“Tonight, we bring ruin to the enemies of Ravok!"
Ah, If ever there were words more assured to bring warmth to the heart of a soldier, Elias could not conceive them.
Naturally, a lusty, battle ready roar rose from over three dozen throats in response, a truly cacophonous battle cry that was followed by the thunderous rattling weapons that the stomping of boots.
Reaver Sqaud. Talon Sqaud. And the new kids on the block...
Elias cast a glance at the odd unit out in the assembly.
His unit.
Five soldiers, ten apprentices, some of the very best Ravok had to offer. A pointed fact that never failed to leave the Caldera beaming with pride, even in spite of circumstances. Most of his men had lived rather ‘thrilling’ lives before being assigned to his command, making all but one of them seasoned veterans of a score or more clashes against all manner of foe. Hell, even his apprentices had known the fervor conflict, for Elias had made sure to test them all whenever given the chance. City gangs and Zith raiders had been their meat and wine, but save for Malachai himself, Elias doubted any of them had yet to face such an enemy as today’s.
That likely included all the Ebonstryfe gathered here, honestly. The Talons, though veterans, were more noted for their silent hunters and trackers, bolstered by, most fittingly, the most reserved of their group. The Falcon, as the woman in charge of the Talons was referred, was a picture of Ravokian womanhood; strong, fearless and cunning, not to mention gifted by some goddess of nature that enabled her to turn even the most fearsome and rabid beasts of the wild into her doting ally. Her unusual moniker came as part of her unit’s tradition, apparently. Though he had learned from Malachai the woman’s real name was Vanya, The Falcon was a title passed down from leader to leader, with nearly two centuries’ worth of history and pride held sacrosanct by the troops who fought under her banner. It was a curious bit of ritual Elias had never before witnessed within the army, but while he couldn’t exactly understand it, that didn’t mean he couldn’t respect it. Vanya, or the Falcon rather, was much respected and revered woman, a officer who had more than earned not only her men’s conviction, but that of many others within the order as well. He figured with a reputation like that, it was better to err on the side of caution and get on her good side rather than her bad.
Not all seemed to share that sentiment however, for even as he flicked his eyes over, Elias could see the usually placid commander shooting her own side long and disgusted glance at the towering, vulgar form of a man standing beside her, the third and final of his fellow Commanders. The burly Svefra grinned mischievously, as if he’d just gotten away with something positively licentious. From the look on the Falcon’s face, he could tell whatever it had been, it had been at her expense. From what Elias had gathered, the two commanders were as opposite and therefore as friendly with one another as fire and ice. He had to imagine that made things around the war council… interesting, to say the least.
Just like their leaders, the Talons and Reavers couldn’t have been more unalike if they tried. The third unit were led by a hulking and barbarous man known as Vargus, a name that once terrorized the seas. Vargus the Reaver they’d once called him, the Svefra scourge of the northern tides. His men were rumored to be as much pirate as he was, carrying a bad reputation as raiders and thugs, even among the Order. Only a few times had Elias heard of them engaged in actual battle, culling Yukmen in the swamps or chasing down smugglers upon the lake, but they mostly patrolled the shores in search of their prey. Still, the Caldera was certain Malachai had chosen them for a reason, just as he had all the rest.
As Elias detached his focus from the eladership and surveyed the crowd once more, one in particular caught his eye, and not for the first time that evening either. Tall, strapping and ebon clad in obsidian steel, Taliya Solaire struck a menacing figure even among so many hardened soldiers. She held about her an almost palpable air of unapproachability, something aided dearly by the scowl of contempt she seemed to keep permanently plastered on her face. The girl had always had a chip squarely lodged on her shoulder, even as a young apprentice alongside Elias and her sister. What she returned as now however, put even that maligned youth to shame. The Caldera had to wonder, could he actually hope to control her, to give her orders and expect her to follow them? The things she had said to him upon their first calamitous meeting had made him weary and heartsick, but had also left a distinctly bitter taste in his mouth. He had believed his superiors had delayed assigning him a squad for as long as they had out of impotent spite, but now he realized they had only been biding their time, and that Elias and Taliya’s unexpected reunion within the same unit hadn’t been all that coincidental after all. The Kelvic siblings had been one thing, but this… this was a whole new level he hadn’t been expecting.
