[Mkguild] Here is tale Number 5

[Mark Ewing]

Here is another tale complete. Its a short one and I hope you guys like it


The Pointless Patrol


Oberon Snowcat


It had been several days since I had received my heat dispersion collar from
Misha I had spent a good amount of time on the practice ground testing my
endurance and my power. I had found that my endurance was dependent on how
much of strength I was using. The more strength I used to achieve something
the less endurance I had. So I would try and do something with as little
strength as possible in order preserve my endurance. This morning I woke up
at my normal time but instead getting into my normal I put on my battle gear
and armour. Once I put armour and helmet on I hung my heavy belt and double
baldric over my armour. Attached to my belts was the same load out as I had
used in my first unauthorized with the possible exception of my light
scouting pack that carried a small tent, bedroll, pot and a few utensils.
When I was finished putting my gear on I grabbed my grey cloak and headed
out the door to the mess hall where I grabbed a quick breakfast before I
headed over to the arsenal tower where I was supposed to be joining a patrol
under the order of George the Patrol Master. When I got there I found five
other people standing around in full equipment. The leader of the group was
easy to recognize as a TG because she had a strong body that was armoured in
a brigantine. The rest of the group was made up of an young boy who I
guessed was an AR, a huge man who resembled a wildebeast, a small woman who
was a meercat morph, and a young man who was a greyhound morph. The TG
turned and looked at me before she asked me if I was Adòn Naharél.

"Yes I am." I responded

"Very well you're coming with me, we have a patrol to go on." She looked me
over for a second before she asked me "Are you sure that you have got enough
for the next few days?"

"Ma'am I've learned over many years that it is better to travel light when
going out scouting and to live off the land."

"Where did you learn that?"

"I think it was in the Principality of Relando about twenty-seven years ago
south west of here about five hundred leagues from here." She shook her head
before she finally replied

"Well you will learn otherwise out here."

"Give me a chance to prove my own techniques."

"It's your body, Mr. Naharél though I would prefer if you brought some food,
because I would rather you not looking at Hernando when you get hungry."

"Trust me I won't go hungry, I know how to live off the land." She shook
here head and then gave the order to move out. Half an hour later we left
the town of Euper and headed out into forests in the valley south of the
Keep. As we marched out into the forest I took the point while the TG who's
name was Barbara hung just behind me.

"Don't go to fast Mr. Naharél because some of us aren't quite as large as
you are."

"I'll keep that in mind ma'am." I replied as I kept my eyes on the trail and
my ears open. The only thing that I could hear was the sound of my comrades
walking along behind me in their armour, the rattle of their equipment, and
the sound of their talking. I stopped and half-turned before I gave them a
look that conveyed volumes

"What was that about Mr. Naharél."

"I need the chorus the shut their traps and try and walk a little more
quietly, I can't hear anything but them. If I can't hear anything then who
knows what will sneak up on us but whatever it will be I can promise you
that it won't be good." She shook her head and went to the others to pass on
my suggestion. The rest of the day went pretty much the same way with
Barbara complaining about just about every suggestion that I made that would
help us make the patrol more effective and efficient. When we stopped for
the night I took off most of equipment and left it with the camp before I
headed out into the forest to go find some dinner. A little more than an
hour later I came to a small creek where there were three small deer taking
a drink from the creek. I made sure that I was upwind of them, then ensured
that they were real deer before I loaded the single spear-dart that I was
carrying into my atlatl and made sure that I was concealed from my prey
before I stood up and launched the spear-dart at the smallest deer. When the
dart hit her she jumped once and then collapsed on the bank of the stream
dead as a stone. In my mind that was the mark of a good hunter, if you could
make a kill without having your prey suffer too much. As soon as she stopped
moving I stepped out from my concealment behind and tree and went over to my
prey. I quickly and efficiently took out the inedible parts and then
indulged in the parts that I could enjoy but the others couldn't. Those
parts included the heart, lungs, and liver which I savoured raw straight
from the still warm corpse. Before I picked the deer up I washed my muzzle
in the water of the stream to clean off any traces of blood on my face. Once
I was sure that my whiskers were clean I picked up the deer and began to jog
back to the camp with it on my shoulder. When I got back to the camp the
look on Barbara's face was priceless, it was worth all of the scorn with
which she had treated my suggestions all day long. I looked over at their
pitiful attempts at lighting a fire and then grabbed my folding shovel from
my gear and dug out a pit before I began to create a proper fire. When I had
everything properly arranged I pulled out my tinderbox and stuck a few
sparks into the smallest sticks to be rewarded with a whoosh of flame. I was
thankful for the collar that I was wearing because if I hadn't the flames
would've singed the fur all the way up my arms. I turned to Hernando, the
wildebeast and growled out

