The Chains that Bind

PART 2- This is the world we live in

Caewen walked with the Captain, they had been on the road for days with no sign of pursuit or any sign that they were of any importance to the human armies. The Captain walked, ate, and slept like a man possessed and each day he walked faster towards their destination.

Until finally on their fifth day Caewen had to jog to keep up with the Captain, but even with the change of pace it was comfortable. He mostly stayed silent, reliving the horrors of the past few days, and a single horror from ten years ago.

The elves killed his love, and the humans killed his family. He wanted to destroy both sides now; he didn't have much to live for otherwise.

He kept walking. It was a simple formula, go to Corwin, patch things up with Kol, and take the fight to the humans and elves, and the sooner he got there, the sooner his vengeance could start.

He also made a vow to Lorien during that journey: He would keep Caewen safe.

He had known that Lorien wanted to marry him one day, once the word of Siegfried and Mael's wedding1 had reached her, she looked at him differently and seemed to fuss over wedding details when they came up. She also seemed to introduce him to elven children at every opportunity and made it clear that she wanted children one day.

He saw so much of Lorien in Caewen, Lorien's beauty, curiosity, and unflinching ability to do the right thing were all mirrored in Caewen, and he knew Lorien would have spoiled her rotten if she was alive, heck she'd be clamoring for the Captain to adopt Caewen if she were still alive.

The Captain smiled for the first time in their five day journey, and Caewen noticed it, but before she could ask what caused his smile the Captain pointed to the outline of a city "We're here!"

Kol stood perched on the edge of a building and thought about his city:

The city of Corwin was once a human capital of trade, and all roads eventually led to it.

When the elves and humans isolated themselves from each other, the humans moved to fortify their capital cities and move all their goods from Corwin to the main human palace. The elves raided the city in an attempt to seize the goods, and Corwin was destroyed by the looting elves, and once the fighting died down the humans simply took the rest of the supplies and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves.

His parents had died during the looting, and he decided he owed it to them to help save his city, but he needed help, so he had returned to his roots. His parents were thieves, darn good ones too, and they had numerous connections with the lower classes, so he used the connections to learn from the various teachers, he spent years perfecting his skills, and when the time was right he emerged from the shadows.

He won the support of the people and with an army of mercenaries, thieves, and other "scum" he rebuilt the city from the ground up distributing resources evenly. He was well liked and trusted until the elves came to town.

Two years ago a group of elven refugees had approached the town begging for entry. Many of them were wounded and looked sickly, and they had no weapons.

He gathered the humans, many of whom wanted to turn the elves away or worse. Kol faced a hard choice, complete with criticism but he decided to accept the elves into his city.

It's what my parents would have wanted.

He smiled at his decision and looked down at the city he ruled and he smiled at the sight of human and elven builders working side by side.

His own words flashed into his head, it was the one law that he had implemented: This city is a place of peace and if you want to fight go out into the world and fight, but don't bring it in here!

Surprisingly the humans and elves accepted his one rule, and his forces kept a tight reign on both sides. The men under his command kept the rowdier ones apart, and brought the more forgiving ones together. Even after a few days only three humans and two elves were asked to leave the city.

The humans, the elves, and the thieves made the city their home and worked side by side to make it a better place, and in the course of two years Corwin city was the brightest light in the world. Human and elven refugees flocked to the city and kept their hatred on the outside. They worked together and soon all the hatred was forgotten simply because they were all working together to survive.

He and his forces soon joined the resistance once he realized that the peace wouldn't last, and his thieves ran Intel, stole things, and ran recruitment drives for the resistance. He knew that the resistance fighting on the Elven Island was in trouble, and they needed to be saved, he had saved his city and brought his people together, so why couldn't he do the same for the world?

Kol shook his head, saving the world was a lot harder than saving one city and he had found that out the hard way. He could persuade humans and elves to holster their hatred and work side by side, but he couldn't rally support to end a war that would destroy them all. The Captain was especially hard to lose.

The Captain was his best friend once, and still was, Kol had known the Captain since they were both soldiers in the human army and he was there when Lorien entered his life and changed it for the better. When Lorien died he had lost touch with the Captain until that night. Kol knew that the Captain wanted to do the right thing, but he didn't know how losing Lorien had affected him until he had turned away from people who needed him to protect his new family.

Kol sighed, momentarily wishing that his friend didn't have such a big heart, and then instantly regretting it because that's what made him who he was. The only problem was that the same big heart made him unwilling to lose the people he cared about, and the sad fact was that in war people were lost.

Still at least his city was safe, and as long as he ruled it would stay that way.

The Captain walked towards Corwin's entrance and smiled "Caewen, we'll be safe here. I promise."

Caewen smiled and looked at the empty streets fighting a growing sense of uneasiness. Kol is the Captain's friend, we'll be safe here. She believed the Captain, but why was she so uneasy?

The Captain walked down the empty streets surprised not to see the people of the city walking about. From the way Kol bragged about the prosperity of the city, seeing it empty and inactive sent a chill up the Captain's spine. He kept a loose hand on his sword hilt and looked for any places ambushers might hide.

The Captain's fears were answered when three elves leapt out of the shadows, wearing the clothes of the Corwin city thieves' guild, and all armed with axes and bows, one bow trained on the Captain.

"Halt intruder! Why are you in Corwin city?"

"I am friend of Kol, and have come to see him on urgent business regarding the Resistance."

