《The Gatriel Decebal Chronicles》


 Ch 0 - The Beginning

    Hello fellow RRL readers/writers.


    I''m back with my fiction re-written, I''m aware that the change of pace of the story is radical and the change of POV is something tough to deal with, but The way I as writing it previously was tough.


    I decided to change a bit the story (not radically though) instead of starting from a grown up MC, from the beginning. so for the first couple of chapters the pace of the fiction is fairly fast.


    I hope to get your comments and opinion regarding my write style.


    Keep in mind I''m a novice and this is my first work. so there are many things that may need a lot of changes, with luck and help, I''ll change stuff slowly.


    Enjoy this first batch of chapters that I''ll be releasing today.


    Chapter 0 - The Beginning


    Immortality... the dream of the short lived races, spending but a fleeting moment in the world, they dream about it, wish for it, and have committed atrocities in the name of research to obtain it.


    It¡¯s been over 38 thousand years since the age of the undying ended, its not like it was called an ¡°age of undying¡± or anything, but actions start rumors, rumor become stories, stories become legend, legend usually become myths, and within myths anything distorts in whatever flavour the best bard can sing about.


    I still remember it, how could I not. It was almost 40 thousand years ago, when the immortal phoenix descended from the heavens and purged it all. Breathing fire from its mouth and flapping thunderstorms with its wings it destroyed everything in its path.


    And in the end, the few of us who stood up against it, met our end without any hope. Or so it should have been.


    Even today I remember it clearly, how all that I once knew, every living thing, and one by one, the last of us, my friends died at the hands of that creature.


    With razor sharp claws it sliced everything it touched, wood, stone, steel, even mountaintops disappeared with just a swing of its claws. How it burned down to nothingness all that came in contact with its breath of red and black fire, and how it massacred anything that was caught in the thunderstorms created by the movement of its wings, frightening, incredibly frightening, nothing could stand to it.


    And in the end, there I was, all alone, facing such an enemy, just me, against a catastrophic flying calamity, a being bent on destroying it all.


    Just as the oracle had said, this was the end of the world, the gods have given up on their creations, and sent their armies to destroy us.


    But we couldn''t accept that, it wasn''t chivalry, nor an act of heroism, not even honour, nor it was kindness, we nephilims didn''t owe anything to any mortal race, we didn''t fight to protect, we fought to survive, yes just to survive.


    So, be it it¡¯s whim or just luck, as I really never thought myself as that far better than any of my peers, there I was standing in front of the beast.


    Anger and sadness overwhelmed me, looking at what was laid below that huge beast, everything I could see in front of me was destruction, corpses, blood, mud, death.


    I couldn''t sense anything alive, it was as if the only 2 living things in the world were that phoenix and me, or rather, it was like that, the planet was wiped out of every living thing in existence, so yes, just that monster and me, staring at eachother.


    It wasn''t mocking me, no, it was like it was taunting me with its flame-like reddish eyes, looking straight at me, hovering at low altitude, asking me to attack first. So what could have I done other than comply, run away? Give my back to that thing? No, that was just not an option.


    After the concentration of energy surged through my legs and stored in my arms, I kicked the ground leaving a crater several kilometers of diameter and flew towards its unguarded chest, as fast as the light of the sun reaches the planet when it rises.


    It was my strongest attack at that point, with every bit of energy that I could muster, I flew in a straight line towards the beast. As my shining swords clashed with its feathers, a surge of light exploded, everything became blinding bright.


    I closed my eyes and started feeling the heat in my body. I was burning, it felt like that, and my strength started to leave me, I was dying, then the heat started to recede, and my consciousness faded.


    -- Wake up, open your eyes my daughter --


    Uhh¡­ what¡¯s going on, I¡¯m sure I lost, I died¡­


    -- Wake up --


    I opened my eyes, and after a few seconds, when the blur became clear I saw him, standing there, his arms were crossed in his chest, standing in a very proud position, clad in a intricate golden armor, two hilts could be seen behind his shoulders, and his long white wings resting behind him, flaming red hair and somewhat lightly tanned skin of his face, those eyes were looking down to me.


    Those eyes and his hair were so familiar, flame-like reddish just like the beast that destroyed the world, I couldn''t understand what was going on, I tried to sit but my body didn''t respond to my command, I couldn''t gather any strength, let alone move even a finger.


    Again that voice resounded in my mind...


    --- Ah you are awake, I am glad ---


    What are you glad about, who are you?


    --- Don''t you recognize me my child? It hasn''t been that long ---


    That long? What are you talking about¡­


    Indeed it felt familiar, somewhat warm but old, very very old, how long has it been since I felt something like this, one thousand five hundred years or two thousand years?...


    --- Yes, that''s it, focus my child, try to remember who I am ---


    So annoying, why can''t I talk, what''s with that mind trick. But I couldn''t help it, it was really familiar, I know this man, I¡¯ve seen him before a long time ago. When thinking of that he lifted me in his arms, and smiled, it was an odd smile, it wasn''t flirtatious, but by all means was warm, it almost felt... caring.


    Who are you? Can you tell me? We have met before, but I can''t recall where nor when¡­


    --- Gat, my child focus more, you should know who I am ---


    Gat, that''s an overly familiar way of calling me, only my peers and my paren... Uh? Wait a minute, it''s impossible, come on, it''s impossible, she said, mom said you died.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    --- That I did my child, but I am undying and ever present, I returned, as I always do ---


    Uh? What does that mean? You returned? As you always do? Is this some sort of joke? I AM undying, unless in battle, I cannot die, it''s our race¡¯s gift, but once one of us die, there is no coming back, what are you talking about? Are you  --- my mind went blank for a couple of minutes --- are you an angel?


    --- Not quite, Keep going Gat keep going ---


    Are you god? --- I waited silently, he closed his eyes and shook his head answering my question --- so not an angel, not god, then --- No way, that''s impossible --- I thought and his eyes shone brightly, the corner of his mouth curved up a little, as if letting me know that I was either right or close to an answer


    --- So have you realized it yet Gat, who and what I am? ---


    I just nodded, It''s not like I know, but my suspicion seems to be right on mark, if I¡¯m right, he''s an archangel, but archangels can''t procreate with mortals, it''s just impossible, so he can''t be my father, it''s impossible, that can''t be, I shook my head.


    ¡°Archangels can''t procreate with mortals, it is impossible, there is just no way...¡±


    Ho! My voice returned, I tried to move my body and could move, he let me down and I stood face to face with him, or rather, ¡®in front¡¯ of him, he''s taller than me by at least one head and a half, but that hair, those eyes, his skin, it''s just too much of a coincidence.


    --- oh so she never told you, I see ---


    Uh? Whats going on, what she didn''t told me, who are you talking about. As if reading my mind (or rather actually reading my mind his voice again flooded inside my head).


    --- Your mother seems she never told you ---


    ¡°Told me what, what are you talking about?¡±


    I said but I''m very confused right now, this man, this feeling, I have felt it indeed a very long time ago so long ago that I had almost forgotten.


    --- Your mother wasn''t mortal, she was ---


    ¡°Oi, oi, oi, what are you saying, she died of old age, there is no way she wasn''t mortal¡±


    I interrupted him, waving my hands in front of him, not out of rage, but fear. Archangels are beings stronger than anything, almost on the same if not on the same level as gods, and such a being is right here, in this ¡°nowhere¡± with me.


    ¡°Where are we, what''s going on, don''t come closer¡±


    I retorted again, looking left and right, white everywhere, not blinding but white, I couldn''t tell if I was floating or standing just by the look of this place, then in my fear and confusion went to pull my swords from my back, but there was nothing there. My body stiffened and my face went pale, my mind froze for a second, unarmed, in an unfamiliar place, against what seems to be an archangel, is not like I have any chance of winning, but hey!


    --- My child, do not be so scared, I won''t hurt you ---


    That''s what he said, but I can''t help but shiver, I¡¯m scared out of my mind, I don''t understand what''s going on.


    --- Your mother was a nephilim, she performed the ritual and let her light go off ---


    Uh? Come on she was ¡­ I couldn''t retort anything back to him, Indeed she died of over 100 years of age but there were cases where mortals died very old, so I assumed she ¡­ was ¡­ uh? What''s this? Uh?. my view went blurry for a minute and his hand touched my face trying to dry up my tears, I couldn''t move.


    --- I¡¯m sorry that you had to go through all that, but father ordered it, It couldn''t be helped, but not all hope is lost ---


    What is he talking about? His father? What couldn''t be helped? What''s this talk about hope? I looked at his face, and his stare was fierce, yet not scornful, but those eyes, they are like ¡­


    --- Yes, I did it all, as commanded by the father of all, but in the end, I couldn''t end it, not after I saw you were there ---


    ¡°You are that beast? What are you talking about? It cannot be, what''s going on¡±


    I asked, all fear disappeared from my mind, my body wasn''t shaking, I was full of anger and grief. In the next second, he was right in front of me, not 2 cm away, and put his hand on my forehead.


    --- That I am, yet I was, as we are in the place where my essence gathers when I die so I can return, look behind you and calm yourself, you are not alone ---


    I turned my head back, and saw her, her black hair, her body covered with her usual black leather-like armor, her white face, as beautiful as ever, lying down on the floor, with her eyes closed. I tried to go to her but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder, I felt afraid but the way the hand stopped me angered me so much, when I turned my head to see him, his eyes went round with surprise, but he did not relent his grip.


    --- You¡¯ll go back, together, but I can''t control where you both will return, so heed my words my child, find them, and protect each other, the road ahead won''t be easy, you will be alone, you will have company, you will suffer, you will be happy, you will be revered, you will be hunted. But never let go of those you find, as they will be your salvation, as you will be theirs. ---


    What is he talking about? Whats with this oracle-like conversation line, what is he trying to say? Who do I have to find, whats with the salvation part.


    ¡°Oi, what are you getting to? I don''t understand¡±


    I said rapidly as I saw he was going to continue talking, his mouth stopped and looked at me, again with that oddly caring look in his eyes, he came up to me, and put his other arm on my shoulders and his forehead touched my own, a storm of images sounds and feelings coursed through my body and mind as in super fast forward speed and again I lost all my strength and my consciousness started to fade away.


    --- Take them with you, at some point you will be able to call upon them, when you do, don''t let them go, and don''t forget what I¡¯ve shown you, we won''t meet again, as the father of all will close the doors to this realm, and restart all creation, goodbye my daughter, Gatriel, I¡¯m glad I was able able to me... ---


    Dad......


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know :D, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 1 - Return

    Chapter 1 - Return


    It¡¯s dark, how long it''s been like this? I move but it''s somewhat confined, am I in a bag? am I gagged? I can''t talk, I can''t open my eyes¡­


    wait a minute...


    Hmmm, oh! This again...


    How many times it¡¯s been now? I forgot... yeah, I forgot.


    I better stop moving, it will just make it harder for her, let¡¯s not complicate things again.


    ---------------------


    ¡°Push my lady, push, take a breath, yes like that, now push¡±


    The midwife was telling me, but this baby doesn''t stop moving, I¡¯m really scared it is my first after all. I¡¯ve heard those stories, when babies move too much at birth say they can die, I start to cry, I¡¯m afraid.


    When I opened my eyes I saw those loving red eyes, staring right at me. He is holding my hand while drying my tears. His short red hair and his reddish goatee, look at how proud he is! this is his first child too after all.


    He let go of my face and puts his hand on my belly, as if realizing something he quickly went down. Looking at it for a second then he whispered something with a smile, I can''t hear anything. the pain is too intense it¡¯s just too much for me.


    Oh! It stopped moving, he shot at me that loving smile of his, he''s the best man in the world, I feel lucky to be his wife.


    I¡¯m proud to be bringing our first child into the world so let''s do my best. Follow the midwife¡¯s instructions ok? breathe, push, push, breathe, come on me, endure the pain, breathe, push, push.


    ¡°Keep going my lady, I see the head, just a little bit more, endure a bit more, breathe, and...¡±


    She says again and I pushed harder than before, as she instructed me a week ago. ¡®My lady when I tell you this ¡°I see the head¡± you have to push harder and breath deeper¡¯. So I got to push harder and breathe harder now.


    It seems is over, but what''s with the faces of everyone?, what''s going on, I don''t see your smiles, hey tell me something.


    I can''t talk, I''m too tired, I got to make an effort¡­


    ¡°Dear?¡±


    I ask, he looks at me and smiles nervously. What''s going on?


    **slap**


    **slap**


    **slap**


    ¡°She''s not crying hun and not breathing¡±


    he says to me with a worried expression on his face. That just makes me worry even more!


    **slap**


    **slap**


    **slap**


    The midwife is spanking the baby on her small but lightly, then rubs her chest, and repeats.


    It¡¯s been a while now, it¡¯s my baby ok? What''s going on, I need to ask or I¡¯ll go crazy.


    ¡°Hey dear, what''s go...¡±


    ¡°Waaaa waAaaa waAaaaa waaAaa¡±


    ¡°WaaAaa wAaaaa waaaaaA waaaAa¡±


    ¡°WaaaAa waaaaa wAaaaaa waAaaa¡±


    *sigh* I let out a sigh of relief, she cried at last! Mark¡¯s face lights up and laughs, but he seems to have been holding it for too long so his leg give up and he falls down on his knees. Tears are flowing down his eyes but I''m no different though, I see the watery view in front of me, so I''? crying too.


    The midwife presents the child to me.


    ¡°So beautiful, look mark, she has your eyes¡±


    I say as I regain my bearings,  I¡¯m holding my baby and hugging her lightly, then I brought her up to look at her. By all means she resembles mark a lot, that beautiful reddish eyes and that little red head. There is no doubt she''s his father¡¯s daughter.


    ¡°Hun, I¡¯m sorry but, I just fell in love with our daughter, from today onwards, dont be jelous, shes the one I love the most, so, thank you, thank you Lea, than*sob*k you*sob*¡±


    Mark tells me still crying a little.


    So cute this man, who would think he''s a knight? a general at that mind you, strong and brave, proud and stern at times even.


    Dropping at me such words just makes me love him even more!


    I love this man with all my heart, but he''s right, right now, I feel the love for our child is just far beyond anything I¡¯ve ever felt before.


    ¡°As long as you don''t get jealous yourself that I love her as much as you do, I think we can make it work!¡±


    I smile at the end of my words and he looks at me, comes up to my face and kisses me passionately, my lips felt hot and I closed my eyes, I¡¯ll let him get away with it, I can''t help it, he''s the one I choose, and I¡¯m glad he chose me too.


    ----------------------------------


    **slap**


    **slap**


    **slap**


    **rub rub**


    ¡°Dear?¡±


    Somewhere behind me a woman asks.


    Hey! What the... Stop slapping me, come on. I look at the woman that¡¯s holding me by my little legs, her expression is worried sick. She¡¯s been slapping me and rubbing my chest for about 20 seconds.


    ¡°She''s not crying, and not breathing¡±


    The man on my right says, his face is wearing a forced smile, he seems really worried, whats with this people. Can¡¯t you guys see I¡¯m fine?


    **slap**


    **slap**


    **slap**


    ** rub rub **


    Oh come on! stop spanking me already, it damn hurts you know.


    ¡°Hey, what''s go...¡±


    The woman with the crying voice speaks again and I realize I can''t breathe, oh shit gotta cry right now.


    ¡°Waaaa waAaaa waAaaaa waaAaa¡±


    ¡°WaaAaa wAaaaa waaaaaA waaaAa¡±


    ¡°WaaaAa waaaAa wAaaaaa waAaaa¡±


    Was that right? Too much? Too short? I don¡¯t know, aAaaaaaaa I hate crying. Going through this process again is going to be annoying as hell...


    I hope Ali this time isn''t older than me again, that''s going to be even more annoying.


    Uh? Hey lady, it''s ok, I''m fine, hmmm... mom is it, well mom, I¡¯m fine, so would you please stop crying?, uh? wa wa wa wa waaaaa, what¡¯s this man doing? Hey! Get a room! I¡¯m here in front of you you know!


    ¡°WaaAaa waaAa aaa a aaaaaaaaaa¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Oh! You got it, yes that¡¯s it, separate from her, she¡¯s mine for now so back off! Hey lady, err mom, feed me, come on, feed me now.


    ..


    ..


    ..


    Nothing happens, hmmm, oh true, damn it, got to cry again


    ¡°Waaaa waaaa waaaa¡±


    ¡°Waa wa wa waaa?¡±


    I¡¯m hungry, so come on, feed me now, that''s it, yes that¡¯s it.


    Yawn, I¡¯m sleepy, going to sleep.


    I open my eyes, and there they are, lying in the bed.


    It¡¯s been 6 months since I was born, seems this time I¡¯m born into a somewhat well-off family.


    My mother is a really beautiful woman, black straight hair down to her back, black eyes, and really amazing figure.


    My father is a sturdy fellow, his appearance isn''t bad either, he actually is quite handsome. His hair is red, and his eyes are reddish too. Very much the same every time in regard of fathers, maybe it''s a bloodline thing? No, I didn''t leave any heirs, so it''s not a direct descendant of mine.


    Why is it that mothers vary a lot, oh well, this is the first time I¡¯ve been birthed by a black haired, black eyed lady.


    Father seems to be a soldier.


    Some days I¡¯m with mother in the garden of our place sunbathing when he comes back. He wears a fairly adorned black and silvery armor with a black long cloak with a silver winged horse sigil in the middle and a single long sword on his hips.


    He never uses the helmet, It¡¯s always sitting in his study.


    I started crawling about a month ago, they seemed surprised at the time, maybe it was too early? Well it isn''t like I could do it any earlier, my body didn''t respond well and my balance was awful.


    They complain that I don¡¯t cry much other than when I¡¯m hungry, but I really don¡¯t like to cry, so bear with me ok!


    I¡¯m noticing that I call father by his name, that bothers me a little, it would be bothersome if I blurt ¡°Mark¡± instead of ¡°father¡± when I start speaking, I need to get this fixed but Mark is home just at night on weekdays and once every other weekend due to guards, so I don¡¯t spend much time with him.


    On those weekends that Mark is at home he brings over a lot of friends and they spend the days practicing the sword, talking and eating.


    At first mother took me inside the house, when I noticed it was because she didn¡¯t want me to see them, I started crying loudly until she brought me back out and calmed myself down.


    ¡°Seems Gat likes to see you men practice, so don''t make much noise ok and keep a safe distance from her whenever possible¡±


    Mother told the men, since then it¡¯s been a regular occurrence.


    To fix the distance with Mark I¡¯ve started crawling into ¡°father¡±¡¯s study whenever I can, stop at the bookcase and make funny noises. I won¡¯t cry so if you don''t like it, make another child, come on father, read me a book.


    ¡°Awa awawawa awa¡±


    Funny noises, Marks notices me and grabs a book, picks me up from the floor, puts me on his lap and reads the title.


    ¡°The Princess in the flower kingdom¡±


    Ugggg¡­ what a boring name, that¡¯s not what I¡¯d like to hear, but let¡¯s go slowly - for now.


    I¡¯ll bear with it until he¡¯s more comfortable reading to me, then I¡¯ll and start making fun noises later when I want him to switch books, and stop at something more informative.


    I¡¯m not yet aware of how long it¡¯s been since last I died, sometimes it even took almost a full thousand years for me to return.


    ¡°There was once a pink princess in the kingdom of rosedony¡±


    He reads until I fall asleep, I mean come on, who wouldn¡¯t. ¡°Rosedony¡± really? what the heck is that, pink princess¡­¡­ I''ll puke my food out.


    And this has been my life for the past year and a half, boringly repetitive.


    I¡¯m one year and a half now, I¡¯m very aware that I¡¯m different, my parents seem to have noticed it too.


    I¡¯m walking perfectly already and I¡¯ve started saying words since I was eight months old, starting with ¡°mama¡±, ¡°papa¡± and ¡°food¡±. Tt was tough to speak then but now I¡¯m a lot more fluid.


    But what seems to surprise them most is that I read, I go to father¡¯s study, stand in front of the bookcase and point to books that I can''t reach and he gives them to me.


    At first he thought I wanted to imitate him, well of course, who would think a kid of one year old can read eh! But father still reads me the books whenever he can.


    ¡°Dear, again reading to Gat? Hurry up and get here, we have to go to my sister¡¯s place, she gave birth to a baby girl last week remember?¡±


    Mother call for us from downstairs.


    I¡¯ve met aunt Lucy, that is one hell of a beautiful woman, the only person I¡¯ve met that is that beautiful is Aliyah. Believe me that is saying quite something about aunty.


    Woop, I¡¯m being carried now, father replied that he had forgotten, and whispered to my ear ¡®you are my smart little angel you know¡¯, he seems to be fond of the time he spends with me.


    We go out of the castle, get into a horse-drawn carriage and start our way to aunt''s home.


    In this past year and a half I¡¯ve understood that father is a man of arms, knight of the kingdom where we live in and has a lot of men in his charge.


    Uncle Clay, my aunt¡¯s husband, is my father¡¯s second in command, a handsome and sturdy man just like Mark but bit shorter, his black haired and black eyes are very much like my mother and aunty.


    After a while we arrived at the huge house there aunt Lucy and uncle Clay live, indeed a well-off family too!


    Lets see, whats the little cousin like.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know :D, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 2 - Earliest of encounters

    Chapter 2 - Earliest of encounters


    A butler receives us at the entrance.


    The ¡®castle¡¯ is very much the same as ours, though, not as big. Still whomever says it¡¯s small is either blind or of higher nobility. Heck who cares about nobility this days, it¡¯s astonishing to see how that political system endures the ages.


    Maids take my father¡¯s and my mother¡¯s coat and guide us towards the stairs on the center of the well decorated hall.


    There are some landscape paintings on the walls left and right. The stairs are spot-on dead center traveling upwards onto the second floor. A dark blue carpet with golden borders covers the steps of the stair.


    It¡¯s different than my house, where the carpet is black with silvery borders. But hey we are not in my home so no point describing it.


    I¡¯m being carried by my father but I want to enter walking on my own two feet. Let my little cousin see me walking on my own and surprise aunty and uncle.


    I start making funny noises and moving my legs, father understands and puts me down while saying it¡¯s ok to mother.


    I look at mother and stomp my small feets on the ground like a small odd march, and she laughs. Seeing that I can¡¯t help but smile and raise up my hand.


    That seems to surprise her, her brow rose a little, she tilt her head and grabbed my hand.


    The maid informs of our arrival.


    ¡°Lord Mark Regenald Decebal the second, Lady Leanore Elaine Decebal and their daughter Lady Gatriel Decebal are here¡±


    Aha! so you noticed eh? Yes my name is Gatriel, it has always been Gatriel, and it will always be Gatriel. It seems to be some odd twist of the ¡®returnage¡¯, our names never seem to vary ever, it is the same for all of us, always always the same names.


    Each and every time I¡¯m born my parents ¡°feel the need¡± to call me Gatriel, my last name varies every time, but my first name is without mistake, Gatriel.


    ¡°Let them in, thank you¡±


    My uncle¡¯s deep voice informs the maid from inside the room, and she opens the doors for us.


    We walk side by side towards the big bed where aunt lies with the baby, uncle stands up to receive us. And as soon as he does a loud alarm went off in the room.


    ¡°Waaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaa¡±


    Woah! That kid sure knows how to cry, those are some lungs she got there, good for you aunty, uncle, you got a healthy child.


    ¡°Waaaaaaa wa wa wa waaaaaaaaaaaaaa wa waaaaaaa wawa waaaaaaa¡±


    My aunt and uncle are startled, it seems they haven''t seen her cry like that.


    Uncle Clay explained later that she didn''t cry much, ¡®well not like your Gat that didn¡¯t cry at all, but she doesn''t cry that much normally¡¯, and aunty is trying to calm the baby without any effect whatsoever, she just doesn¡¯t stop crying her lungs out.


    Father laughs and tells him ¡®that is the sign of a healthy child Clay be happy¡¯ and then jokes about how he was worried saying ¡®Maybe my Gat wasn¡¯t healthy enough you know, I have never heard her cry like that haha¡¯.


    I pouted a little (gotta play the part you know), puffed my cheeks, and stomped my right little feet on the floor crossing my little arms and called to him ¡®papa¡¯ *hmph* with my ¡®angry face¡¯ (well if it is even possible to put an angry face haha).


    My father and uncle seeing that burst into laughter, seems my attitude was more cute than anything else, not quite what I wanted.


    Mother walks with me towards the bed and what I saw there was just amazing, the little girl was looking straight at me, crying her lungs out, as if she was not crying senselessly but instead trying to speak.


    Or rather she was speaking to me, but heck I¡¯ve never seen her before you know? She was just born a week ago.


    She is indeed cute, black hair, black eyes, uh? hmmmm, white skin, deep gaze, hmmmm, wait a minute¡­


    No it can¡¯t be, we¡¯ve never been direct family before and we should not be able to ¡°sense¡± others yet.


    I look into her eyes and tilt my head, her hands are waving wildly towards me, her little lungs are still being filled and emptied with ridiculously loud cries.


    My aunt¡¯s face shows confusion and she is frozen in bed, probably has been frozen in place since the the baby started crying her heart out.


    ¡°Mama, mama, up¡±


    I said and raised my arms towards Lea, she smiled and lifted me into the bed, the little girl is wildly flailing her little arms stretched towards me.


    She cries and cries and flails her little limbs crazily (it¡¯s actually quite cute seeing this spectacle), my aunt seems to have realized that she wanted to come to me and brought her close to me


    ¡°Seems Ali recognizes her cousin, isn¡¯t that amazing? so incredibly lovable and cute, isn''t she beautiful Gat? Your new little cousin!¡±


    Says my aunt smiling(such a beautiful woman indeed). I just nodded and smiled warmly.


    I got close to the baby and looked at her, there is no doubt in my mind, not just that she stopped crying as soon as we came in contact, it¡¯s those eyes that are looking straight into mine, I know that look, that strong gaze can only belong to her.


    As I pat her head I smirked, couldn''t help it you know, it''s my turn to be the eldest haha, at my smirk the baby cried loudly as if complaining for about four seconds and stopped.


    My aunt tried to grab her but Ali didn''t let go of my dress, so mother helped to get her to let her tiny hands go. My aunt then put ali on her uncovered breast and that was it, she couldn''t help herself and started to eat.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Shortly after Ali fell asleep and so did I while my the adults were talking, laughing and celebrating.


    It''s been six months since that loudly annoying night so I¡¯m two years old now and having found Ali, with blood ties at that, I spend as much time with her as I can.


    My father and uncle have guards together(well they belong to the same knight squad), so when there is a guard, we go to auntys home, and when there is not, they come to ours, well not just aunt and uncle, but their friends too.


    And since now there are two children on this side, the Knight¡¯s kids come too, most of them are older than, the younger is 4 years old, the eldest is 6.


    They are a bit conceited but well that''s normal, they are starting to develop their personality, and being the sons of the knights of The Pegasus, the Knight squadron lead by my father (such a rare custom to name the squadrons), they have already started learning the ways of the sword.


    In the barbecues done here at the castle I spend my time reading books with Ali whenever possible, she''s too small yet to talk, but it''s not far off, I¡¯m certain in about two to four more months she''ll start saying mama and papa just like I did.


    The boys are annoying, disciplined when training yes, but annoying when not, they like to play knights saving the princess, and try incessantly to bring us into their play, no matter how much I tell them that we don¡¯t want to they just keep trying.


    ¡°Drop that book and come on Gat, let''s play knights and bandits¡±


    ¡°Would you be so kind as to not call me Gat please? We are not close enough for you to call me so familiarly. Thank you young lord William, young lord Slate, young lord Armon¡±


    The adults seem to have heard me and their eyes went round, mouths totally agape while the kids got angry. I¡¯m really well educated and speak sometimes (if not most of the time) as if I were a lot older than I look (it¡¯s not like they know anything really about how long I¡¯ve been alive).


    Armon, the eldest boy started walking towards where Ali and I were sitting, holding his small even funny wooden sword, his face was showing his discontent openly. He refers to me as bookworm when he think I can¡¯t hear.


    ¡°What''s the deal with you ¡®Gat¡¯ haven''t your respected lord father taught you to respect your elders? Ah¡±


    While holding his wooden sword posed on his shoulder, as if telling me that he would hit me if my father wasn''t here.


    I couldn''t help but snort, it¡¯s time to play the defenseless girly card.


    ¡°Waaaa waaaaa papa papa Armon is bullying me, papa papa im afraid hes going to hit me with his sword¡±


    Hows that you ass! Quickly go away will you? You are annoying, a n n o y i n g!. I looked at him and showed him an evil smile, then looked back at the adults and continued to cry until Armon¡¯s dad showed up followed by my father, both whom scolded him harshly.


    Lord Knight Klauss is a strong knight that reports to the Lions(Like uncle Clay) short dark brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and as most Knights muscled body!


    Armon¡¯s dad went as far as to slap him on the face so hard that he fell down on his bottoms.


    ¡°But lord father¡±


    Armon tried to complain, but his father stopped him right there and then, my father was standing right behind Lord Knight Klauss, Armon¡¯s dad, looking at him with such fierce eyes that I thought for a second ¡®Shit I overdid it¡¯.


    ¡°Firstly, a man would never wave a sword in front a lady.


    Second, she told you not to call her ¡®Gat¡¯ and you went and called her by the very name she told her not to, and then you go and dishonor his father.


    Such a disappointment for me to see that behaviour, and you wish to be a knight?


    Aren''t you the oldest here?¡±


    That was one heck of a reprimand, yes I went a bit overboard here, I think I should interfere here, it¡¯s not like I wanted to humiliate him.


    I just got a bit mad at his attitude that¡¯s all. But if I go out of my way and say something, it could also trample over both father and son¡¯s pride.


    Oh well it¡¯s my responsibility so let''s just say something.


    ¡°Lord Knight Klauss, *sob* I was too rash *sob* and ill mannered *sob*, don¡¯t punish him too hard, *sob* I was at fault too *sob*¡±


    My father showed a smile at my words, and Lord Knight Klaus''s brow rose in surprise, nodding extended a hand to his son and let him go with just that.


    After thanking me and forcing the kid to say sorry they both their separate ways, kid to kids, adults to adults.


    And I kept reading in a low voice the book to Ali who was showing a somewhat amused smile(if even possible at her current age) on her incredibly cute face.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 3 - Royal Academy

    Ch 3 - Royal Academy


    The cafeteria of the Royal Academy, if I were to describe this place hmmm, It¡¯s a huge rectangular hall of two stories, the second floor is more like a vip balcony, as it only allow entrance to high nobles and royalty.


    The first floor is filled with tables where the students sit to eat and chat, from the entrance all the way back to the cafeteria¡¯s counter where you order and get your food.


    As the fiery swordswoman entered through the door, the place went almost mute. Everyone here knows who she is, not just because who her father is, but also both her unearthly beauty, her lovely figure and her strength are recognized by everyone since the entrance test last year.


    Using a very odd dual wield style of swordsmanship, she went through the Knight¡¯s test undefeated and without losing a single point.


    Then starting her first year a couple of months ago she sits at the top of the Knight¡¯s division sword art class beginner¡¯s course.


    She¡¯s not conceited, she¡¯s not evil, yet isn¡¯t either the saint type. Is not like she goes out of her way to teach others, nor to help those in need, if it¡¯s not ¡°right there¡± she just won¡¯t pursue it, or at least until now that¡¯s how it was. Since her entrance in the academy, a lot of bullying has stopped.


    Beside her, clad in the shadow arts uniform, specializing in information gathering, and ¡®not so flavorous¡¯ endeavors, walks another of the roses of the Royal Academy garden.


    Another genius of the caliber of the fiery swordswoman, who also passed the entrance exam undefeated and untouched the same day and even a year early than usual, her younger cousin and best friend.


    All the boys oogle at the two, where the black haired lovable beauty smiles, the red haired untouchable princess frowns. Two of the top flowers of the ¡®Flowers of the Royal Academy Garden¡¯.


    These are two have completely different characters, yet they stick to each other each time they are not in their respective classrooms. Inseparable friends, the daughter of The Pegasus and the daughter of one the Lions of The Pegasus.


    Both parents are well known and strong Knights who married sisters of unparalleled beauty in the kingdom. Brought to this world two incredibly beautiful young ladies, and they both started this year attending here at this Royal Academy.