"Why in Kàantal's name did you soak these sticks with oil and not tell me?"
He looked frightened before he replied

"I can't get a fire going without oil." I could do nothing more than to
shake my head in wonder at the thought that the Patrol Master would stick me
with a group of such amateur woodsmen. I quickly went back into the bush,
found two forked sticks and a straight stick that could serve me as a spit
for the meat that I had brought back to the camp. Less than an hour later I
had a full leg cooking over the fire, sizzling in its own juices with the
skin holding in the flavours. The fur of the leg had singed away and
revealed the glistening blackened skin which was bubbling up and protecting
the meat underneath from the fire. When it was finally ready I pulled it off
of the spit and went back to the shadows where I had set up my tent just
under a large tree. I sat back and watched and smelled the others botch
their cooking up but good. As she was cooking her part I heard Barbara say

"I really can't wait to get back to the Keep and back to the Tipsy Lady."
The wildebeast rumbled in agreement before I smelled one of the others
getting closer to me.

"What is it kid?" It was the greyhound morph and I could tell that he was
nervous from his scent in the air

"Barb told us not to go near you but I think that you're pretty good."

"How old are you Kid?"

"Oh my name's Daniel Hart and I just turned sixteen in march."

"Is that why they stuck you with this group of less then competent
soldiers?"

"The Sarge seems to be pretty good."

"That isn't saying a lot Daniel. To you she may appear to be very
knowledgeable but from my point of view she doesn't really know all that
much about scouting."

"What do you mean?"

"I have served as a mercenary in various city-states, principalities,
duchy's, and counties for longer than she's been alive. I know more about
warfare than this whole squad put together."

"Wow." Was the kid's only response. I sat down with my back to a tree and
thought back to some of the missions that I had completed in the past.

"Kid the first rule of scouting is to walk quietly, and keep your eyes,
ears, and nose on a constant lookout because you will never know where or
when a threat will appear." He nodded slowly before I spoke again "The
second rule is always, always be prepared for anything, be it enemy,
refugee, or both... Because you never know when you will encounter
something. The last rule is to always have a backup contingency in case
things don't go your way, in your case I would suggest that you do what your
body is built for and run."

"Wouldn't that be considered cowardice?"

"At your age there is such a thing as discretion and right now you need as
much discretion as possible. If we get into a fight I want you to stick as
close to me as possible, I will make sure that you survive." He nodded his
head and then asked me if I minded him setting up his tent by mine. I didn't
really respond to his question so he took a little initiative and set his
tent up just beside my own. After more than an hour I crawled into my small
tent and went to sleep.

It was still dark when someone shook my shoulder and whispered that it was
my turn to take the watch. I nodded slowly and then looked up to see the
face of the AR in the darkness, though it wasn't all that dark to me. I
pulled on my armour and equipment before I went over to the watch-point and
sat down. As I sat there with my senses keyed up I thought back to my past
serving in hundreds of engagements throughout the midlands. When I had first
arrived in the midlands I signed on with a small company that was taking
part in besieging a castle. Since I was the new guy in the unit I was given
the honour of being the first man up the ladder in the final assault on the
keep. What the commander of the mercenary unit that I was part of was
probably thinking was that I would probably get killed in the initial
assault on the wall, considering the fact that the first person up the
assault ladder is usually thought of as being fed to the wall. However I was
different than the average soldier in that I was trained as a Heavy Combat
Specialist and that included assaulting walls. In the end it was our unit
that allowed us to take the wall and take the gates of the castle in order
to let the majority of the army of the nation that we were serving into the
castle. Of that unit of some fifty mercenaries only twenty one managed to
survive that assault including some people that I had made friends with.
Over the next thirty years I grew hardened to the realities of war, and the
biggest of those realities is that people die. After a few years of having
new friends die every time I went into combat as a mercenary I had started
distancing myself from other new recruits into the merc unit that I was
involved in. Eventually the unit was destroyed eighteen years ago and I went
on to serve various nations as a individual specialist in all forms of
warfare. Sometimes I had been successful and other times I wasn't quite so
successful and I had to resort to guarding caravans and rich merchants as
they crossed the Midlands. The trip into Metamor Keep had been one of those
times when I hadn't been able to find a job where I could use my skills to
the greatest extent. When the sun came up I went back to the camp and began
to get things set up for some breakfast. Personally I had what leftovers of
the deer were available while the rest of the squad made do with whatever
they had carried with them in their bags.