"Unlikely traitor, you are a well-known human warrior, and are probably leading them to our city as we speak."

"Are you insane?" The Captain practically yelled this question at the elves who showed no sign of being unnerved.

"Human forces participated in a massacre of an orc campsite, which you led them to, before that a human village was attacked by the same orc forces and a powerful man was slain by your blade, before that an elven girl was murdered when you led her to a village. You have left death in your wake and we will not have it in our city. Turn back."

The Captain fought his rage and tried to remain calm "I did not kill Lorien or my orcs."

"But you indirectly caused their deaths, and that is enough. Leave our city."

"I need to find Kol; I need his help." The Captain took a deep breath and his next words came out fierce and tough "how dare you accuse me of killing Lorien or my orcs?"

"We won't let you compromise the safety of this city! The orcs and the girl trusted you and you betrayed them."

"She has a name, Lorien, and I would never hurt her! I loved her!"

"If you loved her so much then why is she dead?"

The Captain snapped and unbuckled his sword belt handing it to Caewen wordlessly. He then clenched his fists and stood ready. "I'm going to speak with Kol!"

The three elves shook their heads and the middle elf raised his bow. "We will stop you."

"Fine! I've got some payback to administer the hard way, no one insults Lorien!"

The middle elf fired his bow, and the Captain's hands shot up and caught the arrow with lightning speed. He dropped the arrow and charged forward, ducking an axe swing. He lashed out and caught the axe knocking the wielder down with a kick. The middle elf fired another arrow which was ducked and the Captain lashed out knocking the bow away, the elf drew a sword and lashed out. The Captain moved backward and the swings whizzed by him.

The sword whistled by him, nicking his skin, and shearing pieces off his clothes. He blocked the sword with his arm and stepped inside the blow punching the elf. The other two elves raised their axes and swung heavy blows that the Captain was able to avoid, he seized the arm of one of the elves and twisted it forcing him to drop the weapon, and he shoved him away. He yanked the second axe out of its owners hand and held shoved the elf into its partner.

The two elves fell to the ground as the third elf rushed forward swinging his blade and hurling kicks at the Captain. The Captain stood his ground as the elf bounced around him and he parried every blow, until finally he ripped the blade from the elf's grasp, and knocked the elf down with a powerful right hook.

The other two elves stood and charged forward, but the Captain swung two powerful blows and knocked them back to the ground.

The Captain was breathing hard as he tried to control the rage that was working through his body and brain. He wanted to kill those elves for what they had said about Lorien and the orcs, and only his friendship with Kol stopped him from killing those elves with his bare hands. Still he took several deep breaths and tried to calm his anger down.

Caewen walked up to the Captain and looked down at the elves who were also brimming with anger. The elven part of her felt nothing but disappointment at what they had said, but they didn't know the Captain like she did.

"What is the meaning of bringing fighting inside the city? If you want to fight take it outside and join the rest of the world!"

The Captain smiled at the voice and waved at a rooftop "Kol, buddy it's me!"

Kol leapt down from the rooftop with a flip and landed on his feet. He glared at the three elves who were nursing bruises to both their bodies and their pride. "I told you not to fight inside the city! The Captain is my friend!"

"But sir several have died, wherever he goes! We were trying to protect the city." one elf pleaded.

Kol fixed the elves with a death glare "Blame the humans and elves for all the death because they are the true criminals, and the best way to protect the city is to let in all the allies we can get!"

The three elves nodded and stood muttering apologizes, which the Captain accepted. "This is Caewen by the way" He quickly pulled Caewen next to him and she smiled.

"Pleased to meet you Kol."

Kol embraced both Caewen and the Captain quickly and then held him at arm's length "So Captain, have you and your orcs changed your minds?"

The mood instantly sobered as the orcs were mentioned and the Captain put his arm around his friend "We need to talk about them."

The Captain and Caewen sat in the town hall of Corwin city while Kol and dozens of his followers lounged around and listened to the Captain's tale.

Caewen listened intently and heard the same tone of his voice that he had used while talking about Lorien: a heavy sadness. He had loved Lorien and he had loved his orcs, and both had been taken away from him by the war.

Kol listened to the account of the Massacre and felt his heart twist as he was told of the crimes the humans had committed. He had sent scouts to the sight of the battlefield, and they had returned with the same horrible stories.

When the Captain was done he put his head in his hands and shook with silent sobs. Kol patted his friend's back and suddenly smiled "Well I've got two things that will cheer you up: Lemonade and a present!"

Kol rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a bottle of golden liquid, he uncorked the bottle and handed it over to the Captain.

"Water, lemon juice, and sugar!" Kol smiled and watched the Captain take a massive swig "The three ingredients that when combined can cure anything!" He also smiled and two thieves brought in the present.

The Captain suddenly choked as Caewen pounded his back. He put the bottle down and reached out with trembling hands "Lorien's guitar!"

It was badly burned and covered in scratches and debris, but it was still playable and after picking a quick melody the Captain proved it. He stood with tears in his eyes and clasped Kol's hand. "I owe you my friend."

"Then pay up and join us. We can end this war."

"Darn right."

Caewen put her hand on top of theirs and smiled "I'm in also."

That moment lasted but a second when a thief rushed into the hall screaming "Kol, human troops are outside and they are demanding we hand over our elves!"

1 He didn't bother calling them "King" and "Queen" They didn't deserve it