The Last Kiss 2

....After much debate, she finally let me in, she then explained why she had denied knowing who I was based on strict instructions from her sister, who knew that I'd one day wake up and say I'm going in search of her, i shook my head, consoled myself that I'm only searching for her because she's now a widow. I asked the sister about Tonia's whereabouts but she was unwilling to give out information until i shocked her with the information that Payne was a married with two kids adding to the fact that he is now dead. That's when she began spilling beans, she informed me, that in all honesty it was her sister who contacted her, and in over a year she has not heard anything from Tonia, she was aware of the fact that Payne was a doctor and her sister claimed they travelled often for humanitarian acts, so they won’t have a permanent residential address and a steady phone line.

'What about your parents?' I asked,

She replied,

'I thought Tonia told you all about them'

'Nope'.

She informed me about how their father had fled when they were young because Tonia's mum went mentally ill, i put up a sober face, requested for the address of the psychiatry hospital. She then pleaded that if i do go get in touch with Tonia i should inform her.    

After leaving Tonia's sister's house i did not see the need to visit the hospital, Tonia'mother could not possibly have anything tangible or useful to me. I called up my friends who had been helping to know if they had any update for me, but they had nothing for now, even though Enil sounded like had something cooking but nothing of note, they suggested we go to a bar and grab a few bottles, i told them I'm not supposed to be drinking since I'm on medication, but I'd be there. We got to the bar, Erat came along with a student from the university where he lectures her name was Keik, she was a final year student, rounding up on her project, after initial refusal, i found myself on the 3,4,5th bottle.

Tonia was in my arms, kissing me passionately, her boobs laid bare on my chest, ever so soft and sizeable but this time they felt bigger, I could not help myself but grab and squeeze on them, she began to slowly kiss me from my neck, down to be abdominal region, as I lay my back on the bed, slowly she unzipped my pants with her teeth, put her hands inside my pant and brought out my wiener, placing it slowly on the edge of her lips, I shivered, cause the touch was enough to give a grown man chills, she sucked slowly but steadily, I knew the distance between heaven and earth had been shortened, I was suddenly in heaven.

Head banging, everywhere seemed dark, I could not seem to get my eye lids to part ways, one thing I’m sure of is the fact that I’m lying down on a bed, but whose bed? Was I dreaming or was I with Tonia for real? Had she suddenly come out of hiding just to be with me for one night? Finally my eyes could open and the bright light of the sun was the first thing that came rushing in,

 HUH??

I knew the moment I looked around that I wasn’t in my apartment.

‘Where am I?’

‘How did I get here?’

 I noticed I had no clothes on, saw my shirts and pants on a couch nearby, while putting on my pants with urgency, I heard footsteps approaching the room, I saw an above average height lady standing at about 5’10, with a nice curve at the hip, slim waist, thick thighs, her mammary glands made my jaw drop, still trying to put together the image that had walked in, my thoughts were interrupted

‘Glad you are awake’

She continued by saying,

‘You need to shower, you passed out last night’

I was about to ask who she was, then it all made sense, she was the student Erat came to the bar with Keik,

‘I'm sorry’,

Those were the first words to come out of my mouth

‘For what?’ she asked as she sat on the couch.

‘I don’t know what I’m doing here, and whatever happened i….’

‘shhhh…’

With her finger to my lips, she continued by saying,

‘I hope we get to finish what we started one day’

‘I need to leave, right now’, shyly I said.

‘I’ve some painkillers’, she insisted that I take the painkillers before I leave, I conceded. The only thing at the back of my head was getting out of there as soon as i can, i just wanted to get home and clear my head, i got dressed up and did the walk of shame, from her hostel to the campus gate, with students looking at me, like I had a ‘JUST HAD SEX’ stamp on my forehead.

Shocked, puzzled, what more could i use to describe how i felt? What next? I'm not done with the search for Tonia now this. I did not bother to collect keik’s contact, I don’t need it, whatever happened was a rookie mistake by me, but somewhere inside of me i wanted to see her again, those words ‘I hope we get to finish what we started one day’ kept on repeating itself in my head over a few times, snapped out of it real quick, this was asides the fact that i was pissed with Erat for not taking me home instead.

Enil called me up,

'Dude you got yourself in a mess'. Those were his very words.

My mind immediately went to keik, like in a nollywood movie could she be pregnant already?, was she underage? Is she in trouble with her school? A thousand questions ran through my mind.

He continued by saying,

'You need to leave town, but before then i need to see you'.

Goose bumps all over my skin, what could be so serious that now requires me to also go into hidding?. I began regretting every sip of the alcohol.

We met up at a secured location, i was about to say the word,

'Ke….'