    ¡°Ahhhh if she wasn¡¯t that fierce, I¡¯d love to court her¡±


    I let out a whisper on my table with my friends, who like everybody else are watching those two enter, not early but not late, you could say ¡°perfectly¡± in time for lunch break.


    ¡°Forget it Dan, she is out of our league, besides we are still too young to even think of that you know, they are 10 and 9, too young to be courted, and too strong to even care about us¡±


    I look at Paul who¡¯s sitting on my right, his face is equally red as most of the guys around, I¡¯m sure he wants the same, yet he understands, it¡¯s not just about age, neither of those two would date someone weaker.


    He seems to know them since they were small, his father is part of the pegasus guard, albeit file-and-rank, still just being part of that squad you can say his dad is one of the few elite.


    Aliyah just looked this way and bowed slightly her head in a greeting, while waving at some other tables somewhere. People don¡¯t bother looking wherever she waves but where she bowed, and there it is, those envious stares concentrated on this table, Paul and James bow their heads slightly and our conversation keeps going as usual.


    ¡°So Paul¡¯s and James¡¯s dad both are part of The Pegasus guard, I¡¯m so envious¡±


    I said, my dad is a city guard, a high one ranked at that, but still just a city guard. I couldn¡¯t even dream to be part of their weekend barbecues. They have told me that every other weekend they meet at Gat *woops* Gatriel¡¯s home to play, have barbecue and train with their parents.


    ¡°Would you like to come with us next weekend Dan? I¡¯m sure if I speak to my dad he¡¯ll allow it¡±


    ¡°Uh? W. wha? What did you just say?¡±


    Nervously I asked, I wasn¡¯t expecting that, what did he just say? To go with him next weekend? To where? To Gat¡¯s? What¡¯s this? A dream? No no, he must mean something else, I¡¯m sure


    ¡°I said, ¡®Would you like to come with us next weekend Dan?¡¯?¡±


    James repeated himself, in a way that I wouldn''t misunderstand making sure I got the message. He¡¯s staring at me waiting for an answer. Is he being thoughtful or mean? Which is it.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but it¡¯s ok? My dad is not part of the squad and I¡¯m not even that much of a friend to Gat¡±


    ¡°If she hears you calling her ¡®that¡¯ you won¡¯t be able to go, not because the lack of motivation but the lack of healthy bones, careful there Dan¡±


    It was Paul who intervened now, and he¡¯s right, if Gatriel hears me saying ¡°Gat¡± I¡¯m a dead man. Breathe in, breathe out, calm yourself me, calm yourself.


    ¡°You are right, won¡¯t happen again, sorry, really sorry, please forgive me¡±


    ¡°Whats with you Daniel Lief, are the boys here bullying you?¡±


    It¡¯s an angel, an angel, there is no doubt in my mind that voice is an angel!


    ¡°Eh, am, erm, uhh, hehe, am¡±


    Uhgg, I went again on my stupid habit of being at a loss of words each time she speaks to me. That¡¯s right, each time Gatriel speaks to me I can¡¯t speak back, I turn into tomato-man(or so they say) and can¡¯t utter a word again.


    ¡°Such a wimp, Daniel Lief, with that attitude you won¡¯t be able to make a fine knight, you have to be more courageous¡±


    Awawawa there she goes again, calling me wimp, hearing Gat calling me a wimp breaks my heart a little, she is so disappointed in me that I can feel it, without even looking at her I can feel that intense stare raining down disappointment-beams on me.


    ¡°Sorry Lady Gatriel, it¡¯s not like that, James just invited me to your house next weekend and I was at a loss of words¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I mustered some courage and spoke back to her, I even looked her in the eyes, those beautiful, lovable red eyes, are entrancing, it¡¯s like watching into a sea of fire, her red hair, her eyes, that lovable face, her lightly tanned skin, her lips, oh forgotten gods give me strength to not crumble here.


    ¡°Ho ho! So ¡®Lord James¡¯ invited you to ¡®MY¡¯ house next weekend eh, did you hear that Ali¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ Isn¡¯t that fine Gat, why not, the more the merrier isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Aliyah, my life saver, I thought Gat would refuse and remove the invitation right there on the spot! Aliyah hurray, hurray Aliyah, I smile at Aliyah and nod my head, to which she replied in kind.


    ¡°Yes I did Lady Gatriel, is there something wrong with extending an invitation to a good friend to a gathering? Be it on your house or mine, it¡¯s a place where friends meet, share sweat training the sword, talk and eat, was it wrong of me to assume you wouldn''t mind?¡±


    Uwauwa so courageous James, I¡¯m so envious, but sorry you are on your own here, I close my eyes tightly and move a bit out of the way. Any second now a sword will fly down on his head.


    But no sound ever came, instead the most unusual question of all times resounded in the silent cafeteria.


    ¡°It¡¯s as you said James, there is nothing wrong. It is my bad for trying to tease him a little too much. Would it be fine for Ali and myself to sit and share the table with you guys?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    There I went again, and let out a weird sound, so embarrassing, gather your courage me, reset those circular surprised eyes, remove the tomato costume, and speak like a man.


    ¡°Erm, I mean, Esteemed Lady Gatriel, is it ok for me to go?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say so? Sir James is right, there is nothing wrong with inviting friends to a friends gathering is there?¡±


    I see of course, inviting friends to a friends gathering, that¡¯s it, that settles it, I¡¯m dreaming. No no, Jokes aside, it¡¯s incredible, it¡¯s the first time I actually hold a conversation with the Gatriel, amazing me, go go me!


    ¡°Well then, I accept the invitation, thank you very much my Esteemed Lady¡±


    ¡°Drop it Dan!! Esteemed is my lord father The Pegasus. When talking to me just call me Gatriel, no need to go out of the way and add Lady when we are friends just talking, right Ali?¡±


    The crowd went crazy in that second, as soon as Gat said those words, people started coming towards our table asking if they could go. If they could call her Gatriel without adding lady, there were some crazy bastards that even asked if they could call her Gat,


    ¡°What¡¯s the ruckus in this place, show some manners Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a place for light chatting and eating, behave yourself as proper knights in training.¡±


    With an very gentle but loud voice from the top floor reserved for the nobility, a feminine voice roared down to us. Yes that voice, it¡¯s her no doubt about it, Princess Roxana Reiyah, the third princess of the kingdom, and another of the roses of the Royal Academy garden.


    The cafeteria went again on their normal tones, with a bit of unrest of course, Princess Roxana just sent everyone back to their tables with a single order. Her charisma is fairly good, as expected of one of the candidates for the Royal Academy Council of students.


    ¡°Ara ara, Lady Decebal, it is really rare to see you eating in the cafeteria, and rarer yet, not here up but down there with the¡±


    She looked down at everyone, she made a small pause. I doubt she is going to say ¡®peasants¡¯ or the likes, even if she puts too much importance to novelty rank, she is a princess.


    ¡°Rest of the students...¡±


    She finished, clearly containing herself from saying something impolite, she''s a princess and cannot just blurt whatever she wants impolitely.


    Every eye in the location, above and below, were shifting between Gatriel and Roxana, the sparks are almost visible between this two ladies. They don''t like each other or at least seems that way, but you know, it¡¯s that, that, in the air, that not so friendly atmosphere between them whenever they clash.


    ¡°And what¡¯s wrong with it? Are you telling me that it¡¯s wrong to sit and eat with friends just because they are of a lower rank than mine? I¡¯m sorry princess, but that¡¯s just unfitting of a noble, to discriminate statuses, is disheartening hearing you say that¡±


    ¡°Oya~ Lady Decebal, but I never said anything of the sort, if my memory serves me well I said ¡®rest of the students¡¯, nothing else, and are we not friends too? You could have come up here and sit with me.¡±


    The princess has a smug smile on her face, that face which says ¡®I won this argument o~ho~ho~ho¡¯, I don¡¯t like it, don¡¯t bully my angel you mean princess.


    ¡°Ho ho Princess Roxana, excuse me for my impoliteness, indeed you are one of my oldest friends, so please allow me to also extend you the invitation, you can come down here and join us. Also would you join us next weekend at my house?, we are having a gathering of friends there¡±


    Wwwww www ww w w www wwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhttttt the heck is going on here? What did Gat just do? Whats going on with the princess, why is her face so red, you can see her face going redder, any second now her head is going to explode.


    ¡°Oh! Such warm words, I gladly accept your invitation to go to your place on the weekend, but right now I can¡¯t go down as I¡¯m with many other friends and we wouldn¡¯t fit on a table, I hope you don¡¯t mind¡±


    With a forced smile, and a raging look the princess accepted the weekend invitation¡­ uwauwauwa what¡¯s going on.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 4 - The Decebal Castle

    Ch 4 - The Decebal Castle


    That harpy Roxana accepting my invitation, dammit, sometimes I want to rip her head off. While thinking that I¡¯m walking around the castle.


    After I spoke with mother and father they were surprised but at the same time somewhat delighted that I was inviting friends over and agreed almost immediately.


    Father went out of his way and blurted some ridiculous stuff about inviting the king and whatnot, that¡¯s just crazy talk, so I¡¯ll leave it at that.


    I¡¯m ten years old now, almost eleven, soon my father got to make my introduction to society. It¡¯s a needlessly meddlesome way of doing things in this country, to introduce your children into the noble society when they turn twelve.


    Mother has taken care to teach me social studies like politics, manners, walking, eating, talking, etiquette since I was little. Once she figured I understood words properly, could read and do calculations, she started teaching me about all those


    ¡®a lady must talk properly¡¯


    ¡®a lady must eat properly¡¯


    ¡®a lady must be entertaining¡¯


    ¡®a lady must walk properly¡¯


    Again I have nothing against those things, I learnt them a long time ago and it¡¯s not like I have forgotten. They just bore me to death.


    Her face when I said I wanted to be a knight was incredible, she even shed tears (crocodile tears of course) saying that a lady shouldn¡¯t walk that path. But after accepting to learn what she wanted to teach me, she allowed me to learn the sword from my father.


    She must have thought that I would find it dreadful and the pain would scare me away, heh, I was 3 when I said that and my father was elated and worried at the same time, he must have thought I meant ¡®I want to be like papa¡¯.


    Well it¡¯s ok for him to believe that.


    Now it¡¯s been 7 years since father and his men have been teaching me the sword, it¡¯s different from my style. Apparently the dual wield style is not commonly used, but that¡¯s how I like it and they have adapted their teachings to match it.


    I¡¯ve fought with it for several millennia before (ofc they don¡¯t know that), so I kept at it until they gave up.


    The concept of energy(¡®qi¡¯) is not really that widespread or at least seems to be unknown in this kingdom, so I¡¯ve been training my energy in secret with ali.


    I started feeling my energy when I was five, which was a surprise, never before it manifested earlier than eight to ten years of age, but well it just happened.


    Since then I¡¯ve been training it, molding it, increasing its purity, capacity and strength.


    I felt ali¡¯s energy when she turned 6, so indeed it seems this time it happened a bit earlier than usual.


    When I decided to be a swordswoman, err, knight, I realized a couple of things, first, the calendar changed a lot, this is the year of heavenly fire or whatever, in numbers it¡¯s the year 1130(I was born on 1120).


    Our previous fall was the longest ever, was three thousands years ago, that was quite astounding to me, but considering that we have lived for almost fifteen centuries at times, it seems we were gone for a whole era (as they like to call them that nowadays) who knows.


    Enough of that, focus on today, friends uh, Ali has been pestering me a lot to open up a bit more, that I am too closed, too unapproachable, maybe I ought to give it a try.


    At about 9 am Ali came running into my room wearing her usual attire, leatherish black chest armor-piece, her pants made of black flexible fabric with black leatherish patches here and there, not too tight not too loose, easy to walk and fight with. 2 daggers hanging on her hip (wooden daggers considering her age and training stage) and some wooden shurikens on her legs, ready to be grabbed and thrown, just her style.


    In my closet is my gear, you could say it¡¯s a fair imitation of my usual gear, it took a while convincing father and mother to let me design it.


    Father was fixated on plates while mother was just against anything of the sort saying ¡®lady this, lady that, lady another, lady bleh¡¯ but after a lot of begging, when I got accepted into the Royal Academy they both agreed.


    Dark red-blood leather chest, with some black metal pieces covering my front, back, arms and sides, that goes over a black thin delicate long sleeve chainmail and shirt, same color leather+fabric trousers, also with pieces of black metal covering the back and front of my thigh calf and shin, and heavy sturdy leather boots.


    Father''s appreciation is that it has a lot of blind spots, but hey! My style covers for it anyway.


    It¡¯s not quite complete as it would be really weird if I asked to get my armor designed as I used it in the past.


    I¡¯m small and still growing, so this allow for that, changing only the leather parts often, and the metal parts once every two years is more than enough for now.


    Ali and a maid help me gear up, is not like I need it but mother has always been adamant about the maids help me put on my clothes and gear. I¡¯m already used to it.


    Once the job is done I look at the table near the door of my room and there they are, my custom made wooden blades. That also took a while to convince my father because they are not normal swords of this era, but... it¡¯s my style.


    After learning for a couple of years with his swords, he accepted to get an artisan to craft my wooden practice swords based on the drawing and measures I gave.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Picking up my swords and putting them in the scabbard on my back, walked out the room with Ali by my side.


    Walking down the stairs I see father and uncle talking while facing us, they seem to be waiting for us.


    Mother and Aunty jumped of their seats when they saw us and started asking us ¡®whats with the getup¡¯ and stuff, they thought we were going to dress differently than any other saturday?


    ¡°Girls go back and put some dresses on! You are receiving friends today what kind of attire is that to receive visitors?¡±


    ¡°Mom they are knights in training, and they most certainly will come with their training gear too, I never said ¡®it''s a celebration¡¯ nor ¡®it''s a party¡¯, this is our usual weekend, where we sweat, train, talk, laugh and eat, please let us be¡±


    I pleaded mother to calm down but she was still agitated and shaking her head while closing her eyes, then spoke of the reason for her agitation.


    ¡°Today Lady Princess Roxana will come with her brothers, this is no attire to receive the royal family in our home¡±


    **sigh**


    ¡°Dear mother, neither Ali nor I will change attires, as princess Roxana is well aware of the kind of gathering we are having. It¡¯s no secret in the city that every other saturday The Pegasus Knights meet at the castle of The Pegasus to train and bond, if they decide to come formally dressed, it''s their fault for not knowing of the proper code of dressing for a training day. Besides whats with that about brothers, *I DID NOT* invite anyone else but princess Roxana¡±


    Making sure the *I DID NOT* was emphasized properly, with a little raising of my voice, I shot a smile to mother and ran out to the back yard where my father¡¯s men were already setting up for the barbecue.


    A couple of hours later, and a lot of running away from mother more people made their way into the backyard, I was fighting with a knight commander of my father¡¯s squad when a cryer announced the arrival of the king and his family.


    King Garrett Beves Reiyah the Earnest, Queen Alote Ancret Reiyah, first prince Higg Armand Reiyah, second princess Amelinne Sophie Reiyah, third princess Roxana Reiyah, and fourth prince Bernard Reiyah


    Everybody stopped what they were doing and kneeled (yes I did too).


    ¡°Oh please, thank you for the welcome but as you were, today is a day of training and friendship as was informed by Lord Mark Regenald Decebal, as you were¡±


    I could see the faces of the other kids stunned, and several of the knights were frozen while kneeling, well I was surprised too, I thought when father said that the king should be invited was just you know, blabbering of an old man too happy because of an odd request of his daughter.


    As I expected, the king and the princes(male) wore all armors and their respective weapon equipment, while Roxana and Amelinne wore casual wear, fitting for the occasion.


    This was my first time seeing Amelinne up close, and wow she is a really beautiful woman, older than us, she is 17 years of age, adult by every account in our country. She just graduated from the Royal Academy in the politics course.


    Her attire was very casual, blue comfortable trousers, and a blue coat that matches her pants covering a frilly white shirt. Sporty dark brown boots that went almost to her knees, tied up with black laces, the kind used to ride horses.


    Blonde long hair tied to her back, white palish skin, and bewitching blue eyes. She gave an image of radiance that could stun any man in the location.


    Same can be said about Higg, a man of 18 years of age, tall with sturdy yet not bulky body and extremely handsome face, wearing a  warm smile that can fool anyone into thinking him a weakling. It¡¯s clear that his body has been trained for combat since he was a runt.


    His armor was a studded leather chest piece, with a subtle chainmail behind it, and sturdy leather+fabric trousers, his boots were black and heavy, very much like the his gloves.


    Those two are without a single doubt brother and sister of the same caliber of their parents, both with extremely good looks and preparation, they carry themselves with dignity worthy of being called prince and princess of a kingdom.


    They will one day rule their respective kingdoms, Higg here in Amil, and Amelinne to wherever kingdom she¡¯s married into.


    Roxana wore something similar to her sister but pinkish and white, more girly and less ready for grass-work, but still very elegant, though she is older than me by a year(eleven years old), she is soon to debut into this country noble society.


    She is petite and has very slender figure, somewhat short of stature, but no one can deny that she is a really beautiful lady that will grow up to be as beautiful as her sister and mother.


    That¡¯s one family of blonde people for sure, those blue eyes are really appealing to most who seen them.


    The fourth prince, well it¡¯s a runt, short blonde hair, blue eyes, and really fat!.


    Bad bad king! queen go discipline that kid and your bad king! Get him on a diet, and make him workout!


    He is about 4 years old, and seems to be more scared than anything, he¡¯ll have fun with the other kids if he¡¯s not too arrogant or scared.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 5 - The party turns into a surprise

    Ch 5 - The party turns into a surprise


    As the king asked us to go as we were, I resumed my combat training.


    Julius, James, Dan, Armon, Duke, Friedrich, Galiene, Azer, Theresa, Anais among other kids were sitting watching the training, some cheering me and some cheering the knight.


    It was a beautiful dance of swords believe me, this man knows his stuff and by all means is stronger than me, well it¡¯s to be expected, I¡¯m ten years old and he must be no less than twenty seven.


    *swoosh* swing to the right


    *clank* parry with my right sword


    *womp* kick towards my chest


    *wirl* dodge by twisting my body after kicking the floor lightly


    ¡°Hahaha Gat has gotten stronger this past years I wonder if I can really win¡±


    The Knight¡¯s name is Aaron Rourat, Knight commander of the pegasus knights, and is on the third level on the chain of command, reporting directly to the lions(uncle Clay for example).


    ¡°You Tease me lord Aaron, I¡¯m but a kid, every day I learn more and more thanks to you taking it easy on me hehe¡±


    I compliment the knight as indeed there is no hope for me in this fight, if he were to fight seriously I¡¯ll drop unconscious with a single swing.


    Even if I were to use energy(¡®qi¡¯), my body is too small, too light and I dont have the strength to battle this kind of opponent -yet.


    ¡°Hahaha lets see, come Gat, I¡¯ll take you on¡±


    The man baits me and I decided to take the bait. I will attempt one of my old moves, not sure if I¡¯ll manage.


    *swish swish swish stumble*


    Attempted a three swing hit with my two swords while rotating on my right leg and lost my balance at the end.


    *clang clang clang thump*


    The attacks were parried and a light kick landed on my side which threw me away half a meter.


    ¡°See, there you have it, and you weren''t even half serious there! I¡¯ve seen you fight my esteemed lord father, and this doesn''t even come close to you even joking¡±


    My eyes were dead serious, I looked at the man while saying my words with a sharp gaze, he rose his brow a little and let escape a small wry smile.


    ¡°Kid! what was that move right now¡±


    An unfamiliar voice called from the crowd, the somewhat commanding tone irritated me a lot.


    ¡°Who do you think you are calling a kid ah¡±


    Turning around violently as I shouted my line looking for whomever interrupted my very important training and then my eyes met with a circled eyed, agape mouthed first prince!


    That shocked me a little, as I was so immersed in my training that I didn''t sense him approaching.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lord first prince Higg, I didn¡¯t knew you were watching¡±


    I excused myself while bowing my head, I didn¡¯t kneel down tho, he¡¯s not the king, just a prince. Everyone in the place was stunned, the only thing that could be heard was the laugh of the king, that was right in front of me, a little bit behind the prince to his left.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Lady Gatriel Decebal, daughter of The Pegasus, it was my son¡¯s foolish manners in his surprise, he probably forgot your name after seeing such an outlandish and weird maneuver¡±


    When the king spoke the prince immediately regained his bearings, and bowed his head slightly, his right hand closed into a light punch in front of his heart and his left arm bent behind his back.


    ¡°It is as my lord father the king said, I¡¯m sorry for my bad manners, the surprise I received from your movements left me simply astounded, that move anyone would think it impossible to land, yet the gracefulness of your movement and your balance were splendid. Does it have a name? What was it that you attempted to do?¡±


    The prince showed true surprise, I think I got a bit too serious there and showed something a bit too early, oh well that''s how it is.


    ¡°Hahahaha Gat surprised me too with that move, I¡¯ve never seen it in this past 7 years that I¡¯ve been teaching her the sword, hahahahaha didn¡¯t I said it, she¡¯s going to beat me soon enough¡±


    My training partner, lord knight Aaron praised my move, trying to lighten the air in the place, and I noticed everyone here in the training area were showing relieved expressions.


    But not everywhere, back on the tea table, where the Queen, princesses, and other women were, I could see some displeased stares pointing my way.


    Roxana¡¯s face was red and the veins on her temples were about to explode, it seems she didn¡¯t take kindly my words to her elder brother.


    The Queen, at first threw me a displeased look, but as the king spoke she quickly changed back to her normal smile.


    ¡°Lord first prince Higg, the move does not have a name yet, as you can see it¡¯s still incomplete, as I lack both the strength and nimbleness to execute what I had envisioned in my mind¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that style you use to fight?, it¡¯s entirely different to our country¡¯s military fighting style. So it seems it¡¯s true that an unorthodox fighter entered the academy in the past years. I was out on a campaign so I didn¡¯t had the time to check, but I was wondering what the all rumors were about¡±


    The prince shoot me a difficult question, it¡¯s not like I can say that it¡¯s a style I developed myself thousands of years ago, neither can I just say that their fighting style is just bad, because it¡¯s not, it just doesn¡¯t fit me.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Lord prince, I¡¯m just freestyling, it has no name nor it¡¯s a style per-se, playing around with my swords trying to find a form that fits me perfectly, a style that suites what I like and how I like to move¡±


    ¡°Gat, what are you saying eh! Why are yo...--¡±


    Ali stands up and shoots me a strong stare, aaaaa, ali read the mood yes?, I¡¯m certain you can do it... wait a minute, what¡¯s with that smirl? that was on purpose. That cute little vixen! I decided to interrupt her right there.


    ¡°Lady Aliyah, would you be so kind as to not intrude in a conversation between your elders?¡± *smirk*


    I throw a smirk back at her! Yes, I¡¯m older now, so pay attention hehehehe, this feels amazing, and she¡¯s hating it, probably right? Yeah she is, right?.


    She looks at me with a vexed expression and lowers her head, the king, the prince, knights and kids are watching her as she just got reprimanded by me. Hahaha this is so much fun.


    ¡°*sob* so *sniff* *sob* sorry *sob*, sorry Gat *sob* dont *sob* get mad *sob* at*sob**sniff* me *sob* please, Gat, don''t *sob* get mad *sob* at me¡±


    Then her act started. Staring at me with those eyes, then covering her face with her hands, she¡¯s playing the victim eh, I can¡¯t win against her, she¡¯s way too cunning and I¡¯m too weak against her.


    ¡°Lady Gatriel, wasn¡¯t it a bit too much how you reprimanded this young lady?¡±


    The first prince fell for her trap, and turned towards her offering her a handkerchief


    ¡°Please young lady don''t take it to heart, I¡¯m sure Lady Gatriel did not meant to hurt you¡±


    Ali Ali, you vixen! Well whatever happens happens, I won¡¯t bully her much. In a couple of years if she sneaks in my room when I¡¯m sleeping and stabs me to get back at me that would be no joke.


    ¡°Lady Gatriel, would you accept a practice match against me, I¡¯m very interested in seeing your style up close first hand¡±


    Eh? What¡¯s this man saying, I tilt my head and peeled my eyes wide, looking straight at the prince with a dumbfounded expression on my face that¡¯s for sure. Ali is laughing quietly while covering her face with the handkerchief.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impressed I promise I¡¯ll take it easy as your current training partner, would you allow me the chance to fight an unknown style?¡±


    I dont really want to but I can¡¯t say no, I mean the only real movement from my own style was this botched whirlwind attack, the rest of my movements are little variations of his own style, so what¡¯s with ¡®unknown style¡¯ it doesn¡¯t take a genius to notice that it¡¯s just variation...


    I intentionally slowly move my head and gaze at my father, asking him with my raising and lowering brows what should I do.


    ¡°Why not Gat, I trained his highness prince Higg myself for a year when he was finishing his academy years, promise me something though, don¡¯t beat him too quick nor too bad ok? Hahaha¡±


    ¡®Don¡¯t beat him to quick¡¯? What¡¯s this old fart saying, he is the first prince you know, and I¡¯m a 10 years old runt, what the hell is wrong with this happy people, indeed peace dulls the senses? Is that it?


    While thinking that I look at the prince, and he is smiling at me, I can¡¯t grasp what¡¯s on his mind, those eyes are not smiling, they are not.


    ¡°So then lord prince Higg, as long as you do not forget to take it easy on me, I¡¯ll do my best to entertain you¡±


    Taking my stance, which for now is just a variation of the sword and shield stance of this country¡¯s style I accept the Prince¡¯s proposal.


    ¡°I thank you lady Gatriel Decebal, daughter of The Pegasus for accepting my humble request to spar in a bout of training, now then, what should be the stakes?¡±


    He said with a smile, what the hell with this dude, stakes? He wants to bet? I¡¯m a kid you know, be more mature you! Aren¡¯t you a prince? A first prince at that. Future king of this lands, how can you just throw that line so nonchalantly like that?


    ¡°Hahahaha, that sounds fun¡±


    ¡°Stakes, what stakes¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Gat just a little lady?, what could be the stakes here?¡±


    Voices around the arena are raised here and there, mostly about the same thing I was thinking, I¡¯m a kid, you are a man, what are you going ask? For my dad to train you more? Or for my father to accept you in his squad? Hmmm that could be, maybe he wants to join as a Lion from the get go? Don¡¯t joke around.


    I don¡¯t know how strong you are, but there is no way father will just accept you as a lion just by beating me...


    Don¡¯t tell me, he plans to beat me bloody and hold me hostage for a position? To get the pegasus title for himself?


    Urg, I have a bad feeling about this.


    Whats going on...


    I look at Ali, I¡¯m very nervous what should I do? To my surprise she¡¯s dead serious, looking straight at me she just sent the signal to beat him up, her right fist was upside down and the thumb was out, pointing to the ground.


    ¡°How about your hand in marriage once you come of age and graduate from the academy?¡±


    Eh?


    I beg your pardon?


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 6 - The crazy prince

    Ch 6 - The crazy prince


    Eh? What was that? I beg your pardon? Are you sick? Is your brain damaged? Www ww w w wwwaaa waaaa wwwhathehe what the hell?


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Did that just escaped my mouth? What the heck was that, he¡¯s crazy, totally bonkers, his brain must be made of pudding!


    He just asked for my hand in marriage? Whats with that? Eh? Calm down me, is not like you to be nervous, that was just too shocking, yeah, that¡¯s it.


    ¡°I beg your pardon? I couldn¡¯t hear too well what you just said¡±


    That''s it, calm down, I must have misheard what he said, there is no way a 18 years old man would ask for a little kid¡¯s hand in marriage right? Right? Yeah, that¡¯s it, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m just confused due to the odd turn of events.


    ¡°Once you graduate from the Royal Academy, in 7 years, we wait 1 year for you to come of age, and once you turn 18, you¡¯ll marry me. Is that easier to understand now?¡±


    Huh? Ok, that does it, this dude is crazy, but no worries, my father would never accept such an outrageous request, I mean come on, it¡¯s just nonsensical isn¡¯t it?.


    Aliyah''s stare is scary, she''s staring daggers at the prince¡¯s back, it¡¯s so intently that even I can feel her murderous intent. Ali calm down, it''s not like my lord father will ever...


    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t that a fine proposal? Would you be so kind as to elaborate on the reason for saying such a thing to my little angel? She is my daughter after all, depending on your answer, not just declining your proposition, I''ll beat you purple and not bloody out of respect for the king, how about it?¡±


    Eh? Dear loved esteemed revered adored... lord father?


    What the hell is this? I look between the prince and my father and caught a glance of the smiling king... what¡¯s going on here? What is he happy so happy about? Was this planned from the start? Did the king knew about this? I look again at my father, and he¡¯s not angry, he¡¯s actually smiling? Eh? You selling me to the prince?


    ¡°My esteemed lord father the king told me that your daughter had grown to be a true jewel of beauty, and it seems she¡¯s even one of the ¡®Flowers of the Royal Academy garden¡¯ knowing of the beauty of your wife, I couldn''t deny myself the privilege of laying eyes upon her at least once. As my lord father spoke so highly of her, I decided to come today, and being honest here, his praises ended up falling short. She is by no means a mere flower, and no jewel can even compare to the beauty of your daughter, it is indeed clear that she is still a child, but there is no doubt that she will grow to be one of the most if not the most beautiful woman in the world. So I want to ask you for her hand in marriage when the time is right.¡±


    And he kneels... o h  m y  g o d, what¡¯s going on here, that¡¯s one hell of a wall of text, no I mean answer, if it were to be written, surely would take a couple of pages, did he prepare it before hand?


    You pedo-prince, I¡¯m a kid you know? well not really, so again, hey pedo-prince, I LOOK like a kid, this me has 10 years of age, what¡¯s with you? Think this through please, come on you pedo-prince, think this through yes? Please? Wink? No no, no winks...


    ¡°Ho ho, and what do I gain if you lose? You are asking me for my daughter, my little angel, are you prepared to give me something of equivalent value --to me--?¡±


    *plop* I fell down in the grass, I can¡¯t understand this conversation, nor the way this is going, how can this be happening to me? I just wanted to bring some friends, to try to listen to Ali and ¡®make friends¡¯ you know, try and ¡®make myself more approachable¡¯.


    ¡°Hey what¡¯s going on, Dan, Dan, are you ok, Dan, Dan?¡±


    ¡°James what¡¯s this? Wasn¡¯t this going to be a normal practice/barbecue?¡±


    ¡°Is The Pegasus crazy? His daughter is still a little runt¡±


    ¡°Indeed, she¡¯s just a little girl, she¡¯s good yes but isn¡¯t this too sudden?¡±


    ¡°There is no doubt that the prince is really strong, he¡¯s the head of the royal guard you know, that¡¯s not a position you get just by being ¡®good enough¡¯¡±


    ¡°Certainly, that¡¯s a position closer to The Pegasus himself. So it¡¯s a political marriage then?¡±


    ¡°Dear esteemed mother, are you ok with this? My dearest and beloved esteemed elder brother and Gat?¡±


    ¡°Shut up Roxana, it is not yours nor mine decision to make, its Higg¡¯s and The Pegasus¡±


    ¡°Oi oi oi oi¡±


    ¡°So it was decided that Gatriel was going to be given to the prince from the get-go? She stands no chance of winning this fight¡±


    That last line just rub me wrong, but I¡¯m losing focus here now. I know people are still talking in hush hush voices, but I can¡¯t hear a thing, one thing is true I¡¯m a kid, and that I know I stand no chance -yet.


    But for that no-good ass Armon to say it just pisses me off, this long past years he¡¯s been on my case challenging me to fight at every turn. He¡¯s about to turn 18 and he¡¯s yet to win a match against me since my father allowed me to fight the other kids.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°How about this, I¡¯m asking for your daughter, then I¡¯ll offer you the king¡¯s son? I drop from my charge as Leader of the Royal guard, and join the Pegasus guard as a rank-and-file recruit, isn¡¯t a son for a daughter a fair trade?¡±


    Ok, I give up. I¡¯m going to silence my mind here, I¡¯ll just ask Ali and develop a strategy.


    I call Ali to the other far end of the training area and start whispering with her on how to get out of this ridiculous situation.


