[hider=Council chamber]

“Do not make me repeat myself, we will not waste manpower investigating fairy tales”

“But your majesty, you must understand I too would dismiss just a claim under normal circumstances but there have been over a dozen reports all from the same area” Alex replied “I’m not saying that they saw dryads per say, but surely it might be something worth looking into”?

“More likely that after one peasant claimed to see one, all the others started doing the same” Cerlina replied “I agree with our...emperor this is not something we should concern ourselves with” Cerlina stammered a bit when she spoke Alasdair’s new title, it would take a while before she got used to the new title. The meeting had gone on for some time now and for the most part had been very boring. Most of it had been spent discussing the exodus of heretics that had left not only Nyhem but the rest of Sypius as well. There had been much that Alasdair had hoped to discuss with Lanaya though she had not shown up to the council meeting, something that was very unlike her. 

“In any case we need to discuss the reinstatement of the royal guard, using the steel fist as the backbone” Alasdair turned to face Claus “I trust you have been putting some thought into this matter”?

-”I have, and i have decided that it sounds like an excellent idea. The royal guard should be none other than the best and the Steel fist is just that...” Claus responded at first not looking at the king, accidentally proving to those who doubted his mental presence was split from his physical.
So far during the meeting he’d been mostly silent and looking around him, avoiding taking a too laid back a seat he’d settled down with his legs crossed on a footstool instead.
-”Just thought of something though, wouldn’t it be imperial guard? Since you lot decided to make this whole affair into an empire… just a thought.”

“I suppose that makes more sense” Alasdair said “However if the Imperial guard is to exceed or even match the Remonnet’s royal guard they will need their own division of mages to back up the infantry. Another thing I had hoped to discuss with Lanaya today” Alasdair said disappointedly “But no matter I am sure we can find a solution even without her. I have ordered Magister Sagard to assist you in assembling a battalion of mages fit for the steel fist”. 
At that last proposition Claus leapt into interest.
-”My plans exactly, during the last campaign i was once more reminded of the usefulness of a mage detachment and wanted one for myself. I will be looking forward to my meeting with this Sagard fella.” Having finished there was a slight pause as Alasdair got some papers from a pile and the others mostly agreeing to the logic.
Claus kept going in a inquisitive tone..
-”Where is Lanaya? I was gonna ask her of the mages myself…. And where is that Aurellia lass? Wasn’t she on the council? I sorta expected her to be here.” He figuratively looked around to empower his question, followed by a shrug as he fiddled with his left glove.

Alasdair fell silent at the mention of Aurellia. While he kept it hidden, he felt a long suppressed pain reemerge upon Claus’s mention of her.
“You don’t seem to be very well informed” Isabel, sensing her brothers discomfort, was the first to speak “Lady Vyncetta has…perished at the hands of unknown assailants, near seven months ago. Magister Dionsia has replaced her for quite some time. As for where [i]she[/i] is, I could only guess, but as his majesty says we do not need her here” Isabel said with a sly smile before adding “perhaps she is still recovering from the party, after all she did drink far more than a woman of her reputation should”. 
With genuine surprise Claus looked up from his fiddling, sat up correctly and looked around.
-”She died? That sucks... ” The bluntness of his words while aggravating to a certain degree captured perfectly what some were feeling about the whole situation.
-”As for being uninformed, i have been off fighting a war on the other side of a massive sea, scratch that, WINNING a massive war on the other side of a sea, so no, i didn’t know.” Claus realized he perhaps said a bit too much to the emperor’s sister resumed his laid back pose and spoke.
-”Anyway, why isn’t the magister here? She didn’t seem to be drinking that much seeing her at the party.”

“Yes winning with my brothers help it seems” Isabel replied bluntly “It’s clear you didn’t see her near the end of the event, something seemed to have put her in a very good mood”. 
Claus muttered silently that he could easily have won with the entire Concord army as well, but decided against mentioning it.
-”Speaking of good mood, seeing that the Steel fist is now a rather important part of this whole city, i would require a permanent location to work from. Having a tent camp in the farmers fields isn’t exactly a long term solution. So a barracks of sorts, training yard is a must and not to far from the palace itself.” Claus spoke to Alasdair in a no-nonsense kind of way, while shuffling a set of playing cards.

Alasdair was still upset, not only over the mention of Aurelia but also over how bluntly Claus had shrugged off her death. Though he could hardly blame him, after all he had barely known the woman.

