The Warden | A For Honor Fanfiction

Assurances

Assurances
It was a lost cause. No matter how hard I banged on the doors of the Great Hall, Kharion would not open them to me. As if his handling of the negotiations had not gone poorly enough, now he was barring anyone save the Rangers from accessing the Great Hall. My only option would have been to break down the doors and force my way in, something I was sure I was capable of. Of course, if I did that, it would only paint me as an intruder, a villain. With an angry yell and a kick, I marched away from the door, ignoring the stares from those around me as I did.

This was a disaster, time was running out to prepare for Blackstone's assault, and yet we were clueless about the Elder's plans. I didn't even know who he was sending as Herongale's champion, or if he was adhering to that offer at all! And all for what? Grief over a slaughtered father? Did that justify dooming the hamlet he sought to protect? Casting out those sworn to protect it? I'd thought Daubeny the worst warlord I had ever served, but at least he had still fought for preservation. This Elder was behaving more like he was conducting some demented mass suicide, one where he was the only willing participant.

I could scarcely contain my rage by the time I'd returned to the communal bed chambers, the cold being somewhat dulled by the building. Most of the hamlet had thankfully been evacuated to the fortress by now, though the meager resistance Kharion had gathered still remained. That didn't prevent the building from being almost fully empty, the tasks assigned by the rangers had seen to that. Only Deborah, curled up and staring blankly at the bed, and Stone, sitting on the ground beside her, remained inside. Stone heard my approach and turned to face me, his helmet was discarded beside him, a hollow smile rested on his features.

"Still no luck, huh?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Surely I wouldn't be back if I had been successful. Still, I shook my head regardless as I fell to the ground, sitting by the foot of the bed as I practically threw my sword beside me.

"I slammed on that door for God knows how long, and they wouldn't even acknowledge it!" I said, reaching for the straps on my helmet. I had to fumble with them for a moment before I could properly grab hold of them and get them undone.

"Easy Liam, one of us needs a clear head if we're gonna get out of this." Stone joked. The fact he was able to find levity at a time like this absolutely baffled me. A groan escaped my lips as I nearly ripped the helmet off and slammed it beside me, my free hand furling and unfurling into and out of a fist several times. We would not be receiving any aid from the Elder, that much had been made clear. Compounding the issue was that I could equally assume his rangers and the militia would be of no help to us, and would likely default their loyalties to Kharion. In most cases I'd find loyalty of that caliber honorable, and in a way I still did. Now, however, it was just another problem I had to work around.

"If this comes down to Trial by Champion, one of us needs to be able to take down Belial. We can't afford any chance of failure, Kharion has lost his mind." I warned, I could only imagine what plans he was making in his war council. Stone sighed and nodded, leaning back and resting against the wall.

"That's assuming he even picks us at this point. He could just as easily pick Berrat or one of the other rangers." He argued.

"Then he would be a fool!" I barked, gripping the tip of my helmet tightly before I continued; "A ranger cannot utilize their hit and run tactics in a duel! You and I are the only logical choices!" I yelled. Stone shook his head and shrugged.

"You're preaching to the choir, brother." He said. Right as he was, it only made me feel worse. Of course Stone would agree with me on this, but what would yelling about this to him accomplish? He had just as much power to change this as I did, none. Our only choice was to somehow usurp the elder, but what could we hope to accomplish there? Not only would we be abusing our status, we would be dividing an already outmatched people on the eve of their destruction. That would help nothing, but neither would staying silent, even if said silence was being enforced by exclusion. So what options were there?