Chapter 212 - Oaths

"Come on Elliot, it won't be that bad. Quit whining!" I needled the man. He reacted to my offer exactly the way I thought he would. Seeing how my last offer hadn't been the best thing for the man's health.

"That's what you said last time and I had to charge into an army of Demons!" He sputtered, "I barely survived!"

"Ah, but you did! And you are stronger for it." I nodded sagely. The feeling he gave off was much stronger than before. The fight had done him well.

"Just because I advanced my Law in the face of near-death doesn't make up for the fact it was my NEAR DEATH!"

While it was fun to get a rise out of the man, what I needed an answer to was quite serious. Others were already lining up for the battle to come and I didn't feel like arguing with Elliot would be the best thing for them to see.

One of the biggest things I still needed to do for the Guard Company was appoint a Captain, Commander, or leader of some kind— it didn't matter what it was called.

My first choice was Jonathan, but he flat-out said no. I could've pushed the issue but chose to go a different route. We were already gaining people by the dozens from our recruitment effort and the group I sent to Toronto was doing spectacular work.

People were coming from there in droves.

That being the case, and my plans for the future being expanded to match our growing population, I knew we wouldn't stop at just one Guard Company.

With that knowledge, I would wait until we had the supplies and revenue to outfit multiple Guard Companies. Then I would come back and put Jonathan in charge of all of them. Giving him a fancy title as well.

Something he couldn't turn down.

Chief of Security maybe?

Ah, I'd think of something later but for now, he would be free from obligation and that honor fell to another. That person being Elliot. I knew of him even before the Demon fight and thought he would do a wonderful job. If he stopped being a pansy.

He was similar to me, back when I was still trying to run from responsibility. Well, similar enough for it to be humorous in my eyes.

"Elliot," I said more seriously, "You showed your valor against the Demons, that I cannot deny, all I am asking is you continue to do so. You have what it takes to lead, I can see it in you."

His agitation wound down and so did the volume of his voice. Now our conversation was only loud enough for the two of us. It was surprising he had raised it in the first place.

Most were scared of me and the strength I held. He seemed to grow a spine after his near death.

"Why me, though?" He asked, "Sure, I'm trying to get stronger and the Demon fight helped that, but I'm not even in the top ten. Offer it to one of them."

My eyes appraised him heavily, making him wilt slightly as if my gaze weighed on him similar to my aura.

"They don't have the heart for it that you do." I said, "Sure, they accepted their role as Champions when asked of them, but they didn't excel at it like you did. You could have cut and ran multiple times during the battle yet you did not."

I didn't actually know that at the time. During fights, I usually liked to keep an eye on things but that battle required my full attention. It wasn't until I talked to Rachel and the others that I got a clearer picture of what happened.

Of the multiple Champions that had stepped up to perform the role when called upon, Elliot lasted the longest. Some died, others retreated when things got tough.

He stayed until he fell.

Until his physical body couldn't stand up any longer.

The explosion I caused was the only reason he was still alive, the Demons would have killed him without it.

That showed grit on a scale others could reach.

"You don't understand what you're asking of me." Elliot sighed sadly.

He was wrong, I understood exactly what I was asking of him.

"I'm asking you to lead. To be at the front while others follow. To throw yourself into danger for the sake that others don't have to. To fight until your last, and then reach deep and fight more." I stated.

His eyes looked up, "You're asking me to be you."

The way he said it made me want to frown. It was easy to tell he didn't believe he could do it. He didn't believe he could ever come close to what I do and that was sad.

What I did was nothing special. Anyone in my shoes could have done the same.

I couldn't tell him that, obviously, as he wouldn't believe it and think I was mocking him, but that didn't change the way I felt about it.

"Yes, I'm asking you to be me." Well, the idea of me that he had in his head. I didn't want him to imitate me, but to embody the way I fought.

"I don't know if I can do that."

"I know you can or I wouldn't ask it of you."

It took a second, and with a deep sigh, the man picked himself back up. He straightened his back and squared his shoulders, "I will do my best, then."

That brought a smile to my face. I really didn't want to have to find a third candidate.

"Then you know what I need," I said.

He nodded and dropped to one knee.