“Finding a vacant building of that size will be difficult. I would normally suggest building it within the Field district but as you pointed out that would be too far from the palace” Alasdair remained silent as he considered his options “From what my sister tells me a merchant by the name of William Flin has started to renovate buildings within the slums. Perhaps we could follow in suite, after all there will be plenty of abandoned manors near the fringe of the slums that could be renovated into a barracks. After all no noble wants to neighbour a slum”.

After a short thought about it Claus considered the problems with the slums, but in the end he decided. He has access to highly trained heavily armed and armoured mercenaries. Slum dregs won’t be too much of a problem and being on the outskirts won’t be that bad anyway.

-”That sounds like a great idea boss… erm, my emperor... Just need a local who knows a good place and of course a fancy paper that say i can nab whatever house i want.” He stopped shuffling the deck and looked at the ceiling momentarily when he realised his severe lack of etiquette but resumed shortly.

Alasdair had become increasingly annoyed by Claus’s antics throughout this meeting. What had his brother seen in this man? He hoped Claus proved to be effective in creating the imperial guard otherwise his future as a council member would be called into question.

“If you are looking for someone who knows the area then you have my permission to borrow Alenius, so long as if you provide two of your own to guard me in the meantime. As for the ‘property right appropriation document’” Alasdair emphasized the name in a effort to correct Claus “Cerlina will be able to procure the document for you”.

-”Excellent, i’ll call in the guys that escorted me here and then talk to Cerlina.” He nodded to Alasdair and made a slight smirk. He then spotted a bottle of brandy, began to pour up two servings of it while listening to the meeting.

“In which case that concludes this meeting” Alasdair announced as he stood up from his seat, not wishing to watch Claus drink two glasses of brandy as he assumed he was about to “Our next meeting will take place a fortnight from now. Dismissed” Alasdair said as he and his council members made for the door.

Claus just finished pouring his glasses as the group began to exit through the door. He stood up, put one of the glasses opposite himself and raised the other for a toast. Ignoring the council and turned towards the empty seat with the drink in front of it.
He spoke calmly and rather solemnly for being him.
-”Too bad i didn’t get to meet you again miss Aurelia, would have loved to hear the full story of the Orog wine...” He paused for a moment and raised his glass.
-”To the fallen!” He drank the serving in a single swipe and exhaled, before putting down the glass and begin to leave the room.

As the other council members filed out the door Alasdair paused for a moment as he watched Claus raise a toast to Aurelia. It was something that Alasdair had not expected from Claus, yet he couldn’t help but be thankful for it. Outside of himself and Lanaya, no one had paid much mind to the death of Aurelia and for many had gone unnoticed until Lanaya replaced her. He was glad that there was someone else who cared about her, if only a little. In reponse Alasdair gave Claus quick nod, a gesture of approval.


Claus noticed the emperors nod and responded.
-”If you wonder what that was about, it’s a tradition within the fist. Final toast to the fallen, a way to remember. One drink is left for the one in question, at times someone close drinks it for them, sometimes it’s taken by someone later who just wants a drink or it’s simply cleaned up next morning… i have a few more drinks to share later with the boys.” His face saddened for a moment before he nodded to Alasdair and left the room.
-”I’ll shout the guards over to replace Alenius.” With that he shouted loudly to summon his fellow corps-men, who quickly took their sides at the side of the king, with some sort of good manners.

Alasdair stared at the glass that Claus had placed in front of the chair that once was Aurelia’s, reflecting on what Claus had said. Before the steel fist soldiers entered the room Alasdair grabbed the glass before downing the contents. Despite burning his throat he did his best to stifle a cough, before finally leaving the room with Claus’s men following closely behind.
[/hider]

[hider=The slums]
“That’s the building” Alenius said as she pointed to a decrepit Manor, located on the outskirts of the slums. While not in a state of ruin it was clear no one had inhabited this house in years. The doors and windows had been boarded up and many tiles from the roof were missing. It would take considerable manpower and money to renovate it into a barracks worthy of the imperial guard. Fortunately for Claus he had both.

Even if he had both money and manpower though, he still wasn’t overly impressed with the whole state of the place, on top of that he wanted a good look of the inside before deciding on this old manor house.
He tried the door handle, locked, he yanked at it a few times and with a mouldy crack the entire mechanism came loose. With an initial surprise, he turned to Alenius.
-”I present to you my new house and office, should we inspect my bedroom first?” Claus suggested with a sly smirk and a wink.
Alenius simply rolled her eyes at his obvious advance and opened the door which creaked with deep rhythmic shudders as the hinges caught a few times on the rust making the entire door vibrate.

