Elin-18

Elin entered the room carrying pen, ink, and a ledger. A bound troll sat behind the wooden table, wounded on the shoulders and legs.

"Get out," Elin told the guard next to the troll.

"Elin, for your safety—"

"I said get out. Now."

Once the guard left, Elin pulled a chair from the wall and sat across from the troll, placing his items on the table. He looked up to find the troll staring at him.

"I've seen you before," the troll said.

"Of course, of course," Elin replied, flipping open the ledger. "Your name is... Sengu?"

"Who told you that?"

"One of your lackeys."

"I can guess who. He's as good as dead."

"Maybe, but it won't be at your hands. Not before yours, at least. So, Sengu, tell me. This was your plan with Tusha, right?"

"Don't lump me with him. He betrayed the trust of our kin, trampled our honor."

"That's a matter of perspective. To Tusha, not every long-nosed, big-toothed fellow is kin. I need your help, Sengu." Elin wrote a few words and set the pen aside. "Tell me everything between you and Tusha. How he worked for you, how you planned, what you thought of him. Everything. If that's too vague, I'll ask specific questions. One at a time."

"Why should I tell you?"

"Listen, Sengu. It's evident you've kept much from your comrades. They don't even know Tusha's origins. They, your supposed glory-sharing kin, are just labor for you. You said Tusha betrayed you... who can prove that? No one knows what happened. As the only one who understands Tusha, who's to say this betrayal isn't your doing?"

"No one would think that. My kin know my loyalty to Hammerfall, to the tribe."

"We can test that. Kill the others, and we'll return you safely to Hammerfall. Don't worry, I'll tell them you're a fearless warrior who revealed nothing, blaming all the mess on Tusha's personal actions. How's that? I don't know if you have a wife and children. They'd surely be happy to see you alive. Since you're no traitor, your family, your represented clan, won't suffer any consequences. Rest assured."

"Every Seven's soul is destined for eternal torment upon death."

"Don't insult a Seven by discussing the afterlife. You know we're short-sighted, only focusing on what we can see and touch. Alright, Sengu, first question. How did he find you?"

Sengu fell silent for a moment, lowering his head slightly.

"What's wrong?" Elin asked. "Bad memories?"

"I need some time to recall such distant events."

Elin frowned, leaning back.

"Tusha... no, Vossuva. I've known him since he left his homeland," Sengu began.

"You're of the same kin?" Elin asked.

"No. But I know where he comes from. A lazy tribe with no ambition, never leaving the valley they inhabit. At the time, I had just left my own homeland, also with the desire to revive my tribe. I think it was this commonality that made me and Vossuva friends for a while. For me, the path to achieving my goals was straightforward: through war. There would be many wars in this world, and conquering the battlefield meant conquering everything. But Vossuva was different. He wanted the unique spiritual elixir of his homeland to be accepted by all races. I found it absurd and mocked him. We fought, I lost, but he didn't kill me. He said to me, 'You must live to see the day of my success. By then, you'll repay today's suspicion with death.'"

"Two young, radical, and arrogant lads. Go on."

"For decades after that, we didn't meet. I arrived in Hammerfall, gained status through battle, and had more Stromgarde soldiers die under my command than any Hammerfall commander. I came into contact with the 'Feast,' did some rudimentary research with my men, although unsuccessful, it helped me realize its role in war. When I heard it came from an unnamed troll elixir, I immediately thought of Vossuva. Not long after, his name appeared at the Booty Bay arena, but I rushed there to find it wasn't him. This both excited and disappointed me. Disappointed because I was deceived, excited because I knew the real Vossuva must still be alive somewhere, continuing his work."

"Have you tried sending people to find him?"

"I tried countless times, but with no results. So, I decided to lure him out. Over the decades, his tribe continued to decline, with less than a hundred left. I had my army control these people and spread the word."

"You knew Tusha would be very angry. Extremely angry."

"Yes, I knew, but I thought the risk was worth it. One night half a year ago, I returned to my room and found Vossuva sitting on the bed, holding my little daughter, toying with a knife. My wife was crouched by the bed, once a brave female warrior, but now trembling, unable to even look at me. Then Vossuva said to me, 'Long time no see, Sengu. Why didn't you come visit me in Booty Bay?'"

"You must have taken a lot of convincing."

"My original plan was to use a more forceful approach, like refusing cooperation unless his kin's safety was guaranteed. But in the end, I decided to tell him this was the best chance for his tribe to win glory. Assisting us in obtaining the strongest, most fearless warriors, he would undoubtedly become a hero of the entire tribe."

"Do you think these things really appealed to him?"

"That was my approach. Over the years, the idea that only through war could I make a name for myself became more and more entrenched in my mind, so this was the best advice I could offer Vossuva. He agreed. It wasn't an easy plan; I had to get support from the upper echelons of the tribe, but they were willing to provide limited assistance. They wanted to see some results first. Getting Laurence was the first step, proving the credibility of this research with an outsider. And orders came from above that if the research was to proceed, a period of calm must be ensured between Hammerfall and Stromgarde."

"You mean, Hammerfall doesn't have enough resources to support both war and this research simultaneously?"

Sengu remained silent.

