“So Restia just ups and leaves! Can you believe it?!”

“Even after all that time, huh?”

“I’ve spent countless silver on her, all my time, all my love and affection! All for what? She runs off to the North with another guy as soon as I come to say hi to her!” Simon pounded his head against the wooden table, the mugs around him bouncing and clattering, “Is it a curse, Dall? Am I cursed?”

“I don’t think you are, bud,” Dall said with a smile.

The two young men sat in the corner of the room, close to the fireplace.

Dall sipped slowly at his water, his friend wailing and moaning beside him.

It was empty in the room. It's lucky that we're here late at night.

He sneaked a glance at the waitress standing by. Her chocolate brown hair fell just above her shoulders, freckles dotting her tanned cheeks. She smiled.

Guess she’s finally warmed up to him, huh? 

He got up and patted Simon on the back, “Come on, man. Let’s get you to your room. You've got an important job to do early tomorrow.”

Simon threw his arms up. "'Important job' my ass," he groaned. "'Oh Simon, go patrol this', 'oh Simon, patrol that'. Patrol what? It’s too peaceful ‘round here,” Simon sighed heavily. He took out his sword and plopped it on the table. It gleamed against the light, its sleek blade spotless, free of any imperfections. “Ever since I’ve gotten this thing I haven’t used it against a bad guy once.” He held up a finger, “Once!” He sighed, “I got the job to look good, but how can I look good when nothing’s happening?” he sobbed.

“Still, there might be people around who need our help, y’know?” Dall said.

He nudged at Simon’s shoulder.

“Think about it,” Dall pulled his arm, and he reluctantly got up from his chair. “If we’re not out there, then the bad guys in hiding can come out and do whatever they want. If they get what they want, people like Restia could get in trouble. And you don’t want that to happen, right?”

Simon nodded, his eyes red and puffy.

“Okay, then, let’s go.” Dall carefully walked behind him. Simon's fumbling figure limped towards the door. “Thanks, Maria. Sorry for staying so late again.”

“No problem,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here,” she sighed. She smirked and nodded her head towards Simon, “He can get real messy when he’s alone.”

“I’ll make sure he won’t be again,” Dall said.

“Such a good guy. Simon would have a stable relationship if he was more like you,” Maria said.

“Come on, now, don’t say that. He’s got his good points.”

“I know he does,” Maria said with a soft smile. “So when did you get in, Dall?” she asked.

“Just a couple of hours ago,” he responded.

“What’re you out here in Fora for?” Maria moved over to the table they sat at previously and picked up the fallen mugs. “Strange to see you this time of the year. Isn’t there some festival going on in the Capital right now? Shouldn’t you be out there helping out?”

Dall paused. The face of a certain girl pouting at him came to mind. Stifling a laugh, he waved his hand and said, “Father’s getting worried about security around the border, so I figured I’d check it out,” Dall said. “Also thought it’d be a good idea to meet Simon’s new girlfriend, but I guess that plan’s bust now.”

“That so?” she whipped out a towel and wiped the table down.

He pursed his lips. Well, the Bandit rumor is troubling us as well, but I can't say that.

Maria's voice ripped him away from his thoughts. “Oh yeah, I’ve heard a rumor I think you’d like to hear.”

Dall stiffened for a second. “What is it?” he asked anxiously.

“The boys training on the Wall,” she said. “I’ve heard that they’ve been looking real scared, lately.”

"Scared?" he asked, his thoughts reaching for the worst of all possibilities. Maria moved past him and approached a nearby counter,

“Some of them have been dropping by every day before their shifts.” She put her finger against the tap that hung over a crevice in the wood, and with a faint blue glow, water poured out of it. She threw the mugs under it and began washing them, “Apparently something’s caught their eye, and they aren’t too excited to talk about it.” Maria glanced at him and smiled. "They're saying it's a Despairity."

“Really? Those guys seeing a Despairity?” Dall chuckled, sighing internally. “I’ll check up with them, then.”

“I only hope that it’s not another incident with the Eldreds…” Maria whispered, her expression darkening. Realizing what she’d said, she looked to Dall and Simon, smiled sweetly, and said, “Stay safe you two.”

“You as well.”

Dall brought Simon out of the building and sighed,

“Alright, big guy. Let’s go now.”

The two of them stumbled down the cobblestone path, the stars and moon shining down on them.

After just a couple of steps, Dall found a gut-wrenching pattern dotting nearly every inch of the town: the symbol of the Greatswords.

