A Place To Rest

As you and Ashe talked about the sight before you, what you saw as you got closer to the Turth was true. About a few thousand meters south of the river itself, Rathkin had set up an entire base, they had camps and tents laid out and warriors spread as far across the land as your eyes could see, all relaxing and taking a break as they wait for war.

You saw many of the Rathkin warriors standing up and gazing off towards the horizon you just came from. They were keeping tabs on your movements to make sure there would be no surprises. The plan would be to set up a base north of the Turth and then tomorrow morning you would march across the river and wage war against the Rathkin forces.

"Whelp..." you slide off your tiger with a giant exhale of air, "Finally made it, time to spread our forces out, set up base and relax for the remainder of the night."

"I'll say..." Ashe hops off her tiger as well before rubbing her ass, "As comfortable as tigers are, after riding that long your ass always hurts."

"And not in the good way." You wink at your High Commander causing a puff of air to escape her lips, "Either way, get some water girl." you pet the bridge of your tiger's nose as you nod off towards the river. She and Ashe's tiger immediately walk together towards the river and the entire time, watchful eyes from Rathkin were keeping locked in from a distance on the animals, making sure nothing suspicious was going on.

You look upon your entire army, "Spread out my warriors! Set up the tents and camps, prepare food, drink plenty of water to hydrate yourself and enjoy the night around the Turth!" you shout to the north, telling your warriors. You would have to keep this up as the trail of warriors and civilians marching south was as far back as your eyes could see, "Tomorrow at dawn, we go to war, until then, enjoy the night, don't drink too much, don't fuck too late and get some God damn rest so you're ready to fight tomorrow!" you order getting a few laughs from the warriors as they begin to spread out.

Another thirty minutes go by as you and Ashe stand around and watch the army spread out far down the Turth, you watch the tents getting set up and warriors sitting around building small fires, eating food, sharing drinks and trying to relax for the night. It must have been a great feeling for so many of these warriors as the majority of them had to walk this entire way. With the sun getting closer and closer to the horizon the heat of the day was over, it was now a comfortable evening temperature with clear blue skies, a perfect last night.

"Hello Darien and Ashe!!!" a boisterous voice bellows out, "We're here!!!"

You turn your head and look at Sylvius and Felix, "Hello brothers!" you smile back, happy to see your two good friends. As you look at them, you notice both Sylvius and Felix are riding on a huge carriage with four horses pulling the giant thing, "What were you two tasked with bringing?"

"You didn't tell him, Ashe?" Sylvius questions the red head.

"Tell me what?" you ask as you turn your head towards your High Commander with a raised eyebrow.

"No leader of ours is going to sleep outside!" Felix informs you, "Tonight, you sleep in style!!" he points his thumb over his shoulder pointing at the rather large carriage.

"Uhh..." your voice murmurs out as you're still slightly confused.

"Over there, boys!" Ashe points about a hundred feet out over by some trees. With a simple nod, Felix and Sylvius guide the carriage over to the trees, hop off their horses and begin remove them from their reins. "So," Ashe grips your forearm and pulls you over towards the carriage, "I know you've slept in carriages before but this is a larger than normal one." she tells you as she pulls you along, "It has a bed, a table, a few chairs, a dresser, it's basically like a house on wheels." she smiles at you, "And tonight, it's yours!"

"Whaaa?" you look at it, "That's amazing, but...I'm fine sleeping outside if somebody else needs it..." you grumble out as Ashe pulls you along.

"Oh hush up!" the two of you stop in front of the door, "Well, go on!" Ashe steps behind you and pushes up towards the door to enter inside, "Go go go!" she playfully orders.

You open the door to the carriage and step inside and honestly you are quite blown away. There is a moderately large sized bed, enough for at least three or four people, a table with three chairs around it, a dresser which holds some clothes as well as many shelves that hold random storage and items. "Damn, this is better than some houses I've seen..." you release a few laughs, "But why me? I'm fine with a hammock..."

"Oh come on Darien," Ashe steps inside right behind you, "It's for you and me!" she tells you.

"Is that so?" you turn your head around looking at her, "You think I'm going to share this with you?" your hands cross over your chest, "I mean, Felix and Sylvius did all the work to bring this down here, maybe I'll share it with them."

"Wanna get your ass fucked by Felix before you get your ass fucked by Rathkin?" Ashe jests.

"Ouch..." you shake your head, "Rude."

Ashe gives you a cocky shrug, "Anyway, I'll get all the scrolls and scriptures out first and before we go to sleep we can discuss some of the battle plans for tomorrow one final time. It'll give us some peace and quiet away from everybody else so we can really focus one last time before sleep." she moves over towards some of the shelves in the corner where most likely the same map of the continent her and Karisi were looking over before is rolled up.

You nod at what she says, "Smart idea actually, it's almost as if I can actually count on you sometimes..." you tease as you trail your fingers around the heavy woolen blanket draped across the bed. It was definitely a very wealthy carriage and you could only imagine a lot of high class traveling merchants probably have carriages similar to this so when they are on the road constantly they don't have to find cities or taverns to sleep in.

It isn't long after that that the front door begins to knock, "Come in!" you shout out as instantly Felix and Sylvius barge their way inside.

"Darien!!!" Felix shouts out as he steps inside, "How do you like this carriage?! Bad fucking ass, eh?" he smiles as he places both his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, Darien!" Sylvius replies immediately, "This was all for you, make sure you have a comfortable night before war!" he grins at you, happy as can be.

"Guys..." you shake your head back and forth, "I have no words, I wasn't expecting this but man...this is amazing. I'm sure I'll sleep extremely well tonight!" you have an ear to ear smile. "Although apparently Ashe over there," you point over your shoulder at the girl who is still pulling some scrolls out from the desk drawers, "Already claims I have to allow her to sleep here as well even though I told her that since you two did all the work, that I should allow you two to spend the night here."

