Chapter Text
Tonight, it was unusually dark. A suffocating darkness that engulfed Geshu Lin, clinging to him like it wants to conquer the space he currently occupies. Another thing he realized, was that he was floating. Neither a ground to stand, to run, nor a ceiling to protect him. He was just mindlessly drifting in the void.
Perhaps this was another nightmare, that came haunting him, although he didn‘t have any dreams since he became the General of the Midnight Rangers. But in the recent nights, he always had a nightmare.
They were mostly about the battles of that day. Mindless slautering of Tacet Discords, even in his dreams. This of course led to new eyebags, which gave him some concerned stares, especially of someone, who shouldn‘t care.
Geshu Lin wanted to rest.
But for now, he needed to go through this dream.
He felt a slight breeze. The first change of this strange dream. Next thing he knew, he could feel sand underneath his feet. Finally something familiar! The grains crunched slightly underneath his boots. He didn‘t need his eyesight to know, that this sand belongs to the desert right outside the ranger camp. The terrain engrained into his memory with every sense he had.
And he was right. The light of a campfire was visible a few meters away, with the excited chatters of young men. Judging by the uniform, they were all soldiers.
Geshu Lin blinked once and suddenly found himself sitting at the fire, a cheap liquor in his hand. Now that he was close to the people, he could try to identify them.
Unfortunately, Geshu Lin knew them.
Knew them too well.
How could he ever forget the faces of his friends, back when he was a recruit?
This was certainly a nightmare. A nightmare Geshu Lin didn‘t expect to get hit with. He expected them to be gone, to be buried somewhere, where nobody would look for them. He wouldn‘t even acknowledge them as a memory, why was it now in his dream?
The friendly chatter of his friends calmed his mind. Perhaps this wasn‘t a nightmare to escape from. Maybe, he can finally rest tonight.
Everyone was laughing. Some drank alcohol, some smoked and the most daring ones did both. Geshu Lin smiled. He lifted the cup and drank a sip, the bitter liquor burning down his throat. It was cheap, but very strong.
Geshu Lin looked down at his cup. In the reflection of the water was a boy, with no eye bags, no scar across his lips, eyes that shone with young vitality and a smile, so big it brightened the night. Geshu Lin knew that boy too, he was only 15 back then.
“Lin! What are you spacing out for? Come drink another sip!“, one of his friends called. Zhaoxie, if he recalls correctly.
Geshu Lin raised his cup and cheered with his friend.
“Tomorrow, we‘ll get to see the General during training!“ Geshu Lin nodded. Tomorrow the official training of the recruits began.
“Yeah, just don‘t fall on your face first.“ Geshu Lin answered.
“What?! I‘ll never do that! You should better watch out!“
“Is that a threat?“ Geshu Lin smirked playfully.
“It‘s a warning! Just see! I‘ll be a Sergeant in no time and then I‘m gonna make you run extra!“
He never became a Sergeant .
Geshu Lin laughed at that. „You‘ll need to run faster than me first!“
He never ran faster than Geshu Lin.
Zhaoxie was offended. His drunken state enforcing his sluggish movements. He fumbled with his arm before taking another sip, emptying his glass.
“Then,“, he put an arm around Geshu Lin, „stay alive until then!“
He didn‘t stay alive.
He died during an ambush. Blood loss from his missing legs, because he tried to run from a Tacet Discord.
In the next second Zhaoxie was gone. The only testament of his existence was the name tag and an engagement ring on the place he was seconds before. Geshu Lin just stared at that place. He could never escape this hell. This was just another nightmare, he shouldn‘t have hoped to sleep well. Why would anybody expect to sleep well here?
Geshu Lin turned away. He couldn‘t look at it anymore. It was too painfull. Zhaoxie shouldn‘t have died such a cruel way. He should‘ve run faster, he shouldn‘t have tripped over that damn stone! Why was there even a stone in the first place?
The glass in Geshu Lin‘s hands groaned slightly, when he gribbed it harder. Geshu Lin took another sip. And then another. When he was halfway through the cup he stopped. His eyes began to wander to his other friends.
Hu Lao. He was the smartest in the group and also the one, who knew how to comfort someone. Unfortunately he was also the one, which the whole group liked to tease. Especially when his glasses didn‘t even belong onto a battlefield, but he just couldn‘t see with them. He was blind like a mole!
