Meanwhile,

Cyril moved to see what was happening and it turned out to be a fawn. After the fawn saw Cyril, it left.

"Turns out it was just my hunch," Cyril said to himself.

'IDIOT !, LOOK UP !, ... PLEASE ... !!" came the man's screaming voice. Cyril was surprised because the voice was similar to the first scream he had heard. Then Cyril looked up and saw Gillian tied to a tree.

"HEY, WHY ARE YOU THERE ?!" shouted Cyril to Gillian.

"CAN YOU HELP ME DOWN FIRST, I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS," Gillian shouted as Cyril begged him.

Finally, Cyril climbed up the tree and cut Gillian's rope. Gillian fell to the ground, "AKH, IT HURTS..., I feel like my bum is missing," Gillian said as he whimpered in pain from falling out of a rather tall tree. Cyril laughed at this.

"How did you get up there ?" Cyril asked Gillian.

"Can you untie my hands first ?" replied Gillian, showing the rope ties on his hands and feet.

"No, you have to tell me what happened first ?" Cyril told him.

"If you don't untie them quickly, I won't be able to catch up with my brother, Phillian," Gillian replied with a sad heart.

Then Gillian told Cyril why he was tied to the tree.

"When we were walking earlier, something suddenly passed very quickly in front of our train. Then Phillian went to find out what was happening, but after I had waited for a long time, Phillian did not return to the carriage. So I decided to go and look for him. But while I was looking for him, it was like someone hit me hard on the head from behind. After that I fainted, but before I fainted I saw a faint shadow like Phillian being carried away by someone wearing a cloak". Gillian's telling Cyril.

After hearing Gillian's story, Cyril felt sympathy for him and finally released the ropes that bound his hands and feet.

"Thank you, I'm sorry we kidnapped you and in return please leave here and go back to your life." Gillian said to Cyril, but Cyril was just silent as he put his sword back.

Then Cyril said to him, "So what are you going to do ? Are you going to look for your brother on your own ?".

"Yes, I'm going to look for him myself," Gillian replied. "Good, I've decided... we're going to look for your brother together, I'm not doing this for you or your brother because you kidnapped me and brought me this far. But I'm doing this because I can't see anyone in danger, maybe I'll kill you afterwards for what you did to me," Cyril said to Gillian excitedly.

"No need, I can do it myself and don't be such a cool guy, you idiot," Gillian said to Cyril in a dismissive tone.

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, UGLY OLD MAN, I CAN KILL YOU EASILY ?!" said Cyril in an angry tone at Gillian's words.

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ?!" said Gillian to Cyril in an angry tone.

"Never mind, you saved me anyway..., dealing with you now would just be a waste of my time," Gillian said as he walked away from Cyril.

But as Gillian turned and was about to leave, Cyril suddenly drew his sword right at Gillian's neck and said "I insist...". Gillian was shocked and smiled, then turned and said to Cyril, "All right, try to stay alive".

Then they both left to look for Phillian. Soon after, Gillian found a handkerchief near a big tree. Then Gillian smelled the handkerchief and he recognised the smell, but it was a bit strange.

Then he called Cyril and said that he had found something and told him to come closer.

"There's no mistake, this is Phillian's," Gillian said to Cyril, "but there's a strange smell coming from here too," Gillian continued.

"Try unfolding the handkerchief," Cyril said. Then Gillian unfolded the handkerchief and was surprised to see that there was blood written on it saying "PLEASE !".

"WHAT ?!, this can't be a message from Phillian," Gillian said in shock.

Then they both tried to search around the big tree. Eventually, after much searching, they found nothing but the handkerchief. Then Gillian decided that the two of them should split up so that they could find Phillian faster. So they split up, Gillian going to the woods and Cyril going to their carriage, hoping that Phillian would leave some more clues.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Gillian kept calling his brother's name, but there was still no answer. Suddenly a voice was heard in the bushes behind Gillian and fear and anxiety began to take hold of Gillian. Then Gillian tried to work up the courage to turn around and see what it was. But Gillian was also ready with his gun. As he turned he saw a mouth with large and very sharp canines, he was stunned for a while and then realised that the creature was a monster that lived in the Grimmoldan Forest and that the creature's name was Zephor.

> [ Zephor is an ancient creature that lives in Grimmoldan Forest. It looks like a giant black wolf with fiery red eyes and very sharp teeth, and has hard and thick fur. It is said that Zephor has miraculous blood, that its blood can heal all kinds of wounds, keep a person youthful, and some say that its blood can raise the dead ].

