Tactical thinking was Johan’s specialty, and it didn’t take him long to know the best course of action. To have any hope, he had to know what it was he was up against. Their numbers. Their technology. Their general presence. There was only one person around with answers.
Esgona enjoyed the work, the location and most of the people. He’d trade it all ten-fold to return everything that had brought him to this point. He was so cocky and sure his deviousness would net him big rewards for little effort, and for a while it had gone so smoothly.
Then the ships appeared on the horizon. Now it was easily the worst plan he’d ever had. A plan his good friend had died for, just because he wanted to tag along. Hogope had followed him, telling him all the while how excellent his plan was, and that he was certain countless others had done the same thing. Esgona was inclined to agree. It really wasn’t hard to imagine that most others on the Quest would have done the same thing. When the ships arrived, Hogope had died very quickly and gruesomely at the hands of the attackers, all because he panicked and didn’t spit out the right answers in a timely enough fashion.
The fruits of this deception were now paying off in record amounts, and every one of them was rotten. Permanently hobbled, stuck on a cart in the depths of the northern mountains (which had a delicious twist of irony when he considered this was where he was supposed to be right now anyway), and the only person around who he did know was Johan: lower class trash that should be serving his whims, not leading his way.
But no matter what anyone said, he was certain it was someone like Aryu he’d seen leading the Army of the Old. The details might not match, but his memory worked just fine, and he was bound and determined to prove it was so. And when he did prove it, when he had the ability to get his revenge, he swore he wouldn’t hesitate to take it.
As if on cue, Johan was now striding over to him. This would likely be the first overt attempt at conversation from either since they’d left together. That didn’t mean he welcomed it, but he was at least willing to hear what Johan had to say. The truth was, Johan had completed his quest, and as was agreed for all from Tan Torna Qu-ay for centuries, he had earned his manhood and respect. However, in no text or tome was it written that Esgona had to like it.
“I didn’t think you actually took rests, Esgona,” he said. Esgona couldn’t tell if he was being smarmy or boyishly sincere. He didn’t care either way.
“Can I help you with something, Johan?” he asked, just to get the ball rolling faster. Sooner done, sooner gone.
“Easy there, young lad, no need to be snippy!” Esgona was tired of this conversation already and laughed at himself for thinking that this was going to be any different than he’d first thought. No matter what crude, stinging verbal barb Johan would dish out at him, nothing could be as potent as what he was doing to himself every waking hour of the day. He made no response and just waited, praying there was a point.
“Well now, that’s better.” Johan pulled his legs up and crossed them beneath himself. What a jerk. Fine, his point was made. His legs worked. Thanks for the reminder. “I’d like you to tell me something.” Esgona raised his good eyebrow, thankful there was a point.. “What can you tell me about where this army came from?”
Esgona didn’t know how to respond at first. Did he want the story of what went on while he was there or something else?
Johan beat him to the punch.
“No, no, we can all see what happened to you during your stay. I want to know about the things you saw. The way they operate, their numbers, anything helpful.”
“Planning an attack?” Esgona sneered.
“Maybe, now do you have anything I can use or not?”
Esgona could still see the smarminess, but he also believed that deep in Johan’s foolish mind, planning an attack might not be so farfetched.
“I never saw their numbers, but judging by the ships at sea, it’s more than you could possibly imagine. There were thousands that came ashore, with tens of thousands more to follow. I doubt that was even a sample of their full numbers. Unless speaking to a prisoner, they never talk, they just mill around doing whatever it is they do. Some of the prisoners were taken away, only to show up again later with large cuts across parts of their bodies. If they were simply tortured or cut for some other purpose, I can’t tell you.”
Johan listened, the gears turning in his head. Esgona didn’t think he’d said anything useful at all, but it appeared he did.
“Anything else?”
“Yes. Whatever you’re planning won’t work, Johan. They are numerous, powerful, remorseless, and efficient. Everything people aren’t. Run far and run fast. That’s my best advice for you. And if by some miracle you do get the chance to stop just one of them, you had better take it. I know I would.”
“I don’t want your advice, Esgona, and you sure as hell haven’t earned the right to volunteer it to me.”
He had a burning desire to retaliate. Only tradition held him back. For now.
“If you do think of anything else, no matter how small, I’d like you to tell me.”
No answer given would have suited the mood Esgona was in, so he stayed silent, barely
