Chapter 17: Chapter 16: Moving Forward

Chapter 16

Moving Forward

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Vasuki

They were right, they told me to keep my journal at home and now it’s gone! Went up in hellfire and now I have to start all over! I put 163 days worth of notes in that thing and now all that time is gone to waste. So Cabana what are you gonna do now? Gonna start over? Well I fucking have to, it’s not really that much of a choice. I need something to recall my days as a Royal Knight for the future, or for bragging whichever comes up. So I’ll sum up my last journal as best as I can.

Days 1–50: Life was hell, in that time I became recruited by the Royal Knight after scaring off a pack of Varulv from Quishe, my home. I grew up rich so no one was surprised I’d be able to Ascend, it ran in the family. What people didn’t expect from a spoiled brat living in a palace was that she could kill a demon as easily as if it were human. People reported my feat to Trinity so the King put Felix down there to come see if the rumors were true, and when he met someone that could almost match his pace pre-ascension he brought me back and I went through boot camp. I heard knights complain about how difficult training was, I went through their course before Royal training and that, oh boy, that was actual hell. I mean training as a Knight was brutal but it never went past bruising, I’m talking broken bones, dislocations, and some of the trainees actually died from training injuries. It was the most barbaric practices I’ve ever seen.

Days 51–100: After that we began training to Ascend. This included but was not limited to, extreme stress, physical and mental trauma, extended isolation in a small cell, lack of sleep, minor torture I’m not going to elaborate on that I’d rather forget it, burning, and forced ascension through Felix’s ascension; birthright. It was a ceremony, ten people, including me, would walk up to Felix and he’d stab us with a black blade that was once a green scarf wrapped around his neck. This was a last resort as none of the other techniques had worked on us, it was meant to be an experiment that turned into a nightmare. That cursed sword stabbed me in the chest, there was no pain, there was no explosion of power, it was just him inserting a sword into my chest until it was all the way in. It didn’t poke out of my back, nothing. The days following was unbearable, a shadow had begun to follow me, poke and prod me when I wasn’t paying any attention to it.

Days 101–130: It had been waiting for me to grow used to it. When I had grown comfortable around it was when it attacked, it called my name, and literally tore me open. It started to rip out parts of me it deemed unnecessary. I couldn’t tell you what all it did to me that night but it did what it wanted. When I woke up everyone said that I had been found unconscious with a pool of blood around me and a bunch of missing organs and a few ribs. Some things were added some were pulled out. I’m more flexible, my nerves are extremely dulled out, I haven’t had a period in months so I’m assuming it ripped that part out of me too. I don’t have a gag reflex anymore, more booze I guess. I feel like my bones are a bit harder, I punched through someones platemail the other day. I would say I liked it but it ripped that part out of me too, say goodbye to the majority of my emotions. I still feel them but it’s all dulled out. Anger, sadness, joy, worry, love, all of them. I feel them, but just the remnants of what they once were, a death of a squad member went from a tragedy to a thorn in my fingertip.

Days 130–163: I’ve been doing missions as an assassin for a while now, killing the people that need to be killed without being noticed. But this last mission was a bit different, I went with the hunters to slay a dragon. Not something I’m used to doing but what the hell right? A dragon had been terrorizing New Hill Ford, we went and waited for it. We waited three fucking weeks for that big bastard to show up. Our squad consisted of, using callsigns as per protocol; Echo, Howl, Trident, Reaper, Demon, and Umbra (this is me). Where the fuck do I put that period? Stop adding pointless shit. Zate isn’t here right now it doesn’t matter. It came while we were sleeping and it took all night for us to kill it. I could go over the battle but let’s be honest that would take way too long. Long story short it killed Howl, Trident, and Demon, along with countless others. As payback for the loss of life and for burning my journal I skinned it and made a book out of Dragon leather. It’s pretty resilient and no one I know can rip it. We’ll hold a funeral for the Hunters that died tomorrow, their bodies are going to be burned as how all funerals for Royal Knights are.

 

         Vasuki closed the journal and looked up at Audra who was slowly chewing some of the jerky while listening intently, she seemed extremely surprised by Cabana’s recap.
         “Her emotions...were ripped out?” Audra asked. Vasuki nodded slowly.
         “It doesn’t seem real, how can someone not feel emotions? How were they ripped out?” Vasuki asked. He shook his head assuming he’d probably never find out how the hell something like that could possibly happen.
“I never once heard her talk about her home, I had no idea she was born and raised in Quishe. Didn’t know she grew up rich either.” Vasuki claimed, grateful they had such an amazing opportunity to read about Cabana, but saddened by the hell she had to have faced all those years ago.
“Not really used to thinking of people that live in palaces as badass emotionless assassins either.” Audra commented covering her mouth as she spoke.
“I’m curious to find out more, I saw a few words saying that she was in love with someone when I was looking for info on the Shallow, can’t wait to get to that part.” Vasuki noted blandly.
“But we gotta keep moving forward, no telling what might be in the forest.” Audra pointed out quickly, taking glances at their surroundings.

