Yu-Cian was conscripted for his year of service in the city watch some months ago. Since then he has been mocked mercilessly by the veteran who signed on for life, has had his wages stolen by his sergeant, and was even spat upon by merchants leaving the city who assumed he was there for a shakedown.
So imagine his surprise when one of the horsemen of the plains arrived one night and had a civil conversation with him after all this time. -- Deathshead419
Join the army, they said. You'll get all your debts forgiven, they said. The pay is fantastic, they said. They weren't wrong about that, if only because the pay was an utter fantasy. It went away if you ever dared ask for it. Honestly, Yu-Cian was lucky his rice didn't get spat in.
Damn frontiers. Damn taxes. Damn corrupt officers that the Emperor sent out this far, surely, to be rid of them. Damn thin rations, crap quality gear, and infested quarters.
It was a little bit much to put up with to dodge a debt of seventy gold, seven silver, and eight copper. Honestly, Yu-Cian much preferred to be on the wall. The winds blew away the flying insects, it was quiet, and he could hear a bullying asshole approaching from two hundred feet away.
This time, his Elf ears detected approaching hoofbeats coming from the Uncrossable Desert. The Harukh'ai! At this part of the wall, it was pointless ringing the bell. None of the others out this far were sober enough to pay it any mind. He lit the pyre anyway, so he could not be posthumously charged with dereliction of duty.
There was an entire cohort of them. Green skin gleaming in the moonlight, and a lot more metal than Yu-Cien's fellow soldiers had. As their weapons and armour. Yu-Cien had three wooden arrows and a flint-tipped spear. And to add insult to the injury he was anticipating, one of his sandals snapped on the way down the stairs. He kicked off the other one before he left the sanctuary of the wall. Prepared to meet his death.
He had time to search for the daughter moon. At least let it be quick, he prayed. Take me before I suffer. He could only hope she answered. By reputation, Mistress Dark only answered one, and it went, "Not today."
Yu-Cien couldn't even pray that his day was not today. He was facing a cohort of armed and armoured Harukh'ai alone. With three basic arrows and a spear from a bygone age. The Emperor didn't even have the budget for copper heads, and he never saw his wages so he couldn't beat his pay into a nominally better spearhead nor bodkin points.
He stood his spear by his side, and nokked his first arrow. Waiting until he knew they were in range. He didn't have a hope of hitting his target. Even the horse wore mail. Yet he had to try anyway, lest his family inherit his debt at the Emperor's behest. With regimental discipline, he loosed three quick shots, and readied his spear before the first could ricochet off the leading barbarian.
Yu-Cien did take a few spare seconds to piss. He didn't want to embarrass himself in his last moments alive. He braced, ready to take on a battering charge, and wondered if he should try throwing the spear when the cohort pulled up in front of him.
They were out of spear range, and Yu-Cien didn't want to be left without a weapon. The leader, the one with the pennant hanging from a pole on his back, tilted his head one way and another. Three of them spoke with him for half an hour. Finally, the leader swung off his mount and walked the distance between them.
He spoke Elven, but at a basic level. "You is all soldier here?"
"I am all my Emperor needs," Yu-Cien attempted to boast in spite of his trembling limbs.
The leader Harukh gently pushed the spear to one side with one finger. "You Emperor is cheap man. No shoes on soldier foot? Bad weapon. Bad armour. Soldier fight, soldier die. Harukhai come anyway. Bad death. Bad kill. No honour." He walked back to his horse. More conversation with his band, and some rummaging through packs. There was some gesturing and some Harukh'ai craning to look at Yu-Cien.
The leader came back to Yu-Cien with what looked like a bundle of leather straps in one hand and a parcel in the other. The first bundle resolved into sandals made of woven leather strips. The other... smelled of meat.
"Us soldier, have food. Fast eating, make soft." The leader offered the bundle.
Delicious. Flavourful. Cooked meat. When was the last time he'd had meat? Before he'd joined the Emperor's forces, for sure. His stomach rumbled and drool flooded his mouth in spite of himself.
"This," a gesture with the woven leather sandals. "Child shoe in camp. This Harukh, make for new one mine. Is good make. No bare feet. Good armour."
Yu-Cien almost reached for it. "You no kill this Elf?"
"Bad honour. No kill. Harukh'ai take Elf. Make be tribe. Make strong." He thumped his chest. "Blood word."
They had thin bread they had wrapped around meat and vegetables made soft with a long cooking process. Nevertheless, it was work to chew. And the most delectable meal Yu-Cien had ever eaten. He wept just to taste it all. He even let the Harukh add the sandals to his feet.
Gods. They were so much more comfortable than the thin woven reed things the Emperor had given him by way of the army. "Sir," he said. "I am yours to command." Yu-Cien activated the rune that would unbar and open the gates.
To every hell with the Emperor. That cheapskate deserved the Harukh'ai.
Yu-Cien was very happy to gain a ride to the Harukh'ai camp with an injured warrior.
{Image from Wikipedia }
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