Alis and the others had returned to Ianndor but the atmosphere was far from what they expected.

Kalnae sat in her glorious chair, her hair slightly dishevelled and her brows low.

Alis and everyone else remained silent as Olif reported their triumph over the Dreegmus Scornly.

With the flick of her hand, one of her goons approached the group and handed them each pouches of what sounded like coins.

Alis took a peek inside his pouch and saw what looked like twenty five gold coins.

His heart almost jumped out of his throat, but he calmed himself as Kalnae spoke.

“If that is all, you may leave,” Kalnae instructed.

Alis, his brother, Reeca and their mercenary buddy turned to leave, but Olif whispered something into Kalnae’s ear and she quickly raised her hand.

“Wait. Olif here says you guys are a good lot. Might you be interested in another job?” Kalnae asked. All over her overwhelming composure had all but disappeared. What remained was almost sincere. She was asking them to hear her out.

Alis looked at his brother, who nodded, before turning around.

“You guys have fun. I’m off to my retirement.” The mercenary said as he left.

“What’s the job?” Alis asked.

“It’s… my son-" Kalnae hesitated but she relaxed after taking a breath.

“He might be in danger. I want you to watch over him. Make sure he's safe. This mission will be long. It may even take several months, but you will be handsomely rewarded.” Kalnae said as one of her goons approached her with a small wooden box.

The goon opened the box, revealing five platinum coins.

Alis’s jaw dropped.

“Now I must warn you, my son is travelling with a man who I suspect is Raymond the betrayer,” Kalnae said and Reeca’s usually droopy eyes widened slightly.

“Mmm…” Alis let out a low drone.

“Count me and my brother in!” Trevenor declared.

“Huh?” Alis made a stupefied face.

“Yeah, me too,” Reeca said as she crossed her arms.

“Wait a minute guys, you do know who Raymond is right?” Alis asked, but all Trevenor and Reeca did was nod.

Alis sighed in defeat.

“So, are you in?” Kalnae asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Alis said and Kalnae let out a sigh.

Alis was confused as to why one of the most dangerous people in Faacri was displaying strong motherly feelings seeing as he’d never heard of her having a child before, but he brushed those thoughts aside as he wondered what he and his brother could do with the platinum coins.

“Ok. Now, my son has convinced himself that adventuring has become his calling. You three are to follow him until he safely returns.” Kalnae said as the goon with the box approached Alis’s group.

“What’s this?” Alis asked.

“You’ll need money on your journey. Remember, there’s a chance that my little mouse will be on the road for months. I want you to be prepared for anything that may happen.” Kalnae said as one of her goons handed her what looked like a cup of water. Except the cup looked like it was made of glass.

“Ok… What’s your son’s name?” Alis said as he accepted the wooden box.

“Crimwal Sorvae and don’t worry. Olif will be joining you. He’ll know my little mouse as soon as he sees him.” Kalnae said before she stood up.

Alis couldn’t help but feel as though he’d heard the name Crimwal before.

“What happens if we find your son but he’s hurt?” Alis asked Kalnae as she ascended a set of stairs that led to the floor above.

“If my son gets seriously hurt or dies, then I hope we never meet again,” Kalnae said as she left the room.

Olif approached the group with a bright expression.

“So?” He asked.

“You want us to thank you? You basically offered us a job we couldn’t refuse.” Alis said as he walked out of the building.

“Yeah, pretty much, but you have been compensated, no?” Olif asked.

“No. This isn’t compensation. This how much it will cost to collect all of our bone dust once the Raymond the betrayer crushes us.” Alis said with a scoff.

“Don’t listen to my brother. He’s actually quite excited.” Trevenor said as they made their way to the central market district.

The group of four spend about three hours and seventy gold coins shopping for equipment before Olif led them to a high-class hotel on the eastern side of Ianndor.

“What are we doing here?” Alis asked as they entered the fancy building.

“Hey, we’re about to embark on what could be a long journey. We might not be able to get proper rest for a while. So we’ll rest here, courtesy of the boss.” Olif said as the receptionist led them to their rooms. Alis and his brother were given one, Reeca was given one as well as Olif.

