"Damn work! Holf! Are you really sure we didn't turn around?" Leran shouted.
"How could we turn around?" Holf replied. "It's starting to be boring. How do you know we don't turn around every night, and we don't sail back?" Leran complained.
"Leran, shut up finally, or I'll..." Ador couldn't finish the sentence, when someone shouted, "Land! Land on the horizon!" "Finally the mainland! But it's getting dark now, shouldn't we wait until morning before landing?" Eric asked.
"I will not survive another night in one deck with Leran. In addition, we must move quickly, we are risking detection at any moment." Goran ordered.
The group loaded their supplies and weapons into three boats and dropped them onto the water.
"Mr. Kiren, destroy the helm!" Goran exclaimed.
"What?" Holf asked.
"Our technology must not fall into enemy hands. We must destroy everything that can be saved from the ship and sink it." Goran replied.
"And how do we get back?" Leran was horrified.
"On the Dark One's ship. We can't just leave our ship here. If the Dark Ones reveal us, it will endanger the entire planned invasion. And we will be executed." Goran explained. "If we survive until the invasion." Ador replied.
"Exactly. Enough talk! Get in the boats! The third one is for me and Kiren, we will sink the ship. You go." Goran ordered. The group split up and got into the boats. Leran and Torn climbed into the first, and Ador, Caden, and Eric into the second, and sailed to the shore.
"Why do you even work with us? Do you have your own secret mission here?" Ador asked towards Caden.
"I cooperate because I want to. You don't have to worry about me endangering the expedition." Caden replied.
"I'd still rather see you in handcuffs, even though it's useless." Ador murmured.
"Have you really been eighty years in that dungeon?" Eric asked.
"Nearly eighty, yes." Caden replied.
"I'm surprised you didn't give up." Eric laughed.
"To die is not so easy for me..." Caden replied.
"Hmm... I'm afraid I will soon understand what your words mean." Eric replied.
"He has an agreement..."
"What?" Eric exclaimed.
"What? I didn't say anything..." Ador replied. "Oh, sorry." Eric apologized.
"It's me again... Samir. Caden has a deal with the Imperator, so he's with you. Once he honors the deal, he'll probably kill you..." There was a voice in Eric's mind again.
"I don't think Caden will betray us." Eric said. "Hah… Thanks for your trust. The first kind word..." Caden laughed.
"Never trust the enemy. I understand why there is such a crap in the codex. Exactly because of such naive people as you are!" Ador was angry.
"Caden is no longer an enemy. He's our guide, the Imperator himself said it." Eric replied.
"Bah... If you think..." Ador replied.
"Hmm... I must agree with that arrogant boy. Even though I am a traitor in your eyes, I would not trust someone who led the Dark One's army against the Old Empire." Samir spoke out.
"What…?" Eric muttered to himself. "Hahaha... You really don't know who Caden Snead is, do you? You should be more interested in history, kid." Samir replied. "Stop for a moment! We'll wait for the commander." Ador called when they were close to the shore. After a while Goran and Holf arrived. Everyone landed on the beach. "Pick up what you can, pierce the boats, and send them to the ocean. I, Ador, and Eric will go look around." Goran commanded, and they set off on a steep slope along the coast to a hill.
"After so many years, the land is still defending itself." Ador uncovered a layer of gray dust, revealing green grass.
"We have to get it back." Eric said.
"And we will, Eric." Goran replied, went straight and froze.
"Hello, human!" A man from the approaching group of the Dark Ones called out.
"We are revealed! Kill them!" Goran exclaimed, drew his sword, and lunged against a group of confused Dark Ones. Ador and Eric followed. Both groups were fighting. Eric battled a trio of the Dark Ones, he killed one, but the other two pushed him and threw him off the cliff. Goran then had to resist a group of five Dark Ones. Ador hurried to his aid after defeating the couple who had tried to overthrow him.
"No one can survive!" Goran screamed after stabbing the last Dark One.
"Uff... That was..." Ador couldn't finish, when Eric climbed back up and interrupted him with a shout, "Ador, behind you!"
Ador turned, the Dark One standing behind him was preparing to throw a spear. He threw, but at that moment, Goran pushed him to the ground, and the spear pierced through his chest. Eric ran after the fleeing Dark One, and threw his sword at him, which hit him right in the head. Goran fell on the ground.
"All the Saints! Commander! Why did you do that?" Ador placed Goran on his feet. Eric hurried to them and knelt to Goran.
"Eric!" Goran grabbed Eric's hand.
"You are the leader of the expedition..." Goran said.
"I? But Ador..." Eric objected.
