Little Fighter: Calm Before the Storm

[Divisor]

Davis

He was lost in the darkness, trying to find a way out. He couldn't see a thing, just wandering across the empty black space.
»Anyone!« he shouted. »I'm here, help!«
Suddenly, a light appeared on his left. He ran towards it, the light becoming bigger and brighter as he was running. The light overwhelmed him, blinding him for a short moment. After he regained his eyesight, he was standing in a long hallway, lighted by torches. Huge pillars supported the celing, and big windows were positioned on either side of the hallway, letting the wind blow through the room. Davis heard people talking on the far end of the hall. Maybe they know what the hell is going on. He started walking. After a while, he found himself in front of an open door. He slowly entered. The room was similar to the hallway, lighted with torches and supported with pillars. It was larger, however, and full of tables with strange stuff on it. Davis saw bottles, filled with colored liquids, weird devices and other things he had never seen before. What the…The door across the hall suddenly opened, and inside walked a man, accompanied by a woman and four guards.
»John?!« Davis immediately recognized the man.
John was talking with the woman, but paid no attention to Davis whatsoever. Can't he see me?! Davis walked towards John, trying to block his way. To his surprise, John simply passed through him. This is insane, Davis thought, frightened. Where am I? What am I?
»Report.« he heard John ask the woman.
»They know that you're doing something,« the woman told him. »Firen of Heatlands has called a council. They say he's invited emissaries from Coastlands as well.«
»As expected.« John shrugged. »It makes no difference. By the time they put an army together, I will be finished. They won't be able to stop me afterwards.«
»Word is Coastlands is trying to contact Frostlands as well.«
»As I said, it doesn't matter. No matter how many numbers they put together, we won't be defeated. Anyway, I left all the military matters in Louis' hands.«
»Do you think that's wise, my Lord? He is a capable commander, but…«
»He is a capable commander, period. That's all I need. An army is not crucial to our plan. We just need a force big enough to keep our enemies busy while I finish my experiment. Our tropps, along with Rockland lords and the Justin I created should be well enough. But enough about that. Report me about the other matter.«
»I've tested Firen, and he is compatible with the substance. I have acquired enough of his blood as well.«
»Very good. That settles Firen and Freeze. And now we are left with only…«
John's next words were lost in the screeching sound that suddenly filled the room. Davis's head started hurting, his heart started pounding and his legs turned into jelly. He fell on the floor, screaming, while the room was overwhelmed with blinding light. After the pain stopped and he managed to open his eyes again, he found himself in Stonewall. He looked at the building in front of him. Rockland Royal guard building, he knew. He was there six years ago, when the army stormed the city. They were told to quickly assemble positions and defend the city against a larger Rockland host that was returning from the Great Wall, but afterwards the orders came to open the gates for them. As it turned out, John, one of the advisors, had turned against his Emperor and made a deal with the Allied forces to capture him. Instead, the Emperor was murdered by his own protection detail, but John was nevertheless instated as the new Lord of Rocklands.
The Stonewall he was in now was before the sack, though. The city was empty, only soldiers and guards were running around, shouting orders and reports. Davis felt the sudden need to enter the command building. He didn't exatly know why, but he still got on his feet and strolled inside. He saw John again, and the woman from before.
»We need to hurry,« John told her. »Remember your mission. Go to Heatlands and stay there. Assimilate with them, get inside the court and observe. You shall report when the time comes. Go.«
»Yes, my Lord.« she bowed and went towards the exit in the back, with two guards after her. Another soldier approached John.
»My Lord, your ship is waiting. The Emperor requested your immediate presence on Queen's Island.«
»Yes, of course.« John walked towards the back exit. »You're in charge, commander. Defend the city to the last breath. Reinforcements are on their way.«
»Will do, my Lord.«
Davis tried to follow John, but the room filled with light again and the pain returned.

He woke up, sweating.
»Dennis!« he heard a familliar voice. »Come, he's awake!«

[Divisor]

