Chapter 2: Suggestion

"Your telling me, that some random soldiers in five minutes, managed to do something I wasn't able to do in who knows how many years?" Arkin asked. "Your joking, right?". He was skeptical about his friend's words.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you." Verid said, laughing at his friend's reaction.

Arkin stood up from the cold terrain, leaving a big patch of flattened grass where he stood, and approached his friend.

"What the fuck did they say to you?" Incredulously, he asked. "Who was it? , I need to speak with them," Arkin bombarded his friend with question after question, truly wishing to know who managed to convince his cynical friend.

Arkin was impressed by the unknown fellows, and at the same time he felt slightly betrayed by his friend. For the past 8 years, he tried to convince Verid, to attend at least one holiday event in Avanom, only to receive "fuck off" as an answer. And now he says he will attend the end of summer feast in Kotia. It's fucking incredible, he's even performing the cleansing rites with the dew, Arkin was shocked.

The common folk in Agnis believe that if you wash yourself with dew at the end of summer your bad deeds are washed away with it, and in celebration of those who are no longer burdened by their bad deeds, a feast is held in every major city, but Kotia is the one that is most famous for this event.

"I don't remember who it was, I was drunk, and it was also late at night, the only thing I remember is the one who nagged the most," Verid said grinning.

Seeing his friend smile Arkin seemed to have understood something and said. "What a guy, the one who managed to convince the cynic prince himself, I guess you need to reward him, I would suggest you buy him lots of ale, oh, and don't forget a few love birds who wouldn't mind the sight of his ugly mug." He was so lost in his fantasy that he didn't even notice the cold wind slowly creep in on him until it was too late.

"Brrr, is it me or did it become colder?" Arkin shuddered from the cold, this sudden turn of events caught him off guard.

He was wet from head to toe in the middle of nowhere wearing only pants, and a pair of boots. And when the cold wind made contact with his skin he felt it.

"Yes, it became colder," Verid agreed, before it dawned on him, "wait you feel the cold? I thought that your family is protected from it, you know, with your fiery temper and all that." Contrary to his friend, the cold wasn't really bothering him because he was wearing a short dark blue tunic, black boots, and black cotton pants.

"Hey! , fiery temper, not fiery blood, big difference," said Arkin. Hearing his friend joke about some of the most common misconceptions about his family amused him.

"Yeah! Yeah! I know," Verid said, while looking at the incoming soldier.

"Greetings your highness, Lord Arkin" the soldier said while placing his right hand on his heart, and bowing slightly. "A messenger arrived, from Avanom".

"Where is he?" Arkin asked.

"I told him to wait outside his highness tent" respectfully answered the soldier.

"Follow me then," Verid said, leading the way back towards the camp. Inside the camp many soldiers were eating breakfast around a dead campfire, while others were packing their belongings.

"Good morning your highness, Lord Arkin" said every single soldier they encountered, both of them only nodded in return. They approached a big, red, tent. Outside the tent, they saw a tall, burly Orc with gray skin, and protruding canines wearing cheap formal attire. When the Orc saw them coming, he placed his right hand on his heart and bowed slightly.

"Greetings your highness, the high council sent me to deliver this message to you." The Orc said that while handing a yellow piece of paper from his belted purse. The purse was made from leather and specifically designed to carry important documents without damaging them.

Verid inspected the letter, and looked at the royal seal on it for a moment before opening, and reading the letter. After he read it, he tossed it towards Arkin, hitting the other in the face.

"Hey, you could have seriously wounded me." Arkin said, rubbing his face. He saw that his friend wasn't in the mood so he dropped the act, and read the letter. A big frown appeared on his face, and he said. "What the fuck is this bullshit?" He kept changing the angle from which he was reading the letter thinking that it will somehow alter its content.

"I'm afraid that is our only option," Verid said, deep in thought.

"What option?." Arkin asked. "They just want us to die! ," he said, visibly distressed. "Dying is not an option, it's the end result of failure, and they are setting us to fail from the get go".

He found it ludicrous that somebody expected them, to follow through with those orders. "You are cursed," Arkin added. "Or you did some fucked up shit as a kid, and now your father is punishing you by sending us both on a suicide! Mission." He couldn't believe it. Him Arkin Thur Beyrek was being sent to die just like that. Red flames appeared in his hand out of nowhere, and he set the letter on fire.

"What are you doing?" Verid asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"What! , you were going to burn it anyway, so what's the big deal?" Arkin retorted.

"Yeah, you're right," Verid said.

"You!" Arkin said, pointing to the orc that brought the letter. "How many high Lords were present at Avanom when they sent you?". The orc was two heads taller than him so he had to constantly look up when he was speaking to him.

