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Warm Up - 11 | Dying of the Light

Evere rested himself upon one knee atop the cliff edge that overlooked the Cracked Stones of Machasm's Fall. Below presented a near-accurate retelling of Machasm's Fall, except it wasn't by the Fallen King Sigisig Machasm.

Over the dry plains where plant life dared not grow were legions of men, animals, and sotinomes who laid there, still and rotting. Evere's compatriots, deers in steel armor, colored maroon by its matching sun, slid down their cliffs and dashed to scrounge up any of their remains worth looting; daggers, swords, plates that were not stuck with decayed matter, and most of all: Machasm's Tears.

Evere was not one to desecrate corpses, even if it were the invaders. Maim, mangle, and clobber- sure, but nothing this sacrilegious. And that his aforementioned compatriots did the work for him for he was their haggler on the under-table markets. The best he's done was sell these exotic armor plates, the stench of death still on them, for three hundred Hivris each. Equal to his full kit of superior quality.

He had taken his helmet off, thinking of who to sell today's bounty to, and for how much. From afar he could already tell that Kav, the doe who wielded a broadsword, collected daggers and coins, the latter a part of her collection. Vasenou, the fastest one amongst them, only took what was shiny thus the easiest to barter with. His sister, Launa, followed close by and took the actual shinies under their armor. She's also had the worst odor, yet the most net value out of all of them.

Tigrith and Yverson were adopted brothers, the former a strongshield and paired with the latter, a strongsword. They were preoccupied with Hivris and Tashurks, checking pockets and pouches. Typical of mercenaries, which was why Evere respected them most even if Launa was second to keeping their group afloat.

After having gone through a hundred corpses, Tigrith and Yverson had tied up several capes of the fallen and used it to haul their loot. Bag was full and would tear under normal circumstances though it seemed they had found a captain's cloak. That itself was four hundred Hivris minimum.

Evere stood, holding up his largebow, twice his height yet a quarter his weight in full armor. The helmet was fitted once more before he slid down the cliffside with his weapon dragged to decrease the momentum.

Once his crew gathered close, he congratulated them on the cape alone, the adopted brothers claiming the glory. Vasenou found the shiniest arm guards and shields he had ever seen, enough for their reflections to show, and Launa outdid him by showing talismans that blocked magic.

Evere simply casted flame in his hand, a faint glow of dark orange that extinguished itself close to said trinket. And Vasenou would stutter trying to defend his bounty, and remarking on Launa having smelled of dead Layer Wyrms. It was accustomed at this rate, these sidejabs between the two or so he hoped would remain.

Kav's was the most intriguing, having called their attention, talks of wealth had died down. Laid out on another cape, not of a captain's- a chaplain's. A series of eighteen daggers, pommels of similar make but different designs onto them.

"Different species," Launa quickly pointed out.

Everyone's eyes trailed from one dagger's pommel to another. There was the symbol of a dragon's head, a lion's face with wings, a plain crocodile, and several more. When everyone had gone through it thrice, they all turned to Evere with wonder. Tigrith and Yverson were chanting a high value of Hyvris; ornate daggers that would be two thousand altogether.

Kav suggested the scholars, and sell it to them for five thousand. Vasenou chimed in with the same sentiments, which Launa agreed to as well. But the final decision still fell to the biggest deer.

Evere loved their suggestions and took it a step further, he would sell it to the Veilian Scholars, revered across the land, for ten thousand Hyvris. And so the others erupted in a cheer, with a spun dance between the strongshield and strongsword.

And they were all quieted down by the deep spatial hum of the Inner Eclipse- the dark red sun centered by their moon, yet light persisted. Their revelries turned to a proceeding, to kneel before the Inner Eclipse with their helmets off and heads down.

Maroon armor had become a charred shade, excluding those on the dead bodies as well as those in the burlapped cape. The pommels on the daggers, which Evere and Kav noticed, glew colors unnatural to their world. They had no name for blue, green, and purple.

Evere whispered, "Forty thousand to the Veilians." And everyone heard. Nobody cheered.