    ¡°So? What to do? I don¡¯t want to marry this crazy prince¡±


    ¡°~nuuu~, don¡¯t marry him then, want me to kill him ~ehehe~?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say scary things with that face and tone Ali, let¡¯s think of a way to get out of this situation¡±


    ¡°Isnt it obvious then? ~nyan~¡±


    ¡°Nyan? Uh, erm, What¡¯s obvious, he¡¯s almost double my age, my size, and very likely my strength¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~, That¡¯s not true Gat, there is not a single being in existence, except that monster back then of course, that¡¯s stronger than you, one on one at least. ~bubu~¡±


    ¡°*sigh*Ali, my body is not yet developed, I¡¯m a kid, you are aware of it right? What are you blabbering about? Is not like I can just grow up, beat the crap out of him and then return back to a kid''s body.¡±


    ¡°~nee nee~ Come on Gat, think a little. Haven''t you been training it for the past years, if you use it, even if a tiny bit, you should be able to win against this man somehow¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about ali--¡±


    Shit true, energy(¡®qi¡¯), should I go for it? It is true that if I employ a tiny bit of energy I can somehow perform some odd movement and disarm him, maybe, hmmm, stop the cutesy talk you vixen¡­ no I mean stick to one, would you please?


    ¡°see, ~ehehe~ you figured it out ~pyon~¡±


    Ok, I¡¯ll figure out a way to fake an attack, employ energy to it, and disarm the pedo-prince, once he is disarmed, the fight should be over and that''s that.


    ¡°So then Gat, you ready for the fight, his arguments are sound, and as your lord father, and family representative I think the proposal is fair, what say you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to marry, so it is ok if I beat him right? Oh, let¡¯s add a condition¡±


    Uh? Did I just say that? Hmm well yeah it¡¯s better to make it clear from the get-go.


    ¡°*WHEN* I win, whatever you two agreed on add this, no matter what, this issue cannot be brought back again, and any future possibility of talking about this crazy talk is forbidden. And then you lord father nor esteemed lady mother will ever try to find me a partner ok? As that should be my decision to make. Is that acceptable?¡±


    Was that too out-of-my-age range? Hell if I care, I won¡¯t ever marry this pedo-prince.


    ¡°Ahem, so then, If I win, you cannot get out of the engagement, fair amendments to both parties. Would that be ok with you Lady Gatriel?¡±


    Eh? The pedo-prince thinks he will win? How can he say such a thing with a smile? wait a minute, let¡¯s play this worse case scenario here, If I win it¡¯s a complete win, but if I lose, I won¡¯t be able to get out of the engagement? No way ... agr, you pedo-prince


    ¡°No no nono, Lord first prince Higg, let''s do this. Until I come of age, whoever loses, has a chance to challenge the other once a year before my birthday, either to commit or to break this arrangement, having a last match that year when I turn 18, after that day the loser forget this ever happened, is that better?¡±


    ¡°For the chance of having you by my side, on the name of Reiyah I find the terms fair and acceptable¡±


    A w  m y  g a w d... This dude is nuts, oh well this arrangement fits me best actually, if by chance I lose here, no no I will lose here. The conditions allow me to keep my hidden my cards in hand.


    I can challenge him once a year to break the engagement anyhow, and there is no doubt in my mind that even if at that same day when I turn 18, even if I have to use my energy, I¡¯ll beat him to a pulp and end this farce.


    I signal ali to get close and tell her my plan, to which she agrees happily, indeed it¡¯s the best idea, to loose here. Not on purpose but well it¡¯s the obvious course of events. And then challenge him once a year, while learning, growing and training my own style.


    I stand in the center of the training area, again in my fighting stance ready for the pedo-prince to get in and attack whenever he wants. I¡¯ll do my best to at least lose with dignity and not to shame myself while at it.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 7 - An so we fought for the first time

    Ch 7 - An so we fought for the first time


    Everyone was getting ready on the chairs that the maids brought, placed around the practice arena due to the ridiculous event that is about to happen.


    I could see the kid¡¯s faces, poetic confusion as many didn¡¯t even get what was going on, but hey! Whatever happens here I managed to drop Father and Mother of my case on marriage talks.


    So all in all is a good thing --for me--, and even if I don¡¯t win today, I can challenge the pedo-prince once a year after my birthday until I come of age to break up the engagement.


    While thinking that the king stood up from his central chair and started speaking.


    ¡°Well then everyone gather around, by the power that my name holds, I King Garrett Beves Reiyah the Earnest in agreement with this castle¡¯s lord, Lord Mark Regenald Decebal, High General, The Pegasus, we announce that our children will hold a practice match, in which will be decided the fate of both our heirs.


    Lady Gatriel Decebal and Sir first Prince Higg Reiyah.


    If the first prince Higg wins the match the two will be united by the bond of promise of marriage, in which they¡¯ll be promised to each other, however, Lady Gatriel Decebal will enjoy the opportunity to challenge the first prince once every year on her birthday until she is of age if she so wills it, to break such engagement by winning the match.


    In the opposite case, if Lady Gatriel Decebal manages to win this bout, the first prince if he so desires can engage the same rule of challenge, and once a year on her birthday until she is of age, to form again the engagement.


    After said date, whichever side remains the winner the situation will be kept as is, without challenging rights.


    At that time, if the winner is Lady Gatriel Decebal, my son the first prince will renounce as head of the Royal guard and join the pegasus squad as a new recruit.


    In case of the winner being the first prince, they will be united in Marriage within six months time of the last fight.


    Both parties are in agreement of this, and count with the blessing of their respective fathers.¡±


    Total silence, even the birds went quiet, only the wind blowing through the garden can be heard.


    Roxana is very unsettled, before the words of her father the king she cannot say anything, where as the queen seems to be just amused.


    Some of my friends are holding their hands together as in prayer, what¡¯s going on there? Why the praying mantis position? You want me to win that much?


    While the knights are all serious looking at me and the prince in turns, hey hey hey old men, whatever happens is not like I¡¯ll marry right away you know, I know you care for me but be at ease! I¡¯ll do my best, I¡¯ll show all that you have taught me until today.


    while I look at the face of the prince, who is ready in front of me, wooden long sword on his right arm, and a wooden long shield on his left, the typical setup of a royal guard of the country.


    Me? Well I¡¯m ready, whenever the cue to start is given I¡¯ll fight to the best of my ability.


    The rules are simple, subjugation of the opponent decides victory, disarming your opponent and keeping him/her disarmed for over 15 seconds decides victory, it''s forbidden to kill or to deal enough damage to incapacitate your opponent.


    Fair and simple practice match rules for minors.


    The witnesses will exchange glances, and once the two have clapped, the match begins.


    *clap*


    With the first clap, the prince¡¯s air changes completely, his smile vanished as if it was never there, he lowers his posture a little bit, raises his sword to eye level pointing it at me and puts his shield in front of his body to cover it.


    Darn, there are no openings.


    Dueling this pedo-prince is going to be tough, I keep a basic stance, left sword pointing down front, right sword pointing back up and my legs. I am ready to kick the floor as soon as the second clap comes off.


    *clap*


    *kick, swish* in a second after kicking the floor, I advance the 2 meters between me and the prince and swing my sword upwards, trying to raise his shield with my left sword to break his stance.


    *clank clank*


    Managed to raise his shield, but it was not high enough, he blocked my second swing with his sword easily while carefully watching me move.


    The cheers and talks are starting to fade away, I¡¯m so focused on the fight that I¡¯m starting to ignore anything that¡¯s not inside the practice arena with each movement and contact of our weapons.


    All I can hear is my and the price¡¯s breath and his voice.


    *swish clink*


    The pedo-prince attacks me with a drop swing from high up to my left shoulder. I cross my blades and block his swing (it¡¯s heavy damnit)


    ¡°Heavy¡±


    I let out that word unconsciously while looking at the prince¡¯s body trying to predict his next move, having both my blades used blocking his sword I¡¯m expecting him to throw a kick.


    *thud*


    He tried to bash me with his shield, this fucker.


    If I didn''t slide his sword to my right blocking his shield path he would have rammed me with it.


    *swish*


    Kicking again the ground I jumped backwards to gain some distance.


    This guy is good for his age, indeed good, far better than any of the kids at the Royal Academy (well I¡¯m on the first period building, which has only the first 3 years, so the oldest kid is 13. Is to be expected) I need to attempt to confuse him with my speed.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I try to close up a bit of the distance running to his right and attacking from an odd angle, I¡¯m aiming at his right wrist and make him drop his sword.


    *clank*


    The pedo-prince parries my odd attack with his shield and swings his sword from the lower end of his right upwards.


    *swish* I dodged by a hair¡¯s breath by dropping to the ground and rolling around to stand up again.


    *swish* the prince follows me and stabs the ground with his shield, while I keep rolling around


    *thud* I kick his legs trying to break his balance, he didn''t budge.


    Indeed I¡¯m not strong enough, but at least managed to make him stop trying to stab me with the shield.


    The prince backs away a little, allowing me to stand up again and regain my stance.


    Here it is, I will try it again, I¡¯m so focused into the fight I feel my body is light as a feather.


    I quickly double kick the ground and charge at the prince rotating counterclockwise on my left leg.


    *clang clang clang clang thud*


    My two blades hit twice his shield and blew it out of his chest, and ended the maneuver with a strong kick to his side. Using the momentum of the rotation I landed the kick on his ribs and he lost his balance stumbling a little.


    ¡°You are good my dear lady Gatriel, I¡¯m liking you more and more, I can''t even imagine how strong you will be when we get married¡±


    The pedo-prince was surprised by the attack but after stumbling to his left, he regained his composure and with a flirtatious smile dropped me that unreasonable line.


    It pisses me off, gee, I want to get this over with soon but I recognize this man is a good fighter, it would be a dishonor not just to him, but to all the knights to lose on purpose.


    ¡°Thank you for your kind words lord prince, but there will be no marriage, that I assure you¡±


    And returned him a fierce look. Not wasting any time the prince charges at me in a stance I was not ready for.


    *thud*


    He hit me with his shield, yes, he just ran with his shield pointed at my face and at the end of the charge he lowered it hitting me on my stomach.


    ¡°Ugg¡±


    I went back a little and fell in one knee, and that was it, in the next second he rushed up to me and swung his sword stopping at my neck.


    *rush swish*


    If that sword swing wasn''t stopped, I would have been knocked out unconscious.


    I let go of my swords and raise my hands, I can''t deny that it was a fun fight, very nutritive in terms of knowledge and battle experience. I¡¯ll work hard to break his strategy next year.


    I look up at the prince and what I found was an unbelievable radiant smile, this man... It¡¯s not that he is proud he won, is just that he is satisfied that he won.


    I can¡¯t see ulterior motives in his expression, that pisses me off for some reason.


    I stand up and bow down to the winner, and then the sounds around us returned, there were many claps and whistling going on, a lot of smiles and some frows, there were even tears in the crowd.


    ¡°Well Esteemed new fiance, you have won the match, as agreed upon our words, from today onwards I¡¯m promised to you as you are promised to me in marriage. By the word of our parents, when I graduate from the Academy and become of age. Be sure ready to expect my challenge for a rematch next year, in which I will break off this engagement by winning, is that ok?¡±


    While faking picking up my skirt raising it a little from the sides and bending down a little as the tradition and etiquette dictates for a lady to give her thanks, I said those words in the most polite way I could.


    I was smiling as really I wasn¡¯t unsatisfied with the fight.


    ¡°I will impatiently wait for our rematch next year after your birthday. For today¡¯s bout I will consider it as this birthday¡¯s one, I hope my esteemed new fiance can accept that gesture and allow me to rejoice on our promised marriage until next year¡±


    While again holding his closed right fist to his heart and his left arm on his back, bowing a bit the pedo-prince said his words agreeing to my future challenge in advance.


    ¡°Hahahaha! Well that was a truly unique and interesting fight we just witnessed here, when Lady Gatriel Decebal did that strange round of strikes blowing off my son¡¯s shield I thought she would win right there. Today is a good day! How about we celebrate eh!¡±


    The king lightened up the mood, and the people started congratulating us both? Oh well whatever, I won¡¯t complain about people congratulating me in becoming the fiance of pedo-prince it just makes no sense at all!


    Between practice matches and food, I ended up talking with the pedo-prince a little, between being asked what I like and dislike, and telling me how was his previous mission which incidentally was his first since graduating from the Academy.


    The day finished with several other bouts, where I crushed mercilessly my classmates and friends(yeah I vented out some frustration there, my bad). Got my ass kicked by my lord father twice.


    Even got the chance to spar with the king which was a very odd yet nurturing experience, his style was very much like the prince, so I guess he was in the royal guard on his days as crown prince too?


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 8 - The first prince fiance

    Ch 8 - The first prince fiance


    It¡¯s been two years since I got engaged with Higg, and even though I still call him pedo-prince in my thoughts or when talking with Ali, we have somewhat gotten closer to each other.


    Since that weekend my life at the Academy has been different to not say anything else, if I was scorned by the girls because either my strength or my looks, you have no idea how entirely harder and harsher is now.


    Believe me, nothing short of ¡®that whore¡¯ and ¡®it''s a lie¡¯ or ¡®that can''t be true¡¯ was whispered behind my back. And it didn¡¯t help the fact that The prince Roxana never answered the question when asked directly by the other girls.


    Rumors went around wildly the first four weeks, until Higg one afternoon came to take me home from classes, since then all I have had to endure is stares and low whispers full of envy behind my back.


    Not that I care tho. Anyway at least once every month Higg picks me up at the Academy and drives me home either on his horse or his personal carriage.


    And outside the rare weekend when I go to the royal palace or Higg visit the castle, we don¡¯t spend much time together.


    Today I¡¯m turning 12 and it¡¯s been a ridiculously hectic month, dressmaking and measurements, getting my hair made, etc.


    My mother is in a frenzy as today is the day when I will be introduced into the noble society and will be publicly announced my engagement to Higg.


    So considering it will be a double celebration it will be done at the royal hall in the royal castle.


    ¡°Hows your strength ali? How are you doing with the training?¡±


    ¡°~nyan~ ehehe, I¡¯m strong as I can possibly be for my age, now how about you? How are the arrangement going for your wedding ehehe~¡±


    ¡°You vixen, you are having fun aren¡¯t you? Is it that funny to see me in this position?¡±


    ¡°~puu~ yes-tan!¡±


    ¡°How many times I¡¯ve told you to either cut the embarrassingly cutesy talk or stick to one? It''s distracting and annoying¡±


    ¡°Ehehe, but that¡¯s what makes it more fun! That you get so annoyed ~pyon~ --¡±


    There ali¡¯s air changed and her innocent face and smile disappeared, she looked straight into my eyes


    ¡°but in all seriousness, no it isn''t funny at all. I¡¯ve told you several times already if you want I can just ki--¡±


    ¡°Stop that talk right now, do you really want to anger me?¡±


    I roared at Aliyah, as I didn¡¯t like the direction the of her line of thought.


    I¡¯m thankful that I¡¯ve been training, refining and strengthening my energy. Increasing it without a minute¡¯s pause since I was small, my control of it is almost as good as it was in the past, so the only one who felt it was her who crouched immediately and started trembling.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Heavenly Commander -- err -- Gat, ~tehe~ uhm, I¡¯m sorry Gat, it¡¯s just I¡¯m worried, I still can¡¯t even sense you outside of when you use your energy, this return has been too different from our previous ones¡±


    I calmed myself down, Heavenly Commander, that''s a nostalgic name from when we fought with dad¡¯s calamity form. That''s how I was called back then.


    I looked at Ali and put my hand on her head and caressed her hair a bit and pulled her up without forcing her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ali, yes indeed this return has been really different but it seems in the past three thousand years or so, the land of mortals found peace, or at least ¡®some resemblance¡¯ of it, war is not that intricate at least in this continent. Have you heard, that to cross the Dragon Sea, it takes some years to reach to the ¡®uncharted lands¡¯ or ¡®the lands of old¡¯¡±


    ¡°~woop~ yes I¡¯ve read about it, and indeed it seems in this ~pyon~try there is no war closing in ye~t!¡±


    ¡°Anyway Ali, Hygg is not a bad man, indeed I have no intentions of marrying anytime soon, and we will have to leave this place fairly soon, once our bodies stop aging that''s going to be it, maybe five to ten years before that, but that will be it.¡±


    ¡°~ne nee~ but that¡¯s at least thirteen years away for you, so there is time to change your mind, fall deep and go ~doki doki~ for Higg. You have been opening up lately, even though I¡¯m really happy for you this is seriously a completely new facet I hadn''t seen in you since the beginning.¡±


    I lowered my head, indeed since that day 2 years ago I¡¯ve been opening up a bit more, and now I have friends and have even started having fun at the Academy.


    It¡¯s a completely foreign feeling for me or at least one I had abandoned a long time ago.


    ¡°Lets finish preparing Ali, as today is an important day for mother and father and I don¡¯t want to screw it up ok? Will you help me and support me all the way?¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ Roger ~papan~¡±


    Ali after doing a kind-of-salute-thing raising her hand and arcing it to her head left my room hopping like a rabbit...


    Where is the rabbit in papan now?


    I wonder if she never managed to grow that mind of hers ever. I look at her and let out a chuckle.


    ¡°Sensing me eh, well you are not alone ali, we still haven''t ¡®awakened¡¯ yet¡±


    I whispered to myself as I return to my duties of getting ready for tonight.


    If my family was not of the high nobility of this country, I would have said ¡®my mom threw the house out the window¡¯ when I saw the dress she ordered.


    I¡¯m not into such girly fashion, but It¡¯s undeniable that is a gorgeous dress giving the appearance of a princess.


    A one piece long skirt down to my feet, with golden frills down and a white rose hand crafted pattern up to my waist, followed by an overcoat go from left to right, closing in from my waist up to my chest.


    Red in color, with white flower sown in patterns all about, and a red 10 cm wide stripe on both left and right side covering the chest area with a gold+white somewhat sturdy fabric.


    That gave the feeling of having a single piece dress.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The arms area went to my elbows leaving out some frills of red fabric that moved as I moved, and a white and golden headpiece, that was used to tie up my hair on my back.


    I looked like a princess, not that I complain, but I felt it was a bit too much!


    Would much rather prefered to be on my usual fighting attire but well, this is for my mother.


    Her happiness is important to me so what''s a small sacrifice like this?


    Seeing my parents happy and proud of their ¡°little angel¡± (if they knew how close to the truth they were...) makes me happy too.


    The program tonight is simple. When the crier calls my full name my father will walk me down through the initiation stairs(or so they are called).


    Once we reach the last step of the stairs the music will start and my father will show me to all the people attending the party.


    When we reach the center of the hall a small waltz will begin and I will have my first dance.


    The first dance will be with my father a full long piece, then when the piece is about to end, the royal family will be called in.


    They will come down and then congratulate my father and me and my father will offer my left hand to Higg.


    There the king while standing in front of us will grab our free hands and will announce the engagement and promise of marriage between the two heirs.


    I will then dance my second piece with Higg and then we will go to mingle with friends and other nobles.


    If just to avoid this whole charade I¡¯m about to ask Ali to kill me and then kill herself, haha no no, jokes aside, this will be a long night! I hope it ends quickly and uneventful.


    I¡¯m glad at least there is hope for me, as I can challenge Higg once a year(I¡¯ve lost twice already tho).


    And so being already dressed, arm crossed with father we are waiting to be announced.


    Night has already fallen and we are at the waiting room of the royal hall.


    I¡¯m somewhat nervous, if I say I¡¯m completely ok, calm and composed it''s a blatant lie.


    My father and mother have been good, the Queen, even tho I thought wasn¡¯t very happy with the arrangement has received me with open arms and treated me like a daughter.


    As for the king, I wonder who''s more proud of this arrangement, my father or the king himself.


    They haven¡¯t arrived so I can¡¯t judge their expressions yet, which is probably the main source of my nervousness. As I¡¯m thinking about such needless things the crier announced my name.


    ¡°Making her first appearance in front of the esteemed noble families of the kingdom of Imil, presented by her father, the renowned knight of the kingdom and the leader of the legendary squadron of knights, The Pegasus Squadron, Lord Mark Regenald Decebal the second, The High General, The Pegasus, please welcome with a warm applause Lady Gatriel Decebal¡±


    Uhh, such a pompous introduction, hey dad, cool down, breathe, breathe, you are so red that you may catch fire at any moment now.


    ¡°Dad, dad, calm down and lets go! You are red like our fiery hair¡±


    I smile at my father and that seemed to have calmed him down a little bit, he smiles back at me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go my angel, today is your day, so please enjoy it as much as you can¡±.


    I nod and the door opens, the thunderous applause flooded us from below.


    We start walking through a red+golden carpet that guide us to the huge stairwell that lay in front of us.


    Being led by my father who was just gently holding my left hand, I started my descent into the Royal hall.


    As per the planning, we got to the last step of the stairs and a slow tune starts playing by the royal band.


    My father walked me towards the center while showing me off to the nobles, in the direction of the huge open circle so we could dance.


    The slow waltz starts and my father starts to dance. He is a little bit stiff but there are no mistakes, it seems he hadn''t danced a slow waltz since his marriage with mother.


    As soon as the first piece was about to end came the next cry, to which everyone fell silent in anticipation, the only family missing from this party was the Royal family.


    ¡°As your hosts for tonight special gala, happy to receive you in this Royal hall, the Royal family makes entrance, lead by the King, Garrett Beves Reyah the Earnest, followed by the Queen Alote Ancret Reiyah, first prince Higg Armand Reiyah, second princess Amelinne Sophie Reiyah, third princess Roxana Reiyah and lastly fourth prince Bernard Reiyah¡°


    As they were announced, everyone kneeled waiting for the royal family to come down the stairs.


    When I was about to kneel father held my arm strongly and shook his head lightly.


    As soon as the king reached us, the king spoke to us while the rest of the people were kneeling down.


    ¡°My loyal vassal Lord Mark Regenald Decebal, The Pegasus, congratulation on introducing your radiantly beautiful daughter to our esteemed noble friends, would you allow me the pleasure to announce the news here?¡±


    ¡°As is your right my liege, I humbly thank you for your kind words¡±


    And father then offered my hand left hand to Higg, as he moved to my left, the king then took our free hands and then spoke.


    ¡°I King Garrett Beves Reiyah the Earnest in agreement with the High General, Lord Mark Regenald Decebal, The Pegasus. Announce  today publicly that our children and heirs, Higg Armand Reiyah, the first prince of the kingdom of Imil, and Lady Gatriel Decebal, first daughter and heir of The Pegasus are engaged. Promised to be married once Lady Gatriel comes of age in six years.¡±


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 9 - Misinformation

    Ch 9 - Misinformation


    And then I danced with Higg for a whole piece, I couldn''t help but listen bits and pieces of what was being whispered here and there.


    This nobility stuff is really annoying, this system of ruling is getting too old.


    The envy of those with less power, the fear of those with equal or higher rank. Everyone is all smiles and pleasant, but plots brew out of the minimum rumor it seems.


    ¡®So it was true that the pegasus daughter was engaged into the royal family¡¯


    ¡®That damn Mark trying to surpass our family¡¯s rank¡¯


    ¡®When will he settle, having command of the strongest squad wasn''t enough¡¯


    ¡®She is just a kid, who knows what could happen to her in the future¡¯


    ¡®As long as the first prince is the heir no matter how many sons you get aiming high is impossible¡¯


    ¡®Well the kid is still fresh in the Academy, not yet in the second range of her studies¡¯


    ¡®As it was said, if she graduates¡¯


    Not to mention the women that were not happy with the fact at hand, having shown their daughters and not having them chosen seems to have dealt a big blow to them.


    Well it¡¯s not like I¡¯m worried or anything, while they plot and get eaten by envy I¡¯ll take my time to challenge Higg every year.


    I¡¯ll make sure the engagement is broken and I¡¯m free to pursue my own interests soon enough.


    And so the night ended, while dancing here and there and talking to friends and those not so much. Wearing fake smiles here and there and politely answering questions everywhere.


    In the end it seemed most enjoyed the party, I myself had a fair share of fun.


    Now all that¡¯s left is to see how the Academy life evolves.


    I managed to jokingly hint that the engagement could be broken and what the method was. Higg wasn¡¯t too keen on the talks which made me have even more fun, it seems it¡¯s going to be an interesting next couple of years.


    I¡¯m arriving to the Academy with Ali as per usual, being the first day of the following week we were talking about our training and classes.


    ¡°So hows your week ali? We are about to reach finals week soon¡±


    ¡°Ehehe, as good as ever Gat, I¡¯m taking that spot again ~tehe~¡±


    ¡°You are awfully cheerful today, anything good happened during the weekend?¡±


    ¡°~puu~ is not what happened but what¡¯s going to happen soon ~ehehe~!¡±


    Huh!, whats with that, Ali seems to be planning something. That mischievous smile of hers only leads to problems, hmmm I better ask and prepare myself.


    ¡°What''s that supposed to mean Ali?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be impatient Gat, it¡¯s going to be fu~Unn~! Soon ~ehehe~!¡±


    Oh well I better not pay much attention to her when she is in this mood, or I¡¯ll get dragged down into whatever prank she is planning to play.


    ¡°Yea yea, I¡¯ll steer clear of whatever you are plotting here.¡±


    She just smiled and didn¡¯t say a word, and just like that we got to the Academy grounds and turned left on the fountain, separating at the plaza each going towards our respective buildings.


    Speaking of the Royal Academy, this place is incredible! Believe me, I know I haven¡¯t taken much time describing it, and that is not quite fair is it?


    The area in which the Academy is located is a huge plot of land surrounded by a large white stone wall. From outside you can see the top of several beautifully maintained trees.


    There is a single entrance at the southernmost part of the wall, a large stone-carved archway is hugging the huge blue metallic door. When the school period starts the door splits open inwards by the middle leaving students walk inside.


    Following the entryway is a wide street made of flattened light-gray stone, with lovely gardens on both sides and huge trees planted in their centers and outer borders.


    The street reaches up to a large central plaza, with a gorgeous fountain and there splits into three directions, left and right and front.


    The central way leads towards the Teacher¡¯s buildings and huge auditorium hall.


    After following either left(beginner¡¯s course) or right(advanced course) one can find a large lovely plaza with long seats in its borders and there it forks into five ways.


    Four go to the study halls(Politics, Shadow studies, Knight¡¯s studies, Engineering and construction) and the fifth goes towards the training area and cafeteria, keeping this way the two level of students separated. Beginner¡¯s with beginners, and Advanced with Advanced.


    It¡¯s always kept clean and the greenery is really eye catching and beautiful! Worthy if the name ¡®Royal Academy¡¯. The buildings are tall and regal structures built on the most elegant fashion of the kingdom.


    The Royal Academy makes no distinction at the time of accepting students, so you can find students from all statuses in the place, down from commoners up to royal family members.


    The Royal Academy is maintained by the King himself, as he believes that studies should be for everybody. Not just for those who can afford it.


    That is not to say that there is no discrimination among the students of course, but that¡¯s both a common occurrence in noble-based politics and at the same time a whole different story.


    At lunch break we meet up at the plaza as usual, to make our way to the cafeteria.


    Ali being her usual self was walking with her odd jumpy-dancy movements left to right. You know like a kid having fun? and that smile on her face just enhanced that image.


    ¡®An adorable nine years old kid walking with her somewhat older sister. Lightly jumping left and right while flailing her arms front to back.¡¯


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    After lunch we have combat drills and then we are free to go home.


    The air in the cafeteria was tense, I couldn''t grasp the reason clearly but decided not to pay much attention to it and went upstairs to eat with those ¡°newly made¡± friends. I spent a somewhat pleasant lunch time talking and eating.


    As the bell rang informing the end of the break, the males in the cafeteria sprinted out almost as if they were running away from something.


    Uh? Whats going on here? Are that eager to get to combat practice?


    I make my way with Ali towards the training grounds and what I found was a huge line of male students, all wearing their usual training attire. It was as if they were waiting for someone.


    ¡®Is someone important coming today to lead the practice¡¯ I thought as I kept walking.


    When I got to the first guy in the line I was received with a loud cry by the students, there was no instructor in sight.


    It felt really weird so I started looking at the line of males, over sixty-odd students lined up anxiously waiting for the first one to start talking.


    ¡°Lady Gatriel Decebal, I would like to challenge you to a training duel, if I win, as stated in the rules of your engagement with the first prince Higg, you will be promised to me in marriage instead¡±


    Huh? What did I just hear? Isn¡¯t this somewhat different from the truth of... No no that¡¯s not it, what¡¯s going on here, I start looking around.


    ¡°Excuse me, I don¡¯t seem to understand what you just said, would you please repeat?¡±


    The man straights up his body, his hands lined down on his legs and his chin raised a little, took some air in and he spoke those absurde words.


    ¡°We were told, that if we managed to win a practice match with Lady Gatriel, your engagement with the first prince would be broken, and we would gain the right of that engagement as the winners, so please, accept my challenge to a duel¡±


    This is a huge misunderstanding.


    What? Oh no, I looked at Ali and she was giggling walking away from my side moving her head left to right while muttering some cutesy stuff like pyon pyon... is this your doing Ali?


    ¡°This seems to be a misunderstanding, it is indeed stated that once a year after my birthday whomever loses the previous fight between Higg and I can challenge the winner to either re-enact the engagement or break it. But there is nowhere a word that says ¡®if somebody else challenges me, the engagement breaks and I become engaged to him instead¡¯ so would you please stop this nonsense at once and forget about this ridiculous challenge?¡±


    A lot of disheartened words and sounds could be heard from the males in the line and about sixty left the queue, the other 15...


    ¡°It matters not, would you at least accept our feelings of friendship and accompany us on duels every once in awhile, we want to know how is our strength growing, measure our improvement and deepen our friendship with Lady Decebal¡±


    Uh? That was a somewhat dignified comment, I¡¯m not quite sure what their endgame is but if it ends up giving me friends/allies, why not! Easing up my days in the Academy is not a bad idea.


    ¡°It is clear then that you just misunderstood the situation right? You want friendship, so do I, but are you sure you want to fight with me? I¡¯m strong you know!¡±


    Cheers could be heard from the small crowd of guys, indeed they seemed to have understood the situation at hand and were eager to spar with me.


    ¡°~tehe~ then I¡¯ll join Gat¡¯s team ~kay~!¡±


    Ali joined with a cheerful smile and was welcome by the guys warmly.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll welcome any challenges. Let¡¯s steadily build a proper friendship you lot!¡±


    Smiles were plastered on the guys faces, they were mostly guys but there were also some girls that joined us after the misunderstanding cleared up.


    This is going to be fun!


    This set of fights started happening once a month, at the afternoons when classes were over. We would meet at the training grounds and fight together, we started fighting in groups, one on one, a group against one, and a group against two, etc.


    Normally Ali and I would team together and fight.


    The one and one fights were all my wins, didnt lose a single one. When fighting against small groups, me and ali were mostly victorious, but we tasted defeat several times. Teams of six or more against just us two was too much for our young selves.


    Not a year afterwards this day, there were many female knight that joined our training sessions, and the group ended up being a big mob of kids.


    We fought happily and seriously against each other during our afternoons until the group was just too big. The sheer amount of kids ended up being too much to train at school so in the end we met every two weeks at my father¡¯s castle.


    This ended up benefiting my friends too, as my father¡¯s knights would join and train with us, plenty of times Higg and Roxana joined us too.


    I feel very happy, not just because I¡¯m training and fighting, but because for the first time in thousands of years, I¡¯ve made many many friends.


    Not being alone in the long passage of time sure is reassuring.


    I hope this times can last for a long while.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 10 - The dark cult approaches

    Ch 10 - The dark cult approaches


    In a dark cave somewhere in the world eleven hooded figures covered with long cloaks were sitting around a circular table.


    The place was dimly lit, a few torches shined little light only on the blackish coats on everyone¡¯s back. The place was silent as the twelfth chair was still empty. The air in the cave was cold and the figures were silently waiting.


    ¡°Has anyone heard of Jumon? It¡¯s late and we are wasting time¡±


    A female spoke, her tone was impatient and her voice was dry.


    ¡°Moraea calm down, he should arrive soon the appointed time is yet to pass, it isn¡¯t like we are going to act anytime soon¡±


    An old voice, male sounding somewhat tired answered the question previously stated by the woman, which seemed to calm her impatience as she stopped her movements and just nodded in her seat.


