Private Tales Attack on Fort Sade

[Kael]

Kael pulled out a spyglass and examined the wooden fort in the light of the moon. It was of simple construction, walls of logs sharpened to a point and bound with rope. Inside there were similarly constructed buildings, and what Kael believed to be the Saderzaine Vult, along with his proctor. It looked like a simple bandit’s enclave, but was put together by one of the proctor’s in a matter of hours. He wondered what secrets it held, traps or surprises left for him and Sade.

“I will now recite the rules of the exercise to the initiate.” Kael’s proctor began, old eyes piercing into the boy’s face. Kael wondered if Sade’s proctor was this formal.

“The initiate is the Mouse of this Cat and Mouse exercise. The initiate’s objective is to locate the artifact in the opponent’s stronghold and extract it. The initiate may defend himself from attack, but will be penalized for instigating combat or forcefully disabling his opponent. The initiate may use any tools he brings or locates in the environment to complete his objective. The initiate has no more than two hours to complete his objective. Am I clear?” The proctor rattled off the vague requirements with rehearsed clarity.

“Yes.” Kael replied, knowing this proctor would tolerate nothing else.

“Does the initiate have any questions?” The proctor asked.

“What is the artifact?” Kael asked.

“As a soldier, and especially as a Dreadlord, there are missions where you will only be given the bare minimum information necessary to complete the mission. You have all information necessary to locate and extract the artifact.” The proctor replied back. Kael resisted rolling his eyes. Nothing was ever easy.


“I have no further questions.” Kael responded.

“Very well. I will signal the other Proctors. Once your opponent and all proctors have signaled a five minute count will begin, then a horn will sound declaring the start of the exercise. Prepare yourself.”

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader found himself at the exit of the training room with a proctor by his side. He appeared to be in some kind of replica of a fortress town and noticed that he was rather nearby a flag that had been placed at his side of the room. Veerrry interesting. Turning to the professor he stood at attention, predicting what would come out of the man’s mouth next would be instructions. He was right.

“I will now recite the rules of the exercise to the initiate.” Sader’s proctor began, his young face the picture of absolute exasperation barely held back. The boy felt no sympathy for his instructor, of course, but a small part of him imagined looking about the same if he had to explain something like Capture the Flag. By this point, he had participated in a mission and his opponent likely had too, so he could probably have figured out his role on his own.

“The initiate is the Cat of this Cat and Mouse exercise. The initiate’s objective is to incapacitate the mouse and render them unconscious or unwilling to fight. The initiate may use anything they have brought with them, and points will be taken away for missed opportunities for takedowns. The initiate has no more than two hours to complete his objective. Am I clear?” The proctor, Marius, if he had recalled correctly, spoke in such a way where it was clear he had some kind of script to follow. To their credit, they did so. Badly.

"Yes." he replied coolly, figuring that the sooner this all wrapped up the sooner he could plan his defense. The proctor gave him an odd look and seemingly thought of something, because more words followed. "This is no game, Initiate Vult. Treat it as you would a real task, or I will see and fail you on the spot." The proctor informed him as they turned around to leave and likely get to a place where they could oversee the training.

Before he could leave to go prepare, however, Marius turned a single time more. "A count will begin shortly, your mark to go is a horn that will sound." With that, the proctor finally vacated the area. Sader moved then, not quite entering the replica town to avoid breaking any rules, but looking from the path to see if he could familiarize himself with even a bit of his territory before the game started would likely not hurt.

Now, he seemingly had two strategies. Use the scope of this place to create opportunities to use the element of surprise, or provoke head-on combat by simply guarding the flag like a little dog to their food. It seemed most fun to start with the former, so Sader decided he would do that.

Kael

 

[Kael]

The blare of horns began to permeate the air around them, signalling the beginning of the exercise. Kael took out a half dozen small pouches and laid them out in a line on the ground. He then pulled out his bow and knocked an arrow. He then stuck the arrow into the first pouch, then raised the bow to the sky and pulled the arrow until the feather of the fletching was a sting's width from his cheek. He released the arrow and it flew through the air towards Fort Sade. Rather than watch the shot go to it's mark, Kael worked to replicating the process for the remaining pouches, changing the trajectory slightly each time.


