White Ravens: Advent of War

An Unexpected Encounter

It had been a long and arduous journey, but Rune had finally reached a Regalian town called Hadar. The city was located deep within the mountains, located at the center of a natural fortress of mountains and lush greeneries.

Hadar was famous for being an impenetrable region. Even the Queendom of Wisteria's famed rune knight squadrons had failed to besiege Hadar for years. If there was a place he could successfully hide away from the Queendom's soldiers, Rune figured that this was the only town he could lay low in.

He had already sold his armor to a blacksmith in a local village, a day's hike south of Hadar, and had traded them in for a black hood, and a leather armor. That way, he could appear more of a mercenary than a knight. Though, the general populace weren't quite fond of mercenaries, they were permitted to enter cities as long as they could find an employer within a week of staying there.

Rune had planned to work as bodyguard for a merchant or a noble, or maybe a local exterminator beasts and bandits abound. He figured that the only way for him to survive being in an enemy country was to work as a neutral sellsword.

As he walked through the bridge connecting to the city, he found himself being stuck in a long line of people hoping to get inside. It seemed that some of them were hoping to move into the city, some were refugees, and some were merchants.

Then, Rune heard the guardsmen chastise someone in line.

"Oi! You! That's right, you! I'm talking to you, lad!" The guard dragged a hooded young man out of the line, and removed his hood, revealing that it was actually a lady.

Suddenly, Rune's eyes lit up. "That's Corselia!"

"You're a shady lass, aren't you? Perhaps I should take you to my office for questioning, I will," said the guard.

Corselia withdrew her arm away from the guard and jumped back. She had placed her hand on the hilt of the dagger she had behind her, but she was shocked to know that someone was holding her back.

When she turned around, she recognized the man stopping her from attacking the guard.

It was then that Rune intervened. "Sir, I'm sorry for my sister's disobedience. Perhaps you can let this one of the hook, yes?" Then, he slipped a silver ducat into the guard's pocket while tapping his shoulder.

"Aye, I think I may have been a tad hot-headed there. Carry on, lad. Don't get yourself in trouble, you hear?" replied the guard.

"Very good, sir. We'll be on our way!" Rune grabbed Corselia's arm and dragged her into the city. She tried to resist him, but then she quickly realized that she'd be able to enter the city without any problems now.

Once they were past the gate, they walked a few more meters until they turned into a corner, away from the prying eyes of the guards. It was then that Corselia began to barrage Rune with questions.

"What the hell are you doing here? Didn't I tell you that I'd kill you the next time we see each other? And how did you even get into Regalian territory, you Wisterian scum?!"

Rune quickly covered her mouth before she finished that last sentence, wary that someone might hear her. "Not so loud! Don't blow my cover. I'm here for my own reasons, and I'm not here to cause any trouble, I promise."

Corselia kept on making muffled noises that a lot of passersby were now looking at them. Finally, Rune decided to uncover her mouth. "Heavens, woman! I'm trying to be reasonable here. You don't have to be so cantankerous. Just hear me out, okay?"

She then backed away from him and averted her gaze. "Fine. But you owe me a meal."

"What?! I already saved you back there!"

"Hey, everyone! He's—"

"Fine, fine! I get it. Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving anyway," Rune said with contempt.

It took a few minutes of walking around the city, but they finally found a seat at a not-so-crowded tavern. Its ambiance was quaint, and it seemed that most of their customers were regular ones, judging by how many of them there are.

They were seated at the farthest corner of the tavern, away from the majority of the customers. Rune was glaring at Corselia with disdain, for the woman had ordered almost every item on the menu and didn't even bat an eyelash after ordering so much.

While she was happily eating the food that he reluctantly paid for, Rune finally taken the initiative to start a topic. "I actually need your help. Since you're here, away from the army, I'm assuming that you're now working as a mercenary."

Corselia suddenly stopped eating and put down the chicken thigh she was about to munch on. She tidied her hands with a napkin, and said, "What's it to you, fugitive?"

