xyz-w

[xyz-w]

The Commander Chapter 5

Lysara followed the giant man outside of the tavern. He didn’t talk much, just told her “follow me”, and started walking.

He was not even that tall, just very big in general. If she understood correctly, his name was Garran.

He walked without ever looking back at her, while she was basically running to keep his pace.

And she was freezing.

When those men entered the brothel, she was alone in the main room, and they started talking. It happened sometimes that clients started out with just some wine in the main room, and then left to the private rooms with the girls.

This time she was alone, and there were two men, so they of course started out with the wine.

She had also offered them something to smoke. They had refused, but she had smoked anyways, opening a window of the main room. It was then that another soldier, walking outisde of the room, recognized the two men inside, and everything started.

Yes, the two men had talked about the mission, and yes Lysara at this point knew more than she needed to, so they had taken her with them.

At the beginning, she took it as a game. It was almost fun, flirting with the soldiers, them being so scared by her to not even be able to say something back to her. She liked having that kind of power over them, and over men in general.

Then suddenly, everything changed, and it wasn’t fun anymore. When she realized it, it was already too late. She preferred to follow them, wherever they were going, over being put in prison. Plus, she still hoped that they would let her go at some point, realizing that she won’t be able to keep the pace.

Garran finally stopped at the entrance of a tailor shop. He knocked on the door, and no one answered. Then he walked around the house, and knocked on another door.

Lysara was standing a bit to the side, she just heard him talking with someone inside. Then, a couple of minutes later, the main door opened, and they entered.

Garran talked a bit more with the man that opened the door for them, then he turned to look at them.

“I think I have something that might be good for you”, he said, and disappeared again in the back of the shop.

When he came back, he was holding a leather pair of pants, dark brown, and a jacket, of the same color and material. “I think this might be your size”, he said.

She took the clothes in her hands. “Thank you”, she simply said, looking at them.

The man quickly walked again to the back of the shop, and came back again. “This might also be useful”, he said, handing her a white shirt, that she took from him.

“And I only have this size of boots, I hope they fit”.

Incredibly, everything fitted. And probably it fitted her quite well, judging from the faces of Garran and the shop owner when she came back dressed.

After recomposing himself, Garran instructed her to leave there her old clothes, and they walked back to the inn where they were before.

He walked her to a small room, and told her to get some sleep; he would have knocked on the door when it was time to leave. Then he left her with a  kind smile.

It was so evident to her that he was pitying her. Him and some other soldiers were pitying her, she was sure of that.  And she would also be pitying herself, honestly.

Was it her fault now that she was in this situation_ Partially. She could have argued with them that she didn’t really know much of their expedition. But they would have never believed her.

There wasn’t much more she could do, so she just tried to get some sleep.

It was cold the following morning when she got to where all the other soldiers and policemen reunited. They all looked at her, but no one talked to her.

Garran patted her shoulder in an encouraging way, then walked to the Commander, giving her back her jacket.

The Commander. It was actually the first time that Lysara saw the infamous Commander.

Everyone knew about her, of course. Even in the small village where Lysara had lived her whole life everyone started talking about her when she got elected Commander.

It was so weird, to look at her. She looked so intimidating, yet so fun at the same time. She could see her now, joking with her soldiers, right before leaving. Everyone was laughing, and she was too.

Then, twenty seconds later, she was back at giving them orders, with a face that didn’t allow mistakes from anyone.

The cold morning wind was making her hair move, her ponytail getting a bit loose. She then reached for the band that kept together her hair, and undid it.

Her hair was long, maybe even longer than Lysara’s, except for the two shaves that she had at the sides of her head, right around the ears. Lysara could tell that she hadn’t shaved them in a while, the hair was growing out a bit, but it didn’t look like she cared about it much.

The Commander flexed her arms while redoing her ponytail, and even with the leather jacket on it could be seen that she had more muscles than most of the men Lysara had seen in her life. And she had seen an incredible amount of men.

Lysara wondered why they were still waiting to leave, until she saw a man running to them, clearly late.

The Commander didn’t even talk, she just crossed her arms and look at the man, who stopped in front of her.

He started apologizing, while she kept looking at him, with eyes that made Lysara’s own blood freeze. You really did not want to argue with the Commander.

When it was clear to her that the man had acknowledge the big mistake he had made by being late, she started walking, heading the group to the west.

Lysara was at the end of the group, no one was really paying attention to her anymore, besides some men sometimes looking at her with the corner of their eyes, like they didn’t want to be seen looking.

Lysara looked again at the Commander, who was now saying something to her Vice. Then she looked back, straight at Lysara, and the man stopped walking. She had instructed to stay at the end of the group with her.

The Vice-Commander waited until she reached him, then he started walking right by her side.

They walked without talking for hours, until it was time again to stop to have a quick lunch.

For now, Lysara was fine. She liked to take walks by herself, probably the only physical activity she had done in a very long time.

By the end of the first day of travelling, Lysara hadn’t spoken a single word with anyone.

The Vice-Commander had given her something to eat for lunch and dinner, and he made sure that she was given a sleeping bag to sleep in during the night. Even though it was uncomfortable to sleep on the ground, and the night was also rather cold, Lysara slept the whole time. It had been particularly tiring for her to walk all those hours.

The morning after, another soldier joined at the end of the group. She wasn’t sure what his role in the Army was, but she knew he had to be important. He was the one talking with the Commander about most of the decisions they had to take.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, the man spoke.

“Judging from the first meeting, I would have guessed you were more outspoken”, he suddenly said.

Lysara didn’t know what to reply, so she just stayed silent.

“The name is Lysara, right?”, he politely asked, and she nodded. “What is yours?”, she then asked, and her voice came out so raspy it surprised her. Guess this is what two days of non talking do to you.

“Kieran Tyvar, Strategist”, he introduced himself.

Strategist, that was what he was.

“So you are one of the important ones”, she said, and he laughed.

“My mother is indeed very proud”, he declared, making her laugh now.

“I bet she is, having her son in such a high position in the army”.

Kieran chuckled, looking down at his feet. “Two sons, actually”.

Lysara looked at him confused. Did she miss something? He didn’t really look like any of the other soldiers.

Almost as if he was reading her thoughts, he said, “I know we look nothing alike, but Garran is my big brother”.

Lysara stopped walking, and looked at the man besides her.

He wasn’t that tall, and he looked rather skinny. His face was long and slim, his features sharp, no sign of a beard on his cheeks. Garran was the complete opposite. He was big, with a round face and a huge beard.

“I look like Mother and he looks like Father”, Kieran explains. “Plus, we spend time in very different ways. I like reading books while he likes to participate in various fun duels with Kaelith, from who can do the biggest amount of push ups, to who can drink more beer”.

That made Lysara genuinely laugh. She followed his gaze, he was looking at his brother, smiling. “We probably didn’t make the best impression on you, the other night. But we are actually fun people”.

Lysara smiled, they did look like fun people indeed. She looked in front of her, and she could see Garran and the Vice-Commander laughing. It looked like they were making jokes about the Commander, because she looked like she was schooling them, like a angry mum.

Kaelith, that was her name then. She was known everywhere as Commander Soren, and no one really cared about her first name.

Kaelith was such a cute name, it didn’t really reflect that beast of a woman that the Commander was. It was like calling a lion Fluffy.

They kept walking in silence for a couple of minutes, then the whole group stopped. They had arrived to the entrance of a forest.

Kieran looked at Lysara. “Wait for it”, he simply said. “Three, two, one–”.

“KIERAAN”, the Commander shouted. “I need your brain here, boy”.

Kieran chuckled, then he bowed his head to Lysara. “It has been my pleasure talking with you”.

Lysara followed him with her eyes  as he walked to the front of the group, until she couldn’t see him anymore. While she waited, she took her time to look around.

She had never really been much outside of her village, this was the first time she had travelled that far, and she had to say, it looked incredible. She had no idea that the island had such amazing forests. In front of her, she could see only trees, and darkness between them. It was so big that she couldn’t even see the end of it, both on her left and on her right.

There was still a lot of light outside, but inside of the forest, it looked like it was already night.