"Understandable," Elin said, jotting down notes. "It hasn't been easy for you. I mean it, Sengu. I think I understand the rest. The situation is quite dire. Let me ask you, throughout this entire process, didn't you find Tusha a bit suspicious? Like he might have ulterior motives?"

"I certainly thought about it, but by then, things couldn't be stopped. Perhaps I was the initiator at first, but all the detailed plans were made by him alone. No one would have thought of stealing the Tolkar Sword, such a dangerous method, let alone carrying it out."

"Mm. I guess so."

"Human, your name... Elin, right?"

"That's correct. Pleasure to meet you."

"Do you want to know what made me most suspicious of Vossuva?"

Elin put down his pen, staring at Sengu. Sengu smiled, mixed with self-derision and mockery towards Elin.

"Tell me."

"That night, I was there." Sengu pointed to his right eye with his thumb, mimicking a digging motion. "Before meeting you, I asked Vossuva if we should go together, considering we didn't know the strength of this Seven investigator. He said no need, he could handle it alone. When he came back, I asked him why he didn't kill both, or at least kill the woman. He said there was no need. I wasn't satisfied with that answer."

"Elin picked up the pen again, looking down at his notebook.

'What do you think will happen to Tusha's people now?' he asked.

'You should be able to guess. They'll all die, even without my orders,' Sengu replied.

Elin closed the notebook and stood up. 'Right, I have one last thing to ask. Do you know Nordved, to the west? Has Tusha ever been there?'

'I don't know. He did have a period of regular outings, lasting at least a week each time, but abruptly stopped about a month ago.'

'In my opinion, that's the most suspicious. Why didn't you have someone follow him?'

Sengu remained silent.

'I understand. You don't have the guts.'

'What do you intend to do with us?'

"Sorry, I can't answer that. Actually, I'm not the one in charge here. You'll have to wait for her to come back. Thank you very much for your cooperation, I mean it.'

'I feel sorry for Vossuva, human,' Sengu said as Elin turned away. 'He could have been one of the most important figures in the tribe. A nightmare for all of you. But he...'

Elin couldn't hear the rest, as he left the room and closed the door. The moon rose. It illuminated the dark cyan mountains in the distance, the blood-soaked bandages on soldiers' heads, and the footprints left in the sand and gravel. Stromgarde couldn't be seen from here, and it was almost dinner time. I wonder if Niaes is enjoying the feast in the court? Probably not, but it would be nice if she were. If she came back earlier, these soldiers wouldn't be useless without her.

I feel pretty good. Sengu's a sharp guy, but seems lacking in cunning, no wonder he was easily controlled by Tusha. Damn, that line applies to anyone. Except maybe Jorgen, so far he seems to be the only one who ever defeated Tusha. Of course, not in a fight. What did Tusha want me to tell him? Was it "teach your guy, he's not ready yet"?... No, I've had enough setbacks lately. Anyway, I'll just tell Jorgen this half-sentence and let him guess what Tusha meant.

Jorgen, we both forgot two things, and now I remember. You told me that Tusha once said he felt pain for becoming "Feast" because he thought it defiled his ancestors. Let's compare. "Feast" is addictive, debilitating, night-blindness, and doesn't make money. That's it. I don't think being a druggie is worse than being a Undertaker. Also, he tried his best to hide his identity, avoid that... orc, whatever it's called... Anyway, Tusha thought it was stupid to glorify killing, so he wanted to avoid him. I guess he doesn't think he's glorifying his ancestors' legacy in Hammerfall or Stromgarde.

You should have reached this conclusion earlier, Jorgen, especially since I hardly ever met him. You're responsible for this.

I think Tusha probably never changed, starting from when he confided his youthful ambitions to Sengu. And now, things are beyond his control. The Seven, Stromgarde, Ravenholt, the tribe. Each force's interference has added to his shame. The elixir will become a tool for making killers, something he alone can't change the course of. He failed. The only thing left for him is to clean up the mess. What he did was simple, just repeating what happened in Booty Bay, using his own death to quiet things down, which is why I said he never changed. It's just that, this time, it's truly his own death.

That's all he can do. After the Tolkar Sword broke, Galin was bound to declare war. Getting involved in this plan was a complete failure for Hammerfall. The tribe won't be interested in researching the elixir anymore. Since we're planning to withdraw and Stromgarde has no manpower or data, and Ravenholt has been silent for so long with no results, I think Tusha's goal has been achieved. Of course, the "Feast" still exists in this world, but maybe Tusha learned to tolerate it, or else he wouldn't have died like this. Well, I don't really understand him, so I'm not drawing any conclusions.

I guess Tusha wanted me to tell Jorgen not to mess up, because after doing what had to be done, only the two of us can rely on each other.

Elin stood outside his tent with Galloca.

Tusha, I can never forgive you, you damn bastard who's always smiling for no reason. I mean, that night you could have just ditched Sengu, and then we could have had a friendly chat, right? Of course... I can't go along with your plan. I have to protect the Tolkar Sword. We'll have to fight this time, there's no avoiding it.

The last question is Nordved. There must be something there that you wanted me to see... something that influenced your decisions. I have to go there. I want to take her with me. Just the two of us. Actually, you probably wanted her to go see it too, right?

Damn it. I haven't told her about this yet. Tusha, now you owe my whole family."