Beneath the Victory - Part 2

Victor and Emery exited the castle after their meeting with King Vanistarr. Now that they were out in the open, there was less of a reason to be prim and proper. Victor rolled his neck around trying to ease the tension while Emery stretched his arms out.

“Victor, just before we concluded our meeting with the king, I felt like you suddenly had a bad taste in your mouth.”

He paused, rolling his neck to an angle to maintain eye contact with Emery.

“I guess you noticed that then. Well you already know, I’m not a big fan of thanaturgy mages, and Felix Montclair is one I’m really not comfortable working with.”

Emery bent his neck to make the same pose as Victor.

“I’m guessing Felix is unclean. Those thanaturgy mages are often messy because their craft is already so dirty.”

The general straightened his neck with the sound of a crack as if he had just realigned himself.

“It’s actually the opposite. He’s so incredibly clean that I always get the sense he’s hiding something. Like he’s cleaning up after doing things he shouldn’t be doing.”

The hairs on Emery’s arms rose as he felt a shiver. Victor walked down the street with heavy steps and a direction as Emery followed.

“I’ve only really gotten close to Felix twice.”

The two took a right turn at the end of the street.

“The first time was before the war when I was sharpening my skills as a swordsman during my apprenticeship.”

Emery looked up and the two arrived at a sign that said Mae’s Tavern.

“Victor, shouldn't we be going to the morgue?”

The general pushed the door open, ringing a bell at the entrance. He waved two fingers at the bartender and walked to the back corner of the tavern.

“I’m going to need this to get through that meeting.”

Emery’s brows came together as the ends of his smile hinged up.

“My master at the time wanted to introduce me to all the forms of magic. The last one on the list was thanaturgy. We went to the most well-known location, the House of Thanaturgy.”

The bartender brought out two pints and set them in front of the men. Victor immediately started downing his drink before stopping at the halfway point and let out a significant, ahhh.

“Inside the house were numerous mages, most of which were still seemingly new considering thanaturgy has only been considered an official magical discipline within the last 7 years. My master took me to the head of the house and beside him was Felix.”

Emery sipped his ale as he waited intently on the story.

“On the top floor, right in the middle of the room, they were dismembering a corpse. I swear I was sick to my stomach and almost couldn’t contain myself.”

Emery looked away, narrowing his eyes and curling his upper lip as if all of this were happening in front of him.

“Oh god, I’ve had to deal with many corpses, but my job has always been putting people back together not taking them apart.”

Victor nodded his head as he took another few gulps of his brew.

“So what was the interaction with Felix on that occasion?”

The general wiped his mouth with only a quarter of his pint remaining.

“Well it was really the sight of how engaged and excited he was about the dismemberment. His master was at least stonefaced, but Felix…he looked like he was jealous that he couldn’t be more hands on.”

Emery nearly choked on his drink after hearing that. He was only halfway through before Victor ordered another for himself and finished off what was left.

“That’s certainly a troubling sight to behold. So what was the second occasion in which you were around this sadistic mage?”

Victor grew quiet as he pressed the tips of his fingers together. He narrowed his eyes, looking deep into Emery’s.

“The second…was at the Siege of Hollowgate.”

Emery’s jaw dropped and eyes widened as he nearly slammed his glass down on the table.

“You were at Hollowgate? I thought that was only the fifth division, you were in the sixth at the time!”

Victor put a finger up to his mouth, hushing the healer’s excitement.

“You’re not wrong, but it’s also not well known that the fifth division requested backup.”

Emery’s eyes fixated on his friend’s mouth as he angled his ears in his direction.

“My division knew that the master I apprenticed under was the fifth’s general. I was managing a battalion in the sixth and I volunteered our team to assist.”

Victor slowly sighed as the bartender swapped mugs with him.

“I’ve only heard secondary accounts of what happened there. What’s the true story?”

Victor sipped his new drink much slower than the first one.

“The fifth division came across a hidden base belonging to the Fenmarch military on a reconnaissance mission. It turned out to be the main supply destination for the enemy’s frontline.”

He stared at his slowly forming reflection as the foam disappeared.

“My former master decided to take an aggressive approach in the belief that they could overpower the base. Unfortunately though, the reconnaissance team gave a poor report. They hadn’t tracked the number of mages at the enemy camp.”

Emery could see the pain in his friend’s eyes and opened his mouth for a moment.

“When the fifth division tried to surprise the camp they were met with brutal defenses from flamecraft mages. By the time my battalion had arrived, half the division’s troops were burnt alive.”

Emery reached out his hand to comfort Victor.

“I found my master plotting another siege attempt, but after I had seen the inefficiency of previous attempts from the sidelines, I pleaded with him to not attempt again. He refused to let go of this opportunity though. I had no choice but to follow him into battle too.”