The next four days went by in pretty much the same fashion with the six of
us each do out jobs to the best, or worst of our abilities. I spent most of
the time evaluating my comrades and finding out their strengths and
weaknesses. This squad, from my professional opinion was probably one of the
worst; if not the worst reconnaissance squads in the entire Keep. They
definitely weren't nowhere near the same calibre as the Long Scouts, which I
had by now learned, were the best scouts in the entire keep. Their main
strength was their ignorance and smell, while their weakness was virtually
everything else when it came to scouting and woodcraft. The only person who
actually had some modicum of potential was the kid and his only problem was
ignorance and lack of proper training when it came to scouting. When we came
into sight of the keep on the main road Barbara said

"This is the end of another completely pointless patrol." I didn't speak up
but in my mind I was saying 'No patrol is ever pointless.' Hernando, the
wildebeast morph, nodded his massive head before he replied

"Back to the Keep for a few days while we get to enjoy everything that home
provides including all the beer that I can drink at the Tipsy Lady. We can
even go out and enjoy the festivities of the Easter/Equinox Festival." This
wasn't news to me, I had learned about the festival from Misha the day
before I had left to go on patrol. If this festival was all that it was
cracked up to it would be a good time to see all that the keep had to offer.
I might even be able to find something that would appeal to my interests as
a warrior. After we logged in at the gate to the inner keep I headed to my
room were I divested myself of my armour and heavy equipment before I headed
to the baths to get cleaned up. It felt sublime to immerse myself in the
warm water of the baths. I preferred the cool water bath because it didn't
make my body overheat, not that that was a problem anymore considering the
collar that Misha had given me not too long ago. A little over an hour later
I went back to my room to take care of my equipment, that was a vital part
of being a warrior. First I cleaned all of the dirt and dust from the patrol
from my armour before I began tending to my swords and their scabbards. In
total the time that it took me to care for my equipment was somewhere in the
area of two hours. Once that was finished I put on my obligatory black
leather vest, red and black pleated kilt, black cloak, and sword-belt. With
all of my normal things taken care of I headed down to the mess where I had
my supper before heading to the Deaf Mule where I could have an ale and
hopefully a good game of darts and knives with Copernicus. As soon as I
walked in the door I could see that there was a new caravan from the
Midlands in town because the teamsters from that caravan were in the Mule. I
could have sworn that Donnie was wearing an grin as he served my ale to me
in a foaming tankard. He must've been happy about the amount of business
that he was having this evening. Cope was playing darts with one of the
teamsters and the man was having a rough time of it. I smiled at Cope as he
threw the last dart to win the match. The teamster's friends laughed and
then one bragged

"If I was allowed to throw my knives I could probably beat anyone in this
place."

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is sir." said one of the
locals who was stuck in the form of a child. The man laughed slowly stood up
and slapped a sun on the table before he said "OK I put my money down now
who here thinks they can beat me at throwing knives." I slowly stood up from
where I had been sitting at the bar and replied to his challenge

"I believe I can beat you." before I pulled three knives from their
concealed sheaths behind my back. I placed them on the table by the line
that marked the throwing position and took my stance. I allowed the teamster
to have the first shot. It was a respectable toss but I knew that I could
easily do better. I got into my zone and tossed my dart without even
realizing it. The man who was facing me shook his head slowly and then asked


"How in the name of Eli did you make that shot?"

"If you know how you can mentally remove all distractions until you reach a
point where you can almost unconsciously throw the dart." The man shook his
head and then threw his second knife. Within the next three minutes I won
five more suns from various teamsters as they tried to beat me at my own
game. I went home that evening with more money than I had possessed when I
went to the bar. As I went to sleep with a slight buzz in my head I wondered
if the next day would be as much fun as some of the visitors had implied.
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