The Orc thought for a moment, then said. "I don't know for sure my Lord, but I heard that most of the Ascended Generals, and High Lords were present".

"Ascended Generals." Arkin said in a low voice, with just a hint of surprise. "You heard him!. What do we do now, Verid?".

Verid, thought for a moment, then said. "First you need to get dressed, then we will go to Kotia as planned"

"Oh! Ignoring orders, I like it," said Arkin cheerfully.

"No! We will follow the orders, but not now." Verid then commanded. "Soldiers! Pack your stuff, and get the horses ready, we'll set out in an hour".

Some of the soldiers became a little tensed by what may happen in the future. They were just random guards that Verid hired on his stroll around Agnis. Almost all of the one hundred men were just one step away from being complete greenhorns. They weren't physically nor mentally prepared to go on a suicide mission, and both friends knew that.

Arkin and Verid entered the big red tent. Inside Arkin saw a teardrop shaped wineskin on a table, and picked it up. Feeling its weight he already knew what was inside. He took a few gulps, and felt the spicy liquid go down his throat, his face contorted from the strong taste.

""Ghaa! Pieces of shit!" Arkin said, passing the leather wineskin to Verid. "How dare they? Send us to die! I bet my father was there as well, and did nothing to prevent it, as usual".

"Breathe, you know what happens when you get too worked up," Verid reminded him, while enjoying the strong taste of the wine. This wine was very strong, and not many people in Agnis possessed it. Verid stole it from his brother Belron, who was very fond of strong beverages. Well, he didn't steal it per se, he just didn't say that he was taking it with him.

"I'm breathing! It's just that it's so fucking stupid!" Arkin said, in a fit of anger. "How the fuck are we supposed to stop an invasion if there are only two of us? , when I think about it, I want to go, and butcher every single fucker that signed that order". He felt his face redden, because he knew that he wasn't strong enough to do it. Still, that didn't stop him from imagining it.

"I understand," Verid said, in a calm voice. "But we have no choice, we need to do it, and we need help to do so," He was no longer drinking, so he passed the winekin back to his friend.

"Yes, but who would be willing to help us?" Arkin asked, visibly calmer. Both of them were thinking of a way out of this ordeal but nothing came to mind.

They had no idea what to do. The logical solution was to go back to Avanom, and ask King Sethar, Verid's father for troops, but they knew this was wishful thinking. The order came with the royal seal, meaning that King Sethar approved of this, as did most of the highborn Lord's. If king Sethar wished to help his son in this ordeal he would have at least sent an army to help him.

Both friends wracked their brains out for a solution, and when nothing came to mind they drank bitterly. Almost an entire hour passed and they still had no idea what to do.

"Can we fight off an invasion with just one hundred soldiers?." Arkin asked the same question again, and again. "They will clearly run away the moment we reveal our new goal. Even if we increase our numbers, and hire mercenaries, how many can we afford? Life in exile is better than death," he said, dispirited. Chugging down the wine gave him a feeling of control. Control that he lacked at the moment.

Arkin knew if they returned to Avanom, and refused to obey the order. The most that could happen to them would be exile. Sure disobeying the king's order, especially one that was signed by who knows how many High Lord's, and Ascended Generals may tempt someone to propose execution, but they are no commoners. A prince, and the Beyrek's family heir, even in bad dreams can't be executed, the more in real life. Arkin didn't even consider the second option possible, that's why he was tempted to abandon the new mission.

Verid didn't agree with him so he borrowed one of his brother's sayings. "There's definitely a way, we just don't see it". He pulled the wineskin away from Arkin's mouth, and said. "Think harder".

Arkin saw an opportunity to tease his friend, and alleviate the overall mood. "You can't just use Oslo's quote without giving him credit for it," he said sarcastically.

"Shut up, word's don't belong to anyone, if I say it now then it's mine, if you say the same tomorrow, then it's yours" Verid wasn't in the mood to have a laugh at his own dispense. "Words aren't cattle, they have no owner, so why should I credit something that isn't physical?". He felt that he gave a good answer so he took some sips from the wineskin in a celebratory manner.

Arkin was taken aback by his friends' reaction, but he knew how to play this game. "Wow, he is your brother and you want to take away his trademark saying, that's pretty harsh".

"They are just words, he will survive." Verid said. He drank some more before passing the wineskin to Arkin.

Arkin wanted to say something back, but decided to drink instead, he didn't want to sway too far from the main topic.

"Venersys, Venersys might help," Verid said, softly. His cousin was coming back from his short lived adventure in the unknown lands, and this might be their saving grace.

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