Mablung Tulcan’s POV

Things were going to get messy, I just know it, I thought to myself as I stood a bit apart from the rest of the elfish nobility that currently loitered about in the main hall of castle Rost. It had been a week since Lord Tal had hurriedly left us at Letharen, a week since anyone had seen or heard from him, but in the two hundred years I had been alive I had never seen such a soul shaking look of anger in an elf’s eyes than I had seen in the young lord as he took off on his war mount.

I sighed despondently to myself simultaneously glancing over my shoulder at the three hundred soldiers that stood at ram rod attention lining one side of the great hall, these were the three hundred that lord Tal had left me in charge of, to my left was the leader of the Loft clan and to my right standing slightly behind us was the lord’s personal maid her name didn’t readily come to mind.

on our return to Rost town a week ago it was truly a case of while the tiger is away the foxes will play, the other clans had conspired together to undermine the authority of the loft leaders and affairs of the clan had ground to a halt, to make matters worse when the black sword clan had marched into town immediately breaking down the gates of the mages tower they had hindered all efforts made by the loft clan to either recover the scroll or punish lord Rumil of the black sword clan for his action, if not for our timely arrival most of the members of the loft clan would have either been dead or in chains and true anarchy would have taken hold, two days ago some form of organization has been restored and trade had just begun again when a single letter had been announced to the elders, by order of lord Tal all clan leaders were to gather in the main hall today, all this however was not the reason I had a twisting sensation in my gut, the reason stood across the hall smiling smugly at us.

After the theft of the scrolls lord Rumil had not fallen back to black sword castle to fortify his defenses for a siege or immediately returned to the capital, he was currently standing besides Lady Vanlathriel and the other elders that had rebelled looking to all the world extremely pleased with himself, if my guess was correct he had been sent by the capital to put the young lord in his place after all why would a clan associated with the house of Van Rost suddenly lash out against it, unless they had appropriate backing but giving the little I knew about the young lord this was going to end up extremely badly for both sides.

We had already been waiting for an hour when all of a sudden a loud commotion was heard on the other side of the main hall doors before they were violently flung open revealing lord Tal. Long black shiny hair that even though it was currently tied in a warriors knot still reached below his waist, skin so white it almost seemed unnatural, golden colored eyes that seemed to see nothing and everything all at once, the young lord of the Van Rost house could be summed up in one word, imposing. Lord Tal strode forward with broad steps neither glancing to the left or right as he approached the raised platform that had a simple chair a stark difference to the massive oddly shaped throne that used to be in its place, behind him strode his war beast with an object clasped firmly in his mouth but something was off, he still wore the clothes that I had last seen him in when we parted ways but one thing had changed, he had substituted his brown archery gloves for a pair of gauntlets that were black in color.

“Young Tal, if you call a meeting of your clan elders it is only proper etiquette to show up on time yourself, or did my daughter teach you nothing” lord Rumil said as Lord Tal reached his position but without so much as a pause in his step the young lord simply strode past him climbing unto the raised platform and sitting on the simple chair then with a sharp gesture he uttered a simple command to the war beast that had been trailing behind him ,“drop it” and with that a small chest fell from the beasts mouth and a heavy silence filled the hall. I glanced in confusion as the look of shock and awe that had appeared on the faces on both side of the hall, I turned to the elder from the Loft clan my eyebrows raised in question, “that was the chest that Lord Rumil put the scrolls that were seized from the tower into, he sent it to castle black sword” he said leaning forward to whisper in my ear, I glanced across the hall to see Lord Rumil’s face had become extremely ugly in fury, “the men I sent along with the chest?” he asked his tone low with fury and every head in the hall immediately swung to lord Tal who fixed Lord Rumil with a cold gaze before replying, “dead, to the last elf”.

A wave of hushed voices swept through the hall as the news sent a jolt through all present, according to the report there had been twenty elf knights in the convoy escorting the stolen scrolls to the black sword castle, and Lord Tal had just claimed to have killed them all. As Lord Rumil’s face was reddening in fury Lord Tal’s voice rang out across the hall, “adviser Galfin present yourself” he stated, the insult in abruptly dismissing his grandfather not going unnoticed the faces of the elfin nobility in the hall had begun to pale as they slowly came to realize that things might not turn out the way they had planned.

As soon as his name was called the clan leader besides me jerked to attention before quickly striding forward and falling to one knee in front of Lord Tal, “tell me adviser Galfin, did I not leave you in charge of running the house’s affair while I was gone?, if that is so why do I return to find the house in such a state?” he asked. A look of confusion flashed through the advisers eyes and I could understand why, it was both adviser Galfin and the young lord’s personal maid that had decided to send the message that warned the young lord about Lord Rumil’s actions so why was the lord pretending to be angry with him, the adviser firmed his gaze and began to loudly report the happenings of the last four weeks. As soon as the adviser gave the report a heavy silence descended over the entire hall and the clan leaders at the side of Lord Rumil began to shift uncomfortably, the adviser’s report had not painted them in a very good light, as the silence continued to stretch out Lord Tal’s voice rang out once more, “captain Mablung present yourself” he stated, as soon as my name was called I barely suppressed the urge to jump in surprise, I instantly felt ashamed for internally mocking the adviser when his name had been called before me.