         They gathered up the camp as quickly as they could and began to head in the direction Audra said North East was. Of course Vasuki knew she was right but it was still hard for him to admit that he was bad at directions and probably always will be.
         “Have you ever been to Quishe?” Audra asked. Vasuki shook his head.
         “No, most of my life has been spent in Nevenal and I hardly ever left the place. Made a few runs with my dad to Trudid to sell things. Mai said she was born in Moreesley before she was captured by Raiders. My parents were born and met in Benalven though.” Vasuki claimed.
“Isn’t that like a crazy holy land for Ssirm? Like sacrifices and all? I can see why they left, must have been freezing up there.”

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“It is really holy for Ssirm, but no sacrifices from what I can tell. They moved because they wanted somewhere warmer for a family. What about you, where is your parents from?” Audra bit the inside of her cheek.
“I don’t know about my dad, but my mom is from Larkinge, she didn’t travel all that much.” Vasuki nodded his head understandingly.

         They carefully slid down a small decline before coming to flat ground and the tree line of the forest. In front of them was a large field with a small lake in the middle, that glistened in the sunlight. Large bustles of flowers danced in the breeze and animals grazed on the land, a large dragon flew by in the distance...they froze in place until it came to a land somewhere out of view from them.
         “I really hope we don’t have to deal with that on our way.” Vasuki commented.
         “Please don’t jinx it.” Audra begged.

         The wind was pleasant in contrast with the sun beating down on them, it was a nice balance that made the heat more bearable. Packs of deer watched them and ran off when they go too close, birds swooped into the lake to bring water back to their nests, ducks dove into the water and came back up, hunting for food. The dragon from earlier was simply just a reminder of what nature could be, but the animals nearby served as the catalyst for the calm to settle in. Soon the lake faded in the distance and the quantity of animals became less dense. Trees grew in small bundles instead of owning the landscape, birds flew in the sky above them, letting out caws and songs. As the sun approached the middle of the sky the pair began to take a break under one of these bundles.
         “Your side still injured?” Vasuki asked. Audra nodded.
         “Can’t be as bad as your face, though.”
“Sometimes I feel like my looks go under appreciated.” Vasuki mentioned. Audra gave him a blank square.
“No, I think your looks are judged fairly.” She gave him a sly smile, Vasuki shook his head when a smell came to his nose. It was of sweat, food, and people. He quickly stood up and rested his hand on the handle of his sword. He looked back to see Audra doing the same, she nodded at him. He wasn’t going crazy at least. He began to walk through the brush until he could smell the food and hear laughter. He pulled back some of the foliage and inside the bundle of trees they had stumbled upon a large camping ground. Twenty odd tents were put up, there were horses, carriages, food, and most noticeable, a large group of people. Some wore minimal armor with weapons lying by their side or leaning against a tree, others wore heavy platemail and had their weapons within arms reach. There were variants and people alike in perfect harmony.

         A group of people were laughing next to what was beginning to look like a campfire. They quickly caught sight of the pair watching the group. Their faces grew with suspicion, a tall woman stood up quickly.
         “Who’s there!?” She shouted, easily getting the attention of the rest of the camp, she grabbed her spear and began to slowly make their way to them, “Identify yourself immediately!” she said, pointing her spear in their direction. Vasuki and Audra began to slowly back away, he looked over at her, fear was embedded deep into her eyes. Vasuki was shocked when he felt his arm twist and get pulled behind his back. He felt his body being forced forward by a pair of hands. He quickly ate dirt as the person forcing him forward pushed him into the ground at the woman’s feet. Audra yelped as she met the same fate, she then held on to her side as pain burst forth from her injury. Vasuki felt the bottom of a boot press on the middle of his back, pinning him to the ground, and the tip of the woman’s spear force his gaze upwards to her.

         The woman had short rose cherry colored hair, the right side was longer and flicked at her cheek while the left side was substantially shorter. Her right eye was like a cursed jade, her left eye was the comforting color of oak, both of them carried a fire Vasuki was terrified of. She slammed the heel of her boot into his right hand, he screamed out and felt the tip of the spear inch closer to his neck.

         “Identify yourself! Now!” She screamed, as she dug her heel into his hand. Vasuki clenched his teeth as the tip of the spear continued moving forward.

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