Fate - First Reply Hammerhead

[Caeso Diemut]

With their request granted (however begrudgingly), Caeso and Mieri were able to step off ahead of the crescent formation of Rangers.

Out of earshot, but still within eyesight of the Rangers behind them, Caeso gave voice to some thoughts sparked by Sergeant Gainsborough's conduct.

"I could kill him and all of his Rangers with hardly a true effort. You could do the same." Caeso huffed, a vexed sound from his nose. "And yet Gainsborough maintains the unmitigated gall to speak to us so."

He shook his head.

"This is what happens when people forget their proper place."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri stopped, her eyebrow instantly arching up at Caeso's term. "Proper place?"

A scoff parted from her lips.

"What the fuck does that even mean." She verbally jabbed as she once again stepped up alongside of him. "Two years ago we both would have been lap dogs to whatever noble family snapped us up."

It was a surprisingly insightful, and bitter, take from someone like Mieri. Her chipper nature having always made most assumed that she'd never cared where she ended up.

"Well." She said, looking up at Caeso with a frown.

"Maybe not you." She knew who his family was, after all. "But the rest of us."

A shrug rolled over her shoulders. "Sure we could tell the Rangers to dance on one foot, but guess what? We'da been a word away from being made to do the same."

At least now they could walk away, or earn their way up. "Stop worrying about what people should do, and let's just get something done."

A playful jab of her fist was aimed at Caeso's shoulder, and then she stalked off to go get her things.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso was almost delighted to be confronted. He would have loved an entertaining exchange of rhetoric whilst they were trudging ahead (and eventually out of sight) of the Rangers.

Almost. Because instead of staying with the proverbial flag she had planted with her points (more thought out than the banal fuck you from earlier), again she began to walk away. They could disagree. Severely disagree, that would be fine as well, and still then would he hold more respect for Mieri in such a case because she would have stood her ground.

He weathered the jab, his light armor absorbing the playful blow. Though now that she was walking away he wasn't in a reciprocally playful mood.

He called to her as he walked, making no effort to catch up to her pace: "What are your own words even worth to you, if you would speak them aloud and then not deign to stand with them? Retreat at first provocation—a stunning defense on your part yet again."

Then, becoming more annoyed as he gave voice to his reaction, he called then, "Where are you even going?"

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri stopped in her tracks.

For a second she seemed almost frozen, save for the hands curling into fists at her side. Her eyes staring at the floor as Caeso called after her. Her chest slowly rose and fell, and then she turned back towards Caeso. "What the fuck does it matter, Caeso?"

She demanded, all the chipper sounds having disappeared from her tone. "It's all a joke, all of it."

A shrug rolled over her shoulders as she stuck out her arms.

"I'm not a little field mouse, scurrying away. I said what I wanted to say." Anger entered her tone again. "But none of it matters."

Mieri added bitterly. "What's it going to get me standing here arguing with you? What's it going to get me if I get angry and cave your skull in?"

Lips thinned.

"Jack." She gestured to the where the Rangers had been. "I'm still someone's lap dog, I'm still in a system I didn't choose to be in."

The veneer of endless mirth had fallen away. The anger and bitterness that had lurked just beneath bubbling up more and more. "So I'm going to get my shit so we can get on with the only part of my life I actually like."

Breaking the rules, and winning because of it.

"Is that okay?" Mieri asked with false deference.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso's simmering annoyance began to fade as Mieri went on. His expression settled into one of a stolid and stately nature.

It became clear to him that she was not arguing from a place of logic; her passion had gotten the better of her, and presently was she burning in that immolation. She was of no sound mind to carry on any manner of debate, for any and all rhetoric she could summon in this moment would be held hostage to the throes of her heart. Thus, it would be unseemly to continue.

Unseemly as well to allow himself to be provoked into a brutish response. Where she was the tumultuous sea, he had to be the firm rock. Ready, as well, for a brutish response which might follow from her by any action of his which might set her off.

He regarded her for a moment. Her final words, is that okay, sarcastically spoken and pointed with anger, faded from the air.

And then, with a gentleness heretofore unheard, Caeso gave his sincere estimation of all she had said.

