by Andrew Lynch
Lucian realised Lord Orson was done. ‘I am.’ He hoped that was all he was meant to say.
‘Then step forward to receive your Quest. The Quest that will launch you towards being a true Hero.’
Lucian stepped forwards, leaned over the dragonbone desk, and placed a hand on the Quest to take it. As he did, Lord Orson began speaking again.
‘Over the bones of the first Great Terror to be slain by a Hero, may you go forth and continue the great deeds of those that have come before you. Go forth and become... the voice of the voiceless.’
Lucian took the Quest. His doubts of whether or not a Hero could be noble and righteous were banished. He felt a new appreciation for all those that had come before him. He was inspired, and couldn’t hide it from his face. He truly would become the voice of the voiceless!
‘Just to be clear, as a new Hero, we don’t have the resources to help you with your Quests.’ Lord Orson creaked as he sat back in his dragonbone chair. ‘You’ll have to complete a few first. Being a Hero is only half the battle, you really need to work the crowd too. Inside tip for you there, boy.’
Lucian found himself a little bit less inspired, but he was still riding the wave of his official coronation into herohood. Also a bit disappointed that he was still being called “boy”.
‘Do you mean... completely on my own, sir? What about my group?’
Lord Orson leaned back in his incredibly bony and uncomfortable looking chair and tapped the pen to his chin. ‘They're Moxar’s group, boy. They haven’t let him down yet. You’ve only been with them for one journey. I can arrange a fresh team for you.’
It was true that Lucian had only been with them for one full journey, so he supposed he had no right to them. Still, he found himself disappointed at the idea of not seeing his team again. His friends.
‘That will be fine, sir. I'll go it alone. Really do things on my own. The way a Hero should,’ Lucian said. ‘Oh, and thank you for helping my group with that little issue last week.’
‘Not at all, good job bringing that man to my attention. I’ve been looking for a new Lodgeman since the last one unexpectedly died.’
Lucian had a nagging feeling that the word “unexpectedly” wasn’t accurate. But he couldn’t fight every battle, he decided, and it wasn’t like the old Lodgeman dying was his fault.
‘Taking him on really helped us out of a tight situation, so thank you, sir,’ Lucian said.
‘That’s what the Company is here for,’ Orson said with a smile. ‘We've had to flex our muscles to get our assets out of worse situations.’
Worse than killing a guardsman, hogtying a Lieutenant, and aiding the primary threat to the Empire’s centre of government? What did the Company get up to, Lucian wondered. He definitely did not say any of that out loud.
‘What was that?’ Orson asked.
He might have muttered some of it out loud by accident. ‘Nothing, sir! Thank you for this opportunity.’
Orson dismissed him, and Lucian left the room a Hero.
Chapter 24
Lucian stood at the main gates of the capital city. Dawn had just broken and it was going to be a beautiful day. The weather matched his mood as he breathed deep the smell of fresh bread from a nearby bakery, and heroism from his aura.
He had been surprised when he read the Quest. He had expected something a bit easier. More like Lord Orson had first suggested - a training mission. Learning to fight.
That wasn’t what he’d received. He had never seen a Quest before, and although it used some very fancy language, it broke down into three sections: ultimate goal, first lead, who to bring with you.
The ultimate goal was a long flowery section, filled with talk of a shadowy organisation and a fading evil that he needed to end. It seemed a bit much for him, but he was invigorated by the idea none the less. Ending evil was truly a heroic cause.
The first lead pointed him to a recently ransacked temple. He had never heard of it before, but a quick search on a map showed it to be only a couple days travel from the capital.
And finally, once again in a very indirect way, the Quest said that he needed companions - someone with wit and charm, a magically attuned being, a strong warrior, and someone gifted at stealth but not morals.
His instant thought was that he himself embodied all of those things, and clearly this Quest was therefore suitable for him to do alone. He did notice that it didn’t say anything about needing a master tactician, but he assumed that was an oversight, or maybe just so obvious a part of the Hero’s toolkit that it wasn’t said.