With sharp steps I strode forward before turning to face lord Tal and sinking to one knee making sure to keep a space of three steps behind the adviser from the loft clan to indicate my position below him, “does the report of adviser Galfin contain any false hood?” he asked his golden eyes landing on me, “the advisers report are true my lord, on returning to castle Rost I found the other advisers and some of the clan leaders actively preventing the Loft clan from carrying out your orders my lord, on further investigation and after interviewing the injured guards of the tower and all present witnesses it was indeed members of the black sword clan that forced their way into the tower and stole the scrolls within killing three guards and injuring twelve in the process” I stated loudly and instantly cries out of outrage filled the hall as each of the accused noble denounced me and vigorously defended themselves, lord Tal calmly raised his hand and the entire hall fell silent only then did his voice ring out for the third time “Felina present yourself” lord Tal stated, I heard a rustling of robes as someone approached from behind me, but instead of passing me as I expected the person stopped two or more steps away from me.

A commoner, I thought to myself in confusion, the only commoner in the hall was the young lord’s personal maid but what could she possibly say that could impact the situation, “did you make the necessary inquiries that I asked of you?” Lord Tal asked the maid behind me and a soft voice floated forward in reply, “yes Lord Tal, in the matter of the clan leaders that escorted lord Rumil into town Rost they are the leader of the Kahl clan, the Helayanwe clan, the Elensar clan, the Losselhelm clan, the Anarion clan and the head of the branch clan Rost my lord, and the clan advisers that signed the order for the house forces to ignore the word of adviser Galfin were adviser Minima and adviser Melda” she loudly stated, “how dare you!” an elf with green short hair roared at the maid in fury, I’m guessing he was one of the accused, I thought to myself, “how dare a commoner like you accuse me of such crimes without any evidence!” he screamed at the maid but to my surprise lord Tal did not reprimand the elf but instead his gaze continued to stay on the maid who had not so much as twitched when the elf screamed at her, instantly I knew there was more to this maid that met the eye, “well Felina, where is the evidence supporting these accusations?” lord Tal asked.

A feeling of slight joy was going through the hall, not a few elves felt that through some devious means this newly appointed head maid had managed to put Lord Tal under her control, so when the lord asked her for proof of her accusations many felt that she was finally been put in her rightful place, but before the gazes of contempt could fully settle on the faces of the nobles present the maid rose up and strode towards the throne at the same time pulling out two scrolls and a page of green parchment which every soldier who saw it could immediately tell what it was, a patrol report.

At any given time there were at least twenty squads of soldiers randomly patrolling the Rost territory, anything they observed is written down at the end of the day and sent to castle Rost, journeying from the port city to Rost town no matter what route you took, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to run into one of the patrols on the way, and apparently Lord Rumil had. The maid dropped to her knees in front of the raised platform and laid the scroll and the parchment down on it. The silence was deafening, for the few months since I had joined the house of Van Rost the advisers and clan leaders had done everything in their power to interfere with the smooth running of the house and lady Vanlathriel had lead the charge on this cause but she had always ensured that everyone on her side either barely stayed within the clan laws, covered her tracks so well there was no evidence of her wrong doing or ensured any evidence or witnesses were eradicated but she had finally slipped.

“Minyator of the Kahl clan, Lolinder of the Helayanwe clan, Baren of the Elensar clan, Orophin of clan Losselhelm, Nellas of clan Anarion, adviser Minima, adviser Melda and Vanlathriel present yourselves” Lord Tal coldly stated and I was sure a chill went down every spine present in the hall because his voice was filled with barely contained fury, seven hasty footsteps echoed behind me as the various advisers and clan leaders rushed past me and fell to one knee as if their rapid obedience of his order would somehow save them from what everyone knew was coming however the eight footstep was unhurried and filled with confidence and without bothering to look back I instantly knew who it was.

Lady Vanlathriel strode past me as if on casual walk through the garden, her demeanor un-bothered and her face schooled to perfection before coming to a stop beside the adviser Galfin, after a pause everyone realized she had no intention to kneel to Lord Tal. Almost as if he was un-bothered by Vanlathriel’s show of rebellion Lord Tal’s gaze fell on the nobility behind her, “you seven are found guilty of treason to the house of Van Rost, Advisers Minima and Melda you are stripped of your position as Advisers of the House of Van Rost and because of your interference with the successful running of the clan you are banned from any financial or military support of the clan and placed under house arrest for one month in your clan manors effective immediately, if seen outside your clan manor you will be executed” lord Tal said suddenly without warning and chaos erupted in the hall as members from the clans of the disgraced elders screamed at the perceived injustice or called out for mercy for their clan member, the sentence was far more than I expected, a slight tap on the wrist was the norm when nobles misbehaved but in hind sight when had Lord Tal ever settled for such mediocre punishment.

“Clan leaders Minyator, Lolinder, Baren, Orophin and Nellas, the fact that you escorted the head of the black sword clan through house territory means that he is your guest, all actions of the guests while in clan territory is the responsibility of the host, this is our law. For the deaths of the three guards and in compensation of the injuries sustained by the twelve other guards five thousand gold coins will be subtracted from each of the five offending clans, military support to these clans will be cancelled for three months and the clan heads will be imprisoned in the isolation caves for six months”.

If the first sentencing had shocked the audience in the main hall into various forms of protest, the second one shocked them back into silence, the lord was holding the leaders involved directly responsible for the deaths of the guards and not only was he forcing them to pay compensation to the families and spouses of the guards he was imposing the military punishment of the isolation caves on them.