Geshu Lin should‘ve stopped teasing him.
A silent guilt gnawed at the bottom of Geshu Lin‘s stomach. It‘s true that he was a sunshine in disguise, but even the sun needs fuel to burn in the cold war.
He could‘ve prevented him to hang himself.
Hu Lao was also gone now. Instead, his broken glasses and a small plushie was at his place. The guilt in Geshu Lin‘s stomach intensified. That plushie was always at Hu Lao‘s side and it was always Geshu Lin‘s favorite thing to tease him about. Until he noticed that it was gone. Geshu Lin thought he threw it away, but three months later, when his bed got cleaned, the stuffed animal fell out of the bedframe. Hu Lao never got rid of it, he only hid it.
Geshu Lin tried to drown the guilt with alcohol. He‘s already swaying slightly on his seat, but not enough to be fully drunk.
The cup was empty before he knew it. A glass clicked on his left side and Geshu Lin immediately extended the cup. He knew one person, who‘d always beat him in drinking competitions; Xiao Zhong.
Geshu Lin felt the cup getting heavier. He brought the edge to his lips and drank another sip. Xiao Zhong also nibbed at his drink, before he put his cigarette back into his mouth.
Xiao Zhong had a strong alcohol addiction. Back in the barracks he was always a party favourite, since everybody competed with him on who could drink more. Even Geshu Lin once participated, which lead to him passing out while reaching for another shot.
Geshu Lin wasn‘t sure when Xiao Zhong started smoking. He didn‘t even know it before he saw his friends at the corner of the camp exchanging cigarettes. When Geshu Lin warned him that this is going to make his breathing a lot more difficult than it already was, he‘d just shrugged and said: „We only live once.“
He didn‘t listened. Now he won‘t smoke any cigarettes anymore.
Xiao Zhong coughed.
„You really should stop smoking.“, Geshu Lin responded, „It’s getting on your ability to breathe.“ But the culprit laughed.
„Lin. Don‘t be worried about me! I‘m still fine! I won‘t suffocate or something like that!“ His voice was raspy from the many whiskey he drank.
No. He just suffocated on the spores of a new Tacet Discord.
Xiao Zhong was also gone now. And just like the others, his place was decorated with his belongings; a broken sword and an empty beer bottle.
Geshu Lin emptied his glass with a few gulps before placing it next to the beer bottle.
The worst thing in this nightmare wasn’t that he got reminded on how his friends died. No, the worst part was that the alcohol didn’t even worked.
Geshu Lin sat there for a while, eyes closed while his whole body tried to physically hold in the pain.
It feels like someone shattered a bottle in his lungs and with every breath, the shards dug deeper into his flesh.
He needed to hold in the urge of throwing up, since the pictures of their deaths forced their way into Geshu Lin’s head.
“Big brother Lin? Are you alright?”
Geshu Lin immediately turned his head towards the source. Next to him sat a boy, slightly younger than him.
Xiao Li was the youngest in the group, not to mention the younger brother of Xiao Zhong. He was staring at Geshu Lin with a concerned worry.
”I can get you some water. You look like you’ll throw up.”
Geshu Lin shook his head and forced a smile. Xiao Li smiled with a radiant grin back at him.
“Smiling soldier.”, Geshu Lin thought.
Among the veterans of the Midnight Rangers, recruits would get the nickname ‘smiling soldier’ or ‘the soldiers that smile’ to highlight their status as a recruit.
Because if a recruit had gone through the life and experiences of a veteran, he wouldn’t be smiling like this anymore.
Like the birds will sing tomorrow.
Like the sun will rise tomorrow.
Like they’ll wake up tomorrow.
”Big brother Lin, it’s been rough. I know.”, the boy began. His smile fading.
That smile is forever gone.
”I’ll grow and then get us out of here! Promise!”
He came very far.
Geshu Lin sighed and shook his head. Xiao Li looked at him pitifully.
”It’s alright. You aren’t alone in her…”
”I am. I was alone here since you died.”
Died from a builder that crushed everything except for his left leg.
Xiao Li also disappeared. At his place was a sergeant cap, a cigarette and some dried droplets of blood.
Geshu Lin was now sitting alone at the campfire. The fire was slowly running out of wood to burn.
He buried his face in his hands. At the end of the day, he was alone. No matter what companion, soldiers or even brothers were there for him. They’d all disappear once death claims them.
