This is awkward.

Lord Saran had not been kind to Sophie. From the moment she arrived in Soramesh, tales of the disaster in Praguor, and the bounty on her head had painted a vivid picture of the kind of person she was.

Her punishment came in twos: locked in the city dungeon, and forced to stare into the cell of her new acquaintance; Warking Orcus.

*SNARL*

Orcus had been side eyeing her ever since they were thrown in; he’d taken a seat on the wall of cell, and hadn’t budged an inch since doing so. The silence between them was becoming too much to bear for Sophie, and his random snarls and growls wasn’t helping.

How much longer until I die in here, I wonder…

‘This has all gone to shit fellas.’

The mood was a solemn one for Aren and his crew. The 12 of them had lost 2 members, Daniel and Gertrude, and their leader Sophie had been taken by a most fearsome lord.

‘We managed to recover what little we could, but the dragoons took the bodies sir.’

Aren was being informed that their friends couldn’t be recovered, and that only further soured his mood.

With the resources they had left, they might be able to just barely make it to camp. They’d have to use the roads, and getting stopped would be a death sentence if they found the stinking corpse of that boy Basra.

What should I do sire?

He hated how useless he had become since moving past his role of court wizard. He was a powerful magician and alchemist, even the yellow poison their group was using was his own creation; however, he has never been a fighter, and his knowledge of offensive magic was almost nonexistent.

Your daughter has been taken while under my care…

Aren had always been a troubled man, even at a young age he was telling fortunes with tea leaves and performing rites with dead pigeons. In those times, he was hated by his family, and scorned by his friends for being weird; and yet, he continued the path of magic.

Not once did he ever consider having a family, or the sanctity of friendship. Even now, the feeling of loss was new to him, and the feeling of failing one of his few real friends was even harder to swallow.

‘Mitch.’

‘Sir.’

‘Take the horse and ride out to the camp. Report to the captain what happened here, and tell him we’ll need a full company.’

‘What about the extraction?’

The soldier Mitch was right to be worried. The longer Basra’s body had the conduit, the more dangerous it would become. That should take precedent, even over someone like Princess Sophie, but Aren wasn’t completely out of ideas.

‘We can do it here; I’ll just need to find suitable stones to create the script.’

That was a lie.

Aren knew well that any stones they found here in Praguor, as expensive as they may be, would never hold up to the quality Aren had stored away at camp. He could ask them to bring the magic gems of course, but they were hidden in a way that only he could access them.

He neither had the time, nor the patience to extend their mission in Lord Saran’s land any longer.

No matter the dangers of using inferior materials, the extraction would have to performed here.

-You’ll need to prepare your soul, the outreach required to drag you back into your vessel will shred your very being if you’re unprepared.-

The voice was listing off what I needed to prepare for the resurrection, and so far every instruction was just as vague as that one.

‘How do I prepare my soul?’

-You’ve already begun to prepare Michael. Your soul is now wildly more capable than average.-

It would seem my efforts to resist boredom had also been an actual benefit to my mission. As the days go by, I can feel myself gaining more control over this space, and over my abilities.

The sparks I sent flying at beginning were now large surges of energy, a true lightning bolt. The voice says there is more to be done, and that soon I will be able to accomplish much greater feats.

‘Do you know what my berserker spell was princess?’

It had been a few days since their imprisonment, and Orcus was starting to breakdown; maybe it was the silence, or maybe it was the heat.

‘It’s called Winter’s Howl.’

Orcus was explaining the spell he used when they were fighting. The spell in question was of the ice element, but was strange in that it increased his strength instead of being offensive.

‘My father told me, when he was teaching me about it, that the howl would call on the Northern Winds. That’s where my home is ya know, in the North.’

Orcus looked different than what Sophie had imagined was under the skull helm. His body was tan, probably from the tundra sun, and his beard was a black scruffy stubble; he looked like a mountain man.

‘You’re from the North? What are you doing down here?’

Against her best judgement, Sophie decided to converse with her enemy, and inquire into the story of his homeland.

‘It’s a long story, you wouldn’t want to hear it.’

‘Hmm, maybe you’re rig-‘

‘Do you know what a Warking is?’

Sophie was already in too far, and it seemed as though Orcus had trapped her in the moment.

‘Isn’t it-‘

‘A Warking is like a chieftain, except they only lead in times of war.’

This was true as far as Sophie knew. She remembered her father bringing home tributes from the Northern tribes. And when they didn’t offer tributes, her father would bring the trophies of slain Warkings.

‘My name was actually Björn when I was born, but the Warking selection had rebirthed me into a new man.’

‘Warking selection?’

