The fall of Terra fortress. Chapter 2

“Are you telling me we are always supposed to use this suit? is as heavy as a piece of armor” complained Kall, trying to adjust the suit that felt crooked no matter how much he tinkered with it.

“That’s the clothing of a bodyguard, mine is even heavier. Although I can’t recall if yours is thick enough to catch an arrow” answered Fay absentmindedly, his thoughts already far away from there.

“If using a suit like this was enough to stop an arrow there probably wouldn’t be any archers around anymore. I think it’s just better to avoid being shot”

Fay looked at him for a moment, still a little pensive. Almost the entire population of the neutral lands were humans, and although he seldom interacted with them there was something that was sticking out the more and more he talked with Kall.

He’s the only person that speaks so casually with him. Is it a human thing? Does he not know the importance of his position? or does he simply not care about it?

“I agree, but don’t worry about it. I’ll receive any arrows in your place, even bullets if the occasion arises.”

He concluded that the only correct way to respond to it was to match his tone. He truly did not have that many opportunities to let himself go and he could use that chance to its fullest.

“Don’t jinx it like that, but I won’t forget this, I’ll take your word for it” said Kall, jokingly, finally relaxing a little more. “Besides, I don’t really think that Gun is gonna share his strange technology with, well, anyone. We don't have to worry about bullets anytime soon”

“I have the same hope, that would be more trouble than I want to ever deal with” said Fay, with a bit of a tired tone.

Even after the previous perceived criticism of his normal attire, the new suit was very refined and Kall was happy to wear it. Usually soldiers carried armors made of wood due to the exceedingly scarce nature of iron and metal. Using a suit like this, clearly made in part with such materials, but hidden in such an exotic pure black fabric made for a combination that he had almost never seen before.

For Fay, he wanted to treat this deal as if it was nothing new. After all, this was far from the first time they were tasked with solving political tension, so this was closer to a normal day at work than anything else.

For Kall, this was the return to a life he thought and hoped he would never come back to. The sole idea of meeting King Mayhem brought all kind of horrible thoughts to his mind and despite his efforts, his hands would not stop trembling. His stomach was twisting in itself, all his scars were palpitating and deep inside, he wanted to curl in fetal position and tremble.

But he is an adult, a fully grown man, already past his thirties and even more important, he was brought here with the sole purpose of intimidating him. If he showed weakness for even a moment he would fail at his single task. He was joking with Kall to try to hide it all, but it was becoming exceedingly hard to keep those thoughts at bay.

They both arrived at the main entrance hall. The great entry door was fully open and Mother Terra was discussing something with one of the assistants. The girl soon made a bow and retreated in a rush. After this Terra passed her hand through her hair, looked at the ceiling for a moment and then walked towards the two men with no vacillation.

“Be ready, the convoy is about to arrive, we have a couple of minutes at most. Lazaro, drink this.”

The assistant arrived back with a wooden tray with a single cup. Mother Terra took it and raised it to Kall’s mouth before he had time to react, she was almost forcing the contents into his mouth. Everything happened so quickly that he had no time to stop it before the potion was in his mouth.

“Is only bitter at the start, this will help you relax. You can’t stop trembling.”

“And here I hoped I was just imagining it.” said Fay with a sigh. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to say a single word. Just stay at my side and everything will be alright. Mayhem is anything but violent, this is just a diplomatic visit.”

After the initial surprise, Kall took the cup and drank the rest of the potion in a single go. It had a disgusting flavor, but left a minty aftertaste.

“Anything but violent? You were lucky you were not in Frontier when that monster caused the massacre” Kall retorted.

He said it without thinking, but he didn’t need the stern looks they gave him to know that saying it was a mistake.

“Kall, don’t ever dare to say that name while he is in here. Take a deep breath and relax. Don’t say anything, we have this under control. If you mention anything about the war it will only complicate the whole discussion.”

The assistant took the cup away. Kall was certainly feeling more calm already, but more worryingly, he also felt light ans slightly dizzy. He felt as if he was drunk, needing to take a moment to not fall to the floor in a bout of nausea. The sensation went away in a moment, being replaced with a tingling on his limbs, as if his arms had fallen asleep.

“I’m sorry for being so forceful about this, but I expected to have more time to prepare you for the visit. Just concentrate in your posture, stay upright and try to ignore the tingling. It only will last a moment” Said Terra without the slightlest remorse on her voice. She simply pushed them both back into their positions and then went towards the door.

What some moments ago was a spot in the distance that had now closed in, showing its true nature. A group of several black carriages with darkened windows had just arrived. Surrounding them was a group of soldiers, walking by horse and in the cabins on the back several more soldiers stepped down. Finally, a single carriage went ahead from the rest and the guards moved around it.

Terra stayed still on the entrance of the fortress, Kall and Fay at both her sides. The only sound they could hear were the grunts of the soldiers during their training, in the fields near the entrance. Probably another message Terra wanted to convey, thought Kall. for as much as they were treating the matter as inoffensive, they seemed hellbent on showing off their strength.

When the door of the carriage open fear immediately shot throough Kall’s back, but instead of who he expected, a woman appeared from it. A really familiar sight he once thought he would never see again.

“Terra!”

The woman greeted the spirit with great enthusiasm and went down of the vehicle to approach her as quickly as her fluffy dress allowed her. They couldn’t be sure about it, but they even thought they noticed a slight sign of a smile on Terra’s face when she saw her.

“Is a pleasure to see you again, Mary”

“It just has been so long, Terra”

The woman went ahead and hugged Terra, although with the difference of their heights she was hugging her waist. Fay seemed surprised by her familiarity, but to his surprise, Terra returned the hug as well as she could.

Mother Terra, the incarnation of the world itself they all lived in, was happily hugging the woman that just arrived.

