Death Song
You've had enough. You're not going to help OR stand by for another immoral act performed by your "co-workers". It's bad enough that it goes on, but that doesn't mean you need to let it, if you can do something about it.
You run Dimitri through the back with your sword, he yells out in pain, but still manages to swing his armored fist to strike you in the face. You fall to the ground.
"Fuck lute boy goin down pig fucker " he wheezes as he attempts to step towards you only to fall to his knees. At this point Morri has recovered and cleaves Dimitri's skull in with his axe.
"Bastard." Morri then looks at you. "Heh, I guess you must be one of the few with a conscious in the company eh?"
"I guess so." You reply.
"Or perhaps you knew it would be better if I lived so you could find your way out this maze?"
" Actually I hadn't even thought about that. I just just couldn't let him kill and rob you like that. Seen it too many times."
"That a fact? Well tell me son, why the hell are you hooked up with these bunch for then?"
"Money to help the family besides it's not that bad."
"Okay, if you say so. However, this little incident is going to cost your company. We warned your captain that if any evidence of treachery occurred, we weren't paying him shit and this deal was off!"
"But can't we just keep this secret? I mean "
"Secret? Fuck no! Look, you're not a bad person, but you're hanging out with bad people. The only reason why we hired you in the first place is because you ARE effective and you're about the only mercenary company insane enough to do a job like this. But a deal's a deal. You captain apparently doesn't have control over his men like he thinks, because I'm sure he warned you all."
"Yeah, but everyone will probably blame me and my life will be in danger!"
" well I'm sorry about that, but that's the price you pay for the company you keep look I'll tell you what, because you helped me, I'll take you back to the entrance and you can leave. Should at least give you a head start. Hell, maybe I'll even tell them you died before this happened. You could then just hide out and stay out of sight without even anyone looking for you."
Not knowing what to say next you just agree and ponder your possible future.
The way back to the entrance is uneventful as far as demon attacks are concerned. You don't know what you're going to do. You'll have to go on the run or at least relocate regardless of what Morri tells everyone. And if he mentions the truth, then your family may well be in danger. You imagine that if the Boss couldn't get to you, he may very well take it out on your family.
You feel sick and upset. You wish you hadn't chosen this path. All you ever really wanted to do was play your lute, not fight demons or anything else really.
You follow behind Morri in a daze. You're surprised that he doesn't insist that you walk in front of him, but then that's probably because he trusts that you're not a murderer. You also realize you recognize this part of the mine and could probably find your way back from here
You shake your head and take a deep breath.
"Hey Morri."
"Wha glagh!
An arrow goes right through Morri's mouth and out the other side of his head. He gurgles obscenities while trying to raise his axe towards you. Another arrow goes through his eye. He ceases his struggle.
While you solved the problem of Morri telling anyone, now you have to cover your own tracks, then you hear a sound you never thought you'd be glad to hear. The chittering of those insect demons and a bunch of them are coming right behind you.
You pull the arrows out and run as quickly as you can to the entrance leaving the demons to feed upon Morri's body. The thought crosses your mind to just leave anyway. Maybe they'd think all three of you got eaten. However, you run into another group during your dash to the mine entrance.
"Where the hell are you running off to?" a mercenary asks. It's Cal. You come up with a lie quick.
"(pant) Shit! We got fucking ambushed! (pant) Barely fucking escaped! (pant) Dimitri and Morri are dead! Probably eaten! And the rest of those demon fuckers are heading this way!"
"What?! You cowardly fucker, you just let Morri die?" one the dwarves says angrily.
"It wasn't my idea! I tried to help him and Dimitri, but they just came in force, I don't even know how I escaped!"
Your story is a little suspicious, but thanks to the demons, you're covered. They didn't leave much for the dwarves to find. However, you're not looked favorably on by the rest of the dwarves for the rest of the mission. Your fellow mercenaries don't really care one way or another. It's part of the job and Dimitri wasn't well liked so they could care less if he died or lived.
You on the other hand are still not feeling so great about yourself. The longer you're part of this company the more you're starting to think or be more like them. You hate it and you'll be glad when this job is over.
A few months pass and the contract is over. The "problem" isn't completely gone, in fact there's reports of some undead wandering in the area now, but the Dwarves are growing more weary of your presence, hand over your payment and tell you to leave. They say they can handle anything else themselves.