Then he remembered his friends... his old friends... work colleagues, really. They were a complete team and their skills fit the roster. He’d have to find a new group. A band of real adventurers. A group ready to be thrust into the limelight and have songs sung of their heroic deeds. Not a group of behind the scenes workers. No, that life was behind him now.
He’d find new friends. Better friends.
Maybe he’d find a warrior who could say more than three words. A magus that didn’t disdain, not only him, but all of Human life - and could actually use magic in a fight. A bard who knew how to play an instrument. Dare he even hope, a rogue who was more into stealing than whoring and racism.
The ex-Lieutenant from a week ago walked up to him. He had a spring in his step.
‘Not working for the government seems to agree with you, Marris!’
‘Who knew, eh?’ Marris replied.
‘Still though, no hard feelings about that night,’ Lucian said kicking his feet against the cobblestones.
‘The night you hog-tied me and had a dagger at my throat?’
Lucian swallowed hard. ‘Umm, yup. That one.’
Marris tilted his head up to show a red welt, a barely healed cut, running along his neck. ‘The night you gave me this?’
Lucian placed a hand on the haft of his axe, realizing that things might turn bad. It wouldn’t do for two members of the Company to hurt each other, but Marris was new and might not have been properly indoctrinated yet.
Marris lowered his head to show a mean grin. The kind of grin that said someone was standing behind Lucian and he should be feeling a sharp point in his back any second now.
Lucian spun round.
No one was there.
Marris let out a big laugh. ‘Just messing with you. Cut myself shaving yesterday. That night changed my life. Best thing that ever happened to me. You’ve given me a purpose in life. And double the pay!’
Apparently Lucian couldn’t tell the difference between a grin that implied someone was going to stab you, and one where someone thought they just made a joke. Lucian put his axe away, not that he remembered pulling it out.
‘So you’re a Hero now?’
‘Oh, uhh, yes, looks that way. There was a ceremony and everything.’ Lucian puffed out his chest to the appropriate heroic standard. That was quite a lot though, so he let it deflate a bit. ‘Can you tell?’
‘Can I...? Oh, just all of the orderlies get a briefing every morning, make sure we're all on the same page. Your name came up.’
‘Ahh. So... not my newly found heroic aura?’
Marris looked confused for a second. ‘Oh. Oh there is definitely that, yes. You look like a new man. There’s almost a... glow to you. Odd that. Anyway, the reason I’m here is to tell you that there was a slight mix up.’
‘Oh?’
‘Well, yes. Some people were meant to be scattered along the trail for you to pick up and meet and become friends with. But we’re short-staffed at the moment, and they’ve had to be pulled off onto other assignments.’
Lucian guessed the Company was trying a new tactic. As he knew how everything really worked, they didn’t need to handle him with velvet gloves. He hadn’t thought they'd have actually planted his companions though.
‘Well that’s no matter. I'll forge my own way ahead.’
‘You’ll find your own companions? Have you been to that temple before?’ Marris asked, incredulo
us.
‘Well, no. It’s not too far though,’ Lucian said.
‘Hah! Well you’ll see. Anyway, in the interests of giving you a fair chance, we orderlies decided to help you out. We’ve rustled up a few off-duty helpers to get you started. You’re on your own for the rest, new Hero has to prove himself and all that, but it is an important Quest.’ Marris stopped to take in the surroundings. ‘Going to be lovely weather. Great day to set out on your first Quest. Bold choice not bringing any horses. See ya!’
Someone else had always been in charge of getting the horses. After a few steps Lucian called out. ‘Where do I meet them?’
Marris turned and gave a grin. A grin as if he had just made a joke.
Lucian felt a sharp point between his shoulder blades. He reached for his axe, but was stopped with a jab to his back.
‘Stop it.’ The level of derision in that voice could only belong to Jess.