The isolation caves, when seen at first seemed extremely simple and most civilians often wondered why whenever they were mentioned every soldier in the vicinity suddenly paled slightly, on a mountain three days horse ride south east of the town Rost, multiple caves had been dug into the side of the mountain, each independent of the other and contained nothing more than a simple bed, a chair and table, and enough water to last the period of imprisonment. This method of punishment was the norm for most, if not all, clans in the elfin kingdom, though not all clans use an entire mountain for it, some settling for stone dungeons or a sealed room, the terrifying factor about the isolation caves however was the fact that it was magically drained of all natural energy, and for elves who partially thrived on natural energy this turned an annoying inconvenience into a mentally harrowing life trauma, this punishment was reserved for deserters and those who committed acts of insubordination and many elves had walked away not completely mentally intact at the end of their sentence.

The elves in the main hall were still reeling from Lord Tal’s announcement when almost simultaneously everyone’s gaze fell on lady Vanlathriel simultaneously. Her once proud and arrogant form standing alone in front of Lord Tal suddenly looked fragile and alone like driftwood in the middle of an empty sea shore, “Vanlathriel” lord Tal began his voice suddenly losing its coldness and taking on a very tired tone, “you conspired to seize the house seat through nefarious means, spent the house funds for personal gain and have actively interfered with the running of the house since I took this seat but because of your direct link to the clans lineage I have tried to turn a blind eye to your various crimes, this time you have gone too far”.

As soon as these words left Lord Tal’s mouth everyone realized that Lady Vanlathriel was not going to get out of this unscathed as usual, “my lord Tal, please see reason” a voice rang out from behind me, “indeed young Tal you must see reason” Lord Rumil carried the cry, his footsteps indicating he was stepping closer to me, “the fact that you claimed to have killed the escort guarding the scrolls is already problematic after all they were carrying out the orders of the second war minister” Lord Rumil said with barely concealed fury and suddenly I understood why he had not fled after assaulting the mages tower.

The second war minister or his less acknowledged title as the minister of magic, was not as powerful as the first war minister who was in charge of regulating the generals acknowledged by the crown and their armies but wielded massive political power inside and outside of the capital territories in everything apart from military affairs, to put it simply in terms of status outside of war times the second war minister outranked the first, so even though it was strange that an acknowledged general like Lord Rumil was taken orders from the second war minister one could see why he was so confident. Lady Vanlathriel, who had turned to listen to Lord Rumil, face sudden lit up in joy, until a moment ago she had seemed like a condemned criminal bravely going to the heads man suddenly got her second wind, her head tilted up in pride and look of contempt spread across her face as she swung round to face lord Tal gloatingly, until lord Tal opened his mouth once more, “so?’ was his simple statement.

“…..what?” lord Rumil’s voice was filled with confusion and uncertainty at Lord Tal’s simple statement. “So what if the second minister ordered you to seize the scrolls from my tower? How does that mitigate the crimes you have committed or Vanlathriel’s part in them?” Lord Tal said slowly rising from his simple throne his gaze fixed on lord Rumil behind me. In hind sight many things should have warned me about the impending explosion that was about to take place, the fact that Lord Rumil was still allowed to remain armed in the presence of a house lord, the fact that he had ten personal guards who were also armed, but all this warnings were made vague by my foolish belief that a grandfather would never hurt his grandson, after all he had sheltered him for ten years, how naive I was.

Lord Tal’s war mount felt the disturbance first, rising from where it had been laying beside the throne its golden eyes flashed to where lord Rumil’s personal guards were standing before letting loose a low rumbling growl from deep in its chest, instantly I was on my guard, my hand flashing to the handle of my sword as I spun to face lord Rumil and his retinue. A loud metallic ring resounded through the hall as the three hundred soldiers seeing my actions instantly drew their swords and took ready stances ready to pounce on my command, “what is the meaning of this?!” Lady Vanlathriel’s voice rang out in the hall, “how dear you treat the house guests in such a manner” she bellowed from behind me, I swore internally as I realized she was trying to frighten the soldiers on our side to lower their weapons but shockingly none so much as blinked in response.

The three weeks we had spent under the direct command of Lord Tal had been a shocking eye opener for most of the guards, it was the first time that they had been treated with any form of respect by a noble, that same noble was now currently fighting to have their fallen brethren avenged and some random elf lady without an ounce of martial prowess was trying to sway them, Vanlathriel had lost the battle before it had even started.

“Since when was the head of the black sword clan leader a guest of the house?, I have no memory of welcoming him” lord Tal spoke out once more adding more flame to a volatile situation, “or is the branch family once again trying to usurp the authority of the clan head?” the simple statement had turned what was a family dispute that might become violent into an attempted coup.

The silence that filled the hall was pregnant with so many emotions, fear from the nobles that somehow found themselves between two hostile armed groups, confusion from lady Vanlathriel as all her well laid plans of glory crumbled before her very eyes and horror from the five clan leaders and two advisers as they realized the lady they had supported was about to lead them to political ruin, but as all these hidden emotions danced across various elves faces my gaze was firmly fixed on Lord Rumil who was staring with a furious look at lord Tal, “it seems letting my daughter raise you without interference was a mistake, you were not taught how to differ to your betters” he said in a voice that even though seemed calm caused every inch of my skin to tighten in fear. Lord Rumil’s aura suddenly roared out from within him encasing the entire hall, it was vast and terrifying seeping through my skin and into my bone shaking my very core, “thank goodness none here are my betters” lord Tal simply replied.

I don’t know what or why but instantly I knew my life was in danger, my hand that had been resting on the pummel of my sword suddenly tightened around it swinging the sword out of the scabbard and up to my left in a blocking motion, embarrassment coursed through me as the thought that I might have reacted prematurely because of nerves flashed through my mind but that thought had barely settled when I felt a smashing pain erupt on the left side of my body and I was lifted bodily of the ground and flung through the air across the room. I spread my legs mid air and braced myself as I fell back to the ground, my body doing instinctively what it had been trained to do for decades while my mind struggled to figure out what had just happened, my sword shook fiercely in my hand giving out a low piercing ring, my left hand was numb and I clenched it repeatedly trying to get feeling back into it.

