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Synopsis:
The faraway kingdom of Decatus has been amassing black powder for the creation of a mysterious superweapon known as the Titanblade. It is up to the Ochreds - a team of men and women picked by the king of Fortis Friar to act as his personal task force - to unravel Decatus' schemes. As they brave a world full of bandits, killers and giant creatures known as Colossi, the Ochreds will begin to realize that there is a blurred line between man and monster.
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“I have never been prouder of our town’s prosperity and peace, but I believe I owe much thanks to Rastro, the Undying, for watching over us. I admit that all of Baldrou received his presence with heavy scepticism, yet he was willing to draw blood and bleed for the lives of every single resident. Indeed, Rastro cannot die - some say that making the sacrifice play is therefore easy for him, but I wager that they have never seen him battle for us. Like every creature on this accursed earth, Rastro feels pain from wounds both to the body and mind.”

- excerpt from the personal diary of Gad Leatherbaum, Mayor of Baldrou (PW143 – PW160)

It had been the small farms in the distance, just barely distinguishable over the skylines that triggered memories from within Kurtis. They had come alive in spectacular fashion: for as long as Kurtis was stuck in his trance-like state, he could smell the mud and feel the perpetual, damp chill that encroached the Dius Lazlos’ main grounds. The mere act of recollecting these moments was the equivalent of experiencing them once again through all senses, for they were etched in Kurtis’ mind as beautiful scars that refused to wane with time. The flashbacks ceased only when the convoy entered denser sections of the forest, and the scenery could no longer entertain Kurtis’ wandering mind.

Perhaps I should not be so distracted, especially since I have the reins, Kurtis thought to himself. Still, he knew that he drew most of his strength from these periodic revisits to the past. As bitter as he had been during the first few weeks of his stay, the times he had in the Dius Lazlos were still recalled with much fondness.

It was then Japhet crawled out from the wagon, looking only slightly less disgruntled than before. She had not shown her face since their departure from Eil and Kurtis had been rather worried for her. From his seat, he could barely hear the dialogue that had transpired between Japhet and Finnick, fluctuating drastically in tone and volume. A heated debate had likely gone off within the confines of the wagon, one that could even aggravate the usually reticent Finnick.

“How is Finnick?” Kurtis asked, recognizing tell-tale signs of a failed consolation through Japhet’s body language. To say she looked defeated would be an understatement.

“My brother… has these moods on occasion,” Japhet replied dismissively, “he tends to swing between extremes. I can only hope he would sleep over it - I am out of ideas.”

“Sounds uncharacteristic of someone who advocates logic and careful thought.”

“The contrary. He is a smart fellow, with many great ideas and a vast knowledge of all that concerns the natural world. But he has yet to learn that not everything follows established processes, or that all of the world cannot fit into definitions contrived by man. His feet may be on the ground but his head is in the books. I am to blame – I failed to push him beyond the walls of our home, let alone those of the kingdom. Indeed, academics are forever inclined to offer our thoughts more often than our blades, but we are Ochreds! Finnick needs to understand that he must be more than what is expected of his type.”

Seeing that Japhet was starting to become gloomier with further reflections of Finnick’s upbringing, Kurtis tried to give her his best reassuring smile.

“If he were taught any differently, I might not enjoy his company as much as I do now.”

Japhet managed a faint smirk: “you do not find his mannerisms off-putting?”

“I find them quaint.”

“Well, I will have you know that he did mention you as a source of strength.”

Upon seeing Kurtis’ surprised look, Japhet continued: “pardon me for putting it so crudely, but you are, or were, a murderer of thousands. A destroyer of cities. Yet here you are now, in the consort of men and women you hardly know, fighting for their cause. You do not strike me as one who is quick to wash blood off your hands, but you press onwards without letting your past hold you back. Finnick, especially, has been curious about how you manage your thoughts. In all his efforts to make sense of the world and its inhabitants, you do not make sense at all.”

“I never knew he held me in that sort of light. Now I see that he has been dancing around the topic - perhaps I should take the initiative on our next conversation.”

“You might fare better at teaching him of the reality-”

Kurtis saw Japhet tense up and looked ahead to see a large wooden bridge suspended over a river. The bridge itself, though cluttered in design, seemed robust enough to accommodate a convoy of Ochreds and more – it was what lay on the other end that was more worrying. Thirty to forty armed horsemen blocked off the bridge, and a glimpse of their wares was all one needed to deduce they were of Eil.

“They are most persistent,” Hale remarked.

“Nay. They are foolish,” said Tagert. He faced the vengeful mob undaunted and stared down whoever was furthest at the front. Tagert wanted to make it clear that he was not fazed by the surprise encounter.