Alis and Trevenor took magically warmed baths that were also paid for by Kalnae, but at this point, Alis was beginning to suspect Kalnae was sending them on a suicide mission.

When the Aventor brothers returned to their room, Alis found himself unable to sleep as the thought of facing an eminence crosses his mind.

Restless and frustrated, not to mention terrified, Alis tossed and turned as he imaged what the eminences light looked like.

He knew that a normal person couldn’t see it and that anyone foolish enough to try would go blind, but he was still curious.

His curious thoughts were interrupted when he heard strange noises coming from Olif’s room.

Alis wasn’t so oblivious as to not know what Olif was up to, but he was curious as to what kind of woman Kalnae’s right hand man liked.

The sounds intensified and Alis found himself getting flustered.

He then got up without waking Trevenor and snuck out of his room. Thanks to his roots as a dark being, his hearing was far superior to that of an ordinary human. So he tiptoed towards Olif’s room as the noises that were a blend of pleasure and relief echoed throughout the hallway.

Alis then gently pushed against Olif’s door to find that it was looked, but this wasn’t a problem for Alis as he had another trick up his sleeves.

His eyes slowly began to subdivide until a million green and back pupils filled both of his eyeballs.

With his eyes in this form, he could see past most physical objects. With that in mind, Alis then saw something both curious and kinda nasty.

He saw Olif in his bed, yes, but on top of him, singing a song of moans was a woman.

Alis quickly normalized his eyes and quickly tiptoed to his room only to bump into something soft.

Alis raised his hands in self-defence but then noticed that the person standing in front of him was Reeca.

“Well, hello.” She whispered.

“Umm… you didn’t… see-" Alis tried running away to his room, but Reeca held him by his collar preventing his escape.

She then dragged him into her room which was the one opposite to his.

Reeca closed the door, further preventing Alis’s escape.

“This has nothing to do with anything really, but I’m sure you noticed that our boss, Kalnae must be rather worried about her son. She’s afraid and maybe even a bit lonely.” Reeca said as she crossed her arms.

“I can’t help but relate to her," Reeca said as she slowly walked towards Alis.

Alis backed away until he bumped into Reeca’s bed, causing him to stumble onto it.

Reeca sighed before sitting next to Alis.

“So-" Reeca was about to ask, but Alis quickly regained his composure and cut her off.

“Why are you here again?” Alis asked, his eyes cold.

“That was fast and here I thought you were as human as the rest of us,” Reeca said, unaffected by Alis’s cold stare.

“I am. But-"

“Listen. I’m just a woman who’s looking for a reason to live. You could almost say I’m… bored.” Reeca said as she played with her long brown hair.

“You’re bored? Well, that’s a pretty good reason for tracking down and protecting a runaway child who’s being accompanied by none other than Eminence Raymond himself,” Alis said with a scoff.

“I’m serious. Do you know what class of knight I was before I became a deserter?” Reeca asked.

“Captain of the guard?” Alis asked, but Reeca shook her head.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Head knight?” He guessed again.

“Nope.”

“Harold of light?” Alis asked.

“Too high.”

“Mmm… Oh- oh my goodness! You were a retainer? Eminence Vinaar’s retainer?” Alis exclaimed.

“Shh!” Reeca said with a giggle as Alis’s eyes widened.

“What does the eminence look like? Is he strong and handsome or just strong? What does his fosblade look like if we can’t see his light?” Alis rambled, but Reeca pressed his cheeks together, shutting him up.

“I’ve never actually seen his face,” Reeca said.

“But you said you were a retainer,” Alis said, his voice filled with disappointment.

“I was, but the eminence, especially Vinaar, never took off their helmet. Even though we served together for many years, he never showed his face.” Reeca said.

“Oh- I’ve heard rumours about that, but I always thought that’s all they were,” Alis said, his disappointment ever-growing.

“Yeah. Ah well, with the way I am now, I’ll never see his face.” Reeca said with a sigh.

“Why? Because you left the order?” Alis asked.

“No. Because I can’t see.” Reeca said.

