Hold Up, I'm An Arsenal Bird Now?!

Act 8 - The Mercenary of the Empress

A mercenary's job is to be considered a death sentence. Being sent to the frontlines as cannon fodder is the worst you can get. While mercenaries died during the conquest, they were poor, and their death is meaningless in the world. Meanwhile, I am a former swordsman of Regklaiv who became a mercenary for the fight and adrenaline. Yes, I did fight soldiers protecting their grounds for their children, but I never felt guilty about it. The only guilt I kept was the prisoners. They're civilians, and they did nothing. Yet, they're treated nothing more than food for the dragons and wyverns, training dummies, or bloody decorations.

Even if I am capable of freeing them, I just can't at all. The Empress's mages are users of multi-mind reading and control to prevent rebellion and are assigned to various armies. The longer I'm in this role, the more I regret joining the Empress's conquest. But now is not the time to quit. I went back to the barracks to meet a friend of mine, Brandon Heil. He is a wyvern rider whose goal is similar to mine. We were enemies before the unification of the two kingdoms, Ailivar and Milheun, and the discovery of our passion for battles made us friends. He then left Regklaiv to become a wyvern rider.

I entered the barracks, but he was not there. I took a loaf of garlic bread secretly stashed underneath the loose planks of the floor. Garlic bread is Horus' favorite snack of all time. I walked passed the wyvern pen. A few minutes passed, and I saw him caring for his wyvern, Horus, on the training field. I called Horus from the entrance with the loaf I took.

"HORUS! OVER HERE! I GOT THIS GARLIC BREAD FOR YOU!"

In an instant, Horus flew to me at an insane speed. Horus ate the loaf out of my hand and nuzzled it. Meanwhile, Brandon ran over here all tired. He looked at Horus, then at me. He is pissed.

"Are you fucking serious, Dave? We've talked about NOT using the garlic bread to call Horus to you."

"Why not? At least he's now more friendly once you feed him."

He stood shocked by my words. I then let Horus lick Brandon till he's back on his senses. With his thoughts broken, he glared at me with an intent to kill.

"Remember the last time you fed him garlic bread? Horus flew to the closest bakery to eat the entire garlic bread supply while burning the rest. He is lucky because our commander is kind enough to get him out of trouble! DO YOU REMEMBER NOW!?"

"..."

"..."

"No?"

"I swear to the gods that I will–"

"Brandon, calm down for just a moment. Dave, what did you do again?"

"Commander?"

Our commander stood between us, stopping our stupid argument. He is Commander Lester Magheveil, the commander of this garrison. Lester is the kindest among other commanders of the Empress's military, making him a unique part of everyday military life. Training exercises are still harsh, though.

We talked to Lester about our opinions of the Empress's conquest. We expected to be executed by his men. Instead, Lester gave his own opinion of it and realized we have the same regrets due to it.

Now we're standing in the middle of the training field looking at him stupid. Brandon spoke words of our current argument and just laughed it off.

"Well, that is something. Be glad Horus didn't fly off to the bakery this time cause the previous incident was a nightmare."

"Haha... yeah."

"Anyways, have you both heard of this so-called 'Motherbird?'"

Brandon flinched at those words.

"NEVER MENTION THE MOTHERBIRD!"

Ever since the Motherbird came to this world during the Battle of Autrius, the army was batshit scared. Anytime it appears from the horizon, they quickly retreat, surrender, or even commit suicide. Its power is unrivaled, the sheer size is unmatched, and the ferocity of its children is unequal.

"Just... No."

"Alright, I'll shut up."

Horus came by, hoisted  Brandon to his back, and flew to the Wyvern pen. Lester looked at me and motioned me to go back. What a day.

...

A squadron of 7 flew over a destroyed city. Composed of F-14s, they lacked a pilot. The pilotless F-14s jetted off to the location of the white, flying giant.