Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Kothar narrowed his eyes under his helmet, channeling mana to his Mana Sensing Lens, keeping a careful eye on the guard who remained, ensuring that the two of them weren't trying to surprise him by pretending to go and relay a message.

But the guard's mana was calm, Kothar shook his head internally, even though the guard's stance was at the ready, his mana was still concentrated within his Mana Core, if somebody who was sensitive enough to mana had been intending him harm, he would be dead by now.

Most, if not all, of those who had seen a significant amount of battles and combat, would always hold at mana ready for at the very least one spell.

The guard looked over Kothar as he waited, carefully looking over his armor, and its odd design.

"You went south, then, with the Grand Marshal?" The guard asked, his voice sounded as though he had a blocked nose. It seemed as though he was bored enough to risk conversation with one of the infamous Nighthawks.

Kothar didn't say anything, he just nodded, his feet still planted where he had stopped a few minutes ago.

"No wonder you armor looks like its from foreign parts, you nighthawks are an odd bunch aren't you." the guard continued, not taking a hint from Kothar's silence, and instead continuing to talk. 

"You know, my cousin went south too, he told me about one of you lott, a demon with a glowing sword, who completely tore apart the Empire's finest." The guard had a smile on his face now, and was leaning on his spear, looking more like a gossipy young teen than a guard charged with defending the keep of Balin.

"I heard he fought the invaders too, leaped into the sky and tore apart those strange craft of theirs. Wow. In the capital here, there were so few of us that we just got as many people inside the keep as we could, and the rest, we had them barricade themselves in their basements." The guard was watching Kothar carefully, waiting for any kind of response.

[He really doesn't stop talking, does he?] Silane joked, as the guard grabbed his spear tightly, and stood ups straight.

"I took one of those filthy invaders out myself! Ran him through with a spear, I wasn't about to let them do as they please in my home!" The guard thumped his chest with a gauntleted hand, resulting in a jarring clanking noise.

"Well done. I'm sure the people of Balin were thankful." Kothar finally said, it seemed as though the guard wouldn't stop until he got some sort of response out of Kothar.

"Yeah, they sure were! I had some fine young maidens give me some flowers after the battle was all said and done, and one of 'em even danced with me afterwards." The guard took Kothar's reply as a sign to brag, and by now he had walked closer to Kothar, and was leaning his head down towards him, as if telling some sort of secret.

"By the way, Rufus, I'm Kenneth. You'll put in a good word with the Marshal for me, won't you." Kenneth grinned at Kothar, and raised his eyebrows at him in a friendly manner.

Kothar said nothing, his mind was filled with thoughts of his father, and of Simon, wondering about their whereabouts, and if they were alive, and the Kenneth's constant conversation was beginning to wear him down, causing even Kothar to develop the slightest headache.

Kothar sighed inwardly with relief, as he saw the other guard running across the bridge, breathing heavily, almost tripping over his own feet in his hurry to get to them.

"My, hah, apologies, hah, hah, Sir, Rufus." The guard was gasping for breath while bowing and scraping to Kothar,.

"The Grand Marshal will see you immediately, sir. Please go on ahead." The guard gasped out, before seizing Kothar's hand and shaking it, and then standing aside.

Kothar felt a wave of relief sweep over him, his father was alive, and had returned to Ursten, within his helmet, unseen to the two guards, Kothar had an enormous grin plastered on his face.

Meanwhile, Kenneth's eyes were bulging as he watched his comrades and antics, and then he also seized Kothar's hands in two of his own. 

"Sir, please forget about what I said, and don't worry about saying anything to the Marshal, just don't mention me at all to him, please." He pleaded with Kothar, his stomach sinking at the thought of the Grand Marshal hearing about his bragging and bluster.

Kothar extracted his hand from the vice grip Kenneth had on him, and walked across the bridge.

The other two guards manning the gate across the bridge looked far more familiar to Kothar, and they looked battle ready, and even as Kothar used his Mana Sensing Lens, he could see that even though they had welcoming signs on their faces, they held spells at the ready.

It seemed that the two buffoons from earlier were simply there to deter the public, while these two were the real guards.

Kothar recognized the two of them as men from his father's personal guard.

It seemed as though many of the troops had also returned to Ursten, Kothar was surprised, the journey north from Aznur to Balin was by no means a short one, yet his father had somehow made it along with his troops.

The guards raised their crossed spears, and gave Kothar a salute. He didn't outrank them, nor was he a commanding officer, but they had seen him fighting against the Imperial Elite's first hand, as well as glimpsing him in the skies above the palace as he fought off the flood of Aemos ships.

Their eyes were filled with clear admiration, and one of the pair even mumbled to Kothar as he passed, "Well done, sir."

The small gate set next to the two large gates swung open, and waiting for him was a familiar face.