Everything was dark, despite how that sounds it was quite comfortsbke for him, he layed with his back on a soft mattress, tightly wrapped in wool and enjoying the little rocking movement his crib made, he was calmed by his mothers melodious voice, she hummed a calm tune as she took care of the boiling soup just by his side, the warmth of the fire filled the small place, he heard the door open, the sound of wood hitting agaisnt wood as the thuds of his steps filled the house.

???: [Hey!]

She hushed

???: S-Sorry... how is he?

He heard his mother lean by his side on the cribs soflty caressing his cheek with her finger, then picking him up gently, she bringed him towards the men, when the boy opened his eyes he was face to face with an wide eyed strange thing, he felt his heart clench and he filled his lungs with air, cryign out a loud and desperate shriek, his mother pulled him closer to her body and soothed him, the two looked at eaxh oher as he stopped crying, the man and the woman laughed, hers a soft and calm giggle and his a low and husky chuckle.

???: [Dont be scared of him sweeheart... daddy may be big and ugly but hes not gonna hurt you.]

She laughed.

???: [Come on domt tell him this...]

He chuckled aswell. As she layed him down on the crib once more he started to drift off to sleep, he could see their faves looking down on him with loving gazes, everything slowly faded to darkness as the warm wool embraced him once more, the little boy went to sleep listening to his mothers sweet lullaby.

???: [Goodnight Leif...]

She said, soflty touching his cheek.

Winter had come and gone, many times, he stood by his mt9her side as she cut the potatoes in tiny pieces, putting them with the lamb and dumping it into the boiling pot.

Leif: [Mama... mama is it ready?]

???: [Leif, what did i tell you about being patient?]

Leif: [Sorry mama...]

He stood around for some time, coming around to inspect his mothers cooking from time to time, he found a cool looking bug under the chopped wood, then went to cheek if the potatoes where done, he hit a dead bird with a stick then circles around his mother as she took a spoon and scooped some soup, putting it on a small wood bowl, she put the lid in and tied a rope around it, lowering it down for the small boy to pick it up.

???: [Now, be carefull, its hot on the bottom and i dont want you to spill anything.]

Leif carefully took the rope and walked out of the house.

Leif: [Bye mama!]

???: [Be carefull Leif!]

Leif: [Yes mama!]

The boy excitedly replied as he walked on the dirt road, he hummed a little tune as he skipped but shortly stopped, afraid of letting his fathers food drop, resorting to a fast paced walking, passing by the village he saw the other kids around, three boys and two girls, one of them, the older boy, called out to him.

???: [Hey Leif! Wanna play?]

Leif: [No i gotta take my papas food to him]

The other kids callout to him and wave their hands as he passed throught, steeping through the forest up a small hill, taking care to not trip in any roots like his papa taught him, the boy carefully held the rope as the wood bowl shaked from side to side, all the way up a pasture, he stopped to watch the horses run around with each other but quickly went back to the taks, he ended up finding his father napping under a tree, his sheep grazing, Leif came up to him and set the bowl of food down.

Leif: [Papa!]

His father jolted up suddenly, looking at the boy and lett out a half grunt half sigh.

???: [Dont wake me up that way boy, i tought i told you this.]

Leif giggled, he took the bowl to his father who oppened it.

???: [Ugh.. Soup? In this weather? Whats Lya thinking...]

Leif: [Mama said she put more lamb in it.]

His father started eating and the boy sat by his side, he watched intently as his father ate, then watched the sheep pace around grazing, a soft warm breeze passed by, he looked up his father whos eyes lingered on the pasture and on the forests.

???: [Can you believe that this was all left by my father Leif?]

Leif: [Papas papa?]

His father chuckled.

Marco: [Youre Leif Crows, im Marco Crows, my father was Gareth Crows, he left this all for me once he died.]

The boy hled on to the tought, with his finger on his miuth he looked around silently as he tought.

Leif: [Papa.]

Marco: [Mm?]

Leif: [Why are called crows?]

Marco: [Its called a surname boy, so that everyone knows that Leif Crows is the son of Marco Crows.]

He passed his calloused hand over the boys hair, looking down at him with a smile, the sky was a golden honeyed color as he walked down the hill back home, jumping over the roots of the trees, pretending to be a swift horse or an agile cat, he played a little with the other boys, but afraid his mother would be mad if he was late he didnt stick for long, walking away from the village he made his way quickly back home.

Despite the violent winds bringing snow and the thick mist that couldnt allow him to see much he could still see the silhouettes of their heads much above the wall, he could see his mothers hair flying wildly in the wind, he sat quietly in the snow, clutching his father sword, by this time he couldnt cry anymore, maybe because of the winds or the cold drying up his eyes, or maybe he already cried everything he could.

Leif: [Pa.. papa... mama....]

His gaze still and unmoving on the dark shadows on the top of the wall, there where many others, women, men, the old and the young, the mercenaries had soent a long time making sure their heads would stick to the spears even after they had rotted. Leif had to villages up, as if there was a unseen force making he do so, despite how much he wanted to stay there and freeze and rott like his mama and papa, he walked around the snowy village, there wasnt anyone there, as he walked, feeling the cutting wind on his face, feeling such a prfound and utter loneliness he had never felt before.

???: [--swear to god that bitch bit my dick!!]

Leif stopped to watch them as they laughed, loud and abnoxious guttural laughs, his fingers digged into the leather sheath of the sword. The mercenaries had stayed around for almost two weeks after they massacred the village, taking all the food to stay the winter rather then facing it by themselves, they felt specailly lucky to find beer and wine among the food.

???: [Erickson you son of a fucking bitch! Did you take my fucking boots again!]

Erickson: [Oh shit! Sorry boss- umm hey boss, that kid is there again]

???: [What kid? oh, that one, i tought hed be dead by now, have you assholes been giving the kid food??]

They haven't, but Leif wastn stupid, he would wait until they would all be either asleep or in alcoholic comas before shoovng himself throught a small hole in the ground and sneaking inside the hut where they kept the food, never taking too much, just enough to not die. Leif couldnt bare the sight of the dirty men, he knew they werent dirty like his father, who was always working on the soil and threading mud, these men where dirty because they lived dirty lives.

???: [Ugh... this creepy fucking kid...]

Erickson: [Yeah... look at those eyes..]

Leifs fingers digged into the swords hilt until he felt like his nails where about to split, he felt the steely tang of blood on his mouth as he bit down on his lower lip.

Erickson: [Fuck off kid!]

He threw a rock, hitting the little boy on his forhead, a dribble of blood oozed down to his eye, making his rub it to see, the other mercenaries laughed and picked up rocks aswell, despite his rage Leif turned his back as the rocks rained down, running into the forest. Leif quickly sprinted down without paying attention to the roots, jumping througgt the trunks until he couldn't her their voices, he stoped and looked around, trying to situate himself, he walked around for a while until he found it, the little hole under a tree where he had been hiding, he crawled in there and hugged his own legs, despite the cloak his mother hed given him the could was a lot to bare, strangely, throught these days the only thing wich seeemed to bring him warmth was his fathers sword, the long and heavy sword his father had revieved from his father and before from his father, everytime the night begun to fall he would hug the sword against his own body as hard as he could, no matter how much he wanted to cry the tears just wouldn't fall.