"Mieri, you should consider exile."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri took a step forward, the rage flickering over her face as her fingers balled into a tight fist.

For a moment it looked as though she would hurl herself at Caeso. Every bit of her body language speaking to the coming assault. Then she let out a hiss, an angry yell. "Fuck you!"

She declared, a finger jutting out from her fist as she pointed angrily at him.

"I'm going to get what they owe me! What I've earned!" Mieri said, not offering any detail on just what might be 'owed'.

Her hand dropped, and with a snarl she turned around and stalked away. A few of the Rangers now glancing over towards the pair.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

The air around Caeso stilled. He was setting his will and his intent, making preparations for defense. The abandonment of logic in an effete effluence of emotion led inexorably to brutishness, for when dialogue was done all that was left to settle a conflict was force.

Yet it did not come. More crass profanity, the last resort of the inelegant, the inarticulate, and the thoroughly bested. But that fist stayed by Mieri's side. No, not quite. It became an accusatory pointing finger, but nothing other than that.

And as Mieri was, once again, walking away in a fuming withdrawal, all Caeso could give her credit for was that she had at least enough wherewithal to not become a savage in defense of her arguments. Yet it remained that these arguments were like orphans, swiftly birthed into Arethil and abandoned just as fast—tragic. If Mieri didn't care enough to stay and express what she truly meant by "what they owe me" and "what I've earned," then why should he care in her stead? In the end, so far as Caeso was concerned, she had spouted nothing but worthless air and congratulated herself for it.

He shook his head. Didn't bother to look back at the approaching Rangers.

Caeso continued forward, "scouting ahead" as it were. Pathfinding as best he could, he took the paths of least resistance through the outcroppings, the scrub bushes, the lonely and squat coastal trees. Rough going, of course, but that was the common feature of the Isthmus, at least this portion south of Maratan.

Mieri would either catch up. Or deign not to.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

It didn't take long for Mieri to catch up with Caeso.

Though she wasn't the smartest of the Guilded Class, she had always been good when it came to tasks based more on instincts. Tracking was one of those, and before long Caeso would hear the near silent fall of the other Initiate's footsteps behind him.

A pack was now slung over her shoulder with a quiver tied to it's side, and in one hand she carried what looked like a long bow.

She offered no explanation as she jogged to the other Initiate, falling into step besides him. No tune carried from her throat this time, and the expression she wore was decidedly more neutral than her usual chipper mask.

In silence, the two of them continued to 'scout', until they eventually reached a small rocky outcropping.

There they tucked themselves away, waiting until the sun finally began to set.

When light faded, and visibility began to drop, Mieri motioned to Caeso. It was time to double back and get to the encampment.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Silence was a blessing. Warm and welcome, it was reminiscent of the old days, where Initiates were far less apt to speak with each other. But as they continued their ostensible scouting, those selfsame welcome thoughts of the old days turned gloomy.

For it was in the old days that it happened.

Quinctus.

The sun set, and so too did his forlorn thoughts on his brother. Caeso stood from where he sat, his meal finished just in time, and with his pack shouldered once more he walked and they circled back in the encroaching dark. A thin sliver of light at the western horizon, beyond the sea, was all that left. And then it too was gone.

* * * * *​

Normally, an Anirian unit on the move would have erected earthworks at least to fortify their position for the night. But the terrain of the southern Isthmus was tough and unyielding, and hardly was there any wood from trees for a more proper defensive camp. The best which could be done was using spears, lashed together and firmly planted into what compacted dirt would give beneath their shovels, to form small palisades.

The lack of suitable defense fortifications meant, of course, that the night watch was at its maximum strength: half on, half off. This was evidenced by the sheer number of torches at the central camp's perimeter.

Caeso, cloaked in the darkness with Mieri, looked on from an unseen vantage by a lone tree and a lone boulder.

He broke their silence.

"There's a ridge on the west side." He pointed. A black hump in the darkness, standing in minor relief to the night sky. "It would make for good cover, and their imaginations would fill with what 'awaits' them on the other side."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

The 'attack' they were orchestrating would need to use the cover of night. Utilizing the dark to their advantage would be the best course of action.

