Year 412 century of The Guide
Military camp on the outskirts of the Red plains of Gesa
Wake up!
"Quickly the generals got a message"
The lad jolted up. Reacting to the unfamiliar voice he left his tent and followed the crowd. The bustling mob suddenly stopped and encircled one man. Still half asleep the lad finally realised that most if not the whole army were there. An army of whispers surrounded the tall stout man. He took a deep breath, picked up his hefty spear, and banged the base onto the floor. The booming sound reverberated throughout the camp killing the whispers immediately. With his deep voice, he bellowed "be ready at dawn they have 60,000 men AND their Magicka, be prepared to fight both, we may have more men but we currently don't ha -
"Dooon't worry general Rindley we're here now" interrupted a blonde magician gleaming with pride. He was followed by the Magicka of Gesa who was the country's elite unit of magicians. They were draped in white robes accompanied by silver and gold breastplates and greaves.
The blonde magician was Leon Gesa Ⅲ, a spoiled prince born with a golden spoon in his hands, he was blessed by the deities to have the magical potential of an exalted and received education that was so advanced and meticulous it should have created a genius heir to the throne.
Their importance parted the ocean of soldiers into two creating a path toward the general. Rindley asked, "Leon where have you been?"
"General, my long travels have made me very tired. I need a tent to rest immediately" moaned the yawning pompous prince. Calmly the general responded, "have mine and I will get the soldiers to set up tents for the rest of your squadron".
"I appreciate it and it's the big tall one isn't it?" asked the blonde captain smiling smugly. With his posse of sheep right behind him, they strutted towards the tents. Turning to the army, he boomed "make final preparations for tomorrow, eat and sleep well. It will be a difficult battle and we will need every Roxas we can get.* Dismissed."
The army dispersed in every direction. The lad walked towards his tent. Suddenly a figure jumped onto him wrapping his arm around his shoulders.
"Alright roomie, that Prince is a real prick isn't he? But thank the deities that they're here now"
He had agreed however he needed the name for the face so he asked "I'm sorry but I forgot your name"
"Thank Stat that you asked cause I didn't know yours either hehe, my names Ryan Sule" as he offered his hand. The lad took his offer and shook it.
"Mine's Lucas Rindley, I arrived with the extra 1000 men reinforcements this morning"
"Ahh explains the napping then, so you're from Rindley, are all you Rindlians strong like the general?"
Lucas smiled in admiration as he thought of the man that was Robert Rindley - The Guardian of Gesa, a born peasant who had moved up from the ranks earning titles and fame with his incredible feats of strength which he cultivated himself without the luxuries and blessings that people like Leon had. Lucas looked up towards the orange sky to acknowledge its beauty and humbly responded "No. I'm an ant compared to him, he's a legend in my town. Everyone looks up to him, his existence is pretty inspiring for people like me"
Then as they saw their tent in their sight, a soldier with a dull expression holding a clipboard approached them and stated "You two have a very important job"
"You two will join the scouts in surveying the surrounding area, go to the Vide forest camp immediately at the captain's orders" as the soldier pushed the clipboard onto Lucas's hands and left. The two looked at each other dumbfounded
The young soldiers walked to their assignment. It was a campsite in a clearing close to the borders of Vide forest.
"This sucks" complained Ryan as he kicked pebbles on the path.
"Someone's gotta do it I guess, we're green, we can't exactly contribute much, can we?
So Ryan, how long have you been training?"
"Since I was a child, I wanted to be a knight and there's this or going to an academy but those are for the rich or nobles or both." Ryan laughed at the statement as he was none of these and being both meant that you were favoured by the deities.
Lucas suggested "You could get into the schools like the University of Dia or Juran academy, they don't focus too much on those traits''
"To get in, you need merit. I'm not an Exalted, you need to be the best of the best to get into those schools and they mostly focus on magic as well. I'm not planning to be a paladin. What about you?
