Chapter 58 - Aftermath (2)

The very next morning, Elijah was taken into Commander Sebastian's tent. He was prepared to accept his punishment for entering the camp without permission. He was already quite lucky they didn't kill him for violating the Army regulations, and Maikal's assurance of Commander Sebastian's integrity calmed him down somewhat.

Still, he knew that, no matter what motive he had to enter the Camp, he had to make amends, otherwise Commander Sebastian's rule over the Frontier Army could be called into question.

When Elijah entered the main tent, Commander Sebastian was checking the position of the troops located alongside the Border. He was currently paying attention to the posible Rhodnians Army that could come over and cause a small skirmish, specially after the confirmed death of Roland Du Sacar. Out of these armies, there were 2 that they had to take particularly notice, one was the Second Regiment of the Black Turtle Army, with Dyllan Du Sacar, a young and powerful Qi Monarch as its commander, and the other, was a bit further away, but was the one currently giving more pressure on the Border, the Third Regiment of the Red Phoenix Army, with Felitia Du Venteria, the young, genius General of the Rhodnian Army, a 24 year old Qi Emperor.

The tent was silent, and Elijah stayed still waiting for the Commander to address him. Suddenly, the tent was opened and the red-haired beauty that had apprehended Elijah previously entered without saluting anyone. Elijah couldn't help but shudder a little bit when he saw her, remembering her manners, as well as the overwhelming power and dominion he felt from her.

The lady smiled at Elijah teasingly and came very close to him and started checking him out. She even used her hand to touch his chin and looked close into his face and eyes as if it was a girl checking out her new toy.

Elijah was a very mature young man, but that being said, he was not accostumed to being so close the fairer sex, specially to a woman as bold as this one.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, could I ask you to please stop touching me like that?" said Elijah in a quite voice. He was blushing fiercely, since the lady kept touching him all over.

She answered teasingly, "Why little boy, are you a virgin? Don't you like being touched by such a pretty lady as me?".

Elijah was on a loss of what to answer back, since he used to be quite bold himself, but this woman was on a level of her own. The Commander finally said, "Please leave the boy alone. When will you start acting more seriously? You should take your rank and position into consideration when doing those kinds of things".

It looked like he was used to her behaviour, and the tone in his voice made it seem that, one, they were quite close to each other, two, he was somewhat unable to keep her in check. There was even a tiny bit of reprimand in his voice, but the lady simply turned to look at Commander Sebastian and sticking out her tongue, said "Boring. You are so stuck up right now uncle Sebastian, you should let go a little".

The lady then sauntered towards the Desk and sat right on top of it, not bothering about the documents and items on it. The commander's eyes twitched a little bit, but he seemed to be biting his tongue not to lash out at her.

Afterwards, he sighed and finally looked at Elijah and said: "Young Elijah. We managed to arrest several of Sagat's men. Sagat was already dead when we arrived, apparently by one of the prisoners he had caught days prior, however we had failed both to identify or to catch said prisoner. Apparently the prisoner ran off with some of Sagat's treasures, but we have not been able to identify them. Two beastman's bodies were recovered from the lair. Roland Du Sacar and Sylas Du Sacar were seen inside the lair, however it seemed that the Rhodnians betrayed Sagat and they had a fall out.

Sylas Du Sacar is the sixth elder from the Great Tribe of Sacar. He was found fighting a previously unknown and unchecked Qi Emperor, from our country."

As Sebastian said this, his stern eyes kept looking at Elijah without blinking. Elijah thought for a minute that the Commander could see through all his secrets and fabrications. He felt he was naked alone in the tundra. This was actually part of Sebastian's domain, which could put pressure directly into the soul of his opponent.

When Elijah could barely hold out, Sebastian stopped applying pressure and Elijah nearly collapsed. His back was drenched with cold sweat.

"Young Elijah, I heard from Serena that you want to enter the army. Usually we are more than happy to receive young talents such as yourself, but your reckless behaviour yesterday, your lack of respect for the Army's orders and regulations. This Army is the one true symbol of Ansem's glory, and the right arm of the Royal Family to defend its Territory and its freedom. We have many enemies surrounding us, and our so-called allies are back-stabbing snakes, so we have to be cautious constantly. I know there are some bad apples in the Army, but under my watch should I find one, that one would disappear from this world.

Your misdemeanor yesterday would normally be punishable by death, but I know there were some extenuating circumstances. Captain Apollo has been properly dealt with, and I hope that your insubordination from yesterday will not repeat itself in the future."

Elijah finally breathed out. He was being reprimanded severely, but at the very least he knew he would not be put to death. Commander Sebastian knew better than to ask about Elijah's relationship to Armand, and he didn't even mention the badge he had delivered earlier. He also did not mention Maikal at all, besides the previous mention of a previously unknown Qi Emperor. He also failed to mention that Sylas had managed to run away in the end, or that Roland had already died at the hands of the lady sitted on the desk.

"Understood Commander. I will make sure to obey all rules and regulations from here onwards. I would be honored to serve and learn under you Commander", said Elijah trying to ingratiate himself under the Commander.

"I actually appreciate your talent and boldness quite a lot young Elijah, and I would love to have you under my wing. However I'm afraid other plans have been made for you. I'm not sure whether to call you lucky or unlucky." Said Sebastian with a rare smirk on his face that made Elijah think that his luck somehow had turned rotten.