"I, Elliot Gunderson, swear to uphold my loyalty to Christopher Zalenski with my life. I pledge to fight by his side in every battle, to protect his lands and people with my sword, and to never falter in my duty, even unto death. Should I break this oath, I bring dishonor upon myself and be forever branded an Oathbreaker."

The words resounded and even with them being said in a normal volume, everyone heard them. It was a quirk that was startling at first, but I had come to like.

The Oath was something I had come up with to ensure loyalty. It wasn't binding in any way, they could break it at any time if they so wished, but before its introduction, I added another law and announced it for everyone to hear.

The number of Laws we had was small, so it was somewhat of a surprise for the people to hear that I was adding another.

The Law was simple. For the crime of breaking an Oath and becoming an Oathbreaker, the penalty was death. At least to me it was. If anyone swore an Oath to me and broke it, I would kill them.

That was certain.

It was the other Oaths I was still unsure about. Other Oaths would be sworn in the city and I could already see some people taking advantage of it.

Other variations would come up, to imitate what I had the Guards swear no doubt, but if someone swore to pay back a loan and didn't, I didn't think death was the right solution.

It was something I could figure out later.

That put a little more weight behind them but it wasn't the main reason I had everyone who joined as a guard swear one. It was the principle. I hoped that their own Honor would keep them in check, but it would be foolish to rely only on that.

It was a mixture of Hope and Fear I relied on. Hope that people would be honorable, and fear that they would die if they didn't.

I dreaded the day someone broke it.

For now, I would have hope but I had other plans in place as well to ensure nothing too disastrous happened if hope wasn't enough. I didn't need Abigail or my mother to tell me that much.

The people watching broke into applause after the Oath was sworn and I clapped my new Guard Captain on the shoulder congratulating him. Guard Captain sounded best.

Those who had sworn the same Oath already came to congratulate Elliot and it was nice to see the happy reception.

"What name did you come up with for this motley crew? We can't keep calling it the Guard Company." Elliot said while waving accusingly at the people around.

That... was a good question. I hadn't thought of what I would call them.

Seeing a good opportunity to issue the Guard Captain his first order, I smiled broadly.

"That's up to you. I hope you pick something bold, it would be a shame to be the Captain of the Lollipop Guards." I laughed.

Laughs broke out and Elliot groaned. "We are not calling ourselves the Lollipop Guards."

With that order of business taken care of, I turned to look at everyone else that arrived. Not everyone would be under Elliot as not everyone chose to become Guards, but they were still willing to participate.

"Alright everyone, you know the drill by now. Let's get this show on the road!" I announced.

"Shields front and we start in five!"

People spread out as they had numerous times before. The waves had occurred every month and while there were some new people in our midst, this wouldn't be most people's first time.

Ice froze around my right side as my augmented arm came into being. I didn't keep it conjured all the time but it would soon see some use.

It was still slightly odd to hold my hammer in one hand of flesh and the other ice, but I was getting used to it. It was a shame, but by the time it was regrown, I would be perfectly fine fighting without it.

My strength was higher in my original arm compared to the one of ice, but it was close enough not to matter much. In a real fight, it would very much matter, but nothing today would be a real fight.

"Abigail, are we ready?" I shouted over the crowd. She stood atop the wall way behind where I stood at the front. The trick I did at Fort Hope to shout the whole town was coming in handy.

Her profession had the skills needed to access the pylon remotely from anywhere inside the City. It was nice to initiate the Upgrade without having to walk all the way back to the pylon.

"Initiating Upgrade now!" She called back from atop the Wall where the rest of the Mages and Rangers were.

I, along with everyone else, felt when it was initiated and we all got ready.

Banter died and weapons were ready.

"Yeah, yeah, defend my claim. I get it." I muttered after the chime.

The upgrade to Village wouldn't bring anything too strong but I would get a light exercise in no matter what.

I wondered what the upgrades would bring and was especially curious to see how many new pylons we would reach. We only had access to two right now and I was eager to expand that.

Reaching Mountainside would help our efforts for trade and Austin said the pylon he was at wasn't that far away. If this upgrade didn't reach the Twin Cities, maybe the next would.

Village to Small Town wouldn't be that hard either.

Maybe we could push for Large Town?