13. Chapter 12: The lion's roar

CHAPTER 12: THE LION'S ROAR.

« And here's your payment ! » said the quartermaster, handing a heavy pouch of coins to Velgard.

The wolfman took the pouch, weighting it in his hands. Fifty Sinku! That was his reward. Originally, the sum would have been shared between himself, Ygar and Olva but now… All the gold was his to take. And because they had provided maps and weapons from the other world to the Emperor, the original reward of twenty-five sinku had been doubled.

Thanking the quartermaster who handed him the pay, Velgard left the tent and looked around him. He was in the middle of Molt's army camp. The afternoon sun forced him to shield his eyes. The quartermaster was the one handing the soldier they pay every week, so his tent was extremely well protected. The chests themselves were constantly guarded by an imperial mage and a handful of guards thoroughly screened before given this task.

And as such, stares were pointed in Velgard's direction. After all, while they didn't see the amount, the pouch he had in his hands had the distinctive sound of coins and seemed quite heavy. And people wondered what did someone do to deserve such a reward. Even more, what kind of action did a beastman do to deserve it?

Feeling a little nervous, Velgard hid the pouch in a small leather bag he had brought and made his way back to the Sisterhood of Clear Water's tents. With the slow speed forced by the crutches, he had all the time in the world to think.

He was now effectively wealthier than most in the Empire. What would he do with that kind of money?

Wait for recovery, and go back to soldiering?The more he thought about it, the more he felt unlikely to do so. He was now thirty-seven, and the average lifespan of a Barghest was about sixty years. He had started mercenary work at ten, the age at which Bhargests were considered adults. He had spent twenty-seven years of his life dealing with death. And now that Ygar and Olva were gone…

He really didn't feel like taking back his weapons. Maybe now was the time to settle down, find a mate and have pups? No, he wasn't someone to settle down either. Then what to do…

Wondering about his future, he entered the area with the characteristic white tents of the Sisterhood of Clear Water. Each tent was large enough to house at least ten men, with individual tents intended for the officers near the Sister Palatine's tent. Despite there being no battle recently, there were a few men being tended to, and the sisters ran to and fro with various medical material in their hands. Clay pots filled with incense, bandages, tools for surgery…

He nodded to Flavia, the sister who had tended to him when he passed by her and entered his tent. There was a bed on the left side with a basin full of clean water beside it, and a small wooden chest where most of his possessions had been placed. He put the crutches on the ground, sat heavily on the bed and took out the pouch of coins from the leather bag. He weighted it, thoughtful.

After a while, sister Flavia entered the tent once again.

"How are you doing, hum… What's your name, Barghest?"

He put back the pouch on the bed and tried to smile to her. It was hard. Barghests usually show their emotions with their eyes, ears and tail. And despite having worked with humans for more than twenty years, he could never imitate their expressions with his maw. From her reaction, it was easy to understand she was terrified. He sighed and addressed her.

"I'm Velgard. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. How do you know my people's name? Not a lot of humans do."

She approached, slightly reassured, and started to remove the dirty bandages covering his torn off ear.

"Well, Velgard, I have been raised in Rondel, true, but my father was a hunter in the northern reaches before marrying my mother. He told me a lot about his native region, including a race of wolf-like men who hunted like no man could. From his description, I deduced you were one of them."

Once the bandage removed, she took a peek at the gaping wound. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it definitely wasn't completely healed. She pulled her hand back with haste when Velgard winced at her touch on the bare flesh. Then, she put back a new bandage in a gentle manner, making sure that it covered the wounded area completely.

"What made you want to live this life?" He asked. He was curious in a sense. While he could understand the feeling of wanting to spread medical arts to everyone (He even felt it was quite a noble task), he couldn't understand why they did it freely.

She answered as she looked over the multiple gunshot wounds on his flanks.

"My mother was researching healing magic in Rondel. She always was my model. I wanted to follow her steps, but I didn't have any magical talents. I also wanted to follow the selfless devotion and efforts she put into her research. My mother was a friend with one of the higher sisters at the time, so she made me enter the monastery when I was twelve. My father died a few years later while on a pilgrimage to Holy Alnus. My mother is still alive, but she's too old to cast any healing magic. As I don't have her education, I guess this is my way to continue her legacy."

She tied the bandage over his flank with a satisfied expression, then checked the state of his broken left arm.

"Tell me Velgard, what made you want to life of soldiery? I can see that you're armed, but you do not appear to be an auxiliary into Molt's army. Are you a mercenary?"

He took some time to think as Flavia made sure the splinter holding his left arm in place was correctly placed, then answered.

