The guards around Firedweller manor were patrolling as usual. Early dawn settled and the sun was now truly shining up in the sky as ash and soot rained down on the town. The guards and the people occasionally walking across the streets were startled when they heard an angry loud roar from within the Firedweller manor. Arraind Firedweller was in a hellish mood. The four silver squares he left on the table atop the stairs had disappeared, normally that wouldn’t upset him too much but his oldest son Eduard had also disappeared. His wife came up to him, she seemed quite pale.
“He can’t have gone after them?” she said, it was something of a self-assurance for her more than anything.
“I hope so too,” said Arraind, fastening his big red cloak across his giant of a body.
With long bronze hair, a scraggly thick beard and standing at around seven foot, the man was a fearsome sight and when he was on the battlefield at the impasse between Grifort Kingdom and Zarech Kingdom, he had made a name for himself, ‘The Red Fiend’. He turned to his wife Guila, her pale face seemed to have gotten even paler if that was possible, it appears his words had no effect on her mental state.
“Bring me my sword,” he said, and he took out an iris mirror, a communications device, and handed it to her. “Call the adjudicators’ department, tell them to send someone immediately and also write a letter for official procedures and sent it through a pigeon to the department.”
His wife grasped the mirror, nodded, and went to get his sword. He let in a deep breath and walked out of the room straight to the Captain of the Guards, Andomus.
“Gather some soldiers and prepare my steed,” said Arraind. “Also sent someone to Hordus’ shop, I want know what he was thinking giving my boy the information and address to Kroff Helvyn’s warehouse.”
“Yes, sire,” said Andomus and he took a deep bow and rushed away to prepare everything.
Arraind imposingly walked down the stairs and he saw his younger son Raeden, a feeble boy, trembling at the foot of the stairs.
“Don’t you have sword lessons to attend to?” asked Arraind.
“Yes…but father is brother going to be alright?” asked Raeden, fear clearly clouding his face.
“He is,” said Arraind sternly. “Go to your lessons.”
Raeden nodded but he still stood there watching the steely steps of his father as he walked past him. He threw open the front doors and entered the large front yard of his manor and sighed. The ash still rained, he would have to take a long shower once he got back, so would his son. He waited for around ten seconds before two soldiers struggled to bring a large stallion around. He turned back to the door, facing the inside of his manor and saw his wife rushing out, clutching with her two hands, his long and heavy longsword. He grasped it and hung it to his belt.
“Don’t go out, not until I come back anyhow, tell Raeden the same,” said Arraind, his wife nodded and he went to turn when he remembered something he had forgot. “Have you called the adjudicators’ department?”
His wife nodded again and Arraind turned to leave. He walked down to his bucking stallion which his two fully grown soldiers were barely able to reign in.
“Don’t forget to sent the letter,” said Arraind and he touched the large stallion on the head, it immediately it calmed down.
He jumped onto his horse and he large red cloak flew back. He turned to his soldiers who seemed to shaking still, from when they tried to control his stallion, Temperament.
“Tell Andomus that I’m going on ahead, he is to follow with his squadron quickly.”
The two soldiers gave deep bows and ran off. Arraind looked at his frightened wife once more and gave quick smile.
“We’ll both come back, it’s just a slave trader after all.”
With that he kicked his horse and she started to gallop straight out through the gates at a speed which brought about the wind. While he rode, many thoughts flashed past his mind such as the time when his son left. He wasn’t too sure about it, the guards at his house were incompetent, he needed to fire several of them. He could only hope that nothing had happened to his son. He had heard recently from Hordus that Kroff Helvyn had brought an assassin called ‘the snake’. He kicked his horse to make her speed up further as these thoughts flashed past continuously throughout his head and he quickly arrived at the docks. Turning his horse he moved into the docks.
***
Nyle sat in a dingy, shaking, extremely small room, it was the brig of a ship, more precisely speaking it was the brig of a slave ship owned by slave trader Kroff Helvyn. He had gotten on the ship at the Kagmon Harbor Town to the east of the continent but he didn’t know this was a slave ship. He had all the chance to just reach his destination and move off the ship but he felt the need to be a hero and as such he was locked in the ship’s brig. It had been around three days now and he had eaten nothing but mouldy rock bread and drank nothing but stinky water. His stomach was in constant pain and the brig was as smelly as the reservoir of a public latrine. He sighed as he lay back further to stretch his legs when the door opened at the front letting copious amounts of sunlight in and Nyle closed his eyes tight, he hadn’t seen the light in such a long time, it hurt his eyes. Just then the door to his cell opened and something was thrown in and the door that brought in the sunlight was shut again. Nyle slowly opened his eyes and curiously looked to his side to see what was thrown in and he saw a large boy with bronze hair specked with black. He moved closer to the boy and kicked his shin.
