"Servant of Empire" - Ch 7

Working around the help of the seal, during the week that passed on the road, I did manage to become far more familiar with the dialect of the Traders’ language that they were using. It was apparently a common language here, used as an interracial and international parlance.

At one point a morning or two after we secured the small deer, Sered rode beside me. Something of a surprise, admittedly.

“I don’t hate you, you know,” he said eventually. “Just what you are.”

“That makes me feel better.”

“It’s very difficult for me to separate the two.”

“You know, I think Rendo is fully in bounds to call me a prick. I begin to wonder if this will turn into something of a circular relationship with all of us.”

“I was born to fight your kind,” he seemed to almost be talking to himself.

I turned to him. “Look, I get it, you and my ancestors were enemies. But I’m not. I seem to have skipped over that part of my history. At least, we’re not enemies yet. Keep talking this way, that might change.”

He looked back to me. “This was a mistake. Perhaps I should start over.”

I held up a hand. “Maybe this is something you need to keep to yourself? Unless and until I turn into a ravening child-eater, I’m not going to meet your expectations.”

“I suppose I deserved that.”

I remained silent.

“What I’m trying to say is that it is difficult for me, having you so close. Particularly behind me.” He paused. “It worries me.”

“I’m not about to…” I paused. This was only going to go badly if I kept talking.

So I drew my sword.

I heard Nix give a little start from behind me, but before she could do anything and before Sered could react, I reversed it to hold it by the blade. Extending the hilt to him, I asked calmly, “Would you rather strike me to be safe?”

He looked at the weapon, and at me.

“Go on, take it,” I prodded him in the arm with the pommel. “You’re not going to be satisfied until I’m dead or far away, and it’ll take too long for the latter, yes?”

He slowly took the hilt in his hand, and pivoted the weapon before him. The slight curves of the blade caught the light and shimmered a little bit. It was at that moment that I wondered whether I had seriously fucked up.

He took the blade in his hand and passed the hilt back to me. “I’m sorry. I still have some difficulty here, but I can see it’s not fair to you.”

I took the blade back and was rather glad I didn’t have to fight him. Sliding it back in the scabbard I nodded. “I get it. I still have trouble looking at halflings with weapons, running loose.”

Rendo didn’t look back, but he called out, “You’re right, Azreal, you’re a real cunt.”

I nodded in his direction, and looked back to Sered. “See?”

He didn’t smile, but his voice was inflected with a little humor. “It is good to know one is not alone.”

***

That evening, after our meal, I ended up tending the fire for a time.

Nix sat beside me, a little heavily. “Hey, I thought you two were going to go at each other earlier.”

I thought it over. “There was a chance, I guess.”

“Were you intentionally provoking him there?”

I shook my head. “No, just making a point. Sooner or later, you have to decide on a course of action. If you let yourself get too mixed up in the possibilities, you miss out on what is really going on. I guess that’s the point I was trying to make.”

She played with a stick in the fire. “Not sure I understand, though.”

“His people, him I guess, they and mine are natural enemies. His were made to fight mine. Mine were made to dominate everyone. He carries a lot of antagonism towards me because of that.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” he said. “You feel the same about him?”

I shrugged. “His kind didn’t even exist for me until a few weeks ago. But either he’s an enemy, or he’s an ally, or he’s not much of anything to me. I suppose I would have felt like him if the Arrollian had survived and we were traveling together. I see him as a potential enemy, and I can’t sleep straight if I have an enemy walking around in arm’s reach. So I wanted to force his hand and get him to decide.”

“Not a very safe method, there,” she chuckled a little.

“No, but I couldn’t really decide how to get him to put up or shut up. If I just let it be, he’d just fester and get worse, letting the anxiety of his indecision add up to all of his past grudges against my people. Eventually he’d probably come down on the side of ‘enemy’, so I figured I’d head that one off.”

I paused for a second. “Offering him a chance to strike at me while I was unarmed, I guess I thought that might break some moral code he might have, while demonstrating a certain amount of trust in him. Whether it was that or something else, I wasn’t sure how else to get him to look at things a little differently.”

