Everworld Knights

Chapter Eight: Building An Empire

Roland knew that he had big dreams and if he was to conquer them, he would need to make sure every man in this camp was underneath his lead. He spread the word through various channels that he was looking to unite the entire slave camp but knew that in doing so, he could get both good and bad backlash.

How many of the men that lived in this camp were slaughtered under him? How many families did he burn and kill because of his king? Furthermore, was he the right man to lead a camp of outcasts and rebels? He could try and if it succeeded all the better if not, then there was nothing really lost but time.

This would be one of the greatest feats he’d ever attempted and one that would take diligence. He also knew that he may not survive his next battle and the entire time spent creating this would have been for nothing, because who would continue a mission that showed nothing but bringing hateful nations together?

“We’ve been spreading the word around camp, but I’m not sure if anyone’s going to take it. The elves, in particular, aren’t all that many fans of the Everworld’s because you know, you’ve never really shown them all that much love.” Josef said, another cigarette between his fingers. It was his fourth since the conversation started and that hadn’t been longer than an hour.

“Trust me, Josef. I know what I’m doing. I may not be the wisest of them all, but breaching the point of disdain with a trust they’ve never seen from me before may be the right course of actions. We’re in this together, all of us in this camp, so we may as well survive together, correct?” Roland rested his head on the ground. He sat just out of the shadow of the tree, looking up to the heavens. The rain was imminent and it would soon break from the heavens and return to the earth.

“I trust you. I do. I just don’t want you to give up on life because you’re going to get shattered by a bunch of slaves that want nothing to do with you.” Josef cracked his neck from side to side.

“I’m not going to take it to heart if they don’t want to fight alongside me, Josef. I’ve got bigger things to fight for. My wife, my child, I need to get back to them someday and I don’t know how to do that without getting to of here. I need to get to a point where I can stand on my own two feet. Where the king of the Northmen sees me as a worthy contender to stand against the wizard and when he’s slain, ask to see my family.” Roland explained.

Josef laughed. He couldn’t contain his laughter and it was something that Roland found to be rude. Why was he laughing? Roland was sure that he would be getting an explanation soon, it just had to come.

“I guess you haven’t been here long enough to know this, but that’s not how it works. You’re going to fight your way up to the wizard and then die.” Joe said bluntly, “The games always rigged in the Wizards favor. You can stand and fight on your own but I’m pretty sure many have thought the same thing you have. They’re going to touch greatness, become the fan favorite and then gain their freedom. Sadly, that’s not how it works here. The King dictates who wins and loses in the bigger battles.”

“And how certain of this are you?” Roland asked.

“Not very. But with the number of losses faced against the Wizard you’d feel the same way.” Joe added, flicking the butt of the cigarette out into the distance.

“It’s not as easy one, two, three, you know? We’re not really the kind of people to have a say in the politics of life here or out there anymore. I know it’s a difficult thing to come to terms with, especially since you’ve had such a long life on the political side as the King Edmond’s puppet, but don’t think they don’t have a close eye on you,” Josef added, dropping back himself to look up at the cloudy sky, “I don’t want to bring you down, Roland, I just want you to know that things aren’t as simple and easy as they were out there for a man with a title. Your title, in here, means nothing. All it gets you is a grudge from the people you want to bring together. You might have the human population eating out of your hand but that doesn’t really mean much in terms of what’s going on here. Prejudice is worse than what you think, and it’s only enhanced in these close environ…”

Joe continued speaking, but Roland was lost to the man who began walking up to them from the Elf section of the camp. He was tall, wearing rags but held himself with great pristine. He took long, slow, drawn-out steps, making his way towards the two men. Josef was none the wiser, still going on about how Roland was nothing more than a title, that was until the Elf was directly in front of them and cleared his throat.

“What the?” Josef shot forward.

“Roland Everworld. My name is Achtep. I heard of your victory against the Solarian the other day. Congratulations. Word is spreading of your plan and if you can put your prior hatred towards the Solarian elves aside, in belief that the rest of us are not the same, we would like to join you in your crusade to unite the slave camp in hopes that we may not lose those we grow close to.” Achtep said.

Roland turned his head to face Josef, who sat wide-eyed that someone would actually want to be a part of this before he burst into laughter. A deep, hearty laughter that did not end until Josef’s face turned sour. He got up from the ground.

“I would love to have you on board,” Roland announced, grabbing Achtep’s hand in unity and as it touched, the first drop of rain struck the connection.

A strange omen, which Roland took as one uniting this bond.