As Alenius walked into the manor it was clear that the outside hid the true extent of the damage caused by years of neglect. Much of the wood was rotten and the floors above had large gaping holes in them. While the manor’s foundations may still be sturdy, it was obvious the inside would have to be completely replaced.

“Looks like your men have your work cut out for you, though if you intend to reconstruct this place for your own purposes, it might be for the best” 
As Claus listened to Alenius he simultaneously ripped a board off the wall to see the underlying structure. He saw stone with timber on top, a sturdy foundation indeed, he kept digging with his right hand trying to not inhale the dust and holding his left hand over his face to cover it. Old moss used for the insulation, now useless since it was damp and mouldy.
He made a rather big pile of brown dirt-like mass before he could really feel and see the stonework and how the mortar was looking, if it was getting damp as well, the whole building was useless for his purposes and needed to be leveled.
To his relief the mortar was in great condition, he didn’t know how the wood had gotten so darn damp but he was gonna rip it all out so he didn’t care much.
-”HA! The mortar is fine, seems like i can use this after all. That’s cause for celebration, don’t ya think?” Claus said happily and pouted his mouth towards Alenius in a joking manner.

“Your going to end up kissing my fist in a minute if you’re not careful” Though the threat was genuine Alenius said it in a joking tone. After years of working for stuffy nobles and pompous aristocrats it was nice to work alongside someone as down to earth as Claus, despite his crude advances. As she continued to investigate the manor something caught her eye; located on a rotting table was a tankard. As Alenius walked over to investigate she realised it was still half filled with watery ale. She held it up so Claus could see

“I don’t think we’re alone here.” She whispered as she handed the tankard to Claus whom picked it up and smelled its content.
-”Smells fresh, you are right, someone is here.” He put it back on the table and began to check around for the tankards owner, opening doors and peeking inside. He didn’t bother with drawing a weapon, his gauntlets would do just fine.
Alenius nimble steps were hardly audible, but it didn’t take long for Claus to step through a floorboard, he was adept at strategic stealth, but sneaking around in a building was not his forte.

“Well if they didn’t hear you tearing out the wall, then they are going to hear that” Alenius said with a laugh as she turned to face the stairs “Whoevers there come out now, we don’t plan on harming you” Alenius shouted, there was no point in being subtle now. There was a brief moment of silence followed by the quiet sound of footsteps. At the top of the stairs emerged three skinny looking children dressed in rags, the eldest looking barely older than ten. With him was a girl of around eight and a young boy of seven. Alenius’s hunch had been correct

“Slum orphans” Alenius said as she turned to Claus.
-”Orphans ey?” Claus studied them closely while stroking his chin. They were rather meagre, posed no threat and weren’t exactly prime workers either.
-”So, you live here?” Claus asked, the eldest of them shielded the others as he nodded.
-”Well, sad to say not anymore, however, i am not unreasonable and i’m gonna give you a proposition.” Claus spoke in a no nonsense kind of way and mostly to the eldest of them.
They looked even more miserable after the last sentence, but the eldest of them was at least going to listen to this rich guy who was going to steal their home.

-”I am Claus Rotstein, imperial advisor of war and leader of the Steel Fist, we’re going to renovate this building and make it our base of operations, you three however know this place in and out so i’ll hire you as helpers, pointing out the things to look out for. For this i’ll give you each a half-buckle a day and food. What say you?” Claus offer was genuine.

The two youngest looked to the eldest, who simply stared at Claus in silence for a while. The deal that had been offered was reasonable, too reasonable.

“Since when did you high borns give a damn about what happened to us slummies.  Howe do I’d know that your not just going to throw us away the moment you’ve got our manor”. 

“If it’s any consolation, neither of us are high born” Alenius said “I myself was raised in this very slum, only I didn’t have a nice fancy manor to stay in. What I did have however was an opportunity, an opportunity to leave this cesspool and make a living for myself. The same kind of opportunity that is being offered to you right now”. The eldest once again fell silent. Normally he wouldn’t believe that people who wore such fancy armour could ever of come from the slums. But the way she talked, the way she walked and looked, she didn’t seem like any of the noblewoman he pickpocketed on a daily bases. Indeed take away the armour and she could easily pass for a slum dweller. 