Briefly she wished they had one of their peers with illusion magic, something that could trick the eyes. Her lips thinned for a brief moment, but as Caeso spoke she nodded her head ever so slightly. "We need to draw as many eyes as possible."

Even when one flank was attacked, the other would not be bare.

Anirians were no fools, and they knew diversions better than most armies. The best Caeso and Mieri could hope for was creating an opening. If most eyes were on the west, one of them would be able to slip through the east. Of course that required one of them to draw those eyes.

"I should go into the camp." Mieri declared flatly, that jovial nature still missing from her tone. "I can move faster than you."

Plus she was smaller.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

No, you're not.

The words were poised on the tip of Caeso's tongue, and he was quite confident in the truth of it (even if, as it happened, he and Mieri had not been in a direct footrace against one another). Yet he refrained from speaking them. The last thing they needed now was more friction stifling them at this critical moment—if such friction was inevitable, let it be when they weren't flirting with charges of dereliction and outright treason.

And, unbeknownst to Caeso, his thoughts aligned with Mieri's on one key point: she was smaller. Caeso's build, unfortunately in matters of stealth, was rather noticeable. As well, though his magic and Mieri's own were similar in their essence, only he could project and manipulate force at a distance. These two points settled it cleanly.

"Go ahead," Caeso said.

He made to leave, and then stopped himself. Turned and looked back to her.

"If you are caught, do not hesitate to say that I am your accomplice. I will give myself up if my name is called. We're in this together."

And with that he made for the ridge.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri frowned for a moment as Caeso slipped away onto the ridgeline. "I'm no nark."

She said quietly, more to herself than the fleeing Initiate now heading in the other direction. For a moment she lingered, then slowly shook her head and began to depart towards the other side of the encampment.

The young Initiate moved with a surprising speed, darting through the thin underbrush and making her way along the dunes. She ran parallel the camp, moving along the length of it and glancing every now and again at the lines formed in front of her.

Eventually she reached her destination, finding a small alcove to tuck herself away in as she waited for Caeso's distraction.

Directly opposite her lay the palisade of spears. Neatly tucked against the stand it lay well enough to stop any cavalry charge. There was a small hill on either side of the areas she was looking at, natural defensive points which the Guard had rallied around.

Two guards stood on each hill, but Mieri knew that she could slip between them while their gaze was turned.

She just had to be fast enough.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

From the ridge came the first barrage of the "attack."

Arrows flew from the darkness, some missing and lodging into the dirt, others clanging loudly off of the breastplates of the Guardsmen on duty. It wasn't a proliferation of arrows, no, nor did it need to be. Just enough, a dozen or less, to give off the clear impression that, yes, this was a preliminary volley from a few skirmishing archers. (And Caeso only had so many arrows strapped to his pack; efficient tools for hunting that he needn't lug around a bow for; or, like his throwing knives, projectiles which didn't need much expenditure of magic to make deadly).

Alarmed shouts came from western side of the camp. To arms, to arms! Soon these shouts were repeated across the camp.

Without delay, the main show began.

Waves of force streaked through the western periphery, tossing Guardsmen through the air and blowing the spear palisades loose from the ground. More and more dust was kicked up (always a good byproduct when confusion and demoralization was called for). Guardsmen tried to form lines, but Forcewaves crashed into them, throwing any hope of formation constantly into disrepair. Another byproduct of the Forcewaves, the wind, had blown out the torches all along the western side. Through the dust and darkness the Guardsmen might see a figure here, a figure there, along the ridge—where it was Caeso, popping up and fading back in different spots, giving the impression that Kivren fighters and mages were peeking and drawing back behind the ridge.

Commander Teritus burst from his tent. Ordering the first two Guardsmen he came across, "You! And you! You're my runners! Run to the other two camps! Tell them to collapse on my position immediately if they aren't doing it already! We'll pin these bastards right here, right now!"

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri waited at the far corner of the camp, watching the lights atop the two hills.

Everyone always assumed that she had little to no patience. Her loud mouth and boisterous nature made most think that she had little impulse control, and while that was largely true...she was still a Dreadlord Initiate. She had undergone the same training as them, knew the same things.

