《Mystfall Chronicles》 Chapter 1: The Fire approaches the Clouds Dawn broke across a landscape enraptured in billows of smoke. The town as it seemed had a darkened air surrounding it and the buildings that were part of the town had soot clinging to its exterior walls and its paved roads. Despite the dawn¡¯s bright clear light the town looked ashen and the smoke continued to rise, coagulating in the air. The many chimneys that jutted out of the houses were one part of the source of the smoky atmosphere but there was just upwind of the town, black grounds which were also part of the town. These black grounds formed the base for coal mining in the town. Firedweller Township was the largest coal base in Grifort Kingdom and the mines had people working around the clock, hence the reason why the town had such an obsolete atmosphere. In the darkening dawn at the very top of the township on a manor similarly darkened by the soot much like the rest of the buildings, a window opened on the top floor. Soon after that a set of sheets were strewn down, all tied together to form a rope. Out of the window climbed a boy, no more than fourteen years of age, despite this he looked abnormally large. He wore a long brown tunic, one that went down to his knees and slightly frayed grey pants along with leather boots. Attached to his side was a longsword which he pulled back to climb over the ledge and clinging to the sheets tightly, he slowly climbed down and landed on the ground with a light thud. He combed back his long copper hair which had fallen over his face, covering his eyes during the climb down and he looked around cautiously. He ran through the back garden of his manor and saw a guard making his familiar rounds around the house and acting quickly he jumped behind a set of bushes, hiding himself. As the guard moved past he rose from his spot and rubbed his hands on his tunic getting rid of the soot he had gathered from touching the plants. Using the tree as cover he quickly ran to the large walls surrounding the manor and with superhuman power and agility he ran up the wall and latched onto the edge and swung himself over, landing safely on the other side. Just then a horse cart came by and recognizing the boy the man on the cart quickly stopped his horse. ¡°Young master Eduard?¡± said the man respectfully as he stood on his cart and bowed. Eduard blanked out, he had not expected anyone to see him exit but he quickly found reason. ¡°Uh¡­nice to meet you too¡­¡± said Eduard, he would¡¯ve liked to add the man¡¯s name as well, save for he forgot the name, he didn¡¯t even remember when he had the met the man or if he had met the man. Saying that, Eduard leaned casually against the large wall as if he was waiting for someone. ¡°Pleasant morning isn¡¯t it,¡± said Eduard wishing the man would move on already. The man looked up towards the ashen sun causing Eduard to look up and realize that morning and days were never really special or pleasant in Firedweller Township but the man seemed to have tact enough to not correct one superior to himself. He instead answered, ¡°It is indeed a pleasant morning, young master Eduard.¡± Eduard nodded and then he realized that the man wasn¡¯t going to leave, he was actually planning on starting a full blown conversation with him and so he took the initiative. ¡°I¡¯ll need to go, I¡¯ve got something of a job to do.¡± Saying that Eduard politely nodded towards the man and moved past the horse cart. The word¡¯s the man was about to speak got caught in his throat and he nodded politely and bowed once more at Eduard¡¯s back. *** Eduard moved through the township and every so often someone would stop, bow and attempt to initiate a conversation but he had learned his lesson the first time and he would strike quickly before they could start and tell them he had to be somewhere quickly and like that he would move past. Eduard noticed the blackening on his tunic and this was just from a few minutes of walking in the township but it was something he was already very used to, he would however place blame on the blithering idiot that decided to start a township downwind from the coal mines. After a few more minutes of casual walking he had arrived at a closed store front. He raised his hand and curled it into a light fist and then paused to remember the code his father had used to gain information from the owner of the shop. Three light knocks in quick succession followed by two heavy slow knocks and a small hole opened at the bottom of the door. From inside his tunic he took out four silver squares and placed it next to the hole and a hand reached out and snatched it up and seconds later a note was placed there. ¡°Kroff Helvyn is the man¡¯s name,¡± said a soft voice from the other side. ¡°As suspected he is a slave trader, he runs a shipping company down at the docks and he has a gang, he usually sends out his people and capture lone people walking during evenings or the nights unless he needs people with specific criterias, several shipments of slaves have already occurred and his primary focus is on young girls, ranging from twelve to fifteen.¡± Eduard took the note which was a receipt for the payment and a card fell out which he picked up. It was ornately printed with fancy writing ¡®Helvyn Traders¡¯ and the address was written there as well ¡®Northern Warehouses Unit 16, The Docks.¡¯ Eduard cheerily looked at the card, perhaps if he could capture this Kroff Helvyn then maybe his father would reconsider his decision and allow Eduard to adventure, something he had wanted to do ever since he saw a profligate rogue swordsman visiting Firedweller Township at the age of six, the old storyteller Hordus also had something to do with his desires. He moved away from the storefront and moved through the town slowly walking towards the entrance to the docks. As the entrance to the docks moved closer fewer and fewer people appeared. This morning was a good morning, he had not specifically chosen this morning to complete what had set out to do but it was his luck. No ships set off or docked on this day, tomorrow several large ships would dock bringing everything that was necessary for the ¡®Celebration of Inferno¡¯, which would be the day after. It was a festival that lasted a day and night and celebrated the founding of the township by the first Firedweller Master after the continent was freed from the demonic clutches of the ¡®Tyrant Queen¡¯ and her dark empire. Owing to this very few traders were at the docks today and even fewer sailors. Eduard entered the docks, a place with tightly confined small huts and large warehouses to the side, it was always a very enclosed space, tightly-packed on a normal morning or day when the ships left and docked as they normally would. *** Upon Eduard¡¯s entrance into the docks, through a very intricate message passing-on system, a message reached the ears of a man who was pacing back and forth across from a table, in one of the warehouses at the docks. The precise reason would be owing to the fact that one of the slaves he had to cart off, a good-looking young girl for whom he would get a very niche price from his employers had hanged herself and now he was down one on the slave-count. What his employers appreciated the most about him was his strict adherence to numbers, especially in matters such as these and they would not be pleased if he suddenly let them down now and what¡¯s more he was desperate for some money as the Firedwellers had begun paying attention to his business and it was time to move like always. The message that a sturdy looking boy with bronze hair had crossed into the docks was music to his ears. Kroff Helvyn turned with a hardly suppressed glee on his face and looked at the man sitting on the ground like he was about to nod off. He walked over to the man and kicked him. ¡°Cole, get up!¡± said Kroff and the man looked up, his face would be considered normal save for the large burn marks and scars that made up one side of his face, even the hair on that part was burned off completely leaving a fleshy scalp. Cole yawned once and then he decided to nod off again until Kroff kicked him harder. ¡°Get up you fool, we have some excellent news.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Cole sleepily and he got to his feet, he was a giant, an absolute giant standing around three or four heads above the five-foot-ten Kroff Helvyn and to top it off he was very muscular as well. ¡°There is a boy, bronze hair, carrying a sword, he looks fighting fit,¡± said Kroff with malicious glee. ¡°Capture him and bring him back and then we can set them off from the west side, avoids trouble from the guards patrolling the docks to the see if there any ships leaving.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just ask one of the other guys to do it?¡± asked Cole. ¡°You said it yourself, he¡¯s just a boy.¡± ¡°You blithering idiot!¡± shouted Kroff. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just hear it when I said bronze hair.¡± Cole¡¯s eyes suddenly opened wide and he hissed, ¡°Firedweller.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Kroff nodding. ¡°This is a way to meet the count as well as get revenge.¡± As Kroff said this Cole¡¯s hand unconsciously reached up and touched the burnt part of his face and he gritted his teeth. ¡°Firedweller!¡± hissed Cole again more maliciously this time and he cracked his fist.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He moved to the door of the warehouse, grabbing a longsword from the side as he did so. There was some concern etched on Kroff¡¯s face but he sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t break him!¡± yelled Kroff after his brother. Kroff turned back to his desk and nearly had his heart jump out of his chest. Right in front of his desk there stood a tall lanky figure draped in black cloak, wearing a hood as well as a scaly mask. ¡°Hell, can¡¯t you say something!?¡± swore Kroff as he patted his chest to calm down. ¡°My work involves secrecy,¡± said the figure in a silenced voice. Kroff nodded. ¡°Well yes¡­¡± Kroff then looked down at the table, where there lay a stack of papers, he pretended to scrutinise them, all the while thinking slowly. After it all he suddenly looked up at the black figure, ¡°I want you to go after my brother, capture the target, use that poison or something and just knock him out before my brother beats the him half to death.¡± ¡°I will need extra,¡± said the man. ¡°Killing is my job, capturing requires more.¡± ¡°More!¡± Kroff guffawed out a laugh. ¡°I¡¯ll be bloody rich after this job man, I can pay you however much you want.¡± ¡°Then I shall perform to your wishes,¡± said the man and took leave, disappearing just the way he came, into the shadows. Kroff breathed in a sigh of relief as he sat down on the chair next to the desk. He hadn¡¯t spent a small amount to invest in the purchase of an assassin, the snake as he was called. He was a tribal warrior with secrecy being key, of his person and his skills. Nobody knew much of anything about the man save for the fact he killed with poison. Kroff was now confident of getting the young Firedweller walking around in his docks. With any luck, such a high profile slave will be able to raise his prices and make him more money than he was supposed to make and this would make him a very happy and filthy rich man. *** Eduard¡¯s confidence seemed to have risen after a few minutes of wandering around in the docks, he now had a confident swagger to go on with the large sword he hung by his side. He looked at the card he had obtained from the store again and coughed twice. It was all very well and good, the address was here but this was his first time here at the docks and he had no idea what he was even looking for him. He shut eyes and controlled his urge to punch wildly. He just needed to find someone, someone to ask for the whereabouts of the precise address written on the card. He took out the card to scrutinise it again and the fancy writing now hurt his eyes. He moved forward looking at the card and nearly ran into a wall and then he decided to look around for someone, there was no one, no one at the docks. In frustration he crushed the card in his hand when a figure came into his view. It was a large muscular man¡¯s back and Eduard was elated. ¡°Excuse me!