Phoenix strode purposefully down the empty street he was on now, just returned from a mission that had kept him long overdue in foreign lands. He had no doubt he had been considered a possible loss to the guard and so he had expected some changes when he came back home. These changes, however, were unlooked for and unexpected.

Tristram seemed deserted. There were no people anywhere, and the entire state of the city was one of desolation and dilapidation. Phoenix had seen deserted old cities before, usually villages in remote areas given over to sickness or famine that either killed off its inhabitants or forced them to move on. Tristram, the capital city of his beloved Republic, now felt that way and it was a thing he had never thought to see in his lifetime or in the foreseeable future.

A clang of what sounded like pans hitting the floor in a nearby home caught his attention and one look at the door hanging ajar on one hinge and the broken window set him on edge. With a hand to his sword and his cloak pulled back and out of the way he cautiously approached on silent feet. Inside was an encroaching dark that was only dimly penetrated by the feeble autumn sun outside and there was no immediate sign of anything amiss. Slowly walking towards the back, it was an old tavern he had entered, Phoenix heard another indistinguishable noise that could have been a stray animal, or something else. He crept around the bar and towards the doorway that he knew must lead to the kitchen when very suddenly a wiry man burst out, his arms laden with what appeared to be the fine cutlery of the establishment. The man was in such a hurry that he didn’t see Phoenix and would have run himself upon his drawn sword had Phoenix not called him to a halt. The man, startled, drop the box of cutlery and let out a yelp as he saw the shining sword pointed at his wide-eyed face.

“What, pray tell, are you doing in here man? I somehow doubt this is your place of business you so hastily plunder in the dim daylight.” Phoenix said with an audible threat in his voice. Phoenix remembered a day when such crime did not exist in Tristram thanks to the efforts of his beloved Council Guard and seeing this man here, in this manner set his blood to boiling. “I was doing nothing! I was…I…I was picking up a few things for my master that he left behind, that’s all!” “Then why do you tremble so even now? Surely an honest man has nothing to fear from one of the knights of the guard if his intent were honorable?” Phoenix replied calmly but with the same threatening tone. “T..t..the Guard? Ahh, yes! The Guard, glad you showed up. I, ugh, yes, ahem, I was hoping to find a man of your type here to, ahh, to protect my, I mean ahh, my masters goods whilst I took them, I mean gathered, or ahh fetched…” “DO NOT LIE!” Growled an incensed Phoenix. “You know nothing of the Guard and you speak as a halfwit! No doubt you are a looter in my fair city and that is a thing I cannot abide. You will come with me cutpurse, quietly now lest I be forced to subdue you.”

Phoenix bound the hands of the wiry looter and began to march him down the streets towards the Council Guard compound. No matter what had happened surely at least some of the Guard maintained a presence there. But as he approached it he saw that even that may be too much to ask. The compound looked dusty and deserted as he marched towards its low lying walls headed towards the underground holding cells. His captive yelped irritably as he stumbled having stubbed his toe on a broken sword hilt that had lain hidden in the dust of the streets; Phoenix ignored the man giving him a push to speed him up. The corridors, and the holding cells themselves, were all deserted and the keys were still hanging on the walls. With deft hands Phoenix unceremoniously unlocked and opened one of the doors, threw the man in, shut the door, and turned the key before walking out; the man pleading his innocence the whole time. Phoenix ignored him and walked back up to the ground level. He stood in the training field, near the weapons racks where once polished swords, pikes, and axes now sat rusting on the racks for lack of care. Weeds grew out in the training field that had been packed hard from years of sparring and drilling feet. The compound did not appear to have been mistreated in any fashion, no doubt the reputation of the Guard had prevented what ever troublesome folk had worked their foul deeds from entering here, but it had very clearly been deserted for some time. Furthermore it did not appear that the Guard had left the compound armed for battle. This puzzled him all the more.

He continued to walk and entered the office of the First Knight and found that its interior had been vandalized. The beautiful oaken desk that had for generations of First Knights served as the focal point of the office was broken down the middle apparently hacked to pieces by some wayward axe. The tapestries on the wall had been ripped down and trodden upon and everything of value was gone. The last person to hold the office of First Knight in Phoenix’s memory was Kitana but she had left before he did so whether or not another had filled her place while he was away he could not say. Sad and sickened by what he saw Phoenix left the office and headed towards the Great Hall. Perhaps there he would find some answers.

Phoenix saw, well before he reached the place, that the huge gates to the Great Hall were shut, but as a member of the Council Guard there was an alternate way to gain access, a door that he could bypass the defenses through magical means bestowed upon him by the High Council. The door was a simple alcove where one might have expected a small statue or a sentry to stand in on the sides of the gates themselves and it was to these Phoenix was heading when he heard a croaking yell from someone who sounded as if they hadn’t had a drink of water in weeks.