Waiting was important.

No amount of excitement could overwhelm that, particularly when Caeso had put her in such a dour mood.

Even as Chaos erupted on the far side of the camp, as shouts began to go up and horn calls echoed in the night Mieri continued to wait. She knew that there would be an opportunity, a moment where she could finally move.

Almost two whole minutes after Caeso started his interruption did Mieri finally step forward. The torch lights on the hill shifted, thinning as men went to reinforce the new 'front' that had been created. Some guards remained of course, but they didn't matter.

Mieri's muscles flexed, she took a breath. The bag she had taken with her was dropped, souvenirs inside carefully tucked away.

Then she darted forward.

Her entire body was a blur. Shifting as she ran and launched herself over the wall of spears. Coming onto the ground on the other side of the camp with a hush thud. Feet crashing into sand as Mieri immediately lowered into a crouch and ran to the back of the nearest tent.

From there she quickly hurried, moving from shadow to shadow as she crept closer to the Commander's tent. Avoiding the running Guardsmen as they armed themselves and headed towards the 'attack'.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

The one precarious part of the plan (aside from the obvious) was that Caeso wouldn't precisely know when to abandon the ruse and take off into the night. The dust and the confusion were helpful, but they also worked both ways, didn't they? These rolled the fog of war over the eyes of the Guardsmen and likewise over Caeso's own eyes—it wasn't like he would be able to see when Mieri slipped into Commander Teritus's tent (though, if he was able to see it there'd be others who did, and then there would be bigger problems afoot).

What it came down to was Caeso playing a version of "king of the hill" against the Guardsmen. They would form a battle line, start attempting to move onto the ridge, and Caeso would have to blow them back with a Forcewave. Others would come, sometimes flanking far to the north or south side, and they too would have to be blown back. Care had to be taken. This wasn't like the Kivren from earlier, wherein it was of course the one end for them to be crushed by his Forcewaves. No, the most he could do was batter the Guardsmen. Though circumstances placed Caeso and the Guardsmen at odds, they were still allies. Crippling the fighting force with broken bones and worse would only serve to aid the Kivren in the end.

He couldn't keep it up forever. To the Guardsmen's collective credit, being tossed around and blown down repeatedly seemed not to hamper them. Chalk it up to adrenaline, chalk it up to indomitable spirit, but the fact was that they were relentless. And their numbers were growing.

Likewise, as well, Caeso could hear far behind him the stirrings of the distant western camp. Doubtless they heard the commotion. If he didn't move now, he would find himself pinched between the full forces of two of the camps.

It was all the time and distraction Caeso could spare.

Moments later, when there seemed a lull in the attack, when the Guardsmen of the central camp finally crested the ridge, they found nothing. No Kivren, no thralls. Search orders were given to secure a wide perimeter.

But Caeso had already fallen back to the lone tree and the lone boulder. The vantage where he and Mieri had observed the camp from earlier.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

As good as the Anirian Guard was, they weren't perfect.

When one was being attacked by enemies it was only natural to turn towards that attack. Nearly every soldier not personally posted on watch was rushing directly towards Caeso and the distraction. Most of them shouting for reinforcements or calling out instruction.

In the chaos of it all Mieri managed to move quite easily through the camp. No one was watching out for someone sneaking through the tents, much less a human girl. If anyone did see her it was just as likely she was another panicked guardsmen or servant girl.

Before long she managed to find her way to the Commanders tent.

Only one of his Guards remained stationed outside, his body filled with tension.

Mieri didn't think as she closed the distance between the two of them in a near instant. Moving with a burst of speed and catching the man's throat in the crook of her arm. He moved to struggle, but the crush of her bicep was more than any man could endure and within seconds the Guardsmen collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

She grimaced for a moment, shaking her head before slipping into the Commanders tent.

Just a minute later she reemerged, stepping out of the tent and bursting into a sprint out and away from the center of the encampment. She darted from Shadow to shadow, flickering forward at blinding speeds until she once again launched herself over the spear palisade.