¡± shouted Eduard from across the street as he ran over, finally there was someone he could ask about the Helvyn Traders¡¯ warehouse. The man turned around and Eduard jumped back with wariness. He had a large burn scar on the right side of his face and hairline, it was a horrid sight and Eduard had remembered this man. How could he not, it was after all in front of him his father had burned part of this man¡¯s face off. He didn¡¯t get the name of the man but his father was particularly angry back then. ¡°You¡­¡± said Eduard and his hand went to his sword. ¡°Firedweller,¡± said Cole and he licked his lips as his good eye narrowed taking in his prey. Cole drew first in a straight sharp line and Eduard dodged sideways from the first blow which cut into the stones laid on the ground quite deeply. Eduard drew his sword as well and tried to get in sideways but the man¡¯s open arm came around and shrugged his sword away. He was ridiculously strong was the conclusion Eduard could come up with. He was at a severe disadvantage both in strength and physique, the man¡¯s reach was longer than his. He slowly ran his palm along the flat of his blade and from the center it slowly lit up red at the center and orange around the side and it seemed like the sword had been in a furnace. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who haspulse,¡± said Cole and he gritted his teeth and right in front of Eduard quite visibly his muscles bulged up. Cole pushed down on the ground with his foot and dashed forward at an inhuman speed. Eduard barely had time to register the attack but nevertheless he brought his sword up, there was a slight ringing and then a *boom* as both their swords met thanks in part to Eduard¡¯s elemental fire variant discharge pulsewhich in essence a pulse power that focused on explosions. They were both enveloped in black smoke and Eduard flew back from the sheer strength of the strike. Cole still stood there with a slightly smoking body and a smirk. ¡°The other Firedweller could do it better,¡± said Cole his smirk widening. ¡°You¡¯re not very strong.¡± Eduard landed on the ground and slid and hit a wall. That strike was abnormally powerful, too powerful to think of blocking head on and Eduard realized what Cole¡¯s pulse was, over the top of that heavily muscular body he had an enhancement pulse, a common pulse but strong nonetheless. If it was his father Cole would be the one sprawled up on the ground and with that, gritting his teeth Eduard got up. His sword still glowed reddish orange, slightly less though was the glow this time around. He closed his eyes to calm himself down and raised up his sword again. He had been training constantly for the last five years with a sword, in terms of sword discipline very few his age would outstrip him. If a slave trader could take him out using raw strength then it would put a severe dent in his pride. The light on the sword strengthened as he reached in and grabbed the necessary strength to finish this fight in his favour. Cole¡¯s smirk widened as he moved in again to strike but this time Eduard was prepared. Despite the speed Eduard quite thoroughly dodged the first strike from Cole, designed to cleave a man in half vertically and struck Cole on the right of his neck which bulged for a second and repelled his sword but Eduard wasn¡¯t fazed. He spun on his left foot and got inside Cole¡¯s guard and elbowed the man straight in the gut and for extra measure, used the butt of his sword as well. Cole staggered back looking dazed. With the slight opportunity given Eduard closed in but Cole raised his sword to block the vertical jumping slash down from Eduard and what followed was a flurry sword slashes and parries at near superhuman speed and each one put Eduard at a disadvantage, pushing him back slightly. Cole seemed to have regained his confidence with the flurry of exchanges and parried Eduard¡¯s diagonal thrust and swung his sword towards the boy¡¯s neck. Eduard ducked and simultaneously moved back at the same time but still the longsword left a scratch on his face and he could feel the place heat up as blood came out. It was not his first injury in a swordfight but it was first in real life or death match and fury welled up inside him as the heat that radiated off his sword intensified. He planted his sword quite easily into the stoned road and slashed up flinging with it some stone and dirt at Cole who raised his arm to block the rubble. Eduard moved sideways and slashed at the man¡¯s waist which the man blocked quite effortlessly. He regrouped as the rage built up further and he moved up again for another flurry of blows this time with the fire of rage fuelling him. Cole raised his sword to parry a slash and Eduard¡¯s eyes flashed. He swung down his blade and his hot metal cut straight through the man¡¯s longsword, much akin to a knife cutting through butter and at the same time his blade exploded in the man¡¯s face. There was roar of rage from Cole as he backed up with his broken sword. Cole had covered his face with his hands trying to staunch the pain and the blood at the same time, the many splinters from his broken piece of blade had embedded itself into his face. Eduard calmly stood up and pointed his sword at Cole. ¡°Do you know where Kroff Helvyn is?¡± he asked. ¡°LIKE HELL, I¡¯LL TELL YOU!!¡± roared Cole gripping his blade tightly as his muscles bulged again and with a step he closed in on Eduard again. Eduard found himself unusually calm, perhaps he felt that victory was in his grasp. He moved back and swung his blade with both hands, light but firm, as his father had taught him and he again cut through the remainder of the man¡¯s long sword and cut across his chest both cutting and burning the wound at the same time and Cole fell back screaming, a mountain of a man had fallen into such a pathetic state. Eduard levelled his sword at Cole¡¯s neck lightly touching it with his hot blade making Cole cry out in pain. ¡°Where¡¯s Kroff Helvyn?¡± *** The Snake watched the proceedings from the shadow. He saw the mountain of a man Cole with an even bigger sense of self-importance level up against the young Firedweller. At first he was less than impressed by the boy, there was nothing of worth the boy could do despite receiving the elite education of the sword that Firedwellers had to offer. Then things slowly began to change, the tables began to turn as the young boy turned the match in his favour and finally cut through Cole¡¯s longsword. The sword itself wasn¡¯t worth much and had shown its weariness of being used over and over again but. The Snake now viewed the young Firedweller as quite a troublesome bud, if he grew he would no doubt become stronger. He took out his blowgun and and reached into his pouch. For a moment he considered taking one truly poisonous and killing the boy then putting it up as an accident, getting rid of troubles before they matured was his style but then he remembered the pay he would receive and shrugged the notion aside. For assassins like him, great paydays were more important than getting rid of possible enemies, and after all he was the snake, he had many ways to kill even if the boy fully matured and was strong and anyhow the boy was going to be sold as a slave, he wouldn¡¯t have any place to grow. The Snake took out another poison dart, one that would merely knock out the target without doing damage to the body. He placed it in and took aim and with a light blow the dart fired out and embedded itself in the target who had his sword levelled to Cole¡¯s throat and was in the process of interrogating. The Snake watched with great interest, the target twitched as the dart struck home, he was familiar with that movement in many other targets he had killed and now there was realization as the boy¡¯s hands went to his back from there he plucked out the dart, then the horrified face as he looked around and then the poison set in. The boy¡¯s sword dropped and he fell to his knees but he seemed to be resisting it. This boy was quite strong, it most likely was fire elemental variant pulse that he possessed, it was working hard to get rid of the foreign element in his body. Well, anyhow the Snake had plenty of time. He casually loaded his blowgun with another dart and again with a light blow he fired and it stuck home in the boy¡¯s neck this time and again there was that familiar twitch. The boy¡¯s mouth opened, perhaps it was to scream and then he fell forward, next to the bewildered Cole and the Snake revealed himself to the light as he walked up to Eduard Firedweller and took the boy as Cole sat there looking as though someone had smacked him over the head with a club. Note*: Little long? I think so too. I wanted to write it from the viewpoints of different characters hence the length but maybe it''s not long for some people (I don''t know). Most of the web novels I''ve read aren''t this long, some are and some are even longer. Chapter 2: The Red Fiend Unleashed The guards around Firedweller manor were patrolling as usual. Early dawn settled and the sun was now truly shining up in the sky as ash and soot rained down on the town. The guards and the people occasionally walking across the streets were startled when they heard an angry loud roar from within the Firedweller manor. Arraind Firedweller was in a hellish mood. The four silver squares he left on the table atop the stairs had disappeared, normally that wouldn¡¯t upset him too much but his oldest son Eduard had also disappeared. His wife came up to him, she seemed quite pale. ¡°He can¡¯t have gone after them?¡± she said, it was something of a self-assurance for her more than anything. ¡°I hope so too,¡± said Arraind, fastening his big red cloak across his giant of a body. With long bronze hair, a scraggly thick beard and standing at around seven foot, the man was a fearsome sight and when he was on the battlefield at the impasse between Grifort Kingdom and Zarech Kingdom, he had made a name for himself, ¡®The Red Fiend¡¯. He turned to his wife Guila, her pale face seemed to have gotten even paler if that was possible, it appears his words had no effect on her mental state. ¡°Bring me my sword,¡± he said, and he took out an iris mirror, a communications device, and handed it to her. ¡°Call the adjudicators¡¯ department, tell them to send someone immediately and also write a letter for official procedures and sent it through a pigeon to the department.¡± His wife grasped the mirror, nodded, and went to get his sword. He let in a deep breath and walked out of the room straight to the Captain of the Guards, Andomus. ¡°Gather some soldiers and prepare my steed,¡± said Arraind. ¡°Also sent someone to Hordus¡¯ shop, I want know what he was thinking giving my boy the information and address to Kroff Helvyn¡¯s warehouse.