It would be difficult to see in the darkness of the night, but if Saderzaine Vult was able to monitor the paths of the arrows he would notice the direction Kael was coming from. If he did not notice the arrows before they landed, he would hear an audible pop! as the pouches hit a surface. Upon impact the pouches would undergo a minor alchemical reaction with a primary aim of spreading the rest of the pouches contents. Namely a collection of seeds, nuts, and grains. The scent of the mix was faint but noticeable to the human nose, but would attract all manner of squirrel, mouse, and bird across different areas of the makeshift fortress.

After firing the six shots Kael would transform himself into a crow, and fly in an indirect pattern towards the fort, looking for a murder, or perhaps an unkindness to blend into. He aimed to blend in with the wildlife and penetrate the walls of the fort, but such strategies relied on some measure of chance.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Around the second shot, Sader made his move. It appeared that Kael had created some odd plan of attack that started from his base. Overpreparation was a thing, and Sader intended to take advantage of his opponent’s lack of discretion. He began to run through the fortress town before the second arrow had even gotten close to landing, using quite a bit of his magic to speed towards the open fortress gate.

Behind him he heard the gathering of animals and he wondered to himself exactly what it was that was shot. Looking up a bit, the young man would count a further two arrows flying far behind him. That was four. Wow, Kael was rather committed to this, was he now? He hid momentarily, waiting for Kael to launch the fifth arrow. The plan of action here was to use the slight lag between shots as a distraction.

Kael was a shifter, Sader knew that much. He guessed, judging by the amount of animals that had formed behind him, that the boy had planned to use them to blend in. He grinned a bit at the realism of the whole scenario, picturing Proctor Marius hunting for rats and crows to place nearby. Sadly, though such a plan was solid in theory, Kael worked too slowly in execution.

Too slow for him, at least. Sader moved as Kael aimed the sixth arrow, charging out of the fort and hoping he would manage to hit them unaware. The boy opted for a punch in the face, switching his spear to his non-dominant hand and swinging experimentally.

Kael

 

[Kael]

The sixth arrow loosed, the bow hit the floor, and Kael had begun to take the shape of a crow when Saderzaine Vult had closed the gap between them. Kress that was fast. How did he get here get so quickly? He thought instantaneous travel was impossible. Unless he had simply ran?

Kael didn't have time to put two and two together, as a swing came for the spot his face occupied. Kael had taken hits before, in fact learning to take a hit was something each initiate was expected. Kael took the hit and shifted into the form of a cobra, willing himself to move forward instead of merely recoil. Kael took advantage of the contact to wrap around Sade's arm and spit a venomous mucus towards his eyes.

Kael had figured the boy was fast, and couldn't take many more of his hits. He hoped his reaction time wasn't as quick as his feet.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader grinned a little bit at the fact that his plan had worked. It was always nice when that happened. He felt his punch connect but watched as his opponent moved with the punch and transformed, turning into a cobra.

The Kael-Snake wrapped around his arm and opened its mouth. Any Dreadlord worth their salt in a survival class knew what that meant. He dropped his spear and thrust his now-free other hand in front of him, blocking the expelled substance with his bare hand. Almost immediately did it hurt, and he found he could not help but lightly shake.

The boy decided his best move was to persevere. There were no injuries where the venom could easily enter and begin to dismantle him from the inside, so whatever was to happen to him would be a future problem. That meant, however, that he did indeed have a time limit.

“Nice. One.” he said, words squeezing into the air between gritted teeth. He slowly took a deep breath as he brought his hand forward quickly to try to get ahold of the snake’s neck or midsection. Having to deal with a smaller transformation like a snake was one of the trickier things Sader had guessed he would have to contend with.

At least bigger animals had a physicality closer to his own. They were in part predictable. However, where a snake was disadvantageous laid in the fact that its entire body was points of contact. If he got hands on the Kael-snake he would simply try to squeeze his hand and force his opponent to quickly change their game plan. Hopefully.

