Headed By A Snake

"That"s right." Wroe smiled with chagrin, "Apparently, the docs found him washed up on the sh.o.r.e, chewed up by a chomper and nom"d on by nibblers-- but alive."

"A shame."

Tycon patiently listened to Wroe"s report. Sasha, the chocolate elf, had her white hood pulled down low while she hid behind the green-haired n.o.ble. Pale looked somewhat disappointed.

"Where are we going to meet up after this, Boss?" Wroe asked. With a tilt of his head, his angelic blue hair flowed in the soft sea breeze.

Tycon took a deep breath, "After you two finish up on Saint Guinefort, meet with Sorina in Nice for word. If Dragan needs help in the Free Nation, go there... I don"t expect to spend too long in the Holy Country, but I"m planning on being somewhere in the territory of Cersei"s Rest."

"Aye aye, Boss," Wroe saluted with a palm to his chest.

Tycon nodded and returned the salute.

Wroe leaned in close to whisper, "Shouldn"t you go home, Ivory Prince?"

Tycon had learned a bit of Wroe with his recent influx of memories. He smirked in response, "Shouldn"t you, Prince of Arcanite?"

"S-sir Tycon?" Pale had kept his bearing while bidding farewell to Lone. Facing Tycon, the young man"s mouth only just began to quiver.

Tycon sighed and ruffled the boy"s hair, "Did you have a question, young man?"

"Do you really have to go?" Pale asked, looking up with sparkling eyes.

Tycon snickered, "Become strong. Perhaps after all this is done, we can search for your father."

A tear streamed down Pale"s cheek as he nodded resolutely, "Y... yes, Sir..."

Tycon frowned.

Unworried about how anyone around him felt about it, he bent over and gave the young man a hug. Pale seemed surprised but returned the embrace. After several seconds, Tycon felt it was socially acceptable to release the hug and did so.

Sniffling and with his body slightly trembling, Pale saluted, "Death... to the enemies of Invictus."

Tycon returned the salute with a prideful heart, "Blood and thunder."

...

Lieutenant Shao Ran was responsible for taxiing Guild Invictus and the few dozen remaining civilians back to the Beaurte territory. The civilians were the remainder of the hostages rescued from the Saltspray Keep, those who did not take up the Sea Wolves" offer to join them. They were mostly too old or too young-- but there were a few amongst them who looked hale and healthy.

...There was no shame in shying away from the call of battle. The military life was similar to the adventuring life in that it was not easily adopted.

Invictus" final mission for the Sea Wolves was to escort the civilians at least to the town of Brume. From there, they could take a caravan to the city of Beaurte-proper and from there, to their own respective villages.

The Thalia Grace anch.o.r.ed near land and ordered his men to taxi Invictus and the civilians to the beach via longboat. The salutes and nods of acknowledgment from the Sea Wolves lifted morale. Shao Ran, the loud braggart of a man, heartily shook Tycon"s hand as a sign of respect.

As loath as Tycon was to admit it, he would miss the cursed band of murderous sea creatures.

Other than that, Tycon was in good spirits. Sasarame in snake-form had her fill of a small rodent and rested peacefully in the folds of Tycon"s hood.

Lone carried Wolfbanger, draped over his shoulders.

Tycon poked the weretouched boy with the base of a halberd, "Mister Levi, we have returned to solid land."

"Guohhh." The boy"s response was... less than stellar.

"You know... not to threaten you, young man... but if you"d like, we can dissolve your contract."

The boy had been nothing but trouble and per his actions, Tycon was fairly certain that Levi Wolfrider did not like being part of Invictus.

"N-nah. I want to stay..." Wolfbanger groaned.

Tycon furrowed his brows at the unexpected response, "Really? ...Well, alright. On your feet, then. Let"s see if fresh air and a walk will aid your convalescence."

As the dog-wolf-boy steadied himself on his feet, Tycon handed him the halberd.

"What"s... this, Boss?" he asked.

Tycon smiled, "We cannot allow you to travel unarmed."

He had planned to give Levi the guisarme he had taken from the Sea Wolf armory, but it was destroyed. A hafted weapon would do better for Levi"s fighting style-- remaining at a safe distance, but still able to utilize his strength.

"Th-thanks." Levi averted his gaze, "Hey... Boss."

Tycon raised an eyebrow. The boy rarely had anything to say to him, much less ask him a question, "Speak your mind, young man."

Levi rubbed the dirt with his pawed foot, "Why are you so nice to me?"

Tycon was troubled. How was he supposed to respond to that? "...I treat you like a normal person. I don"t actually think I"ve gone out of my way to be nice to you, at all."

The dog boy"s ears drooped. Tycon a.s.sumed that meant he was... unconfident?

Tycon decided to say something sagacious, possibly bordering on plagiarism. Tycon cleared his throat, "We"re all different, Mister Levi. Strive to be judged by the content of your character, not the color of your... fur."

Dropping his gaze, Levi smiled and nodded.

...

Guild Invictus led the way to Brume without incident. On the way, Tycon utilized the most powerful skill in his repertoire: delegation.

Wolfbanger had the (questionably) highest martial ability in Invictus. He was a.s.signed to felling one of the many wild rams in the area and carrying it back. With the weretouched boy"s ability to *carry* the greathammer he once used, Tycon foresaw no issues with the command.

Its meat would be tasty and the blood would be useful.

Barza Keith, the Lone Shadowdark-- Tycon a.s.signed him to take any capable archers and hunt for deer, plentiful in the area. He lent out half-dozen crossbows. He hoped the peace of mind achieved from not feeling useless would be a good motivation.

The deer meat would be tasty and the fat could be used to make tallow candles.

Sasha, he ordered to hunt some prey larger than she was. A squirrel would be appropriate. The girl remained shy-- preferring to stay in her snake form and hidden in Tycon"s clothes than be a part of a group. Tycon needed to instill self-confidence in the girl.

He could use the small skull and bones for... something. Tycon didn"t know what, but he"d figure it out once his silver daughter succeeded.

With the supplies Invictus had, the travel was pleasant. The pace was comfortable, the danger was nominal, and morale remained high. Thanks to everyone"s efforts, both Invictus" and the civilians" bellies remained full.

Lone and Wolfbanger seemed a bit uncomfortable about the peacefulness... but Tycon advised them to savor the calm.

The group had reached the town of Brume after only a couple of suns. A caravan had been prepared ahead of time, paid for by Kingdom coin. Tycon checked the caravan master"s credentials-- everything was in good order.

More tearful goodbyes were had. The civilians thanked Guild Invictus as if their rescue wasn"t a collective effort of Lang Hai and hundreds of his Sea Wolves. Lone and Wolfbanger were praised as heroes. Tycon decided not to take that away from either of them.

After they left, Tycon got a couple of rooms at the local... Unicorn Inn. He browsed the small selection at the local general goods vendor. And he got to work outdoors on a small project, making candles.