Winter had ended, the boy walked out of his hole, he had grown skinnier and lethargic over the time, he walked throught the forest once more, feeling the soft wamrth of the sunlight, clutching the sword close this his body, he was hungry, hungry enough to steal from the mercenaries in the daylight, but when he reached the village he couldn't find them, there was no one, the desolate view filled his core with dread, he ran around a bit, searching for anyone, a single wixked soul left, but there was no one, when he reached the hut where they kept the food the door was wide open, and it was empty, nothing inside not a single grain of rice left, they had taken everything and the boy wasnt strong enough to scream, he just feel to his knees, soflty mumbling.

Leif: [Ma... ma...]

After sometime he managed to step up, gathering as much strenght as he could to make a step after step, he just needed to keep going, but why? what hope did he have? he continued stepping, slowly but stepping, step after step, it didnt matter if he was hungry, weak, tired. He remembered, at times when father had enough fish, animals and vegetables he would put everything in a carriage and take it all to the closest city, Cithra, just a few kilometers away from there, could he walk all the way there? if he could what would he do? would they help him? it didn't matter he just needed to keep on walking, and so he did, step after step he made it put of the forest, he walked up and down many hills before finding himself in what seemed to be the plains, but there was no grass or any plant, just mud, so much mud, the sky was grayed thanks to the dozens of fires that had been lit, the smell of urine made his nose wrinkle but he was glad. The screams of men and women, horses and even chicken, he was in some kind of enormous camp, mayeb these where soldiers of some kind, he steped around on the mud, clutching the sword tightly, he smelled food, meat to be precise, looking at the nearest campfire he saw a muddy and fat man with the human equivalent of a pigs face, he had two pieces of chicken pierced by small wooden sticks over the fire, Leif felt his stomach tighten snd churn, he kept there, staring at the man, he tought that maybe he would turn away or forget about the chicken for enough time for him to quickly sweep at least one piece of it, but those hopes where quickly stepped on when the pig faced man started to eat the still hot chicken while making voracious sounds. After he was done he turned to the boy and smiled, his eight or nine remaining teeth gleamed yellow with grease.

???: [You want it rat?]

Leif shook his head yes, the pigfaced man took the bones with the few strips of meat on it and threw them at him. Leif struggled to catch them, almost falling face first into the mud, but he managed to and helf tightly to the still warm and greasy bones, nibbling on the bone to strip all the meat he could, once he was finished he was still hungry, remembering how his father used to do he put the bones in his mouth and but down as hars as he could, the hard crunches and snaps as he broke the bone apart with his teeth, chewing on in as hard as he could, then swallowed. Pigface laughed a sickly wheeze at the sight.

???: [Pathetic, simply pathetic...]

???: [Sebb! Are you feeding the dogs again?? You pighead bastard what did i tell-]

From the tent around came a strong and ugly woman, with a flattened nose, recessed chin but strong jaw, she looked down at the little boy curiously.

???: [Well that aint no damn mutt...]

She approached the little boy, reaching to cup his chin with her calloused hand and pull his chin up, looking down with discontent.

???: [You an orphan boy?]

When Leif didnt answer she just continued.

???: [Well even if you werent, parent who let their kids get this dirty arent really parents, im Madehlia.]

The boy stayed silent once more.

Sebb: [You little rat! Dont you ignore mam-]

Madehlia: [Shut your goddam mouth and go to work already you useless pigheaded bastard!]

Despite being almost two times the womans size he retreated like a scaredy cat and ran away quickly.

Almost a week had passed, Madehlia had let him stay around, offered a chicken strip a day and a warm campfire to sleep by, Leif had already grown accustomed to the odor of excrement and urine, the loud noises all day and the nights hed pass around the greasy Pigheaded man, despite having his conpany and the evetual other orphans who would comr and go, the women of all ages who came to the camp to be bedwarmers for cheap bronze bits, and the men that would at times come to spend the night at Madehlia's tent.

Sebb: [Hey rat!]

The pighead called out as he approached.

Sebb: [The commanded said where gonna clash with the enemy troops by tomorrow, i want you to clean and sharpen my sword.]

Sebb threw the sheathed longsword at the boy, he managed to hold it despite its weight.

Leif: [Yes.]

Leif left, holding the two swords, he will do it, pighead despite his looks had a little value for honor and always payed a couple bits of copper when Leif did what he was told, Leif skipped around the muddy territory he already knew, avoiding the trenches and the drunken mercenaries, he stepped quickly over to the forge are where many people sharpened their sword and axes, there were many lines of men waiting to sharpen their own tools, the imminent battle had everyone in their toes.

???: [Aye kid.]

Leif looked at the not much older blonde boy who stood by his side, he was taller, with a smirk, he held a sword sheathed on his hip.

???: [Something in my face kid]

Leif: [If im a kid then so are you...]

???: [Thats what youd think, but you habent killed, and you habent felt the warmth between a womans legs.]

Leif felt angered at his useless boasts but didnt do anything, resorting to simply turning around.

Hilt: [Oh dont ignore me please... Im Hilt... you are?]

Leif: [Leif.]

Hilt: [Leif, tell me how old are you?]

Leif: [11?]

Hilt: [I am 14, almost a made man, what do you think of the coming battle?]

Leif: [I dont know, i just dont want to die.]

Hilt smiled as they both stood in the line.

Hilt: [Wise decision, i dont want to het killed either, i will still fight tought, wanna know why?]

Leif didnt respond.

Hilt: [For the money Leif, the money! Sweet copper pieces, Commander Persworth said each individual to survive will recieve 8 copper pieces and a piece more for each pair of ears you bring to the army of Pallaccia.]

Leif: [Ears?]

Hilt: [Its a way to show how many people youve killed.]

Leif tought a little, he didnt want to kill anyome, and really didnt want to chop off any ears, but the idea of having atleast 8 copper pieces was tempting to say the least, he wanted to eat more then chicken strips everyday, he wanted to sleep on a bed again, and wanted to take a bath.

Hilt: [Tempting is not?]

Leif was finally allows to use the grinder, sitting on the stool and taking out Sebb's longsword out of its sheath, he stepped on the rolling pedal and begun to sharpen the sword, stopping time and time to swipe off the bits of rust from the blade, after about 15 minutes he got up and stepped away, allowomg Hilt to sharpen his blades. As Leif walked away Hilt called out to him.

Hilt: [See you later kid!]

Leif walked back to the fireplace where found Sebb laying on the trunk sleeping soundly, his fat belly going up and down.

Leif: [Sebb.]

The man kept sleeping.

Leif: [Sebb!]

Pighead jolted up, and rubbed his eyes then wiped the drool from his mouth.

Sebb: [Took ya long enough rat!]

Sebb took the longsword off its sheath and inspected it.

Sebb: [Eh, itll work, ill chop off some ears with this baby.]

Leif reach his palm up towards Sebb.

Sebb: [Heh. Smart rat.]