 

[Kael]

Kael figured Saderzaine Vult raising a hand to block his face his best opportunity to leave. Sade would feel the coil around his other hand loosening as the shapeshifter grew feathers and wings, taking to the sky. His competitor was fast, but could he fly?

Sade’s attempted grab was perhaps an arm length under Kael’s avian form. The angle he chose was steep, prioritizing distance from his opponent over closeness to the objective. Kael may have avoided the grab, but figured he was still in range of the opponent’s spear. After a moment of upwards flight his beak crooked into a slight angle, getting him a better view of the ground. Kael only had so much time before Sade's next move, if it hadn't already come.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader watched himself miss by a mile and grinned, glancing at the bird flying away from him. In the next moment, he quickly spotted the dropped bow with which Kael had begun his attack and picked it up.

It seemed that there was no more time for games, so he turned back to retrieve his spear and began to speed back through the town, looking up for a moment as he went. The flag was still there when he stopped a few feet away, luckily.

Kael had flown away from him as a crow, so he took careful notice of any murders in the area, slowly circling the flag until he was standing directly behind it. Now, there were a few things he had managed to work out.

First off, Kael would have to appear as an animal present in the crowd near the flag. It would have to be an animal capable of carrying a flag as well. Sadly, these restrictions still gave his opponent a nearly endless amount of options.

Suddenly, a thought seemed to occur to him. He dropped the bow, snatching up the flag and grinning. If the Proctors wanted him to follow rules, he guessed they would have outlined in the beginning. This hunt was no holds barred, after all, so surely those hunting could set a trap with the objective of the hunted.

With that he began to walk back to another alley. Whether Kael attacked or lost the chance was nothing to be concerned about, his only worry that he find a way to continue the mission effectively.

Kael

 

[Kael]

The expected hurl of a spear or fire of an arrow didn’t come. Sade must have decided on a another plan of attack. Flying to the makeshift fortress Kael looked around at the place, never staying in one location for too long. He noticed after a moment that Sade had returned, carrying a flag with him.

Kael now knew just what the ‘artifact’ was that he needed to procure. Funny how worthless that information felt now. Wrestling the man for it was out of the question, yet he had little other options. Kael saw his opponent begin skulking alleyways and hatched what was probably a terrible plan. He first flew to a fair distance away from the speedster, then took the humanoid form of Proctor Marius. He then calmly walked over to Saderzaine Vult.

“Initiate Vult!” Kael bellowed, mimicking the proctor’s voice. He was not a impressionist, but did have some skill and training. “Did I say your objective was to parade around the fortress? Has the academy not provided you adequate resources? You are training to be a dreadlord, not some peasant snaresman.” He chided, then let out a great sigh.

“Present me your flag. This exercise is over.”

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader jumped a bit upon hearing his assigned proctor’s voice. He turned and waited until the man moved a little closer, looking a bit pensive. This was likely Kael, given all he had seen thus far, but on the off chance it was actually a proctor, taking action would result in demerit for insubordination and worse. It couldn’t hurt to be a little cautious, then.

“Sir, if I recall correctly, you said I had three hours.” he remarked, not looking defiant nor totally cowed. There was a certain veneration proctors expected, and the boy had perfected it, but one could also not present as troubled. Now, Sader had figured that a pretty good test would be to start walking towards the door to his left, away from Kael’s objective.

However, he had no reason to thus far. It would be worse if Marius was truly Kael, and Sader gave the boy time to guess he was onto them.

Kael

 

[Kael]

Kael observed the familiar jump as an initiate realized a proctor had found them. Yet Sade did not yield. He probably suspected Kael. This was pretty reasonable given how the exercise had gone so far. Kael decided his best chance was to sell the shift.

“Then your memory is as lacking as your performance Initiate Vult. I said not longer than two hours.” Kael pushed with the Proctor’s form. He had no idea what Marius told Saderzaine Vult , but figured his instructions shouldn’t have differed in time. “But that doesn’t matter, does it? I gave you a direct order. Any further delay will be treated as an act of insubordination.”

