Something better than a founding king

Cixilo woke up in a dense forest. He looked around and saw the soldiers of the black company around him.

He tried to see if he could spot any imperial banners anywhere, but only the pitch-black banner of the black company was present. Before he could get up, a curved blade was placed on his throat.

"I wonder how you would taste? Your body doesn't seem like a normal human's" Skal said as he licked his butcher's knife.

Cixilo stared at this unknown grey skin. As he did, Mona walked forward and ordered Skal to lower his blade.

"Why should I take orders from you," Skal yelled back.

"You are not here to take orders from anyone, but we are here to help you achieve your life goals. For that to happen I will have to advise you to lower your blade and not frighten our guest," Markus explained.

Skal then sheathed his blade and walked away.

"Sorry for him. He has a peculiar need to try out new things and you seemed like something he would like to try," Markus said.

"Try?" Cixilo stuttered.

"Eat," Mona clarified.

~~

Markus ordered food to be brought for Cixilo. He still wasn't sure what was going on and wondered where were all the rest of the imperial forces.

"I would like to talk with prince Berig," Cixilo said.

"Oh him, I think he is dead," Markus said.

Cixilo looked confused.

"Did we lose the battle?"

"Well no. Emperor Ala saved the battle at the last moment I believe."

Cixilo smiled and laughed.

"He told first that he wouldn't come, but I guess he couldn't resist the temptations," Cixilo laughed.

~~

Markus ordered food to be delivered to Cixilo who happily ate it all. He looked around and saw the black company mercenaries dragging clearly stolen goods to their camp.

By the looks of it, they had raided and sacked another innocent village for their convenience.

"Are you bothered by how we handle things?" Markus asked.

"Nope, not really. It is necessary," he explained and kept eating.

Markus smiled and sat on the ground beside Cixilo.

"So, tell me. Why do you serve the emperor?" Markus asked.

Cixilo thought about it for a while.

"With him, I am able to get a hold of different kinds of corpses of renowned people. I believe with him I am able to find the remains of one of the founding kings or queens."

"So you serve him out of your own convenience?"

"Yes and no. I truly believe in what he wants would be good for all, but I am a selfish person. I do not care for other people that much. I am a pretty selfish person."

Markus then commanded his men to bring forth something for Cixilo. It was a wooden coffin of unknown origin. The soldiers opened it and what was inside got Cixilo's eyes to widen up.

Inside was a humble looking corpse, but the coprse had not molded or deterriorated. It look remarkably fresh, even though the coffin looked like it was hundreds of years old.

The dead person inside had a crown on top of his head with a sword placed on top of his torse. Other then these ornaments, no other jewellery could be spotted.

"Let me give you your first corpse of one of the founding kings. This is Rey Cid Vivar of the Espada dynasty. The founder of the Etna kingdom," Markus explained.

"How were you able to find this?" Cixilo looked confused.

"Among my powers to control blood, I can also smell it very well and tell how powerful was their owner. Luckily for us, such great people do not rot away so fast so there was still a hint of his blood left," Markus explained.

Cixilo looked at the corpse with glittering eyes.

"I can let you have this or I can let you have something even better," Markus said.

Cixilo wondered what could be better.

"I guess you want something in return? Like, serve you instead of the emperor?"

"On the contrary, I do not care who you serve or who you are loyal to. I just want that you show true resolve in achieving this great being's remains. For you to prove your resolve, I want you to burn this corpse here and now."

Markus then gave a torch to Cixilo. Getting his hands on a founding king's corpse was his longtime dream, but now he was asked if he would risk it all for something even better.

Cixilo had seen many faces of people who lied in his life in the court of the emperor. People always lied through their teeth to get what they wanted from the emperor, and as his shadow, he had to recognize lies from truths. In his eyes, Markus was not lying.

Cixilo then took the torch from Markus and threw it into the coffin. The flames soon incinerated the remains of the once-great king.

"So, tell me, what will you give me in return. I am dying to know," Cixilo said.

"I will give you the corpse of a god. The body of the god of all grey skins, the great Dalai."