Story of Kings

Chapter 10

Kane was led into a small, back office he could only assume Ruhden used, still eating his oatmeal. The room was fairly cluttered, the desk a mess with papers, a map of what Kane assumed was the sewer system among them. He didn't pick up any threatening scents from the man, no, he would say more like the man had been indecisive but had come to a decision or had an epiphany. Either way, Kane could sense a quiet pride emanating from the man. He motioned for Kane to take a seat in front of the desk while he sat behind it.

Ruhden picked up a rather old looking leather bound folder from his desk, already unwrapped and open and he began thumbing through it. "Would you consider yourself a wildcard?" He asked eventually, not bothering to look up. So, it was like that, Kane mused to himself.

Kane didn't have to think about it, but he did anyways, both presently and in the past. "Not anymore, though in my youth I used to be," he eventually said.

"With the strength to resist angels, I'm sure you would have." Ruhden looked up, making eye contact. It sent a twinge of doubt through Kane, though the man was old his eyes spoke centuries of experience older than he should be. "How old are you?" He asked next.

"I'm uncertain of exactly how old I am," Kane said, having a good idea of an approximation. "No one knows the specific year I was born and after about twenty years or so I traveled to a place far from here, where time is kept differently. At least four centuries, though."

Ruhden chuckled softly under his breath. "Want to keep a specific age out of it? That's alright. Either way, that's fairly old, though nothing I couldn't guess on my own," he said as he set down his folder and slid it across the table, motioning for Kane to take a look. "You know, I thought you were a wildcard when I first learned about you, especially with all that's happening to you, but I've learned differently since then. I knew your name was familiar... somewhere I've read perhaps, I thought." Kane leaned forward and examined the file Ruhden had been reading. A paragraph in the middle of the page caught his attention, a name he recognized jumping out.

Tomorrow we make for the Plains of Hazgar to make our stand against god-king Atrox's army. Our men are ready, I can feel it. We all can. Those angel commanders won't know what hit them, it's been a long time but finally we have the means to stand up to those bastards. Our allies are urging us to avoid confrontation, to not meet a god-king's army in open battle. Our rebel angels every day speak up in the command tent, letters from Kane reporting everything he can about what Atrox is bringing to face us, trying to convince us it's impossible to take them. He doesn't realize he's given the information we need to finalize our march, Kane and the others have been such an amazing help but tomorrow they'll see that we no longer need it.

The Hazgar Plains, now known as the Red Plains. Kane touched the paper, this had to have been Anderson, he had been one of the leaders of the Sentry, their head tactician. Why he had chosen an open march on Atrox was still beyond him, but by the looks of this report, possibly his last one, the Sentry leaders were keeping some sort of secret they thought would enable them to take on an army of angels. He wished they would have told him; Kane probably could have better warned them it wasn't going to work. By the result of the battle, it obviously hadn't.

"You were an ally to the Sentry, helpful enough to be named by one of their leaders in one of their private reports. Close enough to feel sorrow at their defeat," Ruhden said as he observed the emotions flashing through Kane's eyes. "I tried too, you know, to steer them away from that course."

Kane's eyes flickered up to meet Ruhden's, a brief exchange between them. "Elf?" Kane guessed.

Ruhden nodded. "How did you guess?"

"I figured it out in our first meeting," Kane explained. "Your ears are rounded but you still hold your elven last name. An elf could have graced you with their last name, of course, but if you were human, you wouldn't be old enough for that."