    *steps*


    Steps could be heard getting closer from behind the empty seat.


    As the last person was reaching for his chair, another torch light up behind him, bringing a tiny bit of light into the cave while at the same time casting a shadow on his front.


    Just like the rest of the figures in the place, the torches were dim enough to cause the front of the figures to be covered in shadows while casting light on their backs.


    ¡°I apologize for my tardiness, but making plans to cross the dragon sea is a torturous thing, hello my fellow apostles, I¡¯m glad we were all able to meet without much problems, should we begin our meeting now?¡±


    A man spoke while sitting on the remaining empty chair, and all the people around the table drew swords, placing them pointing to the center of the table. There a horned face resembling a deformed goat carved in the stone could be barely seen.


    ¡°Welcome back Jumon, we were worried you encountered problems on your journey, I¡¯m glad that wasn¡¯t the case¡±


    The same woman that spoke before said with a dry and cold voice, some heads shook while she was talking.


    ¡°So then, the first order of business is the relaying of the message received by Clovea, could you please state the contents of it?¡±


    ¡°Gladly, now then allow me to rely the content of my vision¡±


    Small whispers could be heard yet nothing loud enough to be heard by anyone, there was a sense of unrest among the people reunited in the cave.


    ¡°War, discord, destruction, flame and thunder, an unfamiliar country, red flame, black shadow¡±


    The voice of this woman was also old, very old, and sounded really tired, as she started speaking all the whispers in the cave dissipated and everyone was paying attention to the message that was being relayed. And so the old woman continued talking.


    ¡°A black armored army, flag with a bird, a red haired man, strong and organized¡±


    *cough* the old lady coughed and from inside her robe picked up a leather canteen and drank from its content.


    ¡°Fire and thunder, red flame, black shadow¡­ that¡¯s what I saw my fellow apostles, the land was strange to me is not a place I¡¯ve ever visited in my long years and my vast travels¡±


    Murmurs rose again in the crowd, people speaking to those at their sides were noticeably seen. The first woman to speak rose from her seat.


    ¡°Oracle Clovea, do you mean to say that the time has come during our watch?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I mean to say indeed Moraea, the time for the return of the fallen is drawing near, and we need to prepare, *cough* it¡¯s likely that during our watch this era of peace will end, and we may witness the beginning of the dark times again¡±


    ¡°Ha! Such a joyous day for us then, after so long and many generations passing the secret down, it¡¯s our time to rise in glory and open up the black gates¡±


    *clap clap*


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself Moraea, this just means that the time is close, and it could mean that is our job to prepare the field for the next generation to release our lords¡±


    The man who arrived last spoke, his tone was cold and severe.


    ¡°We should first explore and find those unfamiliar lands, as they are likely beyond the dragon sea, and that will take time.¡±


    *hmph*


    ¡°Speaking like a weakling again Jumon, what¡¯s wrong with hoping that the gates will be open in our watch? Isn¡¯t that the greatest of honours for our order? To free the fallen ones? Or you are not a true believer? Our sacred scriptures speak of the return of the fallen, after almost forty thousand years, and our faith prepare us to welcome them¡±


    ¡°Do not mistake my intentions and words with weakness, nor ever doubt my faith, to reach the stature of an apostle takes severe proof of it as you are aware, all I¡¯m saying is let¡¯s prepare and investigate properly, hurrying because of impatience will not be well received by the fallen ones¡±


    The murmurs were settling down as many of the people in the cave nodded in agreement with Jumon words, but Moraea didn¡¯t like it and clearly spoke her mind.


    ¡°Then let me take over the exploration of the lands beyond the Dragon sea Jumon, while you prepare as you like I¡¯ll spearhead an incursion to investigate and if possible subdue any opposition we find on the unknown land¡±


    Jumon grabbed his brows massaging them and bent down his head as he pondered for a couple of minutes, and nodded with some disdain in his words.


    ¡°If you are in such a hurry Moraea, go ahead and explore we will finish the preparations on this side of the world, while expecting your letters once you reach your destination¡±


    ¡°He! Thanks Jumon, you shall receive news of my success soon enough.¡±


    She placed her hands in front of her face, cupping them against each other and chanted.


    ¡°For the Fallen ones return, and the darkness spread eternal!¡±


    And the the rest of the table chanted again in unison.


    ¡°Let the hunt begin then!¡± she said while walking away from the table - ¡°This is going to be fun!¡±.


    -----------------------------------------


    The sun is setting in the horizon and leaves are falling down from the trees, I am close to the entrance of the advanced term building of the Royal academy.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Turning right at the intersection fountain is a group of six knight apprentices, all following a tall and curvy figure. Her red hair was moving as if it had a will of its own, the two hilts shown above her shoulders were her trademark weapons.


    Those twin swords were forged of black steel with an odd design not seen anywhere else but her hands.


    Those sharp ruby eyes were enough to intimidate anyone in her path, she has grown a lot in this past years. Her body is no longer that of a child but a gorgeous goddess sculpture in the making.


    Clad in a very dark-red sturdy leather armor, with blackish metals covering her chest, arms and legs, (clearly different of the usual knights armor attire) was Lady Gatriel Decebal, entering again after returning from a knight''s mission assignment.


    Right behind her clad in black leatherish armor, tightly drawing her gorgeous figure, with her head covered by a black hood that went from her neck to her brows, casting a shadow on her face was the other frightening existence of the Royal Academy, The flame¡¯s shadow, Aliyah Galeran, daughter of Clay Bricot Galeran The Pegasus¡¯s Lion one of the pegasus¡¯s lions. Then following those two, the rest of the party. I¡¯ll introduce them later.


    ¡°There she comes, arrogantly as ever¡±


    ¡°So are you going to challenge her at last Grant?¡±


    ¡°I might, I¡¯m fed up with her already, taking on advanced missions when she¡¯s not yet on her fourth year¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy you a worthy coffin then, whom should I address your will?¡±


    ¡°Be done with the jokes Leo, I¡¯m a fourth year already, I haven¡¯t challenged her because she¡¯s a girl, but I¡¯m the strongest knight in the Academy. These past two years she hasn¡¯t entered the yearly knight apprentice competition, she is underestimating us too much, just taking advanced missions since joining as an advanced freshman.¡±


    ¡°Well It¡¯s been two years since she came to the last term of the Academy training, in two years she¡¯ll graduate. And she hasn''t failed a single mission since then you know Grant? Even you have a ratio of 7-3 her record is not to be scoffed at¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean Leo, and that¡¯s highly likely due to her ¡®friends¡¯, she¡¯s a girl you know, a weak little fifteen year old girl¡±


    ¡°So you are implying that her success is related to possibly hidden bodyguards sent by her fiance?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is no way a freshman group could finish that many advanced missions without a single failure in two years¡±


    This boy who¡¯s complaining is Grant Rawkin, son of a high noble family without a military position. He is strong indeed but he has never bothered watching that red haired goddess fight.


    Oh sorry, I¡¯m Leo Ihone and my father is Lord Roget Ihone a nobleman member of the Royal Guard, that¡¯s why I know who she is and have heard of her prowess.


    What? Do I like her? Not quite but yes, I mean who wouldn¡¯t? She is a real beauty, but I¡¯m heartstruck by her cousin Aliyah.


    Not only she is more approachable, in my eyes she is a star fallen from the heavens.


    Her black as darkness eyes, her straight long black hair that dances at her back, her white skin and those dark rosy lips.


    Her figure is just otherworldly and I can¡¯t get enough of seeing her.


    ¡°Grant, lower your voice please, she will hear you and I don¡¯t want to be involved in any kind of enmity with her cousin!¡±


    Grant seems to be really angry, but I think it¡¯s just envious that a girl younger than him is stronger (well that¡¯s what I think, they haven¡¯t fought yet).


    If you compare their mission completion record, Grant went through the proper scale, starting with beginner knight missions on his first year, medium knight missions on his second and third year, and advanced quests now on his fourth year.


    He¡¯s a good man and friend just a little too proud for his own good.


    His total missions are 12 from first year till today, and his ratio of win-lose is nine to three, which means he has failed three missions. Believe me that¡¯s an AMAZING achievement, worthy of being recruited in royal guard straight out of graduation.


    Gatriel¡¯s record on the other hand is just unbelievable, I can see how he thinks that she¡¯s been receiving help from the shadows.


    Since her coming to the advanced term of the Knight Academy she takes on advanced missions every two weeks, once a month!! Two weeks preparing and resting, two weeks carrying out the missions.


    And what prick¡¯s Grant the most is that she has never failed a single one! That¡¯s just astoundingly amazing, I mean come on twenty four missions in two years?, that¡¯s double of Grant¡¯s record in just half the time.


    Let me repeat just to make it clear, all of them of the advanced tier. It really is incredible and any normal student would agree with Grant¡¯s point of view.


    But I know better.


    My father is close with the first prince, and there has been no deployment to help her at all.


    While I¡¯m lost in my thoughts Grant just couldn¡¯t take it anymore and blocked the group¡¯s path.


    ¡°Gatriel Decebal, junior apprentice knight. I hereby challenge you to a duel for the spot of the strongest knight in the Royal Academy, refusing the duel with this many witnesses would dishonor both the school and your lord father, what say you?¡±


    I immediately separated myself from Grant while discreetly glancing at Aliyah¡¯s beautiful figure, who was standing behind her cousin.


    ¡°~ho ho~ Gat, Gat, this boy wants to fight you! Can I take his measurements ~can can~?¡±


    Uh? Measurements? What¡¯s Aliyah talking about?


    While thinking that Aliyah closed her left eye and started measuring with her fingers moving her hands horizontally and vertically  in front of her open eye.


    ¡°~nee nee~ Gat two meters tall by half a meter width coffin should suffice ~tehe~¡±


    uh?.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 11 - The Red flaming storm rises

    Ch 11 - The Red flaming storm rises


    After a couple of seconds of silence Dan, Julius, Azer and Galiene, the other friends members of Gatriel¡¯s party show a bored expression and shrug their shoulders as one walks in front of Grant.


    ¡°Senior Lord Grant Rawkin, it¡¯s a honor to meet you at this time but as you are aware we are just returning from a mission. Would you let us rest for a bit so our leader can make up her mind on whether to accept your challenge or not?¡±


    Dan¡¯s word seem to have rubbed Grant the wrong way, he¡¯s staring at Dan with an awfully sharp look. The other people are putting down their luggage and taking out water canteens.


    ¡°Ha! It isn¡¯t like you actually completed any of those missions right? Come on a bunch of 3 little girls and 3 little boys must have had help from the outside, don¡¯t give me that ¡®we are tired¡¯ talk!¡±


    Aaa aaa now he did it! Aliyah¡¯s face is a whole different world from when they were arriving, my beautiful star is angry beyond words while the other members of Gatriel¡¯s party are just shaking their heads with bored expressions on their faces.


    ¡°Grant would you please stop it here, I¡¯m not comfortable in this situation. I¡¯m your friend and all but aren''t you taking it too far saying what you want to Lady Gatriel and her friends?¡±


    ¡°Shut up Leo, if you don¡¯t agree with me just step aside and be quiet, I¡¯m the leader of our party and the strongest knight apprentice of the academy, remember your place and don¡¯t ever talk back to me¡±


    Bah! I won¡¯t meddle into this anymore, I¡¯ll just bow down a little to Gatriel and her group and step aside


    *bow*


    ¡°~pue~ Thanks for your kind words Lord Leo Ihone, would you like to join us watching the demise of this friend of yours who doesn¡¯t seem to know his plac~tsu~*wink*¡±


    I¡¯m melting, she just winked at me! oh I¡¯m in heaven! I walk towards Julius and and the rest and sit down close by with them after greeting them.


    ¡°The one who doesn¡¯t know her place is you a lowly noble talking to me like that? The nerve...¡±


    As Grant walked towards us while raising his hand towards Aliyah a blur of red and black happened and his hand was being grabbed easily by Gatriel¡¯s right arm.


    ¡°If you dare ever again to raise your hand at my cousin, I swear to the heavens I¡¯ll cut both your arms so you don¡¯t have the ability to do so to anyone for the rest of your pitiful life. It is with me you have quarrel so why don¡¯t you focus on me instead of her Lord Grant Rawkin, self proclaimed strongest knight of the Royal Academy?¡±


    Grant¡¯s eyes were wide open as he moved his head to watch Gatriel and I could see the drops of sweat forming on his forehead, that movement speed was not something a fifteen years old, let alone a woman should be able to perform.


    It seemed like he couldn''t move from the spot, don¡¯t even speak of releasing his arm from her grip, he was frozen in that place locked and even a bit afraid(at least it looked to me as if he was afraid).


    ¡°T, Th, That¡¯s right, let go of my arm and lets get the duel going, I assume you are ok with the normal advanced course practice rules?¡±


    He managed to blurt those words starting with a very shaky voice, he was indeed surprised/afraid? but ended up regaining his composure and forced the rules where bone fractures were allowed as long as they are not life threatening.


    Bold move Grant very bold.


    ¡°Sir lord Grant Rawkin, I accept your proposition, what should be the limit? Lets avoid being called unfair because of excess of damage¡±


    ¡°Ha! How about arms, legs and ribs? As long as it¡¯s not life threatening you¡¯ll recover in a couple of months¡±


    *hmph*


    So you, Grant think you will win, and are planning on breaking Gatriel¡¯s arms and legs, that¡¯s beyond childish and borderline ruthless.


    I¡¯m starting to get nervous so I look at Gatriel¡¯s friends and party members and they are all... smiling!!!


    Whats going on? Do they think Grant will lose that badly? Hey guys he¡¯s not a weakling, underestimating your enemy is the first sign of defeat. Have you been paying any attention to the military classes?


    ¡°Ara ara~ and what could be happening here? Whats going on Dear future sister in law?¡±


    By the heavens! Prince Roxana Reiyah, the current head of the council of students of the Royal Academy shows up! This won¡¯t turn well.


    Roxane and Gatriel relationship has improved by leap and bounds in this past years and you can say they are true friends.


    ¡°Oh hello there Prince Roxane, glad to see you here, you just saved me the time to go report the success of our latest mission. Galiene dear would you be so kind as to turn over the proof for the request completion?¡±


    With a smile Gatriel started talking while Prince Roxane bowed slightly and receiving the papers that the third female of Gatriel¡¯s group, Lady Galiene Lunet gave her.


    ¡°So Lady Gatriel, what¡¯s this about? Is Lord Grant asking you for a duel at last?¡±


    ¡°Thats right, he even allowed me to break his arms, legs and some ribs in the rules! Would you approve of this match? Ms. Head of the current Council of Students?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s fine with you and you promise to not incapacitate this arrogant man for the rest of his life. As the rules by the Academy states, I, the current head of the Council of Students of the royal academy, approve of this practice match and the rules stated beforehand in front of all the witnesses present¡±


    Uwaaa! Grant can¡¯t say a word against the princess, he just scoffed *hmph* and started moving towards the practice grounds.


    Aliyah started running towards the Knight¡¯s training building and after a couple of minutes she came back hopping like a lovely rabit and smiling.


    Not two hour later at the end of classes, the whole student body was walking out of their classrooms towards the training grounds, this is going to be a huge event it seems.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ----------------------------------


    So here we are, the training grounds are filled from left to right and top to bottom, it¡¯s like we are going to watch the finals of the students yearly Knight¡¯s selection.


    Don¡¯t be fooled tho, this is just a practice match!


    Oh well, even the teachers are present, it seems this practice match holds great interest even for them. What could they be expecting here? Dan is on my right, talking to Julius and on my left is an angel who¡¯s talking to Lady Galiene on her left.


    Uhh sad moment for me! Oh well let¡¯s focus on what¡¯s going to happen now.


    ¡°Sir Knight Lord Rouland the Worthy, dean of the Knight¡¯s faculty and teacher of the military arts, present as the first witness of the duel¡±


    ¡°Lady Ella Auelin the Obscure, dean of the Covert arts faculty and teacher of the counterintelligence class, present as the second witness of the duel¡±


    Wow! It¡¯s not any teachers, but two of the deans are going to be the witnesses and judges! This is unprecedented.


    For a simple duel between two students you may say this is plainly overkill. Both teachers have personal titles!


    You know what that means? They are big game! Big big game in the kingdom!


    ¡°As I was informed by the contestants, I may present the rules of the duel, normal advanced training rules apply, both parties have accepted the possibility of both arms, both legs and ribs to be damaged in the duel. As long as no attack leaves crippling damage or kills the opponent, everything is allowed.


    As the current head of the council of students. I, the third princess Roxana Reiyah have approved of this bout.¡±


    Grant good luck! I hope everything ends well for you here.


    I look at Aliyah and mustered up my courage to ask her a couple of questions I want to clarify for my own peace of mind. It¡¯s not like I doubt their team but it is really hard to believe that they completed those advanced missions themselves.


    ¡°Excuse me Lady Aliyah, would you be so kind as to honor me with some answers to some likely impertinent and, maybe even probably even rude questions? I assure it¡¯s not my intent but I¡¯d like you to forgive me in advance in case of being so.¡±


    ¡°~ehe~ I don¡¯t mind at all sir Leo, feel free to ask. ~papan~¡±


    ¡°There are rumors that the first prince has sent help on your missions, is there any truth in those words? Is Lady Gatriel as strong as the Royal guard claims? Are you aware that lord Grant is strong right? Are you not worried about your friend down there? Why are all of your party members so relaxed?¡±


    So beautiful! How she tilts her head, that innocent smile those deep dark black eyes, I could loose myself into them! Oh me, control yourself, don¡¯t stare too much at her chest.. !hey focus don¡¯t stare at her lips either.


    ¡°~nee nee~ look me in the eyes yes ~ehehe~¡±


    Busted! So shameful my performance, I hope she won¡¯t hate me, shaking my head I regained my composure.


    ¡°~waa~ better! And no, I¡¯m not worried, Gat is the strongest person in this country!¡±


    Uh? Isn¡¯t she overestimating her cousin too much? I would find somewhat easier to grasp her words if she said Academy, but Country? Aren''t you way too confident and fooling yourself?


    ¡°~ehehe~ you don¡¯t believe me --¡±


    Aliyah¡¯s face changed, what happened?


    Here in front of me is like someone completely different possessed her. Her cold voice and demeanor are truly frightening, those eyes are staring at me as if they would swallow me whole, who is this person right now in front of me?


    I can''t help but shiver a little.


    ¡°--then watch how your friend will lose and get crushed mercilessly, he won¡¯t be able to graduate this year. His mistake was to raise his hand to me, Gat doesn¡¯t take that lightly. Your friend will face the horror of the Flaming Storm and might even quit trying to be a knight. Mark my words.¡±


    The next second she just ~tehe~ me with a wink and turned her face up front.


    What was that, saying those words to me as if was nothing ¡®crushed¡¯ and ¡®mercilessly¡¯, who are this girls? ¡®Flaming Storm¡¯ is she referring to Gatriel with it?


    ¡®The horror of the Flaming Storm¡¯ those words keep ringing on my mind as I stare with my eyes open wide at Aliyah¡¯s face, she¡¯s not even looking at me anymore.


    **clap**


    Huh! Ah it¡¯s going to start soon, the whole auditorium went silent the next second after the first clap. I see the teachers taking their positions.


    Grant¡¯s shield is already in place covering his front, his right arm is slightly down to his back holding the sword, as if ready to perform a single upper diagonal swing.


    So Grant intends to end this fight in a single strike?


    **clap**


    *kick*-*swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, thud, swish, swish, thud, thud, swish, thud, swish*


    *stomp*


    ¡°UAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH¡±


    Huh? What the heck was that? What happened? Whats going on, I stood up looking down at the arena.


    I can¡¯t grasp what happened just now.


    Why is Gatriel¡¯s right foot on Grant¡¯s chest?


    Eh? Whats with the posture of his arms?


    Eh? Uh? Why are his legs bent backwards?


    Whats going on here?.


    Why is the Knight¡¯s teacher so surprised? What happened? It hasn¡¯t been 6 seconds you know? Could someone please expl...


    ¡°W, W, Wi, Winner, by abiding to the rules of the fight, Lady Gatriel Decebal.¡±


    Winner? what?


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 12 - Crushed bones, destroyed dreams, vanished hopes

    Ch 12 - Crushed bones, destroyed dreams, vanished hopes


    I¡¯m running fast, I¡¯m running away because there is no place to hide, there is fire everywhere, and rays of lightning are falling down following my every move.


    Its like its going through roofs and caves, each time I get into a cave the top is blown away, every time I get into a house its roof is cut in half.


    I don¡¯t want to turn back and see that the beast is still following me, I¡¯m scared out of my mind, why is this happening to me?.


    ¡°Waaaaaaaaa aaaaaaGGGAgagaAAAAGGGGHHHHH¡±


    I can¡¯t help it my body and my mind are moving on their own, my mouth only lets out those horrifying screams.


    Please somebody help me! Save me father, save me mother, elder brother save me please save me.


    Somebody, somebody, heavens please rescue me. This monster is following me and is going to kill me!


    I feel its steps as the ground shakes with each and every movement it makes, what¡¯s going on? why it¡¯s following me? what did I do to it?


    Those eyes stare back at me each time I turn back to check its location.


    ¡°NOOOOOOOooOOoOoOoooOOooOoOOhhhhHHhhhh¡±


    *thump*


    Don¡¯t look at me with those blazing red eyes, don¡¯t get any closer those flames on your back are going to burn me to cinders, nooooooo!


    *badump*


    *badump*


    ¡°Uhh, uhhh, uhhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh¡±


    *badump*


    *badump*


    *badump*


    What the hell was that? Where am I? As I open my eyes and get used to the light I scan left and right this place.


    I¡¯m lying on a bed and can¡¯t move, my heart is beating wildly, what¡¯s going on? Why can¡¯t I move? Who are these people in white coats?


    ¡°Uhhh, agr, where am I? Why does it hurts so much *aghr*¡±


    ¡°Lady Rawkin, Lord Rawkin your son has regained consciousness please come in quickly¡±


    Consciousness?


    What happened to me?


    Where am I?


    ¡°Grant, Grant *pant* son, are you alright? Answer me son!¡±


    Whats with father? Why is he panting? Whats going on here?, why is mother crying? Uh, why are their eyes so dark?


    ¡°Whats going on lord father? *pant* What happened?¡±


    ¡°Grant you... do, don¡¯t you remember? Can¡¯t you remember what you did? Can¡¯t you remember what happened to you?¡±


    ¡°Doctor doctor, is our son ok? Dear husband make way for the doctors, dear please¡±


    Doctors? What happened to me? Wasn¡¯t I at the Academy just some minutes ago? What are the doctors doing here?...


    After paying more attention to my surroundings I noticed I was in a medical room. Probably at the Royal Medical Center, why am I here?


    ¡°Lord father? *pant* What did I do? Why am I *pant* at the medical center?¡±


    Father makes way and the doctor starts checking my eyes, then puts his head on my chest seems his checking my heart, he¡¯s making me open my mouth, what¡¯s with this ridiculous situation? *ugggh* it hurts, what did he do? *agrhr* stop it!


    ¡°Bring the opiates, it seems the pain is going to start again, nurse, nurse¡±


    ¡°Agr, it hurts, what¡¯s happening to me, it huuurts! Stop moving me aghhhhgrrrr¡±


    The doctor moved me a bit and I managed to take a glance at my body, what¡¯s this? It¡¯s Not just the awful pain, I¡¯m covered in casts, my legs, my arms, and my chest, what happened? It hurts too much!


    ¡°Did bandits attacked me on a mission? *aghr* *huf huf*¡±


    The doctor forced some pills down my throat and made me drink water from a clean glass that was on the right nightstand table.


    ¡°Rest a little bit more Sir Grant, you¡¯ll find out what happened soon, for now just rest --¡±


    What let me talk to my father, don¡¯t take them away, uh? I¡¯m getting sleepy, no I don¡¯t want to sleep, that dream will appear again, I don¡¯t want to sleep, I.. don¡¯t want to .. sle¡­


    I kept coming in and out of sleeping state, and each and every time that flaming beast beat me down, I¡¯ve never seen a monster so terrifying in my life.


    What is it? It looks like the demons of old myth and legends, covered in red and black fire, flailing its monstrous arms destroying everything in its wake, I don¡¯t want to sleep again.


    ¡°Lord Grant Rawkin, wake up, wake up¡±


    Uh? Who¡¯s talking? I don¡¯t recognize that voice, oh I¡¯m conscious, that dream hasn¡¯t happened the last times I¡¯ve slept.


    Lets open my eyes.


    ¡°Uh? What¡¯s this?¡±


    Why is The Pegasus here? why in my medical center room? Whats happening, I feel my mouth fully open and my eyes round with surprise.


    ¡°Welcome back Lord Grant Rawkin, it seems you have been having bad dreams for the past two weeks. I¡¯m glad to see you are feeling somewhat better¡±


    ¡°Uh? Oh thank you lord Decebal... Decebal...¡±


    Looking at the man in front of me, I noticed who was behind him.


    ¡°ah, no nooo, stay away, stay away from me, what are you doing here, go away GO AWAYYYYYY¡±


    Why is she here? Why am I so afraid? What did she do to me? Think Grant, think, remember, hmmm, the academy... hmmm the training grounds... ah!


    *uggh*


    Darkness..............


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you several times to measure your strength when fighting ah Gat? Whats wrong with you?¡±


    ¡°But lord father the rules stated that it was valid, he himself proposed them, what was I supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°Hold back your strength! That¡¯s what you are supposed to do Gat! Is it fun? To bully the weak? Are you enjoying yourself? Is that why I taught you the way of the sword?¡±


    ¡°Lord father stop it! You may be my father, but I won¡¯t accept you putting blame on me that¡¯s not mine to bear!. So STOP IT NOW AND LISTEN TO ME.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    UH? What happened? I saw Gatriel and fainted.


    Why is she shouting at her father?


    As I open my eyes I see Gatriel discussing heatedly with his father, my father and mother are... casting down their heads?


    Whats going on? Why are they so ashamed? Whats with that look father?


    ¡°He tried to hit Ali with his sword and called her a ¡®lowly noble¡¯ and went so far as to pick his sword and raise it, I stopped him when he was about to swing the sword.¡±


    Uh? Oh yes I remember, I got mad because she spoke back to me. Well isn¡¯t it natural? She¡¯s a lowly noble, to have the nerve...


    uh? Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m here? What did happen on that duel? I remember challenging Gatriel to a duel.


    Wait, oh that¡¯s what happened! - I look at Gatriel - so that child actually reduced me to this sorry state?


    What have I been doing for so long then? I¡¯m seventeen years old, a man about to graduate, strong proud high nobleman, and this kid, a girl no less, crushed all my effort in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Grant? Son? Calm down, you don¡¯t have to cry, where does it hurt? Son answer me!!¡±


    Am I really strong?


    What¡¯s strength anyway?


    I thought I would beat her in a single strike, why was I so mad? Why was I so pissed off?


    She never really bothered herself with me! Never ever disrespected me! Did I want strength to just bully the weak?.


    *sniff*


    *sob*


    *sob*


    Am I even worthy of being a knight?


    Why did I pursue strength so much?


    Hell I can¡¯t remember... when was it that I decided I wanted to be a Knight?


    ¡°Is that true? Why didn¡¯t you say it on our way here Gat?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you receive the report from the teachers of the Academy? Why should I repeat what was stated there!¡±


    ¡°Done with that attitude young lady! I am YOUR FATHER, show me the respect I deserve!¡±


    Uh? Why are those two fighting here?


    Ah! Look at that armor...


    I remember, It was then wasn¡¯t it? When I saw him catching that thief. Yeah all those years ago.


    The pegasus, in his black armor caught a scoundrel that had stolen the bag of an old lady in the market district. I remember it now, I wanted to be like him, protect the weak and different the order and peace!


    *sniff*


    *sob*


    *sob*


    How could I have forgotten that simple thing? When did I change?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry lord father, please forgive my disrespectful attitude, I¡¯m just angry that you are trying to make me take a responsibility that¡¯s not mine¡±


    Why is she bowing down?


    Ah she¡¯s apologizing to her father! So she can apologize.


    That¡¯s a rare sight, here I thought she was an arrogant brat, I even thought that his father dotted too much on her, turning her as arrogant as I thought she was.


    *cough*


    ¡°*urg* I¡¯m sorry Lord Pegasus, what your daughter is saying is true! It is my fault *agrh* *cough* I don¡¯t know when, but I grew arrogant of my strength, all I wanted was to be like you! Honorable and correct, protect the weak, like that old lady you saved back then, but I became drunk with my strength. I was arrogant and now I find myself undeserving of being in your presence.¡±


    Eh? He doesn¡¯t seem to remember!


    Well who would, it was over 10 years ago, and it¡¯s not like he saves old ladies for a living.


    Uh? Whats with that surprised face Gatriel? Hahaha, if you could see yourself now.


    I¡¯m sorry


    ¡°*cough* Indeed I thought that if I broke some bones on her arms she would get down of that high horse I thought she was on, but I didn¡¯t realize that the one with his head up his bottom was me!. Hearing the stories of your daughter helping others, and completing advanced missions for the Academy drove me to the edge of jealousy. *agr* ahaha, such a small man I am, being the elder here I should have noticed earlier that all of it was just envy¡±


    I can¡¯t hold it in any more, I just cried my heart out from there onwards.


    The pegasus said some things, but I couldn¡¯t hear a word.


    The self loathing and disgust with myself were louder in my mind than his words.


    In the end they spoke to my parents, presented an envelope and left, and my parents were ashamed of whatever was written on the letter.


    Should I continue my studies? Should I retire? Or change branches into politics?


    I¡¯m a weak hearted man... no, I¡¯ll follow that example I decided to follow all those years ago!


    I¡¯ll reforge my heart into a fair one, regain my strength. This time with control so I won¡¯t again get drunk with it!


    Such a small man I am, I¡¯m ashamed of myself.


    All it took was a little girl to crush my hopes and teach me the best lesson of my life!


    Strength is not meant to be used as means to bully the weak nor to position myself on top of those with lower rank than mine!


    Strength is meant to protect, is meant to enforce justice, is cultivated in order to aim for a better tomorrow.


    Yes this is it! I¡¯ll recover and apologize to Lady Aliyah, to Sir James and Sir Dan, and most of all apologize to Lady Gatriel.


    I just hope it won¡¯t be too late by then.


    What have I done.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 13 - Graduation from Royal Academy

    Ch 13 - Graduation from Royal Academy


    Last week I turned seventeen! I¡¯m about to graduate from the Royal Academy, just a couple of months left and I¡¯ll be done.


    My grades are in the top 3 as always and thanks to all the efforts I¡¯ve put taking on advanced missions, I can even apply to the best squad of the kingdom, and I wanted, serve under my father.


    - not that I will do that tho -


    First and foremost the most important thing right now is preparing for this weekend duel with Higg, I¡¯ve lost six times so far so it¡¯s time to turn the tables on him!


    He¡¯s a busy man so it¡¯s best to make things clear and just overwhelmingly beat him down, that way both of us can focus on what we should do instead of this silly stuff about marriage.


    I won¡¯t deny that he¡¯s treated me well and is caring. And I¡¯m growing fond of the time I spent with him. But...


    I still need to find Dom and Brad.


    Are they still alive? have they actually returned?


    I have never been able to gather the whole group in all those thousands of years.


    I¡¯ve been having odd dreams lately, it¡¯s more like blurry images not really actual dreams.


    There is a huge black door and the soil is black with a hue of green that doesn¡¯t look like mold. Somewhere I¡¯ve never seen before, It must be outside this country maybe even in a different continent.


    And then are those monsters, the demons razing villages and towns.


    Demons were vanquished and sealed in a different dimension weren¡¯t they? it couldn''t be that they are coming back?.


    I¡¯ve talked about it with Ali and all she does is joke around telling me that I¡¯m no oracle, and even though she is right those dreams are all too weird, it¡¯s as if I¡¯ve seen them before but I can¡¯t remember clearly.


    They are fuzzy dreams and there is no clear view of anything around other than what I see, it¡¯s as if I¡¯m watching a reflection in disturbed water.


    They started the night I turned 16, yes a year ago.


    Even though it¡¯s not a daily occurrence, I¡¯ve had those weird fuzzy dreams three times in the last six months.


