The Ghost's Crusade

Chapter II: Akkali

“What say your better half?”

At this the man grinned slyly at her, the secrets they shared between them always proving more of an amusement than a burden. She used to think anyone who knew what she kept hidden would use it against her, but the Inferi at least had proven that assumption wrong rather quickly—and she had come to find that it was a relief to have someone else to speak with about the things the rest of the world could never know or understand. “He's on the fence about it.”

“Aaah,” she said with a sarcastic nod. “The revenant code-phrase for he just doesn't give a piss if it's not from Pandemonium.”

“You have him there.” Drystan chuckled. “Come on, let's get the lay of the land, shall we? It should prove interesting.”

“If you say so.” She re-adjusted her pack and continued trudging along the road with a bit of reluctance. “First time I came here I had to fight two duels of honor because Galenfyr got caught between the legs of one of the Ovan's betrothed daughters.”

“First time, hmm?” The man's head perked up slightly. She rarely spoke in specifics about her years spent enslaved to an Imperial Oratio so any information she did let slip he seized upon. “Tell me she was at least pretty.”

“Horse-faced and how.” She shrugged. “Amply gifted between the chin and waist however, which is all he cares about really. I think they sent her to the cloister to pray the urges away. Seems to be a habit with your zealots.” A smug smirk lifted up the corner of her mouth. “Habit! I kill myself sometimes.”

“My zealots, hmm?” He shook his head. “I'll wager that worked out really well.”

“Either that or the Ovan has a horde of bastards he's fostered out to every keep between here and Warsfenn.” She grinned at him. “From what I saw back then she was very benevolent with her good graces.”

This garnered a laugh from Drystan. “Suppose we'll find out. I think etiquette demands I go meet him first.”

“It's good to know one of us cares about that fool's parade. Too bad Arathron has to sit through it too.”

"Ah he just ignores most of it and harasses my patience by making comment after snide comment the likes of which I usually expect from our beloved Enkiri cynic."

Akkali chuckled at his snipe. "That's why I like him more than you."

"Oh, you wound me so!" cried the man with an exaggerated wave of his hand towards his heart. Seeing that she was not in the mood to join him in his theatrics he turned and eyed the gate wearily. "Come on, let's get this done and over with."

They came to the central gate into the city and were halted by the guards at the wall. They were all fancifully dressed in regalia that befitted a king's welcome, only there was no king to be seen. Beneath their polished winged helms not one of them could have been much older than eighteen or so summers—too young and bushy-tailed, in her opinion, to be manning the front door to one's oft-besieged city. Still, they looked quite proud in their blue-and-brown tunics and shiny chainmail jerkins, holding up everyone who crossed through the portcullis as if they were very important and the passers-by very dangerous.

Judging by the way some of them kept their swords at their sides she could dismantle all five of them in little more than a minute, the two nearest to her dying before they had time to draw their weapons. She wondered where they had put all the good, experienced guards that were actually worth their salt. They had probably been relegated to patrolling some out-of-the-way quarter of the city because their scarred faces were deemed too unsightly for public display despite being completely masked by face shields.