Minos PoV [https://i.imgur.com/fgxFYIA.png]

Minos drifted in and out of sleep, alternating between the reality and the dreamworld. Several images drifted across his mind, rendering him restless upon waking.

He dreamt of the galloping horses on a battlefield pounding into his ear like war drums. He dreamt of hunting the Wolfswood with his brother and father; of leaving the Zephyrean court to chase his dreams; saying goodbye to his sister in the middle of the night and being followed by Rei.

He also dreamt of things that were yet to happen, like coming home back to the Capital, his quarry on hand. Building a mansion filled with books and ancient artifacts similar to Otheric’s house; of sitting around a long table for a feast with Rei, Lira, Ashvell, Robb, and Cassana. And finally, he dreamt about finally finding the Sword of the Godslayer.

In his dream, he was in an ancient tomb, filled with treasures and antiquities. Right in the middle, along a pedestal, laid the Sword. He walked towards it, slowly, like a bride marching to her groom. When he finally picked it up, he heard a soft voice calling out his name. A whisper. He pulled the sword closer to his ear to check if the voice was coming from it.

He was expecting the steel to feel cold against his skin, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was soft and warm. He dug his cheeks deeper into the sword until his face melted through it. “What is this?” he asked nobody.

But then, a voice boomed from somewhere. “My child…” Minos looked for the source of the voice. It was a man in a bronze breastplate, with a shining sun for a head. The young nobleman immediately recognized who this figure was.

“Markelus?”

“Indeed, my child.”

“I found your sword,” Minos exclaimed.

“Yes. But it’s time for you to know the truth. The truth that was hidden to mankind for centuries,” announced Markelus.

“What is it? Tell me. I’m ready to listen.”

“That is not a sword. It is a pillow.”

“A pillow?”

“Yes, a pillow.”

“You mean to tell me that you vanquished Eon with a pillow?”

“Precisely.”

“So, this is the Pillow of the Godslayer?”

“Hey!” Minos heard a different voice coming from somewhere else, and he felt something nudging on the side of his body.

“What is that?” asked the young nobleman.

“Hey!” sounded the voice again.

Minos watched as the whole tomb shook and crumbled right in front of him. He tried to gain his balance standing up while he raised his head and opened his eyes.

“Hey!” it was Cassana’s voice. She was standing over the side of his bed, rocking him out of his stupor.

“What?” asked Minos, still unsure whether she was real.

“You were having a dream,” explained the redhead.

“I was having a nightmare.”

“You don’t say,” Cassana snarked.

Minos looked around him. He was lying down in a wooden bunk bed inside a familiar-looking room. A smaller room for his taste. He could see two doors, one on the wall to his right, and the other further away opposite the bed beside a table and a pair of chairs. On the floor by his head, he could see their bags piled up on top of each other.

He looked back at Cassana who was standing by the side of the bed and then to Ashvell who was much further behind her. He reached out to the redhead and tried to poke her with his finger. She pulled her arm away with an annoyed gruff.

“You’re real.”

Cassana rolled her eyes and stepped away.

“Where’s Robb?” asked Minos. Ashvell pointed his finger up and Minos glanced upwards. He couldn’t see the boy, but he could visualize him lying over the top bunk, sound asleep. The young nobleman sighed.

He pushed the blanket off his body and rose up to sit on the side of the bed. That was when he realized he was wearing different clothes. Also, that he was no longer covered in grime. “You cleaned me up?” Minos inquired.

“Of course. I’m not going to let you sleep in this room smelling like shit.”

“You stripped me naked?” Minos followed up.

“I did that,” Ashvell answered.

Minos instinctively closed his legs while covering his groin with both his hands.

“Don’t worry bro, I didn’t see it…” Ashvell embarrassedly scratched his head while turning away.

“What?!” cried Minos.

“I mean, I didn’t stare at it. I’m not a perv,” Ashvell clarified in defense.

Minos sighed. He stretched his neck and arms as he settled down on his seat.

“What about Robb? How is he?” he asked.

“We also cleaned him up,” answered Cassana. “And when he couldn’t sleep, he told us everything.”

“He told you about his father?”

“Yes,” Cassana replied.

“Look, I—”

“Before you talk, before you say anything, I want you to explain something to me first...” Cassana stepped forward and reached for the pile of bags on the side of the bed. Among the mess, she pulled out a long object covered in cloth.

“What the fuck is this thing doing in your things?” She unfurled the cloth, revealing an exquisite-looking bow. Minos recognized it immediately.

“You looked through my stuff?” Minos deflected.

