Dreadlords Who We Are

[Zael Castomir]

"We are not. Doin this."

Zael glared at his fellow Initiates. Three of them, at least. There had been just the faintest noise coming from the foliage and Zael had surreptitiously gone there, thrust his hand into the bush, and tossed out the culprit who now lay on the forest floor among the circle of Initiates. A small elven boy. Young, his large eyes filled with equal parts fear and loathing.

Zael had seen the looks on the faces of Graham, Sieglilly, and Bull. He knew what idea had entered into their minds the second they saw the elven child.

And of course they thought it. The Serandil Valley in Falwood was Fellowship through and through—there wasn't an elf in this entire goddamn crater that wouldn't stab an Anirian if given the chance. Their mission here was simple, and meant to improve each of their ability to perform covert actions (or maybe because the Proctors just wanted some number of them to get killed by fanatic elves, who knew). All they needed to do was infiltrate the Valley, observe the movements of elves for a week, and exfiltrate to make a report about it. Without getting detected of course, which was pretty close to a death sentence anyway without the Proctors' stipulation. The Valley was huge but teeming with hostiles, and there was only one way in or out unless you wanted to try scaling up cliff walls nearly a hundred feet high.

Very high marks were on the line along with their lives. And they had been so close. Tomorrow was the day they could finally get the hell out of here.

And now it was all in jeopardy.

Graham, the short boy with the intense and beady eyes, looked up from the boy to Zael. Shook his head grimly. "We can't let him go."

Sieglilly, the armless girl with the TK powers, looked shaken by the turn of events but empowered by a force of necessity, "Graham...Graham's right, Zael. Our mission is clear."

Bull, the large and hairless Initiate, had no trouble like Sieg did. His downward gaze on the boy was predatory. Mercilous. "Very clear."

The elven boy (whose name, unbeknownst to them all, was Illim) simply looked at the Anirians in their stealthy campsite, saying something accusatory in a tiny, hollow tone, his words in Elvish.

Zael repeated himself. "We are not." And for added emphasis, thrusted his forefinger down toward the ground, as if planting a flag to mark his stance on the matter. His eyes were blazing. "Doin this."

A deliberation would follow, upon which hung great peril for all involved.

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

Raena had been put on this mission to help the others since their stealth was lacking and stealth was her middle name. Well...not really. She didn't have a middle name. Did any of them have middle names? Did she have one that had been forgotten years ago? Why was she asking herself these useless questions instead of helping her fellow Initiates?

She had been camouflaged and sitting against a tree (hiding from Bull) when the little elf had found them. She had stayed silent as she watched Zael and the others converse over what they were going to do with the kid. While Raena wasn't a fan of murdering kids, this was an elf. This was an elf that could get them all killed.

A chuckle escaped her as she stood and released her camouflage. The little boy had some spunk...she could admire that...for a second.

"He said that we are a bunch of dirty Anirians and we are evil," Raena told the group. She had also exposed a skill that few knew she possessed. They may dislike elves but it was good to know their language for moments like this.

---

Zael Castomir

 

[Cassius Amore]

"You're not doing anything, are you?"

Cassius looked up from his book to see Zephyr, a second level, peering into his quarters. It wasn't too strange a sight. But this did mean he'd need to get his shoes on. So, he started with that right away.

"Seems not."

"Aren't you pleasantly obedient today, Cassius. Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Some initiates were sent out to do some recon and train their tracking and their stealth. Just need you to check on their progress and report back. Or bring back any corpses. They'll be near The Serandil Valley."

"Consider it done."

--

It was weird being just a couple years out of initiation and how often he now had to play babysitter. Initiates either found him weak or thought him a very easy person to get along with. They just never asked him for combat advice. Since Cassius still asked for it himself.

The trip would only take him a day or so but finding them would be tough if they'd done their job well. Luckily for him, they just hadn't. It wasn't uncommon to forget a track or two for initiates and Cassius had seen it all before. He'd done it much worse than they had, as well.

Just a few hours into following the tracks and he could hear whispering voices. Plotting ones. Did they not know how loud they were being?

Cassius calmly walked through some brush and entered the circle of initiates who had apparently brought a guest.

"Oh dear." Cassius sighed. "Will one of you please explain what's happening here?"

Raena Mirrsyn - Zael Castomir ​

 

[Zael Castomir]

There was a short silence after Raena offered the translation of what Illim was saying. It wasn't surprising to any of the Initiates, but for Graham, Sieglilly, and Bull, it was a vindication of their stance on the matter.