She turned around to see where they came from, and she was surprised to see literally nothing around them. Not a single mountain, or a village. Nothing.

She had grown up with the idea that their island was pretty small compared to the mainland of the continent, but seeing the vastness of the nothing that was around her now, she realized that she didn’t really know how big the island actually was.

She made a mental note to herself to try explore more of the island, in the future.

But again, what was her future going to be?

She focused again on the soldiers and policemen around her, no one was really paying attention to her.

She had thought about running away from them several times, but she had never done that. First, she was sure that they would have caught her in a matter of seconds.

Second, she had nowhere else to go, at this point. She didn’t even know where in the island they were. Plus, running away alone would have meant she had no food, no protection, no way of sleeping.

Her plan was to keep sticking to them until this absurd story would come to an end. Probably at the end of their expedition, when they would be back in the city.

Once in the city, they would have probably put her in prison, or maybe let her go. But everything would be easier at that point.

The men around her started walking again, in the direction of the forest. She waited for the strategist to come back next to her at the end of the group, but he didn’t.

Instead, the Vice-Commander walked to her, and joined her by her side. As the first time that they were walking together, no one was saying a word.

They entered the forest, and she immediately felt the humidity on her body. At some point, her hair started even getting damp.

There was a path drawn approximately between the trees, most of the times so small that they didn’t fit walking in two people side by side.

As the gentleman he probably was, the Vice-Commander always made her go first, sometimes even helping her placing her feet in the best places.

After a couple of time she thanked him for doing that, she waited until he got again to her side, then asked, “What is the name of the Vice-Commander, if it is possible to know?”.

The man chuckled. “Thalen Veyar”, he said, and she nodded.

He kept walking looking straight ahead, even if there wasn’t really the need to. The path at that point was pretty clear and large enough to not crush against trees. Lysara suspected that Thalen was actually pretty shy, or at least that what his body language was telling her.

When it had happened with Kieran, walking while talking, it made the day go by faster. This was why she talked again. “Is this usually the way you guys travel?”.

Thalen then looked at her, and shook his head. “Not really, but it depends on what we are travelling for. We usually go with horses, it is quick and less tiring. Plus if we have a war or something similar, horses are extremely useful in that as well”.

Lysara guessed that the whole secrecy around this expedition had to be the reason why they were not taking horses with them, and why they decided in the end to go through the forest, instead of going around it. She saw it when they entered the forest, that there was a path also on the outside.

The conversation seemed to have died right there, but she really wanted to keep talking. Getting to know all of them better would have ben nice, if she was stuck traveling with them for long. Plus, it would have , if she got their trust as well be easier for her to at some point escape, if the situation allowed that. And that was a big if.

“For how long have you been a soldier?”, she asked suddenly. “You look pretty young”.

“I finished studying at the Academy five years ago, and I was able to enroll in the Army almost immediately afterwards. So if you don’t count the six years of training, it has been five years”.

He must have been in his late twenties, Lysara thought. “Is it hard, your job?”.

Thalen looked up for a moment. “It is, but I also really like it”.

He turned to look at her, and she looked back at him with an expression that demanded more.

“Being a soldier sometimes really sucks, I don’t think I even have to tell you when”, he said. “But I love that I am doing something to help our island. It is like I am giving something back after all the things other soldiers have done for me when I was younger and there were greater wars around us”.

“Plus, I love the soldier life. It is chaotic, true, but I also get to do all of this with people I love, trust and look up to. It might be very clichè but it is actually true that at some point your Army becomes your second family. Especially if you already have family inside”.

“Do you also have a brother here?”, she asked, surprised.

“I guess by now you know about Garran and Kieran”, he said. “That usually shocks people”. Lysara smiled, she could see why.

“But no, no brother. Let’s say that I have a half sister here”.

Lysara almost stopped walking. “You and the Commander are siblings?”, she asked loudly, and some soldiers right in front of them actually turned to look at her, slightly amused.

Thalen laughed out loud. “Not really, she got adopted into my family when she was seven. We technically do not belong to the same family, because she still keeps her original family name, but she calls my parents Mother and Father”.

Lysara nodded. “What happened to her family?”.

Thalen gave her a small smile. “That’s hers to tell”. Lysara nodded again.

She didn’t know what else to say, and she started fearing that they had reached, once again, the end of a conversation. But then he suddenly spoke.

“What about your job?”, he asked. “Is it hard?”.

There was no judgment in his tone, or an hint of disrespect. It was just a question anyone would ask about any job.

“This is a really personal opinion, some of my friends who work with me would probably tell you something else”, she said. “I don’t think my job is hard, though. I actually quite like it”.

She could see that she had captured the attention of some men walking in front of her.

“It can be tiring sometimes, but I mean, I don’t really have to do anything difficult. Just fake it a little bit”.

At that point, some other soldiers got really captured. One even turned and asked her, “do you always pretend that you are liking it?”.

“Most of the time yes”, she replied, and someone laughed.

“Are we that bad?”, one soldier joked, referring to the male kind.

Lysara laughed. “It really depends, but after seeing many people in a single day, you just want it to be quick and easy, so that you can get it over with”.

Some other men joined the conversation. They started asking her about her job, what she liked and didn’t like about that. About her clients, her friends, and in general her life inside the brothel.

She answered all of their questions, they kept being respectful towards her, and her job in general. She didn’t know if they had actually ever been with a prostitute or in general in a brothel, but she actually really didn’t care.

The truth was that she had hated soldiers her whole life, and now she was forced to live between them. And the biggest problem was that she was actually enjoying their company, and she was hating herself for that.

[xyz-w]

The Commander Chapter 4

Kaelith heard knocking at her door, the sound insistent and irritating. "What?" she asked, her voice laced with annoyance. After days of traveling, they had finally secured a bed for the night, and someone dared to disturb her sleep. Not that she had been sleeping anyway. Her mind had been too busy, going through the several books she brought with her. She was still busy reading about all the magical bloodlines.

"Kael, we might have a problem," came Thalen's voice from outside.

"Come in," she sighed, closing the book and pulling on her leather jacket. Thalen entered, looking both frustrated and reluctant.

"Two men from our group," he began, "went to a brothel tonight."

Kaelith froze. "A brothel!?" she repeated, her anger rising. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay calm. "Tell me it's not who I think it is."

Thalen exhaled sharply. "The two policemen they sent with us."

Kaelith closed her eyes for a second, trying to suppress the irritation that was boiling inside her. "Weren’t these men handpicked by the Council? And this is how they behave on a mission?"

"I know," Thalen muttered. "We need to handle this carefully."

Kaelith, already marching toward the door, threw her hair back and said, "Where’s Garran?"

By the time she reached the main room, Garran's angry voice was already carrying through the building. Soldiers had gathered, and two policemen, Raevin and Kassian, stood in the middle, facing reprimand. Raevin looked regretful, while Kassian had a smug, unconcerned expression, like a child caught stealing bread.

"The Council trusted you!" Garran was saying. "And you knew this mission was to be kept secret! Yet instead of resting or preparing, you go drinking and end up in a brothel? Gods only know what else happened!"

Kaelith stepped into the room, and Garran immediately moved aside to let her take over. The soldiers instinctively straightened in their seats, but the policemen—especially Kassian—barely reacted.

"Sit," Kaelith ordered, her tone sharp. The men obeyed immediately, except for Raevin and Kassian, who remained standing before her.

She crossed her arms, assessing them. "You clearly don’t grasp the gravity of this situation."

Kassian smirked. "With all due respect, Commander, it's just a couple of drinks and a woman or two. No need to get dramatic."

Kaelith's eyes darkened. "Dramatic?" she repeated, her voice quiet but dangerous. "Tell me, how many people did you speak with tonight?"

Raevin answered first, clearly ashamed. "Just the waiter... and then the woman at the brothel."

"Just her?" Kaelith pressed.

"Yeah, just her," Kassian replied lazily, stretching his arms. "Not that it’s any of your concern."

A tense silence followed his words. The room seemed to shrink around them as Kaelith took a step forward, her presence suffocating. Kassian still looked amused, but Raevin was already sweating.