The simple insignia of a shining longsword decorated everything they walked past. It was printed against softly flowing flags, burned and etched into the wood of the buildings and houses, and even chiseled into the road beneath them.

He never really noticed it before, as he was preoccupied with Simon, but now that he had his stomach churned.

Dall avoided his eyes whenever he saw one. Simon caught onto him, and grinned, “Look juust like home?” he asked, his voice slurring.

“It’s even worse here…” Dall muttered.

“Don’t be bothered by it, Dally, iz all okaay.”

“How the hell are you getting even drunker?” Dall didn’t wait and said, “Let’s just hurry up. You need rest.”

Dall rushed him, Simon’s drunken voice filling the streets of the town.

After a couple of minutes, they finally came upon an inn.

Entering the lobby, he found the room to be nearly empty.

Some sat around eating dinner, some drinking, and others chatted away.

An elderly man stood behind a counter, organizing a shelf nearby. He simply nodded his head when he saw the two enter, and Dall brought Simon up to his room.

Once Dall finished his business, he walked down the usually busy streets.

His boots fell softly against the stone and a cool breeze blew past him. The sound of trickling water touched his ears, and he gazed at the river to his side.

He walked down to the bank and looked down at it. The river flowed gently, fish swimming elegantly under its currents. The moon’s reflection lit up his face.

Tapping the short sword at his side, he sighed. “'Too peaceful’, huh?” he said to himself. “Is that really a problem?”

He squatted, ready to sit down on a patch of grass to just take the moment to relax when he noticed that the moon’s reflection in the water had suddenly disappeared.

Looking up, he found that large, dark clouds rolled over the sky. “Looks like a storm’s coming,” he murmured. “Guess I’ll sleep at the barracks tonight. Might as well say hi to the Guard Captain.”

As he started to make his way across the town, rain poured down from above.

He wiped his eyes of the rushing water as he threw off his coat and pushed it above his head.

He silently cursed as he continued onward, rushing past the courtyard and a couple of more buildings, watching his footing to make sure he doesn't slip.

Lightning flashed in the sky when he came upon a stone building.

He approached the door and knocked on it, “Excuse me!” Dall yelled.

The door opened revealing a little boy standing there looking up at him.

“What do you want?” he squeaked.

Dall grinned, “Can I come in, Julian?”

“Password!”

“Ugh, password…” he sighed, “Let’s go with Thunder Dragon,” Dall replied, his foot tapping anxiously. He held his arms close, his clothes dripping wet. He brushed his hair aside and said, “That good? Can I come in?”

“Incorrect! That was yesterday’s!” Julian said majestically as he pounded his chest, “I’m sorry, mister, but I can’t allow you to-AGH!”

“Let him in already, you twerp,” A rough, towering man came from behind and picked him up by the collar. He looked down at Dall and said, “Come on. Get yourself warm.”

Dall entered the room, and the chills immediately disappeared.

He glanced at the fireplace in the wall, and he smiled as he plopped down next to it. He beamed at how tiny the room was.

The uneven bricked walls were built close together with small panes of glass embedded in each of them. A wooden door sat on the other side of the room, its handle rattling.

The boarded floor creaked as the man and young Julian walked around. A low table sat in the center of the room. A couch sat behind it, facing the fire.

Dall turned his attention back to the fireplace. Something gleamed in the corner of his eye, and he glanced up.

A large, shining sword hung there, decorating the charred brick. 

His gaze drifted down. A metal pot dangled above the fire. The man approached it and picked it up with his bare hands. “Julian,” the man said.

The boy walked over to Dall and put a wooden bowl in front of him. The man slowly poured brown soup into it, steam rising from the bowl.

“Thank you, Garnell,” Dall said.

Garnell’s graying head nearly touched the ceiling as he moved to put the pot back in the fireplace. A scruffy, brown beard grew against his chiseled features. And once more, Dall stared at the gash running against his right forearm. Garnell turned back and said,

“It’s no problem at all, Sir Greatsword.”

“Ah, no need for the stiff stuff,” Dall chuckled as he drank the soup. “I’d prefer to just be Dall here.”

“Apologies, but I won’t do that, Sir,” Garnell insisted.

“Well, it was worth a shot,” Dall said. He moved closer to the fire, his clothes drying up little by little. With a thud, Julian jumped over next to him, brandishing a small, toy wooden sword. “Oh, look at that. New toy, huh?”

