The Fall of Westpoint

*Leon and Brandon had finished there duties for the day so they packed up and headed back to town.* "So Brandon, what do we do now?" *Brandon thinks for a moment.* "Well now we should return to the barracks and give our report." *Leon nodded as Brandon led the way to a rather large building, at least larger then most in this small town. They enter and are greated to a small common room, there's a bar with a rough looking man behind it, a board that jobs are placed on and of course an area where members can sit and relax after a long day. Brandon walks up to the bar and greets the rough looking man.* "Hey Connor, just finished up with our patrol, is the boss back yet?" *The man named Connor looked down at Brandon and nodded silently.* "Thanks~ Come on Leon." *Brandon escorts Leon to a back room but stops in front of the door* "Be respectful ok?" *Leon nods as Brandon knocks and a voice calls them inside.*

*As the door swings open a man is seen sitting at a desk, papers are neatly stacked and more are being completed and added. The man takes a break and looks up at the two boys. His hair is turning grey but is still noticeably brown and is styled like a soldier, well kept and shaved on both sides the top kept short, he stands 5'10 and has a large build, he wears a mix of leather and iron armor and a steel great sword can be seen up against the wall beside him.* "Hello Brandon, and you must be Leon, my name is Derrick, I run this branch of the border patrol. I am sorry I couldn't accompany you on your first day but I had some urgent business. Now then, do you have anything to report?" *Brandon steps forward.* "Yes sir, we encountered 3 goblins but took care of them." *Derrick records this on a piece of paper.* "Well done boys, especially you Leon, having a fight on your first day and coming back without a scratch, I must say I'm impressed." *Leon bows.* "You have Dave to thank for that sir." *Derrick looks at Leon and his expression changes ever so slightly.* "Dave you say, he trained you?" *Leon nods.* "Well well well, if that's the case I'm sure you'll go far Leon." *Derrick gave him a small smile then passed a bag to each of them.* "There you go, todays pay, 1 gold and 20 silver." *Both boys bow again and thank the captain.* "Good work today, keep it up." *The two boys salute there superior and leave the room shutting the door behind them.*

"Man, the captain has a presence around him...the whole time I was to tense to speak." *Brandon nodded.* "He always puts on that scary face when it's time for business, no worries, he liked you." *Brandon smiles and pats Leon on the back.* "Good job today, I gotta head home but I'll see you tomorrow, don't be late this time." *Brandon walks out after waving to his friend and Leon follows soon after heading back to his own home.*

*It was just a short walk back Leons house, he enters through the front door and his mother is already cooking dinner, she smiles at him as he enters.* "Leon your back~ how wonderful to see you, I was worried you know. So, tell me, how was it?" *Leon sat down at the table and took off his jacket.* "It was hard work, me and Brandon took on 3 goblins today." *Reina looked at Leon and seemed angry for a moment but then smiled.* "3 goblins? Wow, that definitely sounds like hard work, I'm glad your ok." *Reina makes Leon a plate of chicken, corn and beans and Leon begins to eat.* "I'm surprised your not angry mom, I mean, my first day and I fight goblins." *Reina smiles and sits with him.* "Well dear I am worried about you, but your not a kid anymore, and besides you had Brandon with you, and the monsters around here aren't to strong." *Leon was sceptical but didnt push the issue, as he finished up his meal there was a knock at the door and Reina went to open it, as the door swung open there was a familiar face.* "Hello there Derrick~" *Reina greeted the man.* "Hello Reina, Leon. I've just come by to see how Leon was doing but I see he's quite well." *Leon nodded as he pushed his plate away.* "And I was hoping I could talk to you Reina." *Reina nodded and sent Leon to clean up the kitchen as Derrick came inside and the two talked in the livingroom. Leon washed up his plate and cleaned the kitchen a bit, luckily for him his mom wasn't a messy cooker so he finished rather quickly and went to see what his mother and Derrick were talking about. As he turned the corner he saw his mother in tears and her hand covering her mouth.* "Mom? is everything ok?" *Leon went and sat beside his mother to comfort her.* "Leon, do you know why I was gone today?" *Leon thought back to what Brandon said.* "Yes, you had urgent business in Westpoint." *Derrick nods.* "Yes, but I failed in my mission, at least partly." *Leon looked confused.* "You see, Westpoint was attacked by an army of monsters." *Leon took in a sharp breath and his eyes went wide.* "An army??" *Derrick nods again.* "Yes, the town was destroyed and the people were slaughtered." *Leon tightened his fist and gritted his teeth.* "So...there were no survivors?" "Not quite, like I said I partly failed my mission. My mission was to escort any survivors out of the city, I searched and searched for someone, anyone to save. It eventually began to seem pointless but then I heard crying, and there lied a baby girl, barely even 1 year of age is my guess. Her family must have been killed during the attack, yet she survived, I brought her back here to my home, my wife is caring for her as we speak." *Leon looks down at the floor.* "Do we have any idea who her parents were?" *Derrick sighs.* "I believe so, I found this with her." *He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver ring with a sapphire inside.* "This ring bares the mark of Westpoints royal family. If my guess is correct then this is the newly born princess Sarah." *Leon looks up* "Princess??" *Derrick nods once more.* "I shall raise her from now on, but I'm going to need to count on you Reina, unfortunately neither me nor my wife know how to raise a child." *Reina nods and wipes her eyes her breath shakey.* "Of course Derrick, anything you need." *Derrick smiles.* "Thank you." *He stands.* "Well I'm going to take off, Leon, take care of your mother." *He walks towards the door.* "I'll see you in the morning." *The door opens and shuts as Leon pulls his mother into a tight embrace.* "I'm fine honey, really, it's just...all those people..." *Reina wipes her eyes again.* "I'm going to make a pie and bring it to Derrick and Lana. Poors things need a bit of cheering up, Derrick may fool others but his stone face doesn't work on me." *She gets up and heads into the kitchen as Leon thinks to himself.* "An army of monsters....that's...that's insane....I've never heard of anything like that before....And Westpoint is so close....I hope none of those beasts come here....If Westpoint was taken....We don't stand a chance...."