"You’re on a classified mission," Kaelith said slowly. "You don’t think it’s my concern?"

Kassian chuckled, shaking his head. "Look, I get it. You’re used to shouting orders and having soldiers jump at you, but we’re not your soldiers, Commander. We don't need someone to shout at us for us to do our job".

"Besides", he continued, "we are all humans. Don’t tell me you’ve never been tempted before. You just can't resist women sometimes, right?" He winked, a knowing smirk on his face.

A stunned silence fell over the room. Every soldier turned to Kaelith, waiting for her reaction.

Kaelith nodded slowly. "Raevin, sit down."

Raevin practically collapsed onto the nearest bench, leaving Kassian alone in front of her.

"I don’t think you know who you're talking to," Kaelith said, stepping closer. "All you had to do was apologize and help fix this mess. Instead, you chose to disrespect your Commander in front of the entire company."

Kassian shrugged. "Relax, it was just a—"

"Stop talking!" Kaelith roared, and Kassian flinched. "Look at me!"

He did, though reluctantly.

"I respect your job in the city, truly. But if you had even a month of military training, you’d know one thing—disrespecting your Commander is the fastest way to end your career." She let her words sink in. "I could send you back to the city right now. I could let the Council know what you did. Do you realize you could be banned from the island because of this? I could make you a traitor in the Council’s eyes, and no one would question me. Do you understand?"

Kassian finally looked nervous. He straightened slightly, as if seeing her properly for the first time.

"Now, you have two things to do," Kaelith continued, her voice quiet again, but sharper than a blade. "Apologize."

Kassian hesitated—then, finally, he gave a small bow. "I apologize, Commander."

Kaelith studied him for a long moment before nodding. "And now," she said, "help me find this woman you spoke to."

He didn’t say anything. Instead, it was Thalen that spoke. “We already got her”.

Kaelith nodded again. “Good. Where can I find her?”.

“We are here”, she heard Kieran’s voice coming from the other side of the room, behind the wall of soldiers, into a darker corner.

“Bring her to me”, she commanded.

Thalen walked up to her. “I looked at this girl, and Kassian is not wrong when he says that you can’t resist her. There is something weird. She almost look intimidating”, he whispered.

“What are you trying to say?”, she bitterly asked. She didn’t really want to sound like that while talking to her best friend, but she really wanted to get this over with.

“Nothing in particular”, he replied as he didn’t even notice the tone of her voice. “Just that it really looks like you could tell her all your secrets without even wanting to”.

Kaelith didn’t really pay attention to what he said. She was more focused on the soldiers moving to the side to let Kieran walk through them, bringing a young woman with him.

He had laced her wrists together with a rope, and she was now walking with her hands clasped in front of her because of that.

Once also Kieran stepped aside, they could all finally take a look at this woman.

She was, as expected, more naked than dressed. Whatever she was wearing was indeed designed to show as much skin as possible, but still being appropriate.

She was almost as tall as Kaelith, though her body was much different. Where Kaelith had muscled from endless years of training, the young woman had meat and curves, all of them accentuated by the clothes and the jewels she was wearing.

Several golden chains around her body were placed around her waist or falling on her chest, almost inviting everyone to look right there.

She had long, flaming red hair, which was something quite unusual for someone from Nyx, where almost everyone had dark hair.

Her hair was also adorned with golden jewels, and it fell right in front of her face, as she was looking down at her feet.

“Look up”, Kaelith commanded.

The girl slowly lifted up her head, bringing her hands to her face, to move her hair to the side.

If her body itself was already incredible, her face was even more.

She had piercing green eyes, her glaze accentuated by the great amount of make up she was wearing around her eyes. High cheekbones, full lips and a long, oval face.

She was indeed the most beautiful woman Kaelith had ever seen. She was perfect, and perfectly provocative.

Her lips moved into a smirk, as she locked eyes with Kaelith’s. “Good Evening, Commander”, she said, slowly, making each word sink.

Kaelith swallowed hard, forcing herself to maintain control. She took a few seconds to herself, to gather all her willpower to not fall into the woman’s trap.

“What’s your name?”, she asked, maintaining her gaze.

The girl smiled. “Lysara”, she simply said.

“Family name?”, Kaelith asked. She thought that starting with the easy questions would have given her more time to think about how to attack the problem. The problem that revealed itself to be a far too beautiful woman for anyone to handle.

“I don’t have one”, Lysara replied. “Is it against the law?”, she said provocative.

Kaelith chose to neglect the last question, and she kept going her way.

“Can you confirm that it was you talking to my men?”.

Lysara looked a bit behind Kaelith, bending to the side. Doing so, her hair fell back in front of her face, and all the jewels on her body made the same movement.

Kaelith force herself not to look, but she was pretty sure that Lysara’s breasts also followed the same movement.

The girl went back to the same position as before, locked eyes again with Kaelith and answered. “Yes, it was me”.

“And can you tell me if there is something that they might have told you about why we are here today?”, Kaelith asked.

Lysara took some time to answer. She first faked having to think about that, looking up, squinting her eyes. Then she verted her gaze again to Kaelith.

“i’ll give you two words, Commander”, she said as if she was playing a game, “and then you can decide if I know too much”.

She stepped even closer to Kaelith, their noses almost touching. She smiled before talking, then said, “headlesss bodies”.

She indeed knew too much. There was also the possibility that she knew just that and nothing more, and that wasn’t much of a thread. But given the way she was playing with it, Kaelith really thought that this girl knew way more than she was saying. And she really was not trusting her. Not at all.

“What is it, Commander?”, Lysara asked, provocative, while Kaelith was thinking. “You cannot decide what to do with me now that I know your little secrets?”

Kaelith again didn’t reply. She could feel Garran behind her ready to jump against this woman.

It was kaelith this time, the one that moved closer. “Which game are you playing?”. She asked.  “Why are you talking to me like that?”.

No one in the room was moving. The girl kept standing right in front of Kaelith. They both could feel the breathing of the other on their own face.

“Drop the act”, Kaelith simply said. “You have no one to impress here”.

Lysara then took a few steps back, just enough to be sure that Kaelith could fully look at her.

“It is my job to impress people”, she replied. “Imagine how jealous all my friends would be when I tell them that I slept with soldiers of the allmighty Army”.

The last words were pronounced with a hint of disrespect.

“That’s enough”, Garran said, stepping in next to Kaelith. “I think you know that if we search your house and don0t find proper documents we could get you arrested”.

In reply, Lysara simply showed him her hands, already laced by the rope. “Go on then”.

Garran clearly didn’t expect that. Caught by surprise, he turned to Kaelith. “What are we gonna do with her?”.

She shrugged. She also had no idea. SHe then turned to Kieran, as she always did when taking decisions. She knew just by looking at his expression if she was making good or bad choices.

“We take her with us”, she declared, suddenly.

A low murmur started between the soldiers. “Kaelith-”, Thalen said, walking also closer to her.

“What am I gonna do?”, she asked turning to him. “We cannot leave her here, and I am definitely not gonna kill her”.

“We could just put her in prison right now”, Garran suggested, but thsi time it was Kieran who replied.

“We could, yes”, he said, stepping more to the centre of the room. “but that would take us days. The Council had precise instruction for us. No one could leave the party, unless something very urgent happened, like communications with the city”.

“I think this is pretty urgent”, his brother replied.

“True, but just following us for a few weeks might be a bigger punishment for her than just staying in a cell for the whole day”, he said, turning to Lysara.

No one said anything for some moments, then kaelith spoke. “Then it is decided. She comes with us”.

Lysara smiled, amused. “When do we leave?”

“In the morning”, Kaelith simply replied. “Leave all your belongings here. Garran”, she said turning to her friend, “will try to get you some clothes to wear. You cannot travel wearing.. that”.

Kaelith finally let herself look more at the body of the girl. There was no sign that this girl ever trained one day in her life. She wasn’t fat, not at all, just not as fit as soldiers would. Plus, it was probably her job that required her to look that, let’s say, soft and appealing to men.