"The leader must sacrifice himself for the group. Ador... Cannot..." Goran replied. "Damn! The spear is all-metal, I can't break the tip!" Ador complained, while trying to remove the spear tip with a strange twist sticking out of Goran's back. Goran grabbed Eric's sword, and cut his hand.
"Ow! What the...?" Eric exclaimed.
"Don't let me die like a stuck fish. Take my soul... And then throw all the bodies, including mine, into the ocean." Goran thrust Eric's sword into his hand, and showed his neck.
"But..." Eric replied.
"Do it to, Eric... We can't save him..." Ador said.
"Oh, the Saints forgive me..." Eric cut through Goran's throat and put his wounded hand on it. After a moment he shrugged and stood up.
"Are you alright?" Ador asked.
"Yes, perhaps... We must tell others." Eric replied.
"Everything is… All the Saints, what happened here?!" Holf ran to them with the rest of the group.
"You killed the commander?" Leran shouted.
"How could you even think about that, you idiot?! We were attacked by the Dark Ones. Eric is the new leader of the group." Ador explained.
"Why Eric?" Holf asked.
"Because Goran said it before he died." Ador replied.
"Hmm… All right, commander. What are your orders?" Caden laughed.
"Put on the Dark One's armor, and throw the bodies into the ocean." Eric ordered.
"Even Goran's?" Holf asked jokingly.
"Yes, his body too." Eric replied.
"Why should we wear their armor?" Leran asked.
"And you want to run into their capital city with the Imperium's flag, or what? This is not a normal military event, here we are the whole ocean far away from our allies. We're in the enemy territory." Ador explained.
"Why did you even go here?" Holf laughed.
"I am the best archer in the Imperium!" Leran replied.
"What do we have an archer for when we have Torn?" Holf asked.
"And what does he know that he's better than me?" Leran laughed.
"Shut up and get to work! We have to get out of here as soon as possible." Ador exclaimed. The group hid the dead, changed clothes, and set out inland.
"What happens now?" Holf asked.
"We'll find a city and try to find out some basic information inconspicuously." Eric replied.
"Ah, so we're going to ask civilians about the numbers of soldiers?" Leran laughed.
"If you don't have a better idea, yes." Eric replied.
"What about this sudden change, Eric?" Caden asked.
"My head is now responsible for the lives of all of you and for the success of the expedition. I must be serious." Eric replied. After a while they reached a small village.
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"They probably won't know anything here... But..." Eric said as they walked down the street, and a little girl crossed their path. She looked surprisingly humanly.
"Am I hallucinating now, or…?" Eric asked.
"If so, we all do too..." Ador replied.
"Why do you wear the armor of the Chosen One's?" The girl laughed.
"Um... I just wanted to try it..." Eric replied. The girl laughed and ran away.
"Well... the child recognized us, I think we should go back after all." Holf replied.
"What now? What did that mean?" Leran was horrified.
"The Chosen are high-ranking Dark Ones, I think..." Caden replied.
"The armor is almost indistinguishable from the others..." Eric murmured.
"So we actually killed some of their nobles, and their retinue?" Ador asked.
"Probably." Caden replied.
"Um... Did anyone realize it was a human child?" Leran asked.
"Actually, we never saw them... Maybe they were always..." Holf said.
"But I did. This wasn't a Dark One. She's a human." Caden proclaimed.
"What are humans doing here?" Eric asked. "Perhaps they are slaves." Ador replied. "Doesn't seem like it..." Caden looked at the approaching group of armed human men. "What are you doing here? Where did you get this armor?!" The approaching men screamed.
"What are we going to do now?" Holf asked. "We must kill them." Leran suggested. "What?" Eric was horrified.
"He's right. If they reveal us, it's over. They must die." Goran spoke in Eric's mind.
"I must agree again. I'm afraid... If you don't kill them, they'll kill you." Samir added. "What the? Who said that?" Goran was horrified.
"Well... we found it." Eric replied towards the men.
"So you found… They stole it! We'll bring you to our supervisor for that!" The man called. "What is that?" Holf laughed.
"All right, if you must ..." Eric nodded. "What?" Leran was horrified.
"Take their weapons!" One of the men called. Eric nodded in agreement to his group.
"I hope you know what you're doing..." Holf surrendered his sword. The men then led them to a small temple. At the end of the hall was a dark throne with a hooded figure sitting on it.
"My lord, these people have stolen the armor of the Chosen One's." The man said while bowing.
"They are not slaves. They serve them voluntarily. Hah... I wonder what ours will do to them when they find out." Leran laughed.
"You humans don't value anything. Where did you get that armor?" The hooded man stood and walked to the group.
