Cade gasped and sat up abruptly, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He looked around and realized where he was. He sighed heavily and put his face in his hands. He moaned slowly, and it slowly crept to a sob, then a weep. He had had the dream again.
The one in which he failed, miserably.
He could not close his eyes without thinking of her, and how she might be somewhere in pain, afraid.
Alone.
She had been at the party with him. She had left him for just a moment. A moment that turned out to be an eternity. He was talking to some nobleman…
Cade stopped weeping for a moment. His thoughts were so muddled…
The man he was talking to was in love with the sister of…
Cade sighed again, and a look of contemplation came over his face.
“She was gone for but a moment,” He thought. “The nobleman was terrified of me, and…”
Cade smiled briefly.
“That’s when the Trollocs came.” He said aloud to himself, his smile melting from his face. “How could I have been so foolish?” he thought.
The Trollocs had ambushed the party. Nobody save the Dark One knows why, but they were there just the same. The crowd of nobles panicked and fled, while Cade drew his swords and rushed forward to protect the army of the innocent…
The army that included her…The Lady…
Trolloc after Trolloc fell beneath the fury of his sword, for he fought like a man possessed. He cut a swath through to where the Lady had been…
But was no more…
Hesitating for a moment, not fully realizing the direness of the situation, Cade suddenly felt a sharp pain tear through his lower back. He let out a cry and turned quickly to face the grinning face of a Trolloc, snarling, his scythesword freshly slicked with blood. That snarl was its final mistake. Cade leapt forward, and with all his might, swung at the foul creature’s head. The snarl quickly change to a gurgle as Cade’s mighty blow lopped the Trolloc’s head clean off. But, where one fell, two took its place, and Cade soon found himself surrounded. All seemed hopeless, but Cade fought on. The thought of her kept him going…
The Lady… Miara…
He didn’t matter. He just needed to ensure her safety. Every blow that he connected with, though, one would land on him. His vision was becoming blurred and reddened more and more with every felled Trolloc. It was at this moment, when all seemed hopeless that the man from Tear saved him.
The Tairen nobleman was dressed impeccably, and was fighting twin-sword style, as Cade was. He leapt into the fray, just in time to stop the killing blow upon Cade. “Back you dogs!” he cried. “Back to your holes from which the Dark One created you!” Cade coughed. A trickle of blood fell from his lips. Dizziness and nausea washed over Cade like a sea of warm blood. The Tairen stranger drove off the remnants of the Trollocs’ ambush party, and then quickly rushed to Cade’s side. “No worries, Captain,” the nobleman said, pausing to notice Cade’s uniform. “You fought bravely, and we shall get someone in here to patch you as soon as is possible. Until then, I am Major Vyvin D’Rious of the Tairen Army. What is your name?” Cade barely registered this, as his mind was focused on how he had failed. Still, with great effort, he managed to choke out: “Captain… Cade… Bankrah…” He groaned. The world was swimming. He looked up into Vyvin’s eyes. “The House…Rak-” and with that, he passed out, the world falling away into darkness.
He sat there in his room in Ebou Dar, and he shook his head. He sighed again. Cade knew it was going to be another sleepless night. He decided to go for a walk, to see if there was anything that could give him purpose again, after his falling out of favor with the house Rakar, and having to leave his hometown in shame. Vyvin had been more then understanding, and had offered him a position in the Tairen Army. Still, Cade knew not which path to take. “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, I suppose.” Cade muttered as he slipped on his armor, sighing and shaking his head. Perhaps the streets of Ebou Dar will present me with my next quest. He picked up his swords, and hung them at his side. He put on his black cloak, and set out into the chill morning air.
Cade Bankrah
Adventurer, Ex-Bodyguard
His inn room in Ebou Dar