It’s been several years. Geshu Lin was still alone. The loneliness has eaten a hole into his heart. He feels empty, perhaps he is empty. Perhaps he will never be whole again.
Geshu Lin suppressed a sob. He needed to compose himself, how should he lead the Rangers, when he broke down because of a simple nightmare?
A soft breeze brushed through his hair. Geshu Lin immediately sat straight. The wind carried a frequency he knew all too well.
Tacet Discords.
A whole army it seems like. In one swift motion Geshu Lin grabbed a sword, which was lying around. Better than nothing, although he preferred a heavier blade.
He positioned himself in a fighting stance. The darkness that engulfed the desert hid the monsters perfectly.
The campfire in the middle decreased in size, now only a few sparks sizzled before the light vanished, allowing the darkness to eat Geshu Lin.
But nothing happened. The Tacet Discord never attacked, although Geshu Lin could feel their presence near him.
Confused, he lit a small purple flame in his palm.
The TDs were absolutely there. A horde of the monsters formed a circle around Geshu Lin.
Geshu Lin tensed up. The TDs were just standing there and staring at him in an unsettling way. No motion to attack him, not even a blink. He could mistake them for hyper realistic statues.
Geshu Lin decided to attack first. He spun around, using the momentum to split a fusion warrior in half.
The empty spot got immediately filled with another TD, that stepped up from the back like they were in a waiting line to get slaughtered.
Another swing, another Tacet Discord cut down. The same story repeating again and again. No matter how many monsters he slaughtered, another one would always fill the line.
Geshu Lin stopped after killing what felt like the whole army of a Threnodian. He tried to catch his breath and took a break.
The numbers of TDs were ridiculous. Geshu Lin lifted his blade again, intending to do a small experiment.
He channeled his forte into a single shot that pierced through the rows and illuminated the path of his destruction.
The flames never reached the end of the circle. Geshu Lin was trapped beneath a never ending stream of Tacet Discords.
That thought alone terrified Geshu Lin to his core.
Suddenly the Tacet Discords moved closer. Geshu Lin tried to maintain a distance, but the sheer amount made it difficult.
Soon, he was enclosed by the monsters.
Geshu Lin couldn’t breathe. His ears rang and he was hyperventilating. He hated this claustrophobic feeling, hated how he was so helpless, hated how he was so scared.
A blast of wind with the force of a hurricane carried all the Tacet Discords away. Geshu Lin’s hair sticked to his face, rendering him blind. He should cut it someday.
The only thing he saw was a long, green body moving in a circular motion.
In no time every Tacet Discord vanished back into the darkness, leaving only Geshu Lin’s savior behind.
Another person, or rather thing, Geshu Lin recognized.
The long azure dragon definitely belonged to the most headache-inducing person he knew.
Jiyan.
But the man in question was nowhere to be found, just his small pet.
“Qingloong?”
Like an animal that got called by its owner Qingloong glided gracefully to Geshu Lin, wrapping itself on his extended arm.
”What are you doing here? Where’s Jiyan?”
Geshu Lin began to caress the reptile with a finger. Qingloong leaned into his touch and even purred!
Geshu Lin added another finger to the excessive petting. The dragon now stuck its snake-like tongue out.
”You didn’t answer my question little one.”
With much willpower Qingloong broke free from the hand of Geshu Lin and slithered across the air in a certain direction.
Geshu Lin followed his new guide.
After they walked for a respectable distance, Qingloong stopped in front of a large mirror. Geshu Lin stepped in front of the mirror, while the dragon wrapped itself around the man’s neck.
The reflection wasn’t the current General of the Midnight Rangers, but a younger version of him.
The seventeen-year old boy had multiple bruises and cuts around his body. A prominent cut was visible across the left half of his lips.
But what was more noticeable than his bleeding body was the radiant smile the boy desperately tried to uphold.
Both of them knew it was fake.
Geshu Lin turned towards Qingloong and began petting it again.
”Is this everything you wanted to show?”
Suddenly the hand of the reflection grabbed Geshu Lin’s wrist and pulled him inside the mirror.
~~~
The ringing alarm on his nightstand got rudely shut up by a fist. Finally, the nightmare passed.
Geshu Lin opened his eyes and looked at his clock.