"We barghests age faster than you humans. We're considered adult at the age of ten. When I was ten years old, I joined a mercenary band who happened to pass by and was recruiting. I was hungry for blood and glory, and a life of hunting like most of my people do seemed boring to me. We were pretty successful, until we were ambushed by a sizable group of trolls. We fought back, but when the local garrison came to help we were only a few left. We broke off, and that's where I saved… I saved Ygar, a few months later…"

He remained silent.

"This Ygar, "she started "Is he the battle brother you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes, he is… Or rather, he was…"

She understood the meaning of what he said immediately, and respectfully stood silent. While she wasn't a worshiper of Emroy, she knew that two warriors taking the oath of the battle brother or sister were bonded for life, to fight and die together. She sat by his side, waiting for him to continue.

"He was my battle brother, and I left him to run while he could barely follow… I'm a coward, and I can't even avenge him…"

She took some time to breathe, putting her hands over her thigs. As a healer, she had heard that conversation many times. The guilt of the survivor. She had seen men getting destroyed mentally, to the point that proud men who had pride in themselves became shelves of their former self. She had also heard many dying wishes of men wishing they had chosen another life.

And while she never had the right answer, she knew ways to help cope with it.

"Velgard, you don't strike me as someone to abandon his brother and dearest friend unless forced to do it. It was Emroy's will, and Ygar's fate. Of course, you shouldn't forget the dead. But you shouldn't also forget the living. I'm sure there are people who care about you."

She raised from the bed, brushing the strands of grey fur that had attached themselves to her dress.

"I shall leave you to your thoughts, Velgard." She said. "May La and Elange help you reach the answer you seek."

She then left the tent, sporting a smile to her face.

Velgard spent the rest of the day lying on the bed, twirling his thoughts. Eventually, an imperial messenger came to the Sisterhood's camp and told to get ready to leave camp early morning next day.

The barghest didn't have a lot of possessions, but it still wouldn't hurt to get ready. He wouldn't be able to haul a backpack with his wounds, so he instead put everything he owned into the small wooden chest at the foot of the bed.

A small wooden box filled with curative and healing substances and equipment. Clothes, only including pants, belts and capes since his fur kept him warm otherwise. Some travelling rations, he might as well keep them and eat what the Sisterhood gave him while he was being taken care of. Of course, the pouch of coins he had received from the quartermaster. A few hygienic items…

What remained was his short bow and arrows, as well as his mace. He looked over them for a long while. The mace was pretty standard, a metallic shaft with a flanged head on top, with straps of leather at the base of the shaft for ease of handling. The short bow however was a gift he had received from his father the day he had joined that mercenary group and left home. It was made of ivory, probably some beast his father had hunted and was carved with depictions of forest spirits. The carving had weathered over the years, but it still could be seen.

A long while later, Velgard made his decision. He grabbed the mace, then put it in the chest. He did the same with the bow and arrows. He wouldn't need those. Not anymore.

Once the chest was closed and secured, he joined the sisters for dinner. The next day, he helped Sister Flavia to haul the chest to the carts of the Sisterhood, and walked with them.

He didn't know what the future had in mind for him. But what he knew was that for now, helping the Sisters would be his task.

…You are to take your armies and head to Holy Alnus hill. There, a Gate opened by the gods stands. Nothing must pass through it. No human, no orc, no elf, no being must come to our side. The other side's people are rich, probably more than the Empire. We will gain much by trading with them, and the allied nations will be rewarded by fourty percent of the trade benefits for ten years, but we aren't sure of the other side's intentions. Until then, you are to make sure nothing foreign put its leg on holy soil.

Emperor Molt Sol Augustus.

Duran frowned, reading for the tenth time the letter he had received about two days ago. As a vassal state, he couldn't ignore the Emperor's demands so he had immediately gathered his army and headed towards Alnus hill.

He had heard rumors prior of new islands to conquer to the north, that might have been why the Emperor had tasked the allied nations to take care of the land beyond the Gate while he was occupied by the islands invasion.

As one of the closest kingdom to Alnus hill, King Duran and his armies only needed about five days to reach their destination. However, the furthest kingdoms would need at least a month, maybe more if complications showed up on the way. For that reason, Duran walked at the head of his army at a slow pace, making sure that his soldiers stayed fresh. He himself was on his horse at such a pace, leisurely following the road to Alnus. They would sometimes stumble upon a pilgrim walking back from the holy site. By listening to them, they already knew a little bit about the Gate. It was a stone and marble construction, with a large mouth that could fit an entire company. There were rumors that a demi-human shepherdess had met beings from the other side at night. The rumors spoke of demons who would enter the hungry mouth of metallic beasts with no care in the world, and come out completely unscathed. Another rumor told of the magic they wielded which managed to repel an imperial wyvern rider squad.

