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"We should attack the New Camp's mine. It will fall quickly." Yeah, you're a genius, Arto.

"Yes, a shadow found a secret passage a few months ago, leading directly to the mine. By utilizing that way we can avoid massive casualties and bypass the main camp. If we strike fast and strategically, we can take and hold the mine with ease."

I wouldn't believe it. Two Ore Barons, Arto and Scar, not idiots mind you, agreeing on one less than sound idea. I couldn't let that happen.

"The Fire Mages won't approve, Gomez. If we attack the New Camp out of the blue like that they're liable to go...hostile. The fools have made a deal with the Water Mages to try and maintain peace." A perfectly sane reason to go another way, in my opinion.

"Forget the Mages!" Gomez banged his fists on the arms of his throne to emphasize his point. "I won't let those frail blockheads ruin our vice on King Rhobar! I'd sooner massacre the lot of them. We are Ore Barons. We cannot survive without ore. Raven, make the arrangements for an assault on the Free Mine." The man had a point. I was an Ore Baron. No ore, no baron, no Raven.

"But the Mages..."

Gomez scowled at me. When Gomez scowled at you, it was not long before he was stabbing you. Best to not let it get farther than a glare. I knew what was coming next. Corristo, the brave fool, would try to stop Gomez, and he and his flunkies wouldn't tolerate any disturbances. That would lead the other Mages to rebel, and lead to the death of half the barrier knowledgeable population in the Colony.

But what can a guy do? I suppose I could have killed Gomez then and there, but I doubt that would've done much good. And where was Bartholo? Making goggly eyes at the slave girls...

*

All right, Jackal, you and a couple of other guards are going to hold the entrance to the Mine against any intruders. I'll personally lead the rest of you down to the very bottom. Arto, stick close to me. You'll make sure all side caverns are either taken or marked with warnings against crawlers. Scorpio, you're going to be in charge of-"

"No!"

Ah, good ol' Scorpio. Always a fresh idea. "No?" This ought to be good, I thought.

"I'm against all of this! The Mages are probably two minutes away from being stabbed to death by the guys I used to consider my friends while I'm being sent off to waste the souls of perfectly innocent people!" Scorpio actually looked serious.

"If wasting souls is your big concern I'm sure there are some necromancer spells we can get hold of..."

He wasn't going to buy it. "You don't get it, do you Raven. I've had it up to here with you spineless Ore Barons!" Scorpio made a mock salute to indicate he was fed up. "I'm out of here!" As he started to walk away, he turned around and yelled "And I've been stealing from the castle armory! Up yours, you cowardly bitch!"

I gave the signal and a handful of guards chased him halfway to the Old Mine. If it weren't for that last remark, I probably would have let him go, maybe even joined him to stop Gomez's insane plot. As it was, I left him to the snappers.

"What are you looking at?" I scolded one of the guards. "Come on, we have a mine to conquer!"

So I led them all the way there, via the newly discovered mountain path, to kill maybe over a hundred rogues, mercenaries and scrapers. It's funny, if you don't think about what you're doing, killing people isn't all that bad.Well in a matter of hours, the Mine was taken and the guards were set up. So I went back to see Gomez. He was impressed, of course, and rewarded me with my pick of the slave girls for the remainder of the night. I declined.

"I'm...saving up my slave girl privileges," I lied. Gomez smirked that horny pubescent smirk he gets sometimes.

"Understandable. Arto, you could take a lesson from Raven here. Use your head instead of your... sword every once in a while. You'd be surprised how often it pays off." Arto glared at me from the other side of the room, and mouthed 'golden boy' when Gomez wasn't looking.

I went into my private chambers and read a book, not really absorbing the words, thinking more about my Right. How many lives had been extinguished by it? Or had the sword done anything? Did weapons kill people, or did people kill people? Thought provoking, huh? Yeah, I'm real deep like that.

What?

Oh I get it, not a sarcasm fan, huh?

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