The pigfaced man reached his hand on his pocket and took out a copper piece, throwing it at the boy. Leif held tightly to the piece, putting it on his pocket along with the others Sebb had given him, for now he had 6 copper pieces, he didnt need to spend them now, as long as Madehlia gives him chicken strips every night and as long as she allows him to spend the nights cloee to her fireplace he could save. But why was he doing this? The boy asked himself, he had no reason to live, to suffer this much, to be hungry and tired and dirty, he should just end it, maybe if he did he could hear his mothers voice and feels his fathers rough hand caressing his head, but he didnt cry, instead as night fell he held his fathers sword tightly to his body, falling asleep.

In the next morning when he woke up the camp was even louder then normal, men had jumped on their horses, swords where being sharpened, he could see that even the women and children had disappeared, when he got up he saw Madehlia walking awway, her entire tent had disappeared, he approached her as she hopped on a carriage.

Madehlia: [Oh, its you.... boy, you shoudl vanish, disappear, run for the hills as fast as you can.]

Leif: [W-what? whats happening?]

Madehlia: [The army underestimated the enemies numbers, there are a a lot more soldiers then they tought there would be, they said the Commander retreated and that the enemy will be here by sunfall.]

Even in his panicked state he managed to sneak up on a carriage. Holding tightly to his sword for comfort, the sound of wheels turning on the ground gave him a bit of soothing, Leif didnt think hed be this afraid of war, but he was, borderline terrified, it was war who took his parents away from him and it was war that made him suffer this much, he felt a prickle on his lef eye but quickly rubbed his hand over it. Suddenly the carriage had stopped, not even 30 minutes after it begun moving, there was no way they where far enough from the enemy troops, he felt his chest tighten as he hear the sounds of hooves clopping on the dirt, thankfully no one could see under the tent on the back of the carriage.

???: [Stop the carriage old man!]

A commanding voice sounded.

???: [Do as the boss says and i wont have to cut your tongue off old geezer!]

A sharper, annoying voice followed.

???: [Yuuh.]

A loud, nasal and slightly choked voice boomed. Three people, three different ones, and they are about to open the carriage to steal the old man, what will they do when the see me here? Leif asked himself.

???: [Sherpe, go check the back and Boon go with him.]

Sherpe: [Yes boss!]

Boon: [Yuuh!]

Leif gritted his teeth and clutched the sword harder, he heard their steps coming cloaer once the both of them stepped down from their horses, quickly and panicked Leif unsheathed his sword, holding the handle with all his might, he heard one of the men open the lid of the carriage, the boy screamed pushing the sword up with everything he had, he felt something warm coat his hand, arms and head, he couldn't bear to look up, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, feelling ss the edge of his blade slid up against soemthing hard and unyielding, he pushed again and again until there was nothing to push it back in.

Boon: [Uhh... uhhh.... Sherpe? Nuuuh! Nuuuuuhh!!!]

He heard the nasal voice once more looking up to see a tall, fat man with a flattened forhead and nose crying with blood covering his face and hands, on his arms a skinny and tall looking man with buckteeth and a big curved nose, his throat teared apart violently, blood gurgling and squirt from the red and blue meat, exposed to the bone of his neck, the fat man cried and wiped the blood off his face.

Boon: [Bruhhh! Big bruuhhh!!]

Leif felt a prickling sensation all over his body, he could barely hokd his sword and felt lightheaded, he had just killed a man, hundreds of different toughts rushed into his mind, but all of the sudden he could only focus on one thing, his ears.

???: [Sherpe! Boon! Whats happening??]

The man with the commanding voice screamed out, Boon looked around.

Boon: [Cap'n... Bruh... bruhh....]

Boon looked up at Leif and veins popped across his forhead.

Boon: [Yooouuu!]

Leif's blood ran cold as he saw the huge man grab the mace he let fall on the ground to hold his brother, thankfully he managed to jump away as Boon destroyed the back of the carriage with a powerful swing, Leif looked back as he left the sheath of his sword behind, faling with his back against the hard soil, he almost fainted when his head knocked against the dirt, but the vision of Boon shattering his head like he did with the carriage allowed him to ignore the pain easily.

???: [What the..]

Leif looked back to see an older man in a horse, he had a strong nose and a stubble of beard, almost handsome.

???: [Boon get him!]

Boon: [Yuhh!]

The giant replied quickly dashing forward despite his size, smacking the floor with his mace as Leif managed to jump under the carriage, he saw the man jump down from his horse and thinking quickly sticked his sword out, shanking it deep into the mans foot, he heard him curse and fall as he crawled to the other side of the carriage.

???: [Boon! Get the fucker already!]

Boon circled around the carriage but Leif had already crawled from under it, thankfully the man had no armor other then a chestplate, Leif made his sword cut down the best he could, diving in the crook of Boons right arm, he almost let it fall from his grasp but quickly held it firmly again.

Boon: [Uuuuhhh..... Ouchieee!]

Boon managed to swing his massive mace with just his left arm, Leif felt the wind of the attack against his fave as he fell on his back against the floor, turning around and crawling under the carriage again, from under there none of the adults could really get a hold of him, specially Boon, he managed to cut the giants left ankle horizontally from under there, he heard him scream out another time, this time Leif stayed there for a few seconds, huffing to catch his breath and hearing out for the man, despite Boons screams and threats making it hard, he could hear someone step up into the carriage, he heard for the faint sounds of steps just above him, the captain, he had vanished and Leif couldnt see his feet anymore, he heard carefully, ignoring Boons muttering, he could hear the captains breath just above him, a dribble of blood oozed from one of the cracks of the carriage. Leif knew what the man was trying to do, he would wait until Leif tried to crawl out from unde the carriage to kill him, but Leif wouldn't do that, he layed on hi back under the carriage looking up at the cracks, squinting until he caught a glimpse of the mans foot, Leif held his sword up, silently hooking it on the crack, then with all the strength in his body he pushed up, all he heard was a scream of pain and a stream of blood oozing down his blade, the captain swore as much as he could before pulling his foot off the sword, with that Leif made a crawl for it, as fast as he could, getting out from under there and jumping to his feet as fast as he could.

???: [Goddam rat! Fuck!]

The captain face was sweaty and twisted in pain, Boon tried to do something to sooth his captains pain, but what can a huge man like him do?

???: [Get him already Boon! God fucking dammit!]

Boon circled around the carriage once more, holding his made with his left hand, he stood in front of Leif, just now the boy could see how much taller the man was, he heavily swinged down the mace towards the boy, not as quick or a strong but enough so that Leif wouldnt even think of not dodging it, Leif made a risky move, steeping close to Boon, shanking his sword forward and shoving it as far as he could under the mans chestplate, they stood there for a second before Boon let go of his mace, throwing up a great amount of blood, his gruff and ugly face twisting in pain.

Boon: [Guuh... guhhh...]

The man tried to breath, Leif gritted his teeth and pulled the sword out the moved it in again, making the man throw up more blood, they stood there for a couple of seconds as the light faded away from the giants eyes, he fell, but in the process trapping Leif under him, there they layed, Leif under a huge and heavy bleeding corpse, he tried to move, but Boons body just didnt allow it, then he saw it.

???: [Heh... hehehe..... atleast this fucker was usefulll before dying...]

The captain limped over, using his sword as a cane to approach the two, in his fave a smirk as he mocked the dead man.

