Beneath the Shadows Prologue: With a Single Step

[Vestige]

The commotion going on outside went unheard to Zeff. His battle wounds had exhausted his body and he fell into a deep sleep rather quickly. However, though he had gone undisturbed, his dreams were haunting him.

[spoiler=Dream Banter]

"He said it wasn't my fault! Why do you still hate me?! WHY, WHY, WHY!?"

"Zeff, be a dear and check to see whose at the door."

"But Dad, how come you let her fight and not me? It's because of that isn't it? Just you wait, one day I'm going to leave and when I come back I'm going to kill him...I swear."

"Why can't you play with me anymore...?"

"What th-this is awesome! I feel like I can swing this sword for hours! Heck, I could probably swing Dad's sword with one hand! Now I can finally leave!"

"I'll kill you! I SWEAR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

"Mom..."

With a start, he awoke from his sleep, sweat covering his body. His breathing was heavy and his head was hurting. He could hear some chatter downstairs but he cared not to go down and join in. He curled up and turned to the side. As he rocked himself to sleep, tears started to drip down his face. He was started to remember why he had come out here in the first place, however his resolve had yet to reform.

[Toogee]

"What in damnation? A battle outside? Well darn! We can't even help with da door locked!" Rimsky said frustratingly, slamming his fist on to the wall. There wasn't much that could be done at the moment. All he could do was contemplate about what might happen next.

Rimsky decided to go to Chandra's room and see if she would do anything stupid and disobey orders. Not a time for foolish acts. Upon arrival, he saw Chandra looking through her window, spying upon the battle. "What's happenin' down there? Is it good news?" he asked.

Chandra looked away from the window to see the dwarf enter her room. Seemed she had prime view of what was going on outside. Before she could even suggest popcorn, the yelling outside had indicated that the battle was closing.

"The knights are retreating," she replied to Rimsky. "We survive another night."

[Snike]

"So if it ended up that they were taking a licking and we could easily see it happening on the other side of the door, you'd think they'd want you to keep the door locked instead of a few of us going out and helping them?" Jacob asked, frowning. "At least think before blindly enforcing orders like that."

***

Andre stabbed another soldier before they could react to the retreat order, then advanced on the leader.

"Right, well you picked the wrong village to ransack," Harrop said, rolling his head. "Ready to join your men?"

Charlie, in the meanwhile, was running after the last two soldiers. They sure as hell weren't getting away. Not after what they did to Brader.

[scorri]

Captain Skelyos gulped. Looking around him, he grunted and then readied his sword. "For his majesty!" Charging at the axe-wielder, he swung hard, hoping against hope he would win.

Adari glanced at Toqua riding hard after Charlie and the last two soldiers and nodded to herself. Turning around, she rode over to Sayina and Brader. "How is he?" "Unsure. If he opens his eyes, he may live. If not... Well, I've done the best I can."

[Ether]

Aina let out a dissatisfied groan... boss and the others were out there fighting whoever these new arrivals were, and here she was, shut in with the newbies, because of her damned eye... and Sayina was out there with them, so it wasn't like she could just get a patch job done and keep fighting.

It wasn't that they likely couldn't handle it on their own, but the mercenary still disliked the thought of sitting around doing nothing... that and she was rapidly running out of distractions from the ever growing pain in her face, as well as the now distinct odour that had begun to make itself apparent from the wound, which had begun to fester.

Of course, if she herself was beginning to notice it, then most likely the miserable goop had already begun to leak from her patch and down the side of her face, but the throbbing was more than enough to numb any other sensation in the area.

[Snike]

"Good to know who's calling the shots," Andre said, as Skelyos's sword scratched his armor. There went his chance. The mercenary leader swung his axe and cut half-way through the enemy, before wrenching it out while kicking the body away. That was that. Now, to see how Brader was doing.

***

Charlie struck down one of the soldiers with a light spell, but then had to stop and catch his breath. It had been a while since he had to run like that. The ex-monk pointed towards the other soldier as Toqua flew by. Hopefully he'd get them.

***

Brader's breathing began to grow slower and slower, until it finally ceased altogether. His body, once warm, began to grow cold.

[scorri]

As the captain fell, Toqua swooped down and lodged his axe in the final soldier's head. Swooping back around, he retrieved it and then flew over and landed near the huddled group. Shoving past his other comrades, he saw Brader lying on the ground, not breathing and slammed his fist against the nearby wall. "NO! No no no no no no no!" Cursing, he jumped onto Serath, and took to the skies, flying high and was quickly out of sight.

Sayina sighed. Picking up his staff, he grabbed the reins of his horse, as well as Adari's, and quietly whispered, "I tried my best," before leading the horses back into the stables. He collapsed against the wall of the stall and buried his head in his hands.

Adari clenched a fist and turned, stalking back towards the inn. Reaching the door, she kicked it open and walked stiffly past the staring eyes, up the stairs, and into her room. Slamming the door behind her, she collapsed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It'd been a while since they'd lost a veteran like Brader. Someone should have been with him. She should have made sure he hadn't been left alone.

Rayil flinched as Adari kicked the door open and it slammed into the wall a mere few inches from his face. He started to ask her a question, but upon seeing her face, quickly became interested with the drink in front of him instead. That wasn't a good sign. Something had gone very poorly.