Hands dropped to weapons and eyes shot over toward Cassius when he emerged, every single Initiate ready to do violence at a moment's notice. But they all saw his ears. Saw he was human. For Zael at least, it took him a second to even recognize the man. Upper classman—or at least was, some three or four years back.

Bull, however, didn't recognize Cassius. "Who the hell are you?"

Sieg, almost welcoming the momentary diversion from the dilemma at hand, said, "O-Oh. Hello, Cassius."

Graham, matter-of-factly, answered him. "Isn't it obvious? We're doing what needs to be done."

"Shut your fuckin mouth, Graham," Zael snapped. Then, turning to the one Initiate whose face hadn't betrayed her thoughts on the matter just yet, he said, "Raena, back me up here."

Illim, with his wide eyes and far away voice, spoke further in Elvish.

Raena Mirrsyn Cassius Amore

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

Raena's hand had gone to her dagger when the man emerged but she did not remove it until Cassius was confirmed as a friendly. Her hand slowly left the hilt as she watched everyone. She did not know Cassius. He probably graduated when she was still a child. There was an internal chuckle at the fact that sixteen was no longer a child to Dreadlords.

"Raena, back me up here."

Her eyes snapped over to Zael. She did not really want to back him up and she was saved from doing so when the boy started speaking again.

"He says," she started to translate in a tone that spoke of boredom. "That his parents will find him soon and kill us all," Raena wondered if the boy knew that she was translating his words.

Did he know that he was threatening people who held his life in their hands?

"How long before they find you, little elf?" She asked him in Elvish.

"Soon!" He responded and she chuckled.

"No one is looking for him yet. He is acting tough."

---

Zael Castomir Cassius Amore

 

[Cassius Amore]

Kids deciding if they should kill a kid.

Cassius immediately got a headache. He rubbed his temples raw from the bickering and the lack of any thought being put into this situation. They were children, though not much younger than he, still he had to be the adult here. And that was just a hell of a thing to think about.

"Sieglilly, grab gauze or anything that's not abrasive and cover the child's mouth. If his chirping is heard, we are all dead. If you can do that it won't allow fingerprints, either."

Sieg nodded and floated out wraps to cover the child's mouth. She looked so distraught by the scenario with an intense desire to not die. She was a good kid, if not a bit shaken easily.

Zael he also knew. Not personally but many in his level and above spoke highly of him. But he had a temper. One that could turn into a mess even if his heart was in the right place.

"Zael, step away from him. An internal fight will be a beacon to our location. You know this as well as I do."

Cassius didn't know the others. Either too young or too unimpressive. Didn't matter. He sat down on a nearby stump and fell his face into his hands.

"This is a bit of a disaster, you all realize this, yes?" He said muffled into his palms.

Zael Castomir - Raena Mirrsyn​

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Sieg, drop the cloth," Zael said.

"Sieg," said Graham calmly. "Listen to Cassius."

"I wasn't askin, Sieg. Put the cloth down. Now."

Frowning, she glanced from Zael to Graham to Cassius. Poor Little Lilly. Caught in the middle of this. Zael knew she needed the marks for this mission. Knew she needed them badly. She'd told him so herself. Proctors loved to pick on her because they saw her as defective, saw what progress and perseverance she made and mustered as an affront to everything that it was to be a Dreadlord. But she could come around. She could make the right decision. Zael knew it.

Or is that wishful thinkin, man?

Bull crossed his arms. "Don't be a fool, Zael." He gestured toward Raena. "You heard that? This little morsel would kill us all if he could. Fucking knife-ear."

Zael wheeled around on the larger Initiate. "I don't remember askin for your piece-of-shit opinion."

Sieglilly, perhaps seeking guidance, looked to Raena. Said her name, "Raena?" almost plaintively. The cloth floated in the air indecisively.

Raena Mirrsyn Cassius Amore

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

Raena just watched everything in silence. She was greatly regretting showing herself. People left her alone when they couldn't see her. She liked being left alone. Now she was stuck in the middle of two warring opinions. Kill the kid or don't kill the kid. She knew that killing the kid would preserve their lives longer and he was an elf but he was still a child.

Actually...why was she being asked to mediate this? She was the youngest fucking Initiate here. She was sixteen! This wasn't her job!

"Listen," she started. "There is one Dreadlord here and the rest of you are about to graduate so why are you putting this on me?"

Yes...turn it back on them so she could slowly back up and fade away. No one would be the wiser.

---

Cassius Amore Zael Castomir

 

[Cassius Amore]

This was getting out of control. Zael’s temper was worse than he‘d previously expected. It was causing a massive rift between him and the huge bald kid, who seemed to wear his prejudice on his sleeve.