¡± ¡°Yes, sire,¡± said Andomus and he took a deep bow and rushed away to prepare everything. Arraind imposingly walked down the stairs and he saw his younger son Raeden, a feeble boy, trembling at the foot of the stairs. ¡°Don¡¯t you have sword lessons to attend to?¡± asked Arraind. ¡°Yes¡­but father is brother going to be alright?¡± asked Raeden, fear clearly clouding his face. ¡°He is,¡± said Arraind sternly. ¡°Go to your lessons.¡± Raeden nodded but he still stood there watching the steely steps of his father as he walked past him. He threw open the front doors and entered the large front yard of his manor and sighed. The ash still rained, he would have to take a long shower once he got back, so would his son. He waited for around ten seconds before two soldiers struggled to bring a large stallion around. He turned back to the door, facing the inside of his manor and saw his wife rushing out, clutching with her two hands, his long and heavy longsword. He grasped it and hung it to his belt. ¡°Don¡¯t go out, not until I come back anyhow, tell Raeden the same,¡± said Arraind, his wife nodded and he went to turn when he remembered something he had forgot. ¡°Have you called the adjudicators¡¯ department?¡± His wife nodded again and Arraind turned to leave. He walked down to his bucking stallion which his two fully grown soldiers were barely able to reign in. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to sent the letter,¡± said Arraind and he touched the large stallion on the head, it immediately it calmed down. He jumped onto his horse and he large red cloak flew back. He turned to his soldiers who seemed to shaking still, from when they tried to control his stallion, Temperament. ¡°Tell Andomus that I¡¯m going on ahead, he is to follow with his squadron quickly.¡± The two soldiers gave deep bows and ran off. Arraind looked at his frightened wife once more and gave quick smile. ¡°We¡¯ll both come back, it¡¯s just a slave trader after all.¡± With that he kicked his horse and she started to gallop straight out through the gates at a speed which brought about the wind. While he rode, many thoughts flashed past his mind such as the time when his son left. He wasn¡¯t too sure about it, the guards at his house were incompetent, he needed to fire several of them. He could only hope that nothing had happened to his son. He had heard recently from Hordus that Kroff Helvyn had brought an assassin called ¡®the snake¡¯. He kicked his horse to make her speed up further as these thoughts flashed past continuously throughout his head and he quickly arrived at the docks. Turning his horse he moved into the docks. *** Nyle sat in a dingy, shaking, extremely small room, it was the brig of a ship, more precisely speaking it was the brig of a slave ship owned by slave trader Kroff Helvyn. He had gotten on the ship at the Kagmon Harbor Town to the east of the continent but he didn¡¯t know this was a slave ship. He had all the chance to just reach his destination and move off the ship but he felt the need to be a hero and as such he was locked in the ship¡¯s brig. It had been around three days now and he had eaten nothing but mouldy rock bread and drank nothing but stinky water. His stomach was in constant pain and the brig was as smelly as the reservoir of a public latrine. He sighed as he lay back further to stretch his legs when the door opened at the front letting copious amounts of sunlight in and Nyle closed his eyes tight, he hadn¡¯t seen the light in such a long time, it hurt his eyes. Just then the door to his cell opened and something was thrown in and the door that brought in the sunlight was shut again. Nyle slowly opened his eyes and curiously looked to his side to see what was thrown in and he saw a large boy with bronze hair specked with black. He moved closer to the boy and kicked his shin. ¡°Hello?¡± called Nyle but there was no response from the boy and Nyle kicked him again. ¡°Are you alive?¡± Then the boy shivered, he wasn¡¯t dead thought Nyle, that was something. As the boy turned around to lie face up Nyle saw crusted blood on his cheek, from a sword cut recognized Nyle almost immediately. The boy shivered again as his eyes slowly opened and then he groaned out and his hand went to his head, clutching it. ¡°Headache!?¡± he cried out as he curled up. Nyle moved back and leaned against the wall as he saw the boy slowly pick himself together and finally sat up. He blinked twice and brought Nyle into his view. ¡°Where are we?¡± he asked. ¡°In one of the brigs of a slave ship.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on a bloody ship,¡± said Eduard clenching his fists. ¡°Shit¡­I¡¯m so screwed when dad finds me.¡± Nyle let out a short chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s only if you get out of here.¡± The boy reached forward and touched the cell and closed his eyes and Nyle chuckled again. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bother, they¡¯ve got a resonance seal on this entire brig, no pulse powers to be used.¡± ¡°Arghhh!!¡± screamed the boy. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± asked Nyle. ¡°Eduard¡­Eduard Firedweller,¡± said Eduard looking over at Nyle. He had a cloth wrapped around his head, with part of it hanging of the right. He had a very pale colored face and wore a long, he wore green-white loose long-shirt with a tail, brownish pants tucked into the open-toed boots. Nyle smiled as he moved up and brought forth his hand. ¡°My name¡¯s Nyle.¡± Eduard nodded and he proceeded to look around and then looked back toward Nyle who was quite relaxed despite being on a slave ship. ¡°Is there no way to escape?¡± asked Eduard, there was some urgency in his voice. ¡°None at present,¡± said Nyle cheerily. ¡°But I do have a way.¡± Eduard perked up at that. ¡°What way?¡± Nyle pointed behind to a door to the side, not the one through which Eduard was brought in, this was a separate door and it looked quite sturdy.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°That door is through where they keep all our weapons, if that opens then I can do something but the thing is it¡¯s reinforced, if it wasn¡¯t then again, I could do something,¡± said Nyle. ¡°When do they open that door?¡± asked Eduard and Nyle shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know, it hasn¡¯t opened since I¡¯ve been here, my guess is there are two ways into that armory, so right now it¡¯s all just luck.¡± ¡°Brilliant,¡± said Eduard deflating, he sat down again into a slump. ¡°Let¡¯s not give up hope,¡± said Nyle. ¡°It¡¯ll have to open sometime.¡± Eduard said nothing as he rocked slightly as the ship tackled the waves. It was quite relaxing and peaceful and Nyle slowly closed his eyes. ¡°Where are you from?¡± asked Eduard suddenly looking over Nyle¡¯s appearance again. Nyle shrugged again, ¡°Some strange place, I¡¯m trying to find it myself.¡± ¡°You said you were a Firedweller right?¡± Eduard nodded. ¡°Are we at Firedweller Township?¡± ¡°Yes¡­that last I know anyway,¡± said Eduard. ¡°But we¡¯re on a ship, we could¡¯ve left.¡± ¡°True,¡± said Nyle thoughtfully. ¡°No chance of you father coming to rescue us?¡± ¡°There is, he will come,¡± said Eduard determinedly. ¡°Oh good,¡± said Nyle, and Eduard looked over puzzled. ¡°I can go to sleep now.¡± Eduard looked on in disbelief as the boy went and did just that. He closed his eyes and seemingly dozed off without a care in the world. Eduard¡¯s head started hurting again and he sighed as he too decided to doze off lightly, if he couldn¡¯t use pulse powers, he didn¡¯t have anything else that could get him out of this situation. *** Arraind Firedweller was walking around the docks aimlessly. He had knocked on a few doors and provided a description of his son but aside from shocking the people silly, he got nothing valuable as to the whereabouts of his son. He gripped his long sword tightly and looked at his horse which just stood there as cluelessly as ever. This is when he heard the sound of hooves, several of them. The large thoroughbred stallions of Firedweller family flowed into the docks and upon each one sat a fit and able warrior. Leading them was his guard roll¡¯s captain, Andomus. As soon as they saw Arraind they all jumped off their horses and bowed except one who appeared to have fallen of Andomus¡¯ horse and seemed to be dusting himself off. ¡°Hordus!¡± hissed Arraind through his gritted teeth and he strode forward and picked up the frail man with black and grey hair wearing tattered robes and pinned him up against a wall. ¡°Where the hell is my son?¡± Hordus seemed to have turned pale and red at the same time as he coughed out a couple of times. ¡°Apologies Lord Firedweller, truly, I didn¡¯t know it was the young Firedweller.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know¡­DIDN¡¯T KNOW!!!¡± roared Arraind. ¡°How did you not know it was my son, we¡¯re not bloody twins.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t open my door,¡± choked out Hordus. ¡°I gave the information through the peep hole.¡± Arraind threw Hordus to the side with a huff and let loose a great frustrated roar. ¡°Where is this Kroff Helvyn?¡± asked Arraind. ¡°His warehouse?¡± ¡°It¡¯s north of here Lord Firedweller, if I remember correctly, unit sixteen is his warehouse,¡± said Hordus picking himself back up off the ground. ¡°If I don¡¯t find my son today, you won¡¯t live to see tomorrow,¡± said Arraind and the he turned to his guard roll. ¡°Leave your horses here, from here we proceed on foot, the space here is too narrow for a war horse.¡± ¡°Yes m¡¯lord!¡± shouted nine voices. ¡°Andomus, you¡¯re with me,¡± said Arraind. ¡°The rest scour the area, leave no nook or cranny unturned, I want the entire Helvyn gang!¡± Andomus nodded and he released his squad. Arraind reached out and dragged Hordus along with him moving to the north of the docks, to warehouse sixteen. Several people had finally come out of their thatched houses or warehouses to see what was happening only to see the large Lord Firedweller move through with an imposing figure along with his guard captain Andomus. *** At this moment Kroff Helvyn was positively sweating. He had not expected such a quick reaction. The ships had only set off around three minutes prior to Arraind¡¯s arrival at the docks. His injured brother, Cole, sat on the floor nursing his wounds, two other members of his gang were here as well and they reported off the proceedings at the docks. Lord Firedweller had come with an entire guard roll, nine armed veterans of war trained by the Firedweller family along with the ¡®red fiend of the battlefield¡¯. It was not looking good for Kroff. While it might be true that the current ship along with Eduard Firedweller might reach its destination, him losing his life here was becoming a very serious possibility. ¡°Snake, is there any possibility of you taking on Arraind Firedweller?¡±asked Kroff with a hopeful look on his face. The man in the shadows appeared once more silently and he appeared to be in thought for a moment. ¡°It is possible but I will not stake my life.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Kroff nodding and he looked derisively towards Cole. ¡°Get up you fool.¡± Cole however ignored him and continued to dab on his wounds with that wet cloth which bound together crushed herbs. Kroff gritted his teeth letting loose a kick at the desk. ¡°GET UP COLE!!