    ¡°Lady Gatriel, Lady Gatriel a letter just arrived for you¡±


    A maid calls from outside my room, I told her to get in and give it to me.


    It has the royal seal in it, so it must be from Higg.


    ¡°Dearest fiance, Lady Gatriel Decebal.


    I¡¯m writing you this letter to inform you of a most unfortunate event, our duel will have to be postponed for a couple of months if not even a full year.


    I¡¯m heading out to the borders of Chaiford, close to Lhune the City of Markets at the northernmost border of our kingdom, near the Dragon¡¯s falley.


    It seems that Chaiford and the tribes of Fastow and Beybury are gathering forces to invade our lands.


    Your lord father and his Pegasus army will accompany me, alongside with two other large squadrons to meet at Headbluff with battalions from Ravenloft and Blightmoor to defend our lands.


    I would love to spend a day with you and talk about our exploits since last time we saw each other but time is of the essence and it''s the duty of our army to defend our kingdom!


    Oh how I wish you would change your mind and accept my sincere heart, for with each passing day my feelings for you grow more and more.


    Some days is just unbearable just not being able to see your smile and hear your laugh when we talk or fight!


    My heart goes to you!


    First prince Higg Armand Reiyah


    Leader of the new Gryphon Army, protectors of the kingdom.


    P.D: Please protect my sisters in my place! And do never risk your life more than required! I couldn¡¯t bear the thought of losing you.


    ¡°


    As I was reading the letter I froze in place, the shock of the news was just too big.


    What¡¯s Higg doing going to war, he¡¯s too young, barely 24 years old this year! And my father and his whole battalion are going?


    Thats over eighty thousand men only from Imil, if we assume that Blightmoor will put twenty thousand men as Ravenloft and Headbluff, that¡¯s a gigantic force of over one hundred twenty thousand soldiers.


    This is some serious news, aaah ahhh why am I so worried.


    ¡°If you tell me words like that even I can falter and want to hug you¡­ Higg¡±


    *sigh*


    I let out those words with a sigh and raised my right hand to my eyes and started lightly stroking them.


    ¡°~doki doki~ *whistle* ~ehehe~ Lady Gatriel Decebal finally fell for the Prince? ~doki doki~ what¡¯s with that ¡®if you tell me those words even I want to hug you¡¯ ~kyaa~¡±


    I jumped from my chair and turned around in a second, I didn¡¯t notice Aly entering my room.


    As I stare at her I can feel the heat rushing through my cheeks, her smirk tells me that I must be blushing like a maiden who just confessed her love to a man.


    This is so embarrassing and she¡¯s enjoying it more than she should, that vixen.


    ¡°Y, Yo, You vixen! When did you come in? You know I don¡¯t like when you sneak up on me!¡±


    I couldn''t help but tremble at the beginning, not out of fear but embarrassment. Aliyah just heard something I haven''t said in several millenia.


    ¡°~nee nee~ I¡¯m so cute oh you so caring, come ~smuch smuch~ ahh yes higg, hug me I¡¯m yours ~kyaa~ whoops--¡±


    She dodged my punch beautifully but her surprise was entirely real.


    Her brows rose as she said ¡®whoops¡¯ and her rounded eyes fell down as she dodged.


    ¡°Da, da, dangerous Gat! Do you want to chop my head? Hey I was kidding, calm down¡±


    I was just embarrassed, not really mad at her and lashed out with true killing intent, she must have felt it and crouched fast.


    *huf huf*


    ¡°Sorry ali, I¡¯m sorry, are you ok? Come on! You just scared me and started teasing me so I lost my cool for a second there!¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~, I know, don¡¯t worry. You just scared me for a second, I hadn¡¯t felt your bloodlust in a long while.~pup~¡±


    I gave the letter to Ali so she could read it and her expression turned serious once she was done and stared back at me in silence.


    ¡°We have our graduation mission coming, ali The abandoned fortress of Chedya that seems to be taken over by a band of brigands. The details of the mission are clear, it''s not capture but annihilation.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    We will be given a small regimen of 250 soldiers to command.


    Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°~pyon~ I worry about Dan, Julius, Azer and Galiene, It¡¯s not the first time we have to kill, but Galiene and Azer are still weak.


    They rely too much on us, Dan and Julius are ok but I still worry.¡±


    I think a little bit on Aliyah¡¯s words, indeed I have thought the same.


    Gali is not yet ready for that kind of battlefield. Azer is fine as long as we keep him behind to strategize and with proper guards.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll make it happen and return back alive and victorious, you and me should be able to deal with them if we use our energy, and with the effort of the rest, proper leading of the battalions, it should be done in less than six months including traveling time.¡±


    ¡°~nee nee~ Is it ok for you to just swap topics just like that? Come on Gat, gossip gossip ~kyaa~ ok?¡±


    ¡°Ali.......¡°


    She just looked at me, didn¡¯t say a word she just stared at me, with that beautiful smile on her face.


    I gave up on keeping quiet and started talking with her, letting out all my questions and doubts.


    ¡°Is it ok to feel this? Am I even allowed to?¡±


    .....no answer, just that smile


    ¡°Do I deserve it? After all I¡¯ve done? All the killing, all those massacres?¡±


    ......silence, just that pair of black eyes shining on me, the smile is gone now.


    ¡°I¡¯m a monster Ali, the Heavenly Commander! you know? A being trained for the sole purpose of annihilating the enemy, I¡¯m not someone worth his fe..--¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about Gat? Monster? Killer? How long ago was that? Haven''t you suffered enough? Haven''t you gone through enough loneliness? Caring for us, helping us survive when we were weak? Who was it that allowed me so many times to live the life of a mortal? Who was it that encouraged me to fall in love? To even bear a child?¡±


    *slap slap slap thud thud thud*


    Tears flowing those black eyes and that trembling voice, I didn''t even attempted to dodge her slaps nor her soft punches on my shoulders.


    I mean wasn''t that my job? To find and protect them? That¡¯s what father said isn''t it? ¡®Find them and protect them as you are their salvation¡¯


    ¡°Ali...... haven¡¯t I told you? That¡¯s what father said? ¡®Find them and protect them as you are their salvat¡¯--¡±


    ¡°Shut up, shut up, shut up, you always forgetting the important things, bearing all responsibility by yourself--¡±


    *thud thud*


    ¡°You are not our saviour, and you don¡¯t have to protect us! Why can¡¯t you remember something so simple? Why are you making me suffer like this? Am I not your best friend? Am I not your sister in arms? Have I not been with you through thin and thick?--¡±


    *sob sob*


    ¡°Please Gat don¡¯t make me suffer this much, I put on that face and make odd sounds and gestures, yes I like it, but I know that even if buried in that cold appearance of yours, in your heart you enjoy it, so I keep up with it, I endure it. I see your suffering, your loneliness, and it hurts me more than anything.¡±


    I lowered my head and tears started flowing down my eyes, I didn¡¯t knew she felt this way.


    I¡¯m a bad leader and a bad sister¡­


    ¡°Sorry ali, please forg..--¡±


    ¡°Your dad said ¡®find them and protect EACH OTHER, for they are your salvation and you are theirs¡¯ so don¡¯t you ever forget again!, let me save you this time Gat let me see you enjoy even 1 lifetime out of the thousands we have lived together, please *niff*¡±


    So that was it! How could I have forgotten those words? I was so focused on finding them and protecting them (not being always able to) that I forgot those words.


    So I just nodded, smiled at Ali¡¯s crying face and nodded.


    After a couple of minutes holding each other Ali managed to calm herself and stated in a matter-of-factly way.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get ready for our mission and go say goodbye to your father and Higg? Yes? ~kyaa~¡±


    I just nodded and got my gear, my stacks of papers, my backpack and followed by Ali out of the castle.


    Dan, Julius, Azer and Galiene are waiting outside the Royal castle, we are ready to leave for our graduation mission, I came here to see Father and Higg, say my goodbyes and express something I haven¡¯t done in a long time!


    ¡°Lady Gatriel Decebal entering¡±


    The cryer announced my name in front of the war room.


    Considering My father is who he is and that I¡¯m Higg¡¯s fiance, not to forget an Accomplished Knight(graduating one at that) at the Royal Academy I was allowed in.


    ¡°Dear Father, I¡¯m here today to wish you the best on your war efforts on the north and to inform you that I¡¯m leaving for my graduation mission from the RA, I¡¯ve come to get your blessings¡±


    All the generals in the room, my father, Higg and the king are looking at me with amazed faces. It seems they weren''t expecting neither me coming nor those words.


    ¡°You are my daughter, my little angel, the daughter of The Pegasus, there is nothing to fear! Go with the wind and return victorious and well¡±


    Short words of encouragement and affection it was more than I wanted to hear, but I received them with warm and wrapped them inside my heart.


    ¡°Dearest fiance,--¡±


    I started walking towards Higg, his face was red as a tomato, and his eyes were so wide that his eyeballs could fall from their sockets.


    *smuch*


    ¡°I wish you the best on the defense of the northern border, and please return to me alive ok? Don¡¯t make me wait much after I turn eighteen!¡±


    I kissed him on the right cheek, his jaw dropped and his eyes started getting watery.


    I better leave before he regains his senses, I¡¯m not ready for anything more at this time.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 14 - The true nature of the mortal races

    Ch 14 - The true nature of the mortal races


    In the northern border of the Jade forest, three small brigades of two hundred and fifty soldiers were following their respective leader groups, formed by six graduating students each.


    The teams were camping waiting for the night to end, a total of about 760 men some doing rounds some sleeping and inside the 3 big tents some were engaging in meetings.


    It took us two months to get here, a month faster than what we expected thanks to Gatriel¡¯s idea to cut through the Jade forest instead of running around its border.


    We are resting here prior to engaging the enemy.


    Gatriel¡¯s group, my group, was nominated for the vanguard group as we boasted the highest attack potential.


    Gat and the rest were planning their own strategy on our tent, while the other two groups were coordinating with me.


    Who am I? I¡¯m Sir Azer Garnotin, strategist of Gatriel¡¯s party.


    After some discussion with our leader she ordered me to organize the reinforcements and flanking attack with the other 2 parties.


    I am not too happy about it but, when the general gives an order, is the job of those who follow to obey, and in our group, Gatriel¡¯s word are law.


    She knows about strategy, war tactics, geography, calculations, scouting, war history and beyond all that she is scary strong.


    What I mean is, that is one hell of a frightening woman I¡¯m glad I joined her team.


    A long time ago, when we formed the party, Aliyah told me that Gatriel was the strongest fighter in the kingdom and I thought she was just full of shit, I mean I knew she was strong, but ¡®strongest fighter in the kingdom...¡¯ but then mission after mission, fight after fight, training after training, finally I got to understand her strength!


    She is different than us, they both are.


    If you were to ask me on how to describe them in one word regarding to war potential, I think the simplest most basic word I can come up with is ¡®annihilators¡¯.


    They move at speeds that are impossible to follow with the naked eye, Gatriel¡¯s swings can sometimes go as far as to tear the ground itself.


    And Aliyah¡¯s ability to blend with her surroundings and simply disappear from your range of perception is ¡®SCARY¡¯.


    Well enough of that, I am here because they want to protect me, I know, and I¡¯m thankful for their thoughts.


    I don''t like killing.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, is not like I¡¯m against doing my job, I just don''t like killing with my own hands. It scares me and keeps me up at night.


    I dont have the strength to kill my opponents with one strike, which always leads me to hear their pleas or groans and screams, and then every night after the act, for days those voices haunt me, taking my hours of valuable rest.


    Does that makes me a coward? Well so be it, Gatriel says is fine for me to stay behind and if she say so then it¡¯s true, her words, to me, are more valuable than anyone¡¯s.


    I remember when Gat fought that arrogant prick Grant, I asked her if she was going to use it, and she looked at me with a somewhat perplexed expression and answered ¡®What do you mean by ¡®it¡¯ Azer?¡¯. I told her about that strange strength she showed us several times and she laughed, saying he wasn¡¯t worthy of her ¡®energy¡¯ or something like that.


    Whatever does that mean only those two cousins know.


    But I¡¯ve seen it and I¡¯m certain she does indeed uses some sort of technique that we don¡¯t know about.


    I¡¯ve discussed it with Dan, Julius and Gali and there is no doubt those two are special!


    Oh well I keep getting distracted, let me back to my stuff here.


    The plan is fairly straightforward and achievable, there are no blind spots after I offered a couple of modifications to the overall plan.


    So the plan is.


    My squad, I mean, Squad 1, lead by Gat will storm the fortress from the south entrance and make sure the enemy either confronts them or attempt to flee through the east entrypoint while waiting for the reinforcers of Squad 3 from the west.


    Squad 2, lead by team Mitchell will hide in the small forest east of the fortress. If any enemy attempts to escape that way they will attack and eliminate them, then storm the fortress.


    Squad 3, lead by Bertie will flank from the Kishoy Wastes, and storm the fortress from the west side, that way ensuring that both access points of the fortress, south and west, are covered. Leaving only the east entrypoint to attempt their escape. And as told, there they will meet their end at the hands of squad 2.


    I¡¯m staying here in the forest with a small contingent of 50 soldiers to guard me as ordered by Gatriel.


    I will rest for a couple of hours prior to the vanguard¡¯s leaving.


    It will take 3 days for them to arrive to the Fortress, one full day of battle if all goes as expected, and another 3 days for the battalions to return, so all in all it¡¯s just a week I have to spend here waiting.


    ------------------------


    ¡°Ok he went to sleep, let¡¯s move to the other tent quickly and discuss this whole thing properly¡±


    We nodded and exited the tent where Azer was sleeping soundly.


    Just a couple of steps and we entered the other free tent and started our discussion in in whispers.


    ¡°So how long do we wait until storming the ruins?¡±


    ¡°How about until the nighttime?? The chances that the first squad will be annihilated will increase, and if they are still fighting we take advantage of the confusion and kill them ourselves¡±


    ¡°Guys I think this is a bad plan¡±


    ¡°Shut up Bryan, you just follow what Bertie and I plan and everything will be fine¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Y, Yes captain, sorry¡±


    ¡°*hmph* ok, so we then wait until it¡¯s nighttime and storm the Fortress from both east and west, clean up anything that is still moving, gather the evidence that Squad 1 was defeated by the bandits and return victorious. Then we just have to pose as avengers of those arrogant pricks of squad 1¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure of this plan Mitchell, you have seen that demon fight, are you sure that if she is still alive when we get there we will be able to take her down?¡±


    ¡°We have 250 soldiers with us Bertie, is not like she can fight 500 men on her own¡±


    ¡°And you really think those soldiers will follow us into killing a promising knight graduate? Do you really hate her that much? To to such lengths? You can be labeled as a traitor and if worse comes to worse, executed!¡±


    ¡°Bertie, listen to me carefully, they have to obey our orders that¡¯s their job, and yes I hate that bitch, she humiliated my brother and my family along with him. What if brother Grant forgave her? I don¡¯t care, I want to see her dead. And if you dare betray me don¡¯t forget the might of the Rawkin noble family! You are a commoner and your family eats thanks to mine! Don¡¯t you ever forget that.¡±


    ¡°. . .¡±


    ¡°Thats it, thats how it is obey me, follow me and it will be ok.¡±


    -----------------------


    I have to write this letter quickly, now that Mitchell is asleep, I don¡¯t care if he gets angry at me, but if I plead to Gatriel and tell her the truth, that I was forced into this plan, she may forgive me and spare my family.


    I can¡¯t do this atrocious thing, it¡¯s plain wrong.


    I¡¯ll follow Azer¡¯s plan and wait for Mitchell to appear at nightfall and learn that I betrayed him.


    *scribe scribe scribe, scratch scratch, scribe scribe*


    Ok, this is good enough I¡¯ll drop it quietly into squad 1 tent...


    *swish*


    *drip*


    *shiver*


    W, ww. W. . . cold, who''s there?


    How did someone get into my tent without me noticing? This is impossible, did bandits snuck in while I went to Mitchell''s tent?


    Fuck I¡¯m scared, what¡¯s with this blade on my neck? I¡¯m bleeding you know? Uh? There is another in my left ribs!!!, - I went stiff - if I move I¡¯m a dead man.


    ¡°~tehe~ such a wise man Bertie, smart choice!¡±


    Uh? I¡¯ve never heard a whisper this frightening in my life, she knows my name, who is it?


    I¡¯m afraid to move . . .


    *shiver*


    ¡°~nee nee~ I¡¯ve read it already so how about you let me take the letter to Gat for you? I promise you will be protected o~k~e~y~ ~pyon~¡±


    Uh? Aliyah? How did she get in? I was sure she was in squad 1 tent! whats going on here?


    ¡°W, w, will you forgive me? I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry really sorry --smpmbmp--¡±


    My mouth got covered by Aliyah¡¯s left hand, and noticed there was no knife in my left ribs, I just nodded.


    ¡°~ehehe~ that¡¯s how it is, keep silent and rest. I assure you the general will talk to her father and you¡¯ll be saved, so follow Azer¡¯s plan ~kay?~¡±


    I nodded  and the blade was removed from from my throat, I feel the small drip of blood falling down.


    How can someone have such delicate and precise usage of knifes?


    I gather all my courage I turn around to face her and again tell her how sorry I am.


    Huh? Eh? Nothing! No one was there.


    What? Hows that even possible? She was just behind me, that¡¯s a fact, not only did she managed to cut me, she spoke to me in whispers.


    I look again at the table and the letter...... is gone! What? What¡¯s this? How did she do that? Is that what they are taught in the Shadow art¡¯s course?.


    I couldn¡¯t sleep at all I was too afraid to close my eyes, one bad move last night and my life could have been forfeited!


    Who are those people! 1st squad! Are all of them monsters? Just like those three? Are Dan, Julius and Galiene scary people too?.


    Azer strategic thinking is in a whole different level than our strategy, Gatriel¡¯s fighting style and strength is recognized even among the deans of the Academy and that¡¯s no easy feat. and Aliyah¡¯s display of prowess last night was just godlike.


    As the sun came up I exit the tent after washing my face, setting up  my armor and there they are! Gatriel, Aliyah, Dan, Julius, Galiene, not a speck of fear in any one of them!


    Yes they are monsters -I thought right there-


    ¡°~puu~ We¡¯ll be going first ~kay~? Let¡¯s get along well and return victorious ~pyon~¡±


    Uh? That chick is a weirdo how can she behave like a kid after what happened last night? Or was that a warning? I don¡¯t understand them at all, how can they be so calm when they are going to fight to the death a band of brigands in their headquarters?


    Could it be that I¡¯m just a coward?


    ¡°Well see you there Squad 1, Bertie¡¯s Squad 3 and my squad 2 will perform as planned, see you there¡±


    Thats one wicked smile Mitchell you are telegraphing your intention, calm down!. The members of squad 1 bowed their heads lightly and ordered their soldiers to sortie, following suit I ordered my squad to sortie and not long after Mitchell¡¯s squad marched behind us.


    I will time my attack and storm the fortress at the same time as Squad 1, I hope this ends well and nothing wrong happens!


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 15 - Caught red handed

    Ch 15 - Caught red handed


    It¡¯s been two nights since we left the forest and we will storm the fortress in six hours, a little bit before sunrise to take advantage of the dark and possible drowsiness of the gang.


    Our general is giving orders left and right (since when we started calling Gat general? It just happens during missions tho¡­), talking to the soldiers, then she sent Ali forward to gather information, and asked Gali to relay the information to her men.


    Dan is just lost, to fall in love with someone so unattainable, well that¡¯s just his bad luck!


    I¡¯ve heard rumors that Gat is opening up to first prince Higg, and they may not even fight next year! And for my honour and family name Valentine, I Sir Julius Valentine, second son of my family am certain that our stop at the royal castle wasn¡¯t just to say goodbye to the Pegasus.


    Ali returned, we are fairly close to the fortress, it shouldn''t take us half an hour to storm the entrance, shes discussing something with our general.


    Let me get there.


    ¡°..nd seems Bertie forces are ready to rush in very close to our entrance, so things could go fairly smoothly! What about Mitchell?¡±


    Uh? Let me think a second here, she said ¡®and seems Bertie¡­.¡¯ ok, so our groups will storm the fortress almost at the same time. That makes sense, what about Mitchell? We just gota capture him and turn him to the Order of Knights, he''s clearly conspiring to kill us no?


    ¡°Excuse me General, Ali, what about Mitchell? Didn''t we agree that we would capture him, subdue his squad and turn him to the Order of Knights?¡±


    ¡°~puu puu~ You are no fun Juls! Let me play with him a little! An ear, a couple of fingers, maybe his ¡®thing¡¯ no? ~tuu tuu~¡±


    Don¡¯t make those cute eyes at me you demoness!


    How this two cousins can be so alike and so different at the same time? Does Ali enjoy torture that much? Or it¡¯s just the act of killing what she likes? Lets wait for Gat¡¯s decision and go with it ~kay~ -- not!


    ¡°Ali stop it please, and Juls whats with ¡®General¡¯ this ¡®General¡¯ that? Aren¡¯t we friends? How long have we gone to missions together? Why don¡¯t you just call me Gat like usual?¡±


    Achacha! I forgot Gat doesn¡¯t like to be called General! Oh well we are too used to it to refer to her as general in our strategy meetings that it just rolls out naturally out of my mouth!


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Gat bear with it yes? During missions at least ok? Or how that demoness would say ~key?~¡±


    What am I doing? So ridiculous of me imitating that demoness!


    *Chuckle*


    ¡°Order of Knights it is, no playing with his parts Ali, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°~boo boo~ if that¡¯s what Gat wants I¡¯m ~o~k~e~y~ with it!¡±


    After that ridiculous syllable by syllable o k e y, I can¡¯t help but chuckle too! Oh Gali is back.


    ¡°Gen.., erm, whoops, Gat, erm --¡±


    There you go! Don''t worry she will not complain, oh well she wasn''t here a min ago so its ok, lets enjoy seeing her swallow her words


    ¡°The soldiers are ready and informed to act as soon as Mitchell¡¯s squad enters the scene to detain them, what¡¯s the situation on Bertie¡¯s side? Is he aware of our plan?¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ he is Gali, I made sure of it ~ehehe~¡±


    Uwaaa, *shiver* that¡¯s one heck of a scary look you got there Ali, I hope he¡¯s not so afraid of you that he decides to run away and not storm the fortress.


    Gat gave the word and we are preparing to storm the fortress any minute now, all that we need is her signal.


    . . .


    . .


    .


    *swish*


    There it is! I ordered my group of soldiers to charge, Gatriel and Ali stormed up front at their ridiculous speed, oh well let¡¯s make the most of it and not fall behind!


    Let¡¯s kill all those bastards as quickly as we can.


    *rush*


    *swish, cling, splurt, thud *


    ¡°Agrgrgrg¡±


    *plop, swish, clang, plop, thud, swish, clang clang clang clang, swish *


    This is just amazing, I¡¯ve been swinging my sword left and right and felling enemies at each swing, we are advancing as expected... oh, there is Bertie¡¯s squad, so seems all is going well!


    Is this how it feels to go to war? It¡¯s the first time we have fought such a large number of enemies!


    Hows my left flank? Uh? Hey hey hey gali


    ¡°Gaaaaliiiiii¡±


    I charged towards Galiene, she¡¯s being cornered by three men wielding daggers, if I don¡¯t hurry she¡¯ll be done for!


    *charge*


    *thud, clang, thud, swish*


    *huff, huff, huff*


    I run in front of her and push her with my back against the wall to cover her, I couldn¡¯t get rid of the three men in the charge. Only one of them fell and one is hurt, he¡¯s holding his right arm with his left one.


    Let me continue! I can¡¯t let Gali fall here!


    *swish*


    *clang*


    *kick, thud, swish, splurt*


    *swish*


    ¡°Ugg damnit I¡¯m hit¡±


    ¡°Juls its ok its just one left now, get back¡±


    ¡°Thank you gali, sorry¡±


    Shit that mongrel got me, with this stab on my leg I won¡¯t be able to move freely for a while.


    *swish, clang, swish, clang, kick, splurt, thud*


    *huff huff huff*


    ¡°You ok Juls? Thanks for saving me here! I thought I was going to die. Let¡¯s move towards the soldiers by the entrance, we need cover you are injured and I¡¯m tired¡±


    I followed Gali towards the soldiers and took cover, one of them is making a knot on my leg with some fabric to stop the bleeding. I look at Gali and my eyes went wide


    ¡°Gali are you ok? What¡¯s that blood in your face?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Juls is not mine I only got a small scratch on my shield arm, but it¡¯s nothing serious ok? Rest a bit¡±


    Nodding to her words I take a look at the spectacle that¡¯s happening in front of me, the bowmen have already swords in hand and are pushing forward. Gatriel is spinning like a demon and jumping left and right with that strange style of hers.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Bertie¡¯s men are fighting fiercely, there are so many bodies in the floor!


    Man this is both exhilarating and scary as hell! I¡¯m so happy I decided on being a knight, I¡¯m a muscle-head you know!


    I¡¯m graduating at last! I will follow our general to whatever end if she allow us to!


    Where is ali? Haven¡¯t seen her since she disappeared in the initial charge.


    I scan the fortress left, right, up, center... nothing I can¡¯t find her.


    Ok things are getting easier now, seems we are about to finish, the sun is already up, we have been at this for over three hours now.


    I¡¯m rested but can¡¯t move yet! Gali has gone back to fight and retreated a couple of times to catch her breath!


    Damn my luck that I had to get injured so early into the battle.


    Uh? Is that Gat? What? I stood up quickly


    ¡°GAT! GAT GAT GAT! You ok? Answer me dammit¡±


    As the light shone on her, all I could see was her figure drenched in blood, from head to toe, her hair was sticking to her head and the back of her armor, her swords were hanging on her arms, touching the floor.


    Whats happening, is she injured?


    ...


    ¡°Come on General --¡±


    I started limping towards her, a soldier helped me to get to her position.


    Uh? Where is she looking at? What¡¯s there? Uh? Who¡¯s that on that upper balcony?


    What¡¯s that on the arms? Uh? Noway, no way! I can¡¯t see clearly the sun is hitting my face...


    *plop plop plop*


    Three bodies just fell down that balcony, I close my eyes a bit to try to focus on who¡¯s up there! Oh! There she is, what did she drop?


    ¡°So she did it! As expected of Ali¡±


    So she did it eh? I looked at the bodies that just fell down, and saw the three bandits.


    Those are the leaders, based on our intel they look just as those corpses.


    I look up again but I couldn¡¯t find Ali¡¯s figure.


    Soldiers arriving from the west, must be Bertie¡¯s men, they are carrying three people, three of Bertie¡¯s men were injured.


    Oh well who said this was a job that was going to be easy?


    ¡°~nee nee~ Juls¡±


    Uh? When did she get here? Shit she still scares the crap out of me when she appears out of nowhere!


    ¡°Yes Ali, I was injured, sorry ok? You win today for sure! I only killed about 20 before I got stabbed¡±


    ¡°~puu puu~ I haven¡¯t reached that number yet! Took a lot of time to get to the leader¡¯s room ~pyon~¡±


    Don¡¯t pout please!


    Doesn¡¯t... no no it actually fits you way too perfectly, it¡¯s just I know you, you demoness, so stop it!


    ¡°General, then should we start the second phase of the plan?¡±


    ¡°Yes Gali let¡¯s start it right now. Please give the order to the men¡±


    Galiene went to the men and relayed the plan, and they started sparring just crossing swords, and every once in awhile shouting. Making as much noise as possible.


    Bertie¡¯s men joined the pan, and like that we spent several hours, rotating soldiers so they could rest, while faking a continuous combat until was night-time.


    ¡°Ok Stop now, let there be silence for some time, let¡¯s wait for Mitchell¡¯s impatience and wait for him to get here after not hearing any more sound.¡±


    And as Gat said we made formations, some 50 archers went to the balcony, some others hid behind the walls back the eastern entry point, and the rest of us behind Gatriel were waiting for the 2nd squad to come inside the fortress.


    As night fell, after just a couple of hours of silence we could hear the march going up the steep slope of the eastern entryway.


    The soldiers stormed in, Mitchell and his men in the forefront, all but one were smiling.


    It seems one of his party members isn¡¯t happy with his plan! Great! Another witness!


    ¡°Uh? Whats going on here? --¡±


    *rumble rumble rumble*


    *step step step step*


    The sounds of the soldiers surrounding Mitchell''s men and soldiers could be heard in the whole fortress.


    Bowmen pulling their strings, and swords pointing at them from left, right and back. And in front of them, there we stood.


    Gatriel, Aliyah, Galiene, me, Bertie, and his men, some patched up as they were injured.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this? Is this how the great Gatriel Decebal treats her reinforces? Lower your swords soldiers, just came to help!¡±


    . . . .


    . . .


    . .


    .


    ¡°I said lower your swords lowly peasants! Or you can¡¯t even listen to my words? Whats going on Lady Gatriel Decebal? Order your men to lower their weapons.¡±


    ¡°Keep pointing the weapons men! Bryan come here right now, hurry now, come on¡±


    Gat called for precisely the guy who wasn''t smiling, oh that must be the guy who voiced discontent on the tent! Smart move Gat!


    I¡¯m impressed indeed.


    The man called Bryan started to trot towards Gatriel when Mitchell¡¯s face distorted into something unrecognizable and in a fit of rage rose his sword and aimed at his back.


    ¡°YOOUUUU TTRAAAITTTOORRR--ugggr--¡±


    *kick, thud, roll, plop, plop, roll*


    Three seconds, ten meters, a straight line.


    A blur, a kick, bam! Ruthless as ever.


    ¡°Shut your mouth you filthy piece of shit, do you have any idea of the consequence of your actions? We will turn you to the Order of Knights. Your punishment will be harsh.¡±


    She ordered the soldiers to tie Mitchell up, and gave the chance to the other four to flip sides and be witnesses of Mitchell plot or face the same fate, after a single hour, we were on our way back chatting merrily dragging by rope one single prisoner.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 16 - Execution of one or exile of all

    Ch 16 - Execution of one or exile of all


    I¡¯ve been talking with my squad and others on our way back to Imil, having fun indeed, it¡¯s been three months and we are already close. We can see the northern rampart of the city.


    This past month''s after much discussion and deliberation it was agreed that Mitchell, instead of being carried around naked would be allowed to keep his pants and undershirt.


    We removed his armor, weapons, boots and gloves, and he was to never be untied or alone.


    Ali wanted to cut both the thumbs of his hands and feet! So he could never again walk or grab a sword, but Galiene strongly disagreed, she said that she wouldn¡¯t allow ¡®such barbaric acts¡¯.


    Dan and Azer talked to me a lot and in the end they managed to convince me to stop dragging Mitchell behind the carriage. So the last two months, he was being transported *inside* one of the carriages, tied and gagged.


    I am aware that what I did will be frowned upon by the Order of Knights, but a traitor punishment is death and I did not kill him, he should count himself among the lucky ones, because his head still rest upon his own shoulders.


    By the end of that day, close to sunset we were granted passage through the Northern gate.


    We were received with cheers and clamorous applauses from the citizens of the city, we returned a little earlier than expected but nonetheless each time a squad of returns from a mission, they were received warmly by the citizens.


    As it meant that whatever they did, was for the good of the city, the kingdom and that peace was being maintained one way or another.


    I sent Ali to inform the RA of our victorious return and the issue and accusation against Mitchell Rawkin.


    An hour later almost at nightfall we were received in the Order of Knights, everyone was tired but we had to endure for a little bit more. The severe case of treason and plot to murder promising knights was important and the Order of Knights ordered us to give our statements.


    We gave our testimonies and the soldiers were interviewed, Mitchell denied everything saying it was a plot by me to destroy him, but the evidence against him was just too large. All of his party members and his soldiers gave account of the orders and plans Mitchell devised.


    And as if that wasn''t enough Bertie and his members also confessed that under duress of harassment and mistreatment of their families (all of them were commoners with work ties to the Rawkin family) were pulled into that plot.


    With that the case was as good as closed.


    Mitchell parents appealed to the Order to release their son under house arrest, but the order bluntly rejected the appeal.


    In a week¡¯s time the trial of Mitchell Rawkin will be held in public court, presided by the king himself as the main judge.


    Grant appealed to me and begged me to forgive his brother, so did their parents as the Order didn¡¯t allow the house arrest request.