Henry

He was staring at a bat. The rodent was violently flying around the cage Mark trapped him in, making his annoying screeching sound.
»Where did you catch him?« he turned to face Mark.
»He was lurking next to the City Hall. Wonder why.« Mark grinned.
»Good job. Now we need to find out how exactly is Bat connected to his pets.« He gave Mark a sealed letter. »Take this and the bat to the Guild. They'll know what to do.«
Mark nodded and left with the bat. Henry turned to his guardsmen.
»Meanwhile we wait for the results, we need to keep searching for Bat. We captured one of his bats, so he would need to plant another near the City Hall. Double the guard and keep your eyes open.«
»As you say, sir.« the guardsmen announced and followed Mark outside..
After his men left, Henry remained alone in the room. Bat. And this time I actually have a chance of catching him. He recalled the first time he met him, during the war. The war, of course. In the end, everything leads back to the war. The same war that changed our lives forever. Before the war, he was just another of Lord Sunderland's retainers. But soon after the first battle against the imperial army, he was already hired into the professional troops. From there on, his career has only advanced. After the Empire surrendered and each of the four countries became independent again, Henry was appointed as the chief commander of the Longshore city guard and alos given a post on the war council. The same war council that will meet after I catch Bat. The Chairman had made it plainly clear that he won't call the council until Bat is in custody. But Henry knew catching Bat will be far from an easy task. Underestimating Bat had almost cost the Allied forces their victory at Tai Hom Village. The commanders boasted that the camp was spy-proof: no information could leave the army without them knowing about it. Bat was able to make them think again, when he acquired their complete strategic plan and was ready to inform the Empire about it. The only thing that saved the allies that day was the recklessness of the imperial commanders. The enemy attacked well before Bat made it back to the Tai Hom Village and when he informed the imperial army headquarters of the Alliance's intentions, their army was already defeated. Coincidence saved us. And the fact that the imperial generals decided to ignore Bat's mission and not wait for him to return. That mistake cost them the war. Frostland lords decided to side with whoever will win the battle, and when Coastland army took Tai Hom Village, thousands of northerners descended upon the Empire. With Heatland army keeping another part of the imperial host in the south, the Empire did not stand a chance. They managed to win some battles in the south, but the joined Coastland-Frostland army crushed their defenses in the north. In less than a year from the decisive battle, Stonewall was already under siege. And we won…or did we? With new conflicts on horizon, Henry was not too sure they handled the victory correctly. John.We should have seen through that guy. He betrayed his Emperor, what was stopping him from betraying us as well? And now Bat again…
A messenger interrupted him from remembering the past, bringing him a sealed letter. A request for my presence from the Chairman. Henry thanked the man and followed him. It was already getting dark outside, the streets were starting to empty and city guardsmen were lighting torches in front of the City Hall. The messenger accompanied Henry to the Chairman's rooms, where he left him. Henry knocked on the door.
»Enter.« said the voice on the other side. The Chairman was sitting behind his desk, signing a pile of parchments. He looked up. »How are we with Bat?«
»We're making progress, sir. We believe he is using bats to spy on us. We caught one nearby, the Guild is examining him as we speak.«
»Good.« The Chairman stood up. »Our spies have made a breakthrough as well. We learned the identity of one of Bat's accomplices.«
»Really? That's amazing, sir. Have you apprehended him yet?«
»I'm about to do it right away. Guards!«
Henry did not understand. »What is going on?« Five guardsmen approached him, one was holding a rope in his hands.
»You know damn well what's going on.« The Chairman gave him a sharp stare before he looked to the guards. »Take him. Extract as much information out of him as you can.«

[Divisor]

Dennis

»My head hurts.« Davis complained when Woody put a cold towel over his head.
»You don't say,« Dennis smiled. »You were hit on the head and knocked out for almost two days. No big surprise you're feeling pain.«
»Two days?! We're wasting time here, let's go!«
»Not yet.« Dennis pushed the eager Davis back down. »First you need to recover. Rest, be quiet and it'll take less.«
It took a whole afternoon for Davis to finally recover enough for them to continue traveling. They set out of the camp the next morning.
»We should be at the crossroads the day after tomorrow.« Dennis announced. »We'll split up there, I'll take the southern road to Fallentree and you two the northern one to Tai Hom Village.«
His companions nodded. »Listen,« Davis said »I had a strange dream while I was knocked out.«
»Dream?« Dennis frowned. »You were unconscious, you couldn't possibly dream.«
»I don't know what it was, but I saw things. I saw John and some woman, making plans about something. They said they required Firen and Freeze and someone else for an experiment.«
»Can you describe the room you were in?«
When Davis was finished with his desctiption, Dennis couldn't believe it. What the hell?
»What's wrong?« Woody apparently noticed his disbelief.
»I was in that room before.« He turned against Davis »You, on the other hand, were not.«
»What?« Davis looked confused.
»What you described is the Forbidden Tower.« He got all the details correctly, the windows, the pillars, the red carpet…what's going on? »I was inside that room after the war, when the leaders of the four countries met and discussed the future of the continent.« He remembered it as it were yesterday: Firen, Freeze, John, Coastland leaders. Army generals from all four countries. The room where we signed the peace was the same one where that peace was broken. How ironic. But the bigger question was, how did Davis know that room? He was not inside when the peace negotiations took place, and as far as Dennis knew Davis had never stepped inside in his life. Then how is he able to describe it with such accuracy?
Davis seemed equally dumbfounded.
»I've never set a foot inside…how is this possible?«
»I don't know.« Dennis admitted. »But whatever those dreams were, we need to take them seriously. You said that woman was from Heatlands…can you describe her?«
Davis told Dennis and Woody everything he remembered about the woman. It's not much, but if she's on the court, maybe I can identify her.
»If John has a spy in the Heatlands, it could provide him big advantage over us. I'll look for her at court, maybe I get lucky.« he said aloud.
»Aye.« Davis said »Anyway, I just remembered…what happened to those attackers? Who were they?«
»We don't know,« Woody replied »They weren't scavengers though. They were armed with castle-forged steel and wore quality armor, not like your usual outlaw. We suspect mercenaries.«
»Mercs? That means someone must have hired them to prey on the travelers…but who?«
»Rocklands? You said that in your dreams, you saw the woman report to John that Coastlands sent emissaries to Heatlands. Wouldn't it be a wise move to send men to intercept us?«
»True, but why sellswords? Why not the army?«
»Sending an army to another country's territory is literally declaring a war. John probably isn't ready to wage war on us just yet, so he sent mercenaries, knowing we won't be able to connect them to him. Anyway, we need to watch out. There might be more of them along the way.«

The rest of the journey, however, went without much trouble. They reached the crossroads two days later, as planned. The road split into three: left to Tai Hom Village, right to Fallentree and straight to Rocky Town, a village on the Rockland border.
»So, I guess this is it.« Woody turned towards Dennis.
»Yeah. Have a safe journey you guys. Sooner or later, we will meet again.«
Davis and Woody hugged him, said goodbye and started towards Tai Hom Village. Dennis watched them leave for a little while, before he departed for his own destination. So, it has begun.