Alis’s brain didn’t fully understand what she had said at first. He had seen her valiantly fight against Dreegmus and she didn’t have trouble moving about, so Alis wondered what she meant.

Reeca noticed Alis’s confused expression.

“You don’t believe me,” Reeca said, but Alis shook his head.

“No… it’s just, you’re capable of such amazing things, I didn’t-“ Alis’s mind tried to piece things together.

“How are you able to move about? Can you see me?” He asked.

“Yes I can, but not in the normal way. It’s more like… I can feel you.” Reeca said.

“I can feel your beautiful dark heart pumping dark magic throughout your body. I could feel your pain as you changed during our fight and I can feel you getting flustered right now.” She said with a giggle.

“It’s an ability I picked up quite some time ago. I can feel magic on a pretty deep level. So much so, that it forms clear pictures in my mind.” She added.

“So that’s why you wanted to join us,” Alis said with a sigh.

“Well, I also came so that I can spend more time with Trevenor who is such a sweet young man. Unlike a certain someone.” Reeca said with lowered brows.

Alis couldn’t help but feel a little bit annoyed.

Alis then let out another sigh before getting up.

“You are a strange one.” He said while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Like I said, we’re more alike than you think,” Reeca said as she laid down on her bed.

“Humph.” Alis let out a grunt as he reached for the door.

“Oh and I’m sure we’ll have more intimate talks like this from now, try not to peep in on others, ok?” Reeca asked, but Alis stormed out of her room in a rush.

He then wondered what she was doing up so late, but such thoughts were of little consequence so Alis returned to his room where he found a waking Trevenor.

“Mmm?” Trevenor made a curious sound as he raised his head.

“It's alright. Go back to sleep. I was just… taking a walk.” Alis said as he rested in his bed.

He eventually closed his eyes and found sleep.

.

..

The next day quickly arrive and everyone in Alis’s group quickly prepared their gear for the king journey that awaited them.

Well… almost everyone.

Alis couldn’t help but smirk every time he and Olif exchanged glances.

Olif wondered why in the world Alis was being so creepy.

After getting some horses, the group then made their way towards the Tsav mountains as that’s where Crimwal and Raymond were last seen, according to Kalnae.

The group spent the next few days following the tracks of their targets as Kalnae instructed but things took a drastic turn when they arrived in Tolman.

The city was in disarray and whispers could be heard about how Raymond the betrayer threatened the head knight into giving him a chariot.

Well… those were what some people said. Another group said that Raymond had blessed the town in the name of the goddess Eirini while others said that he was there to see if the town still made high calibre knights.

Alis and his group honestly couldn’t care about what the people thought. All they wanted was directions.

According to locals, Raymond, along with four others, took the carriage and headed northeast in the general direction of Eslaf Retnec, but that was a day before Alis’s group arrived.

“So… what do we do now?” Trevenor asked.

“For now, we rest. The fact that Raymond and Crimwal now have a carriage means that they’ll be travelling a lot faster. We’ll need all the rest we can get as well as our horses.” Olif said as he looked at a motel across the street they were in.

The group entered the motel and paid the fee for a single room.

They were led to the second floor and into their room where everyone let out tired sighs.

Olif made sure to pay extra so that their horses were taken care of.

During their journey, the group had learnt during their travels that Olif was rather bossy, but in a good way. He often took charge of things and was rather logical and reasonable. He was like a reliable older brother.

Alis and Reeca hadn’t spoken seriously since the night at the hotel, but Alis honestly preferred it this way.

His brother on the other hand had grown quite fond of Reeca.

Alis decided to brush all thoughts of Reeca aside, but that’s when trouble struck the town of Tolman… again.

Alis heard strange sounds coming from outside and so he, along with everyone else, stood up and peeped outside the window to see what was going on.

They then saw a beautiful, white-haired woman being dragged along the ground and into a cage, along with a man.

Alis looked at the woman carefully and noticed that her hair wasn’t white because she was old, actually she looked quite young. But unfortunately for the white-haired woman and her male companion, they looked like they had been badly beaten.

Several knights surrounded the cage and hoisted it onto the back of a wagon that was attached to two horses.