Such rumors were mostly baseless, but each legend had a base of reality. As such, Duran stayed cautious during his approach of the hill.

"Something on your mind, my lord?"

Duran cast a glance to the side. There, his second-in-command was on a horse, looking at him with worry in his eyes. Without realizing it, Duran had been frowning for a good ten minutes already.

"Nothing immediate, Kelimel. But I have my doubts about this whole operation."

His aide and friend, Kelimel, smiled brightly. His skin was darker than most imperials, proof of his southern origins, but he had proved a valuable counsellor and friend many times. His body was covered in armor painted in Elbian colors, but his head showed a veteran grizzled by warfare. There was a scar running along his left cheek, from his mouth to his left eye.

"Surely something that can worry the Lion of Elbe is worthy of hearing! Tell me, my lord, maybe I can offer some advice."

Duran groaned, read over the letter one last time before giving it to his squire who was on a horse nearby then answered.

"I feel the Emperor his strangely generous, Kelimel. Fourty percent of trade revenue can represent a lot if we are to start trading with a whole new world. I'm betting it will represent more than some smaller country's yearly spending."

Kelimel put a hand to his neck, stretching his shoulders.

"Isn't it just a good deal, my lord? The Emperor has seen what he can gain, but he also fears what can come from the other side, so he pumps up his numbers for the first negotiations to appear bigger and meaner."

Duran swatted the commentary aside with frustration.

"No, no. I know how Molt thinks. Every action he does, he does it by making sure that all the odds are with him, and that he's the only one to benefit. What are we missing here…"

Both spent some time silent, trying to think of any way the Emperor could capitalize on the campaign. At some point, Kelimel raised his voice.

"Perhaps he's trying to sow discord and infighting into our ranks?"

The king raised his head, looking at his aide with interest.

"Go on…"

"He did say he would give fourty percent of the trade revenue, but he didn't specify in which proportions… If let's say he intently gave less to the Boritans and more to the Mudwans…"

That was a possibility that Duran could see happening. The Boritan kingdom and Mudwan kingdom were officially allies, but it wasn't rare for frontier skirmishes to happen between the two countries. The only thing keeping the two from going on an all-out war was the watchful eye of the Emperor who didn't like instability among his vassals. But in front of so much riches, tensions could rise rapidly.

Another fact bugged him. The travellers his scouts had met on the road told that the imperial army did come and put a camp near the gate, but left the grounds a few days ago, only leaving a small garrison of a thousand men. It was understandable to leave only the garrison as it would be hard to feed such a huge army without squeezing the area dry of resources, but then why call the allied armies?

Then it dawned on him. That was how Molt would bring discontent and infighting among his vassals! An army walks on its stomach after all, and if infighting started, the emperor would use that as a cassus belli to initiate war on the weakened vassals. And if one of the armies tried to leave to resupply, then it could be a cassus belli as well! With the allied armies being so huge, there was simply no way to feed it in its entirety with only supply lines. Ultimately, desertion would skyrocket and the allied armies would implode by themselves!

"Kelimel!"

The aide who had become kind of laid-back immediately straightened, hearing the authority in Duran's voice.

"Make sure our supply line is regularly renewed, and add more guards to protect the supply carts!"

"Yes my lord!"

Kelimel immediately turned his horse and spurred it forward to the back of the army. Duran gritted his teeth. He was a man who simply wanted his country to prosper. Unlike many of the kings and leaders of Falmart, he liked walking in the streets and seeing genuine smiles of happiness towards him, not faces gripped by fear of acting offensively. And the Emperor's plan threatened that prosperity. Not only his safety was endangered, the safety of all of his people!

He would do everything to thwart that plan to the ground!

Hello there, author here

Foreshadowing what's going to happen next in this chapter! I hope you are excited! I'll just say Duran is right to some extent.

If you have doubts about the "Boritan kingdom", the names of every nation of the allied armies is never specified, only Alguna, Elbe, League principality and Mudwan are mentioned. The "Boritan kingdom" is one of those that never get specified.

Red Sazabert: The mercenaries did get spotted by the thermal camera in the first chapter, but the scientist who spotted her at that time thought of it as a bug in the program since, well, you don't usually expect invisible people to show up.

rmarcano321: General Maximus is "just" a general, it's Molt who has the ideas.

guest101: Emroy's veil (the invisibility cloak) has been brought back to Falmart by Velgard in Olva's bag, so no experimentation for now!I can't answer much concerning the "earth" side of the Gate because I don't want to spoil the story, but this will be taken into account.

There we go! Sorry for the later update by the way.

See you next week!