Chapter 40:

The Lone Wolf

The Wolf Among Rats (Old)


The quartermaster had a specific set of equipment set aside for me, so it took no time at all to change into my new gear. It really wasn’t too different than what I had already, except now I have padded cloth armour called gambeson with a layer of chainmail attached to the sides. They also gave me a full breastplate and set the whole getup under a coat of arms. It’s almost like a cloak that doesn’t reach my legs and bears the Sun of Solaris on the front and back.
Most importantly, they have my oversized sword I got from that orc. I don’t think calling it a greatsword would do it justice. The single edged blade is almost as long as a normal human is tall and it’s as thick as a plank of lumber. How am I going to carry this?

I decide to just hold it and let it rest on my shoulder. I mount my chosen horse, a black steed with a full mane that almost reminds me of Maheed, I prepare to set off. Then I realize something. I have no idea how to ride a horse. What do I do? How do I make it move? Cloudrea, sat right in front of me, notices that we haven’t moved yet. “M-master Kar, are-aren’t we leaving? W-what business should we a-attend to?”

What do I say? As I start to admit that I don’t know what I’m doing, a familiar low growl greets me. “I’m glad I caught you before you ran off again.”

I look over my shoulder to find Wal standing there with her arms crossed. She’s letting her posture slack a bit and her tail’s even gently swinging back and forth. But most of all, she’s alone. “Did you need something? Where are the others?”

She motions her head back towards the camp. “Preparations. I came to speak with you before you left.”

I tilt my head at her. “What else is there to discuss?”

She’s silent for a moment with a stare that seems to tell me I’m stupid. “This is the second time you’ve done this to me you know. To us. Running off on your own to be the hero. Last time, your guts ended up falling out of you. I don’t know how you remained breathing, but… Truly, it’s a miracle straight from the Great Spirits.”
My guts were falling out? There’s no way. I looked down to my stomach and for a moment I could see the mangled mess that was my body. My regeneration must be truly impressive. I wonder what the limits are? Desh said, the head, heart, and silver, but am I really indestructible otherwise? After a brief second of silence, she continued. “You’ve been acting differently since you’ve returned from the dead. I can’t explain how, but that right there is a prime example. You simply weren’t… You.”

Something about that sentence pricked my nerves. I feel my face twitch in annoyance, but I can’t reason why I’m angry. I decide to laugh it off for now. My free arm rubs the back of my neck nervously. “Have I? I must just be thinking about what to do about lordship.”
I let out another wry chuckle, but her ice-cold stare doesn’t budge.

After a few moments of nothing happening, she closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. She mumbled on the exhale, just barely loud enough for me to hear. “If only I knew…”
To end the awkward situation, she changed the subject. “What happened to using my favour?”

“I am using it. I need you to-“

I stop because she’s shaking her head. “No. That’s just you looking out for us again. Meanwhile, you’re taking on the most dangerous job there is. Alone no less. I thought I was reckless, but I can’t possibly hope to understand what you’re thinking.”
Her icy blue eyes gleam with what I can only describe as concern. “I’d rather not find out you died, while I was off undertaking the safer job. Not again.”
She closers her eyes and takes a quick breath to regain her composure. “Don’t die Kar. You have too many people relying on you.”

I give her a confident smile. “I’ll make sure to reveal everything to all of you once we take the city. I have plenty of hidden weapons in my arsenal, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

She grunts out a defeated growl. “Weapons don’t win wars, fool. But.”
Another defeated grunt. “There’s nothing I can do now is there? Just make sure to use my favour, one way or another, once you’ve seized the day yet again.”
Was that… No, I’m just over contemplating her words. “I’ve used up enough of your time. You should hurry on your way.”

“Agreed. Thank you Wal. I’ll see you later then.” I say that, but I don’t move. I still haven’t figure out how to move the horse. Then she laughs at me. Well, there goes my big talk from not even a minute before.

“You don’t know how to ride a horse, do you?” I simply sigh.
“Pull those leather straps to steer him in the direction you want to go. And lightly kick his gut with your heels to move forward.”

“How do you know all this?”

She shrugs. Yet another gesture, I never thought I would see from her. “Because I use my eyes for something useful?”
With that, she just leaves. Was she saying that I don’t? Was she taunting me? I can’t even defend myself because she just left! And she’s right! Curses! Well, I guess I should test this out…

A light tap in the ribs and the horse starts walking. Aha! Now, how do I go faster? Do I kick him again? Another tap, and he walks faster. I can most likely approach the city unhindered for a while, since we’re so far away. But as I get closer, I should stick to traveling in the forest so I don’t draw too much attention.
Then I’ll need to find a way to enter the docks. Preferably by boat.
I don’t see any possibility where the Karvithians just leave a boat on the shore for you to use.
Maybe I can use magic?
What, you’re going to do; summon yourself a moon ship?
It could be possible.

As our horse jogs through the woods, Cloudrea apologizes. “P-please forgive m-me master Kar. I did-didn’t hear what you said.”

“Just call me Kar. No master. And I didn’t say anything.”

She apologizes again. “Oh. I-I’m sorry, please for-forgive me. I-I spoke when I
sh-shouldn’t, it won’t happen again!”