And it was while she was looking at her that she realized that she had goosebumps all over her body.

It was at that moment that Kaelith realized how cold it was, and how badly dressed the girl was for that temperature.

Without even thinking about it, she took the small knife that she keeps in her belt, and cut the hands of the girl loose .

Lysara, as surprised as everyone else in the room, didn’t even have the time to move that Kaelith was already handing her her own jacket.

“Use this”, she simply said, “until you get one on your own”.

Reluctantly, Lysara took the jacket, and wore it. Despite the two of them being almost the same height, the jacket was way to big on her. She was able to wrap it around her, trying to get some warmth from it.

Left with wearing only her shirt, Kaelith turned to all the other men in the room. “I want you ready at the border of the village in five yours. Get some sleep, prepare your things, and don’t be late”.

All the men slowly left the room. Only Kieran, Thalen and Garran remained. “I saw a tailor shop before”, the last one said. “I will go look for clothes for her”.

Kaelith thanked him with a nod.

Thalen took her arm and brough her to the side. “Are you sure this is the only way we have to handle the situation?”

Kaelith shook her head. “No, but I don’t know what else to do. The Council wants us all to stay together, I cannot send someone back to the city with just her. And going back all of us.. we cannot fail just at the start”.

“It will be a miracle if she even survives the whole ride”, Thalen commented, looking at her taking off all her jewelery, Kieran by her side. He was telling her something at which she smiled, but he coudn’t hear what.

“I really have no idea. We will just see day by day”, Kaelith replied. “Now let’s just get ready. I want to leave as soon as we can”.

[xyz-w]

The Commander Chapter 3

The next afternoon, the Council Chamber was filled with the soft crackling of oil lamps and the scent of old parchment. The room was simple but serious—a round stone chamber with a large table in the middle where the council members sat.

Kaelis Dravon, Head of Politics and Council Leader, sat at the head of the table. His silver hair was neatly combed back, and his sharp eyes gave away nothing. He was always calm, always in control.

To his right, Arden Meryn, Head of Food Resources, tapped her fingers on the table, impatient as ever. She hated delays and preferred action over endless debate.

Across from her, Halric Jorn, Head of the Mines, leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, watching the others with narrowed eyes. He was a man of hard labor and harsher decisions, rarely impressed by talk.

Vynessa Lorr, Head of Communications and Intelligence, sat perfectly still, listening. She rarely spoke, but when she did, her words carried weight. She had a talent for knowing more than she let on.

Garran stood near the table, acting as the link between the army and the Council. Kaelith and Thalen sat straight-backed, their uniforms crisp, showing their authority as Vice Commander and Commander. Kieran, the army’s Strategist, sat beside Kaelith, his notebook open on the table.

Dravon was the first to speak. “We don’t have proof that Azeron is involved. If we act too soon, we might waste time and resources—or worse, expose ourselves.”

Meryn scoffed. “And if we do nothing, we could be ignoring a real threat. It’s not just about magic. Dozens of men were murdered. Their blood was drained. Their heads are missing. That is not something we can ignore.”

Jorn grunted, his voice rough. “The bodies were left on our land. The theory of the Abyss makes sense on one side, but on the other I wonder I they were so stupid to not predict this. If they needed to hide something, randomly leaving the bodies on our land was the silliest move they could have done. Why not just burn the bodies, bury them, or leave them as they were?”

Vynessa Lorr spoke, her voice smooth and controlled. “That’s what worries me. We weren’t really meant to notice this, but we did. It was probably their mistake but now we know. And if we know, whoever did this, might already know that we saw their bodies. Maybe it is better if we bring them back in the same place so no one can suspect anything.”

Thalen stepped into the conversation. “With all due respect, Councilors, I don’t think bringing back the bodies can be an option. It would take days, and it is impossible for us to place them back in the same way as they were. Plus, we are having our people look at them, and they still don’t know cause of death and other details that we might find interesting. They might even be able to find out where they are from and how old they are”.

Jorn nodded. “I do agre with the Vice-Commander. We should leave the bodies here, have our healers look at them and see what they can find. We have to be careful, though, in every next move we take from now. If this is part of some kind of conflict or battle betweent two parties, it could put us in danger”.

Kaelith leaned forward, her tone firm. “We don’t have enough answers. If this was just a battle between two groups, we would see signs of struggle. But this was different. We don’t even know who those men were. No markings, no identification. That means someone didn’t want them to be recognize in the case they were found.”

Garran nodded. “And let’s not forget the missing heads. That isn’t normal. It’s not just about killing—it’s something twisted.”

Kaelis sighed. “Which brings us back to Azeron. If they’re involved, we need to know. If they aren’t, then we have something else to worry about.”

Jorn drummed his fingers on the table. “We need to be careful. If we accuse Azeron without proof, we risk war. If we ignore this, we risk an unknown enemy gaining power right under our noses.”

Kieran finally spoke, his voice calm but serious. “If Azeron is involved, then they have a reason for this. If they aren’t, then someone else is trying to make us think they are. Either way, we can’t just sit here.”

Dravon straightened his shoulders. “Then let’s get the information we need. We send a small group to investigate. Discreetly. Soldiers and officers who know how to stay unnoticed. We don’t alert the public, and we don’t make it obvious what we’re doing.”

Garran added, “If we make too much noise, Azeron—or whoever is behind this—will cover their tracks before we learn anything.”

Arden frowned but nodded. “And if we find out that Azeron truly is involved?”

Dravon’s gaze was cold. “Then we prepare for the worst. For now, we will just figure out something to tell people why you are all gone from the city”.

“Do you want us all gone at the same time?”, Kaelith asked. Usually it was either the Commander or the Vice-Commander to go on missions, not both at the same time.

“Yes, Commander. Two years ago, when you all got the roles you have now, we put our complete trust into the four of you. I want the four of you to talk to the chief police officer, and he can either come himself with five other men, or give you six new men that know what is going on and that he trusts with being discrete. Take with you other five or six soldiers as well, the best you can find”.

Lorr jumped in. “Keep it quiet, don’t tell anyone what you are doing. Head west, to the coast. Check again where the bodies were found. If you need it, you can get a ship and check around the Abyss if you want, but we really do not want people to know what is going on”.

“Councilors-”, Kaelith tried to say, but Dravin cut her off.

“Maximum discreteness. If anyone finds out what is going on, this is on you, Commander”.

Kaelith was trying to contain herself. Using all her willpower to be polite, she said. “I know this is your decision to take, in the end, but how do you think we can be so discrete with twenty people? I get that we have to be enough to defend ourselves if something happens, but twenty people? I could choose my soldiers between the most trustworthy, but how can I trust the police men to be as discrete as my men? They didn’t get the same training as members of the Army”.

“The Council will choose the policemen itself, then”, Jorn said. “So you can be satisfied”.

Kaelith wouldn’t be satisfied that way either. She would take only the chief policeman with whom she had already travelled, but she found it useless to also get that many more people. People without a proper training into travelling, dealing with missions and keeping everything discrete.

But she had to do what the Council wanted, so she had to give up.

A long silence filled the room. Then, Kaelith nodded. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. I could get my soldiers to be ready to leave in two days from now”.

Dravon nodded. “We will start now with finding trustworthy police officers to send with you. You will then leave in two days from now, headinb west. I trust that you know Inns and tavers were they do everything discretely, Commander. The least people find out that there is a group of soldiers on the move, the better”.

It was settled then. The meeting was dismissed, and Kaelith left the room in a rush.

Garran staied inside, while Kieran and Thalen got out right after her.

“What the hell are they thinking?”, she exclaimed. “They want me to trust some men that are not mine in keeping everything discrete”.

The other two agreed with her. It was a stupid decision coming from the Council, and judging from the voices raising inside, Garran was probably arguing the same with his fellow Council members.

“Do you have already in mind some soldiers to bring with us?”, Kieran asked, changing the subject.

Kaelith nodded. She would have brought with her three senior soldiers, and two young ones. The young ones already came with her on a mission the previous year, and she trusted them. This was also a great opportunity to teach them how to handle missions.

