Dark Age

by Felix O. Hartmann

  No one responded. A few nodded, wherefore he continued his little monologue while more and more recruits joined us, “Terric is an idealist and will one day get himself killed. I am sure you have wondered why all the men that have made it back inside the gates are so somber and silent. They have seen the things you are bound to see. But more importantly, they remember the price they had to pay to belong to the survivors. One of these days within the next ten years some of you will make a deal with the devil to belong to those few that live.”

  A long silence took over. No one knew what to say. With his big hands Yorick suddenly clapped in a slow rhythm, “Thank God, Nigel! I thought I would have to sit here all night. Well, enough for now, you are dismissed. Go grab some lunch.”

  The three of us immediately raced to the common-hall. With growling stomachs we were lucky to be the first ones there. As we waited for our food, Peter incessantly poked fun at Nigel for his horrendous arching skills, “If we are zoned together outside the wall, I will break your bow with my own hands. You are like a child. If I don’t keep it out of your reach you might hurt yourself.”

  “I think he’s trying to overcompensate for something with his ego,” I laughed.

  “Adam, didn’t you see him? He hit the wrong target. Twice.”

  “That’s enough, Peter,” James said, sitting down next to me, “go enjoy your…,” he paused for a moment, poking the brown mass on his plate with a fork, “beef, or whatever that is.”

  “Let’s hope it’s beef,” I said. “Where is Stephan? I haven’t seen him or the other third trimester recruits all day.”

  “Since they are almost done with their training, the commanders decided to take them out for an excursion,” James said. “When we took herbal lessons with Terric, Yorick led them out to the woods. I assume he left them there.”

  “A bunch of recruits out there alone?” asked Peter confused, “They don’t even get to wear their armor yet.”

  A gauntlet as dark as burnt ashes hit the table from the far end. We all looked up and found Yorick who had passed by to pick up his lunch. “Better they get the experience now, than when they are out there in even smaller groups,” he said. “The outer wall will not always be there to protect you.”

  Talking to Yorick gave me a sense of inferiority. I would not have dared to speak out against him, knowing that he could crack my skull with his mere hands. Judging by the looks on the other’s faces, they felt the same.

  “When will they be back?” I finally managed to get out.

  Yorick waved me off as if talking to a concerned mother, “The worst that could happen is that spiders crawl on them while they sleep. We set their camp up in a location where we have never been attacked.” Leaving us, he turned around for a short moment, “You four seem to have too much time. Idleness allows our minds to drift and worry. Finish up and repair the stables, they need some fortification before the snow hits us.”

  The day slowly faded as the sun spread its golden-purple light across the horizon. The warmth of its rays steadily seeped away, while the first few snowflakes began to trickle from the evening sky. After three hours we had covered all the holes in the horse stable and doubled the wall on the lower half of the livestock stable.

  “When can we leave?” Nigel asked for the seventh time while hammering a nail into yet another plank.

  “I’m sure Yorick will dismiss us, I don’t want any more trouble with that man,” James responded in a rushed voice while handing him the next plank.

  A horn sounded beyond the outer wall. Silence took over the settlement. We stopped for a moment and looked around. The guards on the wall pointed wildly to the Northeast. A scream pierced through the air. Within seconds the bell on top of the outer wall rang wildly.

  Immediately we dropped all our tools and ran to the common-hall. By the time we reached its entrance, the gate of the outer wall opened. Three recruits ran inside, as if chased by the devil. Their uniforms were ragged, and some of their faces were spattered with blood. One of them had a broken arrow sticking out of his side. Stephan to our despair was not among them.

  Terric and Yorick came charging from the officer house. Yorick fastened a mounted crossbow to his right arm while Terric attached two extra one handed swords to his belt. Like war machines they walked up to the wounded recruits and asked for their target.

  “How many of them are there and how many of you were still there when you left?” Terric asked straightforward without wasting seconds.

  “I don’t know. They ambushed us. We were getting ready for the night. Some of us might have taken a swig or two. It just happened so fast.” The recruit was still shaking and barely listened to Terric’s words. Over and over he repeated how fast everything happened.

  Yorick looked around and glared at me, “Blacksmith, stop standing around, go get my horse ready!”

  I ran back to the stables I had just repaired. The black stallion bristled with anger with every step I took towards him. He did not listen to anyone but Yorick. When I dragged him outside into the cold snowing air, the entire party had arrived. Terric mounted his horse alongside Yorick and two veteran guards.

  “Can I come with you?” I pleaded to Terric. “My friend is out there.”

  “First you need to prove yourself,” he said in an uncommonly harsh manner. “Someone who can’t separate poison from food shouldn’t be trusted with a sword. I don’t want to babysit you out there,”

  “Let’s hunt these sons of bitches down,” growled Yorick.

  I wanted to wish them good luck but they already bolted towards the opening gate. Their grey cloaks danced in the wind as the four horsemen rode into the woods.

  We waited. Every minute felt endless, and every second raised the tensions in and around us. If Terric and Yorick did not succeed, almost twenty wagons would enter the city come dawn.