[eclipse]

Oh dear, Raelyn thought to herself. Adari does NOT look happy. She'll be even more unhappy when she learns that we're missing a few people. I'd best do what I can to keep out of her way. I'd love to know what's going on, though. First, they shut us in here, and then she comes back in. I think Andre would be displeased if I were to wander out, no matter how much I want to know what happened. Best stay put, and stay quiet.

[Oersted]

Ernce snapped awake into a sitting position when the sounds of slamming doors reached his ears. Immediately he reached for his lance only to accidentally knock it over. "Dammit," he cursed when his lance hit the floor. He quickly stole a glance towards the door and sighed with relief when he found it still closed. "In a worst case scenario that would've been the death of me," Ernce mumbled to himself, clearly upset with his failed attempt to arm himself at a moment's notice. "I have to be better then that if I'm going to survive." With a sigh he laid back down even though he knew he wouldn't be sleeping long if the others felt a need to slam their doors before heading off to bed. Although if that happened he wouldn't mind that much as it would keep him from dreaming.

[Snike]

Right as Jacob was about to test the newbie's resolve by attempting to go for the door, said door was kicked open by Adari, who immediately stormed in and up to the rooms. Right, maybe he wasn't going to go outside, then. Something had gone wrong, clearly...

***

Andre finally arrived, only to find Brader dead and everyone else distraught. Dammit, their luck really had run out, after these past months of no major wounds or deaths. Aaaand now Charlie had arrived. This was going to be dreadful, especially if he lingered around. With a weary sigh, the mercenary leader left to go speak with the Ienian Primos'.

***

The monk sunk to his knees beside his dead comrade, as tears began to stream down his face.

"I got them, Brader," Charlie said, eventually. "I got them. But... Why did you have to die? You had so much to look forward to. Now what are Meryl, your parents, and I going to do? Damn it all."

He continued to sob, while struggling to pray. It seemed that the man would be there for a while...

[scorri]

Toqua landed on the inn roof. Staring off at the stars, he just continually murmured "No, it can't be, no."

Sayina walked into the inn. Staring at the new members of the band, he sighed. "Brader was killed fighting Senian soldiers. We don't know what they were doing this far east, but we do know they won't be heading back home ever again. We'll be resting here for at least a couple of days if I had to guess, but Andre will have the final call on that."

Rayil stared at Sayina. One of the older members of the group... dead? He sat down heavily in his chair and just blankly stared at his hands.

[eclipse]

"Thanks for the explanation," Raelyn said softly. "This tells me that things are gonna get rough. Will the village be okay?"

[Toogee]

As soon as she heard the door to the inn kicked open, Chandra left her room to figure out what was going on. She passed Adari along the way; the look on her face made it quite clear that she kicked the door open. The shaman immediately went down the stairs to hear the update from Sayina.

Even though she had been with the group for about a month, Chandra didn't really get to know Brader. She usually stayed in the kitchen area, mostly to keep her dark magic a secret. Needless to say, the news didn't hit her as hard as the veterans. Which was why she was more concerned about the presence of soldiers .

"Senian soldiers crossed through Antar, or the mountains, to plunder a tiny village and kill one of our own? It doesn't make sense..."

[Ether]

That was when the news hit, Brader had been killed in the follow-up fight.

"Damn it! Brader, he's... if I had been out there I coulda fucking backed him up!" Aina roared, her hand flying to the, by this point rather soiled, eyepatch, and ripped it clean off, giving the piece of cloth and leather a death glare with her good eye, before hurling it at a nearby wall, which it glanced off of. Blood and puss streaming down her face from her wound, the final wall that had been preventing the scene torn down, the woman's face, coupled with her current anger, could be likened to that of a banshee or foul demon of sorts.

"If it weren't for this goddamned fucking eye, I could've fuckin saved him..." She croaked, her fist slamming against the closest table repeatedly, as her enraged personage gave way to one of sorrow.

"I fuckin' let you down... huh Brader?" She concluded, strangely mellow in contrast to her behaviour mere moments before.

[scorri]

"There was nothing any of you could have done. Brader was out there alone and he got ambushed before any of us had the chance to reach him. The village is safe for now, and we do not know what the soldiers were planning. But it was quite clear they were in fact from the king." Turning to Aina, he frowned. "Here, let me see this." Frowning, he reached into his pouch. Pulling out a clean cloth, he gave it to her. "Here put this over the wound until I'm done healing it." Muttering a simple healing spell, he gently waved the staff over her eye. "There. It isn't perfect. If you don't get it looked at every once in a while it will break open again like that. Eyes are tricky. The body doesn't quite know how to heal them perfectly but it will try. Which just leads to complications. And when you've had an imperfect healing there already... Well, it's basically impossible for me to do more. I'm sorry."

[Ether]

"I know... I just can't believe the damn thing sprung up on me in the middle of a fight." Aina replied, calming down, if only slightly.

[scorri]

"Hmm," Sayina frowned. "Did you perhaps get hit on the head at all? If the wound had already been infected, getting jolted would likely cause it to open up. Either way, in the future, perhaps get me to check it before the battle. Or another healer."