They waited for Garran to get out of the room. It didn’t take much before the door opened again, and he stepped outside, voices still raising in the background.

He closed the door, then leaned on it. “They are great at politics”, he said, “but really do not understand how missions work. They will give me a list of police officers that will join the mission by the end of the day”.

Kaelith nodded. “I’ll go to the Academy to already prepare everything for the travel. Thalen, if you could fix things with our classes at the Academy, it would be great. And Kieran”, she said turning to her quiet friend, “come with me. I want to fill a whole backpack with books about magic and acient magical bloodlines. We will have several nights while travelling. Better to do some studying in the meanwhile as well”.

It was then settled.

Two days later, they all met at the gates of the city. In the end, Kaeliht ended up quite liking half of the policemen that were assigned to the mission. The other thre, she didn’t like them quite that much, but she really hoped she was getting the wrong feeling.

They started their travel, rigorously by foot, to not attract too much attention. Three days into travelling, they encounter a small village, at the edge of a forest. They together decided that before venturing inside the forest itself, it would have been nice to have one night of sleep in a proper bed. There was an Inn, in the village, who was recommended as discrete by the Council. They all got rooms there to spend the night, and to have a decent dinner for once.

After dinner, Kaelith decided to go to her room and study some books. She found one in the City’s library that contained a list of magical bloodlines that also listed descriptions. She hoped to be able to find something there.

Before parting from the group, she recommended, once again, to everyone, to be as discrete as possible. They could go around the village, grab a drink at the Inn, or just go to sleep.

But they should never ever make word of what they were doing with anyone.

[xyz-w]

The COmmander Chapter 2

Thalen had already left the house, so Kaelith entered the tavern alone, and started looking around for either him or an empty table.

The tavern was always full of soldiers, and so it was that day. A few people greeted her as she entered, and she greeted them back.

She liked her soldiers, and they liked her back. She had spent several nights in this very same tavern just chatting and drinking with them.

She walked around slowly, the smell of beer and smoke filling her lungs. Basically at every table there was at least one of her soldiers. She wasn’t really in the mood for a chat, so she just walked straight, until she run into one of the weitresses.

Long curly hair, falling down her back, dark eyes, and pale skin, basically as everyone else on the island. Kaelith knew her.

“Good Evening, Commander”, the girl greeted, carrying a tray full of empty cups of beer and wine glasses.

“I heard you were back, but I didn’t want to believe them, until I could state that with my very own eyes”, the waitress said again.

Kaelith chuckled and followed the girl to the main counter.

“It is pretty busy here tonight”, she said, looking around.

The waitress nodded. “It always is around this time of the year”.

She started cleaning everything that she had on the tray. “Your friends are over there”, she said, motioning to a corner of the big room.

“They already ordered soemthing”, the waitress informed her. “What can I get for you?”

Kaelith leaned against the counter, her arms crossed on it, while she was attentively looking at the movements of the waitress.

“Just the usual”, she replied.

The waitress smirked. “Usual for the Commander, then”.

Kaelith placed her cheek in her hand, mindlessly looking at the waitress. Tiredness was starting to kick in, she quickly needed a drink.

“I have to place a few urgent orders before I can come to you, Commander”, the waitress kindly said, realizing that she was just there waiting for her drink.

“You can stay here and keep staring at me while I work, but your friends are probably waiting for you”.

Kaelith relized that she was indeed probably staring too much. She collected herself and stood up straight.

“I’ll go then”, she said, “even though no orders are more urgent than the one of the Commander”, she joked.

The waitress laughed out loud. “I’ll do as quick as I can”. Kaelith waved bye and then walked to the corner of the room.

On one side of the table, Thalen was sitting next to Kieran, drinking some beer. In front of him, Garran was also drinking beer, that left foam on his beard. Kieran, on the other hand, was sipping some syrup, like the non-alchool drinker that he had always been.

Thalen spotted her walking to them and waved. She smiled and closed the distance between her and her friends, sitting down on the empty chair next to Garran.

“Evening, boys”, she greeted her friends.

Garran and Thalen raised their cups and took a drink, Kieran said, “it is good to see you”.

She was by far the shortes out of the whole group, and smallest, even though she really was not small or short for a woman.

She wasn’t the strongest either, that clearly belonged to Thalen. The smartest was Kieran, of course, and Garran was the one able to deal with politics.

She just had a little bit of everything, the ideal amount of each quality that made her Commander.

“How are you?”, Garran asked while patting her back. “The Council was waiting for you all to be back for days now”.

“I know, it took us longer than expected, but it is extremely weird”, she replied. She pointed at Garran’s beer. “Can I take a sip? I am still waiting for mine”.

He nodded and she brought the cup to her lips.

“Thank you”, she said after having drunk a bit of beer.

“I hope the Council already has theories about what is going on, because this shit is crazy”. Kaelith leaned back on her chair, looking at Kieran in front of her.

“I know you have theories”, she said, and he smirked.

“I might, but I need to know precisely what you saw”.

Kaelith reached again for Garran’s beer and took another sip. He laughed and started complaining,  but she cut him off. “Your next one is on me”.

“Fill us in”, Kieran then asked. “Every detail”. He took a small notebook from the pocket of his jacket, and a pen from the internal pocket.

Kaelith was about to start telling them everything, as the waitress approached the table with a cup of beer for Kaelith.

“Here you go”, she said, placing the cup on the table.

“Can you get me another one?”, Garran asked. “Thalen?”, he asked his friend, and the young man nodded.

“Another one for Thalen as well”.

“Make it one more for me too, then”, Kaelith jumped in, already taking a sip from her just arrived cup.

The waitress smiled. “Of course”. Then she turned to Kieran.

“I am good”, he said, motioning to his still half full glass.

Kaelith leaned back on her chair again, beer in her hand. “Thank you, Taliya”.

“I will be right back”, Taliya said, walking away.

Kaelith took another seep of her beer, then caught Thalen’s eyes on her.

“What”, she asked, and he shrugged. “You know the name of the pretty waitress”.

Garran laughed. “Of course she knows the name of the pretty waitress”.

“Of course I know the name of the pretty waitress”.

Of course Kaelith knew the name of the pretty waitress.

Kieran shook his head. “Can we shift our focus from the pretty waitress to what Kaelith saw during her mission?”

Everyone laughed and kaelith leaned back onto the table, placing her cup down and pinning her elbows to the table. She started talking about the great amount of bodies they found, the blood missing, the heads missing. She told them that the chief of the police squad had no idea what was going on, and to their knowledge there wasn’t any conflict that could lead to soemthing like that. She concluded hoping that the Council had any ideas of political reasons behind this  and what the next steps would be.

Everyone sat quietly for a while, all of them thinking. The second round of beers got in, Taliya had the intelligence of acknowledging that they were deep into their conversation and didn’t say anything while placing the beers on the table. Kaelith took mental note to thank her later on.

Garran looked deep focused in his thoughts, probably recalling conversations with the other Councilors. Thalen was looking at his cup, and Kieran was still taking notes on his notebook.

Once he stopped, Kaelith asked, “do you have any ideas?”

Kieran took a deep breath. “As you said, this doesn’t look like a technique or strategy from anyone from our continent. I would say that for now, rather than to focus on who did this, we should focus on who got killed”.

Kaelith nodded, she also thought about that.

“Assuming that our police did a good investigation, all those dead men do not belong to our island. Plus, they were found on the weast coast”.

He opened his small notebook on a page where he had a small map of their continent. “We have several villages around the coasts, if someone delivered there the bodies coming from the east, people at sea and in the villages would have noticed the boat they used. We can then conclude that they got transferred to our island from the west, so from the mainland”.

Kaelith nodded again. That was true. “According to the police chief, the bodies weren’t damaged in any ways when the farmer found them, and the area where they were is full of animals. This means that they stayed there for a short period of time before the farmer found them”.

They sat quietly for some more time. Thalen was the first to break the silence.

“So we can say that they were all foreigners and they got place on our lands by someone from the west. But why on our lands?”.

No one answered him. Kaelith took the last sip of her beer, then leaned back again, crossing her arms n her chest.