“Shit, I have to admit that was pretty ballsy. I wouldn’t have done that.”

“Well, you also don’t carry a sword.”

“There is that, I guess.”

“And you don’t have horns, or a tail.”

“That too, yeah.” She grinned.

We sat quietly for a while. I stirred the coals of the fire with a stick, watching the sparks rise.

“Can’t be easy,” she said eventually.

“No, but at least no one is actively trying to kill me. I haven’t quite given up on getting home yet.”

“It helps to hope.”

I nodded. “Yes, it keeps me going. I feel like this is something like an extended recon mission.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, we could go for months in dangerous territory, with no relief. There’s a tension there, it’s always on. This feels something like that, though a bit less anxious.”

“Okay, I see.”

“You all found me, pulled me here. But if there’s a way here, then just like when you all made that trip, there has to be a way back, you know? Orandor can’t have been the only one to see it and use it.”

“I guess, but if what he said is true…”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I have to adjust to living here for now. Maybe there isn’t any way back, in which case I have to have a plan B.”

“Is that why you accepted our invitation?”

I looked over towards where Sered was dozing.

“Not so sure you all wanted to extend it,” I said. “But yes. It’s a hell of a lot easier to make one’s way with allies.”

She nodded. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I can keep watch for a while.”

I smiled thinly. “Fair enough, thanks.”

If I dreamed that night, I don’t recall.

***

Over the next few days, I pulled in what I could about the area we were in, and a lot of the history I had apparently missed out on. It seems that in the absence of the Voruscans, and the subsequent collapse, the servile races had carved for themselves small bits of civilization, partnering up with the Dwarves and Elves, while using whatever remained of the Empire that could be salvaged. During the first few hundred years, Shadrim were generally hunted, and though some larger groups were able to defend themselves, solitary individuals were very likely to have simply been killed.

The vermin creatures – orcs, goblins, and the like – they benefited greatly from our absence, for without a constant military presence to rout them and keep their numbers under control, they swiftly overran nearby communities. Several Hordes had been unleashed over the centuries, but fortunately those species did not have the motivation to organize into proper empires, and their temporary organizations soon feel apart under their own weight.

The present era was one of recovery from the last such horde of a century past, many communities celebrating the long period of prosperity and an absence of massed conflict. Of course there were still skirmishes – Wynter’s own village being a prime example of such – but nothing that threatened continental- or world-wide scale. The city of Mirn, which had been mentioned to me before, was a remnant of a prior human kingdom that had been broken apart by the orc Horde. Although ruined at the time, it was undergoing a revitalization as the local lords attempted to restore the kingdom’s prior glory and rebuild the city. Orandor’s keep was apparently just on the edge of Mirn’s borderlands, and marked its northernmost exercise of authority.

All that faded to the back of my mind when we reached the township of Evilineton.

We saw the smoke rising before we rode into sight of Evilineton. Not hearth-smoke, but deep, billowing clouds of black. We exchanged pensive glances with one another as we rode, and it was another hour before we rounded the bend in the road which brought the town into sight.

Or, more appropriately, what was left of it.

Most of the buildings were crushed in, as if someone had turned a catapult or trebuchet upon them. A few were burning somberly in the mid-morning light, and more than a few bodies were scattered about.

Nix pulled up alongside me. “Best draw up the hood on your cloak until we find out what has happened,” she said. I applied this sage advice and we rode in.

A sacked village or town has certain characteristics, regardless of what nation it is part of: the smell of char and worse, the sound of its inhabitants – usually calling out to one another, sometimes weeping. Loose animals bleating or barking or honking. The efforts of removing the worst of the rubble and the beginnings of cleanup.

This place was silent. Nothing moved here aside from the wind and the occasional crackle of burning wood, carrying its burden of scent, telling us that we were walking through an open cemetery.

The bodies that we did find were in terrible condition – misshapen, torn. An army leaves bodies, but generally the weapons used leave distinguishing marks. The damage done to these people was of a magnitude far in excess of what would have been required to kill them. I remember seeing a man in the street who appeared to have been crushed from the waist up by some huge force.