He cut me short by saying,

‘Tonia…. Mob’

That’s all i picked. I asked that he repeats himself, he said its a long tale and a puzzle but if we sat down and put the pieces together, we would figure it out soon enough, then he asked if i had my bags packed and had a destination in mind, i lied, but in truth i wanted to know what's going on, before i jump on the next bus to nowhere.... to be continued Tweet to @Ned_Cruz

The Last Kiss

There i was sitting on a pew at the chapel, watching her get married to the supposed love of her life, a man with a clean shaven beard, which was an offence to the beard-gang nation. Just 3months ago i was the love of her life and now the story is all changed, i could not bear to watch, the more i looked into her eyes the more i had flashes of my immediate past. I stood up and walked out the chapel door. Just outside, the priest was done with the wedding ritual and whatever commitment needed to be done by the alter and the new couple were outside taking pictures with well wishers or so they seemed, i heard a familiar voice call my name, who else could it be but Tonia, the 1st thing i said to her was,

 'I still love you'.

 She asked why i was there, i told her,

 'Just to let you know I’ll always love you'.

Such powerful words huh? I know right, anyway as usual she warned me to stay away from her life and that I should make a promise to never look for her that she wanted a happy home and you know the rest of the babbles.

Oh i forgot to mention details about me, I'm just a regular pressman, what i mean is I'm a journalist, work for some crappy Nigerian news agency, that’s basically all there is about to know about me.

Tuesday morning while trying to piece the news together which i had gotten the previous week and forward it to the editor, i stumbled upon an obituary that was about to be published, familiar face i said to myself, where have i seen this face before? Could not seem to place a finger on it, i skipped and looked down to the funeral arrangement and to see if i could get any relevant information about him, saw that he was survived by a wife and 2kids and the venue for all the burial ish. To cut the long story short i assumed he was Tonia's husband, i laughed, the last time i saw her was at a wedding and now I'm planning to go for a funeral just to see her again? Mixed feelings, did not know if i was to be happy or sad? that the guy she dumped me for was now dead, should i call her up laughing? i felt like a prick at the thought of that. Just over 5years ago she dumped with a note and her wedding invitation card, what a chance life has given me for payback, so i imagined.

I arrived at the funeral uninvited once again, a desperate pest i must really be, tried to pull a poor man's disguise, sat down and listen to people praise the late husband and all, that was boring to me, why was i really there? If i could mock up a wife an a kid it would be a perfect payback at this scenery, and many other mischievous thoughts kept crossing my mind, every eye in the chapel seemed wet except mine, so i got a little saliva and rubbed it on my eye just to blend in.

Eulogy upon eulogy, until a teenager was called out, to my amazement he was the late husband's son. I looked around for a recognizable new widow, but no sign of her. When the service was over and it was time for the body to be moved to its final resting place, I saw a lady and two kids get in the car, with mourners all around, tried to get a glimpse of her face but it wasn’t a familiar face, or not the person I was hoping to see, i began to question myself if i was at the right funeral or not? I left the funeral after making a few enquiries; found out that he was shot and murdered in cold blood. I never did ask or pay attention to his last name at the wedding, i drew up another assumption maybe he had married Tonia secretly or something that's why she could not make an appearance at the funeral.

I thought how else I could reach Tonia at least to offer my condolence, then I came across her sister's phone number, we had spoken a few times over the phone. I called and it proved abortive, she claimed not to know who I was and gave a stern warning that i should never call back. That act raised my curiosity level an all-time high, I had become an undercover/detective/007 all in one, I went online to see if the social media or google search had something on her but nothing, so i took the time out to go visit places we had visited together just to see if they had any recent update on her. During my search for answers i went to chapel where she had gotten married to her now assumed to be late husband, the priest was still the same, oh how i was glad, finally someone with an answer, i approached him and to my uttermost shock he said he never officiated such Ceremony before, we went through the chapel records, i remember the date like it was my dob, but we found nothing.

After i left the chapel, i made a few calls to see if i could source for help from friends and colleagues who were good at digging up people from the underground, because the task was seeming a tougher task than I had imagined.

Sunday evening as i was doing my routine checks and gathering all the information i needed to submit to my editor the next day, i got a mail from a spam like email address, normal reaction was to ignore and delete, but since it had no subject and i know I'm in dire need of answers concerning Tonia's whereabouts i clicked and opened it, to my amazement it contained just 4words that pierced through my heart: ‘YOU MADE A PROMISE’. I quickly hit the reply button asking if she was ok, waited patiently for a reply from her, instead i got a reply from maildaemon saying the address doesn't exist, i reclined on my seat shattered.

But wait how did i even meet Tonia? Let me not bother you all with the details of how we me: truth be told it was in a real cliché manner nothing spectacular to the meet asides from the fact that the sun was at its best that particular day, when i saw a nigerian young lady use an umbrella, i looked to check her behind, not what you thinking, but to see if she was carrying a baby on her back or there if was an actual need for the appearance. I was at the police station trying to gather information about a crime that had occurred and the police did solve, while she was there to get a police report on a missing ID card. I've always had my way with ladies and my friends knew me for that, so it wasn't so complicated getting Tonia to be my heartbreak kid. Basically that's how we met and began dating for about 3months that was from March till a day before she was about to get married in June.