Next to her, Garran was sitting in the same way, silent.

“If someone wanted to dispose of those bodies, they might have wanted to do that in the Abyss”, he said, pointing at a point on Kieran’s map. “It wouldn’t be the first time in history that someone has done that, and the Abyss is farely close to our coast”.

“And if they weren’t able to dispose of the bodies in the Abyss because of the current, they might have wanted to quickly dispose of them on our coast for some reason”, Kaelith added in. “The bodies were hidden in the forest, not that well, like they did it in a hurry, because of some reason”.

“I need to check the currents in the see and around the Abyss, but considering the four travel days that it takes to go from the mainland to the Abyss, then other five days to go back to the mainland from our island, adding around three days because probably they waited for the currents to calm down and they did spend some time taking dozens of bodies from their ship and trying to hide them, this tells us that they were probably killed twelve days before they got found by the farmer, which means twenty-two days ago”.

Well, that sounded about right. “How well preserved where the bodies?”, Thalen asked Kaelith.

“That is another odd thing”, she admitted. “They looked like they all just died, but even while we were transporting them back to the city for the healers to be able to examin all of them well, they never changed and still looked fresh in a way. The farmer confirmed that they also looked like that when he found them”.

“So they weren’t decomposing”, Thalen said, and she nodded. “It appears to be like that”.

The three of them turned to Garran, who appeared to be in his own world. He was looking at the table in front of him, without saying a word.

Finally, he raised his eyes to look at his friends.

“During the last Council’s meeting, Councilor Vynessa Lorr talked about something weird happening in Azeron, on the mainland”.

“Azeron is as powerful as all of the other cities combined”, Kieran commented, but his brother didn’t even acknowledge him and talked again.

“She was there for commercial purpose, of course, but she said that she overheard people talking about an acient blood line coming back to life, something linked with magic”.

That really caught Kaelith’s attention. “Magic has been dead for centuries”.

Garran nodded. “That is what Vynessa also thought about, and she didn’t really pay more attention to it. She thought she had misheard it, and literally told us as a joke. These bodies not decomposing made me think about this”.

“Do you think we should try to communicate with Azeron?”, Kaelith asked.

Garran shaked his head. I would need to discuss this with the Council, but I would suggest not to. We don’t know if this is true and we don’t know what they are really doing, if it is truly them. Plus, it might be something that they don’t want us to know, and us exposing ourselves like that would put Nyx, and everyone that lives on the island, in trouble”.

It all depended now on the Council, then. The only thing they could do by themselves is trying to find out more about the possibility of magic being involved. She simply had to look at Kieran that he understood, and wrote something in his notebook.

Then he closed it, as a way to tell his friends that he was done with the conversation. And he was right. The decisions were now of the Council only, and he already knew what he had to look for in the meanwhile.

The tavern was beginning to empty, only them and a few other people were still inside.

Kaelith glanced at the main counter, and she saw Taliya cleaning up some dishes. The girl noticed her, and slowly stopped what she was doing.

She walked up to the table. “We are about to close, do you want something else?”.

“I think we are good”, Thalen said for everyone, and the others nodd.

“I’ll come pay at the counter for the whole table”, Kaelith jumped in, and the Taliya left.

“I guess this is what you can do with the salary of a Commander”, Garran joked.

Kaelith laughed. “Says the one who is in politics”. She stood up. “I’m gonna go pay”.

“Should we wait for you or just leave you to the pretty waitress?”, Kieran asked joking, and it was indeed rare of him to make jokes. He was usually the quiet one, but probably felt that there was some need of lighter conversation topic to close up the night.

“You can wait for me right outside”, she replied, smirking. “Tonight is not the night”.

She started walking to the counter, then turned back to her friends. “You should also find some ladies for yourself, boys. I cannot always be the only object of the jokes around the group”, she said walking backwards. “Plus it is also healthy to, you know, let go sometimes!”.

By the time she spoke the last words, she was far enough from the table that she basically had to shout them.

The three boys started heading towards the door of the tavern.

“I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that she gets more than we do”, Garran said, looking up at the cieling.

“And that is the problem, she never sticks to one”, Thalen commented. “I am not cut out for that”.

Garran smirked. “Right, right”, he said putting one arm around Thalen’s shoulders and the other around Kieran’s. “You guys are looking for wife material. But you should be more out there, expose yourself more, go out of your comfort zo-”

Kieran suddenly cut him off. “First, I really don’t care about it now. Second, it is fun to make jokes about Kaelith because she also really doesn’t care, while you would get mad. Third, it doesn’t look like you are having that much success stepping outside of your comfort zone”.

Thalen started laughing, while Garran, as predicted, moved his arms away from the shoulders of the other two. “You know nothing”, he said to his brother.

Kieran laughed. “As predicted”. They were already outside of the tavern, waiting for Kaelith.

“What the hell is she doing now?”, Garran asked, refusing to look at Kieran who rolled his eyes.

And just like that, Kaelith walked out of the tavern, hands in the pockets of her pants.

He looked up at his friend and laughed. “Did you just piss off Garran?”.

“Let’s not talk about it”, he replied, indeed pissed.

She reached for something inside the back pocket of her pants and pulled out a small piece of paper.

She handed it to Garran. “These are Taliya’s working hours”.

Garran took the piece of pape. “Why are you giving it to me?”.

“Because she finds you handsome and she asked me”.

Garran looked at her confused. “I thought you– I thought she and you– Are you sure she is interested in me?”

Kaelith smiled. “My friend with the beautiful beard”.

Garran looked around. He was indeed the only one with a beard. Well, in that precise moment also Thalen had a shade of beard, but not as much as he did.

“I don’t know what to say”, he said, still baffled.

“You can try with ‘thank you Kaelith, you are the best wingwoman ever’”, she suggested amused, and made the other two laugh.

Garran smiled, proud of himself. “I have got a date then”.

As they walked through the dimly lit streets, the air was cool with the lingering scent of the sea. The city had quieted down for the night, save for the distant hum of voices and the occasional bark of a stray dog.

Garran was still staring at the small piece of paper Kaelith had handed him, as if it held some ancient secret.

"Are you actually going to stand there all night admiring her handwriting?" Thalen teased, nudging him in the ribs.

"I’m just... surprised, is all," Garran muttered. "I didn’t think she’d be interested."

Kaelith snorted. "Of course you didn’t. You were too busy making jokes about me knowing her name to notice that she was actually looking at you the whole time."

Kieran smirked. "It’s almost like people have eyes, Garran. And sometimes, they use them to look at things."

Garran rolled his eyes but tucked the paper into his coat. "Alright, alright. No need to be insufferable about it."

"No, see, that’s where you’re wrong," Kaelith said, stretching her arms behind her head. "Being insufferable is part of my charm."

They turned a corner, and the road sloped upward towards the Commander’s quarters. The city of Nyx sprawled beneath them, lanterns flickering like scattered stars. The towering cliffs that protected their island loomed in the distance, their dark shapes merging with the night sky.

Thalen let out a deep breath. "Alright, back to business. We have a mess on our hands. A pile of bodies appearing out of nowhere, not decomposing, and possibly linked to a lost bloodline with magic?"

"If magic even exists anymore," Kieran added.

Kaelith glanced at him. "You don’t think it does?"

Kieran shook his head. "I think people believe what they want to believe. That doesn’t make it real."

Garran, who had been quiet for a moment, finally spoke. "And what if it is real? What if those stories weren’t just stories?" He paused, frowning. "If someone is powerful enough to bring magic back, we’re all in serious trouble."

They reached Thalen and Kaelith’s house, and she turned to her friends, leaning against the frame. "We’ll take this to the Council tomorrow. Until then, try to get some sleep."

"You say that like you’re actually going to sleep," Thalen said, crossing his arms. "We all know you’re going to sit up thinking about this."

Kaelith grinned. "Obviously. But you three should sleep. I need you in top shape if we end up fighting some ancient magical war."

"Great," Kieran muttered. "Looking forward to it."

"Night, Commander," Garran said, smirking as he turned to leave.