Just some steps behind his wife, a man appeared from inside the carriage. Is difficult to describe this strange man. His posture, clothing and even the general sensation he gave off was surprisingly intimidating, prideful and dignified for someone who was the shortest person in the vicinity. But when you looked at him in the face, any effect immediately dissipated. After all, then you would see that he simply was a seemingly young, but emaciated person. His eyes looked tired, his forehead wrinkled and despite his excellent posture when he walked there was a noticeable wobbling, as if he was permanently out of balance.

This was the man that caused that horrible massacre?

Lazaro had never seen him by himself and went through a maelstrom of conflicted emotions that soon dissipated in the dreamy feeling the potion left him in. to stop himselff from flinching back, he straightened himself even more, puffing out his chest and giving as confident of an appearance as he could.

When the initial surprise subsided, ideas started flowing back in. His mind immediately jumped back to the knife he had previously hidden in this clothing, ever since he arrived to the fortress. He had to hide it until receiving his official uniform and just like they had said, nobody seemed aware of it. Remembering that it was there gave him the uncomfortable sensation of bugs crawling up his leg from where it was hidden, but even then, he couldn’t even think of using it. Looking dignified already required his whole strength, and he was sure that he would fall down in the floor before reaching Mayhem, if he tried.

While he debated the matter of his assasination plot in his head, the king saw him. His eyes showed his surprise, followed by what looked like a slight grimace. After that, he ignored him, deciding to walk towards Terra instead.

“I’m greatly honored that you received us today, Terra.”

The queen stepped aside from a moment, telling Terra that they would keep talking later. the king approached the spirit, a woman so tall that he had to look almost straight up just to look at her in the eyes. And without any doubt, he knelt down on one knee.

“I’m sorry for the suddenness of my visit, great mother. I’m thankful for your compassion for letting me come even if my arrival may be greatly inconvenient.”

“Is a honor to receive you, King Gray. I fear I had prepared some festivities for your eventual arrival but they are not ready yet. I’ll do all that is in my hands to make sure this will be a worth and pleasant occasion for us both.“

Mother Terra gave the slightest of bows and the king rose back to his feet. Behind him, a group of uniformed men came out of the other carriages and also bowed behind him.

“This is the entourage that accompanied me today. I trust that there won’t be any issue to accommodate him accordingly. They are my honor guard.”

Kall could not recognize any of the men, they had a singular presence, but nothing particularly noteworthy in his opinion. The strangest thing of the situation was the slight surprise that Fay showed when he saw them, but he swiftly put himself together and kept looking at them with a neutral look.

“It won’t be any problem, please, enter the great hall and soon my servants will come to accommodate you properly. On the other hand, I think there’s some matters we should speak of privately. I’ll do the necessary preparations for our reunion.”

Terra received them all in, but her stern voice clashed with the candidness of her words.

“I am thankful for your courtesy, I promise that you won’t regret taking me in today.”

The king took his wife by the hand and both entered the fortress. Fay walked towards me and gave me a slight signal to follow him and guide the kind to his room. Everything was ready inside, like a coordinated dance, an army of servants entered and took everyone away in a matter of minutes.

Kall sighed when they found themselves alone afterwards, feeling as if he hadn’t taken a breath through the entire exchange.

“That went well”

Fay didn’t respond to him. On the contrary, he seemed pensive on the whole matter.

“I don’t think I have shown you the training fields, have I? Follow me.”

Fay finally concluded his thoughts, taking Kall by the shoulder and guiding him outside. There was still some time before night arrived, if the heat that was starting to accumulate in the building was any indication of it.

They walked for several minutes, going beyond the training fields where the soldiers were still training. They walked until the noise went completely silent and they were already entering the forest. Generally Kall would find the whole situation too suspicious, but for him nature and forests were actually a very welcome environment, so he was glad for the change of scenario.

“You didn’t recognize anyone in his entourage, did you?” Fay finally asked, when they stopped at the edge of the forest.

“No, should I have?”

“Most of them are officers of his army, nothing too special, but I’m certain that at least a couple of the new ones are mercenaries.”

“Wait, are you sure about it?”

“I know all of his high ranking officers and what they are capable of. He only has a high ranking knight that could be truly problematic and he was not in the group. I heard nothing about any promotions in his ranks, so he probably contracted the mercenaries specifically for this meeting.”

Fay said everything in a low voice, as if he feared anyone would hear them, even so far away from anyone else.

“I can be certain at least that he is not planning to attack us, not with so few people, so the only thing that makes sense is that they both have karmic abilities related with espionage. We have to be extremely cautious from now on, specially with any information that could lead to a leak.” Fay finally finished his spiel, taking a moment for Kall to digest the new information.

“We are very far away from them, I don’t think anyone can hear us” Responded Kall, feeling slightly glad that even if Fay was right, he didn’t possess any information they would find of any value.

“They didn’t touch us and I also didn’t notice any suspicious movements from them, but we can’t ever be sure about something like this. They could do anything from invisibility to remote listening devices, anything is possible when karma is involved. Until I discover what they can do, we have to stay fully attentive of everything around us.”

“Wait, are you sure you should be telling all of this to me then? What if they are already listening to us now?”

“Let them know I’m on their trail then. Mayhem knows me, he knew that I would notice the mercenaries immediately. He simply trusts that I can’t take any action against them as long as they all behave like courteous guests. They will all see what I can do as soon as they commit an indiscretion.”

“What must I do then?”

“Of course, we are going to keep our posts as bodyguards. We will protect Mother Terra from any danger, that’s our main task, don’t ever forget it.”

After the conversation, the two men started walking back to the fortress. Their day was about to end, and neither of them was sure of how to deal with the menace that had entered through the front door, confident that neither of them could do anything to stop them.