My investigations continued, this is a classic case of a journalist turned detective, i won't admit it but the truth is I'm doing this for love. Sitting at a bar with a few friends: Erat was a professor at a Nigerian University, Ricky was let just a random guy who could pull strings here and there, Enil was a retired detective, yes we have Nigerian detectives at least they are paid for that. Erat then asked me why i never introduced her to any of them all i kept doing was talking about her to them every time we met, but they never met her in person, why was that? Enil was quick to draw up conclusion that possibly she did not exist, since i was the only one who knew about her existence, even the priest that officiated at the ceremony did not know her. I was distraught took a lot of convincing for them to agree to join me in the search of course not without a promise of a little favour in return.

Thursday night i was at a bar to watch soccer match, Europa league, won't bother you with the details or information about soccer. I stayed there till it was a tad bit late, because i could not come to terms with the fact that the girl i once dated for 3months and saw get married had suddenly become a ghost. I left the bar at about 11:25, then it happened, i was kidnapped by 3men who were armed. Long story short i was buzzed, i was wondering what's going on here? Was it the fact that i refused to keep to my promise of staying away?, the very first thing I was going to say in my defence was ‘I won’t search anymore’. The first guy gave me dirty slap sort of bringing me out of my thoughts.

 He asked 'where is Tonia?'

I was stunned!

 Such a question. Another slap to my face and a few curse words.

I responded with 'I've no clue'.

The slap seemed to have been in my favour because the alcohol began to clear from my eye and my thinking was getting a bit straight, too many movies watched and stories heard, i felt if i could pull a few stunts I'd be able to get out of the car probably with a few bruises. I fought my way through, i was stuck in the middle of two guys at the back seat, at least my hands were not tied, though they had guns on them, I figured they needed me alive, i went straight for the driver with a big punch to he's head, that was good enough to knock him off balance, car began to swerve, which gave me ample time to dodge the nozzle of the 9mm pistol heading straight for my head, used my elbow to jab the guy to my left who had the gun on him, his gun fell to the floor of the car, now all three of us at the back seat were struggling to get the gun, I was getting punched from the guy on my right, but I was determined to get off that car anyway I could, I somehow managed to get the door opened, pushed the guy close to the door out and I jumped after him, rolled on the coal tar, and almost got my head squashed by an oncoming vehicle but the other guy wasn’t so lucky. They never stopped, a Good Samaritan took me home, I had sustained a broken arm and few bruises from my face down to my feet. I called the office the next day after I was done with the hospital to inform them of my ordeal, I was given permission from the office to stay at home and get better.

For a fact, i knew i saw Tonia get married to Payne, now a certain Payne is dead, if it’s the same guy Tonia got married to? I don't know. I got in contact with Payne's widow (not Tonia) i told her that i wanted to have an interview with her, i reckon her husband was well known and she would have a lot of things she wanted millions of people out there to know about Mr Payne. it wasn't difficult to convince her, and since I’m a journalist for a reputable newspaper. She agreed and a date was fixed, venue was their private residence.

Perfect! I thought to myself.

 I got to the residence right on time, i had a thing for keeping to time and due to the importance of this interview, i had no reason to be a minute late. I got in, she was the only one at home all the kids have returned back to school after their dad's funeral arrangement were done with. She welcomed me properly as an African woman offered me strong eba and Okro, i declined politely for fear that the food might be too heavy and I'd probably lose concentration. Here i was with a widow who has not fully recovered from the death of her husband and the only question I'm eager to ask is

'How did he die?'

I was trying to compose myself and put the words in the right way to avoid being thrown out,

She then asked,

 'Can we begin?

‘Where is your pen and your notepad?'

I replied by suggesting we make it a bit less formal that way she'd be more comfortable and at ease, she was fine with that. I muttered some words, then she completed it for me by saying,

 'You mean how did he die?'

 I nodded.

 'It wasn't a robbery, they did not take anything from us, but they hurt him, real bad, kept hurting him like they were trying to force an information out of him and when he won’t give in they...   ',

She paused,

I saw that she was weak and her lips had begun shaking i wanted to move closer to offer solace but that won't be appropriate, i changed the question and asked what he did for a living,

‘He was a doctor, he travelled a lot to help out poor kids in other parts of Africa, giving free treatment and attending conferences’

Next question,

'Where was your husband 5years ago around may/june?'

She said he travelled to Ghana, as was his yearly tradition, for medical conferences. I told her i knew her husband,

‘Personally?’ she asked,

‘No and Yes’ I replied,

‘Can you describe him?’

Of course not, I could not accurately describe him, my description was faulty, as he had a different look on the day he was getting married to Tonia, he had a clean shave, which was different from how he looked every other day, the pictures of him I saw around the house he kept his beards at a decent level.

She then asked

‘Where did you ever met him?’

'At a wedding to my ex-girlfriend'

She was stunned!

‘That can't be possible!’ she exclaimed.

 She got a tissue to wipe her tears, as tears were slowly trickling down her eyes, she asked me to walk out the door, that the interview was over and she doesn't think she's ready for this. As a gentleman i stood up, but as i got close to the door, about to turn the door handle i saw a picture frame on the wall with something like a ‘thank you’ message on it. I turned back to ask about the frame,

She responded casually,

'He got it from one he's patient'

 ‘Can I take a look at it?’

