Many footsteps could be heard along the the stone pavement leading to the Beiamy high command in the Norean division of the Braunian Empire. It was a large castle at least 100 years old, and it was larger and older than the command's headquarters in Deiamy . The castle had belonged to the king of Beiamy before the Braunian empire conquered the kingdom and turned his palace into its headquarters.
Many troops poured in and out from its confines. This morning, however, more troops were gathered than usual. This was because of a growing security threat in the region which the governor wanted to address.
There must have been at least 10,000 men in the courtyard, all eagerly waiting for the governor to give his eagerly awaited speech.
After a while, the governor made his way to the top of the podium.
The governor; a tall, fat man with a large bald spot in his grey hair, walked gingerly to the voice amplifier and began to speak in a loud, clear voice.
At first, he greeted them with the empire's slogans.
"There is no peace!" he exclaimed.
"without war!" came the chorused reply of all 10,000 men present.
"There is no peace!" he screamed again.
"without war!" came the response again from the crowd.
He then became silent once again to allow the mood to settle in and build another spasm of anticipation.
He paced the stage back and forth for a few seconds,
before he began to speak again.
"Comrades, I greet you this morning, bearing the seal of the king of this empire, Thrane the Fourth. May he live long."
"Long live the king!" thundered the crowd once again.
The governor nodded his head slowly before continuing to speak again.
"Comrades, by now most of you must have heard the rumors of an uprising of some sort, young impressionable scum of Norea trying to pull at the empire's hair, stealing from us. How dare they?!" he said, spitting on the floor with a look of utmost disgust on his face.
The crowd let out a loud boo, some soldiers even stomping their feet on the ground in display of anger and indignation.
He let out a cough before he continued his speech.
"These rascals have ways to make new weapons to cause chaos. These weapons or explosive devices are primitive in nature but still enough to cause damage. Last night, whilst trying to prosecute a Norean who aided in the burglary of the command's headquarters in Deiamy, our men were interrupted by these hoodlums who barely managed to escape with the culprit.
This is the second time that this sort of incident has happened this week. Are we becoming soft, are we becoming senile that our thumb is no longer firmly placed on our colony? Will we let them stand against us?" he asked, to which the crowd replied with a resounding "No."
He paused again to let the emotions simmer into a tense atmosphere.
"I thought as much, which is why I'm here again to reaffirm our authority and reorient you all on our mission on this soil. Norea is ours to take and no one can stand against us. And make no mistake about it, the culprits will not go unpunished. We will find them and crush their uprising. It is with this agenda in mind that I declare a curfew in the regions of Ortovy, Deiamy, Beiamy, Aromb, Garam, and Sorlay. After 6pm, no citizen should be allowed to walk the streets of the aforementioned regions. Any citizen who goes against the curfew should be arrested and dealt with.
Further, I am deploying the 5th, 7th, 16th, and 27th legions into the Darron forests and the Orlovy mountains. We must find the culprits, dead or alive. And I hope and believe that soon order will be restored. Thank you," he said, to which the crowd began to clap and cheer in loud voices.
"There is no peace!"
"Without war!"
"No peace!"
"Without war!"
He got off the podium and walked into the castle hall escorted by some soldiers
One by one, the soldiers slowly dispersed the large courtyard to return to their various duty posts.
Sir Bryan Thorne, deputy captain of the 27th legion, who had stood very close to the podium while the governor made his speech, also made his way into the castle.
Bryan Thorne was still a young man, not too young that he would not be considered a man in many circles, but too young to become the deputy captain of a legion—at just the age of 25.
He was tall, handsome, with long auburn hair that reached his shoulders and had hazel eyes. He was regarded by many to be the best sharpshooter in all of the regiment.
He walked slowly through the hall and climbed up the stairs to the second floor and made his way to the tower. From there, he climbed to the top of the tower, which was being guarded by many soldiers on each side, but none bothered him or restricted his movement because of his insignias.
When he got to the top of the tower, the guard opened the door to let him into a large oval room. In the room, there were about 30 men, about 10 of them were seated around a table while the rest of the men in the room sat down in chairs away from the table, whilst some soldiers stood guard.