    I told them that it was outside of my hands and that it was true that he plotted to kill me and my group, and besides, my father was deployed in the northernmost border of the kingdom in war with my fiance so my hands were tied.


    When we were done I went home with Ali, both our parents were deployed in war. In that situation my aunt stayed at our castle.


    There we spoke of the mission and what happened, and discussed with our mothers what stance to take on the day of the trial.


    My mother refused profoundly to allow any appeal to our family, saying ¡®that runt plotted to kill my little angels, he doesn¡¯t deserve any sympathy¡¯ and such, and my Aunt¡¯s words were fairly similar, so it was decided that we wouldn¡¯t intervene in their favor.


    And so after resting for a full week, meeting with friends and my squad members every other day, the day of the trial came to be.


    Tomorrow at mid-day in the lower royal chamber of law (it¡¯s a huge open space close to the entrance of the Royal Castle, where public trials are performed and can be visited by the nobles and commoners), we will see what¡¯s the punishment imposed by the kingdom to Mitchell and/or his family.


    I¡¯ve had a lot of time to think and I still find this nobility regime to be just inefficient and corrupt. Families here and there plotting against the other, fights against family knights go on and on just to further their lord¡¯s greedy desires. And the corruption runs deep in this society!


    What would Higg do once we marry and he gets the throne?


    Would he follow the steps the current trend of the regime?


    The king is a good man, not for anything his title is ¡®The Earnest¡¯ but he¡¯s just a single man surrounded by many corrupt men!


    Would Higg ever accept the idea of abolishing nobility? Or would he scoff at me and disregard my words?


    I¡¯m nervous, I would have never thought I¡¯d say ¡®once we marry¡¯, does this means that I have already decided deep in my heart?


    Am I in love with him?


    I¡¯m not sure, but my heart feels warm when I think of him, and I worry about his welfare on his current deployment.


    I¡¯m at my mother¡¯s room, the day has already gone and the moon shines brightly up in the sky. She¡¯s combing my hair slowly and I want to talk to her about things that I lost touch with (not that I will phrase it that way to her).


    ¡°Mother, would father protect Higg on the war?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Well dear, I guess?, you know he¡¯s the king¡¯s son!¡±


    ¡°So would only be because of that?¡±


    I feel my cheeks getting a bit warm, am I blushing right now?


    Her smile looking at me right now is a mix of both, amusement and teasing mood.


    Or is she simply happy about the conversation?


    ¡°Oho~! So what other reason would be there for The Mighty Pegasus to protect little The Gryphon?¡±


    Did I just dug my own grave here?


    Well this is what I wanted to talk about, so let''s get on with it and let it all out!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t higg my fiance? Are we not getting married in the next year?¡±


    ¡°Ehh! But Gat, weren¡¯t you going to fight him until that plan was forgotten? Or have you changed your mind?¡±


    I just nod to her question.


    She is smiling at me and I¡¯m blushing.


    *knock knock*


    After the knocks the door opens.


    There was no announcements and no maids, just two beautiful black haired women walking in.


    Aliyah and my aunt.


    I drop my head, I¡¯m embarrassed and now I gotta finish this talk in front of them!


    Ali won¡¯t let this go, but the thing is, my mother won¡¯t either.


    ¡°Welcome back Lucy, Ali come sit, Gat and I were having a very nice chat¡±


    ¡°Why hello! Thank you then. Don¡¯t mind us, come ali, lets sit in the bed¡±


    ¡°~kay~¡±


    They walked around the bed, sit in from my father¡¯s side and got close to us by sliding slowly.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°So Gat, where were we? Ah right, so you wonder if your lord father, The Pegasus would protect your fiance the Gryphon? Ehh, what was it again that I asked?¡±


    ¡°Muu, mother, don¡¯t tease me. It''s already hard enough as it is without teasing and now we have aunty and Ali here.¡±


    ¡°All right all right, don¡¯t blush that much ok? I promise I won¡¯t tease you more¡±


    Isn¡¯t that just saying Aunty and Ali can tease me as much as they want? Not fair mother, not fair.


    ¡°So then you changed your mind is it? You won¡¯t challenge Higg anymore?¡±


    I nodded


    ¡°Oh my! Lil Gat got snatched by a man! Ali ali your cousin seems to have made up her mind and accept Higg¡±


    ¡°~kyaa~ I already knew ~pyon~¡±


    ¡°Oh! So the ones out of this big news are just me and my sister?¡±


    ¡°No aunty, I haven¡¯t said a word yet to my friends nor Roxana, aghg, I¡¯m not sure she¡¯ll like it tho?¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute young lady, does your answer means your lord father knows?¡±


    I nodded


    ¡°Wha, eh, how?, when?¡±


    Mother and my aunt were surprised by my answer.


    ¡°When I went to the Royal Castle to wish my lord father success in the deployment I said something to Higg and gave him a kiss on the cheek¡±


    ¡°How bold Gatriel, that¡¯s my niece for you, taking control of your man! Thats how its gotta be!¡±


    ¡°Wait a second sister, what did you say? Could you tell me the details?¡±


    As my mother closed in on to me, I nodded


    ¡°I said clearly this ¡®I wish you the best on the defense of the northern border, and please return to me alive ok? Don¡¯t make me wait much after I turn eighteen¡¯ and I¡¯m certain everybody in the War Room heard me, then I kissed him on the cheek and left¡±


    Silence, my aunt and mother mouths were agape, Ali rose her brows but attempted to control the surprise.


    After that, the conversation went in all kind of directions, dress, colors, where to live, when would I retire from the military (they didn¡¯t like when I denied that), baby names! Etc.


    Come on take it easy, it isn¡¯t like I¡¯m planning on getting myself pregnant right now or at all for that matter.


    I was tired, way too tired, mentally mostly.


    That¡¯s exhausting you know, gossiping and talking about all kinds of things!


    I fell asleep.


    After waking up and spending morning being teased and getting ready, at about mid-day we left for the Royal palace to attend to the Trial of Mitchell Rawkin.


    The charges were, conspiracy to assassinate a noble, conspiracy to assassinate the first prince¡¯s fiancee, conspiracy to blackmail commoners, alleged attempt to drag commoners by kidnapping their families under duress through work relation harassment, alleged attempt to bribe soldiers to commit felonious acts.


    After arriving to the lower court, we made our way to our seats.


    In the left corner of the area was the Queen Alote Ancret Reyah, accompanied by her two daughters, Roxana Reiyah and Amelinne Sophie Reyah.


    in front of the hall the king sat in a higher chair, that clearly was meant for the judge of the trial, and at his both sides were his trusted aides and counselors.


    The charges were presented, and in the accused podium there he stood, Mitchell Rawkin. After his parents pleaded to my family for mercy again, my mother denied it bluntly and they sat down behind their son.


    So the trial began.


    The King called witness after witness, with interruptions here and there by Mitchell, being told to shut up several times.


    It was now Bertie¡¯s time as a witness, he was asked by the king to tell what happened that night previous to the mission in the tent.


    "I said


    ''how long do we wait until storming in?''


    then Mitchell answered


    ''How about until the morning? chances the first squad will be annihilated will increase, and if they are still fighting we take advantage of the confusion and kill them ourselves''


    Then Bryan said


    ''Guys this is a bad plan''


    to which Mitchell replied


    ''Shut up Bryan, you just follow what I plan and everything will be fine, so we then wait until it¡¯s about morning and storm the Fortress from both east and west, kill those still moving, gather the evidence that Squad 1 was defeated by the bandits and return victorious and avengers of those arrogant pricks''


    so his intent was to let them die in battle, and if not kill them and claim he avenged them."


    Bertie stopped to get some air. . .


    "Please continue mister Bertie"


    "Thank you your highness,


    Then I voiced my discontent saying


    ''I¡¯m not sure of the plan Mitchell, you have seen that... l, la, lady... fight, are you sure that if she is still alive when we join we will be able to take her down?'' --"


    Mitchell raged and interrupted again...


    "you said ''that I''ve seen that demon fight--*grm grm*'' you lowly peasant, traitorous liar"


    And the king, amused by the latest interruption cut in


    "oh so you remember a conversation that based on your testimony never happened? would you care to elaborate"


    "n, no no, that''s how he usually refers to Lady Gatriel Decebal, yes, that is, that''s how he calls her at the Royal Academy"


    "Please mister bertie continue, gag the defendant. His interruptions won''t be allowed any further in this trial"


    "thank you your highness, so then I¡¯ll continue, he said


    ''We have 500 soldiers with us and was not like she could fight them on her own''


    and I voiced my discontent again so he threatened me and my family


    ''Bertie, listen carefully, they have to obey our orders, and yes I hate that bitch as she humiliated my brother and my family, what if brother Grant forgave her? I don¡¯t care, I want to see her dead. And if you betray me don¡¯t forget the might of the Rawkin noble family! You are a commoner and your family eats thanks to mine!''"


    After deliberating for about half an hour the king called Mitchell¡¯s father to step forward.


    ¡°We have found your son guilty of treason and all the charged presented at this trial, considering your stature we have decided to allow you to choose between this two possible punishments. Think it through with your family and choose one now¡±


    ¡°The immediate public execution of Mitchell Rawkin or...¡±


    The king made a long pause then continued


    ¡°Renounce to all your riches, properties, land, assets, titles and have your whole family Exiled from this kingdom, What say you?¡±


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 17 - The city of Catun

    Ch 17 - The city of Catun


    This port is different from the last one where we stopped to replenish our stores and fix the ships.


    It¡¯s incredibly organized and well built. Who would have thought to make ports of heavy stone, so this is the distant continent eh?


    So Jumon suspicions weren¡¯t unfounded hmmm, I guessed that just by bringing a strong contingent of men with me was more than enough, guess I was wrong?


    It is a prosperous city, the architecture is robust but weird, huge ramparts can be seen even from here covering the 3 exposed sides of the city, yet it has a single point of entry at the southern wall in center.


    Strange red stones make up the walls of the buildings, some using  wood and others using stone to make the roofs, it is a very different and more advanced architectural composition than in my continent.


    I wasn¡¯t expecting this.


    The roads - streets they call them here - are made of oddly flattened and leveled stones, not of normal soil like in our land.


    It is a whole different culture.


    So that¡¯s what that old woman Clovea meant when revealing her vision... ¡®unfamiliar country¡¯ - those words echoed in my mind -


    Our order has spent thousands of years slowly gathering loyal followers, training them so they can infiltrate the kingdoms in the Gailyra continent.


    We have already taken over eight city-states and kingdoms under our thumb out of the seventeen there, placing puppet kings and nobles our control expands steadily.


    There are some still outside our grasp but that¡¯s not my assignment, now what I have to do is work in taking over this continent.


    ¡°As if¡±


    I whispered to myself.


    This land is a lot different than I thought, I was expecting to find salvages or an undeveloped country as many in our continent.


    This is not going to be easy work.


    ¡°Are my men ready captain?¡±


    ¡°Yes Lady Morea, they are awaiting your orders¡±


    This man walking down the port with me is one of our 12 captains, he commands one of our fleets to cross the dangerous oceans.


    He is a tall and strong dark skinned man, always running his left hand through his brown beard. The slight wrinkles on his face show he is about 45 years old, and he have been sailing since he was little. Going out on fishing boats with his father, another faithful follower of our order.


    It took us 6 years to get there, as the captain recommended, we took the long way. Sailing as close to shore as possible yet far enough to not be seen.


    We had to sail up to the north for months, then move from west to east until we reached the Cobalt Sea and then navigate down to this City¡¯s port.


    It seems crossing the Sea of Zite, North Sea and the Dragon Sea is too dangerous due to the large amount of marine beasts. The captain told me that if we attempted that we could have lost many, if not all our ships.


    ¡°Then start unloading them slowly as planned, every two weeks from the ships anchored out in the Cobalt Sea¡±


    North of this city is the Cobalt Sea, that connects both the northeastern continent, and this south-east continent.


    Our fleet is anchored there more than 10 ships carrying my 600 men.


    The plan is to unload every two weeks 50 men bringing goods from the northern continent.


    ¡°As you wish my lady. For the Fallen ones return¡±


    He chants as he starts to turn back towards the boat.


    ¡°and the darkness spread eternal!¡±


    In six months I¡¯ll have my army ready, mingling in the city posing as merchants from the north, with wishes to migrate here in search for a better life.


    I¡¯ll gain war-funds and strengthen our position here, once all it¡¯s done I¡¯ll start my work, infiltrate this City¡¯s castle and from there start the takeover.


    ----------------------------------


    It¡¯s been a week since the trial ended and now here we are, leaving the city of Imil, the capital of our kingdom.


    The mission this time? Transport and escort the exiled Rawkin family, who got everything taken away from them, properties, riches, titles and assets (harsh i know, even their clothes were taken away, they are wearing farmer¡¯s clothing now) to Catun city-port, then load them into a ship so they can be dropped at the Island of the Forgotten.


    Gat has been in a somber mood for a while and not even Ali has been able to soothe her. Dan has also tried but... he lost all hope when Gat told us that she will marry the prince soon after the Trial!


    Aww aww why couldn¡¯t a prince pick me eh? Don¡¯t get me wrong I don¡¯t envy Gatriel at all, getting married and keeping her mind about her vocation is tough.


    Juls and Azer have been trying to take him to ¡®those¡¯ places in the slums, but Dan is not really spirited and hasn¡¯t accepted... yet.


    As for me, I¡¯ve tried to talk to Gat and Ali but there isn¡¯t much I can say, since the rumors that the city-port of Catun is behaving oddly, Gat has been fierce - and somber - and it makes me a little afraid of her?.


    Well the scout that came this morning as we were crossing the eastern rampart, told us that a large number of men migrated from the north and things have been changing in the past six months.


    So taking this trip to Catun that will take us no less than three month to complete, to transport and escort and make sure the exiles get on the ship towards that island is taking a toll on Gat¡¯s mood.


    ¡°We will camp at the ruins of the old Jade Fortress close to Catun, spend two days there to rest, gather intel and plan our moves. Azer and Gali come with me, Ali go scout for monsters and any other dangers, Juls keep an eye on the traitor and his family¡±


    After traveling until mid-day she said in her commanding tone, Uwaaa those eyes Gat, those eyes! Scary scary *shiver* why does Juls has to keep an eye on them? They are bound and tied in the carriage!


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I start following Gat and Azer trots a bit and reached my side.


    ¡°What is it General?¡±


    ¡°Gene... Azer!¡±


    ¡°Present! General?¡±


    Azer¡¯s salutes putting his right punch to his chest, but his wry smile makes me chuckle, he¡¯s teasing her, it¡¯s bold but it¡¯s funny, at least her mood is clearing up.


    ¡°Have you read the letter that Ali ¡®received¡¯ from the scout?¡±


    ¡°¡®Received¡¯ General? That was sleight of hand! *cough cough* You mean the one with contents which he did not voiced when we questioned him? Yes I have¡±


    Azer¡¯s expression changed and now is in completely serious mode! Uwawa I¡¯m not good with this Azer, when he slightly close his brown eyes like that means he''s plotting something.


    ¡°General do you plan on invading Catun? Just the six of us?¡±


    Gat nods looking straight at me, why? Are you asking my opinion?


    ¡°Gen...  Gat, I¡¯m not against it, but Juls leg...¡±


    She looks up at the sky and took a deep breath then lowered her head again and looked at me.


    ¡°So will you cover for him? Or you think we should go back?¡±


    ¡°Uh? Why are you asking me and not Azer? Eh?¡±


    What¡¯s this? I went stiff for a second.


    Why is she asking me? Isn¡¯t Azer our strategyst? I turn my head and look at Azer but there is no change in his expression, what¡¯s going on?


    ¡°Is Azer my only friend present here Gali? Or is it that you believe I only trust his advice?¡±


    Eh? No, uh, well no, aaaaaa, let me take a breath and calm myself here a bit, think my answer carefully first.


    ¡°No of course not, so then this is my advice. I think we should request reinforcements General, at least a small platoon of 150 men to cover for Jul¡¯s injury¡±


    Azer smiled and looked at me while nodding, wha, what? What did just happen?


    ¡°I Agree with Gali General, tho instead of mere soldiers couldn¡¯t you ask some of the Knights that your Lord father left behind to protect your family? Of those, a hundred would be more than enough¡±


    Gat puts her right index finger between her eyes and ponders for a few seconds.


    ¡°Good plan, If we carry the banner of The Pegasus behind us there is nothing to fear, let¡¯s go with that. Azer if you see Ali first send her my way¡±


    Oi oi oi, why elite knights? What¡¯s the content of the letter?


    ¡°Gat, could you let me read the letter?¡±


    Gatriel handed me an open envelope, and I took the letter out.


    ¡°


    Emergency request for reinforcements from the Capital city of Imil


    City of Catun has been captured


    Large number of assailants


    Unknown origin


    *seal*


    ¡°


    An impromptu communique with the seal of the Gerfast family, a white wolf howling.


    Whats going on? my surprise must be very clear seeing gatriel puts her hand on my head, I look at her while trembling a little.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Gali ok?--¡±


    She let go of my head and straightened her back then asked


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    ¡°Our general¡±


    ¡°O Our G, General¡±


    Azer answers, I stuttered a little


    ¡°Then trust me as you always have ok?¡±


    As we always have, those are indeed reassuring words, just as we got into the second course, the last 4 years of the Royal Academy. She handpicked us and asked us to party with her.


    I felt amazing that day you know, that Gatriel Decebal asked me personally to be a part of her party, who would say no?.


    We will graduate once we get back of this last mission, we have already completed our requirements for graduation, but due to the nature of the issue that happened, the king himself ordered Gat to perform this last duty.


    Transport, escort and make sure that the now exiled Rawkin family gets to the Island of the Forgotten.


    A place under our kingdom, where the exiled are thrown into. With no port and three full months of travel by fast ship, exiles are planked on its shores and forced to swim to the island.


    It¡¯s a bit too cruel if you ask me but I¡¯m no lawmaker, and it¡¯s true, that only those who are marked as traitors from noble families get the luxury to choose between exile and execution.


    I was turning around with Azer when gat called my name, I turned back towards her.


    ¡°Keep me company Gali would you? Azer will go to Juls while we wait for Ali¡±


    ¡°Yes general¡±


    I answered and walked behind Gat while she talked to me about her worries, it seems her bad mood is because she wants to form her own Knight Squad upon graduation and she also wants to leave for the northernmost border as soon as possible.


    She is worried about her father and fiance, I had never seen this face on her, it¡¯s... vulnerable.


    Completely different from the fierce expression she always has, it suits her somehow? Hehe I¡¯m glad she is talking to me about personal stuff, makes me feel closer to her.


    ¡°So then, when I do, would you accept being one of my wings?¡±


    Hu? What was that? Are you recruiting me into your new squad?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry gat, what are you asking of me? Are you recruiting me?¡±


    I¡¯m surprised I never thought I was good enough to be on this team, yes indeed I¡¯ve grown a lot since I joined Gatriel¡¯s team but...


    ¡°I¡¯m back ~pyon~¡±


    Standing behind me is the shadowy Ali, as soon as I heard her voice I relaxed a little, I wasn¡¯t scared because she didn¡¯t just appear, she walked towards us and I could hear the steps closing in behind me.


    ¡°Ali, welcome back! Save me the report, we are going back to Imil¡±


    And just like that we returned to the capital.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 18 - Jade Fortress and the fall of Catun

    Ch 18 -  Jade Fortress and the fall of Catun


    After we returned, Gatriel went to the Royal Castle. We waited for some hours and then we left for her castle.


    This is simply unbelievable, who would have thought that I would get to march alongside the elite members of The Pegasus army.


    Following Gatriel who brought two hundred Knights and some forty odd shadow corps, we were marching towards the Jade Fortress.


    This is incredible yet intimidating at the same time, but I¡¯m excited.


    My sour mood got a bit better when we met at the Order of Knights, Gatriel spoke to all six of us and asked us to join her ¡®soon to be formed¡¯ new Knight Squad.


    The only two that showed surprise were Juls and me, it seems Azer, Ali and Gali already knew Gat¡¯s plan. She said it would be a small elite squad supported by other larger armies in case of need, and that we would ¡®if allowed by the kingdom¡¯ to move freely and without restriction.


    The reason for this was not explained but it seems Gatriel has some sort of plan, anyway if she asks me to follow her I will. Even if it¡¯s to end of the world and to my death.


    Took five days to gather the men and permissions to sortie back, and now a month later we are approaching the Jade Fortress ruins.


    ¡°Dan send some scouts to the flanks and the back of the fortress¡±


    Gatriel gave me an order and I followed without delay, asked 15 scouts to split in three teams of five and scout the ruins.


    Guessing Gatriel¡¯s plan I told them to wait for Aliyah¡¯s word as most likely she would infiltrate the fortress to gather first hand information. After fifteen minutes I went back to the command tent and as expected Ali wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Daniel Lief reporting General¡±


    I said while entering and eyeing the tent, there were some big shot knights talking with Gat, Juls and Gal. Knights I¡¯ve seen at the Decebal castle, elite members of the Pegasus army.


    ¡°I sent three teams of five scout and ordered them to stay in the vicinity and wait for Aliyah¡¯s word once they are done scouting¡±


    ¡°Right, good work Dan, thank you, now sit¡±


    I sat down besides Juls and we spent some hours planning how to storm and take the Fortress in case of it being used by savages or brigands.


    A little after sunset Ali and the scouts returned followed by some ninety-odd soldiers.


    ¡°~ehehe~ They are survivors that managed to flee Catun Gat ~tan~¡±


    After receiving the most welcome additions to our small army we were told that they managed to escape.


    Catun¡¯s army was small, not even three hundred soldiers were assigned to Catun. Being somewhat close to Imil it was usual to just ask for reinforcements, and within a month and a half a large army would always be deployed there.


    Catun is a small city-port of mostly merchants and sailors, with no more than eight thousand residents including militia and the 10 noble houses that rule it, I¡¯ve never been there myself but I¡¯ve been told it¡¯s a really beautiful city.


    We were then briefed about how six months ago they started receiving merchants from the northern continent of Ulihan. Bringing goods and foods, seeing it as a good point to increase their income most of the nobles allowed them to set up shop and stay.


    And slowly every month more and more merchants came, and then just about when we were returning from our graduation mission, those merchants started an upheaval, kidnaped the nobles, taking over the ramparts and closed the main door entryway to the city.


    The soldiers that we have here were the only ones that managed to escape, they belong to the Gerfast family.


    They settled on the Ruins and sent a scout to Imil and the rest is what¡¯s going on.


    Our next move is to check the ruins then move to the border of the Jade forest as close as possible to Catun and there start our attack.


    ----------------------------


    ¡°So what did we found in the fortress? Anything useful for our attack?¡±


    ¡°General there are some sieging portable balistes with some repairable damage, we could use them to break down the door¡±


    ¡°That so, then start the repairs at once, those could prove to be a good distraction while Ali¡¯s squad perform an covert infiltration into the rampart¡±


    ¡°Lady Gatriel should we then do as said split half my forces and control the city?¡±


    Sir Knight Aaron Rourat, one of my still personal trainers asks me on the command hall in the ruins.


    We set up ourselves here while we get whatever we can get from this place prior to setting camp close to Catun.


    ¡°Yes master, as soon as we storm the gates, please lead your men as you wish and do your utmost effort to control the city. We should have The Pegasus banner carried and waved, it may help us gain the support of the locals. If we manage to get them to raise against their captors it would be better don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Hee the little lady has paid attention to the general!. Thats a good tactic that your father has employed before¡±


    ¡°I am aware master which is why I¡¯m proposing it, it may not be an absolute tactic but it will indeed be of use for us. Considering the information we have, we are outnumbered¡±


    ¡°And since when The Pegasus squad count opponents? Lady Gatriel you should be well awar..--¡±


    ¡°I know master I know, I¡¯m just saying we are barely three hundred and they are over five hundred or so the soldiers we found said. I¡¯m just saying let¡¯s be careful and thorough ok?¡±


    I¡¯m somewhat ashamed that I interrupted master, but this mission was assigned to me by the King himself, so I have to do my job and lead my troops.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°You are right Lady Gatriel, thank you for your words!¡±


    He said and then continued in a more familiar tone.


    Seeing a man of his height (almost two meters tall), and strength making that face was unexpected. Sir Aaron has grown old indeed, but still on his late thirties he carries himself with dignity, Tall and strong, his long light brown hair tied up behind his neck, wearing the black armor of The Pegasus squad.


    He has been in my life since as long as I can remember. He is like an uncle to me.


    ¡°I¡¯m proud you know, see how you have grown into such a strong Knight, and let¡¯s not talk about your beauty that is second to none, Lead us as you see fit General¡±


    Agr, Weren¡¯t you not going to talk about it... no no that¡¯s not it, now even he is calling me General, this is beyond embarrassing.


    ¡°Well then, once whatever we can salvage from this fortress is repaired, we will depart to the next point close to Catun, and then start our siege¡±


    ---------------------------------


    After a week of repairs and searching the Fortress we are now finishing up the command tent close to Catun, its ramparts can be seen from here far in the distance.


    Based on Azer¡¯s plan we can make contact in just a couple of hours march, we''ll keep our distance and fire the ballista against the rampart at night so Ali¡¯s squad can take advantage of the darkness and infiltrate them.


    I brought along fourty-odd men from the shadow order that belong to my father¡¯s squad, being experts in infiltration, information gathering, covert operations and assassination, they will disable the forces on top of the ramparts and if the door still stands, open it up for us so we can charge inside the small city-port.


    It should take us less than a day if all goes as planned, I have to keep in mind that we have to send the exiles to the Island, which is why I brought a crew to man one of the ships.


    Now, considering the port was taken over, we might need to steal one of their own ships if possible.


    I need to focus on this damnit I¡¯m worried about Father and Higg, yet trouble also seems to be flowing in our own camp.


    Dan... I¡¯ve known for a while about him and how he feels, I would be blind if I didn¡¯t notice how he looks at me.


    It¡¯s not a lustful look(there is some lust of course), but is more caring, loving.


    He follows my orders to the letter and is really good at what he does, but he took awfully bad the news of my acceptance of Higg. I wish for him to meet someone else and forget about me - on the sentimental part - because I cannot see him in any other way than a good friend.


    *sigh*


    ¡°~twha~ts the problem Gat? ~ehehe~¡±


    ¡°Dan...¡±


    ¡°~puu~¡±


    ¡°Yeah... was it wrong inviting him to our new squad Ali? Or would it have been best to let him out of it?¡±


    ¡°*sigh* Gat he will not forgive you if you form a squad and let him out you know? Why don¡¯t you take some time and talk to him? Let him know that you know, and set the score clear there?¡±


    Ali hugs me from behind and puts her chin on the top of my head. I let my head rest on her chest while we talk.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be cruel of me? ¡®Hey Dan I know you are in love with me but I see you as a friend, so put a lid on those feeling for me, watch me marry another man and fight on my orders¡¯ what¡¯s that eh? If not plain cruelty?¡±


    ¡°~puu~ I wouldn¡¯t put it like that Gat. How about having a conversation more in the order of ¡®Dan, you are aware that I¡¯m getting married right? Would you still accept me as a friend? You are a very important friend to me!¡¯ and follow that line of thought, isn¡¯t it better?¡±


    That¡¯s not a bad idea, instead of confronting his feelings, talk to him as a friend and form a conversation from that standpoint.


    ¡°Hmmm that sounds nice, I¡¯ll talk to him once we return to the capital, this is not the right timing for it.¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ that¡¯s my Gat¡±


    ¡°Lets sleep Ali, tomorrow night we rally into Catun¡±


    Morning came and passed, afternoon ran through in a breeze while we prepared, and nightfall fell on us hours ago. Our attack is drawing near and we are ready.


    Let¡¯s take back our kingdom¡¯s city and report back to the king, lets graduate and apply for my new squad and then depart on my search.


    ¡°Men of The Pegasus, followers of Catun, dear friends.


    The King ordered us to perform a task, but said mission is being obstructed by invaders from a foreign land.


    It is our duty to our kingdom to see those who try to tamper with our march kneel or be crushed under our might, by the honor of my name Gatriel Decebal we will see this through.


    Hear Me, as I speak to you words from my heart, tonight, in our own soil, we will shed the blood of our Kingdom¡¯s enemies, we will reclaim one of our own cities back.


    The path won¡¯t be easy and indeed, this won¡¯t be a glorious war.


    But letting those invaders take one of our cities is an unforgivable act!


    Death will follow all those who oppose us, so follow me, when the moon reaches its summit above in the skies, let us give them a taste of what it means to Oppose us, and the dreadful cost of their incursion.


    Their lives.


    We will return home victorious! All alive, all together!


    let¡¯s get going.¡°


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 19 - The selfish ruler

    Ch 19 - The selfish ruler


    It¡¯s been a month since we managed to kidnap all the nobles of this city, but I would have never expected such a small order of soldiers to work that well, I never thought I could lose half of my men to a mere hundred opponents!


    Some escaped but since we closed the door on the rampart we managed to take over this city!


    It matters little the first letter I sent saying that I was settling and in a year would have control over the territory, as its going to take years to the ship to deliver it.


    Damn my luck, is this why they say that ¡®you will only get tired if you rush too much¡¯?


    I have sent a notification asking for reinforcements, I ordered the captain to go through the center of the sea, and the captain took the rest of fleet with him, if they are accompanied with good winds, it¡¯s likely that the latest letter will arrive first, maybe a year and a half?.


    Forget about expanding my control, without more men I can¡¯t go through with that plan.


    I have to find a way to keep this place secure until reinforcements arrive, so I¡¯ll start hiring mercenaries that come into the port and that¡¯s going to be in a long while.


    Another two weeks went by and I¡¯ve been hiring mercs and sending requests for more.


    I should have listened more to Jumon instead of quarreling, well that¡¯s who I am and why I rose to power within the order so fast.


    I¡¯m cunning and resourceful, always aiming higher and higher. And within a mere twelve years time I rose from rank and file team leader to full blown apostle.


    So long we keep the doors closed I can one way or another send a couple of expeditions posing as fish merchants to the neighboring cities to gather information.


    The largest city close by seems to be this kingdom capital Imil, just three and a half months away from here by taking the long road. It could prove useful to send some men there to carry business and scout the city.


    Next we have Blightmoor a city - small they say - east of here just two months away, then close to it is the another port, Headbluff that can be reached in fifteen days from Blightmoor.


    Ill prepare for another month and send three teams out to gather intel and report back to me, that way I¡¯ll have a better grasp of the state of this continent.


    I have been dealing with the port steadily, thanks to the captain (until now at least), being of great help showing me the ropes on how to administer it.


    I¡¯ve recruited mercenaries from the north lands of Chaiford and Fastow, so right now I¡¯m doing somewhat ok in terms of my men.


    Two months ago a courier from a place he called ¡®The Independent Republic of Bawold¡¯ said that soon ¡®in less than two months you can expect large amount of men lead by our greatest warrior¡¯ would arrive through the sea.


    A strong warrior with a large amount of men following my call, that should be good and prove plenty useful to me.


    It costed a lot of gold, but as long as I can keep this place on lockdown and secure, gold is not an issue.


    Thankfully I brought enough to brive nobles and hire mercenaries for two full years.


    If I manage to get those reinforcements soon, going out and expanding could be viable, that¡¯s it if they actually come.


    Now then let¡¯s sleep, I¡¯ve been on edge for the past week and I sure need some rest.


    This past three weeks have gone without notice, more mercenaries have been hired. Now my forces are again bordering six hundred men.


    I received information from our scouts that half a month ago, a small army just squashed some thief hideout north from here. Then returned the way they came crossing the Kishoy Wastes into the Jade Forest, apparently they were armored swordsmen from Imil.


    I¡¯m getting anxious of those news of small armies getting close to Catun, I can¡¯t afford to get invaded right now so It¡¯s time to send out the expeditions.


    I put together a small group of 39 men and assembled three caravans, 3 merchants with 10 guards each. They will leave tomorrow morning towards Imil, Blightmoor and Heabluff.


    Having no one to talk is tough! I¡¯ve been talking to some smart mercs but it¡¯s not like I can talk about my plans too openly.


    They are aware that I want to capture Blightmoor and Heabluff, but I¡¯ve been told that Imil is not a target we can capture with this small amount of men.