‘Sure, you can’

I got close to the frame, i saw Tonia's signature right at the bottom of the frame. I immediately informed her,

‘That’s my ex-girlfriends signature and that i bet she was the one who gave the frame to your late husband’

She slumped on her seat for there was no strength left in her.

 I decided to try once more to get in touch with Tonia's sister, but this time around not via phone, but to actually go there in person. I got there, when she saw me at the door, i asked,

‘Are you still going to continue to act like you don’t know or remember me?’........ to be continued

Tweet to @Ned_Cruz

Khavinar: The Last Wars

The Last Wars

A Book of Khavinar

J.R.R.Trollan

NEW ARRIVALS

The cold woke me as sure as any noise would. Shivering, I reached across for my cloak. It was damp with the onset of dew...I swore, the sound loud in the predawn silence. Daylight was still a few hours away and trying to go back to sleep was next to impossible. Maneuvering through the still sleeping forms of my comrades, I managed to leave our tent without waking anyone.

It was a close thing. Woler and Eseri were propped next to each other at the entrance, their naked figures still entwined from their latest rutting session. Peeved, I made certain to step roughly on Eseri's fingers as I stole past. Her sleepy complaints music to my ears as I made my way out.

Naturally outside wasn't any warmer, we were deep in enemy territory and couldn't afford the luxury of a camp fire. We had been camped out here in the sticks for a week.

Everyone was on edge to join up with the main army and tempers had flared the night before. The squad scout Nep had gone crazy and stuck a knife in the squad healer Efae. She in turn had tried to claw his eyes out with near success. 

A beautiful thing courtship is.

The Dune brothers, Ned, Frost and Reki had gotten into a row about a card game. Apparently Ned had conspired with Frost to cheat Reki and also with Reki to cheat Frost, they had both let him win and then found out he was playing both of them.

Ned's face would be needing treatment for a while but he had more coin in his purse.

Sighing I drifted towards the pickets and almost stumbled into a squatting figure near invisible in the moonless night.

A blade was at my throat in a heartbeat. It bit and drew blood, I froze and tried not to swallow.

A soft chuckle ensued as the figure straightened. My eyes adjusted enough to barely make out a slender feminine figure.

"uhh Deyija its me" I croaked. 

"That's Sergeant to you soldier" the blade seemed to hesitate for a second then after a heartbeat it withdrew slowly.

"Knew it was you all along just killing boredom" she seemed disappointed.

I suppressed a shiver....evil bitch. My fingers traced the valley of my neck where I'd been nicked by the blade. It singed.

She cocked her head, assuming an inquisitive posture.

"Too cold, couldn't sleep" I offered.

Talking hurt and the wound throbbed. She seemed satisfied and the blade vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Should know better than to sneak up on a lady, soldier".

I ignored the bait, the Sergeant was anything but a lady. When I had signed up as a recruit for the Empire's host, I had not expected to find anyone from my town and I hadn't. My luck ran out when I was transferred up north following the near annihilation of my company in the campaigns to the far south.

I encountered the Sergeant and a bunch of other recruits that served in my platoon at the war academy. It had been hell.

The Sergeant was a nasty piece of work. Known more for her looks, threats and her blades than for her  company.

Unfortunately for the male and occasional female trooper she wasn't hard on the eyes. She had a face that would be at home with the nobles up in Arciala and the attitude of a Borman gutter rat in heat.

The Sergeant was talking..

" and seeing as you are wide eyed and all, mind taking watch?"

I couldn't see it but I could imagine the sneer on her face, the evil bitch was pushing again. She was still a couple of hours away from relief.

She never requested anything, everything was really an order no matter how sweetly she coated it, she just made it seem amiable so she'd have a reason to cut you.

"Sure why not?" 

I forced cheer I did not feel into words that struggled to form past lips long accustomed to lying. Hopefully she'd get an arrow in the eye when we gave battle eventually.

She snorted and strolled into the dark naturally escorted by the most unsuitable obscene gesture I could muster.

"You wanna keep that finger soldier or should I take it?"

My jaw dropped, another chuckle in the dark.....evil bitch. 

Sometime before dawn, I spied two figures on horseback making their way to the camp. It was still too dark to tell who they were and I felt outmatched so I did the normal thing any soldier worth his salt would. I ran to camp to get help.

Unfortunately, my salt isn't worth much. Only Tarr agreed to come with me but he was enough.

The guy was a brute of a man, square jawed, broad shouldered and heavy browed. The perfect specimen of a senseless killing machine. I had gathered he was a descendant
of the northern berserker tribes of Cabinar.

His people had migrated from the tundra wastelands that bordered the lands of Wildonia. Big, scary and quiet, the man was a genius with a blade. I had seen Tarr split a dwarven war hammer
in halves, heard he dispatched a Scitern wraith lord with a backhand slap and that he cleaned his arse with a switchblade.