Victor paused and took a sip of his drink.

“So you took your whole battalion to fight in what you already diagnosed to be a losing battle?”

Victor looked up with disgust.

“I would never do something so foolish!”

Emery leaned back from the response.

“I apologize…No, I gave orders to my second-in-command to maintain the line from a safe distance while I alone followed my master and his forces. In this attempt, we actually made some significant headway because myself and the general were both participating. Our combined efforts were allowing for a strong enough offense that we took out nearly half the flamecrafters and the fulgomancy mages were struggling to strike us with our shockproof armors.”

Emery leaned forward again at the positive direction of the story.

“We had men breaking through on several sides and although we were still suffering casualties it seemed as though we’d penetrated their defenses.”

Victor leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. He hinged his arms over like a towel hung out to dry.

“So what happened?”

The general exhaled while glaring upward before rising back to proper posture.

“There was an unexpected flowcraft mage. They were in the distance not being tracked. A sharpshooter that had mastered the ability to freeze their flow and send projectiles from significant ranges. They sent a shot straight for my master’s heart.”

Victor hovered over his drink. A small ripple in the alcohol appeared before he lifted it and downed the entire three quarters remaining.

“I shouted for someone in fleshcraft, but no one came. I set up a defense to prevent that flowcraft mage from targeting us again, that’s when suddenly Felix Montclair appeared beside me. I knew he was in the fifth division, but I didn’t expect to come across him on the frontline. I assumed he may have learned some medical magic through thanaturgy since there are some crossovers.”

Emery watched Victor slide the mug aside and lay his head down on the table for a moment.

“Victor, what did Felix actually do?”

The general simply kept his head down and closed his eyes. For a moment it was silent, but he began speaking as though he were talking in his sleep.

“At first I couldn’t tell as I managed the defenses, but when I finally had a chance to look back…he had used reanimation magic on my former master, the general of the fifth division was upright and without a single thought continued the charge.”

Victor placed his arms on the table and lifted himself upright.

“I had never seen it before, but I will never forget it. The once warm eyes of someone who had treated me like a son had turned cold and lifeless while still moving with no intention other than to kill.”

He slammed his fists on the table and the whole tavern looked in his direction.

“Felix defiled the body of one of the greatest men in history with his reanimation. The general fought until he was torn limb from limb and there was nothing I could do but watch from a distance.”

Emery's jaw locked up and his hands gripped the table to keep steady.

“We won the siege in the end because of the general, but at what cost…”

Victor relaxed his shoulders and sunk into his chair again.

“When I had to tell the family of the general all I could truly bring them were the remains of his armor and insignia. His body wasn’t whole and I couldn’t imagine they’d want to see the reality.”

Emery bit his lower lip staring at his friend. He slid his chair over to the other side and placed his hand on his shoulder. Victor sighed with a sound of relief.

“I honestly can’t recall if I’ve ever shared that story with anyone, Emery. You may be the first to hear it outside of military personnel.”

Victor looked in his direction and smiled with a little chuckle at that.

“Would it be too much to ask how it’s possible Felix is so close to the king if he committed what might be considered a war crime?”

The general gave a slanted smile in return to the question.

“Well reanimation hadn’t been recognized on that level. He couldn’t really be penalized for something like that. He pleaded his case to the military justices as doing his duty to win the siege in a crisis, and they recognized it as unpunishable based on current law. Since that case, there have been gray areas within the military on when reanimation can be used.”

Victor stood up from his chair and balanced himself.

“As for his ties to the king, the Montclair family does have connections. Not to mention, while King Vanistarr is a fair ruler, that doesn’t mean he isn’t involved in some shadier elements of our kingdom.”

Emery followed Victor out the door as they headed to their next destination.

“Emery, where is the morgue we can check that body at?”

The medic looked at his friend puzzled.

“You just took two pints down, are you sure this is the right time to be approaching official duties?”

Victor laughed and abrasively wrapped his arm around Emery.

“Don’t worry about me, it takes more than two pints of ale to throw me off.”

He kneeled slightly reaching for his boot and revealed a sizable knife shining from the reflection of the sun. Victor smiled at the sight.

“The wooden post behind me, directly on the Help Wanted poster.”

Emery’s brows furrowed and he grew a curious smile watching the blade’s sudden appearance. The words made even less sense until suddenly the general turned on a dime with no other notice or regard for safety. He hurled the knife at his exact mark, piercing the poster right between the two words.

“You certainly have your aim regardless of your intoxication.”

Victor laughed heartily as Emery walked over to retrieve the blade. Once he removed it, Emery noticed the poster beneath: a request from a man named Gideon Morrow, seeking help with a battlefield incident that no mage had been willing to explain. Emery mentally noted it, but headed back to Victor.

“Off to the morgue.”