‘Yep. At the age of 16, I and 7 other boys were thrown into the icy seas to wrestle a pod of Orcinus.’

HE WRESTLED A KILLER WHALE?!

‘I was the only boy to win, the rest were grabbed and dragged into the depths haha.’

HE WRESTLED A KILLER WHALE AND WON?!?!?!

‘Afterwards, I lead a warband of raiders for 11 years, and for 11 years I was the most feared Warking of the North!’

Orcus’s enthusiasm in his story had risen exponentially, and suddenly his story was being told with gusto.

‘What happened, why did you stop?’

Sophie had also been taken in by the story. At the very least it was a good distraction from being imprisoned.

‘I met a woman of course; the most beautiful girl in the world, my Fiona.’

It was unbelievable to Sophie; how could this creep find a woman? He must have kidnapped her, or taken her for ransom.

‘Fiona wasn’t a Northerner unfortunately; she was a Seer from the deep south. A travelling gypsy.’

This came at no surprise; gypsies were famous for being promiscuous, and sexing a warlord seemed viable enough.

‘When my family found out about our relationship, I was quickly exiled to cover up the stain on our tribe.’

‘They exiled their greatest general?’

‘It was a dishonor they could not bear. Honor came above all else in our tribe.’

Death before dishonor was a creed Sophie could never imagine. If one fails then they should simply work to succeed, or die trying.

‘After they kicked me out, I ran South with my beloved to find work as a bounty hunter. I never was good at anything other than fighting hehe.’

Sophie could resonate on Orcus’s level. She too had devoted her life to being a death bringer, and probably deserved a far worse punishment than what had been given to her.

‘Even now, Fiona awaits my return…’

*Sigh*

'You know, those things I said about whores and whatnot, that was just to get under your skin. My wife would kill me if I ever did something like that.'

Orcus let out another forlorn sigh, and became silent again. He might have been considering his options, or fantasizing that Fiona would be safe and prosperous.

Sophie thought she saw a tear roll from his eye, but she was sure it must have been her imagination.

‘You know, I wasn’t always a criminal.’

‘Hah!’

Orcus had laughed at her outrageous comment, though it was an unintentional joke on Sophie’s part.

‘As I was saying, there was a time when I actually was a princess.’

She was referring, of course, to the fallen kingdom of Teodora, her home from long ago.

’7 years ago, I was still the princess of Teodora.’

‘Teodora!’

Orcus’s surprise was completely called for. Teodora had been a powerful empire of the West, so strong in fact that it had conquered and enslaved its neighbors. Out of fear and spite, the conquered nations rose up.

A great collation of countries formed, and after Teodora’s king was assassinated, the largest army to ever be mobilized marched through and scorched the nation. The raiding was so horrific, it’s said that the women would jump in the fires so they wouldn’t be beaten and raped.

Teodora today is land of ashes. The earth was salted, the rivers were dammed, and the wells were filled with shit and corpses to ensure nothing could ever thrive there again.

The area was renamed to fit its description; the badlands, a place of terrible monsters and outcasted brigands.

‘Then the price on your head, that’s because of your lineage?’

‘Aye. I’m a threat to the pigs who killed my father, and pillaged my people.’

‘That’s a terrible fate princess.’

She’d been strong for most of her life, but only because she had to be. There was no other option as a frail, refugeed noble from a conquered nation.

‘7 years ago, I escaped Teodora with my father’s guard after he was murdered, and 7 years ago I swore to get revenge on the bastards who killed my family, and ruined my life.’

That wasn’t the whole truth, Sophie knew it. She had a few more secrets, and the heat going to her head was forcing a few from her lips.

‘Warking Orcus. Would you assist me in getting out of here?’

‘Now princess, you know the sappy story isn’t enough for me to ignore the price on your head!’

‘What if I could pay you; what if I could pay you more than any amount their offering?’

Her plan was laid bare. With Orcus’s help, there was a chance the two of them could escape, but now he would need to know the truth.

‘And how can this rundown princess possibly afford to buy me haha!’

‘Because the guards I took with me 7 years ago were well trained agents, and those men helped me form the Phoenix Clan.’

‘…’

He was silent. He had every right to doubt her words, mostly doubting the existence of the Phoenix Clan. The clan itself was an enigma, and a rumor amongst the underworld.

Supposedly a group of assassins, the clan had been blamed for killing multiple nobles over the years, and had allegedly managed to murder a Duke. If Sophie was telling the truth, her clan would have the funds and connections to make Orcus a king.

It was an alluring offer.

‘Alright princess, I’m listening.’

‘Good, then listen up and listen well, I’m only going to explain this once.’

Chapter 4 End