The knights then yelled at the other knights about treason, punishment and various other things.

“Oh my goodness.” Reeca gasped.

“What? Do you know either of those two?” Olif asked.

“Well, I don’t know that woman personally, but I do know the family she is from. They are a family of powerful high-class knights. This may sound strange, but their entire family has a condition where they are born with white hair.” Reeca said as they watch the wagon carrying the cage ride off.

The group then returned to their resting positions, with Reeca on the bed, Olif on a chair, Alis on a chair and Trevenor on the floor.

The day went on and everyone eventually found sleep.

.

..

Alis was suddenly awakened by the sound of movement in the room. He decided to keep himself as still as possible as he scanned the room for threats.

He then saw Olif, which in itself wasn’t a bad thing, but Olif was standing near the bed and he was looking at Reeca with eyes that could only be called lustful.

Alis then thought about how they’d been travelling for several days, it’s perfectly understandable that a man like Olif would have certain urges.

But this worried Alis slightly.

Olif then climbed onto the bed, waking the sleeping Reeca.

“Mmm? Olif, what are you doing?” She asked.

Alis unconsciously started sending darkness to his limbs as his heartbeat skyrocketed.

“Reeca… you’re so beautiful…” Olif said as he ran his hands through Reeca’s long silky brown hair.

Every instinct within Alis told him to break Olif’s neck, but he waited.

“Umm… I don’t think this is the order these types of thing things are done in?” Reeca said rather calmly.

“I know… but I couldn’t help myself,” Olif said as he removed his shirt.

It was night time and winter was fast approaching so Alis deduced that Olif would get cold, really fast.

Olif then slid his legs into Reeca’s blanket.

“What if I told you that I don’t want to do whatever you want us to do?” Reeca asked, her voice unnervingly calm.

“Please.. just this once…” Olif pleaded as he placed his hands on Reeca’s thighs.

“No,” Reeca said flatly.

“Then I’ll have to make you want this,” Olif said.

This was enough to push Alis into action, but before he could even get up, Reeca raised a fosblade to Olif’s neck. There it seared the flesh it came into contact with while simultaneously cutting the flesh.

Olif flinched before grabbing Reeca’s right hand, unfortunately for Olif, Alis had had enough of his antics and so, Alis dashed towards Olif in a fit of blind anger and twisted his left arm backwards far beyond the range nature intended and to stop Kalnae’s goon from screaming, Alis shoved his sock down his throat.

Shocked by his brother’s sudden use of dark magic, Trevenor got up and lit a candle to find half-naked Reeca and his brother sitting on top of Olif while shoving a sock into the goons mouth.

“Alis,” Reeca called out, but Alis was too busy wondering how many ways he could torture Olif before killing him.

Drool even began running down his mouth as the durability of the human body was like a blank mould that he could stretch and twist to his heart's content.

“Oh, Alis,” Reeca said as she walked over to Alis. She then placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him towards her.

This seemingly tore Alis out of the deranged state he was in.

“He- he wanted to-" Alis struggled to form words as he glared at Olif.

“I know, but I had the situation under control, sort of.” She said as she ran her hands through Alis’s hair.

Trevenor then mentally caught up to the situation.

“He what?” Trevor exclaimed as he rushed to Reeca’s side while offering her a shirt, which she took but didn’t wear as Alis trembled.

“This is quite the reaction. How are you so calm when your brother is… like this?” Reeca asked as she attempted to shush Alis into a calmed state.

“Well… we have a pretty nasty history with pretty nasty people. Alis may act like a proud tough knight on the outside, but it’s so obvious that he is as scared as anyone else. As weak as anyone else.” Trevenor said as he joined Reeca in her quest to calm Alis.

Olif moaned in pain, which unfortunately led to Alis jumping onto him again and pulling on the same dislocated arm from before. This time, being his elbow the wrong way.

Reeca and Trevenor tried calming him again.

“How about you? I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s supposed to be cowering in fear.” Trevenor said.

“Hehe, maybe so. But I noticed that Olif was looking at me weird the whole time. I wanted to see just how far he’d go, but it seems as though Alis wouldn’t have any of that.” Reeca said.