I swept the hall quickly and began to deduce what had happened, where I had been previously standing now stood Lord Rumil, his sword drawn and his gaze fixed on me with slight surprise, it appears as though I had been attacked by Lord Rumil, “you dare raise your blade to me a messenger of the second minister, KILL HIM!” he roared at me or rather behind me. Even though it had been lord Rumil who had struck first and I had barely reacted on time, more on instinct that skill I’m ashamed to say, he still accused me of showing hostilities first, the story they would spread after this was all over was suddenly brought to light. Ten swords leaving their scabbards rang out behind me; it seemed the direction I had been flung in had not been coincidental because I had slid to a stop on the opposite end of the hall from where my three hundred man squad stood and right in front of Lord Rumil’s personal guards. The faces of my men were filled with horror as they watched the ten men behind me raise their blades to cut me down.

with a flick of my slightly numb wrist I twirled my sword so that the point was facing backwards and thrust with all my strength into the enemy behind me, at the same time I tilted forward into a roll trying to evade the nine other swords that were currently cutting down towards me, it was undignified and if somehow I survived this I would be the butt of more than a few jokes but it was effective.

As my undignified roll came to a stop I swiftly sprang to my feet and swept my blade out behind me to hinder the three Guards that had managed to keep up with me, as I stepped back my men swarmed to me, even though each and every one of the ten elves that Lord Rumil had brought were at the rank of elf knight, but they were outnumbered thirty to one even they had to retreat. As my men pressured Lord Rumil’s guards I swung round to race towards Lord Tal’s side, if lord Rumil decides to attack lord Tal as a novice mage he would be defenseless, but as my gaze settled in front of me my heart skipped a beat as I tried to raise my sword to defend once more, in the half a second where I had evaded his personal guards lord Rumil had crossed the space between us and the tip of his sword was currently piercing towards my chest.

His movements this time were sharp and direct, even though I could see the attack coming there was nothing I could do, as death approached me I felt deep regret, was this how I would die, I thought to myself but just as I thought my life was coming to an end lord Rumil’s eyes widened in shock and he rapidly retreated yanking his sword arm back and an instant later Lord Tal landed where lord Rumil had been standing moments ago.

He had descended like a feather no longer supported by the wind, landing so lightly that the single foot he descended on didn’t make a sound as it came in contact with the stone floor but as soon as his foot finished touching the ground a violent vibration rang throughout the hall like an earthquake of great proportion was shaking the entire hall with lord Tal as its center, cracks radiated from Lord Tal’s foot spreading out across the floors and up the walls, blue runes that had been used to fortify the castle walls emerged before trembling violently and dispersing with a shattering sound and in the middle of it all stood lord Tal his face bearing a furious expression.

“Rumil, you ordered your men to kill a captain of my guard, explain yourself?” lord Tal stated his voice filled with barely controlled fury. Every elf in the hall had a shocked look firmly fixed on their faces, the technique the young lord had just displayed was truly vicious and if lord Rumil had been any slower he would have lost his life. Lord Rumil look of shock quickly changed to fury “you will address me properly boy” he sneered at Lord Tal firming his grip on his sword and sliding into a sword stance facing him squarely, “I am addressing you properly Rumil, the lord attached to your name was due to the acknowledgement of this house, after attacking a captain, which I personally appointed and consorting with Vanlathriel to undermine me did you think that I would not strip you of said title?” lord Tal asked in a mocking voice, “who are you to attempt to strip me of my title, do not overstep your boundary boy!” lord Rumil spat at Lord Tal however Lady Vanlathriel’s face had gone extremely pale, “according to the laws of the crown, titles bestowed on a person can only be removed by an individual who bears the same noble title as the one who gave it, in your case your title was bestowed on you by my father the previous head of the house of Van Rost, so that would mean it can only be removed by the current head of the Van Rost house, I wonder who that could be?” he said with a mocking tone.

Was there such a law? If so I had never heard of it, all the elves in the hall began muttering to themselves as people tried to confirm the validity of Lord Tal’s statement; however the only person who had studied elfin law to any depth was Lady Vanlathriel and one by one all the eyes in the hall fell on her. Once again standing by herself in the middle of the hall lady Vanlathriel slowly turned to face lord Rumil before slowly and with the utmost reluctance slightly nodded her head. even though I was sure she was sorely tempted to lie, doing so could seen as defamation of elfish law and if that was discovered by the capital they could dispatch an executioner to claim her head.

A vicious glint appeared in Lord Rumil’s eyes as he drifted his gaze back to lord Tal, “that only applies if you remain house head” he stated coldly before sweeping the room with his gaze taking in his subdued soldiers, the standing guards loyal to lord Tal and the terrified nobles that filled the hall. “My esteemed elders of the Van Rost house, Tal Van Rost since taking the house seat has been nothing but disrespectful to the nobility of this great house, stripping you of your elder positions, forcing unjust regulations and embargoes on your businesses and showing unfair favor to the Loft clan, how long will you continue to tolerate this child as your leader, or will you wait until he unjustly calls for your heads like he did two of the previous elders” Lord Rumil said stabbing his sword into the ground and addressing advisers and nobles like he was a great scholar teaching his students, the murmurs that arose from the crowd had a distinctly mutinous note to it as the nobles began to discus among themselves.