???: [Now little rat, its just the two of us.... You gave me a trouble i wont lie... mostly because i just insist in getting the most stupid mercenaries known to man, but still.... ill giv you the glory...]

Leif gritted his teeth as he tried his best to get out but Boons body was a great prison, he looked up once more to see the sharp tip of a sword right above his eye.

???: [Ready to die?]

Leif felt something burning come up his throat, he huffed and puffed, sweating with tears prickling on the corners of his eyes.

???: [Hehehe.... just kidding... no one is....]

His mouth and throat where burning up, as if someone had poured hot coal on it, hed felt like he was about to throw up, the imahe of his mothers and fathers heads spiked on spears on the top of a wall, his heart was beating wild on his chest.

???: [Well... lets get to it.]

The burning grew andd grew to his entire body, the prickling sensation building up and covering his skin, tears streaming down his face, he huffed more and more, how much more until the fat fucks body moved? I dont want to die, the captain lifet his sword up, then with a grunt it dived down, but instead of crying Leif felt soemthing comign out of his throat like a mass of blazing energy.

Leif: [[HÁRT]]

Everything blowed up, he felt Boons body be lifted up by the force of the explosion, the captian was nowhere, Leif inhaled and exhaled, as he got up he could see a blue flame dacing over the carriages wood, he looked over up on the road to find the captains body scattered across the dirt, he couldnt find anything that seemed to be Boon but was pretty sure the meat and organs covreinf the side of the road used to be him, the confirmation was the half charred head of the giat rolling down from a small hil just above the rest of the "body".

Leif stepped around to find a man hiding behind a tree nearby, it was the old man who owned the carriage.

Leif: [Umm...]

The man looked at the body in shock that slowly turned into relief.

???: [Wa- Warlock!]

The man jumped to hold tightly to the boys legs, repeaing the word while cried, the boy confused just let him, when he stopped and sat on the road, Leif just remembered a single thing, their ears, he took his sword from the road, there was a faint glint on the base of the blade, two symbols he didn't know glowed softly but quickly stopped, he ignored it just like he ignored the exlosion that just happened, stepping over to the burned up head of the giant man, he tried his best to chop off his ears without messing it up, when he did it he shoved them on the right pocked of his pants, then he went to Sherpe, laying on the back of the carriage, he cut off his big and round ears aswell, wondering if bigger ears payed more, when he starting to walk towards the captain the old man interrupted him.

???: [Mister Warlock, thats Captain Zerk Oos, you should cut off his head and take it with you... I'd bet Commander Persworth would pay atleast 30 copper pieces for a enemy captain.]

Leif found the idea pleasing, doing his best to cut off the soft neck of the man, when explosion happened his neck was turned into a paste inside, but Leif managed, holding the head by the hair, the old man gladly allowed him to sit on the back of the carriage, and the both of them made their to the next camp.

He set the head on the counter with a loud thud, every mercenary and warrior around to recieve their payment looked his way, despite the quantity of men around the place seemed to grow quiet for a second, but a second latter the chatter was back.

???: [We said ears didnt we? What am i supposed to do with this?]

The Pallaccian soldier looked down at the boy.

Leif: [An old man i helped said this guy was important.]

The soldier sighed and leaned over, reaching to inspect the head, his eyes widened a bit when he realised the identity of the decapitated head.

???: [Who killed again?]

Leif: [Me.]

The soldier twisted his nose.

???: [...and how did you do that?]

Leif: [Blunt... explosion...]

???: [Blunt explosion huh?]

He sighed.

???: [Well he is important, Captain Zerk Oos, id say, 20... 25 copper pieces...]

Leif felt a deep satisfaction, but it was not enough, he reached into his pocket to take out the two pair of ears, Sherpes big and round ears and Boons small and slightly burned up ones.

Leif: [I have these two aswell.]

???: [Alright, so 8 pieces, 25 pieces and 2 pieces... thats... 35 pieces... good job kid.]

The boy happily took the leather sack the man gave him, striding out of there while putting his other 6 copper pieces in there aswell, now he had over 40 pieces, on the way out he bumped with Hilt.

Hilt: [Ah! Leif boy! I see youve been paid well for this battle!]

Leif was in good mood and decided to not ignore him this time.

Leif: [Umhm.]

Hilt smiled at the content looking boy.

Hilt: [Well, i myself was payed very well...]

He pulled out his own leather sack, but his semmed to have less ppieces in it.

Hilt: [2 silver pieces and 20 copper ones to be exact, why dont you let me treat you to some food for today?]

Leif didnt allow himself to deny food, the both of them walked along to one of the food stands and Hilt ordered to lamb and pork skewer for less then 10 copper pieces, Leif handt felt it until a bit earlier but he hadnt eaten since last night and after a hard day he felt like he had a hole in his stomach, quickly devouring the meat bits.

Hilt: [So? How was your fight? Killed anyone important?]

He asked with a smile, savoring the meat, unlike Leif he could eat more then once a day.

Leif: [Some guy captain and two idiots.]

Hilt: [I see, i actually got the silver bits from the commander himself earlier today.]

Hilt said with a confident tone, while Leif chewed hungrily.

Leif: [Why?]

Hilt: [I was part of the squadron that defeated one of the the enemy commanders, i got a pretty substantial number of copper pieces just from chopping off soem ears after we were done.]

The blonde talked some more and Leif mostly heard him, the eventual boast and the laughs, Leif growed more and more fond of the common face among the camp. When the sun begun to go down Hilt had to go back to his squadrons camp, Leif didnt know where to sleep, he paced around the camp, first he tought about buying a bed with a few coppers but the tought perished quickly, he resorted to simply find a isolated place in the woods to sleep under, while pacing around, he felt the cold wind of the night as it passed throught the trees, feeling around with his feet for roots before walking due to the darkness, he walked around for a bit befire seeing something, a light, maybe someone had lit a campifire nearby, he came closer to inspect and found a tall, strong looking bald man, wearing a mix of loose cloth and silk with leather and chainmail, on his forhead a strnage symbol like an eye on fire.

???: [Hello there, fine night isnt it?]

Leif: [Sorry to bother.]

???: [Youre not bother for me young man.]

The man spoke in a strange way, his eyes where closed so maybe her had heard Leifs footsteps as he approached, but what was strangest was the way the fire moved before him, like a long and thin tail of fire wipping back and fourth and side to side, it didnt dissipate or diverge, the flames seemed to follow a path.

???: [Do the flames interest you, young man?]

For a moment Leif felt a knot in his throat and a burning sensation similar to the one he had felt before.

Leif: [I... not very much.]

The man oppened his eyes, they were green and lively, even more accentuated by the mans thick arched eyebrows, a smile formed on his lips.

???: [Lies.]

Leif felt a soft prickle of sweat on his forhead.

Leif: [W-what... who are you?]

Laymen: [My name is Laymen, is that what you ask for? Or do search for another answer?]

Leif: [What do you... what?]

Laymen: [You are confused, i see, then allow be to ask you a question boy?]

Leif scratched his head.

Leif: [Sure.]

Laymen cloee his eyes once more.

Laymen: [Tell me, do you know what a Warlock is?]

Leif: [Magicians and stuff? My mom used to tell me stories...]

