A Song of Storms: Shattered Skies

by Sigur024

A Warning

Pruina did his best to block out the noise of the Legion war camp. It filtered through the oilcloth walls of his tent and into his office, disturbing the peace that he preferred to keep when at work. Despite the loss of the Auxillia, he was still a legate, and legates had to help lead the legions into war.

He felt the ache of old age settling in his bones in this place. The cold air that had invigorated him as a young stallion in the Frumentarii now made his joints ache and throat burn. Barley, ever obstinate, did not seem affected by it, though he was a few years Pruina’s junior.

The stallion’s journal lay open on the table in front of him. It was a habit he had kept up from his youth, and was filled with old secrets wrapped in codes known only to the Frumentarii. In time he hoped to send it back to Stratopolis and to the great library, where some novice might decode the truth of the stories he wrote within and learn of the many hidden things he had done. It was said that a secret weighed in the soul like lead in a saddlebag. To dispose of them into silent, reliable paper made their lives easier.

Pruina lifted the pen, but found he could not put it to the paper. To commit to mere words what was happening seemed insultingly inadequate.

The Emperor had lost his mind with warlust. Not the frothing insanity one might see in a griffon berserker, but the cold madness and murderous intent of a dagger.

The legions had all been mobilised, and young pegasi drafted on a scale never before seen. They would all be needed. To try and exterminate a species as warlike as the griffons, a species nearly as numerous as the Cirrans if the Census was to be believed, would be an undertaking on a nightmarish scale.

They had already begun at that grisly task. Pruina had the scenes of massacre in the small villages of the hinterlands seared into his mind. The deaths of warriors he could understand, and the murder of whole families is something that he himself had done more than once. But to put innocents to the sword wholesale was beyond him. He could see clearly in his mind's eye the bodies hacked and ruined, the severed fingers of fledgelings lying in the grass where they had tried to shield themselves with their hands.

Pruina swallowed hard. He would need strong drink tonight if he were to manage sleep.

A hoof knocked upon the wooden screen that separated Pruinas office from the others in the command tent.

“Enter,” he called, returning the quill to its inkwell.

A mare walked around the screen, clad in armour that marked her out as a serving member of the Frumentarii. Pruina recognised her immediately by the deep red of her mane and coat. “Ah, Ruby. It has been a very long time.”

Ruby gave Pruina a small smile. “Promoted to legate and you still can't get your own office?” She asked.

“Resources are tight, and it's supposed to foster cooperation apparently. Mostly it just sees my best ink go missing,” Pruina replied. “But given that you are in armour, I am guessing this isn't just a friendly visit.”

Ruby raised a hoof to silence the stallion and looked back around the screen to ensure they weren’t being listened to. Satisfied, she moved in close to the desk, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I am here to deliver a warning, sir.”

Pruina frowned. “Legion warning, or Frumentarii warning?”

Ruby swallowed nervously. “I risk everything by telling you this, but I can’t just leave you out to dry. The higher-ups are making inquiries. Those Auxillia of yours, the ones you put down? The brass thinks they might still be around.”

Pruina held a carefully practiced neutral look. Just enough concern to make one think you were on their side, but not enough to land you firmly in a trap if there was one. “What proof?”

“They got reports of sixteenth legion elements encountering griffons way too deep in Cirran territory. A few dozen at most, unarmed and fleeing east.” Ruby whispered. “They confirmed the death of every slave in that region, and then went through the grave at Viridis. A lot of missing bodies.”

Pruina said nothing. His mind was racing. If his spontaneous act of mercy had seen the griffons survive, the Frumentarii at large were now on his trail.

Ruby glanced back over her shoulder and laid a hoof reassuringly on Pruinas. “I won't ask you for anything on this. Gods know I’m already in far too deep without a mandate. But I needed to let you know the net you are tangled in. For old times sake.”

The mare stood back from the table and retrieved a sheaf of reports from her bag. She placed them on the desk. “Here is my excuse for coming to visit. Good luck sir.”

With that she turned and marched out swiftly, rejoining the traffic of the war camp.

Pruina sagged in his chair, burying his head in his hooves. “Gods above” He murmured. “I may have made a mess of it.”

Comments

[RoboRed]

You gon' get yours, boyo.

[Starlight Nova]

Will Discord appear or at least get mentioned in this story?