Fated Meeting

Lucian nodded, "Yes." He said without a second thought

"Hm." the man said as Lucy let out a shriek in the background, "What's your name?" 

"Lucian." Lucian said, "You?" 

He probably shouldn't have answered honestly, as he wasn't sure if this person would be a potential enemy or foe. But Lucian was starting to get confidence in his abilities should a fight break out. At that specific point, he didn't care if he said the wrong thing. 

"You shouldn't answer so honestly to strangers, kid." The man said with a frown, "That's awfully suspicious...." 

Lucian shrugged, "Hey, I told you my name, the least you could do is tell me yours." He said

"Hm...." The man said, "Not if you answer a few other questions." 

Lucian sighed, "I guess so." He said, "But know one thing, if you decide to attack, I'll defend myself." 

"What are your thoughts on Valkren?" the man asked

Lucian raised an eyebrow, "Who?" 

The man narrowed his eyes, "Hm..." He said, "You don't know Valkren?" 

"Should I?" Lucian asked as Lucy chirped behind the man, "Who the hell is that?" 

"Quod mortuus est non mori" The man said

Lucian blinked, "What's that? Latin?" He said 

The man slowly lowered his pistol, "Hm..." He said, "You're not a Demon....and you're certainly not acquainted with Valkren's armies, alright....a Traversed that's infiltrated would've had some reaction to that chant....they're bathed in the Bloodgore in order to gain more power." 

Lucian blinked again, "The what now?" 

"You're a fresh Traversed, I can tell that much." The man said

"You a Traversed too?" Lucian asked him

The man raised his eyebrow, "How can you tell?" He asked

"The guns. Some sort of magic, I assume." Lucian said as he looked at him

"Hm, fresh Traversed, indeed." The Man said, "There are magic firearms in Infernis, but if you'd been here longer than what I assume is a week or so, You'd know that by now. That and the Bull Kingdom don't necessarily have those."

Lucian gestured at Lucy in the cage behind the man, "May I?" He asked

The Man stepped aside as Lucian walked past him and reached the wagon, prying open the cage door as Lucy chirped. 

"A Royal Wyvern, where did you get your hands on that?" the man asked

"Ah....." Lucian said as Lucy flew out of the cage and landed on his shoulder, "I found her egg and it hatched." 

"Interesting..." the man said

"What's your name, mister?" Lucian asked, "I assure you, I'm not a threat." 

"I doubt that." he said, "That insignia on your coat, that's the mark of the Darklight Sect. You're with them." 

"Oh, them? No." Lucian said as he tickled Lucy's chin as she chirped happily, "I was held captive by one of their main girls, she had wings." 

"Lunaris?" the man said with bewilderment, "Lunaris held you captive?" 

Lucian raised his eyebrow, "You know her?" 

"I know of her." he said, "But to think you got away from a Paladin Knight. Lunaris is one of the finest warriors of The Order." 

"Well, I got away from her." Lucian said as he turned around and began to rummage around the wagon, "You haven't told me your name." 

The man cleared his throat, "Erm, yes, that's true." He said, "I'm not sure I could trust you completely but it wouldn't hurt to tell you my name. It's Brodin." 

"You can call me Sergeant, though." 

*******************

"Poachers, huh?" Lucian said as he sat across the campfire from Brodin, "You tracked them all the way down here?" 

Brodin was chewing a piece of chicken, "Yes." He said, "They stole some eggs from me, I come to find out they had sold it to some noble, and that noble destroyed them. So I tracked them down for revenge." 

Lucian had looted a couple of fresh chicken meat from the poachers and he joined Brodin to travel to the nearest town that was around twenty miles away. They made a single stop in the middle of the forest and decided to camp out. Lucian was still wary of this stranger, not so sure if he could fully trust him, but so far, his instincts didn't tell him something was wrong. 

"Interesting." Lucian said as he ate from a chicken leg and tossed some cooked chicken to Lucy's mouth, "Well, they had captured Lucy here so I couldn't let that slide." 

"There were three." Brodin said as he looked at Lucian, "What happened to the other two." 

"I don't know." Lucian shrugged, "I beat them pretty easily." 

"Hm." Brodin said, "You must be quite formidable. What's your magic? Sorcery?" 

Lucian nodded, "Yes, you can say that." He said as he snapped his finger and summoned a silver flame on his index finger, "I'm not that good, though." 

Brodin glanced at Lucy, "Hm.." He said, "Silver flames...a silver dragon...how convenient." 

Lucian nodded, "Yea, I guess so." He said, "Say, you're Traversed, right?" 

"I am." He said

"How long have you been here?" Lucian asked him

"Twenty years." Brodin responded

Lucian widened his eyes, "Twenty years?!" He exclaimed, "You haven't gotten a chance to return?!"

Brodin gave him a serious look, "Kid." He said, "There is no going back." 

"Y-You're kidding, right?" Lucian said

Brodin shook his head, "How many Traversed do you think appear in Infernis per day?" He said, "Dozens. They fall from the sky like it's a regular occurrence, which it is. The majority of them are low-level talentless Sorcerers who eventually become nobodies in the Free Kingdoms or even in the Imperium." 

Lucian frowned, "I thought Traversed that crazy potential." He said, "That girl told me that every Traversed is special."

"She lied." Brodin said, "Yes, Traversed have a unique potential but the majority of them don't realize it. Yes, at first they have this surge of power with their sorceries and such but eventually, they burn out. Like a bright candle eventually running out of wax and flickering out." 

Lucian didn't believe what he was hearing. So what Lunaris told him was a lie? Was everything she said was a lie? No, he didn't think so. Maybe Brodin was telling him from his own perspective. There was something else at play that Lucian was unaware of. He couldn't just accept that he was crossed here randomly and was stuck here. 

There had to be other reasons.

"I see..." Lucian said

"My point is, kid, that there are so many Traversed in Infernis, there could be a whole Kingdom made purely out of them." Brodin continued, "But none of them, and I mean, none of them had found a way back. Half of them didn't even want to go back and the half of the remaining half gave up. You're not the first fresh Traversed who wants to go back home immediately, I was the same. Eventually, you'd find to make yourself comfortable here." 

Lucian looked down, a bit disappointed in what he had just heard. He had just run into another Traversed, which got his hopes up a bit, but he didn't expect the man to hit him with such stone-cold facts. It made sense to him, however, the man looked like a no-nonsense military kind of guy. 

"You were in the army, Sarge?" Lucian asked him

Brodin nodded, "I was." He said, "Came from a military family." 

"I see." Lucian said, "You remember your past life?" 

Brodin looked at him, "Hm, I do." He said, "You don't?" 

Lucian shook his head, "No. Don't know much. I know my name, I know a couple of things, but everything is fuzzy." He said

"Interesting. I have heard of the Soulway messing with people's memory but never met a Traversed with this condition." Brodin said, "Eventually, they should return. You're still fresh." 

Lucian nodded, "I guess so." 

"We're miles away from Rivertown." Brodin said, "A town that was built by one of the Water Snakes, a set of rivers that run through the Bull Kingdom. When we get there, we can go our separate ways." 

Lucian frowned, "Where are you off to?" 

"Back to my home." Brodin said, "I don't know where your journey will take you, but I wish you good fortune." 

Lucy let out a chirp as Lucian handed her a piece of chicken. 

"Alright then." Lucian said, "Thanks." 

"For helping out."