As the sun crested the eastern mountains, bringing with it the morning light, several roosters crowed in the distance.
Kane arose with the sound, creaking and cracking the whole way. Sore like always. As much as he would like to stay in bed to rest, the noise wound only continue and there would be no use fighting it. A stray thought of strangling all the roosters he could find wandered through his sleepy mind, but quickly departed.
It didn’t take long before he was dressed and out the door of his little cottage which was nestled up against a rocky face, a little ways out from the village proper. During the walk, Kane shifted and shook the various belts, buckles, and pieces of cloth until they all sat well and felt just right. At the same time, he breathed in the moist morning air that wafted between the trees and let the sun warm his body. He always felt better and more energized after getting warm, despite preferring a crisp, chill day.
The village was already a swarm of activity. Early morning errands were being run, shops were preparing for the day, and breakfasts were being prepared.
“…break…fast….”, His stomach seemed to gurgle and he couldn’t help but agree. Quickening his pace, Kane hurried off to the bakery in search for the first bread-loaf of the day and a nice slab of butter.
With loaf in hand, Kane finally arrived at the Order’s garrison. It wasn’t much, but it was one of the larger buildings in the village, built from both wood and stone. It held all the equipment and provisions the Order needed to safeguard Terrasylvae and provide training for new recruits. It was also where he was stationed when he wasn’t on a mission.
In his small office with a window overlooking the training field, Kane found himself facing one of his worst enemies. Paperwork.
”Hiiiiissss…”, he let escape through his teeth.
Clearly, a courier must of come in overnight and the night watch had left it for him to find in the morning. A thought of assigning some of the Initiates to capture any incoming couriers and throw them into the holding cells crossed his mind. He quickly brushed it aside, but not before a small smirk inched its way onto his face at the thought.
Taking one long look out over the training field, he saw a few Swordsmen and recruits already preparing for their morning training session. He had to force himself to turn his head and sit down behind his desk.
“If I work quickly enough, I might be able to make it to the afternoon training session with the others.” He said to himself, feigning enthusiasm.
With a glance, he could already tell that there wasn’t going to be anything interesting in this pile of wretched paper. Field reports from border scouts told him that all was well. Encoded messages from spies watching Blackkoven’s fortress explained he was gathering forces and supplies like he was preparing for an attack.
”Well, duh. Blackkoven is always preparing for an attack. If you’re going to send a message, tell me something I don’t already know.”
There were messages asking for help from members of the Order. Flipping through them, he read them off mechanically.
“Missing cat… Perran’s at it again… They think Haute is stalking their daughter… yada yada.”
Standing up and throwing the pages on the desk, Kane asked the empty room, “Why can’t there be anything interesting today? I really had a good feeling that today would bring some excitement.”
Looking out the window, he saw his Company gathered in the field training and fighting. He could hear the calls from the Officers and the clanging of metal against metal. With a glance back to the paper strewn across the desk, he didn’t have to think twice before succumbing to temptation.
Hopping up onto the windowsill, Kane smirked,
“They can come find me if anything interesting shows up.”
Leaning forward, he let his feet slip over the edge and felt the wind in his hair as he dropped to the ground below.