Of Gods and Warriors ✓

Chapter 19

Present day.
Year 489 after the Great War.

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A rough shove snapped Pertheran back to reality, back from the swaying belowdecks of the Drisian dead-carrier vessel where he'd woken up five years ago, and he found himself looking into the narrow eyes of the bandit leader whose men Captain Reylan had hired for a special job. Around him, the Calbridge Castle bustled with soldiers. This time of the year, new recruits would arrive.

"I'm talking to you, lad!" The bandit leader's breath reeked of cheap ale. "Where the fuck is your captain?"

Pertheran looked him up and down. Poor man. If only he knew who he was yelling at, he may have been a bit civilized in his approach.

He sighed. No matter. Captain Reylan would soon give him the order to kill the man anyway.

Pertheran pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. "In his office. Right this way."

As the man barged into Captain Reylan's office, Pertheran swung the door shut behind him and stood quietly. Waiting.

"Where the hell are my men?" The bandit leader emphasized his words by slamming his fists down on the captain's desk.

"Ah, so they haven't returned to your hideout yet?" said Captain Reylan with genuine worry in his voice.

"No." The man's anger was rising by the second. "Last I heard of them, they came here to inform you that the job was done."

Pertheran hid his blood-smeared hand beneath his cloak.

"And what about my payment?" said the man.

Captain Reylan smiled-- a dangerous smile. Those who knew him well would bolt right at this moment. "I believe you remember we had some conditions that required to be fulfilled in order for you to receive the full payment. Unfortunately, while your men have indeed delivered the man I seek, they have also abandoned eight of my soldiers in the process," he said, "and since they have not returned, nor will your men."

The bandit leader froze where he stood. "We had a deal. And you're not gunna hold up your end because you lost eight of your soldiers? Eight?"

"I value every one of my soldier's lives. Not even Draedona can take them from me," he said. "Yet your men abandoned them in Kinallen, because they were too busy saving themselves. Drisians collect their own dead, as I'm sure you have heard. But now, I cannot even do that."

The captain steered his chair away, possibly to get away from the bandit's foul breath.

"There is only one kind of payment I can now offer you," he added.

The bandit leader's eyes glittered. "And that is?"

Captain Reylan gestured. "Perth?"

The young man swung his broadsword out of its sheath, with such unwavering ease the old Pertheran, who had left his farm five years ago, could never have managed. But things were different now. He was different now, down to his very soul.

Even Mother said he'd left home as one boy, and came back as another.

The bandit now turned around in alarm. "So you finally show your true colours, eh Captain?"

The captain shrugged, then resumed whatever paperwork he'd been doing. "Be quick with this one, Perth. And mind my new carpet."

The bandit leader roared with laughter as his eyes found Pertheran. "Do you jest, Captain? This boy, match blades with me?"