“It’s a shame I couldn’t meet this other friend of yours,” said Roman. “Colt, right?”
Hector bobbed his head to the side. “Heh, uh... You probably wouldn’t have liked him very much, anyway.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“Because I don’t like him very much,” said Hector, still with a smile.
“Ha. That just makes me even more curious.”
Roman and Gina both went to have a word with the pilot, who looked rather shaken up and out of place. Hector guessed that the poor man had probably gotten more than he bargained for with this trip, but Roman was reassuring him that there would be handsome compensation for his trouble.
Harper was next, and he looked rather less formal than Hector had been imagining. “I heard the others mention your name,” said Harper. “Hector, right?”
“Ah--yes, sir.”
“You look younger than I was expecting.”
After having wandered off a little with Voreese and Mehlsanz, Garovel floated closer to Hector again. ‘Harper Norez, correct?’
‘Indeed. And I’m Darsihm.’
Four glowing skeletons in one place, all with scythes and black shrouds. Hector supposed the number didn’t seem like much to anyone else here, but this was the first time he’d seen so many without there being at least one who wanted him dead. It was a nice change of pace.
‘I’m Garovel, by the way. Roman said you two were with the Vanguard?’
“That’s right,” said Harper.
‘If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your rank?’ said Garovel.
‘Harper is a Lt. General,’ said Darsihm.
‘What the--?’ Garovel looked over at Roman, who was just joining them again. ‘Why didn’t you tell us earlier that he was a freaking Lt. General?’
“Oh, I assumed you already knew,” said Roman. “Voreese and Mehlsanz already did.”
Hector eyed Garovel, not wanting to ask his question aloud. ‘Uh, is that, er... how high up is that, exactly?’
‘The Vanguard is split into three divisions,’ said Garovel privately. ‘Army, navy, and air. Lieutenant General is an army ranking, and there are only four ranks above it: General, Captain General, Field Marshal, and then the High Commander, which is Sermung’s official title.’
‘Uh... whoa...’
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
"You look younger than I [was] expected."
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me... they do have different languages in their world... how come they can fly around all over the place and everyone speaks English?
"but this was [the] first time he’d seen so many"
"Garovel looked over at Roman who[,] was just joining them again."
"which is Ser[g]mung’s official title."
Agh, wow. Fixed 'em all, thanks.
ReplyDeleteAs for your questions... I'd be spoiling some stuff if I answered it fully. I'll just clarify that it's not ctually "English" that they're speaking, as there has never been an "England" in Eleg. I'll also say that Hector's language isn't called "Atreyan," either.
Most "casual" fantasy I've read goes with a language usually called "Common" when they don't feel like explaining why everyone speaks the same language.
ReplyDeleteI suppose in Eleg, there's been so much conquering going on in the past that many languages eventually mingled and fused into whatever it is that they speak now.
But I'll just be patient and wait for the in-universe explanation. :)
Heh, poor Hector. I know hun, military ranks can be kinda annoying and confusing at first. Took me a while too.
ReplyDeleteI doo end it interesting though, these ranks. I've only actually heard of a couple…Either you created some, Frosty, or the Army is odder than I thought. XD
The ranks and titles vary from group to group. There's not one set system that every country or military organization goes by.
ReplyDeleteAh, this is true. :3
ReplyDeleteWow so we have a legit high tier in Harper.
ReplyDeleteAww I was so cute and naive back then. Harper, a "high tier"? LOL!
ReplyDeleteDidn't even realize, Four Is Death on this page. HAH!
ReplyDelete