Herald of Steel

The medical tent like the camp outside seemed to have gained back its seemliness and order, with none of the chaotic ripples now cascading through it.

As Alexander approached the tent, he was eager to get a closer look at the inner workings of the tent and find Cambyses, when his eyes wandered to a strange ‘clot’ of people that seemed to have formed near the mouth of the tent.

He could not see too clearly in the dark, but he could make out a body on a bed being surrounded by several shadows and he knew this was the man Theocles was talking about.

Alexander had heard of but never seen the man in the flesh, and was interested to check out how true were the rumors saying he suffered grievous injuries.

If he was really as injured as they said, maybe he wouldn’t have to kill him after all.

With this cheerful thought, Alexander slowly approached the tent, the faces of the people lit by candlelight becoming clearer and clearer to him as he got closer and closer and soon he could make out the silhouettes of people there.

He identified quite a surprising few, Aristotle, Pallidus, Theocles, and even Melodias along with a few physicians from his group.

But no Cambyses.

“Halt”

“Identify yourself!” .𝘯𝘵

Two strong voices from the front of the entrance unpleasantly barked at Alexander as he attempted to approach the tent entrance and Alexander thought, “Yep, I am in the right place.”

“I work here.” Alexander plainly introduced.

“State your name.” Came the aggressive reply.

“I am…”

“Alexander!”

Before he could finish the sentence, from the back came an enthusiastic shout.

It was his self-proclaimed most loyal follower, Theocles and somehow managing to identify Alexander even within this low-intensity lighting, he quickly made his way toward him.

“He’s Alexander?” One of the guards spoke in surprise.

“He’s younger than he looks.” The other one muttered as he craned his neck to try and get a better look at the face illuminated by the fire torches around them.

It seemed that Camius was doing a fantastic job as the rumors of Alexander’s ‘exploits’ had reached even these lowly grunts.

“Come, come.” Theocles quickly approached Alexander and gestured to join them.

Alexander gently smiled and followed, saying on the way, “Quartermaster, I have seen the beetroots you allowed us to use being put to good use. It will be your merit for all the soldiers’ lives we save.”

“Haha, don’t mention it. This is what I should have done. As you said, ‘We are all in this together’.” Theocles loudly proclaimed.

This little exchange was done so publicly to advertise their contribution and remind everyone that it was they that arranged for the treatment of all the wounded soldiers.

Done with this little charade, Alexander saw the Claws mercenary leader Melodias, who chose to tow closely behind Theocles.

Before Alexander could get a word in, Melodias spoke up, strongly patting his shoulders, “Alexander, we are alive today because of you. You could have told me before, you know!”

Melodias was referring to how Alexander played a clueless medical staff the first time he met him to determine how well his rumor was spreading.

“Hehe, I suspect you might have lived even without my help.” Alexander modestly said.

In truth, Alexander was very close to being right. Melodias was having second thoughts about obeying commands the moment Samaras declared them and was teetering between following or not following them.

Alexander’s rumor only helped to make the choice easier.

“No, no, this credit belongs only to you.” Melodias rejected any such praise.

And then he gratefully said, “Thanks for recommending me to this place. Instead of needlessly dying, I got to help clean this place and take care of all the wounded soldiers.”

This touched Alexander because he had met very few people and especially not any mercenaries who took genuine pleasure in helping others.

“You have saved a lot of lives.” Alexander simply said from the bottom of his heart.

“Hehe, well, I gotta go actually. Damious told me to arrange the night patrol.” Informing Alexander, Melodias then quickly left.

And thus finally, after a bit more walking, the duo finally met the small crowd and Alexander got close enough to lay his eyes on the bandaged man, sitting upright and giving orders.

The man they called the bear ‘The Bear’.

And Alexander had to admit whoever came up with the name did a very good job because it suited the man perfectly.

Muscular and tall as a mountain, with broad shoulders and long thick sideburns, the man seemed to exclude strength and power.

His bare upper torso was bandaged and his right eye seemed to have become unfunctional, judging from the bright red color the bandage covering it seemed to have taken.

But his left one still seemed feral, glowing with strength and ferocity.

It seemed that the rumors about him being injured though true were grossly exaggerated.

As Alexander was checking the man out, the fierce beast also seemed to be checking out the so-called divine son.

Damious had been getting some unsavory news about this boy and even more unsavory rumors claiming that he was intending to kill him.