Kaelith nodded and stepped inside. Thalen followed her. They parted ways to their own bedrooms. As the door shut behind her, she let out a slow breath. Magic. Dead bodies. Foreign threats. It was all too much to think about in one night.

Still, one thought lingered above the rest as she poured herself a final drink.

If magic was truly returning to the world... then things were about to change.

And not for the better.

[xyz-w]

The Commander Chapter 1

The Main Hall of the Academy was, by design, meant to inspire awe. And it always succeeded. Twin sisters Elysia and Selene walked into the Academy that day for the first time, hand in hand, like they had always done whenever they were anxious.

They were surrounded by other students around their age, most of them older than them, belonging to the higher grades in the Academy. Step by step, they walked to the further end of the Main Hall, to the first seats, reserved to the first years. They kept looking around them, taking in everything that they are seeing.

The walls were so high one couldn’t even see the end of them, built in grey stone, as the rest of the building. Towering columns lined the walls, framing the long rows of wooden benches where the students sat, organized by years.

Selene and Elysia sat in the front row, as straight as possible. Their focus had shifted from the beauty of the building to the figures standing in front of them.

Dressed all in official clothes, all the Professors of the Academy and the highest ranks of the Academy were standing in front of them. They all were, or had been, part of the Army, and, if everything went right, in around six years, Selene and Elysia could be their colleagues.

They had discussed at home, before heading to the Academy for the Cerimony of the beginning of the training year. They both agreed that the best way of get through the years at the academy was to stick close to the professors and their knowledge. After all, most of the teachers at the academy were soldiers themselves, or retired soldiers. It would have only been the best choice to learn as much as possible from them.

They were proudly wearing the uniforms of the Academy, dark blue pants, and a jacket of the same color, adorned by silver lines. A green pin right on their heart signaled that they were first years students.

Their long brown hair were collected in a tight braid, as the dresscode of the Academy indicated. Not a single hair out of place.

Selene’s eyes scanned the professors standing in front of them, looking around for one person in particular. Finally, they land on the jacket of a young man, wearing the pin that indicated that he was the Vice-Commander of the Army.

She reached for the hand of her twin sister and squeezed it, making Elysia turn in the same direction.

Vice-Commander Thalen Veyar was busy talking with other people from the army. Being very tall, he always had to look down to people when talking to them.

His dark eyes were circled by dark bags under his eyes, and his dark hair wasn’t as perfect as it usually is. The shade of an unshaved beard indicated that he hadn’t shaved it in some days.

“He looks like he needs some rest”, Selene whispered to her twin, who nodded.

“I wonder if something happened”, Elysia commented. “Also, I don’t see the Commander here”.

Selene looked around. That was indeed true, there was no sign of the Commander anywhere. And being the highest rank in the Army, it is required for the Commander to join ceremonies like those, besides the fact that the Commander is also a professor at the Academy.

“We would know if something had happened”, Elysia said. No one looked worried, that was a good sign.

Actually, everyone looked mostly relaxed, the professors were talking with each other lightly, like it was a normal day.

But everyone stopped talking once a tall man in his sixties walked to the edge of the podium, facing the audience of students. He waited a few seconds for everyone to sit properly and stop talking, then breathed in deeply.

Aldric Rhen’s speech, as all good ceremonial speeches, was entirely predictable. He made approximately the same speech every year. Sixth year students might knew some parts by heart at that point, but no one dared to make fun of it.

"Welcome, young warriors," he began, his voice echoing across the hall. "You enter these halls as students, but you will leave as the guardians of our city”. He paused dramatically and looked around the Main Hall.

“Honor, discipline, and perseverance will be your guiding stars. Some of you will falter, some will rise beyond expectation, but all of you will be tested. Stand firm, for the path ahead is not easy, but it is worthy."

“Within the walls of the Academy, you’ll learn to master important skills, to deepend your knowledge, and to become warriors. But most of all, under the guide of your teachers”, he said motioning with his hands to all the people standing behind him, “you will learn how to become the best version of yourself”.

Someone started clapping their hands, and soon everyone was applauding that pompous speech. People suspected that Headmaster Rhen had written that same speech twenty years ago when a battle injury forced him off the field and he became headmaster, and he was still using the very same one.

From the first row, Selene and Elysia couldn’t take their eyes off of him. Despite his age, he looked fairly young and in good shape. However, if one knew to look for it, it could be seen that oe of his eyes was completely dead.

It is common knowledge that during his last battle, Aldric Rhen had suffered the lost of his sight from one eye due to an explosion happening not far from him, and that was the cause of his retirement. He could still function perfectly as a soldier, but having limited vision made him a vulnerable ring in the chain that was the Army.

Word on the street is that he had worked hard inspiring to the role of Vice-Commander, in the hope of being voted Commander one day, but the accident put an end to his dreams.

Again, if one looked carefully, they could see an hint of jealousy whenever he turned to look at Vice-Commander Thalen Veyar, who got that role at a really young age, two years before, when half of their army got killed in a tremendous battle.

They lost all the highest ranks of the Army, that day, due to a strategy mistake that lead them straight into the enemy’s trap.

After that war had ended, the Council redesigned completely the structure of the Army and decided to appoint the highest positions to unpredictable, but much valid young soldiers, who, if they proved to be right for their role, could have stood in those positions for as long as age allowed.

And it was indeed with a very small hint of jelousy that Headmaster Rhen turned to Thalen Veyar, inviting him close.

“And now,” the he said, “since Commander Soren is still travelling back from a mission, it is Vice-Commander Veyar who will address you. A few words for our sixth-years, who will soon stand at the gates of their future.”

Thalen stepped forward, nervous. This was his second time that the Training years started with him as Vice-Commander of the Army, and already he had to face the speech by himself. It was strange to think that he was feeling so nervous talking to students, but when he had to place orders, that always came with such eas.

The previous year, Commander Soren had made a great impression on the Academy students with the speech, despite having been elected only a few months before. And Thalen wanted to show the students that he did have a bit of the same social qualities as his Commander, even though he clearly didn’t have them.

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He smiled at the students, and as soon as all of them had their attention on him, he started talking.

“Six years ago, you entered these halls with the same look I see on the faces of our newest recruits—hopeful, eager, perhaps a little terrified.” His lips twitched in amusement. "Back then, some of you probably questioned your choices after the first week of training. Maybe you thought about sneaking off in the dead of night, or fantasized about a quiet life as a merchant instead of enduring bruises, exhaustion, and relentless drills." He let the words hang for a moment, allowing the sixth-years a chance to remember their own struggles.

"But you didn’t leave. You stayed. You fought through every challenge, sharpened your skills, and earned your place here. You faced grueling training, endless drills, and the weight of expectations pressing down on you like an unrelenting storm. You learned to rise after every fall, to push past the pain, and to trust in your own strength. Now, you sit before me as warriors in your own right. You have trained, endured, and grown, proving not only your skill but your resilience, your discipline, and your unshakable will. And you stand at the threshold of something greater, something uncertain, but let me tell you this—”

The heavy doors of the hall swung open with a resounding creak, the groan of ancient wood protesting against the sudden disturbance. A hush fell over the gathered students, the murmurs that had lingered at the edges of the hall vanishing as all eyes snapped toward the entrance. The doors parted slowly, revealing the vast corridor beyond, its torches casting flickering shadows on the polished stone floor. For a moment, nothing happened, the air thick with anticipation. Then, a sharp rhythm of boots echoed through the vast chamber, a deliberate and unwavering march that sent a shiver through the assembled crowd.

One person was walking in front of four other figures, who were walking in two lines. After a few steps, the fours soldiers drifted to the sides of the Main Hall, going to stand next to other soldiers present at the Cerimony, leaving only one person walking alone between the rows of students, down the central hallway of the Main Hall.

Students started standing, as all the soldiers were always required whenever the Commander entered a room.

In a matter of seconds, everyone was standing, still, hands clasped behind their backs.

The only sound in the Hall was the sound of the Commander’s boots hitting the marble floor of the Academy, one after the other.

“Apologies for the dramatic entrance”, Commander Kaelith Soren said, looking around to the students as she walked to the front of the room. “Travelling took longer than expected”.

