“Luther…?”

He sighed. “Yves. I’ll explain in the meantime. I am sure you remember those bedtime stories mother used to sing.”

“What? White Lamb…?”

“No.” Luther shook his head. “The bloody ones.”

Yves frowned. Their mother had not be right in the head. Having taken her own life at Luther’s young age of ten. She had secluded herself for most of the day, but always showed up when it was their time to sleep, just to tell them bedtime stories. Most of the time, they were innocent things about little sheep, farms, adventures by parties, and some holy knight that killed an evil dragon.

That holy knight had been her favorite and biggest influence in almost all their lives considering it had been about their own father. It lit a fire unlike anything in their chest to follow in his footsteps and please him.

Much to Luther’s immense suffering. Mostly due to his own failures and unwillingness to stop trying to get praise from his father.

Then there were times their mother walked in, eyes lost and face a ghostly white. Those nights were always filled with nightmares. She would tell stories of horrors and monsters living deep within caves and under the very earth we walk on. Gargantuan creatures that ate people alive, undead that slaughtered entire villages.

She would never leave out a single detail. The amount of people that died, the way they died, the crazy smiles of the beasts. Smiles that matched her own as she seemed to act like she had been there herself. How that was even possible escaped him till this very day.

“Mother had been mad. We shouldn’t take her long tales to heart. I thought that was something we all understood, just as father had pressed into us…?” Yves voice faded away.

Luther smiled. “Yes. Unusual isn’t it. How father had seemed so desperate to convince us they were all stories of a madwoman. But they weren’t. Those tales are real, very much real. One in particular that I found odd, yet it seems to match all the information I gathered—“

“You keep saying that. ‘Information I gathered’. Unless you have access to either the depths of the Magus Libraries or a spy network then gathering information like this should be impossible. You can’t just stumble on this type of knowledge.”

Baldwin walked in. He paused to bow, then began to roll out a massive map that covered the entire desk in front of them. Luther decided to ignore the pointed looks Yves gave him. He wasn’t ready to say that he had otherworldly knowledge, much less admit he was a primary patron of an Assassin’s Guild. One quite capable of gathering information.

He took a few paper weights in his desk out and placed them at the corners to hold the map down. Luther was taken aback at how detailed it was. Slightly outdated, he noticed a few buildings that had either been taken down or replaced by completely different businesses. But that wasn’t a problem. The forests outside of the gates were made to last centuries much less a few decades.

The forest line itself might be slightly different, but any major monuments kept the same considering they lasted prior to the creation of this city and continued their existence until this very day. Mountains, hills, etc… Maybe even a few boulders of peculiar placement.

Those were exactly what he was searching for. As the ‘starting area’ there were many small dungeons that tested the beginners and provided with basic, general spells such as pyromancy and cyromancy.

The issue went to the fact that there were as many utterly too strong dungeons in the area as well. If they stumbled into one and got stuck in, they were destined to die miserably. Or worse, cause a break and have a horde of high leveled monsters on the rampage. One such dungeon carried the ‘Create Golem’ tome. One that could be merged with ‘Soul Guide’. But that was for later when he had enough strength.

In order to find the cyromancy spell he needed, the dungeon he was looking for was easy to find if he could locate a ‘stone hedge’ of sorts with strange blue tips. Only by finding that could you get access to the entrance and begin a dive into an elemental battle with mindless spirits guarding treasure near its very bottom.

While having someone like the Empress and her priestess to tackle this specific dungeon would have been perfect, they weren’t needed. The spirits, while numerous, were not strong compared to the likes of Baldwin and Yves. Even Luther could take a few out alone considering he was a semi trained knight and a fledgling pyromancer.

The Empress and her followers were all very powerful pyromancers. Much stronger than they had the right to be. With their help, it would be a walk in the park considering they were all extremely high leveled. But he could not let them know about these dungeons without being prepared in advance. The risk of them simply killing him and his group was to high considering the value of the items he was likely to find.

Elementals were surrounded by their core element. It imbued the the world around them and turned normal gems that would occasionally find their way inside into priceless artifacts difficult to find even on the black market. An entire spacial break would have enough wealth to tempt a villain to betray everyone.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

But the issue remained. He had to find it. There was no mini-map, and he was never diligent enough to remember where each dungeon was exactly. A frown could not help but grow as he continued to survey the entire thing. By the end, he found himself staring at three different spots. Each one placed a distance away from the other making them difficult to get to in a single day.

“You seem to have found what you were looking for. Are we using the same ‘information gathering’ you used to find out they existed, Brother.” There was an accusation in Yves tone. Luther could not blame him, the previous him had done too many evil things. Things no normal person would ever even attempt unless they weren’t right in the head.