  Peter, Nigel, James and I waited at our table in the common-hall. Restless and pensive we sat there, feeling that almost any topic would be inappropriate to discuss in our current situation. The weather reflected our sentiments. The light snow had turned into a dirty mix of heavy cold rain and hail.

  It was hard to stay awake in this all-consuming silence. Midnight had already passed. My head grew heavier and heavier by the second. I tried to shake it off and force myself to stay awake, only to find myself minutes later awaking from another temporary nap.

  “Adam!” someone yelled at me. Loud voices were all around me. For a moment I could not separate my dreams from reality, until Nigel pulled me to my feet, and dragged me into the ice cold rain. The moment the drops touched my neck, I was wide awake. We climbed up the outer wall to see what happened. In the far distance torches approached the settlement. One by one, they were extinguished by the rain.

  Ecstatically we applauded, clapped and screamed. We had no idea how many were saved, but at this hour we had lost any expectation of even Terric or Yorick returning.

  The gates slowly opened as survivors poured in. Terric led them with a blank expression on his face. Guards tried to pull him into the common-hall to celebrate his triumph but he walked off towards the officer house.

  Yorick on the other hand, entering the gate at the end of the line, wore a bright smile on his face and immediately asked for a drink. Around fourteen recruits had survived, carrying the bodies of their dead brethren. Seven recruits had been slain in the ambush. Stephan was in complete shock the moment I found him. Master Yorick approached him before I could. He dug his metal covered fingers into Stephan’s shoulder. With a smile he embraced him, and unmistakably whispered into his ear. There was a cold look in his eyes now. Something seemed off about it.

  As soon as the master left, the four of us surrounded him. I tried to put my arm around Stephan, to comfort him. He immediately shrugged it off, like a scared animal. He didn’t say a single word that night.

  We brought him into the common-hall to sit down and warm up. He was shaking incessantly. Whether from the cold or his experiences, I could not tel
l. A guard gave out hot soup for all the recruits that just came in. Stephan would not even touch it. With chattering teeth he stared blankly at a dark spot on the table.

  Quietly I sat next to him, trying to console him the best I could, when suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder. Looking up, I found Constantine standing behind me. Before I could curse him out, he held up his hand signaling me to stop.

  With an understanding and warm tone Constantine said, “I just came to check up on you and your friend. I hope he is well, take care of him. I will be sitting somewhere else tonight.”

  Chapter 13

  The disaster in the forest had changed us all. I realized that it was time to put to rest my childish mentalities, and mark survival as the highest priority. We all had known the dangers of the Guard before, but these bloody events had put them into perspective–turned the tales into reality. No longer was I joking around in lectures, no longer did I allow my mind to drift, and no longer did comfort matter to me. Even the once rebellious notions I had held of overthrowing the Inquisition had been put on hold. For a while at least. I was fixed on making it through those ten years as quickly and painlessly as possible. I had given up on much of what I once had been and embraced a new self. A stronger self. Every day I smiled because I was thankful to be able to wake up again, in the bitter awareness of my brothers’ sporadic passing away.

  Even Peter and Nigel, despite their lively personalities, had turned quieter and harder. Every now and then I saw their old selves, their innocent funny sides, shine through the rough shells that now covered them.

  Over the past months I had conditioned myself to wake up at the brink of dawn. Before anyone else was up I walked across the training grounds and made my way to the river. I washed myself in the cool morning water and meditated as the sun’s first rays gently warmed the droplets of water that rolled down my body. With tranquil joy I observed the many beauties that the Guard-life hid. In the past I always yearned for the city, but I learned to enjoy the simplicity of the Guard. The fresh air, the vivacious colors, and the peaceful wildlife were a paradise in itself.

  It was easy to be preoccupied by death, but it was a risk not worth taking. Call it devilish or divine, but once a man lets a thought become prevalent, it turns into reality.

  Only at nights my mind drifted back to the past. I thought of Katrina, my parents, and sometimes even Cecilia and the Inquisitor. The city had turned into an untouchable parallel world that was so plausible yet surreal. To my knowledge they could either be dead or alive. Sometimes they appeared in my dreams living and well but other times as mere spirits.

  Just a month ago Peter had completed his training, and last week Nigel joined him in the woods. It was just me with other recruits, who I could have called acquaintances at best. If I were attacked by the beasts that roamed out in the wild I knew that only my four friends would stay to save me. The others would run off just like Yorick taught them to.

  I myself had about seventy days of training left. My third trimester was well on its way. The workouts had become harder, the competition steeper and the training more real. When most left for dinner, I stayed out on the training ground and sparred with Terric, who was more than happy to teach me the tricks and techniques he had acquired over years of battle. He had no time to teach groups of thirty or more all he knew in just a year. In little time, the other recruits looked up to me as the most experienced swordsman among them and asked me for advice on a daily basis. And so I became Terric’s right hand. His protégé they called me. Even outside of training I helped him organize the troops and made sure that productions were up and running.

  Together we leaned over a big map of the city and the land surrounding it. Twelve red pillars marked the watch towers that spread across the plain. A miniature rounded fence represented the outer wall, separating the Guard’s settlement from the wild. For every camp of six to ten guards a little knight figure stood on its relative location.