¡± roared Kroff and Cole finally looked up, he seemed slightly shocked. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for your mistake we could¡¯ve set sail earlier and left this blood town behind as well, you fought the damn boy and then lost.¡± Cole sniggered and then looked towards Snake. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him why he didn¡¯t drop the kid earlier, I mean he was there wasn¡¯t he.¡± Kroff took in a deep breath and sighed. ¡°Cole, please I want you¡­no I need you in the fray, keep a couple of the troublesome guards busy and don¡¯t mess it up like you did with that young boy, these are trained warriors, they will kill you.¡± Cole nodded his understanding and stood up, ¡°I¡¯ll need a sword.¡± Kroff looked towards what remained of Cole¡¯s sword, a hilt and a bit more and he reached under his table and pulled out his own personal blade and tossed it over. ¡°That one will be harder to cut through,¡± said Kroff. ¡°If you had enhanced your blade, it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy to cut through, be careful with it, it¡¯s expensive.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± said Cole, and in a familiar fashion as to before, he left the warehouse and Kroff turned towards Snake. ¡°I¡¯ll need you to keep Arraind busy or hell, even kill him if you can,¡± said Kroff, Snake stood there like statue and then after a few seconds he moved and Kroff breathed again. He then turned to his two gang members, ¡°Get everything that we own and pack it all up, recall our members, if it¡¯s required we need to beat a hasty retreat.¡± Suddenly there was remarkable sound of an explosion and Kroff took in a deep breath, it was Arraind, he knew it was Arraind. Only Arraind could create an explosion, all Firedweller possessed the elemental fire variant discharge pulse and they could produce a massive explosion, they were a single man destruction wave. The red fiend had found someone, a target, which member of his gang was it? He didn¡¯t know, but he pitied the poor soul. Kroff sat down on his chair once again and thought perhaps he should enter the fray but then shook off that idea, he after all was going to become filthy rich and he needed his life to enjoy it, he valued his life far too much. He turned to see his gang members gathering everything up, documentations, weapons etc. He would have to explain the deaths of some of his gang members to his higher ups but if he could escape it would all be worth it. *** Arraind had drawn his sword and unleashed a mighty blast of energy at a man that appeared to be running away from him, someone Hordus had positively identified as a man part of the Helvyn Gang, it took no more than several seconds, the man was roasted and blown up by a swing of Arraind¡¯s sword. Andomus too had his blade drawn as the trio proceeded to warehouse sixteen. It was then Arraind sensed danger, something lurking at the back of his head and he instinctively ducked only see a projectile miss him and embed itself right on the ground in front of him. It was aimed for his neck he realized. ¡°Kaiuga,¡± said Hordus with fear and Andomus looked at him clueless. ¡°It means ¡®the snake¡¯ in some tribal language or the other,¡± said Arraind, Hordus looked at him impressed, Arraind shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the man, an assassin with renown.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Hordus. ¡°He has never missed a target, he only sets out to do the tasks he can do and he does it well, if he¡¯s come here to kill you, Lord Firedweller, then it must mean he thinks he can do it.¡± Arraind snorted as well as Andomus and Andomus said, ¡°If he thinks he can kill Lord Firedweller by hiding in the shadows and firing poison darts then he¡¯s dreaming.¡± Arraind closed his eyes and sharpened his senses. He needed to find the man, he needed to find where the darts were coming from, if it hit, he had no doubts he would die but first it had to hit. He heard that slow blowing sound and he kicked out at Andomus¡¯ legs toppling his guard captain before a dart could hit him. ¡°Pay attention, focus,¡± hissed Arraind and then he finally found the source of the darts. He waved his long sword around in a circle and sent forth a blast of energy straight towards the top of rooftop and there was an explosion. As the rubble came down Arraind¡¯s eyes caught a shadow flitting across the stones and it landed straight on the ground. The man in the black cloak with his blowgun held in one hand seemed surprised but otherwise was not injured. ¡°So you¡¯re the snake?¡± said Arraind sneering and charged at an inhuman speed. It was nearly twice the speed at which Cole moved even in his enhanced state and swung his sword but as if by magic the blowgun in the Snake¡¯s hand was replaced by a curved short sword. He slid back and his hand shot out much akin to a snake and struck under Arraind¡¯s armpit and there was clink. As soon as the Snake met resistance he slid back further. Arraind looked at the Snake in shock much like Andomus and Hordus. The Snake could¡¯ve potentially killed him there. If he wasn¡¯t wearing chainmail today, that strike with the shortsword lathered in poison could¡¯ve been the end of him. Arraind questioned himself, had he really become rusty after two years of inactiveness. He clenched his teeth and clutched his sword tightly with both hands and his sword lit up heavy red, different by Eduard¡¯s blade, the sword seemed to be exuding an aura of extreme heat along with Arraind. The Snake seemed more cautious as he held his stance. Arraind stepped forward and swung his blade down releasing a sword blast straight at the Snake who slithered out of the way. He once again closed in on Arraind but he twisted his sword and met the man¡¯s curved short sword with his hilt and flung it away and in the same instance his sword came down bearing all the heat with it and it came down so fast that it left an afterglow of the sword. The Snake was however faster and moved out of the way. They traded several more blows with the Snake at a disadvantage and Arraind slowly gained ground. He was getting accustomed to the Snake¡¯s sneaky means of tactics and fighting. Whilst the Snake was fast, Arraind¡¯s sword seemed somehow to meet his blade at every point when he aimed for a vital strike but at the same time Arraind couldn¡¯t reach the Snake with a fatal strike either. ¡°Andomus!¡± growled Arraind and Andomus was shocked all over again but did not neglect his lord¡¯s call, he drew his blade and moved to enter the fray. ¡°We need to pin him down,¡± said Arraind frustrated. ¡°I can¡¯t release a full tempered blast because the docks would be destroyed completely.¡± Andomus nodded and drew sword and it blazed up, the blade was circled in flames but just then the Snake took a step back into the shadows and disappeared leaving both men dumbfounded. Chapter 3: Capture the Snake Nyle was having a dreamless sleep, nothing to bother, disturb or distract him until he was jerked out of the sleep by constant shaking. He woke up groggily and saw red, no wait maybe it was bronze hair and slightly blackened rough face. ¡°S¡¯the matter?¡± asked Nyle groggily sitting up and saw Eduard¡¯s urgent but hopeful face. ¡°The door, it opened,¡± said Eduard and Nyle was confused. ¡°Which door?¡± Eduard pointed out and Nyle turned and then he slapped himself in the head. Of course, he could now retrieve his weapon, the door to the armory had finally opened after some time. ¡°Thanks for waking me up,¡± said Nyle and he went up to the cell bars and looked out towards the door. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± asked Eduard apprehensive. Nyle replied, ¡°Wait for it.¡± He saw the shadow of a man walking towards the door and he smiled grimly and then let out a loud whistle. It seemed to have startled both Eduard and the man but several seconds after that the shadow shuddered and Nyle took a step back as the man fell forward and as he did so there was a dagger clearly protruding out of his back. ¡°Do you have someone here helping you?¡± asked Eduard thinking back to whistle, assuming it was a signal of some sorts. ¡°No,¡± said Nyle and he shuddered as he looked at the dagger, he had killed someone in cold blood, though it wasn¡¯t by his hands and that was his consolation. Nyle whistled again and the body was suddenly dragged towards him with dagger acting as the anchor between Nyle and the body. ¡°You can control the dagger,¡± said Eduard incredulously. ¡°Have you awakened to the elevation grade of your pulse?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Nyle chuckling. ¡°Hardly there yet, this is something else.¡± Nyle put his hands through the bar and pulled the dagger out of the man and he noticed Eduard didn¡¯t seem too fazed. ¡°Have you learned the killing discipline?¡± asked Nyle curiously. ¡°Not fully, I¡¯ll have learnt it by early next year when I turn fifteen,¡± said Eduard but in saying that he had taken the lives of two people before this. Nyle nodded his understanding, it actually made sense, Grifort¡¯s Empire great age was fifteen, it was when a boy became a man and he could do whatever he wanted. Nyle cleaned the dagger on the man¡¯s own clothes. ¡°Help me search him,¡± said Nyle pointing to the man and then dragged him closer, Eduard nodded and crouched down next to Nyle. ¡°What are we looking for?¡± asked Eduard. ¡°Keys,¡± said Nyle. ¡°Of any sort actually, it doesn¡¯t have to necessarily be this cell¡¯s, though I¡¯m wagering he has it on him.¡± They patted down his pockets and found several pieces of paper, an old bottle cork, some sort of powder wrapped in ornate paper, a small drawing, a handbook, but none of these were the keys they were looking for, so finally Nyle turned him over face up and checked the man¡¯s shirt pockets at the front and he finally found it, a set of keys. ¡°We¡¯re finally going to escape,¡± said Eduard sighing relaxedly. ¡°Don¡¯t let up yet,¡± said Nyle looking through the keys. ¡°We need to find out how to get off this ship.¡± ¡°How hard can it be, we just jump off into the water,¡± said Eduard nodding sagely. ¡°Then we swim back to the harbor.¡± Nyle let out a laugh. ¡°We don¡¯t even know how far we are from the harbor or which direction swim in to reach the harbor, not only that, if we can swim then the people on this ship can most certainly do so as well.¡± Eduard thought about the possibilities and his face turned downcast, why¡­why on earth did he have to set out to make a name for himself? Couldn¡¯t he have stayed in the castle like an obedient child? Nyle finally found the key and pushed it into the cell¡¯s lock and twisted it, the lock popped open. ¡°Careful now,¡± said Nyle. ¡°Let¡¯s not alert them to the fact that we¡¯re free, we¡¯ll try to find and release their jolly boats from below deck, see if we can escape on that.¡± Nyle opened the cell door and Eduard walked out and walked straight towards the open armory room. Nyle quickly ran after him. ¡°Is your sword in here?