💎A Collision of Fates💎 (Straight to Gay) (MxM) (18+)

76 - Nick

Commander Unil shut the door to the map room.

Commanders hated it when defenders called it that, the map room. It was formally known as the briefing hall, but Nick, and most of the other defenders, always called it the map room. And as you walked into the chamber, the reason for that became glaringly obvious.

It was a relatively simple setup, but the centrepiece of the room was the large, intricate, painted map that dominated the back wall. Then, there was the podium placed to the side and a little bit in front of the map, and there was the set of chairs facing the map. That was it. "The map room," was the obvious title.

Today, Breck and Nick were sitting in those chairs, along with the four other defenders that had been chosen to go on the mission.

When they had arrived that morning, at sunrise, Henrov had grumbled something inaudible, no doubt something condescending or rude. Geer had sighed, rubbed his head, and nodded at them with a sullen frown on his face. In comparison, Mikh and Warlan had been quick to welcome them, beckoning them forward with a pat on the back. It was an odd group, and Nick had no idea what sort of qualifications had led them to be the ones that had been picked. But he was grateful, more than grateful, to be a part of it.

"Alright, Yevans, listen up." Commander Unil strode to the front of the room, and then stood behind the podium. He opened up a book that had been placed on it and scanned the pages below.

The map room had no windows on the walls to let in light, so several skylights served that purpose, illuminating the intricate, beautiful map on the far side of the room with clear, direct sunlight. A large jewel had been set into the map, into the wall, where the city of Sesstria was, and the same thing had been done to a pink crystal to show where The Goddess was. Beyond that, the surrounding nations were painted with intricate detail. Every port, every city, every major road  was on the map, stretching from the most southern reaches of Paxta, all the way to the northern mountains of Hollinde, and the city of Norshur.

Unil cleared his throat. "First of all, I would like to make it clear that everything that is discussed today, everything that you will do because of  today's briefing, is completely confidential. None of this can be spoken about to people that are not part of this squad." He held his hands out over the gathered defenders. "You six have been especially chosen to partake in this assignment, and we expect you to be discrete." He eyed all of them. "Am I understood?"

There were murmurs of agreement, understanding. Nick looked up at Breck. The big man had a confident grin on his face.

Unil pointed to the bottom of the map, gesturing to a large swath of green that dominated the western corner of the Paxtan continent. "This is The Spread. I'm sure some of you have heard of this place. It is the largest jungle in Paxta, and is considered impenetrable by some. The imperial  Paxtan troops have been unable to establish a foothold in the area for centuries, despite violent, consistent efforts, and the people that live in The Spread, the hrew, are rarely seen outside of the jungle." Unil stared at the green stain, as though  his mind was lost in the expansive maze of trees. "In short, the place is a mystery."

Nick stared at the green blotch on the map. It was huge, and covered a good portion of The Paxtan continent. Something similar to the Amazon jungle, likely. Would the mission involve them travelling there? Would there be dangerous beasts living in the large forest? Questions swirled in Nick's mind, but he kept his mouth shut, kept himself as focused as he could.

"We know a few things about The Spread." Unil held up a single finger. "One, it is incredibly hot. Paxta itself is the warmest place in the world, but The Spread is said to be almost unbearable." He held up another finger.  "Two, the hrew are very secretive. As I said, they rarely leave the forest, and, when they do, they don't share much information about their  homes." Unil lifted another finger, a third. "Finally, the cult has set up a large camp in the reaches of The Spread. They're using it for several purposes, but it is the place where The Golden Spire is breeding their hralls and their razors. The same ones that have been attacking Sesstria for months."