Reputation

Sarin stepped out of the room and joined the others downstairs after he collected himself and refreshed a bit. It was easy to guess that Jäwell also had a complicated night, judging by the dark circles around his eyes. The two men yawned at the same time. Rahir looked at them and chuckled, "What did you do together last night?"

Sarin took a step back, troubled by such allusions, while Jäwell laughed loudly, "Are you jealous, buddy? Do you want some too? I can be very generous."

Sarin pressed two fingers on his temples and sighed, everyone knew it was humor, but the big man was not comfortable with such jokes, maybe because he knew of Jäwell's true nature. Rahir was the first one to laugh, not understanding why Jäwell was not ashamed to be imagined in such a delicate position with another man. 

Urak interrupted them for the relief of Sarin, "Let's go, guys, we have a lot of road to Cardanic left to do."

"Where is Mikel?" Rufon asked.

"Still with the waitress in his bedroom," Answered Gabron.

They all decided to take another cup of tea waiting for their friend, and when Mikel joined them, they all had a large teasing smile. Oh, he knew at this moment that he would hear about this all the way to the next battle. 

"Jäwell and Sarin spent the evening together," Mikel tried to say as a diversion, but Jäwell laughed, "They know, nobody cares."

In this atmosphere, the eight men took their horses and resumed their journey with the soft melody of the laughter and teasing concerning Mikel's night. Even Sarin who usually didn't approve of such mocking words joined the fun and allowed himself to laugh a bit.

They ended their breakfast in calm and in a good mood. Feeling observant, Sarin looked around and noticed Jäwell who kept watching him in the corner of his eyes. It was almost as if Jäwell knew about the changes Sarin experienced. With such an attitude, he would have normally felt like a prey under the surveillance of a vulture, but Sarin was fine. He was surprised himself to enjoy the company of Jäwell a bit more this morning compared to the other days. Something deep had changed, and Sarin was happier. The strong man smiled in the direction of Jäwell and this one answered with a funny winkle.

The road to Cardanic was filled with a lot of patrols and enemy camps. On the first day, the eight had to fight a dozen enemy riders. There was a certain joy in their dynamic as they had to fight every day to continue their path. 

They killed plenty, but they spared even more. They were not a group of revengeful warriors, they were just men trying to do something for their country. Furthermore, they had no desire to kill the men who ran away. For those who dropped their weapons, they were pretty safe. 

The riders passed the village of Tanazli, a charming place reputed for its flowers and balneo baths. Falin was already planning to make his stocks of plants for the journey, as Tanizli had every kind of medicine that could be needed. Urak mentioned the general library and a few books about philosophy that he really wanted to explore, as for Rufon, he really wanted to experience the relaxing baths he had heard so much about. They passed the front door and stepped into a very quiet place. Way too calm to be normal and, as expected, they reached the main place of the village, the eight riders saw an armed group of soldiers waiting for them.

"Gentlemen! Stop and surrender, you are under arrest," What seemed to be the captain claimed. 

The eight looked at themselves, knowing already what was the answer. Gabron and Furon, who were at the head of the group at this moment, just moved aside and let Jäwell and Rahir jump in front of them happily.

Mikel, Sarin, Rahir, and Jäwell were the most powerful fighters in their atypical group. Rahir and Jäwell were having little chuckles of excitement as they withdrew their swords. It was a time for fun to them, while Mikel and Sarin were humbler, respecting their enemy and the fight to come. 

Rahir and Jäwell had raised their swords in an almost ritual move. The captain was shocked by this sudden assault and fear took the best of him, "You are outnumbered! Just drop it, you are surrounded anyway!"

This didn't convince Jäwell and Sarin to not attack, on the contrary, it only challenged them, and they were determined to prove to this enemy captain that he was wrong, to prove that they were the best. They plunged into the men in arms and yelled in happiness. Jäwell pressed his back against Rahir, and they sliced throats together with a lot of amusement. 

The panic took over on the soldiers, many of them just threw their weapons to the floor and ran away as quickly as possible. Deserting their position, they angered their captain, and yet, at this moment, they couldn't care less about this man. 

Jäwell and Rahir were joined by Mikel and Sarin who were peacefully coming, knowing it would be useless for them to participate now. They just crossed their arms and looked at the two savages taking lives without caring one bit about anything other than their own fun. 

Rahir let out a little scream of joy when he stabbed the captain, "Haha! You wanted to stop us, what are you doing now? We will show you what we do to people who stole our homes!" He commented with the rage of the winners.

Gabron chuckled when he saw Rahir, one foot on the chest of the man on the floor and victoriously raising his sword to the sky like a conqueror. What they didn't know was that it was the first battle with the enemy's army of a long series. After they had killed the dozen soldiers and let escape the ones surrendering, there was a wave of sudden concern in the group.

"They are afraid of us," stated Rufon in a cold voice. 

The other riders had a cold chill at the idea, but it was already too late. They had spent over a week killing everyone who opposed them and who was from Rosebud. The rumor spread that there were apocalyptic riders coming to destroy the empire. They had started to have their little reputation, and they had made their intentions clear. They wanted to take back their homeland, even knowing that there would be a full army waiting for them at their destination point. 

The enemy knowing where they were going and what they were doing was not a problem until now. They had sent patrols and multiple units to try to stop them, but now that they were visibly worried about the eight riders, they would be sending armed and organized soldiers. Things were about to change, and the fights were about to be harder and harder. 

Jäwell would have normally enjoyed this, he wanted to smile. He was content as he had what he wanted, a full path of enemies to kill with a huge army at the end, but he couldn't be happy. For some unknown reason, Jäwell looked at his scared companions, and he didn't have the heart to enjoy the challenge to come as much as he wanted. He was not even excited by the idea, so he just kept his thoughts to himself, and they continued to walk. 

Men were sent by the empire and the riders were facing more and more enemies. Every day was a challenge, and they never knew how many of them they would face. They even had to stop sleeping in the taverns since they were too noticeable. Since there was a bounty over their head, they had preferred sleeping in the countryside, for the biggest pleasure of Rufon. 

In the morning, they had been woken up by furious bounty hunters, the men stormed into their camp and tried to capture the riders, but that was without expecting Jäwell who was angered to be awakened this way and vented his nerves on the men who dared to trouble his slumber. He easily dodged the trap and killed the men without hesitation by cracking their necks. 

"Are we far from your town?" Jäwell asked, upset, as he was cleaning the mess from the assault.

"We have arrived," Gabron said in a cold voice, shaking from the stress. 

Jäwell raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction Gabron was pointing. On the horizon, he could see masses of black dots in the plain. He looked at Gabron with interrogation, listening to the horrifying answer

"Yes, they are our people."

"That is not a battle, that is a rescue," Jäwell breathed. 

They were far enough to not be spotted, but enough hidden in the heights of the cliffs to have a good view. Jäwell looked at the massive army unit that was in front of him and muffled a scream of joy.

"Oh, this will be a carnage."