-”As for me i’m hardly a highborn, burgher by birth and i’ve earned my title. As for not throwing you out as soon as i got your manor. I already own it you see, i even got a fancy paper from the emperor. Not gonna show it since you can’t read anyway. So i could have just thrown you out and let the rats have you for dinner. But i am offering you a job, do well and you might even get to work here in this very house with your own room. With possibly even better pay…. So what say you?” Claus even held out his hand for a handshake.
The young boy knew that a proper highborn would never shake hand with one like him, even if a burgher was way higher status than he’d hope to become, this strange man was offering a paying job with food. Left with little choice the boy slowly made his way down the creaking stairs with the other two in tow. Once he reached the bottom he looked at Claus’s hand for a short while, before finally shaking it.

“So what now” He said hesitantly

-”Welcome to the Steel Fist, best mercenary company in the world and now imperial guard. I will show you to Katrina and Roogel who’ll give you tasks to perform.” Claus gave a hearty single shake of the hand with one of his telltale smirks.
The boy clearly sceptical followed him out with the other children in tow, outside Roogel arrived after a while after being summoned to begin the work on the manor house, Roogel got instructions on what the children were for and how they would help.
As he began to lead a group of corpsmen to tear apart the manor house Claus was standing with hands upon his hips next to Alenius.
-”So, you some sort of slum kid ey?” Claus jokingly asked Alenius, who with a sly smile answered.
-”Buy me a drink and i’ll tell you.” Slightly surprised, Claus turned his head to Alenius and let loose a massive grin.
-”Ever tried Orog wine?” He asked with a suggestive tone.
[/hider]

[hider=A party to remember]

The little reed inn was packed with customers as it normally was at the end of the working week. The tavern itself was located on one of Nyhem’s many bridges and was a popular location and prided itself for having such a wide range of beverages for sale. It was a cosy inn with basic sturdy wooden furniture and a roaring fireplace off to the side. Alenius had already gotten through two pints of bitter and had started her third. She had declined Claus’s offer of buying her ‘Orog wine’, Alasdair had offered a goblet to her once and the taste hadn’t been to her liking.

“So what was it you wanted to ask me again” Alenius said as she took another swig from her tankard.
Claus was enjoying a nice scotch after having drunk a nice strawberry mead, he felt like enjoying some really nice drinks after the war and such a successful day.
-”I asked if you were a slum kid, you told the orphans that. Or was it just to calm them down?” Claus sipped his glass of scotch and exhaled deeply. He was drinking it un-watered to really rinse out the days hardships with the strong burning sensation it brought.

“Aye, what I said was the truth. Though of course it’s not normally something I let people know about, I can’t imagine the nobility thinking to highly of me or his majesty if they knew I was some [i]filthy slum dweller[/i]. Come to think of it I think you're the only person, other than Alasdair who knows” She said with a smile, before quickly realising she had used Alasdair's name instead of his title, “I mean the emperor” she stammered as she corrected herself.
-”I think he’ll be fine as long as we don’t call him snake.” Claus said with a sly smirk, clearly not bothered with her lowborn past.
-”Besides, you are hardly any slum dwelling nobody anyway. You are the emperor’s personal bodyguard, that’s something to write home about! Cheers to that!” Claus raised his glass and took a hearty gulp of the strong drink inside and shook his face from the strength.

“If I had a home to write back to” She said with a laugh as she raised her tankard with Claus and finished the rest of her pint. As she drank a question dawned on her, something that she had been meaning to ask Claus for months.

“Say tell me, do you remember that mace you got the king as his coronation present”?
-”Yeah, i think it was a pretty sweet gift. Got the best weaponsmith i could find to do it. Honestly i’d like it for myself but i guess it was a bit fancy for me.” Claus stated, he clearly remembered the gift he’d given to the king, a sleek mirror polished decorated steel mace. Fit for a king.
-”What? Don’t tell me he lost it, or broke it.” Claus jokingly pretended to be worried about.

“For a matter of fact it’s on display in his room right now. It was pretty much the only gift that wasn’t sold off to the highest bidder. His majesty seems so interested in fact that he has send numerous people to investigate the blacksmith who created it, including myself. It’s strange, i’ve never seen him so obsessed over something like this”. Alenius statement confused Claus, he stroke his chin once as he spoke.

