Chapter 8: Another Rotheran, Another Obstacle

Angel walked slowly into Brekl's outskirts. The town could not be even called a town. The houses were boarded up, barricaded and the Boreas Military had already moved in to secure the town and the wall that borders their snowy country. Barracks were quickly made and a lot of the townspeople were put to work at making arms, fortifying the border , and other jobs. Blacksmiths and other merchants were numerous in number, as many are not allowed to cross the border.The blue Soldier tents were countless and are nestled right along the wall. Angel could distinguish a tent that stood larger then the rest, coloured in a intricate green colour, I guess that is the officer's tent Angel thought. Angel looked at the great wall the loomed over  the town. It glowed in the midday sun, because the wall isn't really a wall, but a shelf of ice. The top most part of the wall has been shaved and had dirt and salt placed on top so the soldiers won't slip and fall twenty feet to the ground. The gate was stood enormous with intricate designs.The designs were the figures of the Heroes that defeated Lord Ekard. At the top of the design, over shapes of clouds and birds, it shows Kryta Borea, Norman Sylph and Idilia Sotha, all standing proudly over the shadowy figure of Ekard. Below the figure and clouds, are thousands of stick figures all with their hands to the sky, hailing to the heroes. But the problem is that the gate was chained and barred shut. Angel sighed, this war just causes him more and more problems. Angel walked by a pair of kids who were  holding miniature swords and shields. They tussled with each other, fighting playfully and calling out names of the hero's of Borea.

The blonde child held his sword high,"I am Kryta Borea! The strongest of the heroes!", he called out, standing triumphantly! The child who had a pot on his head laughed and said," I am Marka Gram! The strongest of knights!!", and he charged the other boy.The blonde laughed in response,"She is a girl! She can't hope to win against me, Kryta!", the other boy roared and they began their battle. Angel shook his head, children should not glorify war, he thought as he watched the two boys who had now forsaken their arms and were rolling in the dirt.

" Sickening sight, that it is.", someone stated. Angel looked over to see a man that had the knights garb of Sylph, trimmed with green. The man smiled at Angel,"You think the same as well.", Angel narrowed his eyes," How do you know that?", he replied. The man looked back down at the two kids, who were still rolling in the dirt without even caring about the two men standing a few feet away.

"A Rotheran who looks at simple child's play like this and displays regret in his eyes. I'm pretty sure that is a sure sign that you don't agree with what they are doing, that you don't.", he explained.

Angel blinked a few times," If you say I am Rotheran, then you are too.", the man smiled but didn't look away from the children. He put his fingers into his mouth and blew through them, making a high whistle. After a moment, small sounds were heard and then a small puppy came running from the  soldier's tents. The children stopped fighting and watched the puppy bound over to the man and jump up at him. The man snatched him from the air and began to laugh,"Lymle! How are you?", the white dog wagged her tail and started licking at his face. The children, who had dirt on their faces and coats, walked over and stared in awe of the pretty puppy. The man put the puppy down and told the kids they could play with her. Angel stood in the awe of how the man was so in tune with the dog. He spoke a few words to the dog just before he put her down, and she immediately played with the kids, without even looking back at him. The man rubbed his hands together," My name is Bishop and I am a Rotheran, that I am." , Angel stared into Bishop's eyes, they are blue but they have the warrior's spirit inside, though dim. Angel thought it was odd, even in the oldest of Rotherfolk, the warrior's spirit is easily seen, but I have to really look to see his. Bishop pulled the knight garb around his chest more,"Shall we go inside? It's awfully cold.", he asked, walking slowly to the soldier side of town. Angel started following but he stopped and looked at the puppy,"What about your dog?", Bishop snapped his fingers. He cupped his hands around his mouth,"Lymle! Once you tire out those children, come back to the tent!",he called out, a small bark responded and he smiled at Angel. "All taken care of, don't worry she is smarter than most pups." Angel followed Bishop who led him pass all the tents and guards, eventually coming to the large tent he saw before. Bishop pushed the green cloth aside and entered with Angel behind him. Inside the tent was warm and large, not to say cozy. A makeshift fireplace stood in the center and all around  it stood lots of furniture,books,maps and weapons. Bishop placed his garb on the back of his chair and sat down. He motioned to Angel to sit at the chair opposite of him, he did. Angel took off his cloak and placed it on the back of his own chair and sat down.

"Anything to drink?", Bishop asked, pulling the pot from the stand that hung over the fire and pouring himself some type of dark liquid. Angel could smell the putrid odor the liquid gave off.

"No thanks", he replied, rubbing his nose a bit. Bishop placed the pot back to it's stand and drank his cup.

" Why are you away from the homeland,Bishop.", Angel asked, having his doubts on the man in front of him. No other Rotheran for the last thirty years had left the homeland, and that was Shey Daryl.

