There were three different outposts monitoring the borders: Berena to the west, Taro to the south, and Claris to the east. Each of them was at around 3 days on horseback from Cartela. They had a garrison of around 500 strong soldiers armed to the teeth. Amongst them only 1/10th were pyromancers.
Learning pyromancy required rigorous training only a selected few had access to, for the secrets of the art were hidden by the Church of the First flame. The Church only taught people it deemed worthy, meaning those they had a firm hand on. Even during those troubling times, jealousy and greed kept them from spreading pyromancy to the masses.
Lena had been a special case. Her father Kabolt, the lord of the city, paid an enormous amount of gold to the Church for his daughter to learn pyromancy at a tender age despite her disapproval. In exchange, Lena agreed to never teach what she had learned to anybody by signing a contract. If she were to go back on her words, her soul would burn.
Lena, now 20 years old, knew the value of pyromancy despite loathing the magic. It was especially useful when dealing with kindlings and a certain prisoner that had kept laughing during his first day of captivity. She hadn't been able to stand it anymore and had lit the chain on fire long enough to slightly burn the skeleton's body. After that, the Fallen has stopped his non-sense.
An afternoon, two weeks after they left Calm's riversides, the two traveling companions and one prisoner crossed paths with three scouts patrolling near Berena.
The men wore light scouts leather armor, since it was easier to walk or ride with them on long distances. When the trio immediately recognized the city lord's daughter, they straightened up and brought their closed right fist in front of their heart: the army traditional salute.
Then a man that seemed to be the leader of the scouts came forth.
"General von Cartela."
"At ease, soldier," Lena said.
The Fallen couldn't believe his ears when he heard that the hairy-beardy woman was a general. Indeed, why would a general go out of her way and risk death outside human territory?
"Any suspicious movement as of late?" Lena asked.
"No mam, it's calm, too calm actually."
The army knew Lena as a woman with good instincts. Soldiers called her the "Emotional General" as she appeared to lead more with emotions than logic. Though, she also knew perfectly how to use strategy.
Men may not believe in any other woman's intuition, but hers was an exception. She had led her men to victory more than they cared to count. And now, the same instinct told her that something was coming. Something bad.
"Reinforce the patrols on borders. I want two reports instead of one every week."
"Yes, mam."
"Also, do you know where we could rest for the night around these parts?" Lena said.
"Yes, mam. There is a cave to the east. Just take the main road and somewhere along the line you'll see a trail leading further in the forest, leading you to the cave. We use it from time to time during scouting missions to rest. And... Ma'am be careful a kindling!"
The scout drew his sword at the sight of the Fallen leisurely sitting on the ground. The other scouts followed suit.
"Stand down, soldiers! This kindling is my prisoner."
"But... mam."
"I said, stand down. N.O.W."
"Yes, mam."
'Mam' this, 'mam' that. Too many 'mam' to the Fallen's taste, but it gave him an idea. Bored from two weeks of captivity, he couldn't resist the temptation to take advantage of the situation and create some entertainment of his own.
The Fallen checked where Lena's attention laid—just in case. Seeing that she was still talking with the soldier, the skeleton put his plan into action.
The leader of the scouts' gaze was switching back and forth between Lena, who was talking to him, and the Fallen when something caught his attention.
Woggle.
The enchained kindling was shaking his bony butt in his direction. The man's facial features contracted, creating an ugly rictus.
This interpellated Lena, who turned around to see the Fallen leisurely sitting on the ground in a lotus position. Confused about what just occurred, she went back to her business.
The circus went back and forth until Tolbar caught on to the skeleton's mischief. He punished the Fallen by smashing his head with the tower shield he had stored on his mount.
BAM!
"Outch! Come on baldy, a little fun doesn't hurt!" the Fallen complained.
"Shut up! Don't interrupt the lady when she's talking."
A few minutes later, Lena bid farewell to the scouts and rode towards the cave's direction, followed closely by the two others.
