Tipping the Scales

10

Leo caught up with them the next morning, clutching a roll of paper in hand. Nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment was shared between the boys before carrying on.

The task of carrying Ronan, who was all but dead to the world, was a laborious one. He would regain consciousness here and there, but never fully, muttering indistinctly before slumping once more in the arms of his carrier. Despite this, they made it back to Fort Aspen by midday, with half a day to spare. Lukas rushed ahead to inform the medic of the injury without going into too much detail.

With Ronan taken off their hands, the three headed to the teaching hall to wait. A few groups had made it back already, notably any group with a noble, who all sat together again in a corner.

"Ah the last noble to return," Erik called out, his hands behind his head, feet up on a chair.

"I heard someone in your group died," Sadie feigned sorrow, earned a few snickers amongst the group.

"Don't blame you," Erik shrugged indifferently, "I'd have killed him myself if he slowed us down, a peasant's life is worth squat."

Lukas started towards them, only to be held back by Leo. "Don't be an idiot," he whispered so only Lukas could hear, "it won't end well, trust me."

"Control your peasants Leo," Erik was laughing now. Alistair stood up, towering high above the others, staring confrontationally into Lukas' eyes, as if inviting violence.

"He did not die, in fact we saved his life" Leo announced for all to hear, wary of Alistair's aggressive stance, "after he got his leg bitten off by a Wetland Bloodworm."

"A what?" Erik snorted, "are you making up fantastical creatures to hide your failure now? Hardly befitting of a Winthrope."

Leo didn't rise to the bait, instead leading Lukas and Ellis away from Erik and the rest of the nobles, taking a seat far away.

"How can you take that?" Lukas' teeth hurt from clenching them together, "he's so full of it."

"You get used to it," Leo shrugged passively.

"Don't think I could ever get used to it."

"You'd get roasted the moment you tried anything; they may be infuriating but they could burn you to a crisp without taking a step."

"Why don't you retaliate, fight fire with fire?"

Leo looked down at the ground, his shoulders slumping. "I can't," he struggled to form his words, "I-"

"Even I've heard your family are the strongest of the nobles, and I'm-" Lukas went silent, noticing the pained expression on the face of the lone noble. The face was that of genuine emotion, something Lukas thought nobles were incapable of. He decided, for the first time since they met, to be considerate and bite his tongue. "Well big fella," turning his attention to Ellis, who had chosen to sit near them, "you sure know a lot about bloodworms."

"We get them around my village." Ellis dismissed the conversation as quickly as it had begun.

Over the course of the afternoon, more squads returned safely, until the hall was brimming, as if they were settling in for another tedious lesson.

There was the sound of commotion outside the hall doors and a group of ten or so recruits burst in. Lukas picked up on bits of conversation above the din of excitable discussion:

"-attacked by-"

"-barely escaped-"

"-non-humans-"

Before he knew what he was doing, Lukas was on his feet, shouting to be heard above the racket, "you there! What happened?"

The buzz of conversation in the hall died down along with that of the newcomers. Seeing it was Lukas who had asked, one confident boy spoke up. "We were shot at by non-humans in the hills, killed two boys from my squad."

"We were attacked too," another chimed in, "lost one of ours to the demons."

"How could you be sure they were non-humans?" Lukas questioned, fearful at the mention of non humans. Suddenly, a bloodworm didn't sound too bad

"Well..." the first boy looked around for support.

"Their arrows were crudely made, not by human hand," someone called, "Beavis said so."

"They were like monsters," another boy spoke up, "we only saw vague outlines of the attackers before they started picking us off, but we saw enough," he began to raise his tone, all attention on him now, "they wore strange armour and spoke in a strange language, like animals."

"Did they use magic?" a voice asked from the crowd of listeners.

"Alright recruits!" Beavis strolled into the hall, interrupting the conversation and breaking the tense atmosphere. "Time is up! To everyone present, well done on finishing the mission. Go have your dinner and straight to bed, no lesson tonight."

There was a barrage of questions, which Beavis waved away dismissively, "we have been made aware of the various incidents and will inform the Ferlandian military straight away, do not speak further of this."

Though speak further they did. Stories were told over dinner, morphing and exaggerating as they passed from lip to lip. By the end of the meal, Lukas had heard the same story being told in five different ways. The fifth rendition was the most absurd, talking of flying creatures descending from above to throw dark magic at the brave recruits below. Lukas thought it best to not mention their terrifying ordeal with the bloodworm for fear of the story experiencing the same fate. These inexperienced young boys had enough to worry about for one night without adding Wetland Bloodworms to their nightmares.

All excitement over the exercise fizzled out as training resumed where it left off. The number of boys had dwindled, Beavis put it down to "failing the recruitment process" and "no chance of them reaching the end." It was many of the stragglers, that Lukas had noticed on his first day, who were absent, leaving behind those more capable.

Ronan was one of the absentees, a boy who could no longer walk without assistance wasn't fit for the military. Before leaving, he left behind a story to his companions in the infirmary, an account of how he had been saved from the creature in the mud. Although his details were hazy, due to a lack of consciousness throughout the fight, he had a horrifying wound to prove it. The obscurities of the account along with Ronan's bloody stump served to only amplify the unease of those listening, who conveyed that terror upon their release from the ward. Despite Lukas' effort, the story of their fight with the bloodworm, though not close to being accurate, was on the lips of every recruit within a day of it starting.

"They think we are some sort of heroes," Lukas murmured to Ellis, who hadn't left his side since the expedition.

"Scum of the Earth."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Lukas laughed, getting a cold stare in return. "Would you really say the same about me?"

Ellis nodded.

"You know, I really don't understand you Ellis Tucker. One day, I hope to."

-

A short and sweet chapter today, I hope it's still enjoyable! As always, if you did enjoy, please consider voting! And let me know what you think about the chapter, any sort of comment is appreciated :)