“A tide of ice. Endless Spirits guarding a tome.” Luther began, remembering his mother’s sing-song rendition. He couldn’t help but smile sadly. The woman had been mad, but he could clearly remember the love that oozed out of her towards them.

“Ice elementals, My Lord?” Baldwin asked.

“Yes, Baldwin. The one I am looking for specifically is a spacial break with Ice Spirits in vast numbers. The entrance should be one of these three spots—“ he placed a circle stone a marker to remember. “—The circle of stones should have blue tips and the entrance only found after we activate them with a basic push of energy. We would have three days to enter and get out before it closes behind us. I suggest we make two separate groups. One to keep the gate opened and the other to enter and clear it out.”

“I will begin the preparations.” Baldwin bowed and made to leave. But he was stopped by Yves.

“This seems very dangerous. Why? What do you get out of this? What is your goal here brother? You forced me to help and now we are supposedly tackling ancient places field with terrifying monstrosities. And don’t say that your doing this for the betterment of society. Baldwin? How can you just… go with it?”

“What I plan is none of your concern.” Luther snapped before he could stop himself.

Yves stepped back. The familiarity between them seemed to shatter in moments. Luther was still the villain he had been at heart. Even with Arthur balancing him out slightly. Many deeds he had committed tinted the way people looked at him, and would continue to do so.

“Do your job. And don’t ask me questions you know I won’t answer. It is just wasting my time. Time I don’t intend to use up on soothing your righteous sentiments. Be done with these tasks of mine and I will hold my end of the bargain. That I promise on my name, Luther Morgan Bellham.”

Yves grit his teeth and nodded but said nothing else. The reason he had come here was obvious.

Even as brothers, the enmity was too much to simply overlook. Luther knew he was garnering hate and even more than that from Yves, but there was no choice. Especially considering he had threatened him with the death of his fiancé.

Baldwin looked away. Luther had never seen the man express so many emotions since he suddenly appeared. He had been with his father for years before he had inherited his fathers position as the head of the Bellham estates and House. But he chose to ignore it. It was simply not relevant to his survival at the moment. Whatever drove the man to be so loyal was enough for him.

“We leave in three hours, Baldwin. Make sure all preparations are complete.” Luther demanded. There was no time to waste. At any moment until the day the apocalypse happened, everything could suddenly fall on his head. He would not allow himself to assume the execution timeline would not speed up.

“My Lord.” Baldwin bowed. “We carry enough fire crystals to defeat a moderate force of ice spirits and elementals. I am sure the knights will be quite pleased to use them in battle—“

Luther frowned. He wasn’t sure he wanted to use any of the Bellham knights. They were deeply connected to his brothers and were unloyal to him. They had been the main force to have been giddy in the final battle. But a few had stood by him and died much earlier than the last encounter.

The northern branch that guarded his mothers wing like their lives depended on it. They fought to the last and allowed Luther enough time to gather the four monsters hiding in plain site to his side. Almost beating the army of Knights sent to detain him.

“Only bring men from the northern branch.”

Baldwin froze. “The northern branch, My Lord? They must be quite unpracticed sitting on their haunches. We should—“ he stopped seeing Luther’s displeased look and bowed. “Forgive me, Lord Bellham. I have overstepped. It shall not happen again.”

Luther looked to Yves. He didn’t have anything else to add which suited him perfectly. Being questioned every time a sentence left his mouth was very unvillain like and it bother the hell out of him. So much that he felt bile rise to his throat.

“Good.”

Baldwin did not leave.

“Yes…?”

“What would you like me to tell your instructor? They are due to arrive in an hour.”

Shit. Instructor? For what?

His eyes drifted to the books that teetered at the edge of his desk threatening to fall. That was not good. He was learning pyromancy. Who better to ask then the very best at it the Empress and her priestess? And a high ranked priestess was on her way too.

“Tell her I will be indisposed for the next week. She may seek accommodations within the mansion as long as no issues arise. I am sure Maria would be more than enough—“

Baldwin closed his eyes.

“—to handle her. Isn’t that right, Baldwin?”

The butler’s face did not change any longer. He simply bowed and spun on his heels. Leaving Luther and Yves in the room alone. His brother seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at him.

Luther cleared his throat but his brother did not respond. “Yves.”

He jumped startled.

“Are you going to sleep in my office? Or maybe I should ask Maria to provide you with a blanket and pillow?”

“N-no. No. I’ll be heading to the northern branch. I am sure Baldwin is already on his way and I will get to see what they are made of. Best we do not bring any liabilities with us if its anywhere as dangerous as Mother’s tales.”

Luther nodded as his brother nearly ran out, closing the massive doors behind him.

Finally alone.