The soft patter of her steps ringing out just a few short minutes later as she rejoined Caeso.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Seeing her approach, Caeso picked up his travel pack from the rendezvous spot and shouldered it. Best be out of here quickly, before whatever winds of wily fortune blew their way.

"Did you get it?"

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri nodded her head. "I got it."

The parchments had been carefully rolled up and placed inside the quiver of arrows she had brought along. Carefully wrapped around the arrows so none of the heads would nick or cut the paper that now found themselves wrapped in the maps.

It was a small, and probably useless technique, but Mieri had figured it would be beast to conceal the maps in case someone stopped her.

"No one saw me." She added. "Most of the camp was still in chaos when I left."

No doubt tonights events would stir everyone up.

The watchmen would likely be doubled, and if the Commander truly felt paranoid he might even insist on merging the three camps. Not that it mattered much for them. "Let's get somewhere we can look at these."

Mieri said, eager to get this whole thing over with.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

An astute point. Lingering around here any longer than necessary was overly tempting of the noose. So off they went, heading north once again, retracing the steps they had already taken in the dark. Still they had to get ahead of wherever the Rangers camped for the night. The need for sleep was going to cling at the corners of their eyes no doubt, but both Mieri and Caeso had known it before; sleep deprivation was one of the first shocks to the system utilized by the Proctors, and it was indeed an effective chisel to break the stone of any child's resistance to the Academy system.

Maybe they could catch an hour or two of sleep, depending on when they sensed they were far enough north.

Somewhere along the way, Caeso said, "I suggest we wait until first light to examine the map. Making a fire out here would be an unnecessary risk."

In the pristine dark the light might well be seen for miles. Even if they tried to hide it beneath a ridge or a rocky outcropping, still they were effectively in hostile territory, and eyes from angles unconsidered might see the light despite their efforts.

And there was hardly any chill of the night for them to be made uncomfortable by lack of a fire. Nothing they couldn't handle.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri tilted her head in a quick and curt nod. After the stunt they had just pulled there was no need to press their lucky any further. It wouldn't be long now until dawn anyway, and they wouldn't be able to search properly without the sun regardless.

Best to wait. "Let's find a place to rest."

She said calmly, the mirth still not returning to her tone entirely, though she couldn't keep the chipperness of their small victory away.

At the end of the day the thing Mieri liked most was winning. It was when she succeeded at a task or mission, when she pulled something off that someone else thought impossible. The triumph of it kept her going, always did.

Every Initiate had their way of coping. Every single one of them. A way to deal with the tortures the Proctors pushed them through. A way to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For some it was the weight of duty, for others it was the hurting of others, all manner of things kept Initiates from ending up as burned out husks on some asylum floor.

A win, a souvenir for someone back home, and getting what she was owed.

That was what kept Mieri going.

Eventually after another hour or so of walking the pair of Initiates found a small rock outcropping. Deciding it would do as a hiding place, Mieri pulled a small blanket from her pack, careful with the item she had wrapped up in it. Then she bundled down underneath the makeshift shelter.

Tucked in and waiting for dawn.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso never did enjoy sleeping in his armor. No one did, he reckoned, unless they were like that freak Charon and relished even his own miseries. Regardless, such was an acquired skill, and acquired it was through the only means of establishing and maintaining it: which was, simply, to go out and endure.

Dawn colored the east pink, and the skies to the west were still blanketed in a deep, but lightening, blue. The gentle sounds of the sea were not far. Another day, another march, another battle. All the better to hone his talents and become the best Dreadlord he could be.

Still, there was something that needed to be addressed.

Caeso, as the saying went, had slept with one eye open for what was left of the night—and it was not solely on account of possible Kivren or thralls wandering into them. Neither he nor, more to the point, Mieri were so far removed from the old way as to be shed completely of it. And not once but twice yesterday he saw her mask slip, and the true weapon that the Academy had forged come forth like glistening steel being drawn from a scabbard. And this anger had been directed squarely at him. Yes, it was true, Caeso couldn't know her mind. But what he could do was inquire, and then, to the best of his ability, gauge what the eyes, the face, told him when she answered.