Laymen: [I see, stories then? What kind of stories?]

Leif: [Uhh... tales? That they speaked tongues of fire and water and stuff...]

Laymen chuckled soflty.

Laymen: [You know boy, i saw what you did earlier this morning.]

Leif: [You mean-]

Laymen: [The little "scuffle" you had with those three men, you where victorious.]

Leif: [What about it?]

Laymen: [Tell me, how did you win that... fight?]

Leif rubbed his forhead and looked around.

Leif: [No idea...]

Laymen: [Allow me to telly ou then, young man, you won that scuffle by speaking a rune.]

Leif: [Huh?]

Laymen: [Indeed, what i wish to know is, how do you know how to speak that rune, you seem to have no knowledge yourself...]

Leif: [What are you talking about? Runes and Warlocks... you cant actua-]

The bald man had closed his eyes, the symbol in his head glowed faintly, before him the flames on the fireplace semed to grow stronger and brighter until the flames danced up, Leif's eyes went wide as he watched the fire grow twice his height, the pillar of fire danced with the wind, releacing sparkles into the air.

Leif: [W-wha...]

The boy said as he stepped back, tripping over a rock and falling on his own ass, once he looked up again the fire went down, slowly returning to a group of small flames on the fireplace, the darkness seemed to seep back into the small clearing, as the sticks and wood on the campire crackled the man opened his fierce green eyes once more, looking at the bewildered boy with a smile.

Leif: [Wa-warlock...]

Laymen: [Indeed, and so are you, boy.]

Leif: [Wha-what... me..?]

Laymen: [You may not understand it boy, but when you were stuck under that mans body, you used it, the same thing i used just now...]

Leif: [Used it? Used what?]

Laymen: [Runic boy, the language of the runes.]

Leif felt more confused afteer each word the man spoke, Runes? Runic? Leif only knew how to speak the Pallaccian instilled in Cithroam, he couldnt even read properly since his father didn't know how to and his mother only knew the basics.

Leif: [Just what are you talking ab-]

Laymen: [Tell me boy, what was the word?]

Leif: [Word?]

Laymen: [Yes, the word, wich rune did you speak? And who was the one who taught you its meaning?]

Leif: [What? What rune?]

Laymen simply stared at the boy for a few seconds and muttered something.

Laymen: [So you simply do not know?]

Leif: [Umm.... sorry...]

Laymen smiled, a genuine smile.

Laymen: [No... no... That is... Simply marvelous young man, trully marvelous.]

Leif: [Sure...]

Laymen: [Tell me boy, is there anything written on your sword?]

The man pointed a finger at the sword Leif clutched tightly, the boy raised the sword as he unsheathed it, letting the sheath fall to the floor he ran his fingers over the engraved symbols on the base of the blade.

Laymen: [Those are the runes for Thin, Ílg, and Cut, Hy. A thin cut.]

Leif: [....Sharp?]

Laymen smiled, containing his enthusiasm.

Laymen: [ÍlHy, sharp.]

Leif: [What... does it do?]

Laymen: [Its a sword engraved with runes by a Warlock, when he used it it was probably sharper.]

He said as he looked up at the boy.

Laymen: [Tell me, young man, do you wish to learn?]

Leif: [Magic?]

Laymen: [Runic, at least, since im not capable of teaching much else.]

Leif gulped at the tought, was he gonna learn magic? Could he even?

Leif: [Yes...]

Laymen: [Very well then, sit.]

The boy obeyed his order and sat in front of him on the other side of the fire.

Leif: [So.. how are you gonna teach me?]

Laymen: [Were gonna talk, and youre gonna memorize everything you can, understand?]

Laymen and the boy exchanged looks.

Leif: [Yes.]

Laymen: [Good, now tell me, what where the runes for sharp?]

Leif: [...There were two runes right? For thin and cut.]

Laymen: [Indeed, but how do you speak those runes?]

Leif: [Ill and Hi right?]

Laymen: [Ílg and Hy, repeat them.]

Leif: [Ílg and Hy.]

Laymen: [Good, now what is the rune for sharp?]

Leif: [ÍlgHy!]

Laymen: [Wrong, its spoken ÍlHy.]

Leif: [ÍlHy!]

For atleast five hours after that Leif was forced to repeat the same words again and again, the word and its meaning, Laymen made sure the runes and their meanings where angraved into the boys mind when he allowed the boy to stand up once more, and when he did his legs where dormant, he walked around throught the silent forest deep at night, he couldnt hear the sounds of the camp nearby but believed that even this late at night there wouldnt be many around to make noise, maybe a few drunks or those who make strange sounds in their own tents, Leif enjoyed the peace he felt when the soft and cold winds of the night glided across his face, he usually didnt feel this at peace, or at peace at all in the camps, the loud talking and laughing reminded him of the mercenaries who stayed in his village after slaughtering e everyone, those werent memories he liked to remember, specially since they always bringed back the heads into his mind.

Leif managed to find a small alcove under a massive tree he layed there, clutching the sword close to his body, lately he had been feeling like the sword wasnt just a sword, he felt it like it was a extension of his body, but not like an arm or a leg, like a piece of his soul, the heat it emitted when he hugged it firmly while sleeping was something he needed to keep his heart calm, to keep those memories away from him.

Over two weeks had passed, the new army camp had slowly drifted into its natural state, smelling terrible and with the most terribly loud people around, sadly Leif didnt manage to find Madehlia again, he missed the chicken strips she gave to him every night, resigning himself to pass one or two days without eating before buying anything, and even when he would buy something he made sure it wasnt more then two copper pieces worth, once or twice he had the pleasure to meet Hilt who would buy him some food.

He continued his training with Laymen every night, sitting by the same campfire on the same place deep in the woods, the bald man eould make him repeat words thousands of times along with their meanings, every two nights or so Leif would be introduced to couple of new runes, despite nothing ever really happening Laymen would always make demonstrations of the effects of speaking those runes, along with this he would always assign tasks to Leif, usually the man ordered him to repeat the words in his mind again and again.

???: [Oh! Leif boy! The usual?]

Leif: [Yes please, mister Marque.]

Marque smile and turned to take one of the lamb skewers from the campfire.

Marque: [No need for the mister, Leif boy!]

He sat the skewer on the counter, Leif took it and bit off one of the lamb bits.

Marque: [So, Leif boy, what do you think of the coming invasion on the enemy fortress south of here? Youre gonna participate?]

Leif: [I didnt hear anything about it.]

Marque: [You keep on missing the announcements of Commander Persworth huh?]

The man laughed.

Leif: [I have more important things to take care of, can you tell me about the invasion?]

Marque: [Apparently the enemy has taken over the fortress of a Pallaccian lord of sorts, theyve been there for a week launching small assaults to annoy us.]

Leif: [So what are our troops gonna do?]

Marque: [They said the fort is a two day travel from here, they didnt say much more then that were gonna launch a full out attack and take the fortress as an outpost.]