It's quite a lot this time. Best job you've had. Upon your return to the Zalan Empire you buy yourself a new lute. It's your "reward". The rest of it goes to your family who of course are eager to hear about your tales as usual. You don't tell them that many this time. You just try to take your mind off your "job" by asking them more questions this time around. When you're alone you play your new lute, trying to emulate a couple of the songs you overheard the Dwarves engage in when you were there. You never knew they were musically inclined; it's a shame you had to kill one to protect your future. You're still debating on whether or not to give up the mercenary life, but you see how much it's helping the family out, so you decide to stay and put up with it.
After your "break is over" you go back to the job as usual.
Three years pass
Four years have passed since the "Nuro Incident" and things have gotten much worse in the world. The Necromancer Lord conquered the Brot Kingdom, A demon lord called Velzix conquered the Tulan Kingdom, both are expanding and a so called Grand Alliance of nations doesn't seem to be doing much good against either of them.
The Chimera Company was recently hired by the Zalan government. Due to your past battles with demons, they decided you would be good to put on Tulan Border which is still a bloodbath, but instead of fighting the Tulan Kingdom, the Zalan Empire is fighting Velzix's hordes.
It's not an easy assignment or very pleasant, in fact it's got to be the worst job you've been on. You company is assigned to make commando raids and sabotage shit to keep the demons fairly unfocused, while the Zalan Empire's real armies try to make progress into Velzix's realm. Currently you're making your "camp" in small abandoned village in enemy territory where you have to fight the occasional demon patrols.
Why the Captain took this job on for the company is beyond you. Nobody really knows why. The company in general has been taking more dangerous jobs in recent years. Ever since the Nuro Incident actually. While it's always been known he's not a man to shy away from danger and has a love of battle, there's a lot of talk within ranks that he's got a death wish.
The only "good thing" about this assignment, is that the chance for usual Chimera Company wicked acts are much lower. There's not many "innocents" in a demon realm.
As you think about things, strumming your lute in an abandoned general store by yourself. You hear someone speak.
"Pretty good playing. Wish my kind appreciated some of the more subtle things in life sometimes."
You turn your head and see a demon! He's not very tall and is "dressed up". He must be one of the "civilized" demons who realigned themselves with their demonic natures and flocked to Velzix when he took over the Tulan Kingdom. He doesn't seem hostile, but you drop your lute and draw your weapon, before you can yell a warning, he speaks again.
"Wait! Before you go warning your friends, I should warn you that there is a very large group of my fellow kin surrounding this village. You kill me and they'll attack and quite frankly I don't fancy your chances. However I got a deal for you that can be worth your while. What can it hurt to listen to me? You can always kill me afterwards."
You run Dimitri through the back with your sword, he yells out in pain, but still manages to swing his armored fist to strike you in the face. You fall to the ground.
"Fuck lute boy goin down pig fucker " he wheezes as he attempts to step towards you only to fall to his knees. At this point Morri has recovered and cleaves Dimitri's skull in with his axe.
"Bastard." Morri then looks at you. "Heh, I guess you must be one of the few with a conscious in the company eh?"
"I guess so." You reply.
"Or perhaps you knew it would be better if I lived so you could find your way out this maze?"
" Actually I hadn't even thought about that. I just just couldn't let him kill and rob you like that. Seen it too many times."
"That a fact? Well tell me son, why the hell are you hooked up with these bunch for then?"
"Money to help the family besides it's not that bad."
"Okay, if you say so. However, this little incident is going to cost your company. We warned your captain that if any evidence of treachery occurred, we weren't paying him shit and this deal was off!"
"But can't we just keep this secret? I mean "
"Secret? Fuck no! Look, you're not a bad person, but you're hanging out with bad people. The only reason why we hired you in the first place is because you ARE effective and you're about the only mercenary company insane enough to do a job like this. But a deal's a deal. You captain apparently doesn't have control over his men like he thinks, because I'm sure he warned you all."
"Yeah, but everyone will probably blame me and my life will be in danger!"
" well I'm sorry about that, but that's the price you pay for the company you keep look I'll tell you what, because you helped me, I'll take you back to the entrance and you can leave. Should at least give you a head start. Hell, maybe I'll even tell them you died before this happened. You could then just hide out and stay out of sight without even anyone looking for you."
Not knowing what to say next you just agree and ponder your possible future.
The way back to the entrance is uneventful as far as demon attacks are concerned. You don't know what you're going to do. You'll have to go on the run or at least relocate regardless of what Morri tells everyone. And if he mentions the truth, then your family may well be in danger. You imagine that if the Boss couldn't get to you, he may very well take it out on your family.
You feel sick and upset. You wish you hadn't chosen this path. All you ever really wanted to do was play your lute, not fight demons or anything else really.