The number of bodies was strange, as well – there were far too few of them. For a town like this to be totally emptied, I would have expected several hundred dead. We found perhaps a dozen, maybe twenty.

“They couldn’t have all fled without leaving some trace, could they?” Rendo asked.

“I wouldn’t think so.” Sered called back.

“I’d think as well that some would have returned to reclaim their homes,” I volunteered. “Yet there’s no movement at all here. Not even dogs.”

“Everyone!” Wynter’s shout came from behind us. I turned to find him dismounted, holding his horse by its bridle, looking at the muddied street before him. “Over here,” he called.

I pulled around and rode over, the others slowly gathering. In front of Wynter was a muddy patch, beside a tying post. In it was a footprint.

A footprint three times the length of even Sered’s feet. From the look of it, wearing a rough shoe, but definitely a footprint.

“Giants,” muttered Nix.

“What are giants doing here?” Sered said, staring numbly at the print. “We are leagues away from the nearest mountains.”

“And trolls shouldn’t have been attacking Howard’s Mark, either.” Wynter offered without a hint of sarcasm.

“Everyone fan out,” Sered said. “Start looking for a trail.”

We all spread out a ways, going down different streets and heading for the outskirts of the town. It didn’t take long before Nix called everyone to her. She was waiting next to the woods’ edge, not far out of town.

A path emerged there from the trees, the boles thrust aside like so much grass in a field. Looking back towards town over the empty pasture, I could start to see the tracks in the ground.

“Five will get you ten this is where they came from,” Rendo nodded. “Now what?”

“Our provisions are running low – only about a week left. Let’s find what’s left of the haberdashery and restock as best we’re able,” said Nix. “Then, we have the question before us of whether to go after them.”

The thought of tangling with giants set off a familiar rush of battle-excitement, though I’d never fought them before. Never even seen one, really. They were monsters which we’d thought eliminated from the lands of the Empire. That this band was considering the challenge seriously impressed me, as well.

We found the dry-goods store fairly easily – it was in the center of town, on the main thoroughfare – and sifted through the wreckage to locate what additional stores we could. The nature of the destruction around me became clearer as we moved about, as well. What I had first likened to siege engine destruction was the result of boulders being thrown from giantish hands – the stones probably the size of a chair or sheep. The burning was just a result of natural fires in the hearths of these homes catching on the wreckage as it tumbled inward.

Once we’d taken what we could, we assembled in the street in a rough circle.

Sered spoke first: “We follow, or we move on. I say follow, as this crime deserves punishment.”

Rendo nodded. “Follow.”

Nix didn’t change expression, her face was stony. “Follow – all the people here can’t be dead, they took them.”

Wynter shrugged. “Abstain.” I thought this somewhat curious, given his history. I’d have thought him to be very much in favor of offering pursuit. But perhaps that wasn’t related to his goal, his driving purpose.

Eyes turned to me. “Follow,” I said. “Nix is right, they had to have taken prisoners.”

Sered’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Follow it is.”

Nix nodded, tight-lipped, and fell in with us as we mounted and rode back to the broken path through the trees.

As we made our way to the edge of town, Sered pulled up alongside me. “I am curious why the taking of prisoners means anything to you. Wouldn’t these have been slaves to you?”

I looked around at the wreckage. “Subjects of the empire are not…hmm. Were not, always slaves. Even if they were, this would have been theft. If they were freed people, which they were according to your law, then they deserve protection.”

“It’s not your kingdom.” He observed. I noticed then that the grip on the hilt of his greatsword slung across his back was wooden, somehow still rough enough to provide a good grip without wrapping. Didn’t these Nephrim get sweaty hands while fighting?

“Doesn’t matter, it’s my duty. Nobility are obligated to defend one anothers’ property unless a state of vendetta or blood feud is acknowledged.”

“Nobility among the Shadrim of the Voruscan empire, though, what about other lands?”