This guy was tougher than a desert cockroach with dragon armor. I walked behind him, longblade in hand. My preferred combat weapon looked like a toothpick next to his two-handed bastard great-swords. Yes I said swords, one in each giant sized fist...like I said tough bastard.

Together we stood sentinel as the riders pulled up. I tried my best to look scary next to the big northerner. I'd like to think I was successful.

The riders pulled up, their mounts snorted. The lead rider sat high on his horse, his features hidden within the shadows of a hood.

From within the darkness of his cloak, his eyes glowed an eerie silver, my hair stood on end.

A nether blasted sorcerer! The bastard was a practitioner and as he considered us with those eerie eyes I couldn't shake a feeling of dejavu.

I suppressed a shudder and tried to muster up my previous bravado.

"who the hel.."

I never finished 

"At ease soldier"

The voice managed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

Mind-speak. I'd heard of it but never had it used on me, the effect was nauseating at the least.

The only reaction from Tarr however was a slight shift of the brute's golden bangs by the wind...like I said cockroach in armor.

The sorcerer didn't seem to notice my discomfort or maybe he just didn't care. I hated him already.

The bastard went on, his voice pronounced in my skull.

"we were sent here by the Ambassador".

A missive appeared in my hands and I almost dropped it. Stupid wizards and their party tricks. It was a thick roll of paper and had the Ambassador's seal - a fat cherub gorging on pastries.

I opened it and read.

                                   " To whoever receives this, these guys are hereby assigned to your company"
                                                                                                                           yours forever
                                 Ambassador Odiar V.II
    p.s. Let Sergeant Deyija know I still await
                        her reply, it has been a year.
    oh and forgive the waste of paper, don't
     know why they don't make these things
     smaller
                                                                             
I shook my head softly. It was him alright, the political benefactor of our little outfit.

The stupid fatarse probably was too lazy chasing imperial whores to utilize the appropriate communication channels. A dove carrier would have been suitable enough for liaisons.

I tucked the missive away and nodded to Tarr. The big northerner stepped aside, making way for the riders.

Guiding them to the Captain's tent I couldn't help but consider the implications of their addition to the squad.

With the advent of the Sorcerer, we now had four mages in our outfit. Our previous cadre count already exceeded the allotted squad mage requirements. We were now two mages above the norm. I must admit it felt pretty good. I waved at the rider and his companion to wait outside and paused to watch them dismount. It had skipped me before but now I sensed there was something odd about the Sorcerers companion, something in his movements was off. Putting that aside I walked to the tent and spoke to the guards acquiring details of the Captain's disposition.

The Captain was awake and in a foul mood, the events of the night before had tested her and she was nursing a hangover.

Dawn arrived and soft sunlight bathed the inside of her tent in a warm golden flood of light. She sat on a stool and ran a comb through unruly locks of blood-red hair. Her glacier green eyes regarded me dispassionately and I swallowed. She was naked but for a half worn chemise that covered her lower body, her breasts stood firm and pronounced in the amber glow of the tent.

I quickly found myself having to deal with two lumps on my own body. I swallowed and was left with one. The other I gave free rein, maybe she'd be impressed, just maybe...

"I'm assuming you have something to report soldier?"

It took near heroic effort to remember she had a face and I, a message for it.

"oh s-sorry Ma'am, I-I mean Capt" She wasn't amused.

I handed her the missive, calling upon my iron will and years of intense training to maintain eye contact while I did.

She took it, took a look at the broken seal and arched a brow.

"Had to make certain it was authentic before I let them in Capt" I explained

She nodded in the affirmative, I felt no small pride.

"Bring them in" she drawled.

I swallowed again....damn thing was becoming a habit.

"Forgive my boldness Sir, but you may want to meet them adequately dressed" I suggested.

No way I was gonna share this gift with a couple of wet behind the ear sorcerer bastards.

She seemed to realize her state for the first time and groaned
"give me a few minutes and send them in"
I nodded and had started towards the entrance when she said

"oh and soldier" her voice was sweet and honey laced.

I managed to turn without betraying my eagerness. My bastard eyes however found their targets on her chest.

"yes Capt?" I croaked.

"you are on latrine duty today" her smile was captivating.

Bitch..my bastard eyes burned holes in her chest...I saluted "yes Capt!"

I gave her a few minutes to ensure that the Captain would be fully dressed before I brought in the Sorcerer and his companion.

Her long hair was packed neatly into a bun and rebel strands ran across her face. She stood at ease, easily towering over the average man.She was an amazon, they were already a fair minority of them in the army to make her an oddity but the Captain was a rare one. She had been raised in the wastelands by her exiled mother. Her pale white skin was a silent testament to her time in the badlands.

Once again I felt no small pride in my squad. We had the most beauties this side of the war and...

"Soldier?" Her voice broke me out of my reverie.

"Y-Yes Sir?" I managed.

"I believe you were asked a question?" Liquid green eyes held mine.

Uh oh, she was getting edgy must be that time of the month. I made a mental backtrack

"Yes Sir, we have been ready to move for sometime, preparations to break camp are well on the way".