05:00
He got up slowly, trying to suppress a groan, while commanding is heavy limbs and also fighting a creeping headache.
Just like every morning, Geshu Lin felt like shit.
Breakfast got served at 5:30. He had half an hour to hide the horrors his mind tortured him with in the last eight hours.
He forced his body out of his bed, limping to his bathroom. Geshu Lin leaned on the sink and turned the water on.
His reflection was now a familiar man again. White, disheveled hair, a healed scar across his lips and the same frown. The only difference was, that his eye bags got bigger. It looked like he didn’t sleep at night while simultaneously having a hangover.
At this point Geshu Lin didn’t care. He dunk his face in the ice cold water that run in his sink.
The results weren’t that much better, but at least he was awake now.
Geshu Lin staggered out of the bathroom again and got dressed. While putting on his outer shirt, he stretched a bit too far, making the bandaged wound at his sides sting painfully.
The pain reminded him of his doctor appointment he had at 14:00. He should look that he’s on time or a certain someone is going to stare holes into his body again.
Dressed in his usual uniform Geshu Lin made his way out of the room towards the canteen. Every soldier he came across saluted him, while he only greeted back with a nod.
Geshu Lin didn’t run into the medic yet. Apologies, Geshu Lin didn’t run into the former medic yet.
Not that it mattered.
The canteen was a very crowded area in the first opening hours. Soldiers, who needed a big breakfast to endure the rest of the day or soldiers, who just wanted their final meal before going to sleep from the night shift.
Geshu Lin grabbed a tablet and got into line. Next to him was a recruit chatting happily with her friend. Girls topic, something Geshu Lin didn’t understand.
Fifteen minutes later Geshu Lin filled his tablet with his food and sat down next to his sergeants. The latter immediately began to talk about the upcoming day.
”We need to be a bit harsher on these recruits…”
”The Norfall Barrens broke another record of TDs…”
”This food is disgusting…”
”General! We need to talk about the weapon shipment…”
The voices faded into background noises while Geshu Lin was eating. Instead the haunting images of last night crept into his mind.
Half a body lying on the ground .
No. Geshu Lin couldn’t allow a panic attack this early in the morning. Especially not in front of every soldier. He tried to shift his attention elsewhere and landed on the recruit with her friend behind him.
“… And you know? My little sister wanted to give me a stuffed animal to bring here! How cute is that?!”
The plushie in the bed frame.
Geshu Lin abruptly stood up from his seat, silencing his sergeants, who looked just as surprised as Geshu Lin was.
“We’ll continue this in the meeting.”
His voice was firm, but his soul wasn’t.
Geshu Lin walked with long confident steps, ignoring a burning gaze on his back.
He needed to distract himself. His feet took him towards the morning gathering point, where a few soldiers already met.
Geshu Lin looked at the sky, then the clock and then to the people gathered there. Anything to distract himself.
At point 06:15 the soldiers gathered for their daily morning exercises. Geshu Lin would also participate in the morning runs before he would take over the recruits.
All eyes were now on Geshu Lin. Since the General was personally there, he was of course expected to introduce the morning program.
”We’ll start with three whole laps.”
Some of the soldiers groaned. A whole lap had a distance of 5 kilometers. 15 kilometers is easy for a resonator, but a nightmare for the average man.
”Afterwards we’ll split. Recruits are expected on the training ground, while the others follow Yhan.”
Geshu Lin walked to the front of the whole group. A position he’s all too familiar with. Then he began to jog, leading his soldiers on the track.
Two hours later Geshu Lin arrived first back in the camp. He needed to wait at least half an hour later until everyone finally reached the base.
The recruits basically crawled to the training ground. Geshu Lin smirked. He wasn’t going to let them off the hook that easily.
Because they needed to survive on their own.
Geshu Lin didn’t even let them catch their breaths. “Stand up and formate!”
The recruits fought to keep themselves on their feet.
”Straighter!”
At least they were trying their best.
”This lesson includes some basic self defense. Make pairs and try to wrestle each other to the ground.”
With that, Geshu Lin picked up an unfortunate soul out of the line and used him to demonstrate some techniques.
The General watched in horror as all the recruits tried to wrestle their opponents to the ground. It rather looked like babies fighting.
”What is this? A playground? Put some more efforts into this or we’ll run four laps tomorrow!”
The threat slightly increased the quality, but it wasn’t enough.