¡± asked Nyle. ¡°I had it with me when I was attacked and defeated,¡± said Eduard gritting his teeth as he still remembered the two unexpected blow darts to the back, it was a humiliating memory. Nyle looked around for his blade a straight bright-steeled scimitar. The armory room was filled with hordes of weapons. Crates of swords, arrows, bows and spear tips. Rows of spear shafts aligned near perfectly. To the side there were armors of various sizes and chainmail, it was a treasure trove. Nyle¡¯s gleaming eyes ran over it all but then landed back on his finely made scimitar again put on the top shelf just beyond his reach. He stepped onto the wall and reached up latching onto the shelf, clasped his scimitar and grasped around for his scabbard. When it was finally found he pulled both of them down and turned to Eduard who seemed to be looking around with an annoyed expression. Nyle clasped his sword to the back of his belt stuffed his dagger into a scabbard inside the arm of his shirt then looked at Eduard again. ¡°Your sword isn¡¯t here?¡± asked Nyle and Eduard shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t find it, they must¡¯ve left it back there, or thrown it away,¡± said Eduard and he clenched his fists, it was a longsword, specially made for him, it helped him channel his pulse powers easier. ¡°Just take one from the horde,¡± said Nyle motioning to the crates. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to miss one from that large a pile.¡± Eduard sighed and grasped a blade from the pile, a longsword which fit quite uncomfortably in his hands. Nyle was about to walk out of the armory room when Eduard suddenly stopped him. ¡°Since we¡¯re here, why don¡¯t we equip ourselves further,¡± said Eduard motioning to the armor behind him with a grin. Nyle gave a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m not the type to wear armor, not even a chainmail, it hampers my sword style but help yourself.¡± Eduard shrugged and did just that, he took off his tunic and put on chainmail then wearing his tunic over it he pulled on heavy armor and Nyle gave an appreciative whistle. ¡°I¡¯m astounded you can move in that mammoth of a thing,¡± said Nyle walking up and tapping the armor. ¡°This is nothing,¡± said Eduard grinning and then thought back to the weight training he had been put through, those truly seemed like sweet memories now. Eduard¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Nyle said, ¡°Let¡¯s leave, quietly, we need to find a way down below deck, I¡¯ve seen the jolly boats tied to both the port and the starboard sides, it¡¯s in front of the oars section.¡± ¡°How do we get there?¡± asked Eduard, the concern clearly showing on his face. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know,¡± said Nyle, ¡°there¡¯s no way to get there from the brig or the armory room, we might have to break onto the deck.¡± ¡°Are you saying I should ready myself for a fight?¡± asked Eduard smiling and Nyle looked over at the large boy that seemed to eager to go on a rampage. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll be skewered through by several different swords if we went at it head on, we aren¡¯t enough to face up a ship of killers.¡± Eduard pondered on that for a moment and then gulped, he had been struck from the back by darts, if whoever did that had wanted to kill him, he would be in a grave by now. He knew they weren¡¯t dealing with the ordinary. As a warrior-to-be, Eduard had some confidence in facing up against most on this ship but he had discounted the fact that he wasn¡¯t up against honorable warriors but dishonorable killers and criminals. ¡°What do we do then?¡± asked Eduard. Nyle frowned as he looked down and then looked at Eduard with some light determination, ¡°One of us need to get out there to distract the people on deck, it doesn¡¯t need to anything wild, just enough to divert their attention.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± said Eduard looking determined and righteous, a face which almost brought Nyle to laughter. Nyle nodded, holding back and trying his hardest to not let even a hint of a smile leak out onto his face. ¡°I was thinking that as well, if it¡¯s me I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need to use the hatch door to enter below deck, I can do it quicker as well.¡± Eduard pondered on it for a little and then his face turned into a smile, ¡°This could actually work.¡± ¡°I¡¯m expecting it to,¡± said Nyle and then he turned to Eduard with some doubt. ¡°What if I leave you behind?¡± Eduard quickly went a little pale but that soon faded and he faced Nyle with a smirk. ¡°The worst that can happen is I die.¡± Nyle looked seriously at Eduard and then shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m a little disappointed.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With this reply, Eduard looked at him blankly but it seemed to Nyle that Eduard had not fully grasped the world outside his manor, such a response proved to Nyle that Eduard had a severe hero complex coupled with a childish immaturity, it was a dangerous mix of a human being. ¡°You won¡¯t die,¡± said Nyle. ¡°Now go out there and make as loud of a ruckus as you can.¡± Eduard nodded and unlatched the door. Nyle breathed in deep and he drew his dagger out of his sleeve and watched as Eduard, with a roar kicked the door out and rushed onto the deck with sword swinging. Nyle waited for a couple of seconds and then he saw that most of the attention was focussed on the center where Eduard had activated his discharge pulse and was swinging madly. Nyle¡¯s dismay increased, there were explosions going off at regular intervals and on a ship, in the middle of the water. Nyle saw a man being thrown away by an explosion and Nyle quickly dodged the falling man who was impaled, and ran to the side of the ship and jumped over the bulwark and latching onto the exterior side of the ship he climbed down like a spider. His reflexes were astounding as he maneuvered himself with the little holding grip he had on the ship¡¯s side and reached a hole where an oar was supposed to come through. He clambered in and was almost immediately met with an astounded gaze by a man. He stood stunned for a second, his fatal mistake. Nyle ran and kneed him in the balls and with butt of the dagger knocked him out and pushed him over. He tried to remember the layout of the ship from when he had walked around the last time. There was a galley before the hanging jolly boats and from the smell he quickly figured out where the galley was. He ran at the oar section door and burst through to be met by another crew member who he quickly knocked out by kneeing him in the face, fairly hard and then stomping on it after he fell. He brandished the dagger with excellent finesse and it flashed almost like the wings of a sparrow as it blocked an angry blow with a kitchen knife from a crewmember and he slammed the man¡¯s head onto the sidewall and he collapsed. As he got closer to the side of the ship he the voices above board sounded out larger and there were loud crashes of swords and the explosions appeared to be still ongoing. Eduard appeared to be a trained warrior and a boy large for his age, Nyle was confident of his abilities to keep the crew of the ship occupied till he got a jolly boat, though not overly so but he did wish that Eduard would tone down the explosions a little, at this rate, he could very well destroy the ship before they got off board and just as he thought that the ship rocked, this time due to a rather large explosion and above board he heard something large crash to the ground. Nyle cursed both himself and Eduard and rushed towards the jolly boats. He met another crew member on the way on whom he performed a running jump kick, sending him toppling into a dining table and then he finally had arrived at the very rear of the ship where the jolly boats were kept, two tied on each side. He with his dagger made quick work of the ropes tying a jolly boat and it dropped into the water with a thick splash and Nyle looked around to see if anybody spotted and then he jumped in. He landed on the boat and sheathed his dagger between his sleeves and then rowed out far and to his utter shock he saw the destruction wreaked above deck. Parts of the bulwark had been broken, the mast had fallen, it must¡¯ve been what he heard from below that shook the ship, he thought, the deck of the ship was in tatters and Nyle sighed. It was a distraction but he had just doomed the ship, without a sail in the waters, the ship was doomed. Nyle rowed the jolly boat closer to the ship and then with the same finesse he climbed down the ship, he climbed up reaching the top of the bulwark. ¡°Eduard!¡± shouted Nyle towards the boy who seemed exhausted beyond belief, it was only naturally after using his discharge pulse so much. Eduard glanced out and gladness surfaced on his face as he saw Nyle and he motioned for him to come over quickly. Eduard lightly parried an attack and rushed over but at the last second the one who had been chasing him had caught up again. Eduard parried the attack and Nyle reached out and yanked the big boy backwards using his tunic collar and he dropped down onto the boat below with a loud thunk and a scream. He reached out again and grabbed the chaser¡¯s hair and slammed his head down onto the bulwark knocking him out and then he too dropped down below, landing right next to the groaning Eduard. ¡°Ohh¡­¡± groaned Eduard as he struggled to sit up, rubbing his back. ¡°It worked¡­¡± ¡°Yes it did,¡± said Nyle sighing and he looked at Eduard¡¯s pale face, the strength from the midst of the battle was slowly fading him in and Nyle saw the tiredness seeping in and he lay back against the boat¡¯s edge as Nyle quickly pulled away rowing and he watched as someone above deck of the ship mistimed the jump onto the boat and land in water. A couple of people roared as they threw their blades at them. Some of them struck the boat, majority landed in the water but none hit the targets, Nyle nor Eduard. Nyle busied himself with the rowing and soon their boat was quite far away and Nyle saw the edge of the ship slowly sinking and he thought back to all the captured to-be slaves, a true pity and he looked at Eduard. Had he realized, what he did when he destroyed nearly half of the boat, Nyle thought but from what he realized, Eduard most likely hadn¡¯t. *** In Firedweller Township, Arraind roared as he rushed down the streets following the shadow that was running just ahead. The Snake had decided to retreat as soon as he found himself outnumbered and Arraind gave chase alone leaving both Andomus and Hordus behind. His rage had got the better of him as it usually did whenever he went into battle. Several doors opened to his roar and people came out, some with curiosity, others with fear. The Snake himself felt the heat of the ¡®Red Fiend¡¯ baring down on his back and he turned and sent two blowdarts out his way which Arraind slashed away with a swing of his sword. He roared again as he fastened his speed and chased the Snake right out of town where the Snake finally stopped and Arraind jumped up into the air sending out a large heat induced swordblast his way. The Snake rolled beneath swordblast and it hit a tree turning it to fragments. Arraind looked around as the Snake came up drawing his shortsword again. There was plain grass everywhere and just a kilometre or so down were the coal mines. He could see the black smoke spewing forth sending ash and soot into the sky but right now he was in the terrain between his town and the mines, the flatlands marked by a road from the town to the mines. ¡°You stopped,¡± said Arraind surprised as he planted his sword on the ground. ¡°I expected you to do that shadow slip business and run again.¡± ¡°No point,¡± hissed Snake twirling his shortsword. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you, then leave.