-”Really, it is simply a well known blacksmith. I assumed many among the nobility got their weapons from him. Why would someone pay such attention to him?” Claus was genuinely confounded by it all. Had he not gotten a vastly superior blade from the old man Blackwell, he would have gone to the same weaponsmith himself to get a new sword.
-”He does know who it was right? I did instruct him to hand over the mace himself since i wouldn’t be attending the coronation. Otherwise i can easily get hold of him again.” Claus informed Alenius trying to help with the whole mystery.

“Yes but it wasn’t the mace he was interested in, it was the braiding attached to the maces hilt that caught his attention. The first thing he did was send someone to the smith, but he simply said the braid wasn’t of his design and must have added on latter by a member of the steel fist. I was hoping you may shed some light on the matter”.
Literally scratching his head a little, Claus had never heard of the braid. He’d honestly never seen the mace either but didn’t recall any special braided safety loops.
-”Well, i didn’t add it. Perhaps Katrina knows, she was the one who organised most of that exchange, as well as know the right smith to go to.” Shrugging, he felt he had helped all he could in this matter. He realised he finished his scotch, waved the barmaid over to order another mug of strawberry mead, the brewer had really gotten the batch right.

“I’ll have another of the same” Alenius said as the barmaid came over, lifting her mug as she spoke “It seems you have a new scar to add to your collection” Alenius said as she pointed to Claus’s cheek where Alice had struck him.
-”Yeah, she got a good hit in...” He gently rubbed his cheek feeling the numbness of the wound. It had been a real close one.
-”She was good, damn good... So good it feels like she should have got me in fact. Me being so beat up after the war… i dunno, she seemed… troubled by something.” Claus had a rough time choosing his words, he had noticed something with her. Katrinas stories and her skill in the actual fight didn’t make sense.
She had tired way too fast. Claus was obviously contemplating the fight again, on top of that he was beginning to get drunk.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much if I were you” Alenius said as she took her tankard from the barmaid “Maybe she was fighting at her best, maybe she wasn’t, all that matter is that it was a good fight and you won, not to mention you got yourself a handsome scar to remind you of it” Alenius said with a smirk as she took another drink from her tankard, keeping her eyes on Claus.
Getting on a far more interesting train of thought, he gave her a massive smirk and a wink in response. One could claim he wasn’t a womanizer, but that would be lying.
-”Oh i got scars in way more interesting places than the face.” He said as he raised his leg and rested in on a stool beside him.

“You’re not the only one” Alenius said as she put down her drink, this time turning to face Claus, locking her eyes with his.
-”So, what say you? Is it time to get out of here and find a more interesting place?” Claus sly approach was obvious.

“Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but that doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea” Alenius smirked before downing her tankard in one go and standing up from her stool swaying slightly as she did.
With a smile, Claus joined in and downed the rest of his as well, tossing the mug behind him as he was done, as it bounced along the floor he gave Alenius a hand to help her stand up.
As they began to leave, Claus stopped and pointed at the barkeeper.
-”Pour me a serving of your finest… rum. It was rum.” Claus didn’t really make full sense, but he also tossed a gold coin to the barkeeper to pay for both their night out.
The barmaid got him his drink and he looked around before telling Alenius.
-”Go on ahead, i have a thing to do before we leave.” She gave him her best attempt at puppy eyes which Claus just raised his eyebrow at.
-”Don’t worry, you’ll still be trying to getting your boots on when i’m done.” She seemed to be fine with this and prepared to leave, with some difficulty.

Claus went to a window and looked outside, he spoke softly but unbeknownst to him Alenius could still hear him.
-”I got you a glass of rum. You always loved rum, even if you tried to never show anyone your weaknesses… i’d not be here without you, so i raise this toast to you Ashala.” He raised his glass high.
-”To the fallen.” His voice was solemn, even if he tried to be stern. He drank a mouthful of the drink before putting it down at the windowsill.
As he went for his cloak Alenius curiously asked.
-”Who’s Ashala?”
-”A friend, one i owe a lot...” Claus said with a moments blank stare. He quickly recovered and gave Alenius a good stare before grasping her neck and kissing her.
-”Let’s get out of here, this place is far too boring for us!” The two left the inn with the door slightly ajar.
[/hider]

[hider=A wild night.... perhaps a bit too wild...]

