User blog:AloofComputer/The man who walked alone: Chapter 4

Chapter 4:Shadows in the light

Their steel-clad boots echoed through the halls as they made their way to the commander’s office. He opened the door and motioned Alatar to come in.

He closed the door, after he flipped a small decoration that was beside it, and locked it. Alatar immediately felt the flow of magic.

“Sound barrier” he said before he could stop himself.

“Very perceptive, knight. But I should expect no less from your double life.”

Alatar’s anxiety grew. Knights were not prohibited from studying magic, but the animosity between them and the mages as well as the double effort required deterred almost everyone from pursuing both fields.

“Don’t be so nervous. After all, your friends have told me quite a bit about your accomplishments.”

If I make it out of here, I’ll rip Pallanto a new one.

“Oh well, don’t blame them. They were quite worried, you know. What you did was reckless, to say the least. I have seen a few people try it before, and sometimes the result was… quite messy. Their mind broke, or worse yet, they turned to the demonic side.” The commander sighed. “Anyway, I am not here to give you praise or anything. What I will tell you will not leave this room.”

Alatar suddenly felt his stomach fill with hot and heavy lead.

“You are not to enter the Order of the Holy Light”.

“!”

He felt his blood freeze and his heart skipping beats.

“Surprised? That order is an order for warriors. An order of open fight. Man to monster. No, you are not suited for that order.” He motioned to a chair. He sat on his own, rubbing his temples.

“After the fall of Lescatie” he began after Alatar sat down, “some of us believed that we should take more drastic measures. Open fight is well and good, but that city was taken with stealth and cunning, exploiting the city’s flaws in infrastructure and administration. Well, we learn, too. We devised plans, devices, tactics, heck, even spells. Yes, I told you, I am well aware of your double life. And yes, you are a major contributor. You’ll be happy to know that many of them worked like a charm. Unfortunately we can’t bring them in the open. Not until we are ready.”

The commander sighed, and for some reason, he looked really old and tired. “We are losing this war, Alatar. For every man and woman we lose to the monster’s side, their own forces grow. It’s like those undead kingdoms of old. So what we can do now is keep what we have. Hit and run. Inflict damage on them while trying to hold our own. Try to rebuild our forces and make them ready. So, there is a faction inside the Order, the military and the Mage’s Guild that firmly believes that, right now, we can only fight underhanded.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“And being someone with diverse talents, you believe I am a good candidate. “

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Correct. Their flaw right now, is their arrogance, because-”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“-unchallenged victory breeds confidence, unchallenged confidence breeds arrogance, and unchallenged arrogance breeds fall.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Correct. How nice of you to actually listen to those lessons.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Please get to the point, Commander. You called me here, so you must have estimated that I would accept. There is no need for any inspirational talk. Just give me a rational talk.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Hmm… you know, when I saw you, I really thought you were going to quit after the first week. Heh, look at you now… “ the commander smiled. “Fine then, let me ask you this: why do you want to fight monsters?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">Alatar thought. “Two reasons. The first is our survival. Our women turn into monsters, and our men into incubi. Monsters get pregnant at a much lower rate than human women, but their offspring is always a monster. Very rarely, and on exceptional monsters, did they give birth to an incubus. An incubus himself can’t leave human offspring. Instead, he will turn the woman into a monster. Our birth rates are falling rapidly because of this, and the monster forces are in constant need of men to keep their population up.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Impressive… I don’t know how you got your hands on the report-”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I wrote it. The top brass at Lescatie refused to even acknowledge the threat, saying that it was just natural because… monsters. I secretly sent the report to the capital, but...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“It was the same here. Some people of similar mindset got hold of it in a drawer, and started thinking about it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s good, you don’t hate the monsters like a religious fanatic. That is imperative for acting undercover. Restraint and patience are key. The other reason?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">Alatar’s eyes hardened. “It’s personal.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Hmm, your friends were extremely tight-lipped too. Oh well, I can’t have everything. What it matters is that you don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment. Is that understood?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Yes.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Good. Because the orders you will get can be… difficult to execute. Especially for a knight. Underhanded tactics can mean poisoning water, assassinations, traps, dirty fighting. Like that headbutt you gave that succubus.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“!” Alatar felt, for the first time as a knight, his face redden and his lips drawing up in an awkward smile. His commander roared in laughter.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Nothing under the sky stays hidden, kid. Still, it saved your ass, so you have an appreciation for these kinds of actions already. Seriously though, harassment operations can go on for years. What we do isn’t noble work, but critical nonetheless.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“We?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Oh, I got ahead of myself.” The commander rose and drew a cloak from his drawer. It was rougher than the silk cape of the knights’, and it was black. The symbol of the order seemed ominous in the black background, and it was sewn at the inner left side of the cape.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Welcome to the Order of Shadows.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">---

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">P.S. Chapter 4 is out. Plot, plot, plot. Too much plot, but groundwork is better done sooner rather than later. Criticism welcome.