-Rhovans Recount-
The candlelight trembled on the map of the land. The map showing the war we were facing.
Lines of ink smeared with ash and sweat. Cutting over drawings of the eastern plains of Vaelraen. The last remaining territory to conquer before we had taken control over all of the land surrounding the nation.
The room hummed with tension, boots scraping, armour shifts. I was silent at the end of the table.
The map felt impossible to understand at the time. I had no idea how the enemy had even pushed us into this position seeing as our armies should far outclass theirs. By that time I hadn't even processed the severity behind the fact that all of the top officers except me had been replaced with new ones.
Rhovan: "The Rigger and his forces were sighted again near the Arensha ruins."
I tap against the mark on the map meant to show the ruins
Rhovan: "Scouts confirm seeing him there. Other people from some different city have also been seen entering and leaving multiple times."
A murmur passes through the generals in the room. Clearly The Rigger had made an alliance with some foreign army.
Thyra finally made a step forward. She looked a lot different back then. Wore different clothes, didn't have as many scars. Most importantly though it was before she lost her arm.
Thyra: "Then we should take the 3rd Battalion and end him, his forces and whoever is coming and going from the Arensha ruins. If we don't we risk him getting closer to the city and hurting even more people."
I look up from the map and Thyra. She was arguably the best battalion leader in the entire city yet had been delegated to the 3rd Battalion instead of the 1st or 2nd.
Rhovan: "You want to lead them yourself?"
Thyra: "If the reports are accurate. Then The Rigger is just a crazed man with some explosives. We can take him out by sunrise if we leave now.
I sighed.
Rhovan: "You don't fight smoke by running into the fire. We don't know what his power actually does."
Despite my words the others in the room murmured approval of Thyra's idea. All the ones who agreed with those dressed in robes instead of armour, hands clean, anything but a sword at their waist.
Councilor: "The people grow restless Rhovan. They need a victory, something tangible. The 3rd Battalion has always delivered. So let the girl go."
My jaw tightened. My eyes shifted to meet Thyras.
Her eyes were filled with pride. The desire and need to prove herself to the new upper ranks. Realistically it was a good way to get promoted.
Rhovan: "Fine. Thyra, you and the 3rd Battalion leave before dawn. Take the eastern path around to the Arensha ruins. It'll give you the best position. If anything feels wrong you fall back. That's a direct order.
Thyra nods.
The tent slowly drained, leaving only me to linger over the map.
Flashes of soldiers moving run through my vision.
By then I had only recently unlocked my Thread. So I couldn't control it perfectly.
I force the Thread down. Burying the sick feeling in my stomach that I just sent a whole Battalion to their deaths.
The next morning came grey and silent.
Fog rolled in thick across the lands as I stepped out of the tent.
No report from Thyra had been received all night.
Thyra: "Rhovan let me tell the boys my perspective."
Rhovan: "Hm? Oh sure. Right as I was getting into it."
-Thyra's recount of the Arensha ruins-
They were quiet. Unbelievably quiet.
The people who were supposedly coming and going from the ruins had stopped. The Rigger was nowhere to be seen.
At the time I was in the front of the entire 3rd Battalion made up of around 70 people
Rhovan: "It was exactly 74 people that went with you."
We moved into the ruins. Made of broken stone and swallowed up by an endless torrent of vines. The thick fog of the morning is still rolling between the uncovered ruins.
A soldier spoke up. One from the middle of the pack.
Soldier: "Ma'am… are those…?"
He points up to a tree.
My eyes darted to the tree. Multiple figures hanging from it.
People? No, they looked dead. But they don't look like corpses.
Their eyes glossed over.
I got off my horse and walked to the tree.
Thyra: "Burn them."
I lit the tip of my spear on fire and jabbed it up into the tree.
*BOOM*
It felt like I couldn't hear anything except the ringing in my ears.
The supposed corpse exploded.
The explosion blew away a few soldiers. We didn;t have any time to react as several others like the one that had just exploded flooded into the streets of the ruins.
Thyra: "Shields! They explode on contact!"
But it was too late. The first wave of what we now know as puppets killed several members of the front and back line of the Battalion. I'm pretty sure around 15 people died in that single attack.
Thyra: "No…"
Thyra: "That was the first time I had ever experienced such a devastating attack in my time leading the Battalion. I had essentially gone every fight without losing anyone."
A figure walked through the haze
The Rigger: "Do you hear it? The rhythm?"
His voice was distorted. Crazed slightly.
The Rigger: "This is just a dance. I only ask that you play your part."
Thyra: "My part?"
The Rigger: "Oh wait. You're the one they told me to get rid of aren't you."
Thyra: "Get rid of?"
The Rigger: "They told me to get rid of you… said you'd never fall in line like the rest of them."
He's speaking nonsense.
I charged at him. Ordering the entire Battalion to fight the puppets and The Rigger with me.
But we didn't stand a chance. Every moment another man died. Every swing two men fell.
The explosions crippled people before they could even react. The ruins turned into a battlefield of fire and blood.
He couldn't have known.
We were set up.
By the time the sun broke through the smoke only I was alive. The Rigger had left and every man in the 3rd Battalion had fallen to his hands.
Kneeling in the bodies, my spear broke in two and clattered on the floor. Surrounded by the people she led to their deaths.
Thyra: "The guilt was unbearable."
Aric: "You can take a break if you want Thyra. It looks like you're having a hard time recounting everything."
Thyra nods