“It’s not a toy!” Julian said. “It’s a weapon. A weapon to vanquish all evil!” Julian thrust his sword up.

“You planning on becoming a soldier when you grow up?” Dall asked.

“Of course, just like dad and big bro! But I’ll fight and be stronger than both of them!” Julian responded with a wide and bright smile.

“Yeah? Which District are you planning on joining?”

“The Greatswords obviously!”

Dall cringed slightly, “Really, huh? Why not Central? You can defend the Emperor himself, y’know?” Dall leaned forward, and stared him in the eyes, “Maybe you can have some battles with some Wood Walkers or Gaeans if you’re up there. Y’know they can use magic, right?”

“Nngggh, the magic sounds cool…” Julian muttered. “But, I like this one! Pointy ears, animal people, whatever! They don’t have anythin’ on the Eldreds. Those are the real bad guys!”

“Well, sounds good to me,” Dall grinned as he ruffled the boy’s curly brown hair.

"Julian!" Garnell raised his voice. Julian winced and lowered his sword. "Watch your tongue. Don't go around saying those words, understand?"

"Y-Yes, father," Julian spoke meekly.

Garnell nodded, his stern gaze lightening up. He turned to Dall. “So, if I may ask, what are you doing here, Sir?” Garnell asked. “Do you need a place to  sleep tonight?”

“Oh, I have my usual place in the barracks, thanks. But I’m here for two things," Dall said.

He slowly sipped at his soup, a refreshing warmth settling in his stomach.

"First." Dall set the bowl down. He crossed his arms and said, "Are you aware of the Bandit situation?" 

Garnell narrowed his eyes. "I am, Sir," he spoke calmly. "I've explained this to Master Barbas, but he refuses to listen." He sighed. "He argues that any 'suspicious' movements we make will alarm the Eldreds, which may open hostilities between us."

Dall frowned. "That's ridiculous."

"I cannot agree more, Sir. However, we received a new shipment of Magic Orbs. Hopefully, this will be enough to deter any potential raids." He stood up and poured himself another bowl. "Shall we inform the soldiers of the Unification?"

"No, not yet," Dall said. "It's a rumor for now. Father told me that the Emperor ordered the Knightblades to confirm the truth. Nevertheless, keep your guards up. We may never know what happens."

"Of course, Sir. I'd expect nothing less from my soldiers."

Then, Dall grinned. "Speaking of, this is the second thing I came to talk about. Maria told me that your boys have been seeing ‘some stuff’ and that they’ve been getting scared,” Dall said. Garnell slowly sipped away at his soup. "I came over to ask them. I’m dying to know if what they say is true, but if it’s something too dangerous, I’ll help out if you guys need it.”

“I appreciate the offer, Sir, but let’s leave it to them,” Garnell said. “It’s a good learning experience, being directly next to the Eldred border.”

“Yeah, yeah! People are saying that an attack might come soon!” Julian butted in, “I’ll fight those guys off!”

Garnell frowned, “I’m not talking about an attack. The monsters in the forest are ferocious and are more than enough for us to worry about.”

“But are they true?” Dall asked. “I can ask Father to send more soldiers.”

“No, no. We’re fine with the numbers we have. I wouldn’t want to burden the General any more than I have,” He stood. “But if you wish to speak to them, they all should be on the wall right now.”

“In this weather?”

“Especially in this weather. Diligence is necessary at all times of the day,” Garnell said. “No matter the circumstance.”

“Understood. Thanks for the meal, Garnell.”

“Anytime, Sir.”

Dall nodded. He approached the other door and entered it, a flight of stairs sitting before him.

The stones surrounding him were gray and dark, and the crooked steps led up to the open sky. Heavy rain pattered against them, the tremendous roar of the water overwhelming him.

He slowly walked up, tapping the sword at his waist. A soldier, huh? Even Julian’s got a dream already…

Thunder boomed above, accompanied by a couple of screams.

He dashed up, and his attention turned to a couple of collapsed bodies.

He ran up and turned them over to check on them. “Hey, are you okay?! What happened?” Dall yelled.

The iron armor strapped to their chests had been cut three times horizontally. It seemed to be the markings of a beast, but he focused his attention on the most important matter.

He tore off their armor and checked both of their chests. The cuts scraped through, leaving three scratches. He cursed.  He raised his head when someone screamed.

“Back away! Back away! Keep up some distance!” 

Dall swiftly pulled the unconscious soldiers down the stairs, and threw open the door, “Garnell! These two need help!” He didn’t even wait for a response as he turned around and ran back up to the top of the wall.