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Since lord Tal had taken over as the head of the house he had ruled with an iron fist, treating all acts of insubordination and dissent with extremely ruthlessness he had made more enemies than friends during his short rule, it was not surprising that the nobles found lord Rumil’s words extremely enticing, what was strange however was the fact that lord Tal looked extremely unconcerned by the turn of events. “are you done with your little speech?” lord Tal asked coldly, his golden eyes swept the room causing everyone in the hall to go silent, “ I care little about any of you present but that is not something I have kept a secret, I have given you numerous opportunities to leave the house peacefully but yet most of you remain, in my foolishness I had begun to believe that it was possible to tolerate your presence but the chain of events that have occurred while I was away have shown how foolish I was to hope for that” lord Tal said his voice emotionless and each word he spoke crisp and clear like a judge passing a sentence to a condemned man, “I have a vision for this clan and it has become abundantly clear that some of you present here have no place in it, rest assured I will punish all those who seek to hinder that vision and put down all those who wish to destroy it”.

The silence was spell binding, Lord Rumil’s speech had been superfluous and pretentious only taking root because there were many who already harbored great hatred for the young lord but lord Tal’s simple statement had struck the crowd to its core leaving behind one simple emotion, fear. “head of the branch clan Vanlathriel Rost, you are found guilty of conspiring against the house of Van Rost and are stripped of all your rights as branch head, your son will take over your duties as the branch head and you will go to the capital territories to oversee our manor there, serving as the house ambassador to the capital territory” lord Tal said and this time even I gasped in shock, this was a heavy punishment by any standard and by the way Lady Vanlathriel was clenching her teeth and balling her fist she would not take it lying down.

“we stand here trying to decide if you will remain house head and once again you show your tyrannical ways, have you not given substance to the accusation Lord Rumil has put forward” she said barely managing to contain her furry, “it does not matter what Rumil says or thinks he has no standing in clan matters” was lord Tal’s simple rebuttal, “ and what right do you have to strip me of my privileges and my titles, even for a clan head this is to heavy handed, the crown will demand you renege this decision” she shot back at the young lord who finally turned to face her fully. “the crown has no right to interfere with clan matters and even if they did I think they would say the killing of three guards the theft of the clan leaders personal property and the carrying out of actions that directly opposed the instructions I left behind will be more than enough to justify the punishment, let’s not even mention the attempt to force your son into the clan head position illegally” lord Tal said and suddenly let out a smile, it was a simple smile that immediately sent a chill down my spine, “you cannot use the laws to out maneuver me Vanlathriel I have studied them far more extensively than you have dear aunt, you have lost”.

A heavy silence washed over the hall as Lady Vanlathriel’s breath quickened in her anger and lord Rumil’s fist tightened around his sword, I could tell that the pause was not a sign of acceptance but rather the calm before the storm, “vice captains secure the condemned advisers and clan leaders the house head has spoken” I said trying to move my men into favorable positions before all hell broke loose, as my men were about to step forward lord Rumil’s killing aura flooded the hall once more, “you will do no such thing” he spat at me lifting his blade preparing to strike but just as he was about to execute the sword strike an even more terrifying aura filled the room, I let out a gasp as I staggered backwards as the aura slammed into me, it was not a killing aura it was simply a declaration of intent, while most of the soldiers fell to their knees some of the nobles had their eyes rolling to the back of their heads and passing out, everyone who was still conscious had their gaze pulled to lord Tal.

“you are beginning to annoy me grandfather” lord Tal quietly said his voice carrying more venom than anyone his age should, “carry out captain Mablung order, if anyone interferes……..kill them” was his simple order, after a slight pause the soldiers sprung into action binding the advisers and clan leaders, picking up the unconscious nobles but none approached Vanlathriel who was standing behind Lord Rumil. As all this was going on Lady Vanlathriel’s and Lord Rumil’s gaze were firmly locked on Lord Tal their face losing color. “boy who has been teaching you techniques” Lord Rumil asked cautiously, lord Tal raised an eyebrow in amusement “ you honestly think I’ll tell you that?” he asked the head of the black sword clan as my men escorted the seven condemned nobility to carry out their punishment and lead the rest out until only myself, the Loft clan leader, Lord Tal’s personal maid who had somehow in all the confusion secured the chest of scrolls, Lord Tal’s war beast, lord Rumil and Lady Vanlathriel remained in the hall.

“Rumil Tuwele you have killed three of my house guards, conspired with the second war minister to still my personal property and broken your oath to support this house I will know carry out judgment” lord Tal proclaimed, “you are too inexperienced to rule a house yet, the clan elders have called for your removal and I will do so” Lord Rumil said lowering his stance and gripping the handle of his sword with both hands before pointing it at lord Tal, “is that the story you will give mother when you kill me, he had gone insane with rage and had to be stopped, ha-ha-ha your grip on mother is slipping and you don’t even realize it, I long for the day she is completely free of you, the day I will finally be allowed to kill you and that man” lord Tal said and for the first time I saw anger in his gaze, anger and……pain?.

Lord Tal lifted both his hands with his palms facing forward, his left arm stretched in front of his chest and his right hand brought back at level with it, a white encircled pentagram appeared on the palm of the black gauntlets he was wearing and blue flames emerged from its center enshrouding the gauntlets completely, “be careful grandfather, I do not know how to hold back” he said his face becoming expressionless once more, just as lord Rumil was about to answer lord Tal’s body shot forward rapidly closing the space between him and lord Rumil. As lord Tal approached, lord Rumil raised his sword quickly swinging it down towards lord Tal’s approaching head, I gritted my teeth and clenched my sword preparing to launch an attack to give him an opening when a soft hand landed on my wrist restraining me, a glance to the left showed it was lord Tal’s personal maid, Arena I think she was called. My body froze immediately, how she had got so close to me without my notice I would never know, I had instinctively picked up on lord Rumil’s attack and this civilian had effortlessly by passed my defenses, there was more to this maid than met the eye.