“Where else are we going to get your clothes?” grumbled Cassana.

“That box was locked.”

“You stole this!” scolded Cassana.

“I looted it. You know, from dead people.”

“Which is still stealing.”

“Not when you take it from people who don’t need it anymore.”

Cassana paused. She felt her mouth turn dry as she swallowed a gulp of saliva down her throat. Minos was about to flash a cocky grin, but she pulled another object from their bags.

“How about this?” Cassana showed Minos the collection of notes he gathered from the destroyed manor.

“Well, your father is also dead, so…” blustered Minos.

“These are mine! This stuff is ours. These belongs to MY family!” Cassana yelled.

Minos sat quietly.

“Justify it then, huh? Come on!” The redhead challenged him, but he was lost for words. He sat quietly trying to come up with something to defend what he did, but only one thing entered his mind.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“How about when you lied to me?” asked the young nobleman.

“What?” Cassana gasped.

“When we met, you told us you don’t know anything about the Sword of the Godslayer—”

“That wasn’t a lie!”

“But you knew about this,” Minos pointed at the bow at Cassana’s right hand. “You know about your father's obsession with artifacts. You knew about his maps, and his records about where they were hidden, and how they could be found.

“You knew that your father was working to find these things. How am I to believe then, that he knows nothing about the Sword?”

“Because he didn’t. He never mentioned the Sword, nor he ever wrote about the Sword, which I’m sure you know if you’ve read these papers that you stole!” said Cassana.

“Except he did,” Minos then pointed to the stack of papers Cassana was clasping with her left hand. “I found it. He hid it well, but I deciphered it. He made a map leading to the Sword.”

Cassana gave him an uneasy stare. She studied him like a child looking at a puzzle.

Minos could tell that she was judging his sanity. He answered with a pleading look. Please, believe me.

“Did Lira know?” probed Cassana. Her face changed, like somehow, he didn’t need to convince her much.

“Only after,” stuttered Minos. “This is all on me, don’t blame her on this.”

“But you both planned to use this. To find your precious Sword. While I was desperately trying to save Rei, who is your friend, by the way, you two were scheming behind my back. That explains why you didn’t care about him at all.”

Minos took a deep breath. He knew she was provoking him to be beside himself. It worked before; he wouldn’t let it work again.

As he tried not to let himself get triggered, he looked around and noticed something by the door. A shadow seemed to move at the gap underneath it. “There’s someone outside,” he announced, abruptly shifting the conversation.

Cassana turned around while tossing back the papers and the bow back on the pile of bags. She grabbed Minos’ blanket and threw it on top, hiding it like a heap of garbage.

Meanwhile, Ashvell quickly stepped sideways and faced the door, pulling out a dagger from his belt, just to be sure. They heard a knock, and he gently opened it to see who was on the other side.

It was Lira. She impatiently stepped inside, pushing Ashvell out of her way. She was covered in dried blood, with bruises on her face, and a large gash across her shoulder, piercing through her leather armor.

“Lira!” Minos stood up.

“You’re—!” gasped Lira. Between her and Minos, it was a contest of who was most in shock. So far, the drow huntress was winning, as the sight of the young nobleman froze her in place for a few seconds. “You’re here!” She finally finished her sentence.

“Yes, yes I am,” said Minos. He nodded as he shifted his weight on his toes.

“What happened to you?” Ashvell asked the most important question.

“I’m okay, it’s just a scratch.”

Minos stepped forward and realized something, “wait, where were you? And where’s Rei?”

“Rei’s fine,” Cassana butted in, finally calming down. Minos could still hear the contempt in her voice, but at least she was being awkwardly cordial. “He’s at the tower.”

“You already went to Ad-Nilem?” clarified Minos.

“No, not that Tower. The Small Tower, here in the city.”

“The Tower of the Legate?”

“Yes. Apparently, my former professor is the Legate in Soliton. So, I asked for a favor, and they’re taking care of him. He’s already feeling better. And the Lycanthropy is out of his system.”

Minos cracked a smile. It was the first good news he heard in a while. “That’s good. Good. But then, what happened to you?” Minos repeated Ashvell’s question to Lira.

“Who did that?” added Cassana. “Is it the shadow creature?”

Lira looked at each one of them before answering, “Yes.”

“Lira left earlier to investigate Captain Hrothgar…” noted Cassana, as she started to get Minos caught up. She then explained her theory about the Commander of the City Watch.

“What? Why? What’s his endgame?” Minos also explained what happened back at the cistern where he was kept, giving details about Robb’s father, the profane ritual he discovered, and the horned-man who threw him in the dungeon.