Felix licks his lips and raises his eyebrows a few times, "If you needed some extra warmth for the night..." his voice trails off. "I'd be happy to oblige."

"Hah!" you release a few laughs alongside both Sylvius and Felix, "Unfortunately boys, I guess I'm stuck with her tonight." you turn your head to Ashe who rolls her eyes and sets down a bunch of paper on the table. She unrolls the maps, bringing out the very same items that her and Karisi were drawing and planning on back at the Syndicate.

You start to daydream about all the times Felix and Sylvius have been there for you and even recall all the random nights you couldn't remember. It made you think about all the situations these two men have been around for, such as helping you with your Hawk situation not only once, but twice but also doing anything you asked without hesitation. These guys have never requested anything in return yet they constantly help you out, they are true friends, the best of the best and you are happy as can be that they are here with you for the war tomorrow.

"Felix, Sylvius." you step forward and place a hand on each of their shoulders, "Both of you have always done so much for me and I hope the two of you know how much that means to me." you nod at Sylvius before your head veers towards Felix.

"Ahh, Darien!" Felix smirks at you, "Of course we know that! Why do you think we still hang around you so much? Hell, I'm only hoping for another drunken night with you again." he winks causing you to gulp down from the unknown situation.

"Darien, Darien, Darien..." Sylvius begins, "Think of this as a way of us saying thanks!" he gives one simple nod, "This is your carriage, your bed and your place to relax before the war tomorrow." he smiles, "We're gonna be outside, guarding the door, making sure no dumb fuck Syndicate warriors or civilians disturbs you all night long."

"Guys..." you close your eyes and tilt your head to the ground, "I-I..." you swallow hard, "I appreciate it." you look at Felix, "You have no idea." your eyes veer towards Sylvius, "You two, have done so much for me, every single time, no questions asked," you cock your head to the side and grin, "I owe the two of you so much. Just, well, thank you for everything." you give a quick nod as the three of you stand there in silence for a few seconds, only smiling at one another as you let the moment sink in.

"You guys gonna fuck now or something?" Ashe breaks the emotional state causing laughs from all four of you to echo through out the carriage.

The four of you continue to talk and have a great time in this larger than normal structure on wheels. With Felix sitting on the bed and the other three of you hanging out on the chairs around the table, all of you were drinking different liquids, between water, rum and wine you all enjoy one another as the time passes on. As the Sun was behind the horizon and it would soon be pitch black within another hour or so that you start to hear a commotion outside your carriage.

"Darien!" a voice shouts out, "Hey Darien!" it replies again.

Breaking your conversation with Ashe, Felix and Sylvius you move towards the door of the carriage and open it up, as you hop outside of the steps and land on the ground and instantly you look up. Your eyes focus on the vision before you, you see four of your warriors holding a well armored man, pushing him and treating him terribly, throwing him on the ground, forcing him on his feet and shoving him around.

"Who is this?" you shout, almost growling at your warriors.

"He said he has words for you but he's also some piece of shit, Rathkin scum!" one of your warriors shout as he places his hand on the Rathkin warrior's shoulder and shoves him to the ground, forcing him to his knees "Fuck em, we should just kill him, one less warrior to fight tomorrow!" your warrior tells you as his three buddies all agree with that statement.

"Why are you here?" you ask the Rathkin warrior.

"You're going to listen to him?" your warrior replies, "You can't believe anything he says, let's kill him and send his corpse back!"

You glare at the four warriors, "We're not savages, if he came to relay a message, I will at least hear him out." you growl. As you do, your four warriors step back, slightly scared of your ominous emotions you were giving off, "Warrior, what do you want?" you step up to the kneeling Rathkin warrior, his head is bowed to the ground and you can hear him almost hyperventilating as he's fearing for his life.

"S-S-Sir..." he tries to catch his breath, his body shaking hard, "A-A-Are you, are you..."

"Go on..." your voice stays monotone as you kneel down to get closer to the enemy.

"Darien..., O-O-Our..." he replies before swallowing down hard, "Our commander asks for your presence, asks to share words!" his head bows even lower, his forehead almost touching the ground.

"Where?" your voice booms out to the Rathkin warrior.

"There!" his left hand points off into the distance.

As you look at his index finger, you follow it, it's pointing off to the west, off into the mountains. Part of you wonders if he's just trying to screw you over but at the top of the hill in the distance you can see a handful of warriors, maybe half a dozen standing on top the mountain, looking down over everything.

"On top that mountain?" you ask, making sure to verify his word.

"Y-Yes, sir!" he gasps out as you hear the fear in his voice.

"Release him." you immediately order, "Allow him to leave peacefully."

"S-Sir?!" one of your warriors immediately let's out. "He's our enemy..."

You just release a low growl out of your body as you stand up and glare at your warrior, "Is there an issue?"

"S-Sorry Darien." he nods immediately before his arm wraps around the Rathkin warrior's torso, pulls him to his feet, turns him around and begins to march him back towards the Turth river so he can return to his side of the river.

As you stand there, with your head tilted towards the ground you think about what that warrior told you. You contemplate for only a few brief seconds as this may be some type of trap that you are walking into. As you debate in your head, you realize there are many things that Commander Rixx is, but a coward and a liar isn't one of them and with that, you decide to venture over to the mountain, "Ashe, Felix, Sylvius and you five," you point to five other Syndicate warriors, "Follow me." you order your warriors as you throw your hood over your head, concealing yourself under the fur and fangs as you march to the west towards the mountainside in the distance to break words with the enemy.