“So you were playing along… but why?” Trevenor asked.

“Not sure… but then again, maybe I’m just a lustful as he is. You wouldn’t have forcefully taken me would you?” Reeca asked in a low seductive voice.

Trevenor looked into her deep brown eyes and narrowed his.

His narrow then turned into a squint.

“How old are you again?” Trevenor asked.

Reeca’s eyes widened. She then smacked Trevenor in the back of his head.

“So rude! Are you saying I look that old?” Reeca asked with a saddened expression.

“I can’t help but feel like we’re talking about unimportant things here,” Trevenor said as his brother finally calmed down.

His darkness stabilised and his mind cleared.

“Reeca…” He said as looked into Reeca’s eyes. He then checked her body but found no injuries.

“It’s ok. I’m fine.” Reeca said as she patted the space beside her bed.

Alis sighed before looking at his brother who had found a seat on the floor.

Alis slowly walked over to his brother's side and slept next to him.

“Aww.” Reeca made a sad noise before she slept on her own.

Trevenor had tied Olif up before sitting down so he rested his head against his brothers and they both found sleep in no time.

.

..

Alis woke up and he could still feel traces of the magic he released from the previous night.

He realized that it was probably a dumb decision since they were in a town full of knights, but that didn’t matter.

Alis looked to his far right and saw a half-asleep Olif. Alis got up and saw that his brother and Reeca were nowhere to be seen.

Alis then let out a grunt as he lightly stretched. He then walked up towards the window and saw that Tolman was still as dreary as it was upon their arrival.

“You gonna untie me?” Olif asked, his voice sharp and threatening.

“Sure,” Alis said as he knelt over Olif. He then undid the ropes that bound him.

Olif rubbed his hands as he stumbled onto his feet. He then grabbed his things and sword before heading to the door.

“Your brother and that woman went to grab a few things. They said we should meet at the stables.” Olif said before leaving.

Alis sighed as he followed Olif out of the motel.

The two then went to the stable, where Trevenor and Reeca were waiting.

“Good morning. Trevenor was right when he said that you’re a heavy sleeper.” Reeca said as she hopped onto her horse.

“I only sleep like that under certain circumstances,” Alis said as he got onto his horse.

Trevenor and Olif did the same.

“Do those certain circumstances include being in your brother’s arms?” Reeca teased.

Alis scoffed at this before he and the others made their way out of Tolman.

Alis noticed that a lot of the knights were in full gear and it looked like they were preparing for some sort of large scale conflict, but Alis didn’t remember seeing any signs of a coming war.

Alis groaned as they decanted the Tsav mountains. He could see large scars in the landscape each hinting that some large scale battle had taken place, but the fallen trees hadn’t regrown and dirt hadn’t poured back into the many craters.

Alis deduced that a massive fight had taken place recently. Alis’s suspicions were also amplified by the fact that he had recently passed through this path and it was nowhere near this damaged.

“What do you think happened here?” Trevenor asked as they passe3d what could easily be the largest crater any of them had ever seen.

“My goodness…” Reeca exclaimed as they passed the crater.

“Whatever or whoever did this must have been pretty powerful,” Trevenor noted.

“And if Raymond passed through here, I hope Crimwal wasn’t hurt,” Trevenor added.

“Yeah,” Alis said as they continued their descent.

In the distance, Alis could see the centre of Faacri, Eslaf Retnec.

“Do you think Raymond’s gonna pass through Eslaf? Probably not, right?” Trevenor asked.

“Probably not. Sure, no one may be able to recognize him after all this time, but I doubt he’d want anything to do with Eslaf.” Alis said as they rode along.

Alis felt some rainfall on the back of his neck.

He turned and saw what looked like an intense storm heading their way.

“Uh… I suggest we ride for Marf.” Alis said as he prompted his horse to go faster.

“Why? You think Raymond’s gonna pass through there?” Trevenor asked as he looked behind him.

“Oh…” He said as he too ordered his horse to go faster.

The group sped down the mountain and Alis couldn’t help but feel that the storm was a bad omen.