Gone Is The Sweet Rain

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Once the Valley was our home, our sanctuary, and our piece of heaven on earth. Tucked and hidden from the rest of the world our home was bountiful. The soil seemed to grow anything you put into it. The mines seemed to be a never-ending source of riches whether its gold, silver, jewels or iron. The water was so clear and blue and always refreshing. The rain was something to behold as well, it always seemed to come at the right time not being too heavy nor too light. Just perfect and it tasted and smelled so sweet as it fell. Oh how I miss that rain. That is all but a distant memory now. We are a broken people and the Valley is no more. For now.

The great beasts of fire and brimstone erupted from the ground in some far distant lands. It almost seemed as if the very pits of the underworld had spat them out for their vile cruelness. It was that or maybe this is our penance; Losing most of our loved ones, being forced from our homes and to walk the lands till we found solace in the Empire where the old Emperor heard our cries and took pity on us. He provided refuge in an old abandoned village in the swamps. For these trials our people faced because of the sins of our forefathers.

The company sergeant, Duran Darkhand, entered the tent tearing me from thought. “Captain, a messenger from General Tallais.” The taciturn sergeant stated. I nodded and he turned on his heels and stood outside the tent.

“Mhm,” the messenger clearing his throat, “Callor Lefford, from General Tallais, you will be dinning at the feast tonight with the General on the high table. Considering it was your company that spearheaded the attack on the Cerundian center, the General has insisted on honoring the Leopard Company.”

“Tell the General I am honored and will graciously accept. Duran will have one of our men escort you from our camp. Thank you.” The messenger was already heading out of the tent before he finished. Noting that the messenger also did not use any of the customary titles given to him.

Outside the tent the sun was right above the tree line. Camp was just outside the city walls along with all the other company camps. I told Duran that he would be accompanying me and to ready the horses. As he made his way to prepare, I prepared as well. Pulling from my trunk a finer pair of dark brown breeches, an emerald doublet with a white shoulder cape with a black leopard that drapes over the left shoulder and finally my pair of worn scaled leather boots.

Walking back out of the tent Duran was waiting with my horse, Baron. He was a tremendous Shire. He could be as mean as a snake out on the field but else where he was docile as a mouse. Duran assisted me mounting him and as I waited for him to join me on his horse. “ You ready to go?” Brushing my hair out of my face. He just nodded and so we went on our way.

Unlike the majority of the men that formed the Leopard Company the sergeant was not from the Valley. He joined the company as a lone survivor from a group that was decimated in battle. We found him wandering and heavily wounded on some open plains, it gives me untold nightmares to think what could have done to this to his people. He is one of the finest warriors I have seen. A survivor of six major battles, he is the sole reason that the Leopard Company has the renown it has today. These facts of him are near impossible to come by, that it was only after years of serving with him he would let out little bits of his people and history when he had too much ale by the campfire.

I honestly don’t know whether it was Duran who we rescued or if he rescued us. We might have saved him from withering away in the wastelands but he was the one who truly saved us. He taught us how to fight, how to maneuver, how to live off the land when on campaign, physically prepared us for the strains of fighting a war. The people of the Valley are clever and resourceful people but since the winged beast came we lost our warriors, arcanist and mentors. The few of us that manage to escape had to rely on scraps to survive and when we finally built back up our strength we decided that we needed to learn to fight.

This was when the Leopard Company was born. That was many, many years ago. From starting at nothing, with the guidance of Duran Darkhand we become one of the most favored Company’s for hire in the entire Empire. We were soon able to not only recruit soldiers but also farmers, engineers, scholars and arcanist. The arcanist who came have already started teaching some of the younglings who have been gifted with the power of the Arcane.

By the time Duran and I arrived at the main keep the sun had just gotten behind the trees and the music could be heard playing from inside. We strode through to the main hall with Duran being my shadow. We separated when it came to seating. General Tallais saw and waved me to come forth. “Har har. Here is the turner of the Tides, a Child of the Valley, the despoiler of Prillas. The Leopard captain, Callor Lefford of the Valley, I see that your grey leopard spots are becoming more prevalent in your mane.” Being called despoiler made me wince. All of these titles have a bit of truth to the name. The general clearly showed he started to enjoy himself before the feast. “Here we raise our cups up to you and the Leopard Company!” He bellowed out into the hall and raised his cup.

The host seemed not to be amused by this feast, just sadly sitting staring into his cup of red wine. Which who wouldn’t be since having your army is smashed, your enemy eating your food under your roof and a surrender of a war you had been fighting for five years. The old king should be lucky that he still has his head. Usually for someone to be so openly defiant to the Empire their head would be a nice addition to the walls of the city. Tallais had realized that keeping him alive would prevent further bloodshed. Instead this old noble lineage will be broken apart. The heir being sent to the Capitol, while the rest of his children are sent to the far corners of the Empire most likely not to be seen again.

After the final course was served everyone moved the tables down below off to the side and the dance commenced. It was during this time I noticed General Tallais demeanor completely changed. The enjoyment he was showing earlier had completely vanished and had been replaced by a stone stare.

The festivities continued far into the night but I felt no need to stay long. Something was about to happen; I don’t know what, but that claw of anxiety started to take its grip on my guts. Duran and I mounted our horses and made a hastier trip back to the camp.

As the sun broke over the horizon there was as bustle about all the camps. One of the men from the company came to wake me. “What’s happening?” As I rose rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes and trying to reorient myself with what was going on.

