De Haguns Family/Orpheu/Into the Wolf’s Den, the Lion Cub of the Mines goes
Part 1
Timeframe: The Knight receives news of the Battle of Clermont as he prepares to defect from the lions pride, going to carve his path amongst the wolves’s pack.
The march had been swift as the Haguns Silverguard moved north, reaching the capital, and then towards the eastern border, for they carried few possessions amongst them. What they could not bring had been left in Montauban, such as siege engines. Orpheu knew the soldiers would eventually learn the truth – he was deserting, and making them desert by proxy - but once he was ready to cross the border, not before. By then, if needed, he would be able to maintain a good distance and pace from angry and tired soldiers with his swift Thunderlight.
They had finally reached the forests of Meusen, and Orpheu had sent a scout to Finchton, the lord’s region. So far, both to his soldiers and to anyone that came across them, his actions had been taken under the pretext of being sent by the Blackmane Paladins to watch over the eastern border after the recent tales of battles between Yssrgard and Calligus against the Shadow King, and no one so far had entertained the thought that the young Knight of the Perdan Mines had other plans on his mind.
Only on the eve of the Battle of Clermont, a messenger had reached his war party with a letter from the Marshal Jacelyn Goldwater, demanding an explanation on why he had abandoned the Paladins on Montauban and gone towards the Capital.
His reply to the Marshal had been curt, with the intent of sowing confusion and obfuscating the truth. He stated that he was acting on the Duchess of Perdan’s orders as a knight of her vassal, and that he had been assigned to the ‘Unstoppable Valiants’ by his overlady to watch over the border, just as Oliver Laststar had been doing on the onset of the war. There had been no time to formalize this new assignment, but he had to follow orders, after all. This devious idea had crossed his mind after she tried to assign him to Laststar’s Army in that fateful day in the ducal palace.
With his deceit, the Knight hoped neither his retinue or the Marshals of the Realm would have time to react before he was closer to the eastern border.
Now, while his soldiers rested on a clearing near Finchton, an anxious Orpheu waited by a large tree, tapping his boots on the ground slowly.
Knowing that the Paladins and the Golden Lions were on their way to offer battle to Perleone in Clermont, the young Knight recalled the bad omens he had felt before the Battle of Woolton, as the skies darkened with unholy rituals of magic cast across the field, which had compelled him to send Thea and his unborn child away from the battlefield, which he was not aware of back then.
He now had the same ominous sensation concerning the Battle of Clermont, as if something was not quite right.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sound of a horserider fastly approaching, and he rose his eyes to look at him, instinctively placing his hand by his sword’s hilt. He was wary of any suspicious movements, and even the Silverguard had noticed their commander seemed more stiffy than usual. He relaxed when he saw the scout that arrived bore the banner of Haguns.
“Sire, I have a report for you, coming from Finchton. The rumor is that the battle and Clermont were lost…”, the horserider took a letter from a leather satchel, delivering it to Orpheu.
Part 2
The Knight took the parchment and read it slowly. His gaze did not flinch for a moment, as his face became serious, word by word. He stopped when he saw the name of Jacelyn Goldwater amongst the dead.
Those damn fools… why did they leave their Armies divided to engage Perleone? And now, Sir Jacelyn Goldwater, a noble Lions, is dead…, thought the Knight.
“Go fetch some water and eat something. You have done well”, said Orpheu, dismissing the scout so he could be left alone.
Orpheu said a silent prayer for Sir Jacelyn, wishing that the Triumvirate goddesses Elysia, Zama and Aulysia shield him from the Crone. He was a good man, and a good knight. Yet he had died, while others who deserved to die remained alive. And Orpheu thought back to his own promise not to bleed anymore for Perdan… what if he had been at Clermont, he thought? He could as well have suffered the same fate as the good Jacelyn, or perhaps this disaster would have been avoided…
No, I have done the right thing, and there is no turning back now. I have not come so far to just go back. It was fated, and I cannot falter now. The Armies are but a reflection of a thorn country, he reasoned, justifying his actions with a steel resolve. After Clermont, it seemed to be a divine sign.
He thought of Thea and his unborn child, but knew they would remain safe in Perdan. There were still honorable Lions in Perdan, despite everything. To where he was going, there would be no place for them until he had made a name for himself as a warrior, though he knew that through hardship he would achieve this. He had too, otherwise all would have been in vain.
He eyed one of his serjeant-at-arms and made a small gesture, and the soldier immediately cried out. “Silverguard, attention! The commander speaks”.
Orpheu read the battle report before the soldiers, and stopped at some moments to observe them, noticing anxiety and sadness in their faces. He knew now was the time to strike, and make his bold move.
“I knew this would happen, and I decided to spare you of certain death. I led my former soldiers to their deaths in Woolton, and I did not wish to repeat the same mistake again”, he paused, his face serious. Suddenly, his voice roared in an echo through the clearing, “While Yssrgard and Calligus were ravaging through Shadowdale, bringing the Shadow King to his knees, Perdan was peacefully occupying Montauban, too afraid to offer battle to Perleone. Precious time was wasted in the capital, where I saw the worst depravities of the upper nobility, during times of war, all while Perleone had its Army divided into two forces. If I were in command, I would have gathered what was left of the Army and swiftly moved to strike them while divided. But I believe the amenities of the capital were too relaxing for the highborn nobles!”
He did not believe in everything he said, but he had to rouse his troops morale, for what was to come. He would request them to abandon their homeland for his own sake, after all.
Part 3
“Many have died, yet you live. We live to tell the tale! And I ask – what is a great commander, if not one that knows when not to lead their men to certain death? I strive to be one. I strive to be respected, and I have acted in such a way to earn your respect. I saved you from certain bloodshed in Clermont!”, he roared. “Perdan is thoroughly divided, and there is a corrupting stain, invisible to almost everyone it seems, but not me, and certainly not you! I ask you – will you bleed for such a country?”
“There were never orders to scout the northeastern border, but to march to Clermont! Had I not defied those orders, where would you be? Silverguards, I have been in contact with both the Protector of Perleone, and the Warmistress of Yssrgard. However, I would never join the cause of an enemy while in war, shedding blood of our countrymen! I am no traitor!”
He stopped, examining his audience once more. Silence reigned in that glade in Meusen, as the soldiers listened quietly, which unnerved Orpheu a bit, but not enough to make him stop. “You have a choice, now. Either you return to your homes in the Perdan Mines, only to be swallowed in this war whole again as the Lion’s carcass rots, or come with me, into the Wolf’s Den! Their victories against the Shadow King show they are blessed! ‘Through Iron and Fire’, I will become a warrior to honor my House’s name! Nothing…”, he paused, faltering, as he thought Thea and his child. “Nothing shall hold me back!”, he finished. “And you, Silverguard, will you follow me or not?”
Hours later, Orpheu and all of his soldiers crossed the border of Perdan into the province of Winkamus, marching under the shadow of the mountains of Bursa, towards the rolling plains of Abadan, on the trail of the Howling Oath Wolf Legion’s after its rampage through Viseu.
While war ravaged in the South of the East Continent, Orpheu thought about his cousin Furiae, who had once earned his harsh criticism for abandoning her homeland and duty, in order to follow her own will and forge her destiny. At this moment, as he approached the Yssrgardian border, he still felt uncertain about the bold steps he had decided to take, despite his early resoluteness. While the former Knight of the Perdan Mines was not aware of the strides that Furiae had made in her life so far, Orpheu feared that he was abandoning the love of his life, their child and every sense of duty and honor he had grown up to. It seemed as if he was abandoning his past.
But if Furiae could have given him advice now, she would have told him: ‘the future belongs to the bold’.