Leif thought about it for a second, he had used 10 or so copper pieces the past weeks and the more time he spent without chopping some ears the closer hed get to not being able to eat, the boy left a copper piece as payment for the lamb skewers, and left, still chewing the last piece of meat he walked throught the muddy, beat up ground of the camp, there was a loud animosity around, the talking a bit louder and more excited, some warriors used the grinders to sharpen their weapons, other traded horses that neighed loudly everywhere, it was similar to the last time the tropps went into battle, altought last time things didnt go too well for their side, almost a third of the warriors were killed and they were forced to retreat back into their own territory, this time it was a surprise attack, probably during the nights veil, sadly the enemy had a fortress, wich basically leved the stakes.

Hilt: [Afternoon, Leif.]

Leif turned around to see the blond teens cocky smile once more.

Leif: [Hilt.]

Hilt smiled.

Hilt: [You could start being a bit less cold to me, Leif, youre gonna hurt my feelings!]

Leif: [What is it?]

Hilt look deep into Leifs eyes.

Hilt: [Tell me, would you like to accompany me into the coming attack?]

Leif: [The one on the fortress? Why?]

Hilt shrugged.

Hilt: [I know you want to participate, of course, why not go together?]

Leif: [Fine, see you then.]

They both parted ways and Leif made his way out of the camp and into the forest, he made his way through the trunks and the roots calmly, enjoying the loneliness, he arrived at the clearing he always came to, unsheathed his sword and left it on the ground, ever since he started to train with Laymen he came here to try and activate the runes carved on his sword, he sat on a rock and out the sword over his leg, running his fingers over the carvings, wondering why where they there, could there really have been a Warlock in his family to pass down such a sword? Could his father have known?

The boy stood up, held the hilt of the sword tightly with both of his hands and closed his eyes, doing just like Laymen taught him, controlling his breath, feeling the warmth of the sun, the wind blowing against his skin, letting the beating of his heart unite with the melody of nature, to make the runes work Laymen had said you had tu feel them in your core, sharp words sharp swords.

Leif: [Ílg, Hy....]

The boy pronounced, imagining his hamds being as sharp as the swords of myth, being able to cut throught anyone and anything.

Leif: [[ÍlHy]]

He opened the his eyes, the runes on the base of the blade glowed soflty and the blade itself emited a soft warmth, he could see a faint distortion on the air as if the sword was a burning fire, he pointed the tip of the sword down to the ground, slowly inserting it the ground, the sword dived into the earth without the slightest bit of resistance, almost as if the earth itself parted way to allow it in, but quickly before he reached the middle of the sword, the runes stopped glowing and the sword no longer emitted the faint distortion or the warmth, he tried to pull it out of the earth but it got stuck and he had to pull a few times before yanking it out forcefully.

Leif: [Dammit..]

Leif seemed to never be able to maintain the effect for longer then 2 or 3 seconds, no matter how much Laymen hammered into his head about "tunning in with the magic" and "feeling the runes in your core" he just couldn't seem to grasp it, he tried it again and again, sometimes the runes wouldnt work, sometimes it would work for just a second, he would do this every day until night came, when it was already dark he walk around in the forest to find Laymen's campfire once more.

Laymen: [You seem to be frustrated, young man.]

Leif sat down on the same spot he sat on every night, by the fire across from the bald man.

Laymen: [There is no use being angered at your failures, simply use them as fuel to be better.]

Leif: [How many poetic quips are you gonna tell me before you tell me something useful?]

Laymen chuckled and closed his eyes.

Laymen: [So tell me, can you remember now, the rune you spoke while fighting those men?]

Leif: [I think it was sonrthing like... Heart? Hart?]

Laymen rubbed his chin thoughtfully and mumbled somethings.

Laymen: [Hart... Maybe its a conbination of Fár with some forgotten rune...]

The man shrugged and looked at the boys.

Laymen: [Well, little does it matter, how has your sword training been advancing?]

Leif: [Slowly... to say the least...]

Laymen: [I wouldnt say slowly, its been a bit more then two weeks since youve learned of the existence of runes... The majority of trainees cant make an engraved rune work before the fourth week.]

Leif: [Youre saying im gifted? I sure dont feel that way at all.]

Laymen: [Dont demand much of yourself boy, youre barely 12 years old, while the majority of Pallaccian children begin to learn aboit runes at 10 or so, its normal for then not to be able to speak runic until the age of 13 or 14.]

Leif: [Why do Pallaccians learn how to speak runic so early?]

Laymen: [Runic is a important part of Pallaccian culture boy, the grand majority of Warlocks come from New Pallac and even before its exhistence the Warlock culture was great in the Old Pallaccia.]

Leif: [I see... My father told me that our family came from the beginnings of Pallaccian occupation in Cithroam, maybe this sword came from a Pallaccian Warlock from a long time ago?]

Laymen: [Its probable, engraving is a form of art exposed to commoners, even most Warlocks dont know how to properly engrave anything other then simple runes.]

Leif ran his fingers over the leather sheath thoughtfully, the idea that someone in his family was also a Warlock made him a bit happy, the overall idea that others were going through roughly the same things comforted him a bit.

Laymen: [So, boy, ready for todays lesson?]

Leif: [Ah, yes!]

Laymen smiled.

Laymen: [Then, today you will be memorizing the basic runes of fire, do you remember the rune of fire?]

Leif: [Fár!]

Laymen: [Indeed, Fár, the rune you spoke during your fight with those men was probably related to it in some way.]

Leif closed his eyes, practicing the word on his mind, he felt the hot fire just before him, controlling his breathing as much as he could, letting the warmth seep into hi score and aligning it with his heart.

Leif: [[Fár]]

As he opened his eyes the fire before him seemed to grow stronger, its warmth aeemed more like the gentle caress of the sun the blistering sensation he felt before, when he moved his arm to the right the flames seemed to accompany him, he smiled, closing his eyes and imagining the same thing Laymen did when they met for the first time, imagining the fire grow taller and taller, stretching up until it almost touched the branches of the trees above.

Laymen: [Astounding...]

When Leif opened his eyes the fire went down once more, leaving small burning blazes over charred pieces of wood.

Laymen: [You evolve in great speed boy, in no time youll be just like!]

He said, exaggerating but truthfully excited at the boys progress, once more Laymen made the boy repeat rune after rune, again and again, along with citing their meaning, when it was over Leif made his way back to the same little hole he aways slept in, he crawled in there, under the roots of the tree where he was protected and hidden, the soil of the hole was already soft and almost cushioned from the many nights the boy spent in there, he hugged the sword once more, pushing it tightly against his chest, the sword moved away any bad toughts and anxiety from his mind, he leaned his head against the dirt and roots, slowly drifting off to sleep.

The price for a horse is 5 to 10 copper pieces depending on its quality, no way hed waste money in that, even if he had to walk for two days and follow the caravan towards the fortress, the boy walked throught the camp as almost half of the camp prepared to leave, the sounds of horse and men all around, thankfully Commander Persworth only allowed them to take two carriages and only as a way to transport food and eventually the wounded back to the camp, as Leif walked towards the caravan of men and carriages leaving the camp someone stopped just before him, a man in chestplate, helmet, shoulderplate and up on a strong brown stallion, Leif looke up at the shining helmet with distrust, but then the man lifted his visor up.

Hilt: [Dont look at me like that Leif! So scary!]

The blondes voice sounded in a whiny tone.

Leif: [Ah, sorry Hilt.]