¡± Arraind¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked at the Snake. ¡°Where¡¯s my son?¡± The Snake kept on twirling his shortsword without answering, but his mouth had clearly lined for an instant into a swiftly concealed smirk. ¡°I want you tell me where my son is?¡± said Arraind again. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go if you do.¡± Suddenly laughter guffawed from behind him and Arraind slowly turned to look to see a man with a burn scar and new raw wounds appear, his face was quite a sight to behold, something which made Arraind somewhat instinctively cringe, but he disguised this as he narrowed his eyes. ¡°He won¡¯t tell you anything,¡± said the man. ¡°Do you remember me Firedweller?¡± Arraind faced up against the man who was almost equal to size with him and he tried to pick a face from his memories that matched this man¡¯s and suddenly a name rung out, a man that had very nearly raped a thirteen year old girl. He was there by chance and he caught the man, Helvyn, not Kroff Helvyn, no, his brother Cole. ¡°You¡¯re Cole Helvyn,¡± said Arraind sucking in air through his nostrils. ¡°I¡¯m honored that Lord Firedweller remembers me,¡± said Cole and then he lightly touched his burn scar. ¡°You gave me this as well, do you remember?¡± Suddenly Arraind dodged to side to move away from a blowdart fired quite abruptly and he stared at the Snake who had his blowgun out. Cole with his enhanced speed and reflexes caught he dart and he stared angrily at the Snake. Arraind had very nearly forgotten about the man, he was called the Snake after all, it had been foolish for him to turn his back to the assassin. ¡°I was talking to him!¡± said Cole angrily and the Snake shrugged which made Cole more angry. ¡°You will wait till I finish.¡± The Snake pursed his lips, a tinge of anger appearing on his face as he stared down Cole. ¡°You will wait,¡± repeated Cole, ¡°or my I will ensure my brother pays you nothing.¡± The Snake¡¯s slitted eyes narrowed inside the scale mask and finally he broke the stare and stepped back to signify that he would not attack Arraind. Arraind had quite curiously watched the exchange, it was good for him that Cole stopped the Snake from attacking Arraind everytime his back was turned. Cole turned to Arraind with a smile. ¡°Where was I?¡± Arraind pointed to the burn scar on his face and Cole nodded. ¡°Ah yes, you gave me this scar Lord Firedweller, it was very painful too.¡± Then Cole rubbed over the newly appeared wounds. ¡°Your son gave me these.¡± Arraind looked over the cuts, his guess was some sort of exploding fragments if it was done by his son but he was surprised. ¡°He beat you?¡± In reply to Arraind¡¯s question Cole laughed. ¡°Yes, yes he did, I underestimated the brat and he exploded my sword in my face, it was quite painful as well.¡± ¡°But you killed my guard,¡± said Lord Firedweller, guessing that Cole had run into one or two of them and had taken them down. ¡°I understand you doubt,¡± said Cole sighing, ¡°but as I said, I was underestimating him, I didn¡¯t harden my sword.¡± Arraind nodded, understanding finally. ¡°Do you know where my son is?¡± Cole turned gleeful at this, ¡°He¡¯s on a slaver ship, on his way to Kagmon Harbor Town, there he¡¯ll be sold a slave to some rich noble I suppose, he¡¯s a good warrior, but first they¡¯ll have to break him, I would love to see you feisty little son after he becomes a slave.¡± The Snake suddenly sensed danger and he approached Arraind carefully who seemed to have gone extremely quite. ¡°I see,¡± he said finally but Cole frowned at this reply. ¡°Is that all?¡± asked Cole smirking. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel angry, useless, that you were unable to protect your own son.¡± ¡°I feel all of these,¡± said Arraind and his hair rose as the winds quieted, ¡°but he is my son and he will not have such a pitiful life ahead of him. Cole¡¯s eyes narrowed as he too sensed the danger and he raised up his sword in defence. Suddenly a circle expanded from beneath Arraind¡¯s feet and it dried up and burned away all the grass in the vicinity, the winds turned hotter and Arraind¡¯s skin turned dark as his veins bulged out and Cole watched on stupefied, he had never seen anything like this. Arraind¡¯s eyes turned crimson red and he gritted his teeth. The hot wind still circled and heat radiated off Arraind into the winds and the grounds. Arraind turned and picked up his sword as it too turned red from the heat and his eyes met the Snake¡¯s who jumped back as soon as their eyes met. Everywhere he stepped it smoldered and he looked at Cole, the ¡®red fiend¡¯ had broken free. ¡°You should have let the Snake attack me,¡± said Arraind. ¡°Together you might have stood a chance.¡± There was a thumping explosion where Arraind stood and cracks spread out like a spider web laced with red and he disappeared. Cole felt the hot wind approach as he quickly raised his sword to block the attack and then he felt some slip through his body as the wind blew right past him. He gazed in shock as the ¡®red fiend¡¯s¡¯ face appeared right in front of him and his mouth sprayed blood as the top half of his body fell away from his bottom half, cut off at the waist and the wound was burned at the same time and like that Cole Helvyn was bisected and the Snake¡¯s eyes widened, not even he had caught that attack fully. Arraind turned towards the Snake who then felt the brunt of the hot wind and Arraind¡¯s blood red eyes. ¡°I want you alive,¡± said Arraind and he disappeared again, the same fissures forming on the ground with red lines and the Snake felt the hot wind approach him. He quickly went to slip into a shadow but then he saw the blood red eyes and it petrified him. He felt thump on his chest, the area slowly heated up and there was light explosion as he flew back, landing on the ground. His eyes held a sense of urgency and horror as he looked at the man with the cold red eyes. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open but the bursting pain on his chest was causing his entire body to shut down and he slowly slumped back with a sigh. Arraind turned towards the town after finishing his two enemies effortlessly and his form slowly reverted to that of a human¡¯s and he felt a stinging pain in his arm. He looked down to see the Snake¡¯s dagger sticking out of it and he shocked he quickly turned towards the unconscious black robed man. He had managed to stab him, even through all that. Arraind then gritted his teeth, the Snake¡¯s weapons were always poisonous, he had received this information from Hordus and the one on the Snake¡¯s shortsword was the Snake¡¯s strongest poison. Arraind could feel the discharge pulse inside trying to work quickly to expel the poison but his vision blurred and he cursed. Poisoned on the outskirts of his own town whilst his son was on a slaver ship, this was how he was going to die, it was really quite rage inducing. He had been careless, extremely so, he realized it now. The years he spent at this township had clearly dulled his skills. If he was akin to his previous self, the man who was called the ¡®red fiend of the battlefield¡¯ then such a thing would never have happened. He then collapsed forward, his rage not fully quelled. Chapter 4: Poison in Mid-Waters Eduard lay on the boat frowning as he stared up the slowly darkening sky, this sky told him he was slowly finding his way back to Firedweller Township, that and the billowing smoke and ashes he could see from a fair distance away. Nyle was rowing slowly and humming an old folk tune to himself as he did so, it was a quite pleasant experience to row through the gulfs on a ship that should have sunk by now after what Eduard had done to it. The boy himself seemed to be frowning all of a sudden but Nyle despite being curious did not open his mouth as he rowed. Then Eduard suddenly sat up and Nyle who had gotten used to the calm atmosphere jumped up as well with shock. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Nyle finally breaking the silence and he met Eduard¡¯s scrutinising eyes. ¡°You said your name was Nyle right?¡± Eduard thoughtfully rubbed his chin and Nyle¡¯s next words of reply became stuck in his throat as his heart started beating slightly faster. ¡°Ye...yes,¡± stuttered out Nyle smiling a little forcefully. ¡°I believe you,¡± said Eduard nodding his head and Nyle¡¯s breathed again with relief but then the next words turned the situation upside down again. ¡°But you¡¯re not telling me the truth about why you were locked up on that ship?¡± Nyle forced out his laughter. ¡°Really now, why else would they lock me up on a slaver ship?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Eduard and he looked straight on at Nyle. ¡°I¡¯m asking you.¡± Nyle frowned, was his evaluation of the boy off? When he had first realized he had the measure of the boy, he admitted he had let his guard down slightly. Eduard was the type that wanted to be the ''overglorified hero'' and he didn¡¯t reconsider his personality but he did reconsider the intelligence standard that he had applied to Eduard. ¡°The truth is what I¡¯ve told you,¡± said Nyle. ¡°I was locked up by them for trying to be a hero, it doesn¡¯t end well does it?¡± Eduard stood up suddenly and Nyle¡¯s hand went to his dagger as the boat stopped moving, something which Eduard clearly took note off and smirked at. ¡°Do you want to fight?¡± asked Eduard with an overconfident grin. ¡°No,¡± said Nyle, looking straight on at the boy. ¡°But last time you were captured, you didn¡¯t even see you opponent¡¯s face.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± asked Eduard frowning. ¡°You might be strong in a head to head duel, combat or even on a battlefield,¡± said Nyle, smiling gently but the cold light was clearly reflected in his eyes. ¡°But this is a jolly boat, we have barely enough room for the two of us to stand and we don¡¯t even have a sturdy foothold. I¡¯ll slit your throat before you even unleash your pulse.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try,¡± said Eduard clenching his fists and then he paused, he didn¡¯t have a blade with him, the previous blade he had used had melted because of his pulse, it couldn¡¯t handle his power. His old blade had gone missing so he couldn¡¯t even unleash his pulse power and Nyle clearly caught onto this point as well. Nyle slid out his dagger and Eduard tried to back off and the jolly boat shook, threatening to throw them both into the water and then Nyle paused. He had clearly remembered Eduard¡¯s value for his own life, it was very little. If he decided to topple the boat, then a fight in the water was a disadvantage to him and an advantage to the larger Eduard but the boy didn¡¯t appear to have made this connection as he tried to stabilize the boat. Nyle knew he couldn¡¯t keep pushing Eduard, because if he turned things desperate for Eduard then he might just topple the boat. He then with a sinking heart caught Eduard eyeing his scimitar placed to the side of the boat. ¡°Oh no, don-.¡± Nyle didn¡¯t even have time to finish before Eduard dived for the sword and Nyle tackled him sideways and they both grappled for the sword in the shaking boat. Nyle¡¯s head was banged against the side of the boat by Eduard several times in the struggle but he held onto the side of his scimitar. ¡°Listen to me!