At first, Phoenix didn’t recognize the man rushing madly at him and placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword and commanded him to stop. The figure lurched to an unsteady halt and pulled back his hood. To his surprise it was Duke Freedom, looking rather worn and haggard. With an apology Phoenix stepped out of his defensive stance, “Hail Duke Freedom, I did not recognize you as you came upon me. Forgive my discourteous greeting.” Freedom’s face turned red as he spat, “It is Councilor Freedom, Phoenix. I have been raised in station since you saw me last!” Said Freedom has he stood up taller and made an effort to look what he no doubt thought was more regal and grand. Phoenix did not know what to say and instead merely opened his mouth to speak and said nothing as he looked at Freedom. This apparently did not matter to Freedom, however, as he carried on unimpeded with his speech. “What brings you back here, I assume you have completed some assignment? Tell me of it so that I may assess how well you have done!”
Phoenix had seen much in his travels and even more in his time serving in the Guard so there was little that caught him off guard these days, but now he sat feeling dumbfounded looking at the haggard form of Freedom who looked dehydrated, dirty, and emaciated as though he had been living in the streets for weeks on end. Phoenix had known Freedom for many, many years and had known the man to be one of ambition and great love and good works for the Republic. He had been present at the battle were Freedom had lost the better part of his sight but fought valiantly and won nonetheless; a feat that would later be recognized with a promotion to Duke of the Republic. Indeed Freedom had exhibited both prowess in battle and a fierce style of leadership that he had come to respect not only for its own merits, but because the High Council had seemed impressed by it as well. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Freedom, “Did you not hear me Phoenix? What have you to report?”

Phoenix blinked once, twice, and then cleared his throat to speak. “My lord,” he opted since somehow he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge the title Freedom claimed without having proof it truly existed but also unwilling to offend the man by calling him by his former title if it was indeed true what he said, “you look to be poorly used. Forgive my forwardness, but what has happened to you? And what has happened to Tristram, to ALL of our lands? You are the first face I have happened across that was not a villain and I am much confused by it I must confess! Where is everyone?” Phoenix snapped his teeth together surprised at how his emotions had come pouring forth so quickly belying his unease; he had been trained to maintain a better composure than that but he couldn’t seem to help the almost frantic intonations in his words at the moment. “What does it matter where they are, I am here and am asking you a question!” Snapped Freedom, “What mission brings you to the Great Hall knight of the Guard?” Now Phoenix felt his ire rising as he bit back an angry retort, “My business is the protection of the Republic and its people. It matters to me when I see those people missing, our lands in disarray, and one of the nobility seems a blessed opportunity to find out how this could have happened.”

“It was NOT my fault!” Freedom suddenly screamed in a fit of rage. “I did my best! It is not my fault that others failed me! I thought I was picking them well, but I must not have, and even though I told them, they told me, I worked to listen, and stood, but sat and…” Freedom trailed off a moment, face red in his distress and his speech seeming to become incoherent for a moment. “That arrogant Dennizon refused to listen. Who does he think he is! Do I look like you?” He spat suddenly pointing a dirty finger at Phoenix’s chest. “This is not the military I told him, he is not my sergeant. No. NO. NO, NO, NO. I used to take it but not any longer! They shun everyone, EVERYONE, even you Phoenix. They no longer understand it is the people that make the Republic, not themselves alone. They tried to tell me I was not a good leader; that I didn’t have the capability to lead! HAH, how soon my years of service are forgotten! Aldius told me, told me I didn’t have to bow and scrape before them and take such abuse any longer, and so I will not. I will no longer be pushed around. You,” he said pointing towards the Great Hall “will learn to take a dose of your own foul medicine Dennizon.”

Phoenix stood, shocked by what he saw, as Freedom ended his tirade, his hand that he had pointed towards the Great Hall slowly dropping to his side as he panted for breath. Suddenly Freedom seemed to remember where he was and turned back towards him. “Regardless, I have been made a Councilor. I have sought to do nothing more than keep this clan alive and that is what I must do.” Suddenly the look on his face became one of sly intent. “You seemed to be headed somewhere, somewhere in….there” he said gesturing towards the locked gates of the Great Hall. “I know the Council Guard has the required rights to enter when the doors are locked down as they are now. I shall require your assistance in entering myself.” Freedom said seeming to have completely regained his composure as he stood up tall and directed his gaze firmly upon Phoenix.