“The troubles they must have went through to out-manoeuvre and hold us here,” Bartlet rode up to Tagert’s position and asked: “what is our next move?”

“We charge through, trident formation. We must buy the rear as much time as we can until our enemies circle around. Stick tight, Ochreds! Ready yourselves!”

The Cobins immediately flanked Bartlet while Edward and Hale took to protecting the wagon. As the Ochreds pushed forward onto the bridge, so did the men of Eil. Gradually, both sides increased their speed and covered the gap between them in a matter of seconds. The bridge rumbled with the gallops of the horses, like a thundercloud anticipating a mighty discharge of lightning.

And when they clashed, it was a mess of blades and blood. The men at the front were the first to be taken out of the fight, having failed to match the combined strength of the Ochreds’ best horseback brawlers. Knowing that they would not last if they were on the defensive, the Ochred convoy barrelled through the crowd speedily and forcefully. Tagert, with his broadsword and heavy shield, spearheaded the assault with unparalleled aggression – he wielded his weapons as if they weighed as much as feathers, but struck his foes down with the force of a raging bull.

The Eil men quickly realized that the front of the convoy was impenetrable, as were the flanks guarded by the Cobins on their warhounds. A series of hand signals had the remaining horsemen rotate their formation for a rearward attack.

Unfortunately for the Ochreds, they were left with little room on the bridge to attempt a counter against their assailants’ new strategy; pushing forward was their only option. It was now up to Hale and Edward to somehow fend off the Eil men, at least until the whole convoy could get off the bridge.

“Watch my frontage!” Edward called to Hale. She saw him swivel around on his saddle and face the rear with his repeating crossbow readied. Hale quickly rode close to him and grabbed hold of his horse’s reins. Although Edward’s marksmanship never faltered, the Eil folk eventually overran the two of them with their faster steeds. There were simply too many of them for one crossbow to keep at bay, and some of the burlier men even took more than a shot to the chest to subdue.

From atop the wagon, Kurtis watched Hale and Edward struggle to shrug off the men that had swarmed their position. He had no ranged weapons to assist them, and there were three furious horsemen between the wagon and the hectic duo.

They are all aligned rather nicely.

“Watch over me, Japhet!” Kurtis cried, startling her out of her concentration. Without waiting for a response, he jumped onto the closest horseman with his claws out. Having only surprise as his major advantage, Kurtis quickly caught the man in a bear hug and bit down onto his neck. The Colossal took a little too long to get rid of the flailing, bloodied person – on the immediate right, his colleague reacted by lashing out with his longsword and managed to throw Kurtis off-balance.

As a result of some wicked coordination, the first Eil man flung himself off the horse with Kurtis, just as the latter was reeling from the counterattack. Having bled profusely, the martyr lost his grip early and tumbled onto the ground, but Kurtis swung about fast enough to dig a claw into the horse’s hide. Naturally, the horse did not welcome the sudden pain that pierced its body.

Kurtis clung tighter as the horse veered sharply and cut through the pack; as it turned out, a rogue horse was all it took to break formations. His vulnerable position, however, did invite the passing Eil men to jab at him with their weapons. To return the favour, Kurtis swiped at them with his clawed feet; this tactic proved to be more of a painful nuisance than an actual threat. He soon found himself too preoccupied to think of a way out of this predicament.

Unknown to the Colossal, he had unintentionally become the perfect distraction for Edward and Hale. The Eil men had momentarily ceased hassling the two Ochreds; as the crowd crossed the bridge and onto a wider dirt road, they moved to separate the Ochred ranks from within. The one thing stopping them from splitting up and targeting the individual Ochreds was the horse Kurtis was clinging on to; so long as it was rampant in the middle, the Eil men had difficulty coordinating anything.

Hale seized the opportunity and burst forward with her handcannon drawn. She took off the head of her closest target with a single shot and pressed on after drawing attention to herself. From then on, she strafed about to engage the other Eil men; each time Hale needed to reload, she would simply ride around to Kurtis so as to wedge a divide between herself and anyone who wanted to catch her while she was open for attack. Eventually, one of the braver Eil men pressured Hale with his spear and struck Kurtis’ horse the instant she manoeuvred behind it, with the intent of driving the poor beast into hers.

Seeing no other means of getting out of his predicament, Kurtis leapt for his assailant when he went after Hale again. A short scuffle ensued as Kurtis tried to level himself with the man, but the Colossal lacked the stability to overpower him. He ended up being pinned against the horse, held down at the neck by the shaft of the Eil man’s spear.

BLAM!