She closed her eyes and nodded softly. Her attention turned to our new recruits.

The sorcerer had thrown back his cloak to reveal startling white hair, a hawkish nose and a youthful face with angled features.

This bastard was a halfling! A mix between human and something else. My guess was faeish but his features were leonine at most.

His eyes still held their silver glow and he bowed slowly as he introduced himself

"My name is Leoni Vartrasi, apostate of the supreme order of fire and warmagi of the fourth circle" he used mindspeak 

My eyes grew a few more inches in my skull. There were only five circles achievable. The bastard was both a bloody highmage and warlock. He seemed to like my reaction because he smirked and gestured at his companion.

I watched as the other figure threw back his cloak and stepped forward.

"Stand down soldier!" the Captain's voice came like a slap.

When had I moved?

Everyone was stared. I had my short knife out and was breathing hard, my eyes were dead set on the just revealed figure of the sorcerer's companion.

He..she had snow white hair. A stark contrast to her ebony dark skin. Amber hued eyes radiating with echoes of power regarded me with amusement. Almost as tall as the Captain, she stood regal and elegant with a slight air of unmistakable authority. Her features were too perfect to be human and a slight smile played across her lips.

I was in the presence of a dark elf.

..........................................................................

.

THE 13TH DETACHMENT

.

Her name was Faeina Volatris, A dark elf native to the gray lands on the far reaches of northern Kharvina. She was here as an envoy from the Faeina Priaera the great dark queen herself.

The alliance between Deortha and Khavinar was barely a century old, but it was only till about a decade ago that the darfae of Deortha had deemed it worthy to join their mortal allies in the field of battle against the ever present evil of Wildonia.

Even so, sightings of darfae were few and far between. Details of her assignment were on a scroll she passed to the captain. I had never seen a dark elf before but I'd heard enough tales about
them to stay my hand on my blade. I was sure she'd forgive my slack jawed stare. The warmagus however didn't seem to appreciate my enthusiasm towards his companion. Grunting he looked pointedly at the captain and nodded my way. The captain misread his intentions and proceeded to introduce me.

"This is Nhili Trinii Arta, sub lieutenant first class. Forgive his manners, he's native to the red wastes of kharvina and evidently has
never seen a darfae before"

With the introduction, the dark elf seemed to focus more on me to the chargin of the warmagus.

"Trinii Arta" she at least, communicated with her natural faculties. Kreia was the common language of all cities in Khavinar and her command of it was impressive. The words seemed to roll over her tongue in a way both eerily unnerving and equally enticing.

Ember red eyes fell fleetingly on me and then returned to the captain.

"a rather peculiar name to be borne by a mortal".

The Captain snorted. "Then that's perhaps the least peculiar thing about him"

I had a vague perception of hidden undertones in her statement, I preferred however to brush it aside and focus more on my ogling. Her heavy cloak and under armor had done little to blunt the edges and curves of her feminine features. The twin waterbag sized mounds on her chest almost put the Captain's to shame. My lust however was shortlived, our eyes met again and in them for just a moment I saw whispers of unhinged insanity. ..great.

One would think we already had more than our fair share of capricious characters.

The warmagus grunted again. I suggested a drought of wine to clear his throat. Ha!...If looks could kill.

The captain meanwhile studied the missive from the Priaera with a slight frown on her face. She caught me watching her, sighed and returned the missive to Volatris. The missive now in the hand of the darfae burst aflame with ephemeral blue witchfire. There remained no ash to mark its existense.

So somebody didn't want the contents of that missive to be known? Interesting.

The captain dismissed us and gave me orders to see to their settling into camp. Great, as if latrine duty wasn't punishment enough.

We exited the Captains' tent and proceeded to make our way into the heart of camp, my plan was to dump them off on another poor sop but I was sidetracked before I got the chance.

Gathered around the edge of the camp in a roughly drawn circle marked by what looked like the hilt of a blade was a group of noisy troopers. In their midst three figures stood. My eyes grew wide as I realized who these trio were.

The duel was about to begin. I hurried towards them.

The tallest of the three was Klaws Runt of the ninth squad, he was a company oddity. The man claimed he was a hybrid of some ancient werebeast creature and a Romire. The Romire is a rare family of demons, they survive mainly by feeding on the life force of other creatures. Legend has it that they were exiled from Truun, a world of all things dark and twisted. Hated and hunted by their kind, they fled into our world at the dawn of humanity. Being the weakest family of demons did little to discourage them from attempting to dominate mankind.

Mankind however had something alien to the demons. Mankind had its gods. These deities granted humanity the ability to fight and destroy the Romire, further reducing their already dwindling numbers. It wasn't long until the Romire faded into obscurity and myth, becoming nothing more than phantoms in scary stories told by housewives to naughty children. Sometimes I amaze myself with how much I know having had no memories of an education, it is to say the in least frightening.