Kael stood steadfastly while giving Sade a derisive glance. He didn’t know Marius personally and hoped he matched the Proctor’s style. It was a gamble, but he was out of other plays.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader thought back to what had been told to him by Marius and realized that whoever was speaking to him now was right. Two hours was the time set, and the tips of his ears turned a bit red at what a rookie mistake he had made. “I suppose you’re right. As for my performance, however, Kael has not defeated me yet.” He said, twisting the flag in his hands.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. He held out the flag with one hand, deceptively calm. If this truly was Kael, he was still within striking distance. If the proctor went towards the straight path to the gate, he would attack. If not, he would simply stand guard by the gate and watch for anyone leaving.

Just in case.

“Well. Here you go.” he remarked, whatever indication he was totally on guard hidden by a cool brown-eyed facade of a gaze.

 

[Kael]

Not-Marius looked over Saderzaine Vult and extended his own hand, taking the flag from the initiate. He noted the resistance, if any, Sade put on the hold. More than that he noted Sade didn’t leave.

“There is a difference between your opponent succeeding and you failing Initiate Vult. Such cases are not always inclusive.” Kael replied, examining the flag for a moment, then Sade. He needed to get the boy to leave.

“Report to infirmary immediately. They will treat your arm. I will meet you in the there in no more than four hours to go over your final marks. From there we will discuss remediation plans and scheduling a new assessment.” Kael continued to push. He was so close.

“Dismissed.”

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

“I am aware of such things.” he replied, waiting patiently for the proctor or his lookalike to finish his scolding. Just then, they said something that caused Sader’s eyes to widen. It was sad, but from such words he knew this was Kael.

He began to laugh a bit at how a lifetime of tough love made someone so acute at sensing concern. “Proctor Marius, I assume you know of the revolution and the time before?” he asked, suddenly sending his hand forward in an attempt to choke the impostor in front of him.

No matter if the man dodged or fell victim to his attack, he would continue his monologue. “Kael, you don’t even need a proctor to explain this, so I will. Not even now, not even after reform, would a Proctor show such concern for an Initiate for an injury such as this. That was your mistake.”

His face was not mocking. He derived nothing much fun from this victory, just relief that he was not defeated in such a humiliating way. “Besides, Marius is a bit of a sod anyway, so double that.”

 

[Kael]

When Saderzaine Vult let out a chuckle and began to speak Kael knew the jig was up. The knowledge was no help however, as he was not fast enough to avoid the speedster’s grip. Coughs tried to escape his breath as Sade squeezed, but Kael knew he didn’t have the raw strength or speed to stop it. Instead he pulled a vial from his pocket and attempted to pour it not on Sade, but the flag still in his hand. If he succeeded the flag would disintegrate into a pile of ash. Unless Sade or the Proctor’s had warded it in some way of course.

Kael did not get to see his success or failure however, as he lost consciousness and went limp towards the end of Sade’s monologue. Sade might be surprised that Kael kept Marius’s form as he was unconscious, but Kael trained specifically for such things due to his environment.

In any case, Sade had succeeded in disabling his target.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

He felt a rush of victory as his hands found purchase on Not-Marius’ neck, simply keeping up the pressure and never letting go until the man had visibly gone limp. So focused on his winning was he that he failed to notice Kael’s move with the acid, if only until he let go.

Sader caught his foe with one hand and laid him down on the ground, impressed that the boy’s transformation remained even when they themselves were out. Quickly after doing such, he searched for the flag and came up with a stick and a pile of ash.

Fuck. That would surely be a loss of points. He waited around by Kael’s body, watching as Proctor Marius and another he didn’t know assessed the situation. Marius looked momentarily confused but then made a face like he didn’t much care to know. That made sense, as someone who saw themselves unconscious would surely feel weird.

“Right then. You’re dismissed. We’ll meet back here tomorrow to speak on final marks, and then you can go on with your life. All of this will be relayed to Kael as well.” the very real proctor said, holding out his hand.

“Now, the flag?”

Sader simply placed the wooden handle of the flag in his instructor’s hands and shrugged. “That’s all that’s left. Pretty smart, honestly.” Sader explained, turning away and walking toward the exit.

