Chapter 2: scouting and determination

As dawn broke, Carlos woke up and got out of bed. He went to the kitchen and found Gerand by the fireplace. Gerand is preparing for the trip. He then turns around and sees Carlos. "Good your up. I’m already done with our supplies. Oh, and your gonna need some shoes since we're going up a rocky path. Give me a minute." Gerand heads to his room and quickly finds shoes for Carlos. He then hands them to Carlos, and he immediately puts them on. A bit big, but they'll do.

"Right, let’s get going. From here to there will probably get back before sundown." Carlos just nods at Gerand. 

The two then head out. They pass through where they first met and go up a hill. Pass that; it’s a long stretch of gravely terrain. They get near their destination.

"We’re almost there; we'll rest up at the vantage point." Carlos then asks a question. "Is it safe to do that? Won't we be near them?" Gerand shakes his head. "No, there gonna be veryyyyy far away." The two finally reach their destination. From high up, Carlos looks down and is shocked.

The two are on a cliff side. From very far away, they can vaguely make out Fort World’s End. What they can also see is constant movement. There are these purplish oozes with vague human expressions. They shuffle about with no rhyme or reason, bumping into each other, trees, and rocks. There’s so many of them that nearly entire valley down below is almost nothing but these creatures. From far away, they can also make out military camps and can see people riding wyverns, spewing hell onto these creatures, clearing vast swaths of them; it’s barely enough to push them back.

In a grim tone of voice, Gerand speaks up. "We’re in the end times." Gerand then sits down and takes something out to eat and hands Carlos some food. Carlos sits down and takes some of the food; his hands are shaking. "I see what you mean. I can barely see the land." Gerand nods. "Aye. I suspect that the recapture of the fort might take a while or be outright impossible." Gerand takes an angry bite of his food.

Carlos takes in everything he's seeing and wonders what he could possibly do to deal with this problem. He looks at the wyvern riders, seeing them bring pure destruction upon the pest, and yet it’s only just enough to gain a little ground. Even if his power of the runes could make attacks so devastating that it could wipe out a small village, it might not be enough. He'd need an army.

"So, do you still think you can take them on?" Gerand asks 

Gerand puts down his food, stands up and looks at the carnage before him and then looks at Carlos. "The problem is numbers. With everything that has already happened plus this. Even though losing one solder is rare, with how easy these things are to kill. We can't take the necessary risks to gain more ground." Gerand shakes his head and rubs his face. With a sigh he says, "We just need more bodies."

Carlos notices Gerand's distress and asks. "Why don’t you join? To me, it seems like your daughter is old enough to take care of herself, and your wife seems capable of taking care of the family. So why not?" Gerand gives Carlos a side-eye, but then looks down. "Like I said. The fight has been kicked out of me. I feel like the situation is hopeless and would rather spend every second with my family." Carlos nods. "I can understand that feeling." Carlos then gives Gerand a cheeky smile. "But what if that hope was reignited?" 

Gerand lifts one eyebrow and looks at Carlos. With a voice filled with both anger and determination, he says. "I'd fight till there’s nothing left of me!" Gerand can’t help but make a fist and hit his lap, but he then takes a deep breath and calms down.

Gerand shakes his head. "So I guess that’s your answer then. Your gonna fight?" Carlos nods and says, "I was always planning on fighting no matter what's ahead of me." Gerand gives an encouraging chuckle. "Hehe you got guts, I'll give you that." Gerand gets up. "Ok. As promised, you can use my daughter’s old room as yours, and as soon as you can, we train." Gerand then heads over to Carlos and holds out his hands. Carlos then grabs and gives one big handshake. While Carlos is at it, he notices Gerand’s ring and how it moves ever so slightly. The movement is hard to spot from far away. Carlos lets go of Gerand and points to the ring. "Is that your wedding ring? Or something?"

Gerand gives Carlos a confused look. "Wedding ring? Is that a custom of your people?" Carlos then replies. "Huh...I thought wedding rings were normal everywhere, but I guess not." Carlos then points to his finger. "See, like this one, it just means you're married to someone." Gerand scratches his head and gives an even more confused look. Gerand then bluntly states, "What ring?" Carlos looks at his finger and is astonished; there is no ring on either hand. "Huh... I swore I had a wife and was married...but I guess not." Gerand just shrugs. "Might have fallen off, or you're confused." Gerand then points to his ring. "Either way, this ring is extremely powerful. It’s cursed to stay on my finger until death. Its effect is unique. It seems to increase how powerful my talent is and my physical abilities." Gerand then rubs his chin and thinks hard about how to explain the rest. "...but it’s very strange. It gets stronger the more things I kill. Then the next time I go to sleep, it then shows me my abilities with numbers. I then pick one and increase it; very strange." Carlos thinking to himself. "Huh...that sounds like a level up? I'll just keep this to myself and ask John later on to confirm my suspicions." Carlos, feeling like they wasted enough time, speaks up. "Let’s get going. I really don’t feel like walking in the dark." Gerand nods. "Fair enough, but do you mind if we make a quick stop? It'll be along the way." Carlos shrugs. "Lead the way." Gerand nods at Carlos.

Gerand picks up his supplies and heads in a similar direction as before but with a slight detour. It doesn't take long for the two to get to their new destination. They arrive at a gravesite.

Gerand heads to the grave and lays some food on it. He then sits down criss-cross and bows his head in reverence. Carlos reads the epitaph "Here lies Slinch likes-pain, a good friend with horrible addictions. You saved all of us in the end." Even though Carlos doesn't know this person. Reading the epitaph made him both a little teary-eyed and wanting to laugh; but he remained respectful.

"I’m guessing he's a friend of yours?" Gerand solemnly nods. "Aye. had a death addiction. Ruled his life, but he held our friendship very close and is the main reason me and everyone else is still alive." Gerand, knowing what Carlos was gonna ask next, holds out a hand and stops him. "He was an orphan, so when he was of age, he chose his last name. Death addiction is just what it sounds like. I'd have to give a history lesson to explain it, and I don’t feel like it. All you need to know is that back then death was a thing of the past. Then things happened, the end!" Carlos holds his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I won't pry."

Gerand just starts walking; Carlos follows. It was a pretty quiet walk back to the house. They reach the house just as it was getting dark.