“Hello?” called Nyle but there was no response from the boy and Nyle kicked him again. “Are you alive?”
Then the boy shivered, he wasn’t dead thought Nyle, that was something. As the boy turned around to lie face up Nyle saw crusted blood on his cheek, from a sword cut recognized Nyle almost immediately. The boy shivered again as his eyes slowly opened and then he groaned out and his hand went to his head, clutching it.
“Headache!?” he cried out as he curled up.
Nyle moved back and leaned against the wall as he saw the boy slowly pick himself together and finally sat up. He blinked twice and brought Nyle into his view.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“In one of the brigs of a slave ship.”
“We’re on a bloody ship,” said Eduard clenching his fists. “Shit…I’m so screwed when dad finds me.”
Nyle let out a short chuckle. “That’s only if you get out of here.”
The boy reached forward and touched the cell and closed his eyes and Nyle chuckled again. “I wouldn’t bother, they’ve got a resonance seal on this entire brig, no pulse powers to be used.”
“Arghhh!!” screamed the boy.
“What’s your name?” asked Nyle.
“Eduard…Eduard Firedweller,” said Eduard looking over at Nyle.
He had a cloth wrapped around his head, with part of it hanging of the right. He had a very pale colored face and wore a long, he wore green-white loose long-shirt with a tail, brownish pants tucked into the open-toed boots. Nyle smiled as he moved up and brought forth his hand.
“My name’s Nyle.”
Eduard nodded and he proceeded to look around and then looked back toward Nyle who was quite relaxed despite being on a slave ship.
“Is there no way to escape?” asked Eduard, there was some urgency in his voice.
“None at present,” said Nyle cheerily. “But I do have a way.”
Eduard perked up at that. “What way?”
Nyle pointed behind to a door to the side, not the one through which Eduard was brought in, this was a separate door and it looked quite sturdy.
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“That door is through where they keep all our weapons, if that opens then I can do something but the thing is it’s reinforced, if it wasn’t then again, I could do something,” said Nyle.
“When do they open that door?” asked Eduard and Nyle shrugged.
“Don’t know, it hasn’t opened since I’ve been here, my guess is there are two ways into that armory, so right now it’s all just luck.”
“Brilliant,” said Eduard deflating, he sat down again into a slump.
“Let’s not give up hope,” said Nyle. “It’ll have to open sometime.”
Eduard said nothing as he rocked slightly as the ship tackled the waves. It was quite relaxing and peaceful and Nyle slowly closed his eyes.
“Where are you from?” asked Eduard suddenly looking over Nyle’s appearance again.
Nyle shrugged again, “Some strange place, I’m trying to find it myself.”
“You said you were a Firedweller right?”
Eduard nodded. “Are we at Firedweller Township?”
“Yes…that last I know anyway,” said Eduard. “But we’re on a ship, we could’ve left.”
“True,” said Nyle thoughtfully. “No chance of you father coming to rescue us?”
“There is, he will come,” said Eduard determinedly.
“Oh good,” said Nyle, and Eduard looked over puzzled. “I can go to sleep now.”
Eduard looked on in disbelief as the boy went and did just that. He closed his eyes and seemingly dozed off without a care in the world. Eduard’s head started hurting again and he sighed as he too decided to doze off lightly, if he couldn’t use pulse powers, he didn’t have anything else that could get him out of this situation.
***
Arraind Firedweller was walking around the docks aimlessly. He had knocked on a few doors and provided a description of his son but aside from shocking the people silly, he got nothing valuable as to the whereabouts of his son. He gripped his long sword tightly and looked at his horse which just stood there as cluelessly as ever. This is when he heard the sound of hooves, several of them. The large thoroughbred stallions of Firedweller family flowed into the docks and upon each one sat a fit and able warrior. Leading them was his guard roll’s captain, Andomus. As soon as they saw Arraind they all jumped off their horses and bowed except one who appeared to have fallen of Andomus’ horse and seemed to be dusting himself off.
