Drumwe Isles

chapter six

Dren glanced down at the summons the messenger had left him. The poor man had been quaking in his boots when he saw Dren and it rendered the man a little guilty. Not because he'd done anything to harm the fellow but because he understood their platoon was a fierce one and the bulk of people weren't accustomed to it.

Still, the summons was another matter. It called for Cael the Savage, Kieran the Ironclad, and Enid the Bloody. Not only were they three profound warriors and thus a loss to him, but they were a very odd squad to pick for a mission. Calling upon Cael and Kieran he could follow. They were longstanding shield brothers who fought well together and had been on the same squad since they'd entered the army. Though how Enid came into the mix was beyond him. Yes, it was always wise to have a healer in your ranks, but it was also wise to choose people who already had a relationship developed between them. Dren couldn't make sense of it.

Nonetheless, he called for the errand boy. The boy was aiming to join the Dillac army when he was old enough and had been working on making an impression before he ever did so. He was small, with floppy brown hair and awkward freckles. The men called him "Prince" as his hands were soft and he was well groomed when they'd met him. Dren imagined there was only a year or two left and Prince would be fitted with some armour and tossed a sword. It almost made him sad. The boy had become something of a mascot to the warriors and they protected him like their own treasure. It wasn't that he was particularly skilled in the sword or bow. Rather the men appreciated the boy's sheer determination to become one of them.

"Yes, sir?" Prince asked, ducking his head inside the tent. "Grab Cael and Enid. Don't bother with Kieran, he'll come looking soon enough." Prince nodded and dipped off through the swarms of men. First Enid shuffled in.

"Miss me already?" She joked.

Dren shot her a sly grin and shook his head. Enid the Bloody was another treasure amongst the men. She was one of two women on the entire platoon, and a steadfast companion at that. Dren always suspected she didn't actually fancy men and just slept with the occasional member of their platoon to keep morale high. It was effective.

She was a decently attractive woman, but really none of them had seen much of women in months, so who were they to say? She wore her brown locks in braids down her back and walked with great assurance in herself. Further, she was extremely good at what she did. Mending to the injured and ill was light work for her and she did it with excellent charisma and commitment.

"There's been a summons for you, actually."

Her brow raised as she took the empty stool across from him round the table.

"A summons to where? From whom?"

"I'll get to that when the others get here."

"Others?"

The interaction had done little, if anything, to ease her confusion. Soon enough Cael had ducked inside with the two of them. "Evening, Dren."

His eyes darted between the two of them and grew a tad playful when they landed on Enid. "Evening, darling. Miss me?"

The woman scowled but a begrudging smile painted her lips. She remembered this imbecile from his time at her infirmary. He'd gotten caught in a bear trap when he'd been on one of their more surreptitious missions. Managed to keep from alerting the nearby enemies or making any sort of a scene but tore his left leg to hell. Fortunately no long term damage was done and it never became infected either. It was a miracle in its own right. He'd still done his best to be a nuisance, of course. Every time Enid approached him, he opted to assault her with a barrage of flirtations.

He'd make obscene confessions of love: anything from saying he'd kill the dragon of Galmora to promising to bring her the head of her favourite daedra. He'd remind her how amazing her eyes looked in the infirmary lighting or go as far as mentioning the glory of her birthing hips.