On the third mattress was a boy, whose foot work was unstable. A Tacet Discord would easily kill him when he lost his balance.
The girl behind him exposed too much of her torso. One stab and she’d be gone.
Geshu Lin’s eyebrow twitched. They would never be able to fight like this. He needed soldiers, not sacrificial lambs.
He decided he had enough. “Everybody, stop!”
The recruits looked at him curiously.
”I’m going to test your skills. Line up and on my cue, attack me!”
At noon Geshu Lin felt refreshed. Hopefully these children would now understand, what level they needed to reach.
He got his food from the chefs and sat down next to his sergeants again, who are now fortunately really quit.
Geshu Lin took a bite and immediately frowned. Bitterberries. It’s not like he hated the taste of this berry, he just never understood why they needed to be in a dish to make it more ‘delicious’.
He heard someone gaggle behind him.
Geshu Lin turned towards the source. There was a green haired soldier, whose face color nearly matched his hair. But instead of abandoning the food, he forced it down.
Why did Jiyan torture himself like this? Geshu Lin didn’t know the answer and he shouldn’t care.
He turned around and took another bite. Bitter.
After lunch Geshu Lin was in charge of the older soldiers in the army. On today’s schedule was sword training.
”Alright! Everyone, pick a sword!”
Nearly every soldier picked a small blade, easy to maneuver and very precise.
Except for Jiyan. He picked a broad blade and it was currently leaning on him.
Geshu Lin also picked a broad blade.
”Warm yourselves up! Jiyan, you’ll pair with me.”
Soon, the clatters of swords were heard, but Geshu Lin was only focused on the man in front of him.
He opened the fight with a direct up slash, the blade clashing with Jiyan’s.
Geshu Lin only needed to press a bit harder and the knees of the other man buckled.
Jiyan used the moment and rolled to the side, successfully creating some distance.
He only had a small break before Geshu Lin began to batter him with blows.
One to the left, one to the right, Jiyan struggled with the pace and the sheer force of the General’s hits.
On a peculiar hard slash, Jiyan’s claymore flew out of his hands and he shortly found himself on the ground, Geshu Lin standing like an immovable mountain in front of him.
Jiyan chuckled and smiled at him.
”Smiling soldier.”, Geshu Lin thought.
Where was Geshu Lin’s smile?
Gone.
Somehow, in all these years, Jiyan never lost his smile. No matter how many horrors he faced. Geshu Lin didn’t know if this is fake.
Please don’t be fake.
Geshu Lin removed his claymore from Jiyan’s face. He turned towards the others. “Warm ups are finished!”
They continued to train. Geshu Lin switched with multiple soldiers and everyone ended up on the floor.
”General, you’re too strong!”
Many said that to him. But they never said anything further from that point.
He was their General after all, why would they try to treat him like a brother in arm?
Geshu Lin never felt lonelier.
”I think I’ll never get as good as you, General!”
He just nodded and continued to hit until he felt someone staring holes into his body.
Geshu Lin wondered what he did to make Jiyan give him that look again. He pondered until his elbow accidentally came across his bandages.
Right.
It was probably far past 14:00. No wonder the medic was giving him the stare again. Geshu Lin would be pissed too if someone didn’t show up for a meeting in time.
”Everyone, continue on their own!” With that, Geshu Lin turned and walked towards the direction of the infirmary.
He reached the door and heard someone following him.
The walk to the infirmary was quiet. As quiet as it can be when someone was still staring holes into his body. The former medic saying everything in his gaze instead of words.
When they arrived, Jiyan immediately put on his former doctor attire over the uniform.
Although Jiyan was now officially a soldier, he occasionally took up the duties of a medic. And since he was the one, who treated his injuries, he’d be in charge of the whole healing process.
”Lie down on the bed and roll your shirt up, so I can assess the wound.”
Geshu Lin’s uniform was made out of several layers of different fabric. Rolling his shirt up was more of a challenge than undressing.
So instead, Geshu Lin decided to take off his shirt with one smooth motion.
He threw his shirt somewhere onto a chair and lied down onto the bed. Nothing happened for a while and Geshu Lin looked questionably at Jiyan.
Meanwhile the doctor was staring at him, or rather his new exposed body part. Geshu Lin frowned. The wound couldn’t be that bad.