So as Caeso was sat under the outcropping, eating a quick breakfast, he said abruptly, "Mieri, if we are going to commit to this, finding and investigating this Pyramid..."

It was going to be them, if anybody. Neither Commander Teritus nor Sergeant Gainsborough would spare the time.

"...I need to know that you're with me."

And he studied her, his face like a stone. Depending on what he saw, what her intentions might be, the brutal whispers of the old way were in his ear. If it were necessary, if he thought there was no other choice but to act first...

Killing her was an option.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri was still bundled in her small burlap blanket, having snoozed off in the midst of the night and actually managed a few short hours of sleep.

It was a gift of hers, being able to find rest on nearly every ocassion. Whether it was a comfortable feather bed or the hardened stones of the earth, there was never a mattress that Mieri didn't like. By the time Caeso prompted her with questions of integrity Mieri was awake of course, though she was more than a little bleary eyed.

The expression she wore as he probed his intense was one of annoyance and exhaustion. "I don't walk away."

She said simply.

The words were a simple declaration of intent. An answer to the question that he had asked now, and the prompt he had given her the day before.

"I'll see this through until the end." She could have ran away years ago. She could have ditched this entire fucking system and made it somewhere else in the world. There was a reason Mieri had stuck around. A reason she still did these missions.

That hadn't changed.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso studied her for a long moment.

And was, for now, satisfied. Mieri was not like your typical Initiate. She certainly wasn't like those infamous Initiates who were sprinkled in seldom number across the Academy's history, the ones known for killing their entire class. This wasn't to say that Mieri did not possibly have it within her to kill a fellow Initiate. She just, so far as Caeso's estimation went, wasn't intent on it now, despite what her clenched fists yesterday might have suggested. She was set on this mission, focused on the task which had fallen into his and her hands. Only they had the capacity to find and investigate this Pyramid, and to spoil whatever aims the Kivren had for it.

Good. Then they should get started.

Caeso nodded in affirmation of what she said. Then spoke. "Let us have a look at that map."

And when she took it out, they looked over it together.

"There is Maratan," Caeso said, pointing to a large flat area in the bend of the Isthmus where the land ceased stretching north and turned more eastward. "An impediment to advancement further along the Isthmus. We should be part of the assault on the town, but beyond that? We can 'scout ahead' to break away and venture off on our own once more."

Given the Navy's intelligence that the bulk of the Kivren forces were beyond Maratan, likely it was that the Pyramid was somewhere between the town and the Corsair barricade. And, judging from the topography of the map, there were indeed some possible locations for a buried structure.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri studied the map in front of them, nodding along in agreement as Caeso summarized what lay ahead of them.

Her eyes then flickered over the rest of the map.

She lingered on one spot in particular, studying the rises of the 'mountains', if they could even be called that, and the narrow lines of the continent. A frown touched her lips for a moment, and she considered before speaking. "We already thought the Pyramid might be buried."

The Initiate said softly, a hand moving to her chin as she contemplated further.

"From what I can see there are three likely locations." She reached out and jabbed her finger at three separate points on the narrow strip of land beyond Maratan. "On this rise."

She said. "Here in this 'valley'."

The inflection on the word marked it as being somewhat tongue in cheek. "Or here."

There was always a chance it was elsewhere, but simply from the terrain of the isthmus she thought it highly unlikely.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"Agreed. Those are the only areas of land which stand out to my eye as well."

The rise. The valley. The crater. Three different locations made their task that much harder, but Caeso supposed the same ought to be true of the Kivren. The fish-fool from earlier had said that they were still looking for it. Now, with whatever methods they were employing, they too had a search on their hands. The Kivren did, however, have a considerable headstart—which would only made more pronounced by the need for Caeso and Mieri and the Guard to batter their way through Maratan. Kress, who knew how much of a stronghold they had turned it into.

"I suspect," Caeso said as he stood, "that the Kivren will have likely beaten us to this vaunted Pyramid by the time we do find it."

He picked up his travel pack and slipped it on.

"All the better. We'll kill everything in there, and justify all this effort with more heads than Sergeant Gainsborough can count."

Mieri