Raena was right. She shouldn’t be expected to make this call. He wondered if Zephyr has known this would happen. Cassius stood back up and wandered towards Zael. He offered Sieg a small smile and mouth the words ‘it’s okay’. Stepping in front of Zael to meet his eyes, Cassius exhaled slowly.

”I get it. I honestly, truly get it, Zael. But I need you to use your head right now, not your heart. Silencing the child with a gag will not harm him. This is not a portent for his demise.”

Bull scoffed.

“What, so you’re weak willed, too? Unbelievable what passes for Dreadlords these days.”

Cassius looked up to the sky and closed his eyes. Just breathe.

Without breaking eye contact with Zael, he spoke to Bull,

”I’ve done fifteen deliberations this year. One of them, I shook the hand of an elvish captain. His heart was filled with hatred, and at any moment he could have decided to end my life.”

He turned around, trusting Zael to not take him out of the equation. They needed to trust each other right now. Locking eyes with Bull, he sighed,

“Please don’t pretend to know anything about how these things go, it’s rather irritating.”

Zael Castomir - Raena Mirrsyn ​

 

[Zael Castomir]

Sieg was a bit taken aback by Raena's response. "No, no, I didn't mean—" But she faltered. Couldn't finish. In some ways she wished she could possibly do the same as Raena, just fade into the background, have this whole problem go away.

Cassius had come forward. Stood before Zael and spoke and Zael just shook his head in response, saying in a more amiable yet still firm manner, "No. I don't think you do get it."

Bull scoffed again after his own exchange with Cassius. Glowered at him and Zael but otherwise did nothing as of yet.

Graham, pivoting off of what Raena had said, spoke up. "Cassius is the most senior of us—"

"Fuck his seniority." A flick of his eyes to Cassius. Maybe in a different context he might have added a No Offense, might have said it in a lightheaded, just-fucking-with-you manner. But that Zael, the cavalier and jovial young man who could pluck the positive from an endless sea of negative, was miles away. "That doesn't have anythin to do with this. Nothin to do with what we should do."

Graham also centered his attention on Cassius then. "You were sent here for a reason, weren't you?"

Raena Mirrsyn Cassius Amore

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

Raena had slowly started backing away from the group. She was intent on letting them figure this out. She was torn still so let the adults (ish) make the hard choices.

She was almost back to her tree when she heard some rustling in the bushes. Fuck me, she cursed to herself before winking out of sight. The youngest Initiate moved quietly (and invisibly) around the bushes to see three elven men crouched down. The little shit hadn't been lying after all. Interesting.

"Why are we not attacking them before they kill Illim?"

"Do not be hasty, their number is greater than ours. We much wait or they will use their evil powers on us."

"I agree that we need to attack before they kill my son. Stupid boy wanted to go off on his own and now this has happened."

Raena listened for a bit longer than made her way back to the group. She made sure she was concealed from the direction of the elves before she came back into view. They did not need to know that there was someone capable of spying on them here.

"Hey, guys..." She started before moving in close. "We have a slight problem..."

She relied the conversation that she had overheard and nodded in the direction of the bushes where their intruders hid.

---

Zael Castomir Cassius Amore

 

[Cassius Amore]

Cassius’s head was throbbing by the absolute lack of listening Zael was doing. If he’d been a crueler dreadlord, this would have gone a lot different. Zael may no longer have his head.

He was prepared to answer Graham before Raena’s words cut through like a warning of a natural disaster. There was someone else here. He hadn’t heard the voices but whoever it was was likely here to get the kid back.

This left him with very few options. Was this a test? Just like Graham had asked, was he sent here on ulterior purposes? Something was feeling very strange about this entire scenario. One or more of them were being tested in an unseen and unspoken way.

It didn’t matter. What mattered was that he didn’t bring back five corpses.

“Zael, if you want to unravel the complexities of morality in war, I have a book you can read. Right now, it is time to go.“

He turned to everyone else.

”The same goes for the rest of you. I will tell the proctors you did well, but it is no longer safe for you to be here.“

He turned back to Zael.

“I am not asking you.”

Zael Castomir - Raena Mirrsyn ​

 

[Zael Castomir]

Zael heard Raena. Had an awareness of what she was saying. But he didn't dare turn his head or move his eyes in such a way that he no longer had any sight—directly or in his peripheral—of the elven boy. He'd bet every single gold coin he'd ever touched in his entire life that the only reason Bull hadn't torn the flesh from the child was because Zael was standing sentinel over him. Slight problem though. Kress, now what? How could this get worse?