As soon as she reached Thalen, she stopped walking, turned around, facing the students.

“You can sit now”, she ordered, and everyone took a sit.

Thalen took as step aside as Headmaster Rehn walked once again to the front of the stage.

With a bigger hint of jealousy in his eyes, he looked at the young woman that just walked inside the room.

“Commander Soren, I am happy you were, in the end, able to join us”, he said, but he didn’t look that happy overall.

“I believe you don’t need an introduction here”, he said again, and she smiled. “Vice-Commander Thalen was giving his speech to the sixth year”, he said, and she nodded, looking at her friend, who had, naturally, paused his speech.

Thalen tilted his head toward her, an eyebrow raised. “Since you’re here, would you like to take over?”, he asked, and a part of him really hoped she would say yes.

Kaelith gave him a sideways glance, her lips twitching with amusement. “Oh, no. Please, continue. You look like it took you the whole night to memorize it, I would hate to see all the struggle to be in vain.”

Thalen huffed, shaking his head. Kaelith also looked tired, she and her soldiers probably travelled all night long in order to be here in time, and he could see that on her face, and in the way she moved.

He knew her too well, and he had been by her side long enough to know that her refusing to give a speech or fully adept to her responsibilities as Commander meant that she really was tired.

There was mud on her boots and her leather pants. The leather jacket she ued for travelling was dirty with dust, and there was dust all over her face as well.

Her long, dark hair was, as always, collected in a high ponytail on top of her head, strands of it falling down on the sides of her face, and on her neck.

She locked her dark eyes with his, and nodded, giving him the signal to go on.

He took a deep breath, and started talking again.

"And so, as you stand at the edge of your time here, remember this: the trials ahead will not be easy, but neither were the trials that brought you here. You have already proven your strength, your resilience, and your dedication. Now, it is time to prove it once more, beyond these walls, in the service of something greater than yourselves. The city will look to you, and I have no doubt that you will rise to meet its call." He let his gaze sweep over the sixth-years, then gave a nod. "You are ready."

The hall erupted into applause, the sixth-years sitting straighter, pride evident in their expressions. Thalen stepped back, allowing the headmaster to resume his place at the front.

As the applause settled, attention shifted once more to the first-years. The ceremony always ended with the headmaster recalling the rules of the Academy, and give important news, if there were any, like changes in teachers or addition of exams.

However, for Selene and Elysia was now almost impossible to keep their focus on the headmaster during his final speech.

It was because of Commander Soren that they decided to enroll in the academy at such a young age, the minimum possible in their city.

And seeing the Commander right there in front of them was like a dream come true. For both of them, Kaelith Soren truly was an inspiration.

For several minutes, Headmaster Rhen kept talking about the rules of the Academy, and how it worker to be promoted from first to second year and so on. What it took to graduate after the six years in the Academy and what happened after.

At the end of the final speech, every student was allowed to leave, and take the rest of the day off. The official classes would start the following day.

Being in the first row, it took Elysia and Selene to wait a bit before they were allowed to leave, after all the students before them. They took these moments to glance one last time to the Commander, who actually noticed and winked at them, right before they left to leave.

Kaelith chuckled at the sign of the twins. She noticed that they couldn’t take their eyes off of her during the ceremony, and she recognized them from Valor day, that happened a few weeks before. They were, even at that time, sitting in front row.

“You’ve got admirers”, Thalen said, approaching her.

Kaelith lightly laughed. “They seem cute”, she replied.

“Cute?”, he repeated, while they started walking outside. “Aren’t they a bit too young for you?”, he joked.

She punched him, pretty hard, on the shoulder. “I mean that they were really caught up in the whole thing, and seemed much more interested in the Cerimony than 90 percent of the other students, despite their young age”.

“Hopefully they can make it through all the six years”, he commented and she nodded. “And hopefully we will still be alive in six years”, she joked, but then her smile turned briefly into a frow.

Thalen caught it, though. “Is there something we need to be worried about?”.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. But it is very weird”.

“Do you already have a meeting with the Council planned?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, right after I finish my classes at the Academy. Garran arranged everything”.

Garran Tyvar, who sat in the council as the Army representor, was one of their best friends, and the brother of Kieran, the Army’s strategist.

Crazy how the destiny of the whole city was placed in the hands of four friends.

“But we will have an informal meeting tonight at the tavern”, Kaelith continued. “Kieran will be there as well. I just assumed you would be present”.

Thalen nodded. “Kieran told me to keep myself free tonight, indeed”.

Kaelith crossed her arms above her head, stretching her muscles and her back. “But now I am really in need for a warm shower”, she declared.

Thalen laughed. “Mother will have you have dinner before, though”.

“I haven’t had the chance to change clothes in days. As much as Mother is concerned with me eating well, which I always do by the way, she will also want me to get a shower before dinner”.

They kept talking while walking home, the home they share, together with their family.

The Veyar family was rather big, and ranges from young kids, to older people.

Thalen’s parents, Althea and Eryndor, had five kids, Darian, Thalen himself, Serenna, Mira and Elyana. Kaelith joined them when she was seven, and has been part of the family ever since.

Darian was already married and had two young kids, and his whole family also lives in the house. Needless to say, there was always a great noise.

And indeed it was noise the first thing that Kaelith and Thalen heard once they step in through the front door.

“Kaeliiiiith”, a small kid shouted as she entered the room, the smell of dinner already in the hair.

“Hey, young man!”, she said picking him up. “How are you doing?”.

“I am doing good!”, he said, excited. Then he started talking about all he did during the weeks Kaelith wasn’t there. He didn’t stop once until he was done talking, the paused for a few seconds.

“You stink”, he declared, pitching his nose, and she laughed.

“I know”. She placed him down and he run back to his father.

“Dinner will be ready shortly”, an older woman said, walking close to her. “You better be quick”.

Kaelith turned around and faced the woman. “Mother”, she said, and then she hugged her tight.

“Welcome back”, Althea said, embracing the hugg.

“Quick”, she added stepping back. “Go shower and then come back, I made your favorite tonight”.

Kaelith kissed the woman’s cheek, then left the room.

It was always refreshing to take a shower after travelling.

This time, thankfully, there are no wounds to heal on her body. Only dust, mud and sweat.

She put some water to heat up on the fire, and she started taking off her clothes.

This mission had been much different from anything she had dealt with since she got elected Commander. Since she joined the Army years ago, actually.

There was a special group of people, outside of the Army, who had to deal with misteries, disappearance, and murders within the walls of their Island.

They were the ones who had to deal with whatever was going on. However, it was too much for them too, so they asked for help.

They had warned Kaelith that it was weird, and indeed it turned out to be very weird.

On the edge of their Island, the island of Nyx, a farmer had found dead bodies.

Dozens of dead bodies, all male, all naked, without heads and the healers confirmed that blood had been drained out of their bodies, all of them.

Kaelith had never seen anything like this before, nor she had studied it before during her training in the Academy.

It didn’t seem to be in any of the strategies of all the islands and cities in their continent. And to her knowledge, all the wars that were ongoing at the moment were fought on the battle field, not just killing people and leaving the bodies on the shore of someone else’s island.

The problem was indeed, taht no one seemed to had disappeared from the city of Nyx, or from all the villages and towns around the island.

The bodies didn’t present any other kind of wounds, they were probably all killed either because of the blood being drained out of their bodies, or being decapitated. A deeper analysis from the healers in the city would, hopefully, give them more answers.

For now, the next step was to talk to the Council and decide how to act. Was someone threatening their city? If so, who? Why? They might need to get ready to defend their island, but who really knew.

Kaelith quickly showered, then put on some fresh clothes. She took a loose white shirt with long, billowy sleeves and a lace-up front, tying it just enough to keep it secure. The soft fabric draped over her shoulders, slightly oversized but comfortable. She tucked it neatly into her high-waisted black pants, which fit snugly around her waist. To finish, she pulled on her usual black boots, their leather worn but still reliable.

She kept on the same clothes even after dinner, when she headed to the local tavern to meet up with the others.