The two had gone to another place which was known for its good rooms and also their large beds. The two shared a night of passion they would not soon forget.
Both were exhausted after the evening and mostly collapsed and dozed off……

The hours passed, Claus was awoken by a loud creak and noticed he was sweating profusely. The blanket felt like it was soaked in soggy warm piss so he took it off and stood up. Alenius was not there, she probably left before him and returned. Befit a personal bodyguard.
The room however was barren, it was hot and stank of smoke and blood. Smells all to familiar to Claus, he tried to find his clothes, gone, he thought the innmaids might have taken them to wash them so he walked to the door and put his left hand on the handle.
The forged iron handle was boiling hot to the touch, Claus recoiled heavily and yelped in pain, at the same time the door swung open and the hallway was alight with fire, the roof covered in dancing yellow flames.
He fell backwards, scrambled away from the door with the flames now pouring in like liquid over the door frame and into his room.
The window, Claus decided the window would be his escape. The gaps in the closed wooden shutters shone with a red haze, sending beams of red illuminated air down to the floor where he lay.
He managed to stand up, his legs barely supporting him as he with both arms ripped the shutters open, they were heavy and something gave way as he opened them, the rotten frames falling off the window frame, revealing the outside world.

The burning sky rained fire unto the city which was completely set alight, the smoke and the fire obscured much but one could make out crevices in the ground where buildings had collapsed into, its burning insides revealing screaming people on fire trying desperately to escape, some casting themselves into the depths of the abyss to end the pain.
The streets were filled with rubble, gloomhawks, a winged lizard vulture native to some parts of the Beilokias circled the devastation on their black leathery wings, waiting to swoop down to claim their next meal.
Claus was stunned for a moment, he stared at the scene with terror and awe, eyes wide open and gasping for air, of which there was none.
It was here he began to see them, hidden away, always behind someone dying, skulking behind a unit of steel fist corpsmen who frantically tried to open a passage through some rubble, behind a woman who was sitting on a ruined house floor sobbing, always in the dark, always barely noticeable.
Strange shadow apparitions, vaguely human in their form but made of smoking shadows. They stared at the corpsmen, the sobbing woman and the fleeing and the dying. Stared with red glowing orb like eyes with an unmatched intensity.

As they stared, those who were observed waned into nothingness, falling apart like the skin of a burning fungi tree, blackening and breaking up into roughly diamond shaped flakes which fell off and blew into the passing hot winds.
He wanted to move, but his legs refused to respond, he saw his corpsmen and wanted to warn them, to call out to them. Flee, they are upon you, they have snuck up on you again, please get away.
But he could do nothing, like everyone else they became dust in the wind.
It was here the shades began to turn their heads, slowly, the plaza below revealed eyes turning towards him, seemingly a hundred invisible forms turned and the red glowing eyes became visible as they turned, the shadowy figures materializing in front of his eyes, hundreds, thousands, all turning ever so slowly and locking eyes with him.
The sense of dread was more than he’d ever felt, he knew these forms, one could not fight them, their gaze was doom.
With a churning terror, he noticed there was two in his room as well, one in each of the opposite corners.
Claus ran, his legs moving with a slow sluggishness unlike any training day as he reached the doorway and ran down the burning hallway.
Voices were calling out to him, distant echoes of orders, sobbing and laughter, but most prominent were the screams…
As he reached the stairs the constant echoes had mostly transformed into a cacophony of screams. The shrieks of the dying, the hissing wheezes of those impaled, the horrifying anguished yells of those melting to death in boiling feces.
He stumbled down the stairs but didn’t fall, all around him he could see the piercing eyes staring deep inside him, deep inside his soul and judging his every move, choice and moment.
-”Claus!” He stopped, a woman had called out. With a serene calm she stood by the burning door, the room filled with rotting corpses covered in flies and rats, the stech and the smoke was unbearable. She was wearing the uniform of the steel fist, the blemished surface of the cuirass bearing remnants of copper linings, making it one of the lieutenants.
-”Why did you abandon me?” She asked in a smooth calm voice, which somehow carried over the roaring fires. Claus noticed the corseque she was wielding and the pavise on her back with the auburn hair which instantly made him recognize her as.
-”Ashala! I wanted to get to you, i wanted to stop you! Why did you do it? WHY!?!!” Claus was screaming and ran towards her filthy coal-covered form.
She simply turned and walked through the doorway, which collapsed behind her.
Claus covered his face from the flying splinters which pinged off his plate covered arms, as usual the weight of his armour was familiar as he ran towards a window.
He looked down and saw his almost naked form run over the corpse ridden floor towards a window. Most of them wore some sort of armour, some were not human at all, the remains of elves, mao and vogani were strewn in their midst, but the overwhelming majority were from the Steel fist.