 

[Kael]

Kael awoke not long after Sade was dismissed in the infirmary. He was told almost immediately that while his trick was cute, further use of Marius’s face would be treated as espionage. After shifting to his normal human face he began to notice a pain while breathing. Fingers on his neck revealed a tenderness.

“Bruising on your neck. You’ll live. I wouldn’t go singing though.” The nurse replied. “You’re a shapeshifter right? That’ll probably be more painful until it heals.”

Kael knew she was right from experience, but hadn’t dealt with his neck specifically before. He also knew he could hide the injury, but the price for such magic was substantially greater than normal.

“Thank you.” Kael said to the nurse, not meaning it but maintaining proper decorum with academy staff. He looked at her expectantly. The nurse sighed.

“No additional treatment necessary. Proctors just needed you out of the exercise area. You’re dismissed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The next day Kael arrived at the site of the exercise. He was fortunate to be without conflict, so he arrived a bit prior to schedule. Looking out at the scene he reminisced on his mistakes from the day prior. He spotted Saderzaine Vult before the Proctor’s. Perhaps he was also early, or perhaps the proctors were late. Kael looked at the classmate. An opponent yesterday, but what was he today?

“I have found most students here are all talk.” Kael began. “You are a bit more than that.” He continued. Kael wasn’t the best speaker, but he aimed to give the man some respect.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Sader came back the next day as well, surprised Proctor Marius and the other one were late. Well, it wasn’t exactly as though that mattered much anyway. The Initiates were on their time, not the other way around. He paced a bit, reminiscing on the day before with a strangely nervous energy. He always got like this when faced with an impending assessment, and it was definitely a weakness.

So deep in his own reverie was he that when Kael finally spoke he took a minute to register the words. He turned to his fellow initiate, face blank for a moment due to tiredness. “I appreciate your stellar appraisal of my performance, friend,” he replied with a grin meant to make clear he was only messing around.

“Seriously, you were quite a challenge yourself. I just did a bit more homework this time.”

Kael

 

[Kael]

Kael winced slightly at the Sade's last sentence. He knew it was accurate, but also that he was training to be an assassin. He could hear Proctor Giroux in his ear. 'No one should know more about your target than you'.

"I can't say I'm happy with how things turned out, but I'm glad it wasn't easy." Kael said, trying to find the best way to express his thoughts. "Ten O'clock." He added, then stood at attention. Proctor Marius and Delaine had arrived.

"Initiate Kael, you did not take this exercise seriously. In the field this would result in your death, and potentially the embarrassment of Vel Anir. You had two hours to complete the exercise, which should have provided adequate time to scout the enemy conditions. You instead operated with inadequate information on your opponent's abilities, as well as inadequate information to impersonate facility personnel. . However, you did manage to destroy the opponent's flag, denying yourself total failure. This was scored positively for the exercise, but you should know in the field this is not always the proper decision. Your overall assessment is a failure to complete the exercise." Delaine's words were firm, but remarkably on topic.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

“Perfectly reasonable.” Sader replied to Kael’s admittance of frustration. It was true, after all. If someone felt no inadequacy at losing, none at all, that person would never learn. Such a being would make for a Dreadlord worth less than mold. An insane fellow, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

It made his very blood boil just to imagine such a creature. That was why he was very grateful that his newest sparring partner was no such thing. The boy’s shape-shifting ability was nearly flawless, he just failed on the little things. Luckily, the selling of it all was likely easy to learn with help from time.

When Kael alerted him to the proctors’ presence he gave a nod of gratitude and turned on one foot before moving to a position of attention. “Greetings.” he said blandly, foot tapping on the ground less in impatience and more in nervousness.

“Now that Kael’s assessment is out of the way, it is time for yours. You managed to do the bare minimum, which means you pass. That much is guaranteed. However, the loss of the flag means that in your case the assignment was not completed with flying colors.” Marius stated.