You follow behind Morri in a daze. You're surprised that he doesn't insist that you walk in front of him, but then that's probably because he trusts that you're not a murderer. You also realize you recognize this part of the mine and could probably find your way back from here
You shake your head and take a deep breath.
"Hey Morri."
"Wha glagh!
An arrow goes right through Morri's mouth and out the other side of his head. He gurgles obscenities while trying to raise his axe towards you. Another arrow goes through his eye. He ceases his struggle.
While you solved the problem of Morri telling anyone, now you have to cover your own tracks, then you hear a sound you never thought you'd be glad to hear. The chittering of those insect demons and a bunch of them are coming right behind you.
You pull the arrows out and run as quickly as you can to the entrance leaving the demons to feed upon Morri's body. The thought crosses your mind to just leave anyway. Maybe they'd think all three of you got eaten. However, you run into another group during your dash to the mine entrance.
"Where the hell are you running off to?" a mercenary asks. It's Cal. You come up with a lie quick.
"(pant) Shit! We got fucking ambushed! (pant) Barely fucking escaped! (pant) Dimitri and Morri are dead! Probably eaten! And the rest of those demon fuckers are heading this way!"
"What?! You cowardly fucker, you just let Morri die?" one the dwarves says angrily.
"It wasn't my idea! I tried to help him and Dimitri, but they just came in force, I don't even know how I escaped!"
Your story is a little suspicious, but thanks to the demons, you're covered. They didn't leave much for the dwarves to find. However, you're not looked favorably on by the rest of the dwarves for the rest of the mission. Your fellow mercenaries don't really care one way or another. It's part of the job and Dimitri wasn't well liked so they could care less if he died or lived.
You on the other hand are still not feeling so great about yourself. The longer you're part of this company the more you're starting to think or be more like them. You hate it and you'll be glad when this job is over.
A few months pass and the contract is over. The "problem" isn't completely gone, in fact there's reports of some undead wandering in the area now, but the Dwarves are growing more weary of your presence, hand over your payment and tell you to leave. They say they can handle anything else themselves.
It's quite a lot this time. Best job you've had. Upon your return to the Zalan Empire you buy yourself a new lute. It's your "reward". The rest of it goes to your family who of course are eager to hear about your tales as usual. You don't tell them that many this time. You just try to take your mind off your "job" by asking them more questions this time around. When you're alone you play your new lute, trying to emulate a couple of the songs you overheard the Dwarves engage in when you were there. You never knew they were musically inclined; it's a shame you had to kill one to protect your future. You're still debating on whether or not to give up the mercenary life, but you see how much it's helping the family out, so you decide to stay and put up with it.
After your "break is over" you go back to the job as usual.
Three years pass
Four years have passed since the "Nuro Incident" and things have gotten much worse in the world. The Necromancer Lord conquered the Brot Kingdom, A demon lord called Velzix conquered the Tulan Kingdom, both are expanding and a so called Grand Alliance of nations doesn't seem to be doing much good against either of them.
The Chimera Company was recently hired by the Zalan government. Due to your past battles with demons, they decided you would be good to put on Tulan Border which is still a bloodbath, but instead of fighting the Tulan Kingdom, the Zalan Empire is fighting Velzix's hordes.
It's not an easy assignment or very pleasant, in fact it's got to be the worst job you've been on. You company is assigned to make commando raids and sabotage shit to keep the demons fairly unfocused, while the Zalan Empire's real armies try to make progress into Velzix's realm. Currently you're making your "camp" in small abandoned village in enemy territory where you have to fight the occasional demon patrols.
Why the Captain took this job on for the company is beyond you. Nobody really knows why. The company in general has been taking more dangerous jobs in recent years. Ever since the Nuro Incident actually. While it's always been known he's not a man to shy away from danger and has a love of battle, there's a lot of talk within ranks that he's got a death wish.
The only "good thing" about this assignment, is that the chance for usual Chimera Company wicked acts are much lower. There's not many "innocents" in a demon realm.
As you think about things, strumming your lute in an abandoned general store by yourself. You hear someone speak.
"Pretty good playing. Wish my kind appreciated some of the more subtle things in life sometimes."
You turn your head and see a demon! He's not very tall and is "dressed up". He must be one of the "civilized" demons who realigned themselves with their demonic natures and flocked to Velzix when he took over the Tulan Kingdom. He doesn't seem hostile, but you drop your lute and draw your weapon, before you can yell a warning, he speaks again.
"Wait! Before you go warning your friends, I should warn you that there is a very large group of my fellow kin surrounding this village. You kill me and they'll attack and quite frankly I don't fancy your chances. However I got a deal for you that can be worth your while. What can it hurt to listen to me? You can always kill me afterwards."