"AAAHHHHHH.... !!!" Gillian screamed in shock and fear. Without thinking, he immediately ran as fast as he could to get away from the creature. But Zephor didn't stay standing still, he let out a very loud howl and began to run after Gillian as well. Gillian tried several ways to get away from him, hiding among the trees, hiding behind a rock, but Zephor still refused to give up. Gillian continued to run very fast, even though the darkness of the forest and the mist that covered it meant that he could barely see anything in front of him.

The atmosphere was getting tense, Gillian was hiding behind a rather large tree, and there were lots of bushes around it, so Zephor couldn't see him.

"Finally !" said Gillian with gratitude, thinking that Zephor had gone. But just as Gillian was about to get up and go back to looking for Phillian, he suddenly heard a huge breathing sound just above his head. He looked up and was surprised to see Zephor right behind him, with his head directly above Gillian's.

"AAHHH...!!!, CURSED BEAST !!!" Gillian screamed as he immediately ran away from Zephor.

The chase began again. But as Gillian ran, he didn't notice that there was a not too deep cliff in front of him. With nowhere else to go, Gillian immediately jumped into the ravine. Gillian eventually reached the bottom, but survived with only minor injuries.

"I thought I was dead," said Gillian. Then he tried to get up to continue his search. He was very curious and tried to approach the light.

Very carefully, Gillian approached the direction the light was coming from. When he managed to find where the light was coming from, he was surprised and said,

"No way! "Why would the Dark Urkmar set up camp in this dangerous forest ?" Gillian said with great curiosity as he tried to find a place to hide while he watched the place.

Meanwhile,

Cyril continued to search for Phillian, calling out his name. Suddenly, someone approached Cyril from a distance. Cyril also felt something strange about this person, he immediately drew his sword and prepared in case of danger.

"HEY, WHO ARE YOU ?!" shouted Cyril to the person. "Excuse me, have you seen my brother ?" the man replied.

"I haven't seen anyone, what's your brother's name ?" said Cyril.

"His name is Gillian Loudrieal," said the man. Cyril then immediately approached the person to confirm that the person was Gillian.

> [ Gillian Loudrieal is a dwarf who comes from the Loudrieal Mountains north of Escalodia. Gillian has a younger brother called Phillian Loudrieal. They both work as travelling merchants, selling whatever they can while they can, often even selling slaves to make a lot of money. The money they got was used to have fun, especially to buy wine and feast ].

"May I see your palm ?" said Cyril to make sure it was really Phillian.

"All right," Phillian said, showing both his palms. Then Cyril saw that there were scars on both palms. Cyril smiled and said, "Well, you really seem to be Phillian. I'm Cyril, the one you kidnapped before..., I know Gillian, come with me, we'll meet Gillian, he's been looking for you all day," Cyril said to Phillian. Phillian was surprised and remembered Cyril's face when they had kidnapped him.

"I apologise for our actions," Phillian said to Cyril.

"But do you really know Gillian, this isn't your ploy to get revenge and kill me, is it?" Phillian asked Cyril because he still didn't believe it. Then Cyril tried to persuade Phillian to come with him.

After hearing Cyril's story, Phillian agreed to come with him and went to Gillian's place.

They finally went to Gillian's place. After walking quite a long way Cyril felt thirsty, he tried to get water from the water bag he carried but when he tried to drink it turned out that he had run out of water.

"Damn... my water is gone" Cyril said while looking around. "The river is very far from here. I still have water if you want it" Phillian said while offering his drinking water. Because of his extreme thirst without thinking, Cyril immediately took the water and drank it.

"Thank you for the water Phillian" said Cyril. They continued their journey. But not long after that Cyril felt dizzy and his vision began to blur.

"Are you okay ?" asked Phillian while trying to support Cyril's body.

"You look exhausted, let me help you" said Phillian.

"Apparently the medicine works" Phillian said to himself. Then Phillian continued walking while supporting Cyril's body.

"It's time for you to meet my master and I will become rich, hehehe" Phillian said in his heart with a sense of pleasure because he managed to trap Cyril.

"I can smell the 1000 pieces of gold now, hehe" Phillian continued in his heart.

After a long walk into the forest, the two of them finally managed to arrive in front of Dark Urkmar's camp.

The two guards in front of the camp gate asked Phillian the purpose of his arrival.

After the two guards heard his explanation, they were both allowed to enter. Then from a distance Gillian saw that Phillian and Cyril entered the camp.

"Phillian, Cyril ?!" Gillian said in his heart, trying to clarify what he was seeing.

"What's going on ?!" said Gillian curiously.

"I have to go inside and make sure what's really going on," Gillian said as he convinced himself.

Finally Gillian began to move and find a way to get inside. He sneaked around while looking for an opening to get in.

Then he saw an opening to get inside. "Well, that's the only way in," Gillian said to himself.

Next chapter "Book I : Betrayal (Part II)"