“Remember that.” The others seemed content with that, but Yu was not done. He had saved the best for last. “So, there is this one story about this really stupid king — whatever his name was, from I Don’t Know. So he was at war with some omira packs. And when he showed up to negotiate peace or whatever, he expected to talk to their leaders. But the Great Hunters of the packs, they just ignored him.”
Yu paused, letting that sink in.
“Instead, they talked to his generals. See, the king had, of course, brought his best guys for protection. And because they really were THE. BEST. GUYS. at whatever they did, fighting and leading armies and such, the omira basically respected everyone more than the king.”
He looked at Nion and Kal, “You know this one? The story?”
Nion frowned. Kal shook his head.
Yu turned back to Jerakill: “So obviously, this pisses the king off, and there’s no peace discussion. Then, the next time he goes back, he only brings, like, Division Useless. No generals, no commanders. Just some random soldiers, basically. And this time, the omira actually talk to him.”
Another pause. Then, Yu delivered the twist:
“But they also realise he’s utterly defenceless. So, yeah. They pretty much killed him right on the spot.”
A beat of silence.
“The. End.”
It was so stupid. And that was what made it so funny. It was hilarious, on a bad day. On a good day, it was the best war story he had ever heard.
Right now? Yu was not picky. He would take any dumb joke to gain pretend relief from Tirran’s eyes, or Gurs’ disdain, from the harsh guild chef, and from the creeping, gnawing panic that this was his new life. That the Albweiss Mountain Guild was not a fresh start, but a frozen forever prison that he would never be able to leave on his own.
So Yu waited. He looked from Jerakill to the others. Expectantly.
Nion shrugged.
Kal just stared at him.
Jerakill, with his ever-blunt masked expression, said, “What about omira who fail?”
Yu hesitated. “What?”
“The ones who fail the Trial of the Hunt,” Jerakill said. “Or lose their pack’s respect. What happens to them?”
Yu frowned. “What?”
Did no one hear the story? Why did no one laugh, or say anything, for that matter?
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