"You will be under my personal command. Aren't you quite a fortunate wild boy? I'll make sure to train you properly, don't you worry", said the gorgeous lady with her lark-like voice, while looking at Elijah with eager eyes.

Elijah couldn't help but want to reject the offering, but before he could say anything Commander Sebastian stopped him by saying "I'm afraid the decision has been made and there is no turning back. Let me introduce her to you, young Elijah. The lady unceremoniously sitted on my desk like a little brat, is the current Commander in Chief of the Western Frontier Army, Miss Elizabeth Marion Dai Baruna, a true born genius, a 21 year old Qi Emperor, an expert in military tactics and the Third Dragon General of the Great Army of The Ancestral Kingdom of Ansem, Left Arm of the Kingdom. The Iron Maiden".

Elijah was flabbergasted before the Lady's honored name and rank. He now realized that the lady that kept molesting him and making him shudder was one of the most important persons in the Kingdom and the third in the line of command of the whole Army.

In the end, Elijah went on one knee and said "Reporting to the General. Please excuse me from my previous misconduct. I had no idea my Lord."

"Please, don't act as such a bore lad, or I would truly have wasted the strings I pulled to keep you next to me" said the lady with a smile that was not a smile on her face. "I've always been curious to Big Brother Armand's origins. I really want to check out the old man hiding in your tent…"

"Cough, Cough"

When Elizabeth had talked up to here, Sebastian coughed a bit to stop her right there.

"Relax, Uncle Sebastian. I may be a little playful and wilful at times, but I know what things are important and proper. I won't ask things I don't need to know. I just want you to know, young boy, that Big Brother Armand still has some allies in the Army and the Kingdom. Do not mention his name to anyone other than uncle Sebastian or myself on this camp. Saul knows a bit, and he is loyal to uncle, but do not mention anything you shouldn't in front of him. We still don't know who to trust right now."

Elijah felt happy when he heard General Elizabeth's words, but kept proper and stayed silent and listened to her arrangements.

"Good. Now that we've made that clear, you'll start as a vice-captain, but there will be no one under your command. You may be a bit talented, but compared to myself you are nothing. I will make sure to enjoy breaking you, little boy" said Elizabeth with a strange glimmer in her eyes. Elijah started trembling more and more while listening to her voice.

…

That very same day in the afternoon, at the Camp entry, Nerun, Silvester and Maikal were reunited with Elijah.

Ailan and her sister had been sent back to the city of Corona. Since Eliana worked for the Commander already, she had been given a stipend so she could move out of the slums. Ailan was offered to either stay in the Army and be given work to become an officiant, or to go with Nerun and company to Radem and train under Maikal. He was still a bit bummed by the loss of his leg, but he was quite happy that his sister was alright and the future looked quite good for them. In the end, he decided to stay with his sister and seek a job under a Blacksmith and continue his late father's work. He still had some of the secret techniques inherited from his father and he decided to make them shine again in the future. With the Commander's recommendation, he would go meet one of the Master Blacksmiths working for the Army to become an apprentice.

Nerun was somewhat sentimental. They were about to say goodbye to Elijah, who would stay at the Army Camp and train to become a soldier. It would be quite hard for them to meet frequently in the future, if at all, and Nerun felt lost at the thought of missing his Big Brother.

"I heard that you'll be working under the direct command of one of the Dragon Generals, and that she is a super hot lady. You must be brimming with happiness" said Silvester with a knowing look on his face that made people want to punch him.

Elijah's mouth twitched a bit when he was reminded of the future awaiting him and clobbered Silvester, who felt wronged for being hit for no good reason. The rest of the morning, Elijah was "trained" personally by the General, who wanted to understand his talent, standing and techniques, and he was bruised all over. There was not an inch of his body that was not aching from the beating, I mean, "training", he received.

"What do you know fatty? You must remember to respect the General in the Army camp if you don't want to get flogged to death. Remember that I'm a soldier now and respect and obedience to our superiors is a must", said Elijah proudly.

Nerun and Maikal, however, threw him a supercilious look, since they noticed the strangeness in Elijah's voice.

That being said, Maikal gave Elijah some more advice, and left with Silvester to give Nerun and Elijah some space.

Nerun was a bit teary-eyed and threw himself to Elijah and hugged him fiercely. "I'll miss you big brother. Don't forget about us. We'll be waiting for you. Promise to never forget us" said Nerun a bit sobbingly.

Afterwards he started to run towards Maikal and Silvester without waiting for Elijah's reply. The latter noticed that Nerun had left him a bottle in one of his pockets. Inside the bottle there was one drop of Millenial Stone Milk. Elijah wanted to give it back, but noticed that Nerun was already far away, and that this was the reason for leaving so suddenly. He then clenched the bottle and promised to quickly become stronger, to be the pillar of support that his little brothers and sisters needed.

Finally he shouted towards Nerun and the rest, with some tears in his eyes:

"Make sure to wait for me. I'll return with glory to Radem and show you the top of this world!".

Elijah was waving his hands towards his family, who were waving back at him, when he suddenly listened a sweet voice behind him:

"Well, going back with glory, showing the top of the world. What lofty ambitions you have there little Elijah. Come to big sister then, I'll make sure to make a worthy man out of you".

Elijah shuddered and turned around slowly. Elizabeth was looking back at him teasingly. His future looked oh so glorious and bleak at the same time.