"We found it." Holf replied.
"If you found it, you should have returned it." The hooded man replied.
"Well... we planned to do that, sir." Ador laughed.
"Is there something funny?" The hooded man asked.
"Not at all." Caden smiled.
"You... Who are you?" The hooded man approached Caden.
"I'm no one. I'm just a shadow accompanying this group." Caden replied. "Very funny. You should command that group, I feel your strength. Where are you from?" Said the hooded man.
"I am the last of the House of Snead. We lived near the Wall of Sorrow." Caden replied. The hooded man turned and walked back to the throne.
"Strange... My grandfather told me about someone like that..." The hooded man turned and shouted, "Guards!"
"Who are you in Mor'lak's name?" The hooded man asked in horror, when he saw all of his guards dead on the ground.
"Oh, forgive our boldness. We bring the death of your race. We are such a vanguard." Ador replied.
"Oh, you are one of those poor followers of the Saints! How was it? Guardians of the Light? You're just worms! You have no power! By my death you will sign a death sentence to all of you! And you! You are the Chosen one! Are you with this mob?" Again, the hooded man asked Caden.
"Nah... Just tell us how strong is the army protecting the Imperial City and the surrounding area, then we'll kill you quickly." Holf said.
"Is that a joke? What is the Imperial City?" The hooded man asked.
"This is useless, we'll just kill him." Leran suggested.
"Go on! I hope you enjoy the eternal life in the land of demons, poor men!" The hooded man cried.
"Stop chattering nonsense, and tell us about your army!" Ador exclaimed, grabbing the man's neck.
"We have thousands of soldiers, you have no chance..." The hooded man replied. "Hmm… Not so bad. I expected much more." Ador said and dropped the hooded man.
"How many people lives in this village?" Ador asked.
"About thirty... This is a small village." The hooded man replied.
"And they still need their own watchdog." Holf laughed.
"I hope you know what we need to do." Ador looked at Eric. Eric sighed, and stabbed the kneeling man in his hood with a sword.
"I didn't mean that, really... But so be it." Ador replied.
"What did you mean?" Eric asked.
"Everyone in this village knows about us..." Leran said.
"What...? No, we can't..." Eric objected.
"We must, Eric." Holf replied.
"Killing women and children is against the codex! What will ours say when we get back?" Eric shouted.
"If they find out about us outside this village, I can imagine what ours will say about us after our death." Leran said. "What… Ador? Torn?" Eric looked at them. Torn just nodded in agreement.
"No one needs to know about this, Eric. It will be our secret." Holf laughed, and walked out of the temple. The group joined him after a moment.
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"They took our weapons to a building on the edge of the village." Holf told them.
"How do you know?" Eric asked.
"He told me." Holf pointed to an undercut man lying near the door.
"Let's go." Ador ordered, and they walked out to the building. They killed two officers and took back their weapons.
"You don't have to take part... Commander. Holf told Eric.
"I am responsible for the group's actions... So let's get it over with." Eric motioned, and went out. The group systematically walked from house to house, killing all their inhabitants. Eric dared not enter any of the houses, he was standing outside on the road. It was getting dark for some time already. A little girl appeared on the road, the same one who saw them first. "Commander?" Leran exclaimed, watching the two standing opposite each other.
"This isn't right... This..." Eric objected.
"All right, let at least one of our souls not be damned." Caden approached. Then he led the girl a little further, and cut her neck. The deed was complete, and the group went further west under the cover of night.
"What if someone returns to the village?" Leran asked.
"Nothing. He will not know anything, nor will he have anyone to report it to." Holf replied. "You've done this before, haven't you?" Eric frowned.
"You probably never served in the army, did you?" Holf replied.
"We were probably meant to do this stuff. Look at us. Archer, weapon expert, powerful mage, sailor, member of the Crows, and what are you, Eric?" Leran asked.
"A city guard..." Eric replied.
"This is not a reconnaissance group, but more like a firing squad. I think we were supposed to scare them, this whole exploration thing looks strange." Leran said. "There might be something about that. We are a group capable of conquering a fortress on our own." Ador joined.
"You really don't have a problem with our actions, Ador?" Eric asked.
"Hahaa... Do you really ask a member of the Crows if he has a problem with killing people?" Holf laughed.
"We do what is necessary, and enough about it. The supervisor spoke of something like resistance. Guardians of the Light... What is that?" Ador asked.
"I have no idea, maybe some branch of the Church of the Saints." Holf said.
"This is not worth it, it's dark, we don't know where we're going. Let's set up a camp." Eric ordered, and the group found a place among the trees near the road.
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