Evacuation

[Zerith]

(Open to one)

As the sun was slowly reaching the end of its descent, the small town of Evenhand was far from preparing to sleep. Outside the town, men were nearly finished the task of removing the aftermath of the recent chaos the Corone Empire had thrown at them. Another attack had come and gone, and while the citizens of Evenhand were able to not have to force their own people to fight and die for the sake of protecting the others, every single one of them knew that they only hand the Rangers to thank for that. To the small town, the Corone Rangers were a blessing from Trisgen, though clerics of Dragonus seemed to insist that these protectors were sent by the Wyrm God, a shield to protect Evenhand from the Empire.

Whatever sent these soldiers, a lone halberdier was honoured to be fighting at their side. Though not a Ranger himself, Zerith was more than willing to travel all the way from the faraway island of Moriah, away from his loved ones and his home to respond to call for aid. The harsh reality that Corone was in a state of war was hard to believe at first, but in time Zerith accepted it. Now here he stood, having chosen to join the side of the faction he believed was right. He had witnessed the deaths of some of the Rangers with his own eyes, seen how they gave their lives for the people without question. They didn’t just fight just because they were ordered to, but because they believed that their cause was just. It seemed that with each passing day the halberdier had more and more respect for them, and had more and more faith in what he was fighting for.

While the halberdier continued on with his current task of moving the corpses of the dead into a pile, a messenger was just reaching the officer that was overseeing the Rangers performing the cleanup. Many soldiers stopped what they were doing, Zerith included, and turned their heads to look at their superior. A few whispered back and forth, wondering if there were new orders from headquarters or even reports that the Empire was already preparing to launch another assault on Evenhand. It was only when the officer’s eyes opened widely in surprise that the whispers became louder as more and more men began to talk amongst themselves. Even the Ranger Zerith was helping carry the dead spoke, talking to the halberdier. “I’ve only ever seen Kadai look surprised like that over a message when it was something none of us would expect to hear. What do you suppose it is?”

Kadai, or Captain Kadai as he was officially called when Zerith first met him was a man the halberdier had come to respect almost immediately. His skills with arms was far beyond that of any of the others around him, and his vast amount of knowledge crammed in his skull was immense. To some, the mere fact that Evenhand still stood was because of Kadai. “I have no idea,” Zerith replied as he watched the Captain and assumed that it was only a small amount of time until they rest of them knew what was happening. “Maybe it’s news that we’ve won?”

His companion laughed, “Yeah, I wish that were true.”

Just then Kadai turned from the messenger, who was already running off to probably inform another officer of whatever his message was, and addressed his soldiers. “Alright boys, throw the last remains of the dead into the heap and burn it, I want it to see it ablaze in an hour. I have to take my leave and meet the other officers to discuss some urgent matters that require immediate attention. Once you are done here, consider yourselves done for the day. Once I know what is going on, I’ll let you all know what the plan is,” he said and immediately made his leave. Not walking calmly, but running.

“Damn, he wants this job done in an hour? We’re going to have to pick up the pace. I bet that whatever that message was, it definitely wasn’t a good one.” The Ranger whispered to the halberdier.

Zerith nodded as he watched the Captain disappear into the town, “Yeah. I don’t think that was a pleasant message to receive at all.” He noted the slightly pale colour in the Captain’s face when the message was whispered in his ears. It was as if some terrible had happened, like he was just dealt a crushing blow.

“Relax, Zerith. There is no way that message could be that bad. Can it?”

[Sabatykos Maelstrom]

One of the simple workers of Evenhand had arrived a few months prior and seen many of the attacks of the Empire and the Corone Rangers. Though, morally, he was inclined to side with the Rangers, the youth took no sides in the conflict. He only had to eye the price that the endless Civil War played on the people. There was a pile of corpses in the center of town to provide a testament to the most recent of the assault. Sabatykos had survived the onslaught through cleverness and some minor training he'd received with the Monks of the Order.

As was customary to his people, the Saenorakym Prime, the youth was required to learn rudimentary combat skills. These skills were necessary to protect friends and loved in times of warfare and conflict. History would show, that this age of Althanas was ripe with murderous conflict. Normally a pacifist, Sabatykos had developed a somewhat darker edge after he'd killed the first humanoid he'd ever killed in battle. It was dumb luck too.

Out on the field where the war was taking place, Sabatykos had volunteered for the Grunt duties under the employ of Evanhand's local military. He wasn't a member of the Corone Rangers. At least not yet. Sabatykos had learned much about the technical arts of combat from the local militia in Evenhand, and even picked up a new trade to add to his repertoire. Blacksmithing. Though inventing went hand in hand with blacksmithing, the two arts were unique until themselves and required specific sorts of training.

Sabatykos had become the Apprentice Blacksmith to a man named Kox Szegot. The man was Evenhand's foremost Mastersmith and was willing to take new apprentices to induct into the Blacksmith Guild. And so, in between Sabatykos' blacksmith training, and his neophyte monk training, the youth had become a very busy gentleman.

Located in the central area of Evanhand's market district, the blacksmith shop was in huge demand. The structure was known for its famous forge supposedly crafted through the Eternal Tap by Concordian High Elves. It had many elder symbols upon it that would glow when a highly skilled blacksmith used it. The shop had a furnace, a forge, an anvil, and the other necessary pieces of equipment related to the art.

Sabatykos stared at the pile of corpses for a moment when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Oh. Sorry, sire. I was merely paying homage to the dead." Sabatykos looked up to Kox Szegot not only for his legendary skill, but for the fact that he was an honest man. Some would say a good man. In these dark times, it was difficult to find a man like Kox. He had red hair that was tied back in braids and shoulder length. He stood at an impressive seven feet in height, and weight approximately two hundred and eighty pounds. Kox had deep blue eyes, a square zygomatic arch, and a protruding chin.

He was incredibly powerful looking. He currently wore a brown t-shirt, a black apron and matching brown pants that were somewhat loose fitting. His hair was tightly cropped to his skull. Currently, the facial expression he wore was one of kindness and understanding despite the nature of the battle at hand. "The good captain needs those swords ready by high noon." Kox said calmly. "Aye I know. My heart goes out to the family of the dead." Sabatykos said, the tao of the monk rubbing off on him already. "Spoken like a true monk, lad!" The man said and patted Sabatykos on the shoulder.

"Come on mi'boy. Let's get back to work. If we don't fill these orders for the good Captain there will be many more dead in the next wave of attack." Kox said calmly.

"We are half-way done but I understand. Let us get back to work." Sabatykos replied. And Sabatykos began to head back to the smith-shop. He shot a glance of respect in Zarith's general direction. He'd seen the man in action during the battles at Evanhand. Sabatykos said a prayer to Karshook the Pagan deity of the Saenorakym Prime, and went back to work with a heavy heart.

So many dead. I only hope I don't join them in the afterlife before this day is through... Sabatykos thought.