“Lord Tal will be most displeased if we interfere with this fight” she said her gaze fixed on lord Tal who with a careless gesture flicked an arm at the sword approaching his head, a loud metal bang echoed through the hall as sword met gauntlet and his arm and lord Rumil’s sword were flung back from each other, lord Tal pressed the attack, his free hand shooting towards the opening he had forcefully created, the flame wreathed palm slammed into lord Rumil’s chest and with a boom lord Rumil was sent smashing into one of the many pillars lining the side of the hall. With a chuckle the maid let go of my wrist, “it’s well and okay to stand here with your mouth open captain Mablung but I need some of your soldiers to escort me as I return these scrolls to lord Tal’s tower” she said her demeanor calm and collected not an ounce of fear that her lord will fall. “tell lieutenant Thorin to take ten soldiers and escort you to the tower, also inform her stay and guard the tower until this is over but take two soldiers to guard you” I said removing my captains insignia and handing it to her.

With a quick bow the maid that was not a maid departed. I swung my gaze back to the fight that was happening before me to see lord Rumil staggering back to his feet and lord Tal looking at his palm with a frown, “enchanted chain mail, what grade is it?” lord Tal asked looking over at Lord Rumil, lord Rumil simply frowned before shooting towards lord Tal his sword piercing through the air towards him, it was the same technique he had tried to use on me before lord Tal interfered and he knew lord Tal had countered it with little effort, so why was he using it again?, unless he was simply testing lord Tal.

An ominous feeling flooded the pit of my stomach as that though crossed my mind. “You are still trying to probe me instead of facing me seriously? Then don’t blame me for being rude Rumil” Lord Tal coldly said then his body blurred shooting towards lord Rumil at incredible speeds. Lord Rumil’s eyes widened and he twisted his sword, rotating the broadside to face lord Tal, the young lord appeared in front of him his right open palm cutting tearing through the air releasing a harsh sound before slamming into lord Rumil’s sword. With a thunderous boom lord Rumil was picked up bodily from the ground and flung towards the wall of the great hall, but this time lord Rumil was prepared. Using the momentum of the blow lord Rumil spun in the air bringing his feet under him and landed on the wall but before he could descend to the ground Lord Tal had appeared in front of him once more.

Lord Rumil darted to the left swinging out his sword as he rapidly retreated and lord Tal gave chase, they shot deeper into the hall bouncing between the walls and pillars like a pair of tumblers at a circus lord Rumil’s sword flashing and Lord Tal’s flame enshrouded palm descending over and over again until finally lord Rumil’s back touched the wall at the other end of the hall, he was cornered.

Lord Rumil’s face suddenly took on a more deadly appearance and his sword began to glow, with a slash, his sword sent out a crescent ray of light from its tip and shot towards the approaching lord Tal. While the mages had their various energies for their spells, we warriors all looked to battle essence to manifest our energies outside our body; it was only through this we could hope to fight on par with mages. I gasped slightly in indignation that an acknowledged general would unleash his battle essence on a child who had not even seen his second decade but one glance at Lord Tal as the attack approached him gave me pause. Lord Tal’s face was indifferent as ever, racing towards lord Rumil he waved his hand and fire erupted from his gesture in a crescent shape as well slamming into lord Rumil’s attack before they both exploded, without the slightest of pauses the young lord side stepped the explosion and continued towards lord Rumil where they clashed again, this time lord Rumil’s battle essence was leaking out of him in waves.

Punches and stabs, kicks and slashes the two elves tore at each other, until finally they sprang apart both of them with pale faces. “To have so much trouble against you Rumil, even though you aren’t using your named swords, it seems that I still have much to learn. But that enchanted chain mail is something else not so much the enchantment than the chain mail itself” lord Tal said staring at his gauntlets, which to my shock had cracks running through them. With a sigh lord Tal flicked both his hands and instantly the black gauntlets shattered the encircled pentagram disappearing but the blue flame remaining, lord Tal moved into a squatting stance before his left hand shot forward in an open palm strike, a massive chunk of blue flames roared out of lord Tal’s palm taking the form of an open palm as it shot towards lord Rumil, eyes suddenly widening and diving to the left as the stone pillar behind him shattered lord Rumil leapt back to his feet and began sprinting towards lord Tal emitting battle essence through his sword strikes at lord Tal but instead of countering with a strike of his own like before lord Tal began to take half steps to the right or left dodging the strikes with barely a hairs breath at the same time he kept on firing palm strikes at the approaching sword elf.

As the two elves approached each other once more and the few people left in the hall held our breaths as we braced for some more deadly combat, lord Rumil’s leg suddenly sank all the way to his shin into the floor. The confusion on his face was understandable as him and Lord Tal were fighting in the middle of a stone hall not some swamp where sinking into a bog could be expected, however the fact that his left leg was currently trapped in solid stone was there for everyone to see. As all these things were happening lord Tal was already sprinting towards Lord Rumil and as he slid to a stop beside him, he drew back his foot before unleashing a vicious kicks at his head. a sickening thud filled the hall as foot made contact with head lifting the trapped lord clear from the sink hole and carrying him smashing into the wall but once again the impossible happened as instead of lord Rumil’s body falling back to the ground tentacles made of stone sprung from the wall and began to entrap lord Rumil’s arms and legs until he was firmly held in place.

