Chapter 109 Echo (Part 2)
However, in the duel, the Osha Clan lost to the insidious means there were used by the Tribian Clan, not only that but in the end, even their Patriarch was killed and the Clan ended up being exiled to the Endless Cape. Silver Moon, the daughter of the former Patriarch now known as Echo, because of her outstanding appearance was sold as a slave by the slavers to a businessman from the Port of Clearwater.
Iron Axe with his identity as a mixed blood, despite being an adopted member of Sandpeople was not a real member of the Osha Clan. And therefore he hadn’t been sentenced into exile. But because of his strong combat abilities, the other clans took a liking to him and wanted to recruit him to their side. Yet Iron Axe who had over years received a type familial care from the old Patriarch coupled with the hope of saving Echo, did not hesitate to reject the offers of the other Clans. After a long and a difficult journey, he finally arrived at his goal, the Port of Clearwater. But he never got to know that at this time, Echo had already been sold to the King of Graycastle.
However, in the end the latter was rescued by a witch, who’d belonged to the Witch Cooperation Association; while the other disheartenedly moved to the West border of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Yet today, these two people unexpectedly meet once again in Border Town.
“Then what are your plans for the future,” Roland asked after pondering for a moment about what he had heard just now, “Do you want to return to the South, take Echo with you and revive the Osha Clan?”
“No, Your Highness!” Iron Axe went down on one knee, “I have already sworn to the Three Gods, that for the rest of my life I will always work for you… I was just… I was just too excited to see Silver Moon again. I couldn’t control my emotions, please punish me!”
“What about you?” The Prince asked Echo. “Do you want to avenge your people?”
Being asked this question, Echo also knelt down before Roland, “When I awakened to my witch powers, I truly had the thoughts of seeking revenge. But today I no longer harbor such feelings.” She bit on her lip and weakly asked, “Please allow me to stay here… I don’t have anywhere else I can go.”
“I understand. Please, stand up,” Roland said quietly, “You don’t need to act in this manner, don’t worry I won’t banish you.” He paused for a moment, then said strongly, “In fact, letting you achieve your revenge also isn’t impossible.”
“What?” Iron Axe exclaimed in shock, he was unable to believe his own ears. Echo, however, didn’t show much of reaction, after all, she had already let go of her hope of ever going back to Ironsand City.
“Of course, right now I’m unable to achieve it.” Roland waved his hand dismissively. He didn’t think of this idea on a whim. During Iron Axe descriptions of the Extreme South, he had heard some very interesting things – that this piece of land was hot and dry and that the environment had many strange things to offer. Especially the orange flames coming out of the ground that had burned for decades without going out. The orange fire was often times burning above a huge pit. And at the bottom of the pit, someone could see the black Styx flowing endlessly.
Orange fire, black Styx, were both words worth mentioning. When Roland listened to this description, one question immediately popped up in his mind, wasn’t he talking about oil? Even more, open-flowing oil! How important this black liquid was to the industry’s development no one really had to ask. After all, more than half of modern warfare was because of the need for Oil. The rise and fall of the oil prices could even affect the rise and fall of a number of countries, and even change the patterns of the world. If he could somehow get control over the people in the south, he could maybe get a stable source of oil.
However, for now, Roland did not have the time to think about disputes happening in a faraway area, which was out of his control. So without any better option, he had to postpone the show “since in ancient times” to a later day.
“When I get hold of the throne, I will try to get justice for you.” Roland went in front of the kneeling Iron Axe, “But today you violated the discipline of the First Army. From now on you are sentenced to two days of confinement, during these two days, you will reflect on your wrong doings.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Iron Axe returned excitedly.
“Then let us continue the training,” said Roland to the Knight, “and you will also be responsible for the next march.”
*
Bryan thought that today’s training had already come to its end, but everyone was still sitting on their place in the driving range, no one dared to disperse on their own.
After all, before Carter left with the Prince, he gave them the order to rest where they were, but not to dissolve.
What should he do, if he had to wait until the time of his patrol, he didn’t want to imagine such a scenario.
“Sir Knight, you said that Captain Iron Axe won’t come back?” asked Nail, who was in the same group as Brian himself, “His unexpected action just now nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“How many times have I told you already, you shouldn’t call me Sir,” Brian corrected him again, “In the First Army, you should call me group leader.” After he was knighted by His Highness, his rank within the army had become a lot of higher. It even came to the point that other people didn’t dare to talk to him, except for Nails – the little man worked as a miner before he joined the Army. He was the only one who would often come to him to talk. According to Nails story’s, don’t mention that he dared to talk with a knight, he even said that he’d had close conversations with His Highness.
“This kind of thing… His Royal Highness won’t blame him too excessively, right?” Although he gave him a reassuring answer, but the wariness in his heart didn’t want to quell down. Once he had seen a civilian who accidentally collided with the occupants of a carriage and afterwards got stabbed to death by the guards on the spot, such a tragedy.
Even so, Iron Axe came from another country, it was still very daring to kneel in front of another woman when His Highness stood directly beside him. Even calling her “Patriarch”, adding all this together was a big break of etiquette.
“I guess that will be the case,” nodded Nail. “I’ve spoken to His Royal Highness personally, he isn’t like the other nobles, uh…” He scratched his head and seemed to try to find the right words. “Even though they almost look the same as him, they act totally different.”
Brian also didn’t want Iron Axe to be punished too hard. After more than one month of collective training, he already felt a deep sense of admiration for this foreigner. Especially when he taught them how to build a tent for the case in which they happen to be stranded in the wild. They all benefitted from the superb skills he patiently taught to them. In the eyes of the Knight, Iron Axe was even more suited to be the Commander of the First Army than Carter was.
“They’re back!” Nail brushed against Brian’s arm, “Hey, I can’t detect Iron Axe within their group.”
No, it was time to stop his imagination from running wild, Carter had already ordered them to line up, according to how they had previously trained. When they were ready, His Highness stepped in front of them and began his speech: “The woman beside me is another witch, her name is Echo. She and Iron Axe had been separated before for many years… According to the rules, Iron Axe was sentenced to days of confinement for disrupting the formation and violating the military discipline. No, I will repeat it once more, you all now belong to the regular army, and the most important rule for a member of this army is to always obey orders and maintain the discipline! Can you understand this?”
“Yes! Your Royal Highness!” Brian like the others shouted his consent. When he had heard that Iron Axe was sentenced to confinement, his heart was finally able to calm down and when he looked in Nails direction, the other one made a wry face.
“During the following training, we will use her ability to simulate a variety of sounds, including musical instruments like horns and drums. She will play several kinds of marching songs, which will be your command to act! Everyone will move in accordance with the drums, always holding the same rhythm, keeping the team in one line.” Here, His Royal Highness paused, “On the battlefield, Echo will always stand behind you. You can think of her as the banner of the First Army, and you have to always protect her with everything you have! Now that I’ve finished saying all this… everyone should become familiar with the next tunes.”
What is a Marching Song? Brian’s head was full of confusion, is it something like the music I occasionally hear when I visit a pub? This kind of soft music should be able to motivate you to move forward?
But when he heard the melody coming out of Echo’s mouth, he realized that he had never heard something like this before. He almost instantly understood the meaning behind His Royal Highness words – the rhythm of the drum directly went into his bones, giving him the desire to move his feet, while at the same time the light melody was provoking his desire to fight.
– This so-called marching song, hearing this it would boost everyone on the battlefield, it was a “Battle Hymn” to encourage everyone to keep on unceasingly moving forward.
TN:
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