¡± grunted Nyle raising his dagger and slamming the hilt down on Eduard¡¯s head with force. There was painful grunt but the hand clutching his scimitar still stood strong. Nyle was wishing now that he had rowed away, leaving Eduard on the sinking ship whilst Eduard reached around with his other hand and put Nyle in a fearsome one-handed chokehold. Nyle however was still hesitant to use the dagger to cut the boy but at this rate he would have to. He was slowly losing air to his lungs and he would soon black out. Nyle grunted as he tried to twist in Eduard¡¯s one-handed chokehold and he heard Eduard hiss as Nyle accidentally headbutted him somewhere around the teeth. ¡°Let go!¡± wheezed Nyle as the chokehold tightened. Nyle then closed his eyes slowly, he had no other choice. He switched his dagger hand from right to left and slashed Eduard¡¯s palm eliciting a cry of pain and weakening the hold. ¡°Let go!¡± said Nyle gasping for air with the momentary relief. ¡°Or I¡¯ll cut you again.¡± He felt the chokehold about to tighten again but he wouldn¡¯t let it. He slid the dagger in through the gap from the release and twisted, with the edge now cutting into Eduard¡¯s arm so he could no longer tighten the grip without hurting himself. It still hurt Nyle a little since the other side of the dagger was cutting vertically into his throat. Nyle then elbowed the boy in the side and there was another gasp of pain and some cursing. He jumped up after the hold released and stepped down on Eduard¡¯s hand and the scimitar he held. ¡°I don¡¯t want to do this,¡± said Nyle heaving from trying to regain all the air that he couldn¡¯t get in previously. ¡°But I¡¯ll cut you up.¡± He saw Eduard snarling and then the sword under his foot slowly got hotter. With his other leg Nyle kicked the boy in the face, disrupting his concentration. ¡°Stop it,¡± said Nyle. ¡°You¡¯ve already used too much of your pulse powers on your ship, and your pulse is the discharge pulse, activating it here could possibly destroy this boat and we¡¯d lose our way back, not to mention the entire thing could explode, you don¡¯t even have control.¡± Eduard wiped his nose, clearing the blood that came out from the kick and he scowled and then grasped Nyle¡¯s leg that was stepping on his hand and the scimitar and Nyle gritted his teeth and kicked Eduard in the face again, there was again the familiar grunt of pain. ¡°Stop it!¡± exclaimed Nyle, feeling that he should just throw the boy overboard right now and save himself the trouble. ¡°You really don¡¯t give up easily, do you?¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± said Eduard scowling and his hand came to his nose and grasped the base. There was a wince-worthy snap as he righted his nose. ¡°You¡¯re the one keeping secrets, all I wanted was to just know who the hell you really were.¡± ¡°Well too bad for you,¡± said Nyle and he reached down and removed Eduard¡¯s hand from his scimitar and was about to pick it up when his other hand reached up and grabbed Nyle¡¯s headscarf and ripped it off of his head. Eduard gasped as he saw what the headscarf was covering. It was a head full of silver hair. Nyle clenched his fist as he glared at Eduard. At this moment Eduard received several flashbacks, most of them primarily were to the wanted posters the an envoy from the Adjudicator¡¯s Department of Grifort Kingdom handed to his father to put up on the bulletin board in front of the Firedweller manor and on it there was one poster without picture but only descriptions, fairly unique in that criminal hadn¡¯t been sighted by anyone proper and therefore they could only give descriptions. The age was stated as anywhere from thirteen to fifteen, a frail figure and his most primary and recognizable feature was silver hair, yes, strange silver hair. ¡°You¡¯re that guy from the wanted posters, aren¡¯t you?¡± asked Eduard sitting up clutching the headscarf. ¡°The guy that stole Fallom¡¯s continental map which detailed the Magoss Continent on it¡¯s way to Zarech Kingdom.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me,¡± said Nyle sighing, he had been caught, quite thoroughly, he sat down again and stared out. ¡°You¡¯re a criminal, a rogue swordsman,¡± said Eduard nodding with glee. ¡°That¡¯s why they locked you up on the slaver ship, they wanted your bounty.¡± ¡°Right again,¡± said Nyle sighing for a second time, it appeared now that Eduard had worked out the complete story. Nyle looked at Eduard with an ice cold gaze. ¡°Let me tell you this, just because you know who I am doesn¡¯t me I¡¯m just going to turn myself in, if the worst comes then I will slit your throat and escape.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t,¡± said Eduard laughing but Nyle didn¡¯t back off with the gaze and Eduard continued. ¡°If you wanted to you could¡¯ve done so already, you could¡¯ve killed me several times over in that struggle, but you were trying not to.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Nyle nodded. ¡°But as I said, if the worst happens then I will kill you. I can¡¯t be caught¡­ I won¡¯t be caught.¡± Nyle flicked the dagger back into his sleeve and then he looked at Eduard¡¯s face covered in blood and shook his head in a tired manner. ¡°Seeing as you¡¯ve already just ripped my scarf off, you can use it to wipe the blood off your nose and then give it back.¡± Eduard reached up and touched his bloody nose and he winced. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said as he slowly dabbed away with the headscarf, wiping the blood off. Eduard every so often with great interest looked at Nyle¡¯s hair as Nyle looked away and contemplated. They were stuck in the middle of the gulf of water and nobody had started rowing, Nyle had not even bothered to glance at the oar as he just sat there staring absent mindedly into the horizon. ¡°I won¡¯t say anything,¡± said Eduard after a while still dabbing away at his nose with headscarf and Nyle awakened from his daze. He looked over the huge boy who appeared to be still looking at his hair and then he finally nodded. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that.¡± Nyle then unconsciously rubbed his hair and then leant back against the boat again. ¡°You have some questions about my hair don¡¯t you?¡± Eduard froze for a moment and Nyle let out a laugh, the boy had clearly thought he wasn¡¯t being too obvious, staring at his hair but then he nodded. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t seen this colored hair anywhere else,¡± said Nyle, not that Eduard has wandered anywhere much, thought Nyle. Eduard shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that strange.¡± Nyle raised his eyebrows in a questioning look. ¡°Really?¡± Eduard looked at his hair once again and then quickly shook his head. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯m seeing it, but I¡¯ve never been outside of this town, so you never know.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I do,¡± said Nyle. ¡°I¡¯ve been around place quite a bit, I¡¯d probably run into other such individuals if it was normal.¡± Eduard suddenly had a strange gleam in his eyes and Nyle was taken aback and he moved closer to Nyle while he scrambled back. ¡°You¡¯re an adventurer?¡± said Eduard nodding, as if he was confirming his own question. ¡°Not...not quite, but I am looking for something, a large trove of treasure of sorts I guess,¡± said Nyle. ¡°Haven¡¯t found it yet.¡± ¡°So you are an adventurer,¡± said Eduard positively shining. ¡°Yes then, if you insist,¡± said Nyle and all of a sudden he deflated and sat back down sighing. ¡°I want to go adventuring too,¡± said Eduard looking down as he fiddled now with the headscarf. ¡°Why don¡¯t you?¡± asked Nyle but Eduard shook his head as if even the thought of it was impossible. ¡°I¡¯m the oldest son in the family,¡± said Eduard as he carelessly twisted the headscarf around his fingers. ¡°I¡¯m expected to take over, so I have to train and then study but it¡¯s all so boring, I don¡¯t even want to take over the family.¡± Nyle¡¯s face twitched, almost into an involuntary smirk, most people wanted to take over the family, especially one as prestigious as Firedweller family and most people wanted to lead a rich and fulfilling life, not the scrap life an adventurer was so very often offered. ¡°You know adventuring isn¡¯t as fun as it seems,¡± said Nyle, and Eduard shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know that yet do I?¡± he said. ¡°I mean apart from your word and old man Hordus¡¯ stories. I don¡¯t really know much else, but I really want to know what it feels like to just go around places.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t,¡± admitted Nyle, as he stood and extended his arm towards Eduard for the headscarf, which he passed back. ¡°You probably won¡¯t anyhow, so just enjoy the little things in life, like your possibly big house, hell of a lot of money and amazing comfort.¡± Eduard scowled. ¡°You haven¡¯t even seen Firedweller Township, just you wait.¡± Nyle smiled as he wrapped his headscarf around his hair tightening it carefully and he sat down. ¡°Do you want to row?¡± Eduard looked at the oars that Nyle had pointed his way and then he nodded and took the seat while Nyle switched and took Eduard¡¯s relaxing spot and lay back down. ¡°We can still see the smoke so just row in that direction,¡± said Nyle pointing towards the possible spot where Firedweller Township docks were. Eduard nodded and with his powerful arms he pushed down and started rowing, the boat moved at a much faster pace than when Nyle had rowed and it sped off towards Firedweller Township docks. *** Arraind was turning a pale shade of purple by the time he was brought back to the manor in an urgent manner carried by Andomus. As soon as they had reached home and Raeden saw the shape of his father, he fainted and Guila despite her greater deal of worries was managing, she was taking care of Raeden and it was turning into a real and huge incident. Eduard was still missing, Arraind was poisoned and Raeden had fainted. Hordus had went back to his shop citing the fact that he needed something from the shop but he had given Andomus a non-confident confirmation that he could ¡®maybe¡¯ deal with the poison ¡®the Snake¡¯ had used in poisoning Arraind. Right now the Firedweller Manor was waiting for the arrival of Hordus who was rushing from his shop towards Firdweller manor, he however wasn¡¯t as fit as he used to be and was admittedly frail. He was gasping as he stopped halfway from the manor. Several passersby gave him strange looks along with some carts and the men on it. Hordus felt a little embarrassed, he was a little too old to be running like this, something he knew very well but the life of Lord Firedweller right now depended on his speed. With him he carried a black metal and leather case within which contained several of his medical utensils. He had, before he left the manor, asked Andomus the head guard and Guila, Arraind¡¯s wife to thoroughly check through the assassin¡¯s possessions, strip him bare if necessary for the antidote. The venom that currently raged through Arraind came from a particularly nasty concoction of skin fat from a hedgering toad and maimon (a type of lizard found in deep forests on Magoss) venom. The antidote to such a potent venom could not naturally be found just anywhere but every assassin that used poison carried an antidote with him, it was a precaution they as human beings liked to take. Hordus arrived at the gates which were open and waiting. He ran inside and saw Guila standing over a ghostly pale and clammy Raeden who appeared to be awake but seemed now to be having trouble breathing. Guila was lightly patting Raeden¡¯s back and Hordus hurried a quick greeting towards the fine lady and moved on to Andomus who was waiting for him with a worried look. ¡°Did you find the antidote?