As far as anyone could tell however, Klaws was as human as they came. From the ground he stood a few lengths away from a metre and its half.
He had a shock of dark brown hair that he let run uncombed, and pale gray eyes on a face that would have been pleasant but for the rugged beard and battle scar that gave him a wild and manic visage. Today he wore nothing from the waist up and stood with his legs apart and a fighting blade in each hand. For all his mental shortcomings, Klaws was a fine warrior, his reaction and flexibility in combat were only second to Deyija. You wouldn't want him to be with your enemies on any day. This time though, I had a feeling he had bitten on more than he could chew.

Efae Harvern of the sixth and Nepiroth Zilo of. also the ninth stood facing Klaws. Barring the fact that Nep had tried to stick a knife in Efae the night before, the two were inseparable and not in a romantic sense.

Unlike her opponent Klaws, Efae Harvern was a true hybrid. Although details of her past were murky, several things were evident. She had the healing magi of an arfae, she spoke faeish like a second tongue and she looked like a spoilt nordic lass. Her hair was flaxen and her
eyes a cold hue of blue. Needless to say I'd like to have met her mother. Efae was more or less the conscience of the her squad the sixth. At least she was when her queen bitch attitude was at bay. Today however was not one of those days. 

Although not a pure fighter, due to her non-human persuasions Efae is able to harness strength enough to rival Tarr the great dragon armor wearing cockroach himself.

It was rumored even that she was infact a bimorph. A jaguar looking fiend her alter form. She had done nothing to support the rumors but she hadn't outrightly denied them either.

Then there's Nep. Nepiroth Zilo Khartakas Daeolithara, Although we go some ways back I've come to realize that there's very little I really know much about Nep. What I do know is this...If Nep wasn't with us, he'd be somewhere else conquering cities and raping babies. He has that feel. He is also the nicest guy you'd never know. Nep cuts a dimunitive figure and is probably the smallest guy in my squad at six foot one. He insists on wearing a ridiculous multi-colored cloak he claims is a family heirloom. Nep's a minor mage but a fun guy to be around when arrows and spears rain down on you behind a shield wall.

The wave of susurrations amongst the crowd had ebbed.

Someone was making a move.

Efae moved first.

Her fist flashed lethal blows straight at Klaws. He ducked and spun, throwing a leg forward in a bid to catch her shin. She anticipated the move and leaped forward. Her momentum brought her down heavy on Klaws who had yet to recover from his errant kick. Knees connected hard with the back of his head. 

Nep became boisterous.

"One point to Efae! Can Klaws get one in return? Place your bets you bastards! I bet the queen throttles him the whole round!"

The soldiers became charged with the thrill of the bet. Everyone knew Klaws didnt stand a chance against Efae in unarmed combat.

Nep went around collecting the copper coins that passed for money in these lands and stuffing them into his rainbow cloak. 

His path brought him near where I stood and I tossed him a silver. 

"One silver crown on Klaws! I say he gets one in before the round goes out!"

Nep snatched it from the air with a sneer.

"Your pocket Nhili not mine"

The warmagi and the elf closed in. I could sense their thinly veiled curiosity but I wasn't going to offer anything. 

Finally they couldn't hold it in and the warmagi asked in mindspeak.

"The Volatris wants to know why your people fight each other"

I smiled and without looking at the warmagus I explained in the most pedantic tone I could. 

"Every once in a while especially in an army of this size there's certain to be a variety of characters who don't play well with each other. We've got troops ranging from the furthest reaches of Khavinar to the very heart of the capital itself. Following so far?"

The warmagi and Volatris nodded in understanding.

I went on "Due to this collusion its hard to not discover the occasional slit throat or garroted corpse rotting amongst the trenches. An army can really eat itself up from stuff like that"

"A human army you mean" The Volatris chirped.

I grunted an ascent and went on "After a few unfortunate incidents, our Captain came up with what we are witnessing"

The crowd went wild as Nep collecting bets had strayed too close to the circle and Klaws had seized the opportunity to give him a good whack for his concerns.

It was up to the scout now to either ignore the attack and blame his carelessness or to join in on the duel and make it a lynch. 

Nep wasn't a big fan of lynches, but he wasn't entirely keen on the idea of letting physical harm go unanswered. We are really all villians. The scout was up immediately, a wicked sneer flashed across his face and he stepped into the circle.

The crowd cheered and roared for blood.

I sighed heavily, looks like I had just lost a silver crown. There was no way Klaws would get a hit on Efae now with Nep in the way. Nep wasn't exactly the strongest of warriors but something about him made dueling him a bad idea. I'd seen Nep take on three of the camp's strongest warriors at once without batting an eyelid. He was totally uncanny in combat. Never an agressor, he preferred to provoke attacks then react accordingly. He was the worst sort of opponent for Klaws. 

However,  it wasn't entirely bleak for Klaws. There was a flaw in this matchup that Klaws could exploit. For all his many talents, Nep didn't play well with others. He grew significantly stronger when facing stiffer odds, and weaker when given an advantage. Efae would eventually get in his way. When that happened, Klaws could get a hit in on Efae and I'd get to keep my silver crown and make a killing.

I rubbed my palms together and cheered.