He made his way to the commotion when suddenly a flash of light zoomed towards him. He jumped to the side and watched as a trail of white light danced before him.

The light grew brighter and brighter and disappeared. Dall reached for his weapon and blinked quickly to get rid of the blinding flash. Once his vision cleared, he gasped.

Standing before him was a wolf possibly two times bigger than himself. Its pure white fur glistened in the darkness, and its ice-cold, beady eyes glowed. It snarled, revealing its misshapen, jagged teeth. “No way,” Dall quivered. He knew what this beast was. The only beasts that had such a beautiful coat were those that the world feared the most, “A Despairity,” he murmured.

What is it doing here? Disparities should never, under any circumstance, be out in the wild. I've never seen one outside of a Dark Spot. He reached for his blade and bent down, his knees shivering.

He slowly inched closer when he noticed something strange - a huge, metal collar wrung around its neck. Not only that, but various cuts and gashes also ran along with its fur. It limped away from Dall slowly, each step forcing the beast to quiver, “What the-”

The wolf bellowed as something exploded in its face.

“Fire at it! Use the entire thing if you have to!” Someone commanded.

Balls of fire soared in the air, curved around, and slammed into the wolf’s side, each exploding one by one.

It collapsed to its knees and growled viciously. Blood poured from its recently opened wounds.

It whimpered as it fell onto its stomach. It looked to Dall with eyes seemingly pleading with him, asking him to help.

But it was too late.

Something dashed past him and plunged a blade straight through its neck, a pool of red dripping excessively around its head.

Dall brought his attention back and looked to who felled the beast. “Dall Greatsword… a little late to the party, aren’t you?”

Dall stood straight as the person who spoke slowly came into focus. “Joseph Mande,” he said. “What happened here?”

The fully-plated knight that pierced the beast’s throat approached Dall. “A Despairity, clearly,” Joseph said as he took off his helmet, revealing a young-looking man with short, brown hair. “Thank the gods the Captain told us to stay on guard,” He said as he glanced to the fallen beast, “Otherwise that thing would’ve ravaged Fora ‘till it was flattened to the dirt.”

Would it? The wolf could barely move. Could it have been in the midle of Expanding? That fast light surely must’ve been the Despairity, and it stopped as he got in its path. What’s going on? Something caught his eye.

Slowly emerging from the darkness came a group of other individuals wearing similar attire to Joseph’s. Dall recognized them to be the ‘boys of the wall’ as Maria put it. One by one they fumbled and tumbled forwards, some limping, others throwing off their helmets and collapsing to the wet ground. “Is this what you guys have been seeing recently?” Dall asked. “The Despairity?”

“We wanted to brush it off, Dall, we really did,” Joseph said, a pained look on his face. “A ‘wild Despairity’? Who would believe it?”

“What was it doing here, then?”

“That’s something I’d like to know. I even had to use up one of the Orbs we got recently,” Joseph grumbled.

“How many did it kill?”

“Kill? None. But it did some damage to two of my guards,” Joseph said.

“I brought them down to Garnell when I saw them.”

“If that’s the case, then they should be safe. Thanks, Dall,” Joseph smiled. “But that’s all it did. It showed up, sliced at them, and then started to run away when we finally caught up to it.” He put a finger to his chin. He pondered for a moment when he shook his head, “I’ll worry about it later. First things first.” He moved over to the tired ‘boys’ and spoke loudly, “Get down to the Captain, get your asses home, and get some rest.”

“B-But Joe, I can still fight, I swear I can!” A single knight stood up. He threw off his helmet, and Dall recognized his curly brown hair immediately, “I-I’m not gonna let some, some Despairity freak me out!”

“Listen to me, Saul. The fight's done. You don't need to be here anymore. Get you and your friends down to your father,” Joseph ordered, “I will not repeat myself.”

“W-Who’s going to defend the wall then?!”

“Dall and I will do it, along with the other adults. Now get going.” Saul gritted his teeth. He eventually caved in and nodded, dragging his feet to the stairwell, followed by five other knights. Joseph turned to Dall and said, “I’m sorry about that, but can you help me out?”

“Of course,” Dall said.

He, Joseph, and a dozen more soldiers stood guard on the wall that rainy night, the corpse of the wolf still lying there in its blood. The winds pushed the violently swaying trees. Lightning flashed again, followed by rolling thunder.

“I’ll have to tell father…” He said, his eyes clouding. “Dammit.”