Regrets of The Fallen (Victis Honor Book 1) (40 page)

Ophelia turned her attention to Able, and there she saw the experience Suria was missing, but there was something else. Able moved rapidly and continuously, spinning around or rolling over foes as he continued along a path of destruction and killed all he passed. It was as if the entire battle was one continuous movement in a dance of his and each individual enemy was simply a bridge to the next step. It looked like he planned the entire fight before he made the next move, and Ophelia knew exactly what that meant; his reaction time and instinct were both off the charts. The boy was a natural fighter, born for this.

She hadn’t seen natural talent that strong very often in her life. She certainly didn’t have it; she had studied for endless hours and used her knowledge to win. Dalgus didn’t have it; the man was as brutal and unrestrained as a force of nature, tearing his way through opponents with a wild fury just like his aunt, Freya. Haruka didn’t have it either; that woman had obviously spent a ridiculous number of hours training and working towards the near-perfection she now held. The only other place Ophelia had seen this kind of raw talent recently was in Isabella, the mysterious knight that had come to them trailing a dark past.

Able had the potential to be something like her, Ophelia thought, but he was very raw and not too practiced. Isabella was something different, in possession of more natural talent for battle than anyone the experienced mage had ever seen. She had only been witness to Isabella’s ability twice, but that had been enough; the knight had taken on a large number of their fighters on two separate occasions, the first because Dalgus had wanted to assess her supposed skill, and the second because he had wanted to demonstrate something to his men. Early on most of the mercenaries – Ophelia included – had doubted the ability the others claimed the knight had, especially because she seemed so sick and weak.

Those demonstrations, however, had proven them wrong. Ophelia dearly wanted to see Isabella transform and utilize her actual power, because despite being weak and sick and tired she had shown up their army and made their most experienced warriors look like children without ever drawing her blade. She reacted to moves before they were even fully started; she avoided attacks that hadn’t yet been performed. If Ophelia didn’t know that there was only one Seer in existence she’d have believed Isabella to be one, but she knew it was simply a wealth of experience and talent. The knight was just able to read people flawlessly during battle. She had refused to fight Dalgus, saying she would need to draw her sword to win, but she had seemed quite confident that she would win if she
did
, and Ophelia was no longer sure she was wrong.

Ophelia had a hard time caring for other people until she had known them for at least a year. In the mercenary business people came and went and died on a regular basis; getting to know them was fine, but caring about them was pointless if you weren’t sure they would be sticking around. Dalgus cared much more easily, which was why he was helping these people Freya had brought them. Ophelia herself would not have made the same decision, but Dalgus was the leader, and she would follow whatever decisions he made. It was not her job to make decisions; it was her job to make sure that whatever decisions Dalgus made succeeded.

Still, she found herself sad for Isabella’s situation, at the very least for the weakening and loss of such a legendary fighter. If not for her illness, Ophelia would suggest to Dalgus that he recruit her and Haruka, given their rare levels of skill and ability, even considering the enemies they had. As it was, though, Isabella was unable to fight at full strength and only had a few months left, and as such she was not a wise addition. As callous as it seemed, part of Ophelia’s job was to guide the Bloodmoon Company to success, and protecting or joining Isabella gave them no benefits. She looked over the battlefield and began assessing their current losses as the fighting moved towards its conclusion. Because this was a fight they gained nothing from, even one death on their side gave them a net loss, and there were far more than that.

Her
job was to analyze, and she shook her head as the death count passed a hundred. She would have to suggest to Dalgus that they let Isabella go after this; he had protected her once, and that was enough even for a family friend unless someone was going to hand them a large amount of gold. Ophelia stepped down from her spot and walked onto the battlefield as the last push finished off the battle; the mercenaries backed the remaining Areyan soldiers up to the cliff and they threw down their weapons. Dalgus returned to his more human form and cracked his neck, wincing at the pain. He walked forward and gestured to the surviving soldiers. “Drop your money and anything else you’re carrying, then get out of here. Leave your weapons.”

Ophelia watched them all take off without hesitation, looking back over their shoulders; all told there were only about eighty left of the original twelve hundred. She continued watching them leave as she stepped up beside Dalgus. “Are you sure letting them leave is the best course of action?”

The werewolf nodded. “They don’t have any more information than they did before that will help them, and now they’ll return to whoever sent them beaten and broken, telling stories of the mercenary company that slaughtered them.”

“And the monster they have among them?”

Dalgus grinned. “I’ve heard tell they don’t have lycans in Areya, so yeah, that’s a nice addition.” He rolled his shoulders and looked around. “What do the losses look like?”

“One-hundred forty-three.”

“In a battle against twelve hundred? Not bad.”

“One-hundred forty-three
net loss
, not to mention the cost in ruined armor and hiring new recruits. All in all, we’re deep in the red for this ‘job’.”

Dalgus looked at Ophelia silently for a moment, studying her. “You have a problem with this?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation, meeting his eyes. “General, I understand your desire to aid friends of your aunt – she has aided us many times. However, we are mercenaries. No coin has crossed our palms and we are doing this for
free
, losing men and supplies and gaining nothing.”

Dalgus sighed, running a hand over his hair. “I know. You’re right, it’s not a wise business decision. But I can’t always look at things like a business.”

“Of course you can’t; that’s what you have me for. And as your business advisor, I am informing you that this is a bad idea. How many times are we going to fight off the enemies of someone who can’t join or pay us?” The general folded his arms and looked upwards, thinking as Ophelia continued, “We are not a charity. Protecting one person from a small group is not an issue, but fighting off entire armies for them
is
. Were it only the Black Sun after them I would have few protests, but an Areyan army?”

Dalgus looked back at her. “We’ll talk with them after we’re done here. For now, let’s work on gathering our dead and searching the soldiers.”