Well, coming from a proctor that was as high praise as one could reasonably expect. “I understand, Proctor Marius.” He waited for the two instructors to move a distance away before turning back to Kael. "I hope you're well after, uh, y'know. May be part of the game and all, granted, but better to be allies off the field. Nobody else is looking out for us but ourselves, or so I've learned from this place." he said, extending out his hand to offer a shake.

 

[Kael]

Delaine and Marius dismissed them, leaving the pair of Initiates to their own devices. Surprisingly, Sade turned to him to speak. He didn’t even gloat. He wanted to be an ally? Who was this kid?

”I’ll be fine. Pushing through pain is an expectation right? Would be embarrassing for a dreadlord to have their magic interrupted by a loose arrow.” He said, with less humor than not. He met the hand of Saderzaine Vult with his own, and gave a firm shake. Curious human custom, to imply respect and yet assess strength.

“I’m Kael.” He introduced himself formally, though he was sure Sade knew of him, as he loosely did Sade. Most initiates didn’t make it this far after all, so it was a smaller crowd.

“You ever play Settlers of Malakath?” He asked, referring to the board game a group of initiates had taken to hiding in one of the common areas.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Ever since a young age, Sader had adopted a way of speaking and thinking much after his own family and even the proctors. When he needed to be ruthless, his training covered such things, and it was moments like these that reminded him he wasn't just a weapon of war. "A given, even." he agreed coolly, returning the shake with one of similar force before breaking free. The things they were speaking of were not quite supposed to be relatable for two boys of their age, but that was just the truth of this place. It would be the truth, for the rest of their lives, really.

"My name is Saderzaine. I usually tell people to call me Sader or Vult, my last name, so take your pick. Less annoying to say." he replied, quietly racking his mind for the game Kael mentioned. Ah, there it was. He vaguely remembered at a younger age playing against Eli and how they would use a rather irritating tactic of beginning near his territory and creating roadways such that he had no way of forward progress. "Yep. I played when I was younger. I may even be up for playing again, if you're daring to challenge me." he teased, seriousness dissolving into an exaggeratedly imperious look.

Kael

 

[Kael]

"I've no history with the game, so you’ll probably best me, but let’s have a game anyways.” Kael replied, and began walking to the main academy building. It was a pleasant day, the sun providing a gentle warmth while the wind gifted a kind breeze.

"Folk here seem to be on a spectrum of 'trying to survive', and 'I'm going to be the next archon', with a few somewhere in the middle. Where do you find yourself Sader?" He asked, attempting to make small talk.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

"To call what I've played of the game "history" is actually rather apt. I wouldn't remember too much unless given a book on it to study, ha, so you have no need to worry about anything on that front." he said, following Kael. Were the two of them finding the game they had just discussed? He had been thinking they would just play at a later date, but just sighed and decided it didn't really matter. Their test had been on a day with no classes, so it wasn't as if he had anywhere else to be.

At Kael's next question, he took a moment to think before answering. "Where do I stand between simple survival and Vittoria Larrainth level? I'd say my end goal is closer to the right side of the spectrum, but the way I like to go about it is less...noisy," he noted. It wasn't as if he specifically disliked Initiate Larrainth or anything like that, but something about her attitude was bothersome. Even if you had the power to kill someone with a thought, it felt like wasted effort to lord it over everyone else.

"You?" he simply asked in return, keeping pace with Kael.

Kael

 

[Kael]

Kael smiled at Saderzaine Vult 's interpretation, specifically the mention of Vittoria.

"I wasn't going to name names, but I guess you can't really beat around the bush when it's bright yellow." Kael responded. He looked over the man with eyes less cold than normal. Sader had a dignity about him that spoke to a noble background, but a quietness as well. A subtlety to him. A lower house, or just a humble man?

"As for me, it's hard to say. I want to be the best me, if that makes sense, but I'm not built to be an officer, politician, lord or what have you." Kael responded. He probably wouldn't be on the front lines for long, if at all. No, he would go places that Vel Anir wasn't supposed to be. Kill in the dead of night. Until time waned his abilities, and he made a slip. Or until he could make a new life, free of other such hunters.

"I guess I'm closer to survive on that scale."