The Dawn Lady

With only a short stay at the front, he was already a battle scarred legionnaire and a one-eyed soldier. It seemed that he was not the only one to notice as an eye patch rested on the bedside table of his room with the sun emblem of the Dawn Legion sewed into it. Reynold put it on and stood from his bed but soon found that he was sitting in bed once more, his body wasn't happy with the mistreatment it had suffered at his hands, "I will need to write to my parents," He mumbled to himself as he attempted to stand again and it worked, as much as his balance wasn't great.

The young man made his way out of his room and found himself in the halls of the Dawn Legion's headquarters, the palace of the Dawn Lady. Message runners ran up and down the halls as he limped his way around, "Good afternoon, Legionnaire Iver," He turned his head and saw the woman who had been taking care of him as the runners moved up the right side of the hallway and down the left, "I see you have dared to get up and walk," She approached him and her arm slid under his to hold him up, "Would you like to speak to the Dawn Lady?"

"I, um, I actually would like to, thank you, um, I don't know your name," He looked at her with a touch of embarrassment in his expression.

"Lady Holi, call me Julia."

"Very well, Lady Holi," She rolled her eyes as she walked with him. He had never seen somewhere so active as the halls of the Dawn Legion's capital and his amazement was clear to see, "Many people."

"Very much so, Reynold," She noticed one stop by them and held out a message, "For legionnaire Iver?" She nodded and Lady Holi took the message, "I believe this is for you, from your commander, well, former commander," Reynold took it but didn't open it as they resumed walking towards the main room in which the Dawn Lady operated from. The young man was in a surreal world and barely alive to see it.

"You have a visitor, Dawn Lady," A very formally dressed general spoke up and pulled the white and gold clothed woman from her map to the man being aided into the room, "I believe that is legionnaire Iver," The four people in the room looked towards the eyepatch wearing young man and Lady Holi as they walked towards the map table. The three, well-dressed men wrapped up the maps and stood from their chairs before leaving, Lady Holi bowed her head then left the room with the generals. Reynold was left alone with the well-dressed and slightly intimidating older woman that was the Dawn Lady.

"Please, take a seat, Reynold," A well dressed maid walked in with a large tray of food. It smelled amazing and as soon as his eyes laid their gaze upon the food, his mind reminded him that he hadn't eaten since he passed out, "Don't wait for me to tell you to eat, Reynold," The Dawn Lady added to her comment, "I hear you have been a witness to many things and that you have done many things," The young man nodded as he began to eat, ripping the soft, well-cooked flesh of a chicken's leg and then adding some of the roasted vegetables to his bite. The older woman looked on and shook her head with a smirk, "I always forget how much the young legionnaires can eat."

He finished the plate and breathed heavily as he looked at her and thanked her with a bow of his head, "So."

"The battle."

"Yes, that seems like a good place to start," Reynold nodded as his mind was flooded with the images he could recall, with him first rushing out of the tent as he heard the commotion of the front line. The Dawn Lady listened to everything he had to say and added to her notes that came from the field commanders at the front and that had been rotated out to refit and recuperate. The young man's tale seemed almost a lie until he described the moment he was the last man standing, the moment that really destroyed his eye and the way the beasts fled.

"They ran from me after I killed the first two."

"Wait, wait, let's go back to the figure."

"I have a question about that, actually," She signaled for him to ask his question, "Who was exiled to the dark lands that could be strong enough to do something like this?"

"My best guess is the former high lord of Galewin, the one the Dawn Legion replaced," She replied without much time to think, "He was exiled and stripped of his power after it was discovered he was committing acts of necromancy and dark magic."

"That's smart."

"Excuse me?"

"Exiling a man who has access to dark magic? Seems like the best way to have him become more powerful and an even greater problem," Reynold replied, "If only we had executed him then and there."

"The king's justice deemed that as punishment, not our own," The young man shook his head and cracked his knuckles, "You refused his offer."

"Yes, I have nothing to gain from his offer."

"I don't quite see how that is not a tempting offer," Reynold stood up and paused as he put his hand on his sheathed sword, "Power and fame."

"A fool lets himself be tempted by such simple rewards," Reynold replied, making the Dawn Lady look at him with an impressed look, "I have little to claim that I am not a fool, I charged head first into a wave of beasts to try and keep some of the men alive and nearly died because of it."

"I," She paused, not knowing what to say, "That is an impressive show of determination, young man."

"Thank you, Dawn Lady," She nodded and he stood up completely from his chair, "Is there anything else you need to ask me or need me to tell you?"

"I do not think so, legionnaire Iver, you are dismissed," A bow of his head preceded him heading to the door then leaving the room. The Dawn Lady looked forward blankly before Lady Holi returned to the room, "I don't know what to say."

"Mother?" Lady Holi walked to the table and stood by it as her mother seemed shaken by the conversation she had just had with Reynold, "What happened?"

"Do you not find him, how do I say this? Intimidating?" She replied, her voice unsure of the words she was using. Her daughter looked at her and stared silently, leaving the room in complete silence for a few moments, "He has a presence, that is most certain."

"I have not noticed it, mother?" They both looked at the door, "What about him made you say that?"

"The eye patch, the coldness in his voice as he described hacking the dead to bits and the rage in him from losing his comrades," She seemed stunned, "They ran from him."

"A good legionnaire?"

"More than a good legionnaire, Julia, a real Dawnbringer."

"A Dawnbringer, you say?" She looked back at her mother, "Should I keep an eye on him?" A nod sent her off as she headed for the door.

"You are to be his nurse, keep tabs on him, tell me how he recovers," Julia nodded her head as she held the door handle before leaving the room and the Dawn Lady sighing and standing up, "Reynold Iver, barely 3 months in the legion and here he is, being called a Dawnbringer," Her attention was pulled back to reality as the generals re-entered the room, "Ah, good, you are back," She returned to her seat and the maps were unrolled once more as the image of Reynold sitting in the chair with such vicious tales to tell remained.