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Scarlet Ruse

Chapter Five: An Escape

The sight of land made me feel at ease, my nerves had been shot the entire voyage, though as the ship drew nearer to the shores that ease began to vanish. The stormy clouds that hung in the air were actually smoke, thin and like ash; the closer we got the clearer the scene at the shore became. It was the village we were supposed to be docking in, raised to the ground with fire, one of the crewmen said he could spy knights of the king but I could barely see anything other than smolders and smoke. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air and my nose as we made landfall a few moments later, the captain looking nervous and uncertain.

“Mathias… I wana go home…" came a voice from beside me, Neil's voice, quiet and timid, he always acted out, strutting about with a false air of cockiness like some uppity snob. But in truth he was, deep down, scared, sensitive and frightened easily. I had little to no idea as to why he acted out like he did, other people found him exhausting, irritating, but me? I liked it, sure he was a little insecure at times and timid to, but out of all the romantic relationships I'd had in my life, Neil is the only one who hasn't betrayed me.

“What home? That prison of an airship? Or the sleazy little hide out of yours back in Aldoran"? I snapped, this trip had been taxing enough as it was, and I did have to admit to myself that Neil as wearing on my nerves at this point. My remark however had shut him up rather quickly as the Ship finally made dock at the ruined smolders of what once was the town of Stiltsenburg. It'd been a wharf town, a small port used for trade, or that's what it looked like at least, I didn't know much about port side settlements but I did know that they usually weren't supposed to have the smoking and twisted husk of a zeppelin lying amidst ruined buildings and charred tinder's.

Neil took my hand tight in his as the Captain moved through the crowd of onlookers such as us, moving toward the wooden pier as some soldier approached.

“Halt seafarer, who goes there"? The soldier called out, though before the captain could answer another voice called out from further away amidst the smoke and morning fog. It was to this man the Captain bellowed out to, straining his eyes as if trying to peer through the vapors to make out the voice.

“Just an old Sea Captain with Folk from the Sovereign, here to see and visit families abroad…"! The soldier nearest the ship looked back over his shoulder and after a moment of silence a heavier pair of footsteps could be heard upon the groaning and ruined timbers of the pier.

“Tis no Folk here to visit no more, the survivors have moved Northward" came a clear and sallow voice, the soldier moving a step back or so as a taller figure cut through the wisps of smoke. Neil squeezed my hand tighter as the others near us began to murmur and whisper and for good reason, the man approaching us was a knight errant of Dragonholme.

The man was clad in some mix of thick leathers and steel plating, heaviest upon the shoulders, feet and hands, the metal clearly oiled, he wore hefty pauldrons on the shoulders, one of which bore a thick curved shield like plate that stuck up skyward and to top it all off he wore an open faced helm with a plume of green and white feathers sprouting from the top of it. The boots and gauntlets all had wide flared collars of thick leather, the chest and arms lined with intricate leather work and chain mail. I could tell the quality was good, my father had been a tanner as had I myself before the Prince snatched me away.

“A Knight? T'was this a raiding party? Pirates from Aldoran"? The Captain asked the Knight, calming a good deal, the Knight took a moment to look us all over with his gaunt face and sunken, worn eyes. By now Neil was squeezing at my hand rather tight, I could feel his claws digging into my flesh, causing me to wince.

“Hear me, those here for family need not worry, your families and friends are safe, I won't lie, not everyone survived and the area isn't safe." the knight said, pausing a moment and giving a forlorn look, eyes staring off into some void that hung unseen in the air before him.

“...We...I, would request upon thee, any of you who wish, we need help identifying those who perished...and aid in clearing the rubble away." He continued, people had begun to mutter among themselves but now they began to call out, voices quickly becoming just a mass of panic and concern as the Knight gave us all one last seldom look before turning away and walking back into the smoke.

The town itself was raised entirely to the ground, there wasn't a single timber unscathed and all that remained of buildings where the stone chimneys. Neil continued to squeeze my hand numb as we followed the soldiers who now ushered us off the ship.

“Neil you're crushing my damn hand…" I said through gritted teeth, I was rather pissed off, all my planning gone to waste. We had supposed to have met a barkeep here, a man who was offering a quiet job at a nearby city, the plan had been to work and save up coin to buy a home, live in peace and freedom; but now for all I knew the city was in ruins.

“Mathias...I'm scared...can we please just go back…" Neil whined, only squeezing tighter, his eyes darting from the dead horses and trampled muddy ground, to the still burning husk of the crashed zeppelin and burnt down buildings.

“We can't go back cause we don't have any coin, remember? We spent it all getting here...now let go"! I growled, snatching my hand away from his, he looked up at me, hurt and scared, the look in his eyes made me feel like crap inside in a way that just couldn't be explained in words. The whole reason we'd run away was to be together and here I was being my normal self, mean and irritable; grouchy.