Bishop sat back in his chair,"I guess that you know Shey was the last to leave,I also left with Shey all those years ago. Shey and I were siblings, and both pacifists, that we were. We came here hoping to get away from war and fighting.  But pacifism means as much as it did at home. Shey and I were cornered by Sylph troops, who were trying to capture us because we had no Rite of Passage papers. We both killed the entire patrol and ran. We came to this border but we were stopped by the Sylph commander and his regiment of troops. We killed half of his troops until he was able to come behind Shey and hold a knife to her throat. I begged him to let her go, but he said that he wanted us to be in the army. If I said no, he was going to kill her, that he would.", Bishop took another drink of his cup and then rubbed his head. He took a moment and the continued on with his story," I decided to join the army, while Shey was allowed to go over the border. She wrote to me countless times, while I rose in the ranks of the army. She wrote how she found a honest working man in a town far to the north. When I was promoted to become a Knight Emissary of Sylph, she wrote to me that she had a beautiful baby girl. I was happy that she was happy but I was sad that I couldn't see either of them,that I was. But suddenly the letters stopped, and I fear that she is dead.", Bishop admitted, looking into the cup, tilting it to move the dark liquid.

" She is dead, but I know the daughter.", Angel finally stated, pulling a red letter from the cloak that hung behind him and handing it to Bishop. Bishop took the letter slowly. His hands began to shake while he opened the letter. He pulled out a  folded piece of parchment and unfolded it, revealing many pages. He began to read the letter, Angel stood from the chair and began walking around the tent to observe a bit. He looked at the various weapons that littered the sides of the tent, from puny knives to large swords known as Claymores, this man had it all. Then their were weapons that even Angel hasn't seen, like the Rapier, a very elegant weapon that has a curved outside handle protecting the user's hand. Angel moved onward to a large desk where he saw many pieces of parchment and quills to write with. He saw a large grey familiar book on the desk. He picked up the book and read the cover,"Dawn and Dusk", a Rotheran folktale of the power of the sun and the moon.The story is about how their was a Rotheran who was gifted with certain powers from both the times of day, he used them for good and evil, showing the point of the story. The point of the story, is that of balance, everything evens out. Angel smiled a bit,reminiscing about reading this book with his mother and brother, but he soon noticed a large piece of paper sticking out. He tugged it out and saw that it was a wanted poster. Angel looked over it and saw a rough sketch of himself on it, he frowned a bit and slowly placed the book and the paper on the desk.

He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword,"Don't worry, I won't turn you in, that I certainly won't.",Bishop said sternly, standing behind Angel. Angel turned to him and crossed his arms," What did the letter say?", he asked.

Bishop looked down at his handful of papers, and then looked back up at Angel and smiled,"Filled me in about the last few years. It was mentioned in the letter that you are hoping to cross into Sylph. I can help with that, but it won't be easy, that it won't.",Bishop began to pace around the tent, looking for something. Lymle came bounding in, panting hard after tiring out the two children from before. She began barking and hopping around Bishop, who was scrounging around for something. Bishop stopped for a second and whispered something to the white puppy. The puppy barked in response and made a beeline for the desk, and jumped onto the chair. It began scratching at one of the drawers, trying to get inside, but making no progress. Angel leaned over and opened the drawer for the puppy, but she just stared at him. It made no sound and stopped panting, it just stood there watching Angel. Angel raised in eyebrow, this dog is odd, he thought to himself.

Bishop walked over,"It's in here?", he reached into the desk and pulled out a few papers, but he eventually found what he was looking for. He pulled out a old map, which he smoothed out onto the desk. The puppy stood in a daze watching Angel, but Bishop shoved her a little bit and she hopped off the chair. He sat on the chair and pointing at the map, which Angel found to be the architects plan of the wall.

"Now, we are here, but a little ways down the wall, is a little slip up by the builders. The builders accidentally caused a crack at the bottom of the wall, which is large enough for a person to crawl through. The problem is that it is the most guarded spot on the wall being so near the coast, and also it is plugged with a thin sheet of ice to conceal it.", Bishop slid his finger to the point where the flaw was made. Angel shook his head,"Then I can't get through.", Bishop laughed," Faith is needed, and a Knight Emissary of course. I will mark the spot when I relieve the watch, you...", Bishop slid his finger from the point and went southward to a small village labeled as Cereblanc,"...need to run as fast as you can before the guard is situated,that you do." Bishop stood up and rolled the map up, he handed it to Angel.

"A gift for delivering the letter, I am surprised she found me here.", Angel walked to his chair and threw on his cloak.

" She is a good scout, a perfect example of a Rotheran woman. But she doesn't talk much and is pretty cryptic when ever she said 'Rotheran'." Bishop  chuckled a bit and petted Lymle who was still staring at Angel.

"It's because she remembered her mother and me, because we are Rotheran,that we are." Angel tied on the cloak and then faced Bishop,"Can we go now?", he asked impatiently. Bishop stood up,"Indeed, lucky that the guard has been there for half night,that it is.", he grabbed his garb and walked out of tent with Angel, while Lymle sat staring at the cloth door.