Chapter 8 - Mud

Keziah's goal, once upon a time, was to help the innocent. Driven by his rough upbringing, or the lack of it, for the most part, he wanted others not to experience what he had experienced. And he wasn't alone. A group of adventurers, which he tried to steal from when he was in the fifth year of his homeless drifting through villages and forests, saw potential in him and recruited him. They showed him that the good in people deserves to be protected and cherished and that one shouldn't expect a reward for every good deed. The deed should be enough of a reward, and he started to believe it. They would journey across north Aldunis and Grenica, from villages to towns, through forests and roads, helping those in need and taking only what was necessary to survive. It was a good life. It gave him purpose and a certain peace of mind. He felt like even if he died, he would die knowing that his life wasn't meaningless, that he did something for the greater good.

Until he realized that the greater good wasn't worth fighting for.

But here he was, helping an innocent little girl, just because he reminded him of himself when he was orphaned. The fear, the uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring. The loneliness. Not knowing whether you did something wrong or did the gods played some trick on you. He could see all these things on her face when he opened that carriage's door.

After taking all that Annette could fit into her bag from the carriage, they went back to Avinea. Kez still had some money saved from all the jobs he had taken during the last year in that city and they would need it to travel to Nardan. Neither he nor Annette knew whether Evelyn - Annette's friend would still be there, but it was the only trail they could follow. Keziah himself has never been to Nardan. He never ventured into the southern nations of the former Empire, so his knowledge of Nardan was limited. All he knew was that it was the second biggest port city of the lake Midarior, which some called a 'sea' due to its size. Augustus also didn't know much about it, as he spent most of his existence locked in a glass cabinet in Keziah's family estate.

Keziah didn't know his employer well, but from the precious little time they had together, he figured that he wasn't the type to leave things half finished. If he didn't know that Kez had taken Annette away, then he would know soon. They couldn't go the same way that the carriage exited the city walls. That's why they were now toiling through the Avinean muddy fields to get to a different road leading to a different gate. Keziah was exhausted enough already from stimulating his muscles with some sparks during his fight, and this nightly stroll wasn't going to help him recover. He could only pray to the Gods of Virtues and Nature, all of them at once for all he cared, to not find any problems in their escape.

"How much more… 'till…. we find a road?" asked Annette between gasps for what must have been the 50th time.

"I don't know. Try asking that again in 5 more minutes, though. Maybe I will know then," said Keziah, his answer practiced to perfection, thanks to the last hour of repeating it. Just enough sarcasm to keep himself entertained, but still not so annoying that Annette would stop asking the question. He suspected that she must have been doing it just to indulge him at this point, or she was just that tired and really wanted to find an even ground to walk on. Could be either of them, really.

"It must… have been hours… since we went off-road…" Her arms were spread wide as she jumped across a small puddle of water, catching her balance.

"Just one," answered Kez, thinking that she might truly be that tired already.

"What?" She stopped and looked at him like he had just told her that candies were made of salt.

"It's been just one hour." Kez kept going so that his pace wouldn't be ruined. Despite what he might have looked like, he was tired as well and wanted to get to that road as fast as possible. "It shouldn't be far 'till we reach the road leading to the southeastern gate," he tried offering some words of comfort.

She hung her head and arms low at that, but kept going after him. She hadn't carried her own bag for the last 30 minutes after initially refusing Kez's offer to carry it for her. The bag now hung on Keziah's back, along with the small pouch he always kept with him. It wasn't heavy, just some spare clothes that weren't immediately recognizable as those of someone wealthy. These were left to be burned along with the carriage when they left for Avinea.

After hiking through the field for 15 more minutes, they finally stepped on a somewhat maintained road. It wasn't cobblestoned, but as long as they made it out of the cold puddles, they would consider it a blessing from the God of Soil.

"Finally!" exclaimed Annette, putting her hands on her knees to rest.

"Don't celebrate yet," said Keziah, also allowing himself a quick break. "Hardest part could still be ahead of us."

"What could be harder than this?" she pointed behind her.

"We still need to sneak into the city and to my apartment," explained Kez, calming his breath with his hands on his hips. "Hopefully, nobody will be looking for a long-haired mercenary with jet-black hair at this gate yet. If they do, then I might have to leave somewhere outside the walls while I get my money alone."

'No!" she quickly opposed the idea. "I mean… I won't slow you down or anything…" she said, twiddling her thumbs.

Keziah, slightly surprised by the sudden outburst, said, "Alright, alright, I won't leave you outside." He looked at her as she stared at her feet. "But we need to hurry now, or the Captain will figure out our escape and send the orders to all the gates."

She nodded in response and followed after Kez, along the first road. The city walls were almost visible from the distance they were, even during the night. Their eyes were used to the dark, but the bigger reason for it was the walls themselves. They were painted white to seem like marble and contribute to the city's image as the "beautiful city". Some parts of the wall were actually marble, but most of the defensible parts were just stone and bricks covered in a coat of paint.

"So… are you an adventurer?" asked Annette, trying to break the silence.

Keziah looked back at her over his shoulder, wondering how to answer. "Not anymore, just a lowly mercenary."

"Do you fight in battles and wars, then?" kept asking Annette.

"No, I don't fight in battles."

"So what do you do?"

"I take contracts that are usually meant for adventurers and sellswords."

"That sounds like an adventurer to me…"

"I don't go around the country fighting bandits and monsters, having villagers throw money and ladies themselves at me, if that's what you mean," answered Keziah.

"So you are an adventurer, but you don't have adventures?" surmised Annette.

Keziah chuckled at that. "Sure, you can go with that. It's the most accurate description of what I do that I've heard in a while."

"Can you teach me? Fighting, I mean," asked Annette.

"Who do you need to fight?"

"I don't know… bandits and monsters, I guess," she answered hesitantly.

"You don't want this life, trust me. Not while you still have the choice not to."

"What other choice do I have?" She snickered. "Baker's apprentice, street beggar… or worse. I would rather do something that's even remotely exciting and allows me to have some freedom."

"Why don't you ask Evelyn to teach you, then? Isn't she training herself or something?"

"She won't teach me, not for a while, at least. She treats me like her younger sister. She would rather protect me than train me. It's safer this way."

"Looks like you thought about it a lot."

"I did," admitted Annette. "So, will you?"

"I can show you some forms, give you some tips on sword fighting while we are on the way, sure," agreed Keziah, "but don't expect to be able to take out anybody with just a few weeks of training."

"Thank you," said Annette with a big smile. "I won't let you down."

"Sure, sure, let's just get my money first, then we can worry whether you can swing a sword properly."