Jiyan immediately turned away, his neck and ears a bit redder than usual.
He grabbed some stuff and returned to Geshu Lin’s side. The doctor began to unwrap his bandages and discarded the little blood soaked linen.
A loud crash and screaming from the main wing of the infirmary interrupted the serene silence.
Before Jiyan could protest, Geshu Lin was already out of the door, ready to fight.
The ruckus came from a soldier, newly admitted, judging by the stained clothes of his. He was shaking violently and broke free from the confinements the nurses tried to put him in.
”NO! WE NEED TO LEAVE! IT’S COMING!”
The soldier pushed a nurse onto a carriage and managed to hit a doctor on his face.
”IT’S COMING! ZHANZHENG IS COMING!”
Out of somewhere, the mad man pulled out a pocket knife and angled it towards another nurse.
That was enough. Geshu Lin crossed the distance in mere seconds and punched him directly into the face, successfully rendering him unconscious.
Some peace returned to the infirmary. The nurses immediately strapped his body onto the bed, in case he woke up sooner than later.
Geshu Lin turned towards a doctor, who presumably was in charge of the patient.
”Report.”
The doctor fumbled with his glasses before he managed to say a word.
”He’s a newly arrived patient.”
Geshu Lin rolled his eyes.
”He’s also a part of the patrol in the Norfall Barrens.”
Long, slender fingers began to press a cotton ball onto Geshu Lin’s wound. That man, can’t he wait for him to finish? Nevertheless, Geshu Lin angled his body for better access.
”The uhm… the same patrol that got attacked today. He was the only survivor and got sent to the camp for treatment.”
A report paper was surely submitted to the General’s office.
“During the whole transportation, the patient showed signs of distress and hallucinations. The aggressive movements were first recorded there. Further records are to be written down.”
Geshu Lin nodded. He then turned around and walked towards his bed again, while Jiyan is struggling to keep up and simultaneously cleaning the wound.
Geshu Lin let himself fall onto the bed with a loud plop. Jiyan continued his treatment, but he was unusually silent.
He frowned and his movements were harsh, as if he was angry.
”What’s wrong with you now, Jiyan?”
The doctor closed his eyes and pressed his lips into a line.
”I… General, was that really necessary?”
Geshu Lin was confused. “What are you talking about?”
”Couldn’t you have… calmed him in another way?”
”I don’t think a lullaby would’ve helped.”
Jiyan clenched his tools tighter. Geshu Lin knew, that this was actually about another topic that bugged Jiyan for a long time.
Jiyan didn’t understand.
”No… you just like to beat people up. Send them to their deaths, how could I expect you to do anything else to deescalate this situation.”
There it was. The same old story, which the both of them circled each other.
”You treat them like pawns. Not like their people, not even like they’re your brothers in arms!”
There was a time when he treated them like this.
Where were they now?
Jiyan was bolder than usually. Geshu Lin was amused to say the least.
”I am their General, Jiyan. Technically, they are my pawns.”
Jiyan was flabbergasted by that. His face contorted in anger.
”Sometimes I wonder if you know that there are people, who love them, who hope that they’ll return.”
He once loved them too.
”General, do you even know how to love?”
”Perhaps.”
He’s a General now. There is no other choice as to see them as pawns.
The General’s job is a lonely one.
Geshu Lin didn’t know what face he made to shut Jiyan up and blow all signs of anger away.
Instead, Jiyan turned away and put his used medical equipment in a tray to later clean them. His body was still tense, but not in an angry way, almost in a pitiful sorrow.
Geshu Lin huffed and fetched his shirt.
”I hope that was everything doctor.”
Before Geshu Lin made his way out, Jiyan stopped him.
In his hand was a bottle of small painkillers. Geshu Lin took the medicine and spotted something in Jiyan’s white sleeve.
His Qingloong was peaking out of the hole, slithering his tongue nervously.
When Geshu Lin retreated his hand, Qingloong used the chance to bump him reassuringly.
Weird.
Finally Geshu Lin managed to exit the infirmary. His thoughts drifted to the end of their argument. He had a feeling, that something changed within Jiyan, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. And the little dragon was just as enigmatic as his owner.
He shook his head. There are more important things he needed to address now.
With long, confident steps he walked towards his office.
First of all: look into the attack that occurred at the Norfall Barren. He had a slight suspicion, that something was wrong.