¡± asked Hordus setting down his case and calming his breathing. ¡°We found several vials and a myriad of other things,¡± said Andomus. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the antidote looks like, so you¡¯ll have to tell me.¡± ¡°Where are the vials?¡± asked Hordus. Andomus pointed inside the room where they had the snake strapped down, unable to even wriggle a finger. It was the iron cast Hordus recognized with some shock, it was an imprisonment device that only adjudicators of Grifort held but then he realized, the woman, Guila was no ordinary woman, she used to be an adjudicator, one of the best before she had married into the Firedweller family. She must¡¯ve, Hordus surmised, taken a souvenir. Hordus stopped for a moment to admire the handiwork of the ¡®iron cast¡¯. It was in its usual form the size of a small doll but the ¡®iron cast¡¯ used magic, the last of its kind, an ancient power that had disappeared off the continent several millennia ago. The man who invented the iron cast was a legend but he never told its secrets. Even in death the secrets did not pass his lips. His hands made around a thousand iron casts before his death and three-hundred of the thousand remained in Grifort to be used by the adjudicators. The fact that Guila had one of these told a lot about her status at the adjudicators¡¯ department. Hordus stopped staring at the iron cast and turned to the multi-colored vials set aside from the assassin. He walked over and uncorked each one of them and smelt it. Poison, vial after vial, it was all filled with poison, raw ingredients to concoct deadlier poisons were in some of the vials as well, a vial contained, as Hordus noted, water from the ¡®calamity pond¡¯, a small stretch of water where sea animals turned up dead. It was a particularly nasty place, containing water of high danger but the antidote that he was looking for was not here. Then he remembered back to his information on Kaiuga. The man was a tribal warrior that had concocted his own trademark poison. The cross between hedgering frog¡¯s skin fat and maimon venom was a particularly nasty combination of poison that Kaiuga had pioneered, the snake¡¯s name was in the annals of poison history for inventing this poison, there was precise method to making this poison, the correct measurements were of great necessity when making this and since the snake had invented this poison there would be only one place that he would store the antidote, the safest place for him to both hide it and use it. ¡°Make him bleed,¡± said Hordus suddenly and he got a raised eyebrow from Andomus. ¡°The antidote isn¡¯t here,¡± said Hordus gesturing towards the vials. ¡°It¡¯s in his blood, just a small incision, enough to draw around a pint¡¯s worth of blood¡­¡± The snake suddenly shuddered, or rather he tried to shudder and Hordus realized the man was awake all along. He had been feigning unconsciousness and Hordus looked over the man with a half-tonsured head and tattoos covering his face, it was fierce some sight to behold now especially when the man had no scale mask. Hordus guessed from the ugly face he was making that his guess was spot on and it looked like Andomus realized it too. He grabbed a knife from the side table, a pile of torture instruments lay there, waiting for use on the prisoners that came in here. He wielded the knife with some amount of clumsiness. ¡°Cut on his forearm,¡± said Hordus. ¡°Near the wrist, he bleeds faster that way.¡± The snake tried to struggle to resist, to make things harder but the iron cast held on like vice and he wasn¡¯t going anywhere. Andomus closed in with the knife. ¡°Let me,¡± said a voice from the door and suddenly and both Andomus and Hordus whipped around in surprise. They both saw Guila standing there and anger could clearly be seen on her face, not the violent type that they were prone to seeing in Arraind, but a calm restrained one, something that made it all the more scary and unpredictable. Andomus bowed and handed the knife over Guila, something Hordus watched with interest. There was not even a hint of protest, it was highly interesting for him. This made him all the more curious about Guila reputation, what exactly had she done during her stint as an adjudicator? Guila twirled the knife between her fingers with expert ease and she glanced at Andomus. ¡°Call for Ano to take Raeden to his room and then get yourself back here,¡± said Guila and she looked back at the snake who seemed to be watching her with some amount of curiosity. Andomus frowned a little, ¡°Ano hasn¡¯t turned up for work in two days.¡± Guila thought back and Andomus was right, ¡°Sorry, you can call for someone else, do you know what happened to Ano though?¡± ¡°I heard her daughter had disappeared,¡± said Andomus. ¡°She could be on the slave ship as well, along with¡­¡± Andomus trailed off as he watched the cold rage of Guila¡¯s wash over him as well. All of a sudden he felt the room cooling down a lot, he felt very cold himself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Andomus controlling the shivers. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Guila turning her rage back the assassin who seemed to have felt it too, as his eyes were as wide open as it could be without it popping out. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± said Andomus and hurriedly left. She smiled coldly and as Andomus left she plunged her knife into the assassin¡¯s inner thigh and there was a loud scream. Hordus watched with shivers as he saw how close she had stabbed to the man¡¯s balls. ¡°The wrist would bleed more,¡± reminded Hordus but she coldly snorted. ¡°A large wound will bleed the same.¡± She dragged the knife up, ripping through the flesh all the while the snake tried to struggle futilely, his unholy scream echoing from the walls of the house. ¡°How are you planning on collecting his blood?¡± asked Guila. The stunned Hordus stayed silent for a moment more and then responded. ¡°It¡¯s not the blood I want¡­¡± He looked around and saw an iron bucket at the corner. He glanced around the room and realized that this place seemed more like a prison. He then guessed that bucket must¡¯ve been used for defecation and urination. Just how many prisoners had they held in here, he wondered. He moved over to the bucket with care, as he feared there might be some leftover waste in there, but to his great delightful surprise, the bucket was very clean. He grabbed the bucket and put it next to his iron case. He opened the case and pulled out a paper. ¡°This paper is a type of strainer,¡± explained Hordus. ¡°It¡¯s made from the Ayol Tree, and it is enough separate his blood from the antidote in his body.¡± ¡°I see,¡± nodded Guila, she seemed unbothered by the now whimpering of the once deadly assassin. He placed the paper over the bucket and held it near the wound and blood slowly started dripping on it. ¡°I need you to stop the wound from clotting,¡± said Hordus looking at Guila. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when we have enough blood.¡± Guila nodded and then her face turned into a repressed grin, she was enjoying this thought Hordus with some amount of shock. Nobody would associate the pale beautiful woman by Arraind¡¯s side with the cruel psychopathic one, ever. Even without the wound clotting she seemed to dig the knife deepening the wound and all the while fresh new screams would erupt from the snake¡¯s throat. Andomus came back at this moment with a satisfied look on his face. He seemed to happy too, to see the snake scream. Hordus shook his head with some calm, all warriors were psychopaths, Hordus had realized this truth in his youth. The paper was now soaked and he moved the bucket away slowly and removed the paper. Inside the bucket he saw a pale green liquid, a higher concentration of Kaiuga¡¯s concocted venom, he had guessed there should be more off the maimon venom, the viscosity wasn¡¯t much, just like running water. He smelled it and to his shock he realized that Kaiuga had added water from the ¡®calamity pond¡¯. It must¡¯ve worked whatever he did, thought Hordus, but the water from the ¡®calamity pond¡¯ was such an uncontrollable thing. Not even he would dare to play with something like that, yet this man, this assassin had somehow tamed its power and was now using it as part of an antidote of all things. It was enviable to Hordus as a man who had studied poison and alchemy for his entire life. He looked at the bucket, there was he guessed enough to deal the poison inside Arraind¡¯s body. He sighed and placed the wet blood paper on the man¡¯s thigh where he was bleeding after Guila had pulled out the knife. The assassin had gone into a trance of sorts some time ago, he guessed that it was a method to control the pain during torture, either that or the shock had got to him and he was a catatonic state. The paper meanwhile had slowly stuck itself to the assassin¡¯s wounded thigh and it looked like a layer of skin. ¡°That¡¯ll be enough to heal him,¡± said Hordus. ¡°Ayol paper, is an excellent medicinal utensil as well.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more than he deserves,¡± said Andomus. ¡°Is that enough?¡± asked Guila and Hordus could swear she sounded a little disappointed. He smiled weakly and nodded. ¡°More than enough, we just need to feed this Lord Firedweller and the poison in his body should be burned out by tomorrow, just be wary of the high fever he will have.¡± Guila nodded and her lapse back into the normal ordinary housewife was flawless. She tossed the knife to Andomus and adjusted herself. Andomus snorted as he glanced at the dead looking assassin and threw the knife onto the table beside him, where he picked it up from. Hordus carried the bucket and traversed with Guila and Andomus to the room where Arraind lay and his breathing seemed to be more haggard and weaker, it was almost to the point of him not taking a breath at all. ¡°Quickly force his mouth open,¡± said Hordus with urgency. ¡°If he goes into an unresponsive state then we won¡¯t be able to feed him this.¡± He handed the bucket over to Andomus and ran to check Arraind¡¯s pulse which was very weak, almost to point of non-existent and yet the man still hung on. ¡°Feed it to him,¡± said Hordus to Andomus while Guila stood back and watched the proceedings with a worried face. As the venom slowly went into Arraind, Hordus felt the pulse strengthening, the poison burning required the body functioning at a rate beyond the body¡¯s capability and therefore the heartrate would speed up to an incomprehensible rate much like what Hordus was feeling now. It meant the antidote was working. Hordus finally released a sigh of relief and his weak legs gave away as he fell back onto his butt ungracefully. He looked at Guila. ¡°He¡¯ll have a high fever while the antidote works to remove the venom from his body, it doesn¡¯t matter how bad the fever gets, it will subside, just keep him cool, nothing else will happen.¡± Guila as well as Andomus too heaved a sigh of relief as he set down his bucket with still a little of the pale green liquid left. With one problem out of the way, they could now focus on the other, young Eduard Firedweller was still missing and he needed to be found quickly.