“I hadn’t really thought about that. There were no other lands where my laws mattered. I suppose that technically I owe no allegiance or duty there.”

“That’s what I thought. So other than just reflex, why follow?”

I was getting a little exasperated. “Look, there are people there. Adults, children. If we can save them, then we have to.”

He nodded. “Interesting that you feel this way. I didn’t think your people expressed value for strangers.”

I was quiet for a few moments. “Some of the Houses would not have taught their offspring this way, I suppose that’s true. My father taught us to seek alliances wherever we may find them, and to offer help to anyone not explicitly an enemy. You never know who might be your friend in the future, he would say.”

Sered seemed satisfied, and fell silent.

When we reached the tree line again, it was clear that there was a path that the horses could navigate fairly easily, and we started in on it. Nix performed some small charm on a trio of crows she saw perched on a tree, and the three at once took off and began flying ahead of us. Nix dismounted and retrieved a bow from beside her saddle, then handed the reins over to Rendo, who led her horse alongside his own.

I pulled my own bow from its sheath and strung it in silence, whispering a faint arcane melody over it to ready it for a fight. I slipped several arrows out of my quiver and secured them lightly on my saddle for fast retrieval.

We traveled for the rest of that day without incident, finding the path rough and difficult to traverse, but at least easy to trace. The giants appeared to have come from some broken hills to the East of the town, based on the general direction of travel that the path was taking us. Along the way our suspicions of prisoners were confirmed, as we found three bodies of dead villagers who had apparently expired along the way. Whether these were being taken as slaves, food, or both I could not then say, but in any case it steeled my desire to step in and at least attempt a rescue.

That night we made camp some hundred yards off the main path, and made no fire in order to avoid alerting any giants – or other creatures – to our presence. Our mood in general seemed somewhat dark, both in anticipation of coming action and in hesitation at seeing what we would find when we did trace down the enemy.

I find it strange, when I fought the Arrol in wartime, I often found our villages damaged, and occasionally the Arrol would take prisoners. It never affected my need to do the job or changed how I approached earning victory on the field. Here, however, against these giants, I experienced a certain trepidation regarding how to attack such a force. It was a strange feeling, this nervousness.

Somewhen during the night a light rain began, with a bit of distant thunder. This didn’t affect Nix’s crows at all, though it further darkened all of our moods. I tossed a few peanuts out on the ground for the birds. Rendo tried to ease the tension a little with road humor, and this did help a bit – he even managed to get Nix to smile once, and I think Sered may have shrugged somewhere along the way.

We continued like this for another day and a night, and it wasn’t until around the next mid-day that we broke from the thick branches out into somewhat more open ground. This was a hilly region, and small clumps of trees gathered together sullenly, rejects from the real forest, scattered about the broken land ahead. The trail we followed was clear even to me – and I am no tracker – the tall grasses shoved aside almost as if a great flat barge had been dragged across it.

Far in the distance, we saw several thin trailers of smoke – intentional fires. They were almost dead ahead, the trail pointing quite obviously at them.

I pulled ahead to Sered, nodding towards the signs of life. His hands gripped the reins of his horse tightly, more so than I would have expected, but I suppose the animal had been picking its way through the forest wreckage somewhat gingerly. Being thrown was a hazard no one needed right now.

“Looks like we have our destination.”

“Too far ahead to be the ones we seek, aren’t they?”

I shurugged. “Maybe so, I can’t really tell. If it isn’t them, then maybe their next victims.”

“That, I think, is probably true.” He grunted. “They might be aiming to add to their take.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Are we still in agreement, to find and help these victims?” Sered called out. When no one disagreed, he put his heels to his horse and said, “Then let’s ride on. We must be getting close.”

The sun was edging up towards noon. “We still have a few hours’ worth of daylight left to us, let’s make some speed while we’re in grasslands. They are still leading captives from the look of these tracks, so we can make good time against them.”

We rode on.

(All content here, outside of those elements attributed otherwise, is copyright (2025-) Thomas Theobald. With the exception of AI training, personal use with attribution is granted.)