“I suppose that is true. You are a strange one, Thalys. Good luck to you and your adventure,” Alak said with a smile.
“Thank you. And good luck to you Alak and your…well…city stuff or whatever,” Thalys said with a laugh. With that, he gave a salute and darted off.
“There is just something about that boy that made me believe him. What was it I sensed in him? It was that same feeling I got staring at Kara and her friends, but I thought that was just because of the Guardian of Lights holy aura…stay alive Thalys, I have a feeling you’re more important than you are led to believe,” Alak said quietly to herself once Thalys was gone.
**********
“What is the matter, Kara?” Ezekiel asked as he came up beside the paladin, who was sitting by a campfire with a worried look on her face.
“Oh, hello there, Ezekiel,” Kara responded kindly. “I’m just thinking…”
“Care to share your thoughts?” the earth adept asked, taking a seat next to Kara.
“It’s just…this is it. This will be the end of our journey. Either we defeat the Bladenheart Army and retrieve the Adept’s Stone, or we die trying,” Kara explained.
“True, true, but we should look forward to the former more than the latter of course. You are the Guardian of Light, after all. Do not doubt your abilities. We will defeat our enemies, and we will get the Adept’s Stone,” Ezekiel assured her.
“Thank you, but still…there is always a chance that we could die,” Kara said.
“That is always a possibility. What is different this time?” Ezekiel asked.
“We’ve had some fights before, but this is an entire army!” Kara exclaimed.
“An entire army that has not seen the light,” Ezekiel said with a grin. “We have soldiers on our side too, of course.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t be worrying about such things,” Kara said with a smile.
“That’s it. Now, you should take Faux’s idea and get some rest,” Ezekiel said with a chuckle, pointing to the sleeping rogue in his bedroll nearby.
“I will later, perhaps. Right now I’d just like to ponder,” Kara said.
Ezekiel nodded and got up to leave. Just then, Captain Garis Cord and Lieutenant Rowe Halzezem came up to the three.
“Please, Ezekiel, stay awhile would you? I’d like to talk to the three of you,” Captain Cord said.
“Alright then, but good luck getting Faux to listen, he’s asleep,” Ezekiel said, taking a seat once more.
“On the contrary…” the captain said, nodding to Lieutenant Halzezem. Rowe gave Faux a quick kick in the side, waking him up instantly.
“Hey! What kind of…oh, it’s you two,” Faux grumbled, rubbing his side.
“Sorry for the abrupt awakening, but I wish to speak to the three of you about our plan of attack tomorrow,” Garis explained.
“Yeah yeah, get on with it then,” Faux said.
“As you wish. Lieutenant, bring out the map,” Garis said.
Rowe pulled a map case off of his back and opened it up. Inside were many different maps and scrolls. He picked out a particular one and unrolled it. It was a detailed map of Tier Bastion.
“Here we have a top view of Tier Bastion. Now, we’re going to split our forces so that the main attack comes from the south east and a separate attack strikes from the northwest, here,” Garis explained, pointing to a point on the map.
“A guillotine movement, I see,” Ezekiel said, nodding with approval.
“Exactly. We’re going to take them head on and then attack their backs,” Garis said.
“Wouldn’t they expect that, though?” Kara asked.
“It is a possibility, but one we’ve already been over. Even if they did prepare for such a tactic, there is very little they could do against it. They likely outnumber us, but one of my men is worth several of theirs,” Garis assured the others.
“So, what part do you want us to play?” Faux asked.
“I am getting to that,” Garis said, looking to all three of the adventurers.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like it if we weren’t separated,” Kara said quietly.
“I didn’t plan on doing so. You three probably work well together, so of course I’m going to keep it like that. You all will be a part of the sub-force, coming in from the north with Rowe. I will lead the main force head on to distract the enemy. Your group is leaving sooner than mine so that we won’t have to wait,” Garis said with a grin.
“Seems good to me,” Ezekiel stated.
“Alright then, now what?” Kara asked.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like a statement of how you three fight, so that I’ll know how to position my ranks around you,” Garis asked.
“Yes, of course,” Kara said, “I generally fight with my spear, but I am also quite good with a bow.”
“I have a blunt way of fighting. I go in a take out whatever is in my way with my scythe,” Ezekiel said.
“What about you, Faux Fo?” Rowe asked.
“I like to use my speed to my advantage, taking out things faster than they can react. Pretty simple,” Faux said lazily.
“Alright then. Thank you. We’ll be leaving now…I must give my orders to the soldiers,” Garis said with a bow.
Just as the captain and lieutenant turned to walk away, they spotted a figure running towards them.
“My my, someone is in a hurry. It must be important,” Rowe said, pointing out the figure.
“By Kaith…could it be?” Kara gasped, leaping to her feet.
The man running towards them suddenly tripped and fell on his face. He was quick to his feet and continued running towards them.
“It is! Thalys of Maeltryst!” Kara said with a wide smile. “Finally we meet in person again.”
Thalys stopped next to the fire, catching his breath. “Oh thank goodness! About time I found you all!”