“Sir, we have been told to break down and prepare to march. Word been spreadin that the Emperor has passed on. I was to get and tell you that you need to report to the General right away.” I nodded to him and started to prepare myself.

After slipping into my under clothes my squire helped me don my armor. After that he handed my helm and ran off to ready my horse. I tightened my sword belt and grabbed my rifle and threw it over my shoulder. The young boy helped me mount onto Baron.

By the time I rode to the edge of our camp, Duran and a standard bearer were already waiting for me. We took to the main keep in the city. It was orderly chaos in the city people and animals were everywhere doing multitudes of task. Finally arriving at the keep, Imperial soldiers granted us access and our standard bearer took care of our horses. We were led the way to the General’s new planning room with Duran as my shadow. We entered the room and saluted. General Tallais raised his head from a piece of parchment and nodded in acceptance.

The enormous room’s space was taken up with a colossus oak table. On it large maps and parchments were strewn all around the edges of the table. The center however was a carved map of the whole of Avonriel. Every detail was painted on this carved masterpiece. From every city, river and ocean was named on that table. That was not the only thing impressive about the room. The ceiling was as tall as ten men and painted a dark blue color. Looking up at it would make you think that you were staring up into a mythical night sky dotted with tiny stars and a brilliant cluster string of light that look exactly like you would see on a moonless night. It didn’t even seem possible for something like this to be possible but I guess that is the strange ways of the Arcane.

This all would be too distracting for someone who has never seen or exposed to such magic, but for those that have been around the more opulent style of life or if you deal with the arcanist it would seem nothing out of the ordinary. To everyone in here it seemed to them as normal as a torch on the wall or the lanterns on the city streets.

Surrounding General Tallais were Captains and Lieutenants from the main Imperial, auxiliary and mercenary forces. There was even an Imperial Centauri commander. I guess one of the many reasons why this room was chosen just to fit the large being. For a being to be so large and powerful, there was elegance and assurance to their movements. Even within their human faces were horse like features. This particular commander had its tail braided in the style of the Emerald Fields Clan.

There was even a Higher One present. Everything about them was narrowed down to perfection. From the sharpness of their uniforms, the grace in their movement, the speech in which they talked and not a single long hair out of place on their topknot head. They are a peculiar people who wake up every morning and strive for perfection in everything they do. It also seemed as if they could hear everything out of those pointed ears. Their slender tall frame gave them an air of superiority when in any room. But their numbers were not as they once were.

“My lord, the Leopard Company is at your disposal. My men are ready to move on your orders.” I said still at attention.

“Excellent. Now as you can see,” he waved his hand over the table,” I have no time to dabble Captain. The Emperor is dead and his son is to take his place. The raven has come and said that I am to return to the Capital to swear fealty to our new Emperor. I will leave a garrison force here to maintain the peace and order. The rest of us will be making our way back.”

“Of course my lord. We will depart at once.”

“There is one other thing, Captain. Pertaining to you and your men. The Emperor son is demanding the Children of the Valley return to him at once.”

“Is there any reason why he would say that?”

“He did not. But the mentioning of your people must be of some importance and interest.” He said raising his brow. “Go prepare your men. Leopard Company will fall in behind the Fourth Cohort for the march back. You're dismissed Captain.”

Duran and I saluted, turned on our heels and walked back out to the stables to our horses and standard-bearer. We mounted up and headed back to the camp. “Duran when it is time to march I want the spears up front followed by the archers, hand gunners, arcanist and the camp watchers. The cavalry will take the rear guard.” Duran nodded. The way back to the camp was a lot quieter. Not that the noises of a city and a massive army preparing to go on the move was any lower. Just that I was focused on what would this new Emperor would want with my people.

Though we are called the Children of the Valley none of us original survivors are children anymore. Actually most of us have children of our own now. For only a handful of adults actually survived the scourging of the Valley. Those that survived led the children of the city out through the tunnels under the Citadel. To think the survivors of an entire civilization were hundreds of children and around twenty-five adults, even princess Sophia was a babe. It’s baffling that we even made it to that first Imperial outpost at all. Still many of us were lost before we even made it to that point.

We rebuilt in that swamp. The difficulties were great but we endured and we eventually got to a point of comfort. There was a significant challenge of coming from an area where everything grew and the wildlife was pacified, too that dark damp swamp where everything was dying or rotting and every animal or creature was trying to eat you. But we were able to conquer that swamp and started replenishing our numbers. Soon our people would be back, maybe not to where we once were but a start. The princess grew and eventually went off to the Imperial court to learn the ways of royalty. There she pleaded and warned of the coming danger that had befallen our people. Hoping that the Emperor would listen and send a force to help us retake our homes. But sadly that all fell on deaf ears, the Emperor was too busy with the wars and politics of his own land. He did give his word that he would help us get back our home when his affairs were settled. So much for that now.

The thought of the princess has given me hope. Rumor has it that her and the Emperor’s son were close friends from court. Had this been the break through we have been longing for. Had she finally won over enough support at court that we could actually mount a force and take back our home. Will my children finally get to see where they are suppose to be or will we just have to be content on calling our little swamp home.

Hearing the thunder in the distance brought back the thought of the Valley and the memories of that sweet rain. I can’t wait to feel that rain again. ”We are going home.” I said smiling to myself then retired to my tent.