  “The food production is higher than ever, but all other resources are dragging,” Terric complained. “The forest’s high casualty rate and the mine’s frequent accidents have cost us many men. Not to mention the disaster in the forest. It wiped out an entire camp-full of potential new miners and foresters. We might have to relocate some men from the grain farms,” Terric said, moving two of the little knights from the farms to the forest and mines, “that might improve our situation.”

  “It is worth a try,” I responded to his suggestion. “I will find volunteers in the morning, or if nobody comes forward choose them if you allow.”

  “You can take care of it,” Terric said while twisting the little knight between his fingers. “I trust you.”

  A guard knocked on the open door to Terric’s study and stepped in. Approaching us he opened his pouch and pulled out a sealed letter. He handed it over with just three words, “From the Inquisitor.”

  Terric’s look was both surprised and terrified at the same time. He broke the seal and moved to the corner of the room where he read the letter once, and then a second and third time. At last he turned to me with a grave expression, “I have to leave for the city tomorrow. There are some issues which the council needs to address. I don’t know how long it will take, but if there are disagreements, it may take a week. I want you to make sure that things run as smoothly as possible while I am gone. Officially, Yorick will be in charge, but if you leave things up to him nothing will get done.”

  The thought of leading the Guard struck me by surprise, “It would be an honor, Master. But are you sure Yorick will listen to me?”

  “He will most likely hand things over to you voluntarily unless they interfere with his shady businesses. Nonetheless, I cannot declare you a temporary officer since you have not even finished training. I just need you to ensure that things run well.”

  “I will do my best,” I responded briefly, wanting to do him the favor, yet afraid of making a promise. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind, “Is there any chance you could deliver a letter to someone within the walls?”

  “That would be the least I could do for you,” he responded as a matter of course. “Grab some scroll paper and ink from the box on my desk. I’m going to head to my room, just leave it on the table.”

  “Don’t you want to know where you have to deliver it?” I asked as he left the room.

  He spun around at the door, “You always talk about her, come on Adam.” With a grin he disappeared onto the hallway.

  As I sat down at the table the words flowed onto the parchment:

  Beloved Katrina,

  Too many words I want to say to you, yet too few will fit on this page. I hope all is well. I miss you beyond believe, and everyone and everything…my parents, Eric, the workshop, the Mount… my old life. There has not passed a night that I did not think of you, nor gone by a day where the eagle around my chest has not kept my heart warm. I just want you to know one thing. I will return. For you. For us. And nothing in this godforsaken world will stop me from that. But promise me, that on the day on which I enter the city to the threefold strike of the bell, you shall think of me no more, but live a happy life with a husband and child. Farewell my love, and let my parents know that I am well and love them,

  Adam

  I read the letter over and over again. For an hour I must have sat there improving words, correcting spelling and rewriting the entire letter with a neater handwriting. After a while I accepted that what I had was as close to perfect as it could be. I folded the letter and pressed my family’s ring into the hot wax creating a seal with an anvil at its center. In big calligraphic letters I spelt out “Katrina Carpenter” on the outside. Carefully I weighed the letter in my hand imagining the look on her face when she would receive it. Smiling I put it down in the center of the table, and headed back to the cottage.

  The next morning Terric was already gone by the time training had begun. If it were not for me, Yorick would have canceled training all together for the day. By late afternoon I made my way to the st
ables to ride out to the fields.

  In the corner of the stable I noticed a young but fit mare. Compared to the hot blooded beasts Yorick and Terric rode, she was a friendly cold blood. Since I had little riding experience, I needed a horse like her that would cooperate with me. Gently I brushed through her dark grey mane and led her outside. Playfully she raised her neck and exhaled excitedly through her nostrils. After I had tied her to a pole I went back inside to get the saddle. With the heavy leather seat over my shoulder I returned to the horse which was no longer alone. With a straw of wheat dangling from his mouth, Yorick leaned against the stable’s wall.

  “Where are you going Blacksmith?” he asked casually as if he had run into me by chance.

  “I’m heading out to the fields. Terric told me to relocate a camp of farmers to the woods,” I said passively, setting the saddle up on the horse’s back.

  “Did he?” Yorick said exaggeratedly dumbfound. “He didn’t mention that to me.”

  “He must have forgotten, he was in a rush this morning,” I explained with a slight annoyance rising within my voice.

  “Well that is too bad,” Yorick said, pacing towards me, “I don’t think I can allow you to go out there.”

  “And why is that?” I hissed at him.

  Yorick’s dark eyes came closer to mine until our faces almost touched. I could sense the violence that ran through his veins by the mere proximity of his body. “First of all, recruit, you will show more respect or I will punish you with kitchen duties for the rest of the year. Unpaid.” He took a few steps back and grabbed the horse by its mane, “To avoid that, you better watch your tone and insert ‘Master Yorick’ in all your sentences towards me.” He led the horse back inside the stable while I motionlessly stood there, watching him walk all over me, “Why I am not letting you out is simple,” he continued. “Not only are recruits not allowed to use the stables, but you also disrespected the chain of command by not running the task by me. When Terric is not here, I and only I make the calls, not some third trimester recruit.”