Fleshy pieces of the man’s face peppered Kurtis as he witnessed the gruesome aftermath of receiving a handcannon blast at close range. Hale had no time to linger around and wait for a word of thanks, however, as the wagon had fallen prey to the bulk of Eil’s fighting force. Reinforcements had sprung out from the woods to the left, and their entry point conveniently allowed for a pincer on Japhet’s position.

“Wavemaker! Guard my flank!” Hale ordered Kurtis. He scrambled to take control of his newfound ride and followed her as she carved herself a path to the wagon. By the time they were next to it, four or five Eil men had managed to clamber into and onto the carriage. Japhet was busy warding off horsemen to her sides, and was oblivious to the ones who had snuck onto the roof behind her.

Leaving her horse keeping up by the side, Hale scaled the wall of the wagon and shot down two men with her handcannon. A third was sent tumbling off the roof with a crossbow bolt shot into his spine, courtesy of Edward. As Kurtis drew the rest of the Eil men away, Hale confronted a flustered Japhet – the young Ochred appeared too jittery for her liking.

“Japhet! What is with the lack of weaving?”

“I am sorry, Hale. I… I cannot focus. There is so much happening at once-”

“What! You did well back in the woods of Lorchae. What changed?” Hale asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

“I- my brother is still-” Japhet stuttered: “I am sorry, Miss Farrow. Nothing should bother me in combat-”

“Your brother? What about him holds you back?” Hale snapped, “shall I tend to him? I’ll get him to stop idling-”

“Hale, please, no! I-I can-”

“You can focus on keeping these Eil men at bay. I will stir Finnick myself-”

“He’s my brother, and we will settle ourselves no matter what it takes!” Japhet yelled as she forcefully grabbed Hale by the arm, stopping the senior Ochred from entering the wagon. Japhet fearfully withdrew her hand when she realized what she had done, but Hale actually looked less angry now.

“Good. I wanted to hear you say it yourself,” said Hale, returning to her horse, “now start pulling your weight.”

“Right, right…” Japhet took a deep breath and turned to the wagon, “Finnick! Take the reins for now! I need my hands to weave!”

“Japhet, thank you,” said Finnick sheepishly, shaking as he clambered out of the back and took over the wagon, “I’m sorry I-”

“Not now, Finnick!”

The battle raged on into darker woods, onto muddy grounds that were rarely tread upon and amidst old trees all bent out of shape. The Eil men began disappearing into the foliage as Japhet started hurling bolts of light in all directions. It was then Maria and her ride, Sylem, launched themselves against the horses pulling the wagon, veering them off-course.

“Goodness!” Finnick wrestled with the reins to get the wagon going straight again while Japhet regained her footing. The twins looked back to see that Maria, along with her warhound, was now caught in deep mire. Their bodies were also entangled in low-hanging vines, which had been almost invisible in the shadows of the trees. The Eil men had deliberately led the fight into murkier, swampy lands in hopes of getting at least one of the Ochreds trapped in the sinkholes.

“Send help to Maria! Turn around!” Tagert signalled for the convoy to double back, but a small team of Eil men beat them to Maria. They ruthlessly stabbed her warhound to death before dragging her away into a darker section of the swamps. The Ochreds’ steeds suddenly became great hindrances, as they refused to move fast on the loose mud. Even as Tagert called for a pursuit on foot, the waterlogged grounds and overgrown roots continued affecting their mobility. Maria’s abductors, seemingly aware of the exact path to tread for a speedy getaway, soon disappeared from view.

“Maria! Curse the lot of you!” Bartlet yelled, in a rare display of anguish and panic. He waded forward furiously, desperate to catch a glimpse of his wife once again and oblivious to the fact that his feet were sinking deeper into the mud. If it were not for Tagert’s intervention, Bartlet would have likely succumbed to exhaustion.

“Bartlet! Bartlet, sir! Still your nerves!” Mud flew between the two as Tagert tried his best to stop the Ochred’s charge.

“We are to go after her! Now! I dread to think what they would do to my wife!”

“It is a trap! We will be walking into a trap!” Tagert pointed at the general direction Maria’s captors went and continued exasperatedly: “those men know the grounds better than us – remember that they are the Cordos of the Marshlands. If we go after Maria, we will be fighting a town’s worth of savages in their home ground. We cannot win!”

“What do you propose then?” Bartlet met Tagert eye-to-eye and caught a flash of fear across his face. Taken aback by his mentor’s change in demeanour, Tagert was rendered speechless.

“Speak, Tagert.”

“We cannot risk going after Maria. The Cordos are obviously preparing an ambush.”

“So we leave her?”