I carefully run my hand through her hair. “It’s alright, it’s alright. I give you permission to speak whenever you want.”

She simply nods her hand quietly. Her apology strikes me as odd. Not because she wouldn’t apologize, but because there should be no sounds that sound anything like speech. There’s birds and the horse- actually wait. Now that I listen… There are no birds. Other than my horse galloping, these pine trees are eerily silent.
As I start to analyze our surroundings, I’m noticing a chill in the air. Enough to cause my breaths to produce fog. Cloudrea must be freezing. I’m fairly certain that Autumn has only just begun. Not enough time has passed for the air to be this cold.
The plant life here, is extraordinarily vibrant, as though something has enhanced the growth of every tree and bush. Something about this land feels wrong.
Despite the overwhelming presence of green life, the smell of death greatly overpowers the smell of pine trees. If I focus, I can smell more concentrated auras of death deeper in the forest.

How powerful must Leonhart be if no one has tried to stop him from killing all these people… Or… What if these are the people who tried to stop him? I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to have been born in Solaris. All of this was happening just a few days away from where I live? I can feel my face contort from the disgust and anger I’m building for Leonhart. That bastard. Killing him won’t be enough. He deserves suffering equal to what he’s done to his own people!

It's a few hours before midday by the time Karvithia’s walls are within reach. They’re even bigger than I expected. At least twice as tall as Solaris, with ballista towers and flowing banners everywhere. The wall extends out into the lake for a bit as though an army in heavy armour might swim out far enough to ignore the wall.

Now that I’m here. What do I do? I survey the lake for any ships close by. There’re a few fishing boats out, but none close enough to matter. Unless…
By the Lords, how are you going to do that?
I remember vaguely cutting someone in pieces with a spell. Maybe I can use that?

Before I do anything, I dismount the horse and talk to Cloudrea. I’ve been contemplating what to do with her for a bit. I don’t want to leave her in the forest, because I know the undead are going to be coming from here. However, I can’t just carry her into the city… Maybe once we’re in the city she can hide somewhere? That seems like the best option. I explain to her my plan and she simply nods in agreement. I feel like an idiot. I should’ve sent her back to Solaris when I had the chance, but I hadn’t considered an undead army waiting in the bushes.
No point in dwelling on it now. You’ll just have to play this extra careful. Let’s get to work.

As I approach the shore from the cover of pine trees, I spot my target. A normal fishing boat trying to fish a little too close to shore. Then I turn to my soon-to-be bridge. A large pine tree with surprisingly few branches. I take off my glove so that I don’t accidently ruin it. How did I cast that spell last time? All I remember is a strong desire to kill… As I pump mana into my arm, it begins to burn. I start to imagine Leonhart in my mind. Although I have no idea what he looks like, I can still see him clearly as a bloodlust builds up within me.
I throw my arm forward in an attempt to smash that bastard’s face! With a grunt of effort, three pale crescent blades rip apart my arm and blast away the trunk of my bridge.

Using Desh’s healing method, my arm is slowly repaired by dark light, burning with illuminating white embers. The tree needs one final push before it falls. I walk around to the back and fall into a jumping stance. With explosive force, I launch myself into the air and kick the tree with all my might, as high as I could get. As I fall back to the Earth, I hear the tree creek and groan as what’s left of its trunk splinters and falls apart.
The pine needles ripple through the air and the trunk moans before it smacks the lake, causing a splash that sent a large wave outward in all directions. But most importantly, it stayed on top of the water.

With my massive sword in one hand, and my shield in the other, I rush down the once proud tree, smacking any branches away with my shield. Branch after branch after branch, until I finally reach the top. Using all my strength, I jump off my bridge and fly through the air! I watch the fishing boat anxiously as I pray that I make it. I curl up and brace for the impact! I smash through the side railing and roll onto the vessel. The pungent stench of fish hit me harder than the actual impact did.

As I stand up, the panicked fishers quickly draw their swords. Surprisingly, they’re mostly women. No, these are girls. If women wearing pants wasn’t strange enough, now girls are carrying swords. The rest of the crew are elven slaves, but they have enough life in them to draw their weapons and aim them at me. The captain of the ship plants himself right in front of me with a face of bravery. “Who are ye! Ye, break mi girl, ye best have a good reason ya bastard!”
His voice is gruff and violent. Even after watching me tear a tree in two and jump an impossible distance in full armour and massive weapons, he isn’t daunted. It would be impressive if it wasn’t beyond stupid.

I place my sword on my shoulder and my shield at my side and try to speak calmly. “I apologize for wreaking your ship, I’ll personally help repair it later. But right now, I’m here to free you from the tyranny of Leonhart.”

His sword doesn’t fall from being pointed at me. As much as I would like to kill him and take the ship, I have to keep deaths to a minimum. These are my future subjects after all. His pure fury softens to a mere angry scowl. “Ye ain’t the first. What makes ye so damn special?”

This is going better than I expected. I figured he would simply deny all my words and attack on sight like the humans of Solaris would do. That one measly sentence proved a few of my thoughts. The more I think about what I’m doing the more I realize how rush and foolhardy this seems. I begin to recite the first argument I had prepared. “How many before me had an army backing them?”