***
They arrived at their destination before dawn. The Fallen, who sat by the cave entrance, examined his surroundings. Grey trees with brown and green leaves. Cramped plots of grass. A smaller amount of ashes. In short, nature gradually reclaimed its rights. Behind him, at the foot of a cliff, the narrow cave entrance progressively led to an earth cavity large enough to fit their group.
After unsaddling the horses and unpacking their belongings, Tolbar went to grab some dry woods to make a campfire, leaving Lena and the kindling alone.
The Fallen, still enchained to the saddle now laying on the ground, internally complained about the discomfort the chains brought upon him. Delicate but strong footsteps resounded behind him. Lena arrived in front of the skeleton and... sat next to him?
If he could sweat, he would probably have done it by now. This woman was incredibly strong, probably as strong as the giant skeleton, if not more. Did she plan on burning his bony ass again?
"I've been monitoring you during our journey," Lena said calmly, watching the woods, "and you've never tried to escape, not even once. Which is extremely weird. Also, what is more peculiar about you is that you can laugh, make mischief, and feel pain. You even peeped at me while I was bathing."
At this comment the Fallen looked sideways, trying to avoid her glare.
"I have fought against hundreds if not thousands of kindlings, but I've never seen your kind before." Lena said, "Do you... have emotions?"
This woman never ceased to surprise the Fallen. By now, he understood fairly well the disgust humans had for undeads, like it was an unwritten rule they all shared. However, she went against this rule. He couldn't make heads or tails of it. Because, apart from the first time they met, he never truly felt his life threatened by her. Of course, he feared her power, but that wasn't the same.
"I do," he said, "I can feel everything. The caress of the wind. The warmth of the sun. The coldness of stones. The pain when I'm burnt by some lady pyromancer," he said.
The last sentence made Lena giggle. At this melodious sound, the Fallen understood that despite her beard and hairs, this woman had a charm of her own. Though, she wasn't to his taste at all.
"So you can feel. I'm sorry about... the burning part. But I couldn't stand your stupid laugh. How can you laugh for an entire day!?" Lena asked.
"Kakakakaka!"
"Here it is again!"
"Sorry. It's... a habit I picked up on my road to the north."
Even without facial expression, Lena understood—by the tone of the Fallen's voice—he had suffered. Weirdly enough, a friendship gradually blossomed between the two of them. It could be due to various causes: deaths, kindlings, pain, hopelessness. In times of need, people sought comfort wherever they could find it.
"What happened exactly?" Lena asked.
The Fallen hesitated. This traumatic experience left a scar on him that would never truly heal. This event was too recent to talk about it in detail.
"I... Let's say I had to fight my way up from Ula to Calm."
Lena's eyes widened at those words.
"What!? You've been there? Did you find anything like a special structure with a hundred candles, that looked like..."
"Like an altar?"
"Yes! Wait, how do you know about that?"
She eyed him suspiciously. The Ula altar's location was unknown to anyone apart from the Cartela family. Lena knew of an altar in the city, but it occupied the cathedral as the holiest relic. Rumors amongst the citizens said that the Church drew their power from it.
Having learned pyromancy, Lena knew it was utter bullcrap. Kabolt had told her one thing about the altars: they may have caused the kingdom's downfall, especially the one in Ula, not the necromancer.
Since then, she's been eager to go to Ula, but military duties forced her to stay. Until around a month ago, when she couldn't stand it anymore and left the city, despite her father's disapproval. But the further she had gone to the south, the more undead there were. At some point, her survival instincts kicked in and she had turned back.
However, now, she might find the answers she sought for so long with this peculiar undead. But something was troubling her. Because she felt it, the kindling in front of her was not undead.
"What... who are you exactly?", Lena asked.
The Fallen was just about to answer when Tolbar's rough voice came from the woods, bearing an urgent message.
"Undeads are coming!"
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