"I've been training since I was fourteen, so for two years now. I needed the money and this is one of the most stable high-paying jobs for people like me … if I survive haha"
"Ahh, nice we're the same age, and don't worry stick with me and we'll be the strongest duo in the army" Ryan cheekily smiled and pointed his thumb at himself. "Anyways what's with that rusty gun"
"Ah my dad found it and fixed it up and said it could be useful in protecting me"
"That won't protect you at all, guns are useless, especially against armoured enemies. Maybe you could kill a magicka, If you want I could at least shave off the rust later?"
"You know how to do that? Yes please, that would be great! Why are there scraps of metal everywhere" Lucas questioned as the pair saw metal debris scattered across this part of the forest they walked through.
Metal integrated with the forest as chunks of metal were sticking out of trees and the earth itself. Lucas then realised that the struggling canopy of several trees above them defiantly held an enormous piece of organised steel shaped like a cube. Its top was missing, leaving jagged edges shaped like fangs pointing down onto the forest floor. The daunting metal cage stared at the young men making them feel like mice.
"I don't know what's happened here. Maybe a skirmish or a bandit attack I've never seen such a mess before either way we need to report this" Lucas thought out loud as he started writing on the blank clipboard
Ryan, still transfixed by the silver chaos, suggested "it's probably a dwarven experiment gone wrong" after looking at the chaos they continued their way toward the camp.
As they arrived at the scouts' camp both young soldiers noticed that the scouts were huddled standing together in the center of the campsite at the campfire surprisingly with two children with their hands and legs tied with rope.
"What should we do?"
"Should we kill them?"
"Are you an idiot? They're children, not spies or assassins of the Var kingdom"
"You're the idiot haven't you heard the rumours of assassins from the north or the shadows, they learn how to kill at this age"
This comment struck worry into the soldiers' hearts alongside this was the image of the stern Commander Rindley entering their minds causing some to shiver.
The duo announced themselves to the befuddled scouts who were unbothered by their arrival as they were still at odds with their dilemma. Lucas then asked, "Could you update us on the current situation?" The head scout told the duo of the two children they found in the forest with no parent or carer in sight which was suspicious in itself as no humans lived anywhere near Vide forest and going deep into the forest was a death sentence as it was rumoured to contain monsters that only the exalted could defeat
Lucas stared at the children. The small girl with long silky black hair and skin so fair it had no flaws you would think she was a beautiful princess of a nation however her eyes were lifeless and her pretty face was completely still, showing no emotions. The boy was similar but different, he had shiny black hair and perfect chocolate skin, he tried to look emotionless but when Lucas looked into his deep black eyes, for a millisecond, he felt the pressure of a trapped desperate predator.
Lucas shook his head, softly slapped his face, and blinked several times using his tiredness as an explanation for the creation of this weird imagination.
He continued to examine these peculiar children trying to understand how they were here.
"The real question was how have they survived this long?"
"What do you mean?" Ryan became confused as he couldn't understand what Lucas was trying to say.
"Look at their clothes they're just old grey rags that smell like a combination of Varian boar and an ogre, but if you look at the children they look too clean"
Lucas walked gingerly towards the children and gently smiled "what are your names?"
There was no response, could they understand what Lucas was saying? Could they speak?
"Don't even try they're as mute as a monk"
"I don't think they speak Ximus"
"Everyone speaks Ximus though"
That one sentence confused the camp into silence. The forest too, as if the whole forest was listening to the conversation befuddled as to how these children did not understand the International norm that is the language of Ximus. All crickets stopped, and the owl near the camp fell silent. The only sound left was the crackling wood of the campfire.
Lucas spoke up "Just in case we should bring them back to camp and report them to a captain it's gonna be dangerous leaving them here alone" Ryan disagreed, "I think it's best to release them and let them be we're bringing them to an army camp that's about to go to war I think that's more dangero "CRASHHHH a tree squealed as it fell. Everyone jumped. They looked around them. Nothing. The ground shook once. Then again. It repeated twice more. Then it became a rhythm. It was getting quicker and quicker, louder and louder, closer and closer. Trees were disfigured and displaced like they were grass. The enormous thing rammed itself into the clearing of the camp. Hairs on these men stood. The smell of sweat and piss wafted in the air.