‘And here I was just softening up to ya. Bloody Elf, taking away my fun,’ Khleb said, and removed the point from Lucian’s back.
Lucian turned to see his group. Khleb held one finger up with a cheesy grin on his face. Apparently through several layers of clothing, one of which was leather, mistaking something for a dagger was rather easy. Also, Khleb had just eaten cheese, so on the plus side, his breath didn’t smell as bad as usual, on the downside, holding a conversation with a block of camembert was challenging.
Still, Lucian failed to completely suppress a smile.
Gar and Darrius were still catching up with each other, plenty to talk about after their month apart, breaking bread, quite literally thanks to the nearby bread stand, and buying enough for everyone.
‘You Hero now,’ Gar said. ‘We follow you, Moxar. Even without horse.’
Lucian felt that this was going to be a running joke, and hoped he could nip it in the bud. He simply wasn’t ready to be called Moxar yet, even as a joke. Far too much pressure.
‘Ha, good one! But I don’t want any of you to be intimidated by my new status. Yes, I’m a Hero now, but there’s no need to treat me any differently. Over the next few weeks, maybe even months, we'll have to work together. Find out what we're really made of. You’ll get to see a Hero first hand, not trailing in their wake. You are as much Heroes as I. Minus a small, mandatory ceremony, of course.’ They all stood motionless, staring at him. Perhaps he had entranced them with his new found Heroic abilities. Is that how Moxar always knew what to say to rouse his people in the Lodge?
After a second to confirm that he had finished his ad hoc speech, they all burst into laughter. Apart from Jess who was hard to hear over the laughing, but her words definitely included the phrase “contractual obligation”.
Chapter 25
The first day’s travel had been easy enough. Good weather and fresh conversation, Lucian couldn’t have asked for anything more. The forests were still filled with luscious greens, with hints of reds just beginning to creep into the leaves of the mighty oaks and assorted smaller trees that made up the Grand Imperial Forest. The forest was a gigantic grove, encircling the capital city - a point of pride for every citizen which provided hundreds of jobs for woodsmen and tree shapers alike. It was also a brilliant defence against any invading army, forcing it to split against the forest before reaching the city walls.
A quiet night spent at a conveniently located village, only a day’s ride from the capital, left everyone refreshed. Lucian noticed that he hadn’t seen any other travellers, but with the encroachment of the rebels, he supposed that was only natural. Although when asked, Khleb claimed that the rebels had no interest in attacking civilians, so that theory didn’t quite add up.
During the night’s rest in the tavern, he’d only seen the innkeeper. No patrons. The innkeep did seem shaken for some reason. Was this what Marris had referred to? Maybe this was all part of his Quest, the evil he was sent out to defeat. But no, it must have been something the Rebel Alliance was doing. This close to the capital, any real threat would be dealt with by one of the factions. Perhaps the Imperial guards and the Rebel Alliance would even work together to bring down an unnatural evil force for a mutual benefit.
The second day of travel was much like the first, and by midday they had reached the temple, ransacked as advertised.
It was in a clearing for a hundred metres all around, the small pyramid building rising only a few storeys high. As with all temples, it had a set of steps leading from the peak to the top of the door, ready for when the Gods wished to make a grand entrance.
‘Not uhh, not the most lavish of temples, sir,’ Darrius said.
‘I’m inclined to agree,’ Lucian said. ‘If you trust some of the accounts given of Gods, then it may even have been ransacked on the orders of the Gods themselves, sending their own followers to do the looting.’
‘It is common knowledge that the Gods do not care about mortal affairs these days,’ Jess said.
‘May got bored,’ Gar said.
Jess conceded that was also possible.
The clearing was eerily silent. Lucian wasn’t sure what made it an eerie silence, but he likened it to the difference between a natural pause in a conversation between friends, and an uncomfortable silence between strangers.