His enemies in the higher echelons of the Stryfe weren’t just powerful, they were committed to his downfall. That made them all the more dangerous, a fact he was reminded every time he looked upon Taliya and saw the hatred burning back at him in her eyes.
"Psst!" Valmont hissed, nudging him sharply. “Heads up.”
Snapped from his musings, the stryfer returned his attention to the front, only to find Malachai Quinn himself glaring at him with his one good eye. As usual th stern and ever stoic Drykas commanded full attention of his men, or at least he did now with Elias’s hasty return to attention. Even after years marching and slaying in Rhysols name -much of that time spent along Malachai’s side even- Elias still felt himself shrivel under the man’s glower.
Bugger, he though miserably, that's going to come up later...
"As I was saying," Quinn continued, pointing with a dagger to the map of the mainland, large and detailed as only the work of The Roost could be, "Black Sun intelligence has been receiving regular reports from their operatives in the field concerning a growing threat, located here-"
He pointed at the northwestern shore of the Soliceturn swamps, nearly thirty miles north of Ravok, which was marked as a cordoned-off green abyss on the map.
"They say numerous Dhani have been sighted and are currently mobilizing for some sort of attack. Black Sun is convinced these are the same snakes that attacked Ravok last season.”
A thrum of hushed dissent washed over the troops. The ice storms had killed and maimed many, claiming lives not just at the lakeshore, but at the heart of their city as well. Such an attack had not only shaken the very foundations of Ravokian conviction, but it had also threatened their very faith. For an enemy to have killed so many at the very center of Rhysol’s domain… it put into question everything the average Ravokian believed. If their god was not strong enough to protect them -or himself- from this threat, what else was Rhysol incapable of? It that dangerous, heretical kind of thinking that had made this icy invasion all the more jarring. Whats more, the fact that it had taken this long to find them, and it had been through the Black Sun of all people, only raised more doubts.
“And we believe them?” Elias shouted derisively. This time he did not shy away when Malach’s gaze fell upon him. It was well known how the Sun had mistreated the old Paladin in his time, manipulating and condemning him to years of torture and untenable battles, to name but a few of their crimes. Naturally, the Paladin’s sentiment towards their hallowed benefactors was something shared by those under his command. Few trusted the Black Sun, and there were even those like Elias who believed the frigid attacks upon their city had been their doing, not some conveniently foreign and unknown force. It wasn’t an opinion that ever passed his lips save in the company of his most trusted of course, but it just made more sense. Who else had all the power, means and reason to do what they had to Ravok; the most corrupt, vile and self-serving organization in the world, or a bunch of snakes?
“No.” Malachai answered, loud and explicit. “I do however trust in the Lady Falcon’s own reports. She has seen first hand this Dhani, and it seems the Black Sun are telling the truth. Their numbers have been growing, and they are preparing for something. This is a threat we cannot ignore. A threat I intend for the Exalted to purge from our lands." Another murmur of approval that the Paladin blessed with a rare, almost feral display of passion. He was not done. "If these truly are the foes who struck at us, who claimed so many of our people’s lives, then we are bound by more than duty and sacred obligation to destroy these curs. It is our right of vengeance to march upon them and reap our bloody retribution!"[/color]
"What of the other companies? What measures have they taken?" This time it was Vargus who spoke up, his rough, baritone tenor like sand paper to the ears. Elias thought for a tick he could actually smell the rum on the big mans breath even from so far away.
"A number of regiments have been hunting for few weeks now, but..." his jaw tightened briefly, though whether it was out of annoyance or grief Elias could not tell "their efforts have ended only in countless deaths, disappearances and no trace of the nest. Simply put, they call upon the Exalted to fix this problem. So fix it we will."[/color]
Elias nodded, already feeling the faint tremor from his blade. Cinder was shackled to his back and begged for release. He placed his hands on the hilt, almost lovingly. Reassurance of a promise that it would slate its thirst for blood and carnage soon enough.
“We deploy within the bell. Ready the boats.”