He had to crawl over the corpse pile to reach the window, the mass of familiar faces blankly staring forward made his stomach turn.
As he crawled he suddenly stopped, as he noticed faint whispers. The mouths were moving on the otherwise pale sometimes rotting corpses.
‘Why did you lead us here?’ ‘You are only here because of us.’ ‘You should give me that drink you owe me.’ ‘You abandoned us, you don’t care if we die.’
Frantic panic overtook him as all to familiar voices judged him, he crawled with unmatched speed as his sloggin weight of the arms and legs left him feeling barely mobile. He reached the window and ripped upon its boarded shutter, he saw a loose chair leg he’d used before and grabbed it and began to swing at the shutter.
The red eyes came closer and closer, not that they moved through the air. But they seemed to slowly blink and open far nearer than one could move in that time.
With a crash the frantic swing opened the shutter which flung open with enough force to break off at the hinges.
He scrawled out and fell down, the ground below was covered in blackened mycelium, a pile of refuse next to him had severed heads of all manner of foes in it.

He ran towards the front of the house, he needed to find Ashala.
As he ran out of the alley, he reached the city wall, outside the wall was a besieging army of dead men walking seemingly forming a inky smokey mass, with the blackened and burnt banners of the Manshrew alliance.
In his peripheral vision, all Claus could see were shining bright eyes.
But a few paces away, she was there, Ashala looking out over the crenelations she had fallen from.
-”Why did you do it?!” Claus helplessly called out to her.
-”I don’t understand, why would you do it, we are mercenaries, i am hardly worth dying for.” He kept asking with tears streaming down from his eyes, but his throat was strangely enough not sore.
Her answer was to turn towards him and stare at him in silence, the noise of the marching army, the Manshrew war horns, the screech of elephants and the roaring fires barraging him.
-”You abandoned me.” She said as she pointed her corseque at him and dramatically dropped it so it hit the ground with a single clang.
A torrent of blood shot from her neck into the air and she began to fall backwards, Claus screamed to her and began to run towards her to try and save her. But she toppled two men over the battlements fell over and they turned to dust.
Claus hung over the crenelations and stared down, crying and repeating the mantra ‘Why, why did you do it, why?’
Creeping up on him was the ever escalating clamour of screams and whispers, as the enemy shadow troopers marched ever forward the red eyed shades came ever closer and closer until Claus stood up, turned around and his face was a single inch from the supposed face of the nightmarish creature.
As it stared unblinking into his eyes Claus shuddered and wept but couldn’t turn away nor blink to escape the horror for a single moment.

Then Claus violently sat up and screamed a horrified wail, he frantically looked around and found himself on the inn-room floor sort of ensnared in a blanket with Alenius sitting next to him with both her feet to the side with a confused and uncomfortable expression.
He panted heavily, almost wheezing as he hyperventilated with heavy breaths, his chest was visibly heaving with the effort and he was shaking.
Claus was confused and erratic, it took several moments before he realised that this was reality and reality was not what had happened before.
He cried streams of tears but didn’t sulk, his throat was unexpectedly mellow. He let his eyes meet with Alenius as he began to calm down a notch.

“What…” Alenius stammered, she had been violently awoken by Claus screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. Despite her best attempts to wake him he had continued through his nightmare filled sleep, leaving Alenius at a complete loss at what to do. Even after he had awoken she still didn’t know what to say, this wasn’t something she had expected from Claus. Finally she mustered a response “What was that”?

Staring wildly and rapidly changing which of her eyes he focused on, he tried to form a response, his mouth yapping like a fish out of water.
-”I… i think i dreamt… a nightmare...” His response was genuinely confused, not sure of it himself. He became more and more calm as he began to scan his surroundings, seeing the shutters weren’t letting in red light and the bedroom actually being slightly chilly.
He realised his situation, lying on the floor crying his eyes out, he suspected he’d soiled himself and he was glistening with sweat which made his variety of scars stand out even more.
He hid his face and turned away from Alenius, now crying of confused shame.

In response Alenius simply put her hand on his shoulder, unsure whether it would provide much comfort in this circumstance, but right now it was all she could do. 
[/hider]


Creds to myself and [@TheDuncanMorgan]