Cold. She hated the cold.
In Thanalan, it was always warm. Dry heat, humid, broiling, unbearable... it didn't matter, she loved them all. There was nothing more comforting than baking in the desert heat, than the delectable sticky feeling that came with sweat adhering to cloth and armor. Azeyma held her beating heart for the blessing that was heat.
The cold, on the other hand, was an abomination. An absence. Not life but death.
She marched up and down along the parapet as she inspected the Flames, the soldiers. Her Flames. Her soldiers. Half a dozen of the best scraps that the sergeant had been able to scrounge together at the time. She came to a stop before the last man in line. He saluted, and she saluted back, as was good and proper.
At least he wasn't Lancaster. Elevated as she was, she'd have still had to look up at the big highlander; the midlander, at least, was more manageable.Â
"Private First Class Gregson. Report."
"Ser. Not much has changed, ser. Been stationed here at Dragonhead for near a moon, worked out of here and Whitebrim both, gone looking just about every which way. Nothing out here, ser, not unless it's the wildlife that lives here. We, ah, we did spot two 'sworn arrive a few suns ago... they, ah, they seem to be looking for someone else entirely-"
"Names?"
"Caught a 'Castille,' ser, and a... Raft? Roft? Joft. A Ser Joft."
Corporal Kokojo shook her head. Not names she knew, though the latter sounded familiar.
"No sign of Mynhier, then?"
"No, ser."
She frowned as she turned on a merlon to stare west, off into the horizon. The sun would be setting soon. Azeyma's blessings on whoever found themselves out after dark. Her blessings, and the Fury's mercy.
"...ser, if I may ask... why are you here?"
She glanced back at Gregson.
"He's either out here or he isn't. It's about time you stopped dallying about and started actually looking, because we need the man in question now more than ever... if there's still a man to be had. I'm here as oversight 'til the job's done or I say it's done. Understood?"
There came the sudden stamping of six simultaneous salutes.
In Thanalan, it was always warm. Dry heat, humid, broiling, unbearable... it didn't matter, she loved them all. There was nothing more comforting than baking in the desert heat, than the delectable sticky feeling that came with sweat adhering to cloth and armor. Azeyma held her beating heart for the blessing that was heat.
The cold, on the other hand, was an abomination. An absence. Not life but death.
She marched up and down along the parapet as she inspected the Flames, the soldiers. Her Flames. Her soldiers. Half a dozen of the best scraps that the sergeant had been able to scrounge together at the time. She came to a stop before the last man in line. He saluted, and she saluted back, as was good and proper.
At least he wasn't Lancaster. Elevated as she was, she'd have still had to look up at the big highlander; the midlander, at least, was more manageable.Â
"Private First Class Gregson. Report."
"Ser. Not much has changed, ser. Been stationed here at Dragonhead for near a moon, worked out of here and Whitebrim both, gone looking just about every which way. Nothing out here, ser, not unless it's the wildlife that lives here. We, ah, we did spot two 'sworn arrive a few suns ago... they, ah, they seem to be looking for someone else entirely-"
"Names?"
"Caught a 'Castille,' ser, and a... Raft? Roft? Joft. A Ser Joft."
Corporal Kokojo shook her head. Not names she knew, though the latter sounded familiar.
"No sign of Mynhier, then?"
"No, ser."
She frowned as she turned on a merlon to stare west, off into the horizon. The sun would be setting soon. Azeyma's blessings on whoever found themselves out after dark. Her blessings, and the Fury's mercy.
"...ser, if I may ask... why are you here?"
She glanced back at Gregson.
"He's either out here or he isn't. It's about time you stopped dallying about and started actually looking, because we need the man in question now more than ever... if there's still a man to be had. I'm here as oversight 'til the job's done or I say it's done. Understood?"
There came the sudden stamping of six simultaneous salutes.
![[Image: 1qVSsTp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/1qVSsTp.png)