“*sigh*, I finally caught you” lord Tal said with a sigh and suddenly the sinking hole and the walls that had grown tentacles made sense, the young lord also had command over earth energy. All this time we had believed he was a novice mage with some control over fire because all we had ever seen him wield was flames but he had never said that, we had just assumed. From the first exchange of blows till lord Rumil hung trapped in the wall it had only taken five minutes, the young lord had defeated an acknowledged general in five minutes, my heart tightened as my breath left me in heaves like I had just run a great distance. How was this possible, wasn’t he meant to be a cripple just a while ago, had he been pretending, did some hidden master truly take him under his wings as lord Rumil had suggested but if so when?. Question after question flooded through me as Lord Tal placed his hands on his waist and began to bend forward and backward. The most pitiful sight however was lady Vanlathriel, lord Rumil had been her last hope, if he had succeeded, with his support, she could have seized the house seat for herself and eventually passed it on to her son, but it would now be a miracle for her to escape with her head.

Just as relief at it all being over washed through me, a boisterous laugh exploded from the entrapped lord Rumil, “impressive to think that I underestimated you this badly, it’s a pity you cannot kill me” he said voice filled with gloating, to my surprise the usually calm lord Tal had his jaw clenched in frustration and eyes red with anger, why can he not kill lord Rumil?, is it because they are related by blood?, I thought to myself but looking at lord Tal’s character that was not likely. The young lord stared with a hate filled gaze at his trapped grandfather fist clenched at his side before his face became expressionless once more and It seemed he had come to a decision, “it is true I cannot kill you grandfather….” The young lord said and a look of relief appeared on lady Vanlathriel’s face, “…..but I can push you as close to death’s door as possible and if you so happened to crossover by yourself I cannot really be blamed” lord Tal finished and a pin drop would have been heard in the hall.

“Rumil Tuwele, for the crime of breaching a military contract between the black sword clan and the house of Van Rost, for theft of property of the house leader and for the deaths and the assault of house guards, I, Tal van Rost, leader of the house of van Rost sentence you to forty lashes of the whip to be carried out immediately” lord Tal declared, and suddenly I felt disappointed. Forty whip lashes to someone at the level of Lord Rumil was nothing, he could negate the damage with the battle essence he produced naturally from his body, I guess it goes to show no matter the hate there was still familial love between them.

The stone wall surrounding lord Rumil’s arms and legs began to ripple then extend outwards carrying lord Rumil’s trapped form forward, lord Tal made a grasping motion with both hands and all the flames enshrouding his hands suddenly coalesced within his fist before beginning to extend finally forming two twelve foot long whips made of blue flames.

“Tal you must not!” lady Vanlathriel shouted as she raced towards the young lord, but as I prepared to tackle her to the ground, a black shadow shot past me ramming into her, as she tumbled head over heel a massive paw descended on her chest effectively trapping her in place, the young lord’s war mount was ruthless. The entire incident had gone unnoticed by lord Tal, the grandfather and grandson stared into each other’s eyes, in another setting maybe in another place it could have been mistaken for looks of love or compassion, but put in context it terrified me how to people who wanted nothing more than to rip each other apart could stare so calmly into the others eyes, then It began.

With a wave lord Tal lifted his left arm and the whip responded like it was a part of him, arching into the air viciously, “I refuse to believe my flame magic cannot breach that chain mail of yours” lord Tal coldly said and his hand swung down bringing the fire whip down with it. The first strike let out a boom that rang out across the hall and caused lady Vanlathriel and I’s face to change, unlike the normal crack of the whip we were expecting this sound was vastly different from the norm; the young lord raised his other arm and brought it crashing down again and again.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

The sound was deafening and caused me to flinch as each blow struck. On the tenth strike a brilliant green light suddenly flashed from lord Rumil’s chest and formed into a magical character floating in the air, with a triumphant sneer across his face, lord Tal brought both whips crashing down on the sigil shattering it into a thousand pieces. “And now we truly begin” Lord Tal stated his voice as cold as ice as raised both hand into the air.

As the whips struck lord Rumil over and over again, each blow ripped into lord Rumil’s clothes and his now useless chain mail, tearing through them like a hot knife through butter, blood dripped down the battered lord’s body until finally he screamed out in pain. As if spurred on by his grandfather’s cries the blows from the young lord came quicker and quicker as the flame whip seemed to glow more intensely as it drew more blood from its victim.

Finally Lord Rumil’s head rolled forward and hung loosely as if it was no longer supported by his neck. Fear gripped me as lord Tal showed no sign of stopping, even though he had stated he intended to drive lord Rumil to the brink of death I had taken it as a threat and not a promise, finally as the smell of burning flesh grew too much for me to bear I hesitantly stepped forward.

“m m my lord” I lightly said, shame passing through me at the stutter in my voice, lord Tal raised his head and turned back to stare at me an eyebrow raised in question, I turned my gaze to stare pointedly at Lady Vanlathriel, if he carried out his plan to let lord Rumil to die from the wounds he inflicted her being a witness would be a problem. A moment of silence that seemed to last forever extended over the hall before lord Tal let out a sigh and with a great reluctance waved his hand dissipating the fire whips and letting the tentacles made of stone crumble to dust releasing lord Rumil from their grasp.