“...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that…" I said, slumping, hugging one of my arms with the other, something pulling at my chest from inside; I didn't deserve someone like Neil. Yet he still stayed, pushing his head against my chest, his arms wrapping around my waist, I sighed, hugging him back softly; he deserved better.

“What do we do now…"? Neil asked, looking up at me, his arms still slung around me, truth be told I had no idea. I didn't know anyone in this country and the Knight had said the area was unsafe, I didn't know the land either, we were at a complete disadvantage.

“We'll have to improvise, find a job somewhere" I muttered as a response, looking around at the oddly unscathed countryside that surrounded the burnt port town. Fields of grain left with no one to tend to them and the Knight from before looking over everything from the nearest hill; obviously he was the best person to ask for help.

“Come on…" I said, taking Neil's hand and breaking off from the group of others, many of which were now in lines speaking with concerned voices to the other soldiers. A few of them were knee deep in the mud, weeping in pain, others were comforting them, others were just milling about; shocked.

Soon we were out of the ruined town and hiking up a grassy hill toward something I'd never seen before, it was some sort of tall yet narrow structure with a four huge rotating sails. Though at least Neil was now relaxing, his ears perked up in curiosity as he looked up in awe. I supposed he knew what the structure was somehow, but I was more focused on what I was going to say to the Knight. Said Knight was sat looking defeated on a bale of hay amidst a makeshift camp set up around the burnt down remains of a house and some other structure.

The nearby soldiers all clad in similar colors but definitely not similar apparel were swift to deter our approach any further. Neil began to squeeze my hand sharply once more as a duo of foot soldiers prevented us from entering the camp, hands on their sword hilts.

“Halt Lizard, return to the town at once." one of the two said aggressively, the other one simply looking over us to the town with sad sullen eyes. I squeezed Neil's hand back, readying myself and reaching deep to get as authoritative a tone of voice as I could; however I was interrupted before I could speak.

“Leave them be…" The empty voice of the Knight rang out, his gaze having risen to meet me, the other two soldiers before us turned to look at the Knight before reluctantly standing down. I hesitated stepping forward, I didn't know the laws of this place, I didn't know anything about Dragonholme at all; I gulped, forcing myself to step forward.

“We're looking for work...Sir, surely you must having something need be done? You're men seem tired and worn…" I said, addressing the Knight directly, loathe to have to force myself to say 'Sir' but I forced it out eventually; nervous, anxious, desperately clutching at straws. Neil was looking to me to be the one to lead us here and now, I had to be strong and level headed, reassure him that things would be well, in a way I was very much a parent to a bratty and insecure child.

“...honestly we could use some pack mules… most of our horses were slaughtered in our counter attack, we can't well leave military supplies behind, nor men to guard them.. If you'd be willing to carry some packs and what not with us to Brandy Stone you'd earn some coin" The Knight said, his tone flat and empty aside from some slow drawling accent. Though work was work nevertheless and Brandy Stone had been our destination anyways, hauling heavy packs of canvas and tent was nothing for a worker like myself, to be teased with hard labor again made my tail swing from side to side in joy.

“We'd be happy to"! I exclaimed rather eagerly, before Prince Virgil had snatched me away from my home village I used to haul large rolls of leather and canvas to and fro between villages all day long. It was hard and long work but I had loved it, It had given me a sense of purpose, I had actually been doing something worthwhile. My time spent on the Princes airship however had been truly mundane, doing laundry for just myself and the others had left me feeling like some lame horse or broken tool.

“Mph, well then in that case… Men! Make ready to pack camp, we make for Brandy Stone in the hour. Ranson, you take what's left of the chavalry unit back to the Crossroads with those fresh off the boat and fortify your position there. Holm you and your men are with me". The Knight bellowed out, standing and holstering his flanged mace to his belt as he ordered about the soldiers. All of which instantly dropped what they had been doing and immediately got to work packing up the camp and mobilizing.

The Knight then looked to the two of us and paused a moment with a cold and thoughtful look in those sunken eyes.

“I'm Tanis…" He said, again flat and empty. He made me uncomfortable, but there was something about him that I recognized.

“...Mathias...this is my younger brother Neil…" I replied, lying cautiously. The Knight was pained, there was a sense that he to had experiences his fair share of suffering or betrayal. Whatever it was that kept that sullen and pained look in his eyes.

“...You two should get to work…" He replied after a step then a long pause before he marches off to speak to some gathered soldiers. I turned and looked down at Neil after watching the Knight for a moment, he was looking nervous but relieved, reassured.

“Are we going to be ok Mathias"? He asked me.

I smiled, taking a moment to look back over my shoulder at the scar of blackened landscape behind us.

So long as the two of us were together, I hoped things would be ok.