    I should have answers in about three month time about the second two cities, Imil news will have to wait a bit longer due to the roundabout route they have to take.


    Fifteen days ago the caravans went out the main gate and tonight a large ship is approaching the port from the north. I hope those are the mercenaries from that whatever-is-named republic.


    As I expected, I woke up and I noticed a large black ship docked in the port, I¡¯ve never seen a ship like that before.


    Built with large black wooden panels and covered by thick stripes of metal forming the sides. The main vein went all the way from the back to the front, and some sculpture of a winged creature(woman i would say because of the somewhat voluptuous chest) covered the front as it spread her wings backward to the ship¡¯s sides.


    Three masts covered the center of the ship placed in odd positions, a long thick mast in the center with a huge black sail (as usual I would say, a single large sail), but the other two were noticeably smaller in size, positioned some distance back from the huge mast to each side holding smaller black sails.


    That¡¯s quite the unusual ship.


    In it came the man I will meet in now called ¡®Domenic Drue¡¯.


    The merc that¡¯s handling the introduction and managing the new arrivals doesn¡¯t seem to like him. He advised me to be careful around him as he left to fetch him and bring him to the castle.


    ¡°Lady Moraea, I bring ¡®Domenic Drue¡¯ ruler of the ¡®Independent Republic of Bawold¡¯¡±


    ¡°Please bring him in and leave us. Send some aperitives and tea with a maid please¡±


    The door opened and a tall boy (yes boy, he is really young, no less than twenty years younger than me by his looks) wearing dark leather with small pieces of metal and a hood rolled on the back of his neck walked in.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Two swords rested on each side of his hips, in each of his upper arms was a dagger hilt down to his elbows and on his legs I could see several round metal things that I couldn¡¯t recognize.


    His appearance was incredible, I¡¯ve never seen a male so beautiful in my entire life - or should I say handsome? - So young and slender but clearly muscular, not your average warrior that¡¯s strong and heavy muscled but instead thin well tuned form of musculature.


    A little short of two meters tall, soft white skin almost bluish and short white hair covered his head as if standing up.


    His dark gray eyes were somehow angled and not entirely open, he was looking straight at me and he was smiling, such mischievous smile almost made me chuckle, the kind you see in little kids that are playing pranks.


    ¡°Welcome to Catun mister Domenic, I am Moraea Milisendis current ruler of this city. Please have a sit and let¡¯s discuss the terms of our arrangement.¡±


    I stood up and welcomed the man and pointed to a chair across my table while inviting him to sit down.


    ¡°Thank you for your invitation miss Moraea, my name is Domenic Drue and just as you, after I took over Bawold I am its current ruler.¡±


    Such elegance the way the man sat down without making a noise, but what surprised me the most was I could not hear his footsteps.


    This man in front of me did not make a sound as he walked towards the chair and sat down.


    ¡°What¡¯s so surprising miss? Your eyes will fall out if you don¡¯t close them fast¡±


    *chuckle*


    ¡°Excuse me, I wasn¡¯t expecting someone as young as you, when I was told that the strongest warrior of a kingdom was to come, I expected someone older maybe?¡±


    That was irritating, and I bit that bait and blurted something about his apparent age, I hope he doesn¡¯t take it wrong. It costed me a fortune to recruit him and his men.


    ¡°It¡¯s a republic not a kingdom, and independent, noble-ridden country, ruled by one man - Me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, the name ¡®republic¡¯ is foreign to me, thanks for the explanation¡±


    This kid seems to be troublesome to deal with. asI was thinking that he continued.


    ¡°Also who said that strength and experience have anything to do with age miss? I¡¯ve been training my skills from the age of four, and been to battle since the age of seven, so you can say that I have over twelve years of training and no less than ten of battle experience!¡±


    What? This kid has more battle experience than most of the mercs I¡¯ve hired and as much as many of my own men. He must be a genius, of the kind said to appear once every hundred years! It seems the fallen have lent me their favor this time.


    ¡°You are right on mark mister Domenic, I apologize for my rude remark, strength and experience have nothing to do with age¡±


    He¡¯s eyeing around the hall as if looking for something, those inquisitive eyes are somewhat unnerving.


    Let¡¯s push forward and settle the arrangement.


    ¡°Well then mister Domenic, how many men did you brought with you I was offered a couple hundred and your help¡±


    ¡°Honoring the request, I brought two hundred and fifty men with me, but let¡¯s be clear in something ok? They take orders from me and from me alone they won¡¯t listen to anyone else even if I were to order them to do so. So I would like to request the freedom to move myself freely and command my men, as long as it fits your purpose of course.¡±


    What was that? What good are men that won¡¯t listen to my orders? This kid is too arrogant, could have been a mistake to pay in advance as requested? Let me test him a bit.


    ¡°Move freely and follow your orders, and how about ordering you?¡±


    Aha! He didn¡¯t like that, so then why did he accept my request if he was not willing to take orders? Isn¡¯t that wat mercenaries do? Follow orders?


    ¡°I am not fond of taking orders miss, my courier told me that you needed mercenaries to control the city and ¡®expand¡¯ your area of influence. I accepted the request because I¡¯m looking for someone. So how about I help in that ¡®expansion¡¯ plan and leave a hundred men to protect this place?¡±


    Looking for someone? So you accepted my request to further your own search, no that¡¯s not what''s important, how does he know about my plans for expansion?


    ¡°Exp¡­ *hrm* I don¡¯t remember talking about expansion to your currier, how did you learn about that?¡±


    There goes that mischievous smile again, If I can use him but keep him at bay taking his offer would be best, a hundred extra men dedicated to the protection the city sounds better than keeping this creepy kid here.


    ¡°Gathering information if one of my men¡¯s strong points miss, do not underestimate anyone no matter how strong you are. A good old friend once told me, and I live by that creed¡±


    ¡°Well as you seem somewhat informed, how about this, you leave one hundred and fifty soldiers to protect the city and head towards the city of Imil, this kingdom¡¯s capital and gather information for me while carrying your search¡±


    *smirk*


    ¡°I¡¯ll do you one better, I¡¯ll leave two hundred men to defend the city, and only take fifty with me. As a ruler from a foreign country in all my right I can travel comfortably and present myself into this ¡®Imil¡¯ city you spoke of. Having a higher status would allow me to mingle easier and gather intelligence more effectively.¡±


    That¡¯s indeed smart of him and benefits me a lot, his unruly men defend the city so I can focus my own mercs to attack in case of needing it! I¡¯ll take it.


    ¡°Deal then, let¡¯s go with that¡±


    *smirk*


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 20 - Shadow, Flame and Shadow

    Ch 20 - Shadow, Flame and Shadow


    We closed in at about midnight carrying as silently as possible our siege weaponry.


    Ali¡¯s squad left an hour earlier to hide and position themselves to climb the rampart as soon as our attack begin.


    I¡¯m confirming everyone¡¯s position and start getting ready to give the order to attack.


    We don¡¯t have much ammunition for the ballistas but they should be enough to cause some ruckus and make a lot of noise. That should gather the guards in the rampart area of the door, helping  the stealthy infiltration to be successful.


    As soon as Juls, Dan, Gal Aaron and the other three knights nod their heads I swing my right arm down giving the signal to fire.


    *fuiiiiiiiii fuiiiiiiiii*


    *fuiiiiiiiii fuiiiiiiiii*


    *fuiiiiiiiii fuiiiiiiiii*


    *fuiiiiiiiii*


    *crash crash crash crash crash*


    The first volley of metal arrows crashed on the rampart and some went overhead landing inside the city and they start preparing the second volley adjusting their aim. Soon enough in less than two minutes it¡¯s shot and again some crash on the ramparts, and some on the door.


    I order my men to follow me and start getting closer to the rampart so we can storm the entrance as soon as it¡¯s possible.


    While marching up front, ten more volleys passed above us and made a ridiculous amount of noise when impacting.


    A small cloud of arrows passes us by from the rampart not aimed at us but to where the ballistas are.


    Another four volleys fly above us and crash against the door and walls, then suddenly bodies start to drop from the top of the rampart.


    Ali and her group are doing their job as planned, yet at our distance we can already hear the clashing of metal from above.


    It seems they are encountering some resistance.


    After about ten minutes right in front of us the door starts to open and I order the men to rush with a huge roar, infusing it with a little of my energy, not so much as to make the men scared yet loud enough to let those behind know, they can stop the volleys and charge in.


    **CHARGE IN, STORM THE DOOR**


    And started running after kicking the sand leaving behind my group of men. They¡¯ll join me soon enough!


    *kick swoosh*


    *swish swish splurt swish thud swish splurt swish*


    *clang swish kick swish*


    I¡¯m cutting everyone that crosses my path holding a weapon after going through the gap of the door.


    Shortly after Ali appears besides me as do about twenty of the men from her squad.


    So we have suffered casualties already? I question Ali with my eyes.


    Ali and she shakes her head without returning the glance, swinging her daggers as if she was dancing with the shadows.


    Her graceful movements inspire me to keep going and we separate a bit, she went to the right and I went to the left.


    *stomp stomp stomp stomp*


    The army is already entering the opened door and starts spreading through the city streets.


    The sound of bodies falling, men running, swords colliding, shields being hit can be heard everywhere.


    Screams of agony and requests for mercy, shouts of anger and taunting echo in the night.


    *swish swish thud kick swish splat drop plap*


    *swishshshsh swishshshsh swishshshsh swishshshsh*


    I dodged four arrows that came at me from the roof of a house, rolled to my left to avoid them and a rain of arrow flew from behind me.


    The sound of the drops of metal falling in the ceiling of the houses nearby was music to my ears, and I rushed forward resuming my attack.


    I scan the scene in my vicinity looking front, back, left, right and up.


    Ali is riding the stream of blood dancing in the shadows dealing a single but fatal strike with each hit, Aaron is performing his well practiced shield bash and swing.


    Breaking stances with the shield then finishing off his opponents with the sword, several knights are executing similar strategies but as I look back I see a lot of black armored men downed!


    That puts some weight on my heart as I¡¯m seeing some of my father¡¯s men dead in the floor.


    ¡°**Look ahead of you general**¡±


    Gali shouts at me as she advances forward steadily with a small contingent of men covering a small area each step.


    It¡¯s a maneuver designed to advance slowly but securely, keeping one¡¯s strength without making any wasteful movements. Push forward, strike your enemy, stand your ground and raise your shields to protect the group, if there is no enemy they walk forward with shields in place until they reach them.


    Accompanied with courageous roars with each step, it works both to intimidate and taunt your opponent to charge into them and face almost certain death.


    Beautiful, just beautiful Gali, thank you! Keep at it - I thought as I resumed my charge -


    I ordered my father¡¯s men to protect my group above all else, I don¡¯t want any of them to fall as it would be just too painful to bear. They are just too young to die yet, so I¡¯ll protect them even at the cost of more experienced knights.


    As I¡¯m making my advance, drenched already in the blood of my enemies, I felt a very strong source of energy closing in.


    It was a clear wide projection of bloodlust. Aimed in my general direction. I could tell it was not aimed at anyone in particular, so there is little doubt that someone here knows to how to use their energy(¡®qi¡¯).


    It is wild and unaimed so it must be meant to scare those who can feel it in the vicinity.


    Ali could stand in front a crowd, aim her bloodlust towards a single person in the middle of it and only that person would shiver. And I could even make them faint or enter a state of panic and flee.


    Whomever it is, has learned to use his/her energy but haven¡¯t yet reached a level of mastery that would make me sweat.


    ¡°~nee nee~ someone strong is coming gat ~putu~¡±


    ¡°Yes, but is somewhat crude I bet everyone here, friend and foe feels that somewhat intimidating ¡®air¡¯ but that¡¯s that. It feels intentional¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ yes I thought so, whomever it is, is intentionally just releasing widespread bloodlust. So leave him/her to me ~kay~? I wanna have some fun.¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be conceited Ali, I¡¯ve told you many times ¡®do not underestimate anyone, no matter how strong you are¡¯ or you may fall!¡±


    ¡°~kay~ *smuch*¡±


    I repeated the scan to see the state of mind of my men, but they seemed unaffected so I continued my advance. Slowly following behind Ali just a few tens of meters away, I want to see who is the owner of that energy stream.


    But this indeed is turning tough, there are way too many opponents, no matter how organized we are if Ali and I don¡¯t start using at least some of our energy we will lose more men.


    *clang clang thud clang splurt clang swirl*


    Huh? No way? That style of fighting... that hair...


    What is he doing here?


    Ali is way too excited and entranced in her play that she hasn¡¯t seen him yet? I can¡¯t let those two fight, a lot of people will die just by being around them.


    I kicked the ground using some of energy and the street down my right foot cracked.


    As I sprinted forward at very high speed, I¡¯m sending my bloodlust straight at him, as much as I can muster right now, I hope is enough to freeze him.


    *~puu puu~ let me p..*slap*¡±


    It seems aly felt my rush and complained. I gave ali a small slap with the flat end of my blade to stop her, then I kept going forward.


    **Dom**


    I roared at him, just at him, keeping my bloodlust as sharp as I could possible keep it.


    But he was already frozen stiff when I reached him.


    I could see the drops of sweat on his forehead and his eyes totally wide looking straight at me.


    ¡°H, He, Heavenly Commander?¡±


    He stuttered his words a little and stood there his swords hanging from his hands not moving an inch.


    ¡°Sheathe your swords Dom, *RIGHT NOW*¡±


    I commanded him without looking anywhere else, not four seconds later I felt a pinch on my right cheek and some grumbling from Ali¡¯s voice behind me. And Dom sheathed his swords on his hips and knelt down.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been searching for you Heavenly Commander, forever since that day, each time I came back, all I¡¯ve done is search for you.¡±


    ¡°So have I Dom, so have I¡±


    The sounds of the fight were starting to diminish, but behind dom was a wall men in -ready-to-attack- stances, and behind me shortly after Dan, Aaron, Gali, some of the men of my father arrived and witnessed part of this odd spectacle.


    ¡°Are these your men Dom?¡±


    ¡°They are Heavenly Commander¡±


    ¡°Order them to stand down¡±


    Dom did a signal with his hand and the wall of men stood down, they were still suspicious but there was no clear hostility towards us.


    What impressed me the most was that many of those men knew how to project bloodlust, that means Dom must have trained them personally to learn the control of their energy(¡®qi¡¯).


    ¡°Whats going on General?¡±


    ¡°Who is this man General?¡±


    ¡°Would you care to explain what¡¯s going on Lady Gatriel¡±


    ¡°~ehehe~ calm down guys, he¡¯s our friend so it¡¯s ok ~pyon~¡±


    Even after Ali¡¯s words I could see the doubt in their eyes. How the hell do I explain this to my men...


    Now that Ali said that he was our friend, what do I tell them? It is already time to let them know the truth?


    As I was immersed in my doubts and fears Ali continued.


    ¡°~ehehe~ his father was a merchant that wanted to explore other lands and left when he was very young, Dom, Gat and I used to play knights and bandits, o~f~c~o~u~r~s~e Dom was always the bandit. But then they left ~puu puu~ and we haven''t seen him in years¡±


    Oh Ali that was one hell of a lie you threw there, but it¡¯s valid and believable, well not sure if Aaron buys it tho.


    I look at Aaron and he calms down and started looking at the wall of men.


    Behind us there were still fights going on but was noticeably calmer.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s how it is¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s your relationship with gat uh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rude Dan, Ali said he was a friend¡±


    Aaron accepted right away, Dan just shot a ridiculous question and Gali sent us a lifeboat there.


    ¡°Raise Dom, we are no longer playing ¡®Knight and Bandit¡¯¡±


    Dom rose from kneeling and started explaining.


    It seems he in his search for us decided to come to this continent using the excuse of being a mercenary hired by some lady named ¡®Moraea¡¯, who is the responsible for capturing the city and closing the doors.


    He said how his father through trade managed to gain the favor of an old king and twisting this and that, he is now the ruler of a ¡®somewhat¡¯ small nation in the northern continent.


    I asked him to tell his men to join my army and finish off all the resistance, help every single one of the injured black armored men and asked him to take me to see this miss ¡®Moraea¡¯ immediately.


    An hour later we were walking inside the castle where this person ¡®Lady Moraea¡¯ stayed while the fight for the city happened.


    There weren''t even 50 soldiers protecting the palace, so we killed them all on the spot. Ali, Dom and I walked through the castle without anyone able to stop us.


    *Knock Knock*


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Domenic, miss Moraea, I¡¯ve brought the leader of those who were attacking the city¡±


    ¡°Oh oh! You have done me a great service, bring him to me¡±


    ¡°Her¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a she miss Moraea¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, enter enter and present her to me¡±


    Dom opened the door and we entered walking side by side, the eyes of the woman named Moraea saw us and then and her body froze in place as a shadowy figure appeared behind her out of thin air.


    As soon as we entered Ali disappeared from my side and two seconds later was behind ¡®Moraea¡¯ holding one of her black daggers to her throat.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 21 - The victorious return

    Ch 21 - The victorious return


    After a thorough interrogation by Ali and Dom(highly likely there was awful torture done to her, her state after they were done was horrifying) the woman named Moraea was gagged, tied up and imprisoned in a small cell in Catun castle.


    We lost about one hundred and twenty-odd men in the fight, most of them were the survivors from this city, yet still losing over forty of my father¡¯s men was a hard blow.


    Once the battle was over and we took over the castle we sent scouts to bring Juls, Azer and the small group of soldiers we left behind to keep them safe.


    Thanks to the information gathered from the now imprisoned Moraea, we sent three squads of thirty men each to Blightmoor, Heabluff and Imil (the imil squad was to take the long way home and camp in the ravine between the Shadow Downs and the Jade forest, hidden in wait for the group sent there to return and ambush them).


    And so we started to put order in Catun, after three weeks, half of Dom¡¯s men using their own ship, sailed with the exiled family to plank them in the shores of the Island of the Forgotten and were ordered to shoot them if they try to resist or swim back.


    I¡¯m not really happy seeing Grant go that way after he so much repented of his actions, but his father choose exile instead of letting his younger son be executed.


    It can¡¯t be helped.


    And after two month and a half of occupying the City of Catun, we managed to free the nobles and restored the control of the city to the Gerfast family.


    There was some opposition as they were not high nobles, but they were the ones who managed to send word of what was going on. And against the banner of The Pegasus they couldn''t do much but reluctantly accept.


    For the sake of ensuring that the Gerfast family was safe, we left the other half of Dom¡¯s men with the order of protecting them and keep order in the land. This was done publicly by me in the central square plaza in the middle of the city, having behind my back the Knights of The Pegasus and their banner clear in view.


    This way we can avoid any attempt of a coup by those nobles that weren''t happy about the appointment.


    Holding a new (albeit temporary and not at their disposition to order them about) almost two hundred strong army, the rule of the Gerfast family was set and the Head of the family swore his fealty to me after thanking me for saving his city and some of his remaining men.


    When I was about to tell him that his fealthy needs to be sworn to the king, Aaron and Azer stopped me by interrupting me and changed the topic skillfully.


    Now, with a new prisoner to transport back to the capital and a new ally in our midsts we are set to return home, to at last finish our business as we wanted to do a couple of months ago.


    Graduate, form a squad, and leave again (if possible).


    ------------------------


    On our way back home Gat, Ali and this new guy Dom started talking to us about something really out of this world.


    They called it ¡®qi¡¯ and it seems to be super hard to train and master.


    It seems it exists in every living being and they planned a small test and a schedule to train those who could use it.


    The test was something really frightening, I¡¯ve never felt such fear in my entire life!


    Gatriel stood in front of us and looked at us intently, she didn¡¯t say a word, nor moved a muscle. She was just standing there staring at us, and suddenly, I felt the need to run away.


    I was scared shitless but my legs couldn''t move.


    At first I thought was due to the stab I received in our graduation mission, but then I realized what it was.


    FEAR, plain and simple, awfully frightening feeling that told me, if I gave my back right there and then I would have been killed.


    My body lost strength and I fell down.


    Many didn''t feel a thing, but there were some who felt it.


    Gatriel had a disappointed look on her face when she saw how few of us ¡®passed¡¯ her test. But then after dismissing those who ¡®failed¡¯ we received a clear explanation, of what it was and what happened by Gat, Ali and Dom.


    If you can''t feel it you can''t use it as your ¡®qi¡¯ is just too low and would be extremely difficult to develop it, it is that simple and if you can feel it then you can train it.


    In total only 12 of us could feel the energy.


    Dan said he felt somewhat afraid but didn¡¯t feel the need to run just froze in place, so he felt it.


    Lord Aaron Rourat froze in place and started to sweat and shiver so no doubt he felt it.


    As I said I fell down thinking I was going to die so I felt it.


    Gali started crying faster than anyone, then screaming, covered her ears  with her hands and tried to run away. But ended up crouching to the ground when Gat stopped her, so indeed she felt it.


    Azer started shivering and stuttering incomprehensible words, asking for forgiveness even! That was quite the reaction.


    The rest were some of the Higher Knights and some rank and file with similar reactions to the test.


    That marked the beginning the training of our ¡®qi¡¯ by Ali, Dom and pointers from Gat every odd day of the week. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun. Four days a week we would receive training, leaving us to train by meditating ourselves the other three.


    Dom is quite the character, he''s more like Ali than Gat but his fighting style is somewhat similar to Gat yet not as free/wild?.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    He stopped calling her that ridiculous name prior to leaving the city-port ¡®Heavenly Commander¡¯ I remember I laughed my ass off the first time I heard it, that is without doubt one hell of a ridiculous title if you ask me.


    To allow us for more time to train Gatriel proposed we take the long way home, that way in three and a half months even though she says is practically nothing we should grasp the concept and no one complained.


    She sent a small group of scouts through the Jade Forest just to be on the safe side.


    And so we spent three and a half months being scared shitless by Gatriel at every turn!


    No wonder she is that strong! I mean come on, whenever Dom or Ali attacked us with their ¡®bloodlust¡¯ we felt fear indeed and I mean it FEAR, but only Gat could make some of us faint(some rank and file soldiers fainted a couple of times)


    And then we arrived home right in the middle of an afternoon!


    --------------------------------------


    As we arrived to Imil by the end of morning, as we crossed the doors in the rampart I rushed my horse leaving everything behind, I couldn''t hold it anymore I needed to get there as fast as I could.


    Being away from home for that long and after all that much fighting, all I wanted to do was relax in the back garden and tell the stories. How we recovered a city and defeated our enemy, how allies joined us at the last moment and helped us to finish our task and after winning our trip back home with victory in our hands.


    As I galloped through the streets I crossed the merchant district of Imil, stores and stalls were lining up everywhere and the citizens were cheering on us for our return, it was a really heartwarming scene.


    The merchant district is fairly large, starting from the very eastern entrance of the city ramparts. From there you can get to the industrial district by going west, by going north you can get to the slums and the commoner¡¯s district, and by further south you can enter the noble¡¯s quarter.


    I ran and ran towards the nobles quarter and crossed the four divisions inside it, reaching at last to the high nobles district, it is a district of its own as it hold castles and huge properties for the high nobles and wealthy of the country. If you go further south you reach the center of the city and the Royal district.


    It took me an hour at full speed but at last I¡¯m here, in front of the castle I so much wanted to arrive to.


    The large castle of Lord Mark Regenald Decebal, The Pegasus, my future father in law.


    His daughter, my fiance the last time I saw her asked me to return alive and here I am.


    I want to see Lady Gatriel.


    -----------------------


    The City is really cheery today! It seems our return this time is as warmly welcome as ever if not warmer. It¡¯s good to be back home and even more so to be welcome back like this!.


    Inside the crowd that is welcoming us, some talks among themselves.


    I heard some chatter as I passed by some stalls here in the Merchant district.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s the second squadron to return¡±


    ¡°Look! is The Pegasus daughter¡±


    ¡°So father and daughter returned the same day¡±


    ¡°The price will be surprised¡±


    ¡°Hahaha as he should, with such a godly beauty as his fiance¡±


    So they have already returned!


    I¡¯m glad for Gat that her father is home, but I can''t deny that somewhere in a hidden corner of my heart I wanted the prince to fall.


    I can''t let those feelings out my mouth, that would be high treason. I need to compose myself and smile for Gatriel, yes, smile for her who made her mind and accept the marriage.


    As we go through the streets and get flowers thrown at us, we continued to advance. The destination is the Order of Knights, we have to report the mission and turn over the prisoner.


    While thinking of that I look upfront and some jealousy starts to prick at me, there riding in front is as always Gatriel, to her right a barely behind rides Aliyah, which is also normal. But to her left now rides Dom, their old friend as they explained it.


    But why can¡¯t It be me there?


    I need to make up my mind too, If I continue like this, following Gat will turn unbearable.


    Come on me, let¡¯s form my resolve and convert her into the greatest of friends already, that way I can be happy and support her happiness without getting bitter or sacrificing my own.


    I¡¯ll accept Azer and Juls invitations to the brothels next time and rebuild myself from there! Yes that could help me to find a new me that¡¯s not the current me!


    Ok me follow through and accept the truth and move forward. As Gat always says ¡°ahead is the only way to go¡±


    Oh we arrived! Let¡¯s get this over with so we can go celebrate our second return and victory! Well call friends over to the bar order a lot of food and drinks and spend the rest of the day partying and drinking! Together as always, because from tomorrow onwards, Daniel Lief will be reborn into a new man with a new resolution and goal of life.


    Let¡¯s do this!


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 22 - And so at last we graduated

    Ch 22 - And so at last we graduated


    Mother¡¯s face is so beautiful when she smiles like that, and father in his black armor sitting beside her with that proud face really fills my heart.


    There is Higg too waving his left hand at me with his lovely smile, oh well all the Royal family for that matter, as Roxy is also graduating today with us, she entered the politics course which is a bit longer than ours by one year.


    Speaking of Roxy(err, Princess Roxana), I thought that she would be so mad at me when she found out that I decided to accept her brother¡¯s proposal, but it seems she made peace with it some ago, I didn¡¯t notice but I¡¯m glad. It would have been bad if she hated me for it.


    So we are waiting in the auditorium where the graduates are called upon and either receive diplomas or are knighted by the head of the Order of Knights.


    They called first Ali as she is the valedictorian of this promotion, and indeed she is a great study. She received the black hood of the Shadow Order and a dagger.


    Then they called Azer, since we joined the Royal Academy he¡¯s been always the 2nd place, in eternal competition for the first place (tho always losing) with Ali, and was knighted with clamorous applauses from the hall!


    And then the third highest grade will be called to walk to the center.


    ¡°Lady Gatriel Decebal, Order of Knights, Leader of her team, today will receive the honor of Knighthood by the hands of our King Garrett Beves Reiyah the Earnest, in honour of her achievements through her career in the Royal Academy!


    Being the first time in the history of our kingdom that a team graduates with a completion/defeat ratio of forty eight successful victories and zero defeats, carrying exclusively advanced missions while also defeating the previous record held by a graduate team completion by more than doubling it!!¡±


    Uh? That seems to be quite the big deal! I knew I had accumulated a lot of achievements but I never thought it was never done before let alone that we actually doubled an already existing record!.


    I¡¯m nervous uwawa.


    I¡¯m wearing my usual dark red armor with my swords on my back, why didn''t I wear for today the normal Knight¡¯s attire.


    Is my hair all right? Do I smell anywhere? *breath* ok breath in and walk down now me.


    ¡°Today is a joyus day as we name thee Lady Knight Gatriel Adelena Decebal, Knight of the proud kingdom of Imil, in this great city named after the kingdom. It¡¯s my heartfelt pleasure to Knight you in person.¡±


    He draws his sword, and places it my left shoulder, then arks over my head and touches my right shoulder and continues.


    ¡°Raise my vassal, for your place is not down, but high above¡±


    I stood up in front of the king who was smiling radiantly while looking me straight in the eyes and then he nodded.


    Taking that as the cue, I bowed and left to my family, everyone who receives knighthood or their graduation item (Black hoods for the Shadow order, Diplomas for the Politics branch, Knighthood for the knights, Overcoats with hats for the engineers) do once they are done.


    And like that the whole graduation ceremony came to an end with a huge roar of applause, cheers and whistles.


    Roxy came up to us when we were leaving the auditorium and invited us to the Royal Castle for a party, it seems she invited every one of the students that graduated today.


    It¡¯s later tonight so we still have some time to refresh ourselves, change attires, rest and then make our appearance.


    It¡¯s been two weeks since our return, learning that Father and Higg returned the same day in the morning, we got awarded a medal of valor for our duty to the kingdom and then we were let go home that day.


    A week later Lady Moraea was executed privately deep inside the Order of Knights, as word of a possible plot from a faraway land invading would only cause unrest to the population.


    Domenic rented a room in a high class inn, after he presented all proof that he was indeed the ruler of the now called ¡®Independent Republic of Bawold¡¯. It took about three days to gather and investigate in the Royal records, but it was done without a hitch.


    As for the cover story, Aliyah somehow managed to insert the name of Drue as a family of merchants of low nobility. That information was later found on old records, the family had ¡®left the kingdom to explore and learn about the world¡¯.


    Domenic named himself ¡®Domenic Watkin Drue¡¯, Watkin being the real family ruling Bawold for several centuries past. Which ended up making the whole process of verifying his identity a lot easier.


    One night in private he explained that to prepare to search for us in this return, he needed the means to travel, and to do so he needed power.


    So he started training his skills on his own from the age of four, at seven when he felt his energy and he started developing, and three years ago he took over the somewhat small city that is located deep inside a forest fronting to the Cobalt Sea.


    It¡¯s a hard to believe story for anyone else but him! He is about a year and half older than me this time.


    When we spoke about our situation he laughed at the difference in our situations and upbringing and we shared stories of the old old past.


    This is the first time I get to be with him ever since that day, Brad had appeared two times, but Dom was never found by me.


    It seems he found Brad a couple of times in the past, but has not heard a word of him in this period.


    When I told him that I was to marry the prince, he held a complex expression on his face but told me he was happy for me, and used words very much like ali to encourage me to follow my heart.


    We will meet tonight at the party in the castle as he was invited by Higg, that jealous fiance of mine wants to get to meet my ¡®mysterious lost friend¡¯.


    --------------------------------


    ¡°Sir Domenic Watkin Drue, lord ruler of the Independent Republic of Bawold, special guest of the first prince of Amil, Lord Knight Higg Armand Reiya, The Gryphon¡±


    I¡¯m not good with this kind of thing, my land is a single isolated city and always this nobility crap gets on my nerves.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Well I¡¯m here because I found that which I was looking for and she asked me to behave. If not for the Heavenly Commander I would still be roaming around aimlessly looking for her, or any of the others for that matter.


    I¡¯m glad that Ali was with her and it¡¯s nice to hear that they always end up together now the question is, where is Brad?, I need to go talk with Gat and go check Asteraoth, the old land of the nephilim.


    Currently deep under the seas between the eastern and western continents, several times in the past brad told me that the ruins of Asteraoth still remain, and are still somewhat protected from outside interference.


    I¡¯ll get to that in time, right now we are not yet ready to do that trip, got to wait until that day comes...


    I entered the hall in my most formal attire, which I bought here last week.


    Black trousers covered of fine fabric, white socks below the trousers and black leather shoes. A white high collared long sleeve shirt, covered by a long overcoat also long sleeved. Adorned with eight golden buttons from the neck to the waist closing it.


    The overcoat has golden lines decorating the front, marking the shoulders, and after uniting in the back of my neck they then fall down in a single line through the middle of my back.


    This I¡¯m used to as I¡¯ve been of noble birth in several of my past lives, but well nothing like my combat attire! I¡¯m certain Brad would agree with me on this.


    ¡°Welcome to the royal hall of Imil Castle Lord Domenic, thank you for accepting my invitation to tonight¡¯s celebration¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the courtesy of inviting me over! Not just getting to know the future husband of a dear friend, it will also let me feast my eyes with the beautiful flowers of this country.¡±


    This guy is suspicious of me, maybe even jealous? Well Gatriel is indeed a rare beauty even among our people where unearthly beauty is the normal.


    But To my eyes, Aliyah is much more beautiful that Gatriel, oh well each to its own right?.


    Let¡¯s play along and see what are this man true feelings and then form my image of him based on that.