Its fur was wild, thick, and brown. It created pungent clouds from its breath. It bared its foot-long canines to the squadron which made the swords they held so tightly feel inadequate. Claws easily penetrated the ground like it was paper. A brave or idiotic scout screamed and swung his sword at the thiCRUNCH. A lifeless body was in the mouth of the monster with the scout's limbs drooping down like the drool it accompanied. RUN!!
Someone shouted the word that their instincts had been screaming all along. They all scattered running in every direction. Lucas and Ryan instinctively grabbed a child each. As they ran they heard the thunderous steps of the thing followed by the screams of its victims. They kept running, they were nearly out of the forest when they recognised the metal debris that was embedded within the outskirts of the forest. The screams had stopped. Fierce wind blasted upon their backs. Suddenly, the thing's grunting pants were warm on the young soldier's neck. The thunderous strides somehow teleported. It was behind them. Death sharpened its scythe. Lucas decided to try something to delay the inevitable; he quickly whipped out his gun from the holster on his hip and turned around to aim. The gaping jaw inches away from Lucas' hand indicated to Lucas that he would lose it. As he pulled the trigger the world suddenly tilted for Lucas. A combination of the extra weight from the child he was carrying and the metal debris underneath his feet caused him to fall. BANG!. A jaw had caught its victim. What remained was a head of a nightmare rolling on the forest floor. Next to it was Lucas and the little boy.
"Lucas! Lucas! Are you okay?" shouted Ryan as he ran towards the chaos with the little girl on his back.
"I'm fine" Lucas winced as he got up along with the boy.
"I was wrong, I'm sorry I take it back" Ryan apologised while staring at the metal cage and lifeless body of the beast.
"What why?" asked Lucas in confusion
"Your gun just saved our lives" Ryan laughed cheerfully and Lucas, relieved, joined in as he realised what had happened. His gun had shot the canopy holding the metal cage causing it to fall and kill the thing which with further inspection looked like an abnormally large feral bear.
"Are there any survivors?" Lucas looked around to see any of the scouts they just saw minutes ago.
"Nah just leave them for now, we need to go back and report what's happened and we can get a search party to see if there are any survivors and if we somehow get killed the whole army will think it was an attack by Varian army"
Ryan had a great point, it was too dangerous to remain in the forest with children and if the army were preoccupied from the rear because scouts had not come back they would lose manpower concentrating on a nonthreat.
"Okay let's go back and report what happened" Lucas reluctantly agreed, they gingerly walked towards the camp along with the quiet children on their backs. "Its gonna get dark soon look at those large night clouds coming in we need to get back as quick as possible"
The camp was bustling, everyone was either making their final preparations or lining up for their supper. The young men with children holding their hands were invisible and looked around the chaos for a senior officer to report to. As they looked Ryan turned and was repelled onto the floor like a magnet. The opposing force was the mountain of muscle that was Commander Rindley. How did he not see him?
"Why are there children in the camp?" His deep and assertive baritone voice vibrated through the skulls of the young soldiers stunning Lucas.
"Yes Sir!" Ryan stood up straight with his feet positioned perfectly parallel to each other and his right arm saluting the commander. Lucas clumsily followed.
Ryan described the events that occurred to the commander.
"You boys did a good job, I'll handle the children and send them to the town of Maurice at dawn tomorrow." He was effective and efficient. As soon as he absorbed the knowledge given to him he ordered a search party of 50 to search for survivors and told the soldiers to prepare for a night assault.
It was quiet. The young soldiers gleamed with pride as they were complimented by a living legend, got food, ate, and talked like excitable children. With the burdens off their shoulders, they felt relieved but a worry made the back of Lucas's mind itch "where did those children come from?