“You the brat who claims to be the son of Gaia?” The bear gruffly spoke, his tone seeming to be laced with anger and malice.

Alexander almost laughed at this question.

“I have explicitly said in front of everyone that I am not a god or the son of any kind of god. Everyone in this camp can bear witness.” Alexander coolly replied.

“Yes, yes, we have all heard it.” From the side, Theocles seemed to passionately nod his head in agreement.

This made Damious frown a bit and he shot a quick, almost imperceptible glare at Aristotle, one that Alexander didn’t fail to catch.

“Now the show begins,” Alexander muttered in his heart as he was eager to see what the rotting old coot had cooked up for him this time.

Clearly, he had egged Damious to mark Alexander as a threat to his authority without giving him all the details and the bear had taken the bait.

Damious was really caught a bit off guard by Alexander’s answer. He was ready for a series of questions, rebuttals, and mockery when Alexander claimed to have divinity, but what to do now?

Damious was a fighter and not a scholar.

He much preferred to just use intimidation, loud shouts, and his physical size to get his way.

But such tactics seemed unusable currently because of his injuries and the place.

He thus found himself in a bind. thinking the boy was two steps ahead of him.

Not only did he deny such claims, but he had also done so much earlier in a public space in front of an audience, thus automatically refuting anyone claiming that he was scared and was only lying to weasel out of the way now in front of the current default leader.

Well almost anyone.

The not-so-bright Pallidus tactlessly accused, “Then why are soldiers calling you Gaia’ blessed? How could all the soldiers have done it without you knowing?”

“*Silence*” Alexander simply closed his eyes and moved his head, disdaining to even offer a reply.

He believed any human with a modicum of intelligence could come up with the answer by themselves and those who couldn’t were just not worth talking to.

But Thoecles seemed eager to discredit this fool in front of Damious, so he replied with a sneer, “What does soldiers calling him a god have got to do anything with him? You were there when he rejected all divine claims. Is the earwax too much back there?” He sneered.

“I believe all of us just wants to know how you knew.” Aristotle’s chirpy voice came to Pallidus’s rescue.

“Knew? Knew what?” Alexander inquired innocently.

“About the fog. Why didn’t you tell us about the fog?” Came Damious’s angry roar as he flexed his muscular triceps.

‘Rash and prone anger. Easier than Aristotle.’ These words floated into Alexander’s mind.

Then he said “I only told everyone that we were tired and lacked the energy to attack. I never uttered the word ‘fog’.”

“So do you know how the fog appeared?” A man from Damious’s entourage asked.

“Surely ‘I know everything in the world’ does.” Pallidus sarcastically sneered.

As a matter of fact, Alexander did learn in junior school how the mixing of warm, moist air with cold air formed mist and fog.

But he suspected none of them wanted that answer.

They just wanted an excuse to attack him.

Unwilling to play this charade for longer, Alexander blurted out. “What do you want me to say? That I knew about the fog but didn’t tell you for some reason but did tell everyone that they were too tired and so shouldn’t go?”

“Hehe, Alexander, you misunderstand. We only wanted to know if you could offer any more advice on how to avoid pitfalls. It’s a long way to Cantagena.” Aristotle craftily claimed.

“Sorry, I don’t. I am no general.” Alexander curtly replied.

“Yet, you can act like one. You went against orders to try and even succeed in preventing a full deployment.”Damious coolly pointed out.

Then surprisingly he said, “Don’t worry, I am not mad. In fact, I am quite relieved that you managed to prevent so many deaths. Aristotle here has told me all about your exploits upto today and I must say, am very impressed. So I would like to invite you to join my group.” Damious magnanimously offered.

‘This dangling a bait in front feels weirdly familiar.’ Alexander thought in his head.

Refusing to bite, he gently, but firmly rejected. “Sorry, this group is my home.”

“Hahaha, yes, I did hear about your strong loyalty. Tell you what, as your master is dead and as the overall commander of the mercenary groups I can set you free. I will even make you one of my personal guards!” Damious swung an even more delicious bait in front of him.

But Alexander swore in his heart, ‘With your soldiers destroyed, you are commander of jack.’

He replied in the same hackneyed tune, “My master is dead. And now I exist to serve only my mistress and her father’s group.”

“Oh, that’s good then. Because as her godfather and guardian, I have arranged for Cambyses to marry Damious!” Aristotle said in a crafty voice with a damn smirk, as if he had nailed Alexander once and for all.