"You're no better than me. You deserted the army, so you're also a fugitive, yes?" Rune retorted.

It seemed that his remark had struck a nerve, so he went straight to the point this time. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that I want to work as one, too. If you have an employer here or maybe a lead to a job, count me in. I'll work as hard, if not harder than you!"

Corselia stared at him for a while before she finally responded. "Sure, but we'll be splitting the earnings by 75% in favor of me."

"What? That's an absurd split! It should be at least fifty-fifty. I got you into the city, you should cut me some slack here!" Rune complained.

"Alright, sixty-forty," she replied flatly.

"Fifty-fifty," Rune said firmly.

"Alright, fifty-fifty, but you pay for our lodgings tonight," Corselia said with a grin.

"What a miser! I shouldn't have gotten myself involved with this crazy woman," Rune thought to himself.

"Bah! You drive a hard bargain, but fine. I'll take it," he said with disdain. "Tch! Are you poor or something?"

Corselia slammed her dagger onto the table, narrowly missing his arm. "One more salty remark out of you, and I'll rat you out before you finish reciting your last rites!"

Everyone's eyes fell on them because of the way Corselia reacted. Rune immediately scratched the back of his head and bowed to everyone. "We're just having a little disagreement over here. Nothing to be concerned about."

Then, he sat back down and put on a serious face. "Frankly, you're the last person I wanted to see here, but I am happy to see a familiar face, albeit unfriendly. I need your help..."

It was at this point that Rune finally told Corselia everything that happened following their battle at Mirea. She was shocked to know that he had been branded as a wanted man for high treason, but it did please her to know that he didn't seem as heartless as he appeared to be during their first encounter.

Rune also told her that he was supposed to go to Merseto to meet the rest of his friends, but decided to lie low in order to save them the trouble of being hunted along with him. As far as he could tell, the Queendom had only placed a bounty on his head, and not his former colleagues.

Once he had told her everything, Corselia decided to tell him her side of the story after the Battle for Mirea. She had deserted the battlefield before it even ended, and since then, she had gone into hiding. Deserters of the empire's army were punished harshly. Some were publicly executed, and others suffered a fate far worse than death.

She knew that it wouldn't be long until she had to leave the empire's territory and move to another country, but along the way, she ran out of money, and was hoping to land a job that could earn her enough money to get on a ship, and move to a neutral ground.

"I wanted to move to Paree, but I don't have enough money to board a ship for a trip that long." Corselia let out a sigh.

"Paree? I never knew you're one of those," Rune remarked.

"One of those?"

"Hopeless romantics." He chuckled.

"There's a reason I want to move there, asshat!" Corselia threw a chicken bone at him, to which he dodged. Rune wasn't fond of sullying himself with other people's crumbs and leftovers.

"What's the big reason?" he asked seriously.

"It's none of your damn business! Let's just find some lodgings and get this over with. There's a man named Valdano looking for capable fighters to help him explore a cave in the mountains of Hadar. They say there's a priceless gem deep within the furthest reaches of the cave," Corselia said with some form of excitement.

"And you want us to work for this Valdano?"

"No. I want us to get that priceless gem instead of him!" she replied in a raised voice.

"What? Are you insane? We can't double-cross a guy like that!" Rune said as he sprang to his feet and slammed his hands on the table. "If we do that, we're as good as dead. I may not know this Valdano guy, but men like him who can afford to pay for a hunting party will always have some form of influence. I'm out!"

Rune started walking away but then Corselia called out to him, causing him to look back.

"If you do this for me, I'll accompany you to Merseto. As far as I can tell, you don't know much about Regalia, and you'll need someone to look after you."

Rune went back to his seat and asked, "What guarantee do I have that you won't stab me in the back?"

"You don't have one. All you can do now is trust that I'll keep my word. But I promise you, I will take you to Merseto after we do this job," Corselia answered.

"Fine, let's do this."