“take him to the healers and come see me afterwards” lord Tal said to me in a voice that seemed too heavy for someone his age, “yes my lord” I declared before sprinting over to Lord Rumil’s side as the war beast let lady Vanlathriel off of the floor. Her being closer to lord Rumil reached him first her eyes opening wide and hand flying to her mouth in horror, as I approached I could see why.

Lord Rumil’s robes and chain mail weren’t the only things that had suffered, given the amount of blood I had expected to see some wounds, but what I hadn’t expected to see was bone. The whips had torn through the flesh and muscles on lord Rumil’s back to expose the bone, the only reason he was alive was because the flames that had made the whip had burnt his flesh stopping most of the bleeding.

“you monster!” lady Vanlathriel roared at him producing a dagger from the folds of her dress and sprinting at lord Tal, before I could move to subdue her lord Tal’s arm flashed towards her and a golden pin with a red gem at the top flashed through the air and embedded itself deeply in her shoulder, she screamed in pain, dropping the dagger and falling to the ground clutching her injured shoulder. “someone who hired assassins to assassinate a six year old child shouldn’t be so quick to judgment, this would be the second time you’ve tried to kill me Vanlathriel, I hope for your sake you succeed on the third attempt because if I somehow survive I will wipe out your entire family from Glander to your husband’s entire clan” lord Tal proclaimed as walked out of the hall his war beast padding along behind him.

As gently as I possibly could I placed lord Rumil in my arms and sprinted out of the hall, with lady Vanlathriel in front of me using her good arm to open the doors until we exited castle Rost and arrived at the healer’s house that had to be awakened to attend to us. Three hours later when the healer had labored extensively to pull lord Rumil from the brink of death and had patched up lady Vanlathriel’s shoulder I exited the healer’s house. I stood briefly with my eyes closed allowing the cool breeze of the night to wash over me before letting out a breath and turning to start my trek back to castle Rost, or so I had hoped.

“A moment of your time captain Mablung” a lady Vanlathriel called out from behind me and I winced internally, “yes lady Vanlathriel?” I asked turning round and bowing slightly. “I just felt it would be my duty to warn you about the young lord, he is mentally unstable and is prone to lash out at those around him as you clearly saw today” she said gesturing to the healers house indicating lord Rumil who currently lay unconscious inside and then to her bandaged shoulder.

I stared at her in disbelief, I had witnessed everything that had transpired from beginning to the end and she thought to sway my allegiance with such falsehoods, disgust coursed through me and it must have showed because her eyebrows dipped in displeasure, “I thank you for your consideration” I said in attempt to cut the conversation short but as I turned to leave her hand shot out to grab my sleeve, “here my warning Mablung, aid me and you would be rewarded obstruct me and prepare to bear the consequences”, I couldn’t help but notice how the title of captain had somehow disappeared.

“is it true you tried to have the young lord assassinated when he was six years old?” I asked, the question sent her into a deep silence that was filled with answers in of itself, I stepped back wards and dipped my head in a slight bow, “by your leave lady Vanlathriel” I politely said and left towards the castle.

As I strode back into the castle I saw through the hall doors that the fiasco of the afternoon had already been cleaned up by the staff so I turned my steps to carry me up to the lord’s chamber. as I approached the massive door they swung open and the maid who was not a maid exited the lord’s chamber with a pile of scrolls and parchments in her arms, with a smile that said she knew nothing and at the same time claimed to know everything she dipped in a courtesy to me then walked towards the stairs leading her to the lower levels of the castle.

“You may enter Mablung” the young lord’s voice said from the other side of the door as I raised my fist to knock on the door, I pushed the massive doors and slid into the room. In all honesty I didn’t know what I was expecting, a room paved with marble with silk curtains and a ivory holstered bed, or ornate rugs made from the skins of the young of some wild exotic beast. However what I didn’t expect was the wide open and desolate space.

Floating in the air were hundreds if not a thousand balls of light, faintly illuminating the entire space making it appear larger that it really was, and standing seventy meters from the door was a simple yet massive bed which held the lords mount who appeared to be asleep with its feet in the air and right next to it was the young lord himself with his feet folded under him and numerous scrolls and parchments spread out on what little space remained on the bed.

“thank you for your assistance in this entire matter captain Mablung, I appreciate it” the young lord said glancing up from the various scrolls he was pursuing, “I was merely performing the duties you set aside for me my lord” I said falling to one knee and placing my fist against my left chest, he raised a questioning eyebrow at my formal display but who could blame me, after all I just watched him trash an acclaimed general.

“so Mal, did Vanlathriel try to lure you over to her side?” the lord asked lowering and raising his eyebrow in a lewd manner and using the nickname he had designated me that I found infuriating, “yes my lord, she offered me untold riches to support her and said you were mentally unstable” I replied hiding nothing all the while terrified of the fact that he had guessed what had transpired during his absence.

“it is a good offer you know, though she has made many mistakes in recent years she possesses massive political power, with her backing you could reach places I could never carry you to” lord Tal said as he began to roll up the scrolls around him. It was not a test, I could tell that immediately, it was more like he was simply stating what he would have done if he was in my position but instead of replying I asked a question that had been on my mind, a question that had driven me to swear undying loyalty to the young lord, “my lord, where you the one that wrote the sword manuscript that I won in the tournament?”.

The lord’s head snapped up his eyes widened in surprise, then a sly smile crawled across his face making him look younger than his already young age, “it seems I have under estimated your observation skills Mablung Tulcan”. The voice coming from the young lord wasn’t the usual emotionless one but one laden with approval, but somehow it felt like I had caught the eye of a dangerous beast, no more like a dangerous monster who fully intended to play with its meal before eaten it.