Hilt laughed.

Hilt: [I brought you a little present.]

He said as he pulled a leash with his left hand, making a shorter silver and black maned mare forward, Hilts own stallion seemed somewhat bothered by her presence.

Leif: [Youre giving me a horse?]

Hilt: [Of course, i cant let a friend walk for two days, can i? Besides this mare used to be mine before i was gifted this stallion, so its no problem.]

Leif felt a bit displaced.

Leif: [Thank you.]

Hilt: [No need buddy.]

He jumped up into the saddled mare Hilt had prepared and the both of them strided along the line of soldiers, for half a day the caravan slowly made its way through the forest, then the planes, the muddy lands, eventually after about half the day they stopped, a small stop that wouldnt last more then an hour, but more then enough to feed and give water to the horses.

Hilt: [Hows this?]

Said Hilt as he sat by Leifs side on a boulder, holding out a apple.

Leif: [Thats a fruit?]

Hilt: [Youve never seen a apple?]

Leif took the apple.

Leif: [Apple.... i havent left my village until... a month or so ago.]

Hilt bit into his apple.

Hilt: [I see... Well its sweet, you should try it.]

Leif bit the apple, the skin getting between his teeth and the juice wetting his lips as he enjoyed the sweet taste.

Leif: [Its very sweet..]

By nighfall the camp was ready, no fires where allowed so that the enemy wouldn't be alerted, they where about 30 or somonutes from the enemy fortress under a tall and allmoet concave hill, almost 50 men patrolled the woods so that in case the enemy wondered too close they would have enough time to retreat.

Hilt: [The commander ordered us to stay alert, its almost time for the invasion.]

Leif caressed his mares muzzle, Hilt had told him her name was Silv, Silv was calm, the first horse Leif had ever rode but with Hilts help he quickly got the hang of riding, specially since Silv was so receptive.

Leif: [Hows the invasion gonna go?]

Hilt: [The commander has the map of the fortress, theres a small opening by the river wich is used as a simple sewer, theyre gonna have a small group of 5 men go in and open the fortress from the inside, while that the Vice-commander will lead the troops inside and slaughter the enemy.]

Leif: [Sewers? Someones gonna have to sneak around in poop?]

Leif grimaced and the blonde teen shrugged.

Hilt: [Such is the life of a soldier, Leif boy.]

The two talked for a couple more minutes before a man with a rugged face, grey abd white hair and wearing a black cloak stood tall before them.

???: [You, child, come.]

Leif and Hilt exchanged looks as the man turned around and walked away, the boy quickly followed suit, the two of them walked together for about 15 minutes, until they united with 3 other men, a short and thin one with a long and curved nose, big round outstretched ears and a stubbled beard, another was much talller, blonde hair with many white strands and a heavy brow, in between them was a brown skinned man with a steely exppression and furrowed eyebrows, his dark brown hair had a few grey strands across them.

???: [You brought a child Brott?]

The man with the steely expression sounded, his voice firm and commanding.

Brott: [He can follow orders.]

Leif: [I can follow orders.]

The short man and the blonde man chuckled but the steely man maintained his resolve.

???: [Shut it, Rigge and Bowen, you buffoons.]

Turning his attention to the boy the man asked.

???: [Hear me boy, what were about to do, is a suicidal dive into the enemies base, you hear me?]

Leif stopped for a second, but maintained his resolve.

Leif: [Yes!]

The man smiled, somehow the expression seemed wrong in his unexressive face.

Geralt: [Good. Im General Geralt Persworth, commander of the 13th plattoon of the Pallaccian army, you are now a soldier and a made man, act like one.]

Leif: [Yes sir.]

The five men made their way throught their forest, when they could see the lights coming from the fortresses torches and fireplaces Commander Persworth made Leif wear a dark cloak aswell, despite his cloth being so dirty it looked almost black, they slowly and silently made their way around the fort, hiding in the shadows of the trees, until they saw the river running by, making their way up the river they finally arrived at their destination, where the river curved to the right they had made a small extension to the fort, the light grey rock forming a gaping maw of darkness that led up to the intestines of the fortress, and even better, with no security.

Once they had clmibed up the unpolished rock the smell was already almost unbearable, probably the worst thing Leif had ever smelled, he could tell the other men were also deeply irritated by the terrible odor, all he could do was tightly pinch his nose as him and the other men made their way up the sewers, at times they had to fully shove their boots into the excrement, slowly they made their way throught the dark foul smelling labyrinth, following the map they finally made their way into the sewer lock, fortress sewers alwasy had atleast one lock so that in case of any misshaps some poor soul could go in without diving into the latrine, thankfully this one had locks in both sides, as silent as they could the men turned the iron lock and opened the door.

The fortress was silent but well lit, there were probably half the amount of warriors they had, but the advantage of having a fortress was way to big to try and ivade them during the day, and even during the night there were probably about 20 or so soldiers vigilant around, the men slowly made their way up to gate, in the way there were two guards talking to each other while sitting around to make sure they weren't trouble the commander made Rigge and Bowen silently slit their throats while Brott looked out for any other guards around, he made sure Leif watched as the men where assasinated, according to the plan the commander had explained while they were still in the forest Rigge and Bowen where to watch and stop all guards, Brott and the commander were going down to open the gate, Leif's duty is to open the outer gate by using the crank up on the fortress wall, according to the commander the small room in wich the crank was located was guarded by a heavy metal door that hanged less then a couple centimeters above the ground, and he needed someone small to crawl under it.

As they parted ways Leif made his way up the wall as silently as he could, thankfully no many of them where along the main wall for some reason, as he walked along it he finally came face to face with the iron door, there really was a small space bellow it, even small then what Leif thought it would be, he got on his knees right in front of it, letting his sword down so that he could slide it ocer once he had crossed it, he pushed his face against the ground and crawled under the thick metal door, shoivng his torse inside he could move his face up and check around, inside there was a small room with two large windows to both sides of the wall, one facing the path throught the forest and the other facing the fortress itself, what he saw next made his hear miss a beat for a second, there was a guard, sitting on a stoll and with his head against the stone, loudly snoring, right in front of him was the crank to the outer gate.

Once he had fully pushed himself to the other side he reached under and pulled the sword, once he stood up he stepped closer to the crank, as slowly and as silently as he could, he set his hands firmly on the crank and tried to turn it without waking up the guard, but as soon as he turned it the crank made a screech that made the guard jolt up, still not realising what was happening he rubbed his eyes and Leif unsheathed his sword as fast as he could, he tried to stab the man but after the few second it took the guard had already jumped away from the blade, socking the boy on his face, Leif fell back and almost went unconscious from the force, but before he could step up the guard bringed down his fist knce more on the boys nose, he felt the crunch of his nose and the terrible pain spread throughout his skull.

???: [Fucking little shit!]

The man said as he circled his fingers around the boys neck, Leif felt his throat burn, a familiar burning sensation, the sensation of swallowing a blistering hot piece of coal, the man swore and grunted as his fingers tightened around the boys neck, Leifs jaw tightened as he gasped for air, with each impotent smack and hit against the mans arms and chestplate made the burning hot sensation going up his throat worse, as he could no longer breath, he felt his heartbeat go wild in his chest, the core of his being groing hotter and hotter, a bit of saliva oozed down his lower lip as he looked up at the man.

