"You sure you want to come along today with us, I mean, it's your first time Kayden" Thane whispered to Kayden who walked beside him, he seemed confident, with a different aura about him that Thane hadn't ever noticed.
"Something happened with Grand Zenin right?" Thane asked, Kayden simply smiled at his dear friend
"I wouldn't be here if something didn't happen you know" his eyes brimming with confidence, Thane seemed confused but also increasingly curious.
"So tell me, did you finally break through and heal that unknown sickness of yours?" He said in a hushed tone, other warriors looked at them for obvious reasons
Kayden wasn't supposed to be here, they saw him as a liability, a risk but no one could say anything otherwise, it was the master who had approved him being on this mission, it was a covert mission, to investigate and report back.
"First off I'm not sick, it's not a sickness and no I didn't heal it or whatever, but I did manage to break through" Kayden responded, he flexed his hands filling them up with soul essence, just enough to give him assurance for his achievements.
"Mond showing me a few tricks then?" Thane asked excitedly, but Kayden simply shook his head
"Come on, why not?"
"It's too soon, the time will come, probably when no one expects it and thinks I'm about to die, then boom," he said laughing lightly.
Kayden had never been the type to laugh much at anything although he was a weird person, hard to understand but easy to work with, Thane looked at his dear friend once again, this was supposed to be his first mission yet here he was, brimming with confidence.
Thane remembered the first time he had gone for his first mission, not too long ago, he had nearly shit himself after he saw a horde of Valtor undead, ashamed to ever admit he climbed a tree and waited for the real warriors to slay the monsters, he only came back down moments after and dubbed himself with the blood of the undead to make it seem like he had battled himself.
Banishing the thought from his head, he smiled proudly at his friend, Kayden gave him a weird look, "Stop grinning from teeth to teeth at me, or you lose a few" Kayden balled his fist showing he meant business.
"You're such a meanie, anyways do you know what the mission is about?" Thane asked, Kayden shook his head with regret, 'That damn old geezer hadn't told him anything'
"The master didn't tell me anything, but what's it about?" He asked Thane
"Well it's a recon mission, the last group that was sent out to inspect some rumors never came back, they all went missing, every single one," Thane said
Kayden swallowed hard, he knew of the dangers and monsters but that was only in theory, seeing one face to face and having it attack you was something entirely different, something he wasn't sure he was ready for
"Kayden!"
"What?" He asked, bringing himself out of his thoughts, the voice didn't belong to Thane, Kayden turned around and met the Leader of the mission, standing taller than all twelve men, Tharros was a Peak martial warrior, he was well known in the clan for simply one good reason, he only took the most uncertain, dangerous missions available
'Shit'
If I had known he would be the leader, I would have opted out, moments later Kayden craved his head upwards to meet eyes with the leader.
"This is your first time, yes?" His voice resounded, and all the other ten men watched the both of them in silence
"Yes sir" Kayden replied, he tried his best to stay on his two feet, the pressure he felt from Tharros was overwhelming like he was being forced down by some unknown force, but Kayden stood his ground.
Tharros looked at him for a moment then smiled, immediately the pressure left Kayden giving him the relief he ever so wanted, he felt like falling to the ground to rest a little but he caught himself, not now.
"Good, don't die on me, I wouldn't hear the end of it," Tharros said as he turned away from Kayden, Tharros walked a few steps forward where his voice could reach everyone.
"This mission isn't just one to fight off the undead, slay flesh budders, or kill the creatures that lurk in the shadows, it's a mission to find our Brethren, they are lost and must be found, at all costs " his voice reached out to the other men.
"Before death, life reigns supreme. Beyond death, life is sought anew"
With those words, Tharros lifted his Odachi blade and made his way into the forest, without a single command word, the rest of the warriors followed after him, after another, they all picked their weapons and followed after their leader.
Kayden hadn't forged a weapon of his own unlike the rest of the party but he tightly held onto the saber hanging from his waist, it reassured him and made him feel slightly safe, he had practiced with the weapon numerous times.
"Well that was most definitely inspiring, I could almost choose to die willingly," Thane said picking up his weapon, "Shall we newbie? I'll be your guide for your first mission," he said smiling.
"As you wish, just don't play pranks on me, I'll kill you" Kayden responded, in truth he could hear his heartbeat tremendously, his hands constantly shaking in the fear of death, he had always wanted to be a warrior but now, he wasn't so sure.
"Getting cold feet? Took you long enough" Thane said laughing, he seemed to enjoy Kayden moments of fear and uncertainty.
"Damnation" he cursed and followed after Thane, 'To hell with this, I'll live before I die' he said to himself and thus they began the long journey to the land of the Blackened.
It was nearing nightfall and the group had covered a considerable distance, they were far from the lands they knew, onwards the outlay of the land changed drastically, the winds felt musty, and the stench of death hung slightly in the air which kept the men in their guards.
"We'll take a break here before venturing deeper, take out your supplies, eat, and fill your bellies, this may be the last time you do," Tharros said, his words hung heavily in the hearts of the men, they all knew, in the blackened lands anything could kill you, anything.
Kayden walked tiredly behind the group, he found a soft spot of withering grass and immediately fell on it, he was completely exhausted, never had he ever walked such distance on his two feet, to make it worse sometimes they ran for hours on end.
He looked at the men setting up camp to his right, he counted them all as was his habit, observing changes and the tiniest of details, while he was looking he felt a shadow look over him.
He turned to his left to see a warrior, he slowly walked up to Kayden and then stopped a few meters away, something was weird about the way he walked and he looked somewhat familiar, Kayden felt a certain wrongness.
He sat up and turned back to his right and counted the men, all eleven were there, he was the last member which meant this man wasn't amongst them.
Kayden stood up slowly and carefully, the man came closer, his steps were light and almost soundless till Kayden saw his face.
"Guts?"
"Guts, you're alive," Kayden said with excitement, Guts had been one senior he liked, he taught Kayden the basics of swordsmanship years ago.
As Kayden moved forward to meet with Guts, a smile crept on his face, it was something Kayden had never seen him do, and he stopped himself from taking another step.
"Guts? Talk to me?" Kayden said slowly, taking a step backward
"Guts answer me Damnit" Kayden's voice shook, he felt true fear for the very first time, he watched as the eyes of Guts slowly darkened becoming entirely black.
"T... Tharros" Kayden shouted as loud as he could, at that same moment, Gut's hand shot forward releasing a spike of blood from his palm.
Kayden saw the attack and without thinking he released his energy from his soul core, with lightning speed he dodged the attack as it missed him, taking a few strands of his hair, Kayden stumbled to the ground and channeled all his power into his feet, he needed to get away from this thing.
Without looking where he was going, Kayden ran headfirst into a tree with the full force of lightning, he stumbled back as blood flowed from his nose, he thought he had good control over his powers, how foolish of him.
He saw another spike of blood being shot towards him, "Damn it Kayden" he said as he slowly lost consciousness, but before the attack could reach a great swing from a powerful Odachi blade deflected the attack.
"You did well, boy" Tharros stood in front of him as Kayden fell to the ground.