15 Chapter 15 (1/2)
He closed his eyes and opened his mind to the connection, in no time he found himself in the white room along with Sumi. They had appeared first, next to appear was Jer. His hair still short and matted from whatever wetness incessantly clung to his body. Dark narrow eyes and a pale skin, he smiled when he saw them and made his way over.
”Good to see you.” He said.
”And you!” Sumi answered, giving him a flying hug.
Yinta was next to appear, her dark green bark like skin rippling as she stretched, she had her pale hair with its grass like texture pulled into a braid over her shoulder. Her green eyes matched her serene smile as she stepped forward and nodded gracefully. Sumi ignoring any such graceful movements swept her into a hug. A soft rich chuckle filled the air, ”I missed you too.”
Kolstum and Fliít appeared at the same time, the huge blond boy with grey skin did a series of stretches before walking up to him. His skin had gotten even rougher since last Three had seen him, calloused would be the word best used to describe it, it felt like thick leather to the touch. Fliít and her glowing amber eyes grinned as she walked up to Sumi, her olive dark skin and even darker hair flowing behind her, she kept the hair on one side of her scalp shaven, let it grow in barely a centimeter. She preferred it this way, called it a tribal thing.
Strem was the next to arrive, light blue nearly translucent skin, hair white as ivory and the glowing ice blue eyes. He had a smile that oozed mischief as he entered the room, he glanced around. ”Well at least I'm not dead last!”
Yinta rolled her eyes at the remark.
Last to appear was Valana, piercing golden eyes and tangled hair. Some light grey fur on her arms accompanied her semi long hair of the same colour. She looked like she had been lost in a forest for a week, as she always did.
The group greeted each other, exchanging hugs and a few words, everyone complimented Three on his new mastery of the language. Jer coughed, ”I'm sure all of us have had a lot happen in the past few weeks, I would like to share a useful discovery I made.” He paused to add suspense, ”Memory Projection.”
”Wassat?” Sumi asked.
”We can share our memories with the others who inhabit this room of ours, I have entered the room on my own a few times over the last few weeks, experimenting with its capabilities. It will show the memories from the corresponding owners point of view. We can show each other what happened through our own eyes.”
”That's awfully convenient.” Strem muttered.
”Indeed it is.” Jer nodded thoughtfully, ”If it is alright with the rest of you I would like to show you what Valana and I have been up to for the past few weeks,”
The rest voiced their agreement and Jer got things 'set up'. When he was asked what he was setting up he would smile and wink but evade the question, the rest sighed, Jer always did have something of a flair for the dramatic.
Suddenly walls formed around their endless white space, couches appeared out of thin air and turned to face a single white wall, the wall turned into a field, just outside a village. ”Welcome,” Jer spread his arms, ”To my memories.”
Ooooh's and aaah's echoed through the now closed off, livingroom area. The group sat down on the couch. Staring expectantly at the screen.
—— Jer POV ——
Jer walked through the town, towards the inn he heard they were staying at. Valana was trailing behind him, hands stuffed into her trouser pockets, seemingly uninterested. Jer put his hand on the door and pushed, a cacophony of sound rushed out to greet them. The smell of stale ale, the sound of music, rumbustious laughter and conversation filled the room. Jer let his gaze sweet across , he spotted his targets sitting in the corner of the inn. Short cut hair and beard both light gray, a scar across his cheek and the top half of one ear missing. Most of all it was the sharp, somber eyes that caused the man to stand out. Jer walked on over, ”Are you the current leader of the mercenary company The Black Iron Covenant?”
The man gazed at him, before grunting. ”Current indeed, I guess I am the leader for what its worth, not like there's much of us left.”
Jer got straight to the point. ”Yes I heard about the ambush that had befallen your company, I am Jer and this is Valana. We would like to fill your ranks.”
The man blinked, his companion, another veteran mercenary, staring at the two of them. ”Why in the name of the fallen gods, would you want to join a band that has been decimated?”
”Simple.” Jer said grabbing a seat across from the man, Valana dragged a chair over twisting the chair around and sat on it, folding her hands on the back of the chair putting her head on the backrest. ”You have a reputation already, as trustworthy, professional mercenaries. You just suffered a large loss leaving you with but a few veterans, you need new members. If we join first then we have a larger chance of rising up through the ranks and becoming a core part of the company. While we can help aid its rebirth, we can still use the reputation you have already earned to grow it into exactly what I need.”
”What you need? Who says you will be able to influence our growth that much.” The man frowned the movement pulling down his scar.