The Mercenaries - Interlude – Part 1

All was quiet in the town of Caldaria, as Lord Abren scribbled away at the latest document bureaucracy required him to fill out. But that was all about to change as one of the guards knocked at his office door.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"Enter."

"My Lord, there is a … group of people here to see you. They didn't mention why, just that you were expecting them."

"Ah, yes. I have been expecting them. Please can you lead them to my meeting room. I shall join them momentarily."

"Yes, my lord." the guard nodded before closing the door and heading off.

They had arrived. Lord Abernathy had received a response to his letter a few days ago stating they were on their way to visit him. He was truly blessed that they were in the area completing a job.

And now, they were finally here. The vengeance for his son's death would soon be at hand.

…

He walked through his manor passing the many rooms that it contained, many of which were not even in use and soon came to the meeting room. It was his preferred location for him to meet others. He had others meeting rooms in the house, but he only ever used one, as this one had been designed to give him the advantage for whatever may come.

As he entered, he turned to the guard at the door and told him to make sure they were not disturbed. Once inside, he closed the doors and turned to what greeted him.

First was the room. It was as opulent as possible, with some of the most expensive décor that his money could buy. It was also all well-known expensive items that covered the walls, so that anyone who entered knew how much wealth he had. Whomever he met here would be crushed as they realised how little they had compared to him. Everyone aside from someone of higher rank than him of course. But for the group currently present, it was more than enough to demoralise them in some way.

There were more design features that helped to show he was someone to be feared and respected. At the back, behind where he sat, four of his most loyal guards stood. Each wore near pristine armour, made of very expensive and durable metal. The gimmick though, was that it was only near pristine. All along the armour in random places were scratches and dents. They were marks that someone using a sword would make, giving the illusion that these men had seen many skirmishes.

This was not the case though. The dents had been done by his own blade, rather than an actual enemy. He even had the swords the men used coated in blood, staining them so that the shiny silver was tinged red. He made sure that the guards kept their blades just slightly pushed out of their scabbards, so there was always a small amount on display, showing the blood-stained sword to make a statement that they had killed before. Which was also another lie.

It was all theatre.

But that didn't phase Lord Abern. If he was to be the best in the business both as a lord and a criminal, who said you can't use tricks to make it happen. The way he saw it, it was the victim's fault for not spotting it. Just as in combat, what was important was killing your enemy. If a dirty trick was all that stood between you killing them or them killing you, you use that trick.

That's why he was thankful that all of the tricks he was using worked on the group in the room. Well…most of them.

The group was clad in armour and was made up of various races and disciplines. There was the elven man who was a mage, the dwarven assassin, the human greatsword wielder, a half-elf lancer, an elven bowman and…someone he hadn't seen before.

'They must have gotten a new recruit.'

These were a band of fearsome mercenaries who had made quite the name for themselves. They had saved villages, rescued some noble's children… they even guarded a princess once. But even with all that fame, it wasn't enough. Their leader was hungry for more.

Sure the group also liked the fame and the coin that came with it, but their leader was an ambitious fellow, who worked very well with Lord Abern.

"Lord Abern," the leader said bowing his head slightly as he came in, customary when in the prescience of a noble.

The rest of the group followed suit, bowing and curtsying where appropriate.

"Stefan, it is good to see you. I hope you had no trouble getting here."

"Ah, no trouble at all. We had just completed our last mission when we received your message, only a village over. One quick carriage ride was all it took to return to your town."

"Good, good." Lord Abern said as he sat down just in front of his guards. Stefan followed suit and sat down in one of the chairs as well after Lord Abern has done so. The rest of the group stayed standing.

"I take it you have a job for us."

"Yes, I do. An Orc has been spotted in the forest southeast of here."

Gasps flooded the room as they heard that.

A couple of the others behind him went to speak but stopped as Stefan held up his hand.

"An Orc. No one has seen an Orc for years. Where did it come from?" Stefan asked.

"I do not know. It may be from a tribe hiding somewhere, or it may be the last of its tribe. Whatever the case it hardly matters. This…monster killed my son while he was on a hunting trip with his friends."

Sadness then took hold of the room as the band of mercenaries learnt of this news.

"My deepest condolences, Lord Abern. Do not worry. We will hunt this monster down for you." Stefan said as he stood up in what he felt was the most heroic way possible, looking like he was going to instantly leave the room and get on the hunt.

As he stood there, garnering looks of respect from his group at his dedication to going after a monster that killed a noble's son, Lord Abern began to speak. He put on a slight frown as he spoke the next part, almost to show the sorrow he felt from recalling the matter.

"On the matter of pay, I shall give you your usual amount. Is that fine with you?"

Stefan turned back to him, and in an almost exaggerated way held his hand to his chest and the other outstretched to Lord Abern.

"My lord. I think I speak for all of us that you need not do that. We shall take half of what you would normally pay. You have been our benefactor for so long, please let us do this for you."

It was quite a thing to hear his enchanting speech, causing the rest of the group to agree with him and his principles. They all agreed that just removing the monster from this world that killed this poor man's son would be payment enough.

"Now, let us be off. We should get started on this mission to hunt this fiend down and slay it."

"Ah, but it will be dark soon. Please stay for the night and you can start in the morning. I am no mercenary, but I imagine trying to track a monster in the night is not an easy feat, and may be problematic."

Stefan looked at the group and all of them nodded. It made sense as none would be able to track in the night. Besides, they get to have a nice dinner in a noble's house. Who would turn down that offer?

"The maids will show you to the rooms you can use." Lord Abern said as he gestured to the door, showing that they could leave. One of the guards also left to inform the maids of Lord Aberns request.

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Stefan, would you stay for a moment? It has been so long since we last met and I would love to catch up with you."

"Of course. You lot go on ahead and get yourselves comfortable. We gave a long day tomorrow."

With that, the rest of Stefan's team left the room. Then with a quick nod of Lord Aberns head, the guards then left as well, closing the door behind them.

Then it was silent.

"…"

"…"

"Did you have to be so theatrical?"

"You said to put on a show. I think I did that perfectly." Stefan said as he rolled his eyes.

"Sure, sure. You know, you actually should be asking me to pay half. Not just saying it so that you can trick the rest of your group so you get more."

"Oh come now. We may be friends, but we are not that good of friends. I am sorry your son died, but our relationship is still mainly a transactional one. I have goals in life that require coin to achieve."

"I would hardly call whores and drinking goals in life. If so, then you have set the bar very low."

"Those are my hobbies. You have no clue what I wish to do with my life." Stefan said with a pointed look towards Abern, which very clearly said to leave the subject alone.

"So…what's the real story here. I've met your son many times and I have never heard about him having an interest in hunting. Come on, give me the truth."

And so, Lord Abern told him the tragic tale. The tragic tale for the beast kin that is. Of how his son had managed to capture and kill a good deal of them, almost completing his goal, before being killed.

"Think we should check out this village?" Stefan asked.

"By all means. I don't think it's still there, but someone may have seen it. Just be careful what you tell them, both your group and that scu…those beast-kin I mean. I don't know if they learnt anything from my son's friends, so don't let anything slip about what I just told you. I have a reputation to uphold. Both of us do."

"Of course. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to enjoy that free meal your giving us." Stefan said with a wink as he stood up.

Just as he went to open the door he turned back to Lord Abern.

"Oh, make sure the wine is the good stuff."

He then flashed a smile and left, leaving Lord Abern to his thoughts.

But only one was at the forefront of his mind.

'What a dick'