Leif: [[HÁRT]]

Once more all the boy could see was a shining blue light engulf his vision, raging blue flames blew the rooms door off its hinges, the flames ran throughout the top of the wall, making the fortress shine with a unnatural blue hue for a couple of seconds before the flame died down.

When Leif opened his eyes once more he was laying on his back against the stone floor, the guard was nowhere to be seen and pratically everything was charred and burned, some pieces of wood still burned with the blue fire, when the screams filled his ears Leif remembered the situation he faced, he immediately got up, tightly gripping the crank and turning it with all his strength, he heard the outer gate rumble as the chains pulled it up, he didnt pay much attention to the screams sounding all around and just kept turning it, again and again until the rumbling stoped, turning his attention to the screams once more he put his hand out of the wind facing the path of the forest, wich was now filled with soldiers, some in horses, others at foot, all doing their bests to fit through the gate with their swords and axes in hand, stepping to the other side he put his head out of the other window, where hundreds of warriors clashed against eachother, in the crowd he got to see Commander Persworth shouting orders to the soldiers and Hilts blond hair as he mixed himself in the battle.

With a sigh the boy sat back down into the stone floor, relaxing for the first time in almost 2 of the most tense hours of his life, he clutched the hilt of his sword once more, leaning against a wall, he put the tip of his sword against the floor and the base of the blade on his shoulder, enjoying the weapons warmth.

By morning all enemies that werent prisioneirs were dead, thanks to the invasion being so late at night most enemy warriors were either asleep or drunk enough to drop dead, by morning they had settled the troops in the fortress, sending the injured back in the carriages once they had left all provisions, Leif was sat on the wall, his sword against his shoulder, resting after the difficult night when he heard someone walking towards him, when he opened his eyes he looked up to see the same grey haired older man as last night.

Leif: [Brott?]

Brott: [Child, come.]

Leif got up as the man turned around and walked down the stairs to the ground floor, following him in silence like last time, they made their way throught the bowls of the fortress, finally they made their way up the tower where Commander Persworth had installed himself, reaching the second level of the tower Brott knocked on the large wood door, from inside a voice sounded.

Geralt: [Enter.]

Brott pushed the door open, on the second floor was located the commanders meeting room and personal office, inside there was a large wood table, around it there where 6 chairs, 3 of wich sat Rigge, Bowen and the commander himself, the other 3 where vague, by the table stood a tall and slander figure, wearing a black coat with large red shoulder pad with golden ropes, long silver blonde hair fell onto the back of the coat, on the persons head was a black army general cap.

Geralt: [Thank you for bringing the boy, Brott.]

Brott lowered his head silently.

Geralt: [Boy, tell me your name.]

Leif: [Its Leif.]

Geralt: [Leif what?]

Leif: [Crows.]

Geralt: [Soldier Leif Crows, i would like to introduce you to, General Adellianna Silvers.]

The general turned around, looking down at the boy with her gelid and sharp blue eyes with black slit pupils, her hair was long and tucked behind her ears, but what called the most attetion was her fur, Leif couldnt tear his eyes away from her, a black nose connected to her mouth, short thin silver blond fur and black whiskers, she had long and furry ears aswell, looking like some sort of human Lynx.

Adellianna: [You have never seen of mine have you boy?]

Her voice was a gelid as her expression, paused and calm, Leif gulped down the knot on his throat.

Leif: [U-uh... no...]

Adellianna: [I see, where did you tell me you found him?]

Geralt: [Brott told me the boy was following the caravan here.]

Leif: [Umm... why am i here?]

The two generals looked at them boy at the same time, as if they wherent accustomed to being interrupted.

Adellianna: [Boy, i have been told you are a Warlock.]

Leif: [Ah... im just training...]

Rigge and Bowen chuckled to themselves, truing to contain an even bigger laughter, General Persworth rubbed the bridge of his nose and General Silvers sighed.

Geralt: [You delayed crucial information from your commander.... Somrthing like this couldve been used with much more finesse.]

Leif: [I... u-uh... i apologize, commander.]

Adellianna: [Who has been teaching you boy?]

Leif: [A bald man in the woods.]

Rigge and Bowen almost broke into laughter before the commander silenced them.

Adellianna: [Dont tell me... Boy, did the man have a blazing eye tattoo on his forhead?]

Leif: [Ah! Yes thats what it was...]

Adellianna sighed even heavier, rubbing her temples.

Adellianna: [I cant believe hed do something of such magnitude, teaching a commoner child and even more a Cithroam child... Thats enough to get you hanged...]

She mumbled to herself, Leif was a bit confused, could she know Laymen?

Leif: [Have... have i broken any rules?]

Adellianna: [Many... but that isnt important in the moment, i have to get you filled first.]

The woman turned around, taking a paper from a nearby pile and a quill from a pot, she sat on one of the chairs and signed for the boy to approach, Leif made his way around and approached as ordered, she handed him the quill and crossed her leg.

Adellianna: [Can you read and write boy?]

Leif: [Yes, the basics.]

Adellianna: [Then put down your name and age and the name of your master.]

The boy did as she ordered, only needing help with writting Laymen's name, speacially since he didnt know the mans last name was Draggur. While writing he couldn't help but notice the womans lomg and thick claws and the enjoyable smell she exuded, like a cat if it was bathed in fruits.

Leif: [What is this for?]

Adellianna: [You dont need to know for now boy, simply have it known that we know who you are and where you are. Keep yourself on the line.]

Leif felt his chest hurt a bit.

Leif: [Y-yes!]

The woman turned around and walked away towards the wood door the boys eyes followed her, she turned around and looked at him one last time before leaving, Geralt sighed once she did.

Geralt: [No matter how many times we meet that woman always leaves me on edge.]

He turned towards Leif, poiting at the sword the boy had clutched on his

Geralt: [Boy, can you use that sword?]

Leif: [Yes... a bit...]

Geralt: [A bit is not enough, prepare yourself, beggening tomorrow you will be beggening to train with me on the afternoons, right before you train with Laymen.]

Leif was a bit surprised.

Leif: [Uh.. Yes!]

Geralt: [Brott, make sure the boy has a settlement, a small room is enough, and boy, make sure to eat atleast twice a day, i dont want you weak and malnourished while you train, its going to restrict your development.]

Leif: [Y-yes, sir!]

Geralt: [Dismissed, take the boy Brott.]

The two left, Brott led the boy all the way to the second sector of cells being used as common rooms by the soldiers, some slept in there while others slept outside in their own tents and such, once Brott left Leif was left alone in the room made of rocks, there was only a unlit torch in there and a bed, if it could be called a bed, made out of rocks with a mattress, made out of cloth filled with hay, Leif sat down on it and pulled his sword close to him, he had spent almost the entire night knee deep in poop, maybe he could finally rest now, he only need to remember to practice runic once he woke up.

He tightly pushed the sword against his chest, feeling the rough leather against his neck as he laid down on the mattress, it wasnt comfortable but he had been sleeping on rocks and dirt for the past months, it was nice, to the warmth of his sword he drifted off to sleep.