Ophelia nodded. “As you say, General.”

He watched her walk away and start giving orders, and he sighed; she was right, this was a losing proposition for them. He hated to think it, but he had a lot of lives to consider and he’d lost a lot of them tonight to protect one. At some point numbers
had
to become important. He turned around and joined the others, helping to gather the bodies of their dead and putting off the decision until later, not relishing the thought of making it. Sometimes being a leader was far more trouble than it was worth.

IXH

The return of the mercenaries to their camp was loud and raucous. The mercs immediately started a celebration, as they did after winning any major battle. Dalgus wasn’t going to stop his men from enjoying themselves, but he didn’t feel like joining it. Isabella and Haruka were nowhere to be seen in the middle of the camp, so he decided to sniff them out, not wanting to put off the discussion they had to have. To his surprise he found them inside the meeting tent, waiting for him. “How many dead?” Isabella asked immediately, without even giving them any time to start a conversation.

Dalgus opened his mouth to respond but Ophelia beat him to it. “One-hundred forty-three,” she answered with her usual bluntness, bringing a pained look to Bella’s face.

The mercenary general spread his hands. “We fought against twelve hundred trained soldiers, remember. This is a
ridiculously
low death count when you factor that in.”

“It’s still far more than needed to die on my account,” Isabella said with a shake of her head. “This reinforces my decision.” She met Haruka’s eyes. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

Dalgus blinked at them. “You’re what? Leaving?”

Haruka nodded. “She’s determined not to bring any more people into this.”

“This is far from over,” Bella told them. “That isn’t the last regiment Reis will send, and then there’s the Black Sun to consider. This kind of incident, if it continued, could cause a full-scale war between Vaelin and Areya; enough is enough.”

“Running is wiser anyway,” Haruka added. “It is better we try to avoid this rather than cause the death of hundreds.”

Ophelia nodded. “That is indeed the wisest decision. Our company should not be involved in this.”

Dalgus sighed, running a hand over his hair. “I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but I agree. We’ll at least give you whatever supplies you want.”

“We’re coming with you!” All four looked over as Suria threw aside the tent flap and stepped in. Behind her Able sighed and brushed his hair back, annoyed that she hadn’t listened to his warning to stay out of it.

Isabella’s expression hardened. “You’re not coming. You’re staying here.”

Suria folded her arms. “Why would I stay here? You need me more.”

“There is no point in involving you in this-“

“You’re my friend!”

“For how much longer?!” The others went quiet as Isabella shook her head. “It’s not worth your life to help me make it a few more months. My life is almost over, Suria; stay here and get started on your own. I’m glad our paths crossed, but I’m at the end of mine and you’re at the beginning of yours. We can’t keep walking the same road.”

Suria’s arms fell to her sides and her gaze dropped to the ground. “But I… Why aren’t you leaving Haruka behind, too, then?”

Isabella sighed, glancing at Haruka before looking back to the younger woman. “Haruka is in this with me until the end. She decided that a while ago.”

“So why can’t I decide the same thing?”

“Because it’s a waste,” Ophelia interrupted, drawing their attention to her. She glanced at Isabella. “I’m sorry for butting in,” she said before looking back at Suria. “There are three reasons it makes sense for her and not for you. Firstly, you can’t honestly think that a friend and a lover are the same thing; they are bound together regardless of the situation. Secondly, Haruka is far older than you; she has much less to lose. If she dies with Isabella she will have no regrets. Meanwhile you are very young and have just entered the world and begun your life, and neither of them want to waste that. Finally, Haruka is already involved in this situation, as her organization is pursuing them. Even if none of the other things I mentioned were true, her problems still wouldn’t be solved by leaving Isabella. But if they leave you behind, you won’t be in danger. Do you understand?”

“I…” Suria looked at Isabella and Haruka. “I just want to help. You two are my friends; it drives me crazy that there’s nothing I can do. The only thing I could possibly do to help is to come and fight with you and you won’t let me do that, so I’m useless.”

Haruka smiled slightly. “You don’t know enough about Bella if you think that’s the only way you could help.”

Suria looked at her curiously, but switched her attention when the knight laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve brought about enough death. If you stay alive and do well, nothing will make me happier. Please, I’m hoping for at least
some
good things in my life that I don’t ruin.”

Suria didn’t fully understand, but it was enough for her to agree, albeit reluctantly. As for Able, he was just glad not to be caught up in more things that weren’t his business. So things were decided - for better or worse - and everyone went their separate ways, only sure enough of their decisions to stick with them.

IXH

The next morning was dreary and overcast. No sight of the sun was visible in the grey skies and the rain was just heavy enough to be constant but not obscure visibility. The group was once more at the edge of the camp just like when Freya had left, but the mood was even more somber today, perhaps because of the weather. Isabella told herself it was only the weather as she stood there looking around. She had abandoned her old armor now, left it with the camp – she told the others it was because it wasn’t a good outfit for travelling quickly, and that was true. However, only Haruka knew that it was because she could no longer spend all day in heavy armor, or fight in it. She used to spend hundreds of hours in a row without ever removing it, performing the most acrobatic maneuvers and sprinting or climbing at full speed with no trouble.

Now it was different. Her body weakened too fast, tired too quickly; she just couldn’t do it anymore. Dalgus had provided her with new armor: strong, lightweight leather armor, fire-hardened and made for her size. She still wore her knight cape over it, blood-red and bearing a symbol on the back of a tree split down the center, half dead and rotten, the other half alive and blooming. She could lose it, as well, but the cape held a great deal of meaning to her and she decided the benefits outweighed the detriments. Today she had the hood folded out from under it, keeping the rain out of her face. Something about the sound of the rain on the thick cloth calmed her as well, making her feel warmer than she otherwise would.