“Hordus!” hissed Arraind through his gritted teeth and he strode forward and picked up the frail man with black and grey hair wearing tattered robes and pinned him up against a wall. “Where the hell is my son?”
Hordus seemed to have turned pale and red at the same time as he coughed out a couple of times. “Apologies Lord Firedweller, truly, I didn’t know it was the young Firedweller.”
“Didn’t know…DIDN’T KNOW!!!” roared Arraind. “How did you not know it was my son, we’re not bloody twins.”
“I didn’t open my door,” choked out Hordus. “I gave the information through the peep hole.”
Arraind threw Hordus to the side with a huff and let loose a great frustrated roar.
“Where is this Kroff Helvyn?” asked Arraind. “His warehouse?”
“It’s north of here Lord Firedweller, if I remember correctly, unit sixteen is his warehouse,” said Hordus picking himself back up off the ground.
“If I don’t find my son today, you won’t live to see tomorrow,” said Arraind and the he turned to his guard roll. “Leave your horses here, from here we proceed on foot, the space here is too narrow for a war horse.”
“Yes m’lord!” shouted nine voices.
“Andomus, you’re with me,” said Arraind. “The rest scour the area, leave no nook or cranny unturned, I want the entire Helvyn gang!”
Andomus nodded and he released his squad. Arraind reached out and dragged Hordus along with him moving to the north of the docks, to warehouse sixteen. Several people had finally come out of their thatched houses or warehouses to see what was happening only to see the large Lord Firedweller move through with an imposing figure along with his guard captain Andomus.
***
At this moment Kroff Helvyn was positively sweating. He had not expected such a quick reaction. The ships had only set off around three minutes prior to Arraind’s arrival at the docks. His injured brother, Cole, sat on the floor nursing his wounds, two other members of his gang were here as well and they reported off the proceedings at the docks. Lord Firedweller had come with an entire guard roll, nine armed veterans of war trained by the Firedweller family along with the ‘red fiend of the battlefield’. It was not looking good for Kroff. While it might be true that the current ship along with Eduard Firedweller might reach its destination, him losing his life here was becoming a very serious possibility.
“Snake, is there any possibility of you taking on Arraind Firedweller?”asked Kroff with a hopeful look on his face.
The man in the shadows appeared once more silently and he appeared to be in thought for a moment. “It is possible but I will not stake my life.”
“That’s fine,” said Kroff nodding and he looked derisively towards Cole. “Get up you fool.”
Cole however ignored him and continued to dab on his wounds with that wet cloth which bound together crushed herbs. Kroff gritted his teeth letting loose a kick at the desk.
“GET UP COLE!!” roared Kroff and Cole finally looked up, he seemed slightly shocked. “If it wasn’t for your mistake we could’ve set sail earlier and left this blood town behind as well, you fought the damn boy and then lost.”
Cole sniggered and then looked towards Snake. “Why don’t you ask him why he didn’t drop the kid earlier, I mean he was there wasn’t he.”
Kroff took in a deep breath and sighed. “Cole, please I want you…no I need you in the fray, keep a couple of the troublesome guards busy and don’t mess it up like you did with that young boy, these are trained warriors, they will kill you.”
Cole nodded his understanding and stood up, “I’ll need a sword.”
Kroff looked towards what remained of Cole’s sword, a hilt and a bit more and he reached under his table and pulled out his own personal blade and tossed it over.
“That one will be harder to cut through,” said Kroff. “If you had enhanced your blade, it wouldn’t have been so easy to cut through, be careful with it, it’s expensive.”
“Thanks,” said Cole, and in a familiar fashion as to before, he left the warehouse and Kroff turned towards Snake.
“I’ll need you to keep Arraind busy or hell, even kill him if you can,” said Kroff, Snake stood there like statue and then after a few seconds he moved and Kroff breathed again.
He then turned to his two gang members, “Get everything that we own and pack it all up, recall our members, if it’s required we need to beat a hasty retreat.”