    ¡°That you will indeed my lord, tonight there will be a parade of flowers that will not dissatisfy your eyes that I assure you. Of course my fiancee is off limits ok? Hahaha¡±


    Stupid fuck! As if I ever would lift a finger towards Gat, you think me suicidal?.


    I smile and nod as I follow the man who seems to be walking towards the stairs to the second floor.


    After taking a seat in a table with an overlook of the whole Royal hall (this is quite the convenient spot), some butlers brought us wine and snacks. We started talking about politics, and most of all Higg asked about my country! ¡®Ohh is a city-state¡¯ ¡®oh its independent¡¯ ¡®such a shame to be surrounded by a dense forest¡¯ ¡®oh this oh that¡¯.


    As we spoke the crier presented people after people, beautiful ladies and handsome men made entrance, nothing eye catching yet but well it''s starting to get lively.


    I look at the cast on the prince¡¯s right arm and asked about it.


    ¡°So Lord Higg, The Gryphon was it? What happened to your right arm?¡±


    It seems in his last campaign he was lightly injured in combat right at the end of the deployment.


    A barbarian (or so he called it) broke his bone with a wooden club but was saved by Gat¡¯s father.


    His eyes show a glint of shame but that¡¯s a good sign in my book! It seems they managed to recover whatever the city-of-markets, and even pushed forward securing the stretch between the two kingdoms and returned victorious.


    It seems the celebrated is not yet on site, this party was thrown by Higg for his sister Roxana, whom seems to be older than Gat by a year.


    Maybe it¡¯s customary for royalty to arrive a bit late to this kind of events?.


    While I was thinking about that Gatriel¡¯s family was announced and Higg stood up, it was an absurdly long cry as Ali¡¯s family and Gat¡¯s came together.


    I leaned on the handrail to look down more properly and took a look at the hall, this kingdom has money that''s for sure.


    In the roof, there are several crystal chandeliers shining light down the area. Six tall round columns support the highly painted roof. The walls are covered with paintings of families (probably past royal families).


    At the far end across where I am sitting lies a huge three meter tall window-framed open door, that allow access to a great balcony.


    The center of the hall is of a sculpted/painted polished stone with a huge carpet that follow the central stairs up, red with golden stripes and some small pattern sawn in a golden thread, a single piece of carpet covers the whole area aside from the centerpiece which exposes the ¡®dance area¡¯ I guess.


    Several tens of long circular tables are placed all over the carpet with chairs covered in white and red fabric, and maids and butlers are doing rounds offering beverages and food.


    The huge hall is of rectangular shape.


    To my right are the long central stairs that lead to a huge dark brown wooden door that¡¯s closed, and to my left is the entrance, where Gat and Ali are entering the place.


    And then as if on cue, after Gat¡¯s family entered the hall, a crier ran up the long stairs on my right towards the huge wooden door, and announced the Royal family.


    ¡°The first prince Higg Armand Reiyah welcomes The Royal family, lead by the King Garrett Beves Reyah the Earnest, followed by the Queen Alote Ancret Reiyah, second princess Amelinne Sophie Reiyah, third princess Roxana Dimia Reiyah and lastly fourth prince Bernard Reiyah¡°


    I stood up impressed when the crier announced the third princess. Thats one really beautiful creature of the mortal races, I would really like to get to meet her more closely.


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    Cheers.

 Ch 23 - Phoenix Squad

    Ch 23 - Phoenix Squad


    So here I am at last! The central war room of the Royal Palace, a large circular room with a huge black stone wall on the back. Four huge pillars on each corner, full suits of armor and weaponry are displayed on every other wall.


    A huge curved table covered by a black opaque tight piece of fabric is located in front of me, close at the back near the black stone wall, a position that allow those sitting there to look over the huge map of the kingdom located in a large wooden table in the center of the room.


    There at the curved table sit the king and the twelve Commanders of the kingdom, five to the right wing of the table and another five to the left wing, in the center sits the King Garret Beves Reyah, to his right arm sits the High General, Lord Knight Mark Regenald Decebal, The Pegasus, my father and to the left sits the first prince, Lord Higg Armand Reyah, The Gryphon, my fiance.


    It¡¯s been thirteen weeks since I applied for the appointment of a new small but extremely elite squad under my lead, to be formed by members of my own choosing.


    At the beginning there was some controversy and opposition, the General Commanders had given up on recruiting me, believing that I would join either my father or my fiancee¡¯s squads. But when I submitted my request to form a new squad they strongly opposed the idea.


    Having a new squad that could potentially gain more achievements than theirs, was not accepted heartily by those noblemans(that¡¯s how this corrupt and envious nobility system works!).


    My lord father asked me inside the privacy of our home why I wanted to form a squad and I replied honestly, he didn¡¯t like the idea of me traveling much now that I was about to get married, but that choice was mine to make not his, and in the end accepted my proposal.


    Whereas Higg approved of the idea from the get-go as long as I promised to return home as often as possible, he seems to understand that if he tries to cut my wings he will lose my affection or at least our engagement would break right there.(It¡¯s not like i can just say ¡®I don¡¯t love you now¡¯ you know!)


    Today we are here because for past twenty days I¡¯ve been dueling each General Commander (ended dueling with Higg and my lord father too mind you), to prove that my strength was enough to lead a squad of my own and to strengthen my argument (They may think me a bit arrogant for it) that I wouldn''t serve under anyone weaker than me.


    Ah! As to why did I ended up dueling with Higg and my lord father? Well, once I defeated all the General Commanders they proposed that I dueled them both too and in case of losing to either, I should serve in the winner¡¯s squad and forget about this idea of forming my own.


    So after beating everyone here and having allowed a full week of rest(except the king of course, haven¡¯t dueled him... -yet) two days ago I received a letter of summons, in which I was asked to bring my selected Knights and show myself in this very room I¡¯m standing right now.


    ¡°Lady Knight Gatriel Adelena Decebal, welcome to the Central War Room of the Kingdom of Imil¡±


    ¡°Present¡±


    After being addressed by my lord father, who seems to be the one leading this meeting I responded according to the norm.


    ¡°Prior to answering your request to form a squadron of your own, the king and we the generals would like to meet the members whom you call ¡®the few elite of the elite, that I¡¯ll handpick myself¡¯ and hear from them if they answer your call and why¡±


    Hoho, so they want to see who do I consider to be the elite of the elite now? Well let¡¯s oblige.


    ¡°Thank you for receiving me in such short notice, King Garret The Earnest, High General Lord Knight Mark Decebal The Pegasus, first prince Higg Reiyah, The Gryphon, and all the General Commanders.¡±


    I intentionally left the other generals names unsaid, after proving to them that my strength was not unfounded nor lesser than theirs, I¡¯m referring to them as an equal, not disrespectful nor looking at them from below.


    ¡°Following the order given by the High General, I¡¯ll present my choosing one by one.¡±


    They nodded and my lord father signaled me to continue.


    ¡°I call upon thy name to present yourself and answer the questions truthfully and to the best of your ability.


    Aliyah Meriel Galeran.


    She is to be my Specialist in shadow ops and infiltration.¡±


    There was some unrest among the general commanders but no words came out.


    ¡°Present¡±


    Ali walked over to my right side, and removed the black hood that was casting shadows on her beautiful face, and performed the kingdom¡¯s martial salute.


    Right fist clenched into a fist on her heart, left arm behind her back and a light bow.


    ¡°Were you asked by Lady Knight Gatriel Adelana Decebal to be part of her new squadron? And if so when was this? And if you accepted her call, we would like to hear the reason.¡±


    My father asked ali tho I¡¯m sure he knows she was the first to learn about it and agreed without questions.


    ¡°Answering the question posed by the High General, The Pegasus I answer honestly for in front of our king lying would be treason.


    Yes I was asked to join over six months ago, and I have decided to respond to her call, there is not a single General in the world I would follow if not her.¡±


    The general commanders complained a bit but the king ordered them to be quiet and they zipped their mouths.


    And like so I presented everyone one by one and they answered in the same way as Ali.


    ¡°Azer Aldous Garnotin - master strategist¡±


    ¡°Daniel Derric Lief - war council member¡±


    ¡°Julius Gerrart Valentin - master forward knight¡±


    ¡°Galiene Alais Lunet - war defense specialist¡±


    ¡°Roxana Dimia Reiyah - foreign relation specialist¡±


    The king stood up with his eyes wide open at hearing her daughter¡¯s name and looking at the figure that walked to my right.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    After removing the white hood that covered her face, revealing her face with a smile she looked at the king.


    ¡°And lastly, albeit not yet officially part of the kingdom after swearing allegiance to me, and promising to add his lands to the Kingdom of Imil, I call upon thy name to present yourself and answer the questions truthfully to the best of your ability.


    Sir Domenic Watkin Drue - master forward knight and shadow ops specialist¡±


    My father and Higg showed surprise on their faces, the king was already informed of the intention of Dominic to allow his ¡®independent republic¡¯ to be absorbed by the kingdom, so he wasn¡¯t as surprised as the other two.


    ¡°Present¡±


    My father thought for a bit then spoke


    ¡°Were you asked by Lady Knight Gatriel Adelana Decebal to be part of her new squadron? And if so when was this? And lastly, why did you swear your loyalty to Lady Knight Gatriel Adelena Decebal and not the King of our kingdom?¡±


    *hmmm*


    Dom thought for a bit his answer and started speaking.


    ¡°I was asked about two months ago, same as most of the rest here present, and accepted the request.


    Lady Gatriel requested of me as a condition that I allow my land to be absorbed by the Kingdom of imil, and to swear my loyalty to the king.


    Yet I swore my loyalty to Lady Gatriel which in turn isn''t it the same as swearing it to you, sir, her father, and also in consequence to the King himself?¡±


    ¡°Lady Knight Gatriel is not the queen of the kingdom.¡±


    My father roared but there was no hostility in his voice, it seems he did it to applacate the whispers of the other generals.


    ¡°But she will soon be, is it not so?


    By marrying the first prince, Higg Armand Reiyah, The Gryphon, who is to become the king of Imil in the near future, Isn''t Lady Gatriel then, as his future wife to become the Queen?¡±


    The king stood up and spoke interrupting my father''s words.


    ¡°Your words are true, as it is indeed the case that Higg will inherit the throne. So am I to assume that you have swore then your loyalty to the kingdom by kneeling to the future queen of Imil?¡±


    ¡°It is as you just said my lord.¡±


    Domenic bowed lightly after ending his answer and went back to the others behind me.


    ¡°Now my daughter, aside from the dry answer given to The Pegasus, would you tell me why you want to join Lady Gatriel¡¯s squad?


    As I¡¯m not clear of your reason and would like to hear it by your own words, those of my child and not those of a politician.¡±


    Roxana took a step forward passing by me and standing to my right bowed slightly to the king and answered.


    ¡°Dear lord father, thanks for your heartwarming words.


    I will answer your question in the way you have requested, because I think it¡¯s just fair and you deserve it.


    I want to travel the world and I never thought it would happen, but then suddenly Gat asked me with that scary serious face of her ¡®Hey roxy I will apply for a new squad, and I¡¯m handpicking the members with whom I want to spend time with. The members are people I consider to be those among the best of the best, the elite of the elite¡¯ I thought she wanted me to appeal to you for permission but to my surprise she said ¡®and I know not a better politician and social manipulator than you, would you do me the honour as my friend to join my new squad?¡¯


    It is true that I have had my quarrels with Gat, but there is no denying that we¡¯ve been friends for almost all our lives, and I consider her to be one of my oldest and best of friends.


    If such a talented individual considers me to be her equal, even if in a different area of expertise, I¡¯m honored by her words so I said yes.


    With Gat in the head of our new squad, I can not only travel the world as I wish dearly to do, but I¡¯ll be among friends.¡±


    ¡°Umu, that¡¯s a fine answer my daughter, I accept it.¡±


    The king sat down after ordering us to leave and wait for their answer, we will be summoned at a later hour to receive the answer of their discussion and either reject or approve my new squad.


    While we waited for the answer we were led by the members of the royal guard into a waiting room just outside the Royal War room. In there we relaxed a little and talked about a lot of things, our expectations and what we thought they would say and the likes.


    ¡°Gat and what will be our name if they approve our squad?¡±


    Gali asked and everyone went quiet and stared at me intently.


    ¡°~puu puu~ be patient friends, this will be approved and gatriel will reveal the name that not even I know of ~puu~¡±


    Ali pouted a little looking at me making cutesy eyes.


    ¡°Not even ali knows? Thats one well kept secret then?¡±


    Azer spoke soon after and laughed a bit, but his eyes were not laughing.


    After some more questioning about the name the door was knocked and we were led again to the room where the generals were.


    ¡°Welcome back Lady Knight Gatriel Adelena Decebal, we have reached a decision regarding your request, so we would like to ask, how would your squad be named?¡±


    I stepped forward on the call, and gave my answer as clearly as I could.


    ¡°Surrounded by fire, thunder and shadow, soaring free, beautiful and majestic through the skies, with the strength to defeat any opponent, a being that is immortal and undying, The Phoenix shall know no defeat!


    The squad name will be...


    The Phoenix¡±


    Thanks for reading my fiction! I hope to get your comments and help from now and in future issues.


    Give and Take you know undefined, you help me, I help you! isn''t that the main reason why most of us gather here in RRL? to learn from each otner?


    This is the end of the first batch of chapters! I''m working on the next 27 chapters (for a total of 50 chapters for now for book 1), I''ll post another batch in a couple of weeks.


    Cheers.

 Ch 24 - What brews in the dark

    Ch 24 - What brews in the dark


    Agr, this is going nowhere, why does this happen, how could those damned barbarians fail at their task. Fuck not only they failed to shave the Pegasus army, they couldn¡¯t even kill the prince...


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying this, let¡¯s stop arguing among ourselves we have to make our move now or we may lose this chance¡±


    ¡°Not only the Pegasus army is almost intact, the prince is alive, now that fucking little girl got a squad of her own, did you read the members? She got the best youths that we wanted to recruit¡±


    Lord Varth another noble like me that¡¯s not related to the Knights voiced his argument, very much in line with my own; he must be as tired of this freaking meeting as I am.


    ¡°Oh come on Lord Varth, did you really though the cousin would ever join anyone else? Based on what we have seen and investigated she would have never left the Pegasus daughter¡¯s side.¡±


    Lady Auelin speaks mockingly as usual, not only being the dean of the Covert Arts of the RA, she is one of the High Generals of Imil, one truly fearful woman.


    ¡°What are you trying to say Lady Auelin? There was never a chance with the prodigy you yourself groomed all those years?¡±


    Lord Fertrand threw a question towards the lady, this fat man is the brother of lady Rawkin (mother of Grant and Mitchell Rawkin), his anger towards the Decebal¡¯s is no small matter, having his sister, nephews and business partner exiled was a huge blow to his businesses and family.


    ¡°Never.


    When she entered the RA and passed the test I was highly impressed, never before had someone been even close to my own entrance test record, and she simply surpassed it, that¡¯s why I thought that she was the one that I wanted to nourish and pull to our side.


    But the little girl¡¯s attachment to her cousin is too strong, not only that, as years went by even I couldn¡¯t tell how she did what she did.


    I have never seen anyone detect my presence once I hide, and I have never failed to feel the presence of people hidden around me...


    Like the 12 that our cordial and distrustful host has hidden in this very room¡±


    What is she talking about? Are there hidden guards hidden in this room? What is Lord Thronir thinking? Isn¡¯t he also a high general? He should know what the one with the title ¡°the Obscure¡± is capable of doing.


    ¡°They are not here to spy on us as you are most certainly well aware Lady Auelin, they are here to make sure no one gets in or spy on us.¡±


    Well for better or worse we have 8 High Generals on our side, if we move now we should be able to get the Earnest faction decimated without much loses on our side.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware, if they were sir, they would be already dead. It was not a display of animosity, but a point establishing comment.


    So back to my topic, she is out of our grasp, but she wasn¡¯t the only one I groomed personally, her cousin gained a fair amount of enmity during her run in the RA, there should be more than enough knights willing to aid us.


    We should forget about the kids in the new squad and focus on our next steps very very carefully. Acting harshly and with haste will only bring us danger and exposure.¡±


    ¡°So what should be our next step then? It seems Lord Rowlin is rather eager for us to actually move right away¡±


    Agr isn¡¯t it obvious dammit...


    ¡°We should act now, Higg is injured and the town is on low alert, isn¡¯t this the best chance we have right now?¡± these damned fucks seem to not understand the severity of the issue at hand.


    ¡°Why are you in such a rush Rowlin? We can¡¯t just start


    War inside Imil, that would be the worst mistake ever¡±


    Shit, who¡¯s talking about wars...


    ¡°Who is talking about war? Assassinate the fucker, so...¡±


    ¡°And who do you think should perform this task? How many of you would actually go through this? If the prince dies in war outside Imil is one thing but having him killed inside, is just not an option for me are you simply dumb lord Rowlin?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The figure sitting in the shadows finally spoke; better bow my head down, wait and see where this leads.


    ¡°So my lady, how you imagine we should proceed? I agree that assassination is a bad idea, an investigation would be awfully detrimental to us right now¡±


    The female stood up and with a grin on her face started speaking


    ¡°How about we go about it this way...¡±


    -------------------


    ¡°Are you serious Dom?¡±


    I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s suggesting doing that at this time, awawa Gat is not going to like it. I hadn¡¯t brought it up since we were little kids because she got ridiculously mad at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m always serious Gat, if you want it to work the way you want, it has to be done. The sooner the better¡±


    ¡°Ali, Dom, we have to go somewhere else to speak of this¡±


    ¡°~paaaa~ And where would that be gat ~pyon~¡±


    I knew it she didn¡¯t like it, and I don¡¯t like Gat mad, well the one who¡¯s probably going to get a serious beating is stupid Dom...


    ¡°Find us a place secure enough with no ears around¡±


    We walked outside the castle until we got deep into the forest in the northern side of the district; it should be no problem here, after retracting my energy there are no spies around, it¡¯s safe here, so let¡¯s act it up.


    ¡°~tehehe~ here is ok Gat ~puu~¡±


    Not a second after I inform that is ok to speak here I¡¯m frozen in place, yes she is without doubt not just tapping it, she can clearly control it as if she had awoken, I¡¯ve felt it before but when I asked she told me that she was just ¡°tapping¡± it, so she can actually lie to me... That¡¯s new.


    It¡¯s as if I¡¯m standing in front of the Gatriel of old, that overwhelming and oppressing presence, the all-powerful and commanding Heavenly Commander, she is without a doubt in front of us right here and now.


    ¡°Gat since when you can use it?¡±


    Dom expression is mixed with fear and awe; I wonder what¡¯s going through his mind right now? Hehehe this is going to either be fun or end up badly, I may have to intervene and stop her from going overboard.


    ¡°~nee nee~ why don¡¯t you both calm a second, Dom you should not anger her, you feel it don¡¯t you? With every fiber of your body, your soul should be screaming to you right now, who is the one in front of us right now ~pup~¡±


    Oi oi oi Gat, don¡¯t give me that stare. I¡¯m not trying to make you madder, It¡¯s just to make him understand his mistake, blood binding is no joke, I agree with you, at least not yet, oh well let¡¯s see how does this unfolds.


    ¡°Gat you sure understand they may have pledged loyalty and swore to obey and follow you, but you can¡¯t say for certain that without the blood binding they will never betray you.


    Indeed they won¡¯t benefit from the awakening gifts but you can renew the contract once it happens, wouldn¡¯t it then be beneficial to them too?¡±


    Oh, I can move, it seems Dom logic is either working or she calmed herself a little bit, seems I can keep my secrets for a bit longer... wouldn¡¯t want gat asking a question about it right now.


    ¡°~ehe~ Gat sorry but I agree with Dom ~wawa~¡±


    Gat hasn¡¯t said a word, but the air feels better, let me walk and stand beside Dom, that way I can act faster if anything happens; anyway I agree with Dom, his logic is sound. I plan to bind some of the best spies under my command soon enough, even though I¡¯m certain she won¡¯t like it. Oh seems she will speak let¡¯s hear it


    ¡°When you noticed I could use it Dom? It isn¡¯t like I¡¯m flaunting it out in the open¡±


    ¡°When we met, you may not have intended for it, but you were coated in it, thin almost imperceptible layer covered you, it showed me that either was total mastery or a reaction to our encounter, and just so you know, I can¡¯t use it yet, I know is close but it¡¯s not yet within my grasp¡±


    Oh so lil Dom still can¡¯t use it that is actually surprising, considering he is older than us.


    ¡°It was neither or rather let¡¯s say was more a reaction to the situation. At that time I thought that you and Ali would end up facing each other, and I didn¡¯t want that to happen, many would have died. Considering Aly can use it too, I thought that I needed to be ready.¡±


    What? So she actually knows I can use it too... she never ceases to amaze me, oh well that¡¯s why I follow her is it not? Beyond that what I feel for her as a friend, family, her personality is what I love the most, as long as it doesn¡¯t get darkened tho that¡¯s one gat I don¡¯t want to see ever again.


    ¡°~he he~ so you knew! You keep surprising me today ~papa~¡±


    That¡¯s a cute smile you got there on your face Gat, and what¡¯s with the astonishment in your face Dom? He oh well he must feel somewhat slow I guess... hmmm what¡¯s this? Someone entered my field of detection


    ¡°What¡¯s happening? Ali?¡±


    ¡°Someone is coming, trying to hide their presence, let¡¯s see what¡¯s this about, hide ~pyon?~¡±


    Deftly in a second the three of us jumped on trees, and waited, I can¡¯t even feel Gat¡¯s presence even tho I can see her, she¡¯s gotten better at this, Dom is not worse. Now to the task at hand, who are those people?


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes was about in this area, I felt some seriously unnerving energy¡±


    Hoho, so he could pinpoint Gat¡¯s energy this accurately, I wouldn¡¯t expect less of her right hand, but what are...


    ¡°The Lady ordered us to keep the area secure, 2 miles around the Dhakan estate; we have to find whoever is or was here¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t 2 miles around too paranoid? It¡¯s impossible to hear anything from that faraway¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about listening, you just do your stuff, I¡¯ll do mine, just keep a look around¡±


    ¡°I think you are overthinking it, there is no one here, already searched¡±


    What¡¯s going on? This is unexpected; still Gat¡¯s signal is the same, keep still. Maybe she is waiting for them to leave on their own.


    ¡°There are some foot tracks here, 3 persons it¡¯s fairly recent but...¡±


    ¡°shh¡±


    Damn it all we wanted was to meet in a place without interruptions, we either go down and dispose of them or wait for them to leave, what¡¯s going to be Gat?


    ¡°Let¡¯s return, indeed I see the foot tracks but I can¡¯t feel anyone here, and no matter how hard I look I can¡¯t see anyone¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s send some shadows to investigate once we return¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s¡±


    Hmmm they went away, let me signal gat to go further in the forest, then leave through another way to avoid that state that¡¯s being watched.


    ¡°Who were those guys?¡±


    ¡°~tehe~ those were men from The Obscure ~uhum~¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else and finish this conversation¡±


    Imitating Dom I just nod to Gat¡¯s words and we left the scene, but what the heck was that I¡¯m a bit too curious now, what could be the Dean doing in the Dhakan estate?

 Ch 25 – The story in the old tower

    Ch 25 ¨C The story in the old tower


    ¡°Even tho I¡¯m curious too Ali, we need to focus on something other than that, I don¡¯t care why your school¡¯s dean is doing at another noble¡¯s house.¡±


    Ali¡¯s unsatisfied pouty face isn¡¯t cute at this moment; I understand Dom¡¯s worries and his proposal is logical, it¡¯s just not going to be easy to explain the details.


    ¡°Dom, Ali... the thing is, how do we explain it? I¡¯ve read most of the books here at home, and many if not all the ones that could contain records of our race, our ways or how they were perceived in the past, and aside from really really old transcribed texts containing legends, rumors and stories that are fairly inaccurate, there is basically nothing that is accessible to the public to serve as support¡±


    And I mean it, I¡¯ve asked dad, Higg and other knights and the concept of ¡°the gods¡± is nothing more than old stories to them. How do we begin to explain the ritual itself?


    ¡°How about we just invite them over, and tell them that we have something to discuss, but they need to accept first something that will be weird, and as soon as is done they will simply hear and understand?¡±


    I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s the moon shining on him right now, but one way or another Dom¡¯s idea doesn¡¯t sound half bad, won¡¯t hurt trying it.


    ¡°What do you think Ali? Do you agree with Dom¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°~he he~ they are aware that we are ¡°different¡± Gat, so why not try it? If they want to stay with us they will have to agree, and once they are bound to you, there is just no way they can deny our story ~popon~¡±


    Oh well so be it, tomorrow I¡¯ll have them meet me in the Market district, and outside Imil we¡¯ll perform the ritual.


    ---------------------------------------


    We¡¯ve been riding for several hours now, Juls, Dan, Az, Gali, Ali, Dom and Gat are very used to this long and heavy horse-riding but my legs are starting to feel a bit strained.


    We have been rotating positions every hour, now I¡¯m besides Gat in front, she hasn¡¯t said much about what does she wants to talk about, but seems to be something really serious. Her face when we met in the plaza near the eastern entrance of the city clearly told me so.


    ¡°So gat, after managing to lose the knights that were appointed as my guards, why do we need to ride for so many hours? What is it that you want to tell us?¡±


    That smile won¡¯t buy me Gat we just entered the Mojun forest, even though it¡¯s barely outside Imil, it¡¯s considered to be a somewhat dangerous place. It has a few abandoned fortresses.


    ¡°We are close, once we get to where we¡¯ll rest all will be revealed, trust me friend. I¡¯ll never endanger any of you needlessly, and if it happens I¡¯ll protect you all with all my might.¡±


    As the forest started to get thicker and darker, we came across a small abandoned tower where Gat asked us to get in. The place in general is somewhat eerie it¡¯s not your typical green forest, it has shades of blue and much gray, it¡¯s a cold place to be I can see how it could be used for ambushes and the like.


    ¡°We are here, close the gate, make sure the horses are well tied and have refreshments. When ready get it and well talk.¡±


    With no questioning everyone started to move, that kind of work is not just beneath me but also I¡¯m not used to it so the rest take care of my horse as I walk inside the tower.


    Much to my surprise the place is fairly maintained, there is a wooden circular table with 10 seats that looks properly kept, it¡¯s just matter of cleaning up the place, gat lights up some torches and start closing the windows, not long after everyone is inside doing this and that, checking the rooms, basement, upper floors and corridors and not an hour later gat asked us to sit down. It¡¯s clear they have been here before, only Domenic and I seem to be new to the place.


    ¡°Thank you all for accommodating my selfish request with the urgency that was required, it means a lot to me. Today we are to talk about the future, about the present and some things that will change your complete outlook about what is life and the world itself, so please as you always do, trust me and remove those confused looks.


    I swear to you all here, not a single lie will be uttered from my mouth and I hope you keep that same oath, as I need you to trust me as much as I trust you.


    Once we get to where we need to get not only you will believe me, you will understand. So bear with the cryptic way of doing things for now.¡±


    It¡¯s clear that the others are confused, Gali is even a bit afraid, well can¡¯t blame them for I have been fairly vague with my words and Roxy in particular has never been here so is no wonder she has doubts.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start with a question, I want to hear from Roxy first.


    What are the gods?¡±


    Wow except for Ali and Dan everyone¡¯s face are a poem, clearly not understanding where I¡¯m going hahaha, Ali is smiling understandingly is very soothing whereas Dom is just serious looking at the five with a lot of attention.


    ¡°Gat, what you mean? Gods as in those in the abandoned and untold stories of old long long forgotten by the people?


    The beings that created the world and all that lives in it?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    As I nod and reply to her question with a simple word she ponders for a bit and continues.


    ¡°Fantasy is what I would say, the invention of someone¡¯s imagination the whole idea of it sounds somewhat preposterous to me.


    Immortal beings that are all powerful and war against each other, creating armies of apparently also immortal and all powerful slaves to fight for them?


    That¡¯s simply the dream of some fairly disturbed individual in my opinion.¡±


    Clearly haha! that¡¯s what most say but


    ¡°Then how come even if texts of old, how come so many authors ¡®of old¡¯ wrote about them?


    From different cultures, locations, ages, races and creeds?¡±


    She looks at me still questioning the question itself more than ¡°why¡± did I ask that.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that a lot of whatever scarcely can be found about the gods is written by different people, as what has been recovered and recorded is from bygone eras, that could be explained by the fact that is somewhat a contagious subject.


    I mean what I know comes from my own curiosity, which sprouted from reading old texts found in the Royal Palace. It¡¯s a beautiful concept that relies in the fictitious entities as means to explain that which people do not understand is it not?¡±


    Bait laid and bitten, I¡¯ve picked her interest as it seems she had some information prior to today, which is great for me. Dom seems satisfied and Ali is nodding a bit.


    ¡°What about you Juls? Dan? Azer? ¡±


    ¡°Sorry Gat, no idea¡±


    ¡°Gat, Gods? What¡¯s that?¡±


    Juls and Dan just shake their heads after saying they don¡¯t know anything, haven¡¯t even bothered to search info about it, but Azer seems to have an opinion, let¡¯s hear it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have as much information as the princess it seems but I¡¯ve read a references in really few papers about the topic, and I agree with the last statement princess Roxanna said.


    It¡¯s easier to drop that which cannot be explained into gods or as they also have been called ¡®deities¡¯ as means to not bother trying to understand it.


    Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Gali? Anything you want to add to it?¡±


    ¡°Gat I really don¡¯t like the subject, as you are aware my grandfather is an elder and seer, my family from my mother¡¯s side has a long line of seers that serve the king.


    Currently the elder is the only one to receive a foretelling in over 7 generations, and only he and the king know about it.


    So to us, the gods are not so much a figment of imagination as much as a concept that encompasses the world¡¯s voice.


    If there is even such a thing.¡±


    Ho I didn¡¯t know that there was an oracle alive in the kingdom, it¡¯s great to know. Ali and Dom seem interested. Tho seems she wants to say something else...


    ¡°Gat, while... nah doesn¡¯t matter¡±


    ¡°If is straining you in any way it matters, so say it if it will make you feel better¡±


    Lowering her head and blushing a little, Gali seems to be thinking about something, with a bang hitting the table she looks at me in the eyes...


    ¡°From the winged horse and the dark rider


    A flame will be lit


    With time its strength will grow


    And will shine in the dark


    It will heat when it¡¯s cold


    With its light it will guide


    With its shadows will protect


    When I was little my grandfather told me that small prose, and years later when I decided to go to the RA told me to befriend you if it was possible.


    I didn¡¯t understand at that time what he meant, but it¡¯s been years and I¡¯ve had time to ponder about his words, It feels as if he knew I would meet you and follow you somehow.


    I¡¯m sorry for keeping this from you for so long¡±


    When she ended talking she lowered again her head as she sat down, everyone is astonished at her revelation myself included, I mean come on that¡¯s quite the oracle there her grandfather told her.


    Only one foretelling? Give me a break haha, that old man must know a lot of things, I would love to meet him someday.


    ¡°Worry not, I¡¯m amazed but not mad in any way, now let me go back to the topic at hand.


    What if I told you guys that the gods are not a figment of anyone¡¯s imagination but actual beings that ¡®used¡¯ to exist? What would you say to that?¡±


    The five mortals are looking at me with odd expressions in their faces, Dan and Juls are more confused than doubtful, Azer is showing clear signs of high interest, Roxy has eyes full of doubt and Gali is extremely surprised.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to say¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just confused Gat, but if you say so I believe you¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more interested in understanding your reasoning than doubting it¡±


    ¡°For argument sake I would hear you but, I¡¯m a realist here, it¡¯s what politics and manipulation is all about¡±


    ¡°...would you come with me some day and meet my grandfather?¡±


    After everyone voices what¡¯s on their minds I raise my arms stopping the mumbling and request that they focus on me, after a little while, they settle down Ali and Dom bring cups, bread, cheese, Jam and wine.


    I stare at them as they get some refreshments and calm a bit and start focusing on me.


    I too need sustenance and refreshments, considering I¡¯m going to thread in the unknown here for them, so let¡¯s relax a bit too first and then continue with the talk in the direction I want it to go.


    ¡°Everyone here has been training their ¡®qi¡¯ right? Good did you all execute the special training I gave you? Great, well let¡¯s tell you a story¡±