“We consider our mission-”

“Do. We. Leave. Her?”

“I think-”

“There is nothing to think here, Tagert!” Bartlet gave his colleague an almighty shove and jabbed a finger at him: “we are one as Ochreds! We leave no one behind! You shameless coward! You dare to propose we abandon my wife-”

“We will get ourselves killed! We barely survived back in-”

“Are we going after her or not, Tagert? Make your call known before your team, you-”

Bartlet bit his tongue when he saw a glimmer in Tagert’s eyes - the dim spark of a long-buried memory forced to the surface. The dots in his mind connected, and Bartlet immediately softened his features and adopted a much calmer tone.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, Tagert,” he began softly, “I realize only now where your concerns stem, but hear me out. It can and will be different this time. We have what it takes to avoid making the same mistakes from years ago.”

“Sir, I-” the stunned Tagert choked on his words as he looked around to see five confused faces all focused on him.

“Maria and the King told me. I know not the details, but I do know you led a small cell of knights against the Cordos - even before the Ochreds were formed,” Bartlet continued, “and I know of the aftermath. I apologize for bring this up in such a manner-”

“It was a massacre,” Tagert shook his head sadly, “I could not save anyone but myself. That is why I ended up leaving the guards. I am sorry, my fellow Ochreds… it was never a matter of simply being ‘promoted’ and joining your ranks.”

“Yet here you are, appointed by royal command, worthy just as much, if not more, as the rest of us,” Bartlet laid a hand on Tagert’s shoulder as he spoke, “you may be the same person, but you are now a different leader. Look before you at this novel collection of talents! Prithee, Tagert - believe me when I say that it will be different this time.”

“We will be outnumbered all the same…”

“So whatever happened in Eil, again?” Edward sounded uncertain, “I would put down my life for Maria, but I do not like these odds.”

“We were caught off-guard then; circumstances have changed,” this time it was Hale that spoke up, “I, for one, do not think our potential in combat has been fully explored...”

Hale looked towards the Risengals with slightly narrowed eyes.

“...how now Finnick? Japhet? Still deciding the lines to draw as an Ochred? Or are you ready to lend your skills to save someone who had to pick up after your incompetencies?”

“Come now, Hale,” Bartlet’s attempts at getting her to ease up on her tone were waved away as Hale walked towards the Risengals. The slight splatters of mud and blood on her face made her look all the more menacing.

“The two of you have seen how others can end up paying the price for your little concerns - we are far beyond the need for that, and we will be beyond the need for either of you should this continue. Japhet - heed the words you gave me earlier and we can all avoid a time to cut loose those who may burden this team.”

Japhet cast her eyes down into the dirt - she was in no mood to entertain sympathetic glances being sent her way.

“Now I believe Bartlet when he says that this time can be different, but it will only be so if everyone has their head in the right place,” said Hale, “speak now your confidence - are we doing this or not?”

“I… I will do anything to save Maria,” affirmed Japhet, looking up and locking gazes with Hale, then Tagert.

“As will I,” said Finnick, with a touch less verve, “as you said, Miss Farrow… I had a hand in her undoing.”

“There,” Hale nodded, “now tell us all how best we can accommodate your weaving powers.”

“…swamp settlers like the Cordos are bound to have their structures suspended over the mire,” said Japhet, “Finnick can bring them down, and if he could take apart the dense canopy, I will be able to weave. If the two of us were left to weave undisturbed by the sidelines, we should be able to cause much damage.”

“You have your main assault plan,” Hale looked back at Tagert and asked, “what is our approach?”

It was obvious that Tagert still did not fancy their prospects but under the pressure of leading the Ochreds, he managed to get over his inner protests quickly.

“We must hide our rides by the darker trees; we have to track Maria down without them. Once we catch sight of wherever they are holding her, we can plan an attack proper. Until then, expect an ambush from anywhere.”

“We must be most careful,” Hale agreed, “initiating the fight will be our main advantage here.”

“Tagert, can you navigate?” Bartlet asked, but the Ochred leader shook his head.

“I am afraid it has been much too long since that mission. I was not the lead navigator then either.”

“In that case, I will take lead,'' Bartlet announced, “but I would appreciate a second pair of eyes at the front to bolster our tracking abilities.”

“I am with you,” Kurtis volunteered. Disregarding the sceptical looks from Hale and Tagert, he joined Bartlet at the front. The Colossal had been quiet throughout most of the earlier discourse out of sheer discomfort, but now that the Ochreds were readying for action once again, he felt that it was a good time to step back into the circle.

“You have experience tracking, Kurtis?”

“I learned from being constantly hunted myself,” he replied, “shall we?”