mixup."
They swung their blade in their hand as if it was as weightless as a needle. "I am sorry. You wasted my time. It's now time for me to paint you out of the picture."
They sallied forth at me in a gallop as they readied their blade to strike. I crouched down and tucked my torso behind my shield as I stuck my sword out to the side. They continued forth. I focused the point of the blade at the horse's body. The hooves kept thundering and my arms shook in fear.
As it was upon me I thrust my blade forward into the horse's chest. Their blade sliced straight through my shield and cut deep into my gauntlet. Though my strike landed true. Their horse crashed to the ground. As they fell off they suddenly halted right before they fell to the ground.
They righted themselves and slowly floated to the ground. "Your insolence here shall see you wiped clean from the tapestries."
The pain shot up my arm and it felt like the nerves had been set ablaze throughout its entire length. I lifted my blade above my head as the edge was parallel to the ground. Hopefully, by sticking to defensive stances I could buy Tanlel enough time. The knight slowly circled around, swinging his sword in the air like a child would a stick. Then in a quick flurry, they thrust the blade at my neck. I parried the blade using his own momentum to send him spiraling into the ground. He crashed with a crunch, but his sword had left a clean deep cut into my blade. They then lunged forward with a thrust. I barely managed to block it, but the sword began pushing its way through the metal as if it was mercury. With each passing second, the blade made its way closer to my heart and I knew the end was near. Until I heard Tanlel call from behind me. The plated fiend looked up for a moment. I clenched my gauntlet and slammed it against his visor. This stunned him for long enough for me to turn around. Tanlel sat upon a brown horse gunning for me. He was holding onto the reins for dear life as his legs kicked up in down in the wind. Right as he was coming past I threw myself upon the stead. I snapped the reins back and barreled the horse towards the bridge.
The knight turned his hand towards his mount and its bones cracked and straightened with a deafening crunch. I snapped the reins once more as the edge of the bridge approached. I closed my eyes as I gave the horse the final snap. I felt it jump across the gap. Then the horse's front hooves landed on the other side. As I opened them I saw that we had safely managed to cross the river.
The knight remained on the other side upon their horse. They cracked their stirrups against the horse's side and in a flash, the undead beast thundered off into the sky. With a deafening roar of a bugle, the sun began shifting towards the west. The stars and a bright full moon crept out overhead. Silhouetted against its pearl beauty rode the fell horseman.
***
We kept on for what seemed like days, but the moon held its spot in the sky. The stars too, stood affixed to their places like twinkling flames on a candelabra. It was only after twelve days we pulled into a tavern near the outskirts of Hunter's Oath. Smoke rose in plumes from the city's walls. We tied the horse down in the stables outside and proceeded to walk in. Tanlel and I had been scavenging for food for days. So a proper meal would be a nice change of pace.
When we entered the tavern, it was relatively quiet. There was a man behind the bar tapping his fingers on its long wooden surface. There was also a well-dressed man in an officer's uniform sitting next to a disheveled child in academy dress.