These men were all high-ranking members of the Norean division of the empire: the governor, generals, commissioners, captains, and other deputy captains like himself.
Bryan raised his hand in salute to the governor, who nodded in acknowledgement to his presence.
Bryan then took a seat on a far side of the room away from everyone.
The governor, who sat at the head of the table, began to speak again, this time he spoke in a low, more humane and less frenzied voice than earlier. Even his mannerisms were now more tame and humble.
"Alright, Fedor, give me an analysis on the situation," he said.
A middle-aged, stocky soldier stood up and saluted before saying,
"Our troops have located the stolen gold in the Darron forests. We also found some half-burnt cloth articles at the site of the first explosion—the kind of fabric worn by peasant farmers in the village of Deiamy, which means that the perpetrators are young men from the farming village. The only survivor of that explosion confirmed that earlier. The cloth only serves to confirm his account. We have begun to make many arrests and interrogations, but so far, nothing substantial has been found."
The governor nodded his head and sighed deeply.
He turned his head to look at the faces of every man in the room before he said in a low tone,
"Do you think that the wizards have risen again?" he asked.
But no one answered him. The room was as quiet as a graveyard.
Only a dark-haired, middle-aged soldier managed to raise his hand.
The governor then gave him permission to speak.
This was General Dwinne, a seasoned veteran and one of the best tacticians of the division.
"Comrades, I understand the tension. This sort of thing has not really happened in a long time. Most of us here have not had any encounters with magic. The few of us who have are limited to the knowledge passed down from our fathers. Only a handful of us have actually had a confrontation with the supernatural.
The eyewitness accounts suggest that certain sword-bearing figures with supernatural powers are beginning to rise again. The last time I saw something like that was almost 30 years ago when I was first deployed here—at the Battle of Ortovy.
But despite the supernatural powers of these figures, we were able to overwhelm them with our superior technology, and if we could do it then, we can do it now," he said,
to which the room erupted into applause, with many nodding their heads in agreement.
"So what do you suggest we should do?"
The governor asked.
"I know you have asked for about 5 legions to be deployed into Darron forests and the mountains, but I think that it would be too drastic to do that now. I think that if we did that, they would try to escape to other regions and spread calamity. We have to give them the illusion we are threatened by them, so I don't think we should put out a manhunt—at least not a public manhunt—but we should organize a small task force consisting of some of our best soldiers, some of our most experienced with dealing with Norean voodoo craft. This task force will track them down and reduce them to nothing, slowly and quietly, without making the empire look vulnerable."
The room got quiet again when he said this.
The governor was silent for a long time,
before he said,
"So General Dwinne, you think a covert operation is the best way to go about it. I understand your reasoning, but the problem is only a handful of soldiers in this division fit the bill, and even if you were able to put together this task force, who would lead them?"
The room got quiet even though General Dwinne was silent.
"I'll go," said Sir Bryan.
A hush fell upon the room and heads turned upon Bryan, who had been mostly silent and non-social during the meeting.
"The great Bryan Thorne, hero of the 3rd or 4th international conquests of Callen. Do you wish to extend your reputation further?"
General Dwinne asked.
Bryan knew at this point that all eyes were on him but he wasn't intimidated,he already made up his mind to volunteer the moment he heard the word wizard.
Bryan stood up and sighed before saluting the governor once more.
"Honorable Governor Calvin, I greet you sir, and all present. I agree with General Dwinne. I think this matter should be addressed with laser precision. So I will go after them myself."
Everyone gasped, including the governor.
"What do you mean yourself? You're trying to say you will go on the mission alone?" the general asked.
"Yes sir, I believe I can gather information more quickly and efficiently, and make a proper evaluation of the situation whilst keeping them at bay. I will report routinely to this council so as to give a proper scale of this uprising,"
Bryan said.
"Hmmm… are you sure about this?" the governor asked,
and Bryan nodded in affirmation.
The governor stood up and walked to the window to look at the city.
He turned around finally and said,
"This empire was built on the strong will and determination of men like you. Don't let us down, Bryan. Go and bring their heads to us."
"I will not let you down, Governor,"
Bryan said before bowing his head and exiting the room.