His nostrils flared a little when Cassius echoed his own words back to him. Cass hadn't planted a flag on either side yet, but Zael didn't much care for his attempts to play diplomat. To Zael, the answer to this question of Illim was clear. And if he could just convince Cass and Raena to join his side and not Sieg, Graham, and Bull, then the poor kid would have the best chance.

He was about to speak when he was beaten to it.

"We can't leave..." Sieg said in a small voice. She was looking down at her feet.

"Sieg's right," Graham said. He sighed heavily, resigned, and tilted his head back to look up to the shading canopy of branches above. "Just one more day..."

"And I'm not failing this assignment because of this little wretch," Bull said defiantly. He took the chance to further excoriate the Dreadlord among them, though. "It was never safe for us to be here, that's the point, you moron."

Zael, funny enough and despite his initial repulsion by the authoritative stance, actually found himself agreeing with Cassius in his own way. He rebuked the responses of the three. "We've already failed the assignment."

Graham leveled his skyward gaze down on the boy. Said dryly, "Not yet we haven't."

Raena Mirrsyn Cassius Amore

 

[Raena Mirrsyn]

"We could just kill the men," Raena finally spoke up as the group continued to argue. "Kill the men and take the kid with us. Move our camp then decide what to do with him. We will eliminate the immediate threat and disappear before we are found again."

She had not spent a week out here to be forced to quit now. It didn't matter if Cassius reported that they had been successful because they would know that they had failed.

They did not fail.

---

Cassius Amore Zael Castomir

 

[Cassius Amore]

TW: Bodily fluid

These kids. So obsessed with the fact that they were a day away from success. Half the missions they got sent on they weren’t expected to survive. Surviving it after potential loss of position was a huge success. There was a throbbing in his temples.

He was going to need to find another way to make them listen. A way he didn’t want to have to resort to. He could quell Bull and his bloodlust, but that may make him a danger to the kids. Unfortunately, he needed to get what Zael had. That rage. He had to channel it.

“Zael.” He said, mournfully. “I will have to ask your forgiveness for this another time.”

He positioned himself in front of Zael and lined his body up with the boy. With accuracy and speed, he clasped both of his hands on either side of the fiery young man’s face. He never knew what it felt like for the opposing party. If it was physical or just a mental drain.

But he hated how stealing anger felt for him.

Cassius let out a painful yelp and nearly fell to his knees. Still clasping Zael’s head, he would appear to be in an intense amount of agony from the transference. And it did, anger hurt the worst next to hate. The magic was fusing his emotion to element, and he felt fire welling up inside his stomach.

He finally let go and turned away from the initiate. Gagging and choking he fell on his hands and knees. It was rising, aiming for his throat. It always showed itself in such ugly ways.

Cassius vomited. He vomited pure fire. Mixed in with the bile it almost appeared to be magma. He spit the last bit of foul expulsion from his lips before he caught his breathing up to normal. Cassius stood back up and turned to look at everyone again. Now, there was fury in his eyes. Brows raised in irritation and a face that was done taking or listening to anymore shit.

From Leech to Lion
​

“I’ve heard fucking enough out of all of you. You think you’re strong enough to survive this? Because you fucking aren’t.“

He looked first towards Bull and the others.

“I’ve seen dreadlords twice your ilk fall to an elf’s dagger because they couldn’t make a fucking decision, or they made the rash and first decision they thought of. Congrats, baldy, you are another impulsive, thoughtless little shit who wants to kill whoever he sees because he had his hide whipped in training. Guess what, we all fucking went through that! Why are you a fucking psychopath, then? It’s because you’re fucking weak.”

He turned back to Zael.

“You can’t fucking save everyone. Get that out of your head right now. There are casualties, you are a dreadlord. If you can’t hack it, then get out. Run with your tail between your legs and hope that I or another of your superiors never catch you. You’re lucky as is I don’t put you to the guillotine for disobeying me here and now. Blocking your party’s decision has given the enemy time to find you. You’re an idiot.”

His eyes flickered towards Raena, who had said the most sensible thing this whole time. Even still, Cassius didn’t want anyone to die. There was no need for it. And they didn’t need another elvish infiltration party making Hell in Vel Anir.

They needed to be dealt with, however. The adults were a much larger problem than the child. Not only in stature, but in ability to call for backup.

“You.” He pointed to Raena. “You and Graham and Sieg apprehend those three. If I see you move an inch, Zael, or you, Baldy, I’ll have you choking on flame so fast your head will spin.”

Zael Castomir - Raena Mirrsyn ​