They entered the temple. Lucian never liked the temples as the angles made his head hurt. Everything was a pyramid in some way. The roof rose several stories creating a hollow pyramid - Lucian had always wondered if that was a subtle slight to the Gods. The floor was an inverted pyramid, where the priest would speak from the bottom of the floor. Very symbolic, Lucian was sure.
The only sign that it had been ransacked were that the lights were out. The one extravagance in temples was the lights - special golden lights, one for each of the Gods.
Jess walked over to one and touched it. After a few moments it bloomed into a soft yellow radiance. Jess muttered a word, a ritual to help her focus, and the lights around the touched one activated, and the yellow bloom continued to slowly creep out to all the lights, bringing the full destruction of the temple’s interior to light. Nothing. The inside was fine. Like all temples this had been carved from a single block of stone centuries ago. It would require mining tools, dedication, and several weeks to do any damage.
‘Never been inside a temple before,’ Khleb said. ‘Kinda pale, ain’t they?’
‘You’ve never been... really?’ Lucian asked. ‘Lucky. My parents always forced me to go when I was young.’
‘Mine too,’ Darrius said. ‘Different times though. You know how the older generation is. Or was.’
‘Still scared the Gods would return,’ Lucian mused as he poked at a small pyramid shrine against one of the walls. ‘Actually pay attention to them again. Silly really. I think a God would kill you whether you’d been worshipping - pardon the pun - religiously, every day or not.’
‘Yeah, right, but the lights,’ Khleb said.
‘Hmm? Oh, yes.’ Lucian looked into the closest light. It hurt his eyes and he looked away. He was reminded of the golden aura of God Mercy, dimming just for him, and the aura being a vibrant gold, adding a metallic sheen to everything it touched. ‘Not quite the same.’
‘Are we looking for anything in particular?’ Darrius asked.
‘Well, if they haven’t told you then they definitely haven’t told me. You know how the Company is,’ Lucian said.
‘Just “a clue” then.’ Darrius, like the others, was poking around at pyramids of various sizes and uses, but there were no trinkets or clues to be found.
Lucian couldn’t see anything of use, but couldn’t help keeping a large smile on his face. ‘This is all rather exciting, isn’t it?’
The others turned to him, their faces ranging from neutral to bored, and made a collective of questioning faces.
‘Well, my first Quest. Sent to a temple. Very traditional. Bodes well for the rest of the mission, I feel.’
The others shrugged and muttered vaguely disheartening comments that didn’t affect Lucian’s mood.
Lucian looked up at his group, at the yellow lights, and the roof, from his speaker’s pit. He was a Hero now. He was excited. He didn’t really feel like a Hero though. He had no idea what he was looking for, nor any sixth sense pushing him towards a certain spot in the temple. He wasn’t any stronger, and he was no more gifted with blade, bow, or magic. Well, maybe magic - he’d never tried.
He swayed back and forth in his little square pit. He closed his eyes and searched for... well, magic, he guessed. What did magic feel like?
He thought of Jess. She was powerful, if somewhat temperamental about when to be powerful. Maybe she’d know. ‘Hey, Jess, what does magic feel like?’
‘Like a thread tugging at your mind, heart, and genitals all at once,’ she replied, without skipping a beat.
‘Well hey, I guess a few whores I met were magical,’ Khleb joked.
‘Despite your debased crudeness, almost certainly, yes,’ Jess said. ‘Magic is innate, and it is entirely possible for someone to be able to control their magic unconsciously, having it only ever manifest when they're in great danger. Or perhaps on a smaller basis, have you ever known someone luckier than you’d think reasonable?’
Jess did enjoy being the knowledgeable one. The only way to get her talkative sometimes.
‘Someone extra lucky?’ Khleb thought about all of his friends. By the end of the commerce break, they had all ended up with some affliction. Mainly from whoring, but a broken limb or two thrown in. Certainly the fighting had gotten bloodier towards the end. ‘One guy only broke his ankle jumping from a tree once. That count?’