A Tale of Ashen Wings - Chapter 3: The Ursaren Captain
Mykolas had watched the scene unfurl
from his captain's office. The curtains were drawn and the picture was clearly
painted in the dawning light of overcast skies beginning to clear. He had
witnessed the death of the last two Nords, and now watched as Veratus and the
guards cleaned up the area. The Ursaren captain's singular right eye focused on
Veratus in particular, and his fist slightly clenched but his face remained
stone and immovable.The feeling of seeing Veratus emerging
triumphant and apparently heroic made the captain feel sick. Stifled memories
breached the floodgates of a restrained mind, only briefly, but enough to make
Mykolas' anger rise. He shook his head free of the undisciplined thoughts, and
made to leave the office, opening the door to the rest of the barracks,
surprised eyes immediately drew to his appearance. Mykolas did not care to
return their looks, and simply cast his gaze forward on his path. He had seen
those looks too many times before, and once they were accompanied by words;
vicious and disgusted words.But it did not stop hushed whispers as
soon as his back was turned away.
"How
did we come to serve a disgusting animal who once tore our people apart for
sport?" one guard whispered to his partner, who
scowled at the thought.
"Mercy
of the Tribunal as a joke." He replied. They
both returned to their break as soon as the captain had left.
Mykolas stepped out of the barracks and
onto the parade grounds and walked towards Veratus and the guards. They hauled
the bodies onto a cart with the rest of the executed Nords, or what remained of
them. Everything was cleaned up, except for Ulric's head. As Veratus picked it
up slowly, Mykolas laughed.
"They
must have done something much more sinister than burn down villages if the
'Tribunal' saw fit to execute them." Mykolas remarked.
Veratus glanced at the one-eyed Ursaren
who stood almost a head taller than he did. He ignored the inquiring remark as
he took in how different Mykolas looked wearing armour befitting a captain of
the guard. The eyepatch over his left eye, however, was a sore reminder for
Veratus of what he had done to Mykolas to bring him where he was now. It had
been almost two years ago, and yet he could still hear the roaring of a wild
bear and the thunder of the clouds. It was because, perhaps, Veratus had not
seen Mykolas since that day.
"Was
it so unspeakable that the Ordinator cannot utter a word to me?" Mykolas
pressed toward Veratus, who cleared his throat and stepped back slightly.
"No,
I was just--Catching up with present times." Veratus replied. "Uh... I cannot speak for these Nords. All I
knew was that they were to be executed." He added to answer Mykolas'
question. The imposing bear raised an eyebrow, but then noticed the guards
eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Back
to work, you sorry bunch of scribs!" He bellowed at them,
and as he did, the guards scurried off to work quickly. Mykolas scoffed and
then looked back at Veratus.
The quiet Ordinator was obviously
taking in the sight of Mykolas as he looked now, so he returned the favour by
taking in the sight of Veratus. As he did, though, a lingering thought at the
back of his head felt angry. The thought was an infuriated question, as to how
such a small being was able to bring down a mighty beast like Mykolas. His
scornful eye blinked, and was replaced with an eye for the present.
"Not
like it matters to me, really." Mykolas said as he
skipped over the head in Veratus' hands. "But
apart from right now, is an Ordinator such as your own self very busy?" Mykolas
asked curiously.
Veratus raised an eyebrow.
"Are
you asking if I'm free after this?" Veratus inquired with
equal curiosity. Mykolas chuckled.
"Namely
for dinner at the Nighting Mare." Mykolas clarified. A
thought made Veratus smirk. "... What's so
funny?" Mykolas asked.
"I
would probably pick the Masros for a romantic date, myself." The
Ordinator retorted.
Mykolas blushed with a mixture of
embarrassment and annoyance.
"A
chat! I just want to chat, you smartass swine!" Mykolas
exclaimed. Veratus shrugged as he barely restrained his smirk.
"I
had no idea courtship was reduced to a chat." He
remarked. "What's next, arena and
chill?" Mykolas grew silent with frustration.
In the end, Veratus just smiled and
patted Mykolas on the shoulder. "Nighting
Mare tonight. I got it." He finally replied, before turning away and
walking off with the head tucked under his arm. "You can tell me about how being a guard captain is!" He added
aloud with a wave over his head.
"Paperwork is
rubbish!" Mykolas shouted back, and laughter only flowed
back to him. The Ursaren stood there for a moment, and then smiled to himself. "But life is good." He added softly,
before returning to his office.