Phoenix felt tongue tied. On the one hand this was the man, the leader, with whom he had fought with side by side in days gone by. This was the loyal Duke, the stalwart companion, the protector of the old ways and people of the Republic as some of his friends had liked to call him. Yet here he was raging against a High Councilor and claiming to be of the High Council himself; all this while surrounded with the desolation that had become Tristram. His unease simply prevented his ability to freely tell this man what he sought. Slowly, he opened his mouth and a sluggish answer came forth, “I am sorry, my lord, but my business is a matter of the Council Guard and as such my purpose and intentions, and such information relevant to them, must be hand delivered to Dennizon alone.”

At the mention of Dennizon’s name Freedom clapped his hands violently over his ears and began to pull at his own hair before dropping them quickly and trying to regain his composure. “Dennizon has retired from the Council and Albertus followed him some months later. That makes me the elder and sole leader. You will deliver your reports to me.” “I am sorry, I cannot, I am sworn to secrecy and my commander is Dennizon. If he has gone, I will go too, if he has died, my information will die with me.” Phoenix said unable to bite back the worry in his voice at what he saw and heard here. “Blast you man! Has he brainwashed you as well! Dennizon is an arrogant fool who single-handedly brought about the destruction of this clan. If I had not stopped him he would have taken our freedoms and run the Republic as a militant despot. He has no diplomatic ability, loses his temper over everything, can’t take any kind of criticism whatsoever, and frankly isn’t any kind of good leader. He tried to say that I wasn’t a good leader and had failed to keep the Republic from falling into disarray but it was he who came and disbanded the High Council; a step that lead to the current state of things you see here. The clan isn’t the Guard, he isn’t our First Knight, and we are not all knights under his command! He even turned Albertus against me! Can you imagine? Albertus chose to listen to Dennizon over me even after our long years of close friendship! Dennizon has nothing to offer in terms of leadership or otherwise that I do not surpass can you not see? NOW TAKE ME INSIDE THE GREAT HALL OR YOU WILL BE DISOBEYING A DIRECT ORDER OF THE HIGH COUNCILOR FREEDOM!”

Phoenix looked upon Freedom, panting and sweating with the effort of telling his story, and the thought crept into his head that the man’s mind was addled.

“I said take me inside the Great Hall! I know the guard can make use of secret entrances, take me with you. I am a councilor and it is your duty to see to my orders!” Freedom barked again impatiently.

“I am sorry my lord,” Phoenix said carefully, “but I have no control over the secret entrances of which you speak. While it is true that I can enter as a member of the Council Guard it is via magicks put into place by the High Councilor Farseer that such a thing is possible. I can only tell you that the doors to the keep themselves will open at but a word but a High Councilor, and the secret entrances admit any and all of pure heart, clear mind, and loyalty with valid purpose. If you find you are unable to enter under these circumstances then it is beyond my capabilities to help you. I am but a humble soldier, not a mage, and my service to the High Council has always served to grant me entrance in times of need.”

At this Freedom let out a scream of frustration and ran towards the doors cursing and screaming, “Let me in! Albertus why have you forsaken me your closest friend? How could you side with Dennizon after all we have been through? Let me in, let me in! You MUST let me in, what are we to do? You can use my help! Don’t you understand? YOU NEED ME!!” He then began to beat his hands violently against the great doors until they became bloodied and he fell to a disheveled heap at the foot of the door.

Phoenix’s heart went out to the man. No doubt he had been through and seen things that had shaken his mind, but this was a thing he had never expected to see. The things Freedom said, incoherent though they were, weighed heavy in his mind. Things never changed in the Republic without the hand of Albertus and Dennizon to guide them. Could what Freedom said be true to some extent? The only way to find out was to find them and ask; at the very least he would offer his services to them once again. As a member of the Guard is loyalties were to the council and there protection no matter what. He had learned long ago to trust the High Council even when he didn’t understand them and that had not changed. As he began to walk towards the alcove that would grant him access to the Great Hall Phoenix saw two young children wrapped in rags but looking physically well enough tending to Freedom administering water to his parched lips in a dented metal cup. They seemed genuinely concerned for him as they tore off rages from their already sparse garments to wrap his bloodied fists in makeshift bandages. One of them looked up and caught Phoenix’s eye and said, “It’s alright sir. We will take care of him, you can go about your business” Phoenix cleared his throat and merely nodded but the child beamed a smile at him and turned back to tending Freedom. As he stepped into the alcove to enter the Great Hall Phoenix thought with wonder of the resilience and goodness of the heart of a child and realized yet again the precious nature of the things he protected as a member of the Council Guard. Hopefully, one of those things, the High Council, would be found inside.