'Isn't that against the rules?' Mindspeak. The warmagi.

I didn't feel it was fair that I had to use my mouth to reply so I feigned a state of mental deafness. Almost immediately I felt an alien prescense brush my thoughts, leaving me with faint notions of amusement.

I looked at the Volatris, her features where still hidden within her hood but I was certain she was smiling. Creepy. Try as I might, i couldnt shake a feeling that I'd just been mind raped by a darfae

The warmagi seemed to get the message.

'What happens now?' His accent was clipped in the manner of the Western Cape cities.

I could see why he preferred mindspeak. Not many people were fond of mages, but even fewer were fond of the citizens from the Western Capes. 

I was not entirely keen on being around him anymore.

'Well now, the wild haired one you will come to know as Klaws will have to face down on the the colorful bet keeper and the blonde halfae'

'And this is acceptable?' He pressed

'To some extent yes, if a duelant chooses to, he may assault anyone from within the circle. The assaulted party may then choose to walk away from the duel or partake just like bet keeper did. It really just comes down to egos at the end'

'I see' Mindspeak again. The guy was an addict.

I didn't think he did so I went on to explain. 

'We aren't animals here but we do our damned best to pretend otherwise. The risk of calling for a duel is exponential' heheh exponential I liked that word, Eseri had thought me a few big words since coming to camp. Exponential was my favorite. 

'and?' The Volatris herself had addressed me indicating I had piqued her interest. 'Why is it of great risk to hold one of these duels?'

'Lynches' I gave it to her straight. 'Depending on your popularity or notoriety within the camp, the chances of you getting lynched or assisted vary' 

I pointed at the circle 'Klaws there, is always picking fights with any and everyone. He has been lynched more than once but that doesn't discourage him, the halfae is more or less the same. She however always has allies so an all out lynching hasn't occurred yet. It's in the air though, any day now she'd step in there and find no one to cover her back. Scary thing is, I don't think she minds. Nep there thrives more in lynching than he does in solo duels' 

The Volatris giggled 'you sure know alot about these things don't you?'

'Every detachment needs a know it all, I found the position vacant when I was dispatched here. It's also quite lucrative' 

The crowd groaned in unison. 

Nep had cornered Klaws in-between himself and Efae. He was in the process of stringing together a complex series of feints and kicks that would have certain to take down the tired Klaws when Efae seething with impatience had managed to interrupt with a poorly aimed attack from Klaws's blindspot. 

Klaws had anticipated Efae would attack first. My guess was he had obviously baited her into lunging for him by placing her in his blindspot. Attacking from a blindspot was never a bad idea, the opponent more than often would never see it coming. However, attacking an opponent who intentionally places you in his blindspot is naive. 

Efae realised her error a fraction of a second too late. Klaws leaped backwards into her attack, just as Nep realized the ruse and tried to salvage the situation. 

The result was comical. Klaws's' elbow caught Efae full on her face. I smiled, I was gonna eat like a king tonight. Efae temporarily disoriented, threw out a palm that caught not Klaws but Nep who had showed up in time to land a well placed blow to the jaw of Klaws, instantly knocking him out. He was rewarded for his heroics by an open palm backed by faen strength. The blow threw him out of the circle and into the crowd where he collided with a bunch of unfortunate troopers. He didn't get up again

Efae had won the duel but Klaws had gotten a hit in so my bet had paid off. 

I was a decidedly happy man as I showed the recruits the rest of the camp. 

...............................................................................

It was almost noon when I had finally dumped the recruits on the camp quarter master. The camp was now a beehive of activity. Messengers ran in and out of command tents, soldiers gathered what scant belongings they called theirs and the war engineers set to taking down our pickets.

I set out to find members of my cell. 

Although being already a small contingent of motley soldiers, the Captain had deemed it fit to break us up further into cells. I suppose she did this to enforce some sense of security and bonding amongst the troops. Can't say it wasn't effective. 

Tarr and Nep sat by our usual hangout. Nep was sporting a fresh bandage over his left arm.

A rowdy pile of old tents and other camp gear surrounded the makeshift camp circle, giving us some near element of privacy or the illusion of it.

Wasn't gonna be surprised if we discovered some camp spook like Deyija or Taryaw hidden amongst the rag pile just for the hell of it.

Tarr raised an arm to me. In his grip was a metal cup, I accepted it and took a sniff at the swirl.  I recoiled.

'What on Favel's planet sized balls is in this!?, Demon fucking piss!?' Nep chuckled. 

'Don't be such a stiff Nihl, that's my latest batch of swigorama!' Kings would sell their kingdoms to get at this stuff but I'm stuck pedaling my skills to you ungrateful sods!'

Struggling to get on his feet with a chargined expression, he continued.

'I can see genius is naught but a thing amongst lesser men!'  He took a large draught of the evil liquid and the whites of his eyes turned red. Staggering, he made a series of gagging noises and fell face down.

Poor guy, had to wonder how much damage Efae had done to the wretch. 

The camp's trumpets blared a short note. The hundred man company moved out on its March to the thousand mile meadows