Suddenly there was remarkable sound of an explosion and Kroff took in a deep breath, it was Arraind, he knew it was Arraind. Only Arraind could create an explosion, all Firedweller possessed the elemental fire variant discharge pulse and they could produce a massive explosion, they were a single man destruction wave. The red fiend had found someone, a target, which member of his gang was it? He didn’t know, but he pitied the poor soul. Kroff sat down on his chair once again and thought perhaps he should enter the fray but then shook off that idea, he after all was going to become filthy rich and he needed his life to enjoy it, he valued his life far too much. He turned to see his gang members gathering everything up, documentations, weapons etc. He would have to explain the deaths of some of his gang members to his higher ups but if he could escape it would all be worth it.
***
Arraind had drawn his sword and unleashed a mighty blast of energy at a man that appeared to be running away from him, someone Hordus had positively identified as a man part of the Helvyn Gang, it took no more than several seconds, the man was roasted and blown up by a swing of Arraind’s sword. Andomus too had his blade drawn as the trio proceeded to warehouse sixteen. It was then Arraind sensed danger, something lurking at the back of his head and he instinctively ducked only see a projectile miss him and embed itself right on the ground in front of him. It was aimed for his neck he realized.
“Kaiuga,” said Hordus with fear and Andomus looked at him clueless.
“It means ‘the snake’ in some tribal language or the other,” said Arraind, Hordus looked at him impressed, Arraind shrugged. “I’ve heard of the man, an assassin with renown.”
“Yes,” said Hordus. “He has never missed a target, he only sets out to do the tasks he can do and he does it well, if he’s come here to kill you, Lord Firedweller, then it must mean he thinks he can do it.”
Arraind snorted as well as Andomus and Andomus said, “If he thinks he can kill Lord Firedweller by hiding in the shadows and firing poison darts then he’s dreaming.”
Arraind closed his eyes and sharpened his senses. He needed to find the man, he needed to find where the darts were coming from, if it hit, he had no doubts he would die but first it had to hit. He heard that slow blowing sound and he kicked out at Andomus’ legs toppling his guard captain before a dart could hit him.
“Pay attention, focus,” hissed Arraind and then he finally found the source of the darts.
He waved his long sword around in a circle and sent forth a blast of energy straight towards the top of rooftop and there was an explosion. As the rubble came down Arraind’s eyes caught a shadow flitting across the stones and it landed straight on the ground. The man in the black cloak with his blowgun held in one hand seemed surprised but otherwise was not injured.
“So you’re the snake?” said Arraind sneering and charged at an inhuman speed.
It was nearly twice the speed at which Cole moved even in his enhanced state and swung his sword but as if by magic the blowgun in the Snake’s hand was replaced by a curved short sword. He slid back and his hand shot out much akin to a snake and struck under Arraind’s armpit and there was clink. As soon as the Snake met resistance he slid back further. Arraind looked at the Snake in shock much like Andomus and Hordus. The Snake could’ve potentially killed him there. If he wasn’t wearing chainmail today, that strike with the shortsword lathered in poison could’ve been the end of him. Arraind questioned himself, had he really become rusty after two years of inactiveness. He clenched his teeth and clutched his sword tightly with both hands and his sword lit up heavy red, different by Eduard’s blade, the sword seemed to be exuding an aura of extreme heat along with Arraind. The Snake seemed more cautious as he held his stance. Arraind stepped forward and swung his blade down releasing a sword blast straight at the Snake who slithered out of the way. He once again closed in on Arraind but he twisted his sword and met the man’s curved short sword with his hilt and flung it away and in the same instance his sword came down bearing all the heat with it and it came down so fast that it left an afterglow of the sword. The Snake was however faster and moved out of the way. They traded several more blows with the Snake at a disadvantage and Arraind slowly gained ground. He was getting accustomed to the Snake’s sneaky means of tactics and fighting. Whilst the Snake was fast, Arraind’s sword seemed somehow to meet his blade at every point when he aimed for a vital strike but at the same time Arraind couldn’t reach the Snake with a fatal strike either.
“Andomus!” growled Arraind and Andomus was shocked all over again but did not neglect his lord’s call, he drew his blade and moved to enter the fray.
“We need to pin him down,” said Arraind frustrated. “I can’t release a full tempered blast because the docks would be destroyed completely.”
Andomus nodded and drew sword and it blazed up, the blade was circled in flames but just then the Snake took a step back into the shadows and disappeared leaving both men dumbfounded.