Finally, he talked about the mysterious figure he saw talking to the horned-man, who he now assumed was the Baron that Rikhart mentioned.

“A baron?” repeated Cassana. “There are no barons anymore, not since the fall of the empire.”

“Wait, I thought you guys said the captain was a baron?” asked Ashvell.

“No,” answered Cassana. “Lira said that his great-great-grandfather was a Baron, not him.”

“Wait, Hrothgar is a baron?” cleared Minos.

“No, his ancestor was, were you not listening?” asked Cassana with condescension.

“I heard you,” Minos snapped, “But if he’s of noble blood… One thing you should know about nobles, they love their titles. Even if you take it away, they’ll still use it, because it makes them feel superior to the rest.”

Cassana finally pieced it together in her head, like the gears of a clockwork device, “So at day, he calls himself Captain, but at night he goes as the Baron, who kidnaps children for a wicked arcane ritual that keeps himself young.”

Ashvell, Cassana and Minos looked at each other, nodding in agreement. Then, the redhead turned towards Lira. Before she went on her way, the drow huntress was adamant with her objection to the young wizard’s theory. Now, however, a different story was painted on her face.

“You know something,” noted Cassana.

She startled Lira who responded by looking up at her dumbfounded.

“Something’s wrong,” added Minos. He had never seen Lira look shaken. “What did you see?”

“You’re right, it was Hrothgar,” announced Lira, rocking the whole room to silence.

Cassana stopped herself from gloating, but she did throw a subtle smile to celebrate herself being right.

Meanwhile, Minos stared intently at his former mentor. There was something different with her, like somehow, something in her had changed since they last saw each other. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something peculiar about how she spoke to Cassana.

“How do you know?” he asked her regardless.

“I went to his place,” stated Lira. “And I saw him giving orders to the shadow creature. He was also the one who sent the one-armed man to attack you when you were in the East District. And he was in communication with the horned-man you described.

“I was about to escape when they caught me. I had to fight my way out.”

Cassana nodded. “So, you’ve been inside, and got out? That’s good.” She glanced at Ashvell and the two shared a look like they knew something that Minos didn’t. It piqued the young nobleman’s curiosity.

“Good how?” he asked.

“While you were asleep, me and Ashvell started planning. We both agreed that we should save Robb’s dad.”

“Huh,” Minos took his turn to nod.

“We haven’t told Robb this yet, I’m afraid it might be too much for him,” Cassana continued, lowering her voice to a whisper. “But we also found her mom.”

“What?” Minos sputtered.

“It’s a long story, but the point is, this is his chance to get his family complete again. So, we must save Rik.”

Minos mind drifted away for a spell and realized that the wound on his palm had been cleaned and bandaged.

“You did this?” he asked Ashvell.

The young driver nodded.

He thanked him just as Rikhart’s face flashed in his memory. He remembered the fear in the man’s face when he cut his palm open and wiped his blood on his gaunt cheeks. He pulled his mind back the present moment two look at his two companions. “Count me in. What's the plan?”

They cleared the table in the room and the four gathered around it. Cassana and Ashvell laid out their plan, which wasn’t much of a plan for Minos. It sounded like bullet points to him, a mere outline that he started to poke holes into, much to the redhead’s annoyance.

When the young wizard explained that they were going to sneak into the mansion of the most powerful man in the city, Minos asked her how and she couldn’t give an answer. She told him that they would roam the house stealthily, and so he asked her for any contingency in case they got caught. Again, she didn’t have an answer. And when Minos asked her what she intended to do if by chance they met Captain Hrothgar face to face, her simple answer was that she would fight him.

Minos fought the urge to slap his palm on his face. Cassana recognized the condescension in his questions and responses, and she immediately took offense.

As they continued scrutinizing their plan of action, it became clear to Lira and Minos both that Cassana’s idea was merely a patchwork of ill-conceived schemes. The excitement in her face turned to vexation, as he began to explicitly criticize every word that she said. Eventually, even Ashvell was convinced that it was all a recipe for disaster, and that it was highly likely that they would all end up dead or in prison.

The redhead had had enough, so she stood up, violently pushing her chair back. She gave Minos a deadly glare before picking up her new Focusing Stone, leaving the book and Ashvell’s dagger on the table. She picked up her staff and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Minos shook his head as he turned to Lira. She looked back at him and nodded. “You’re right,” said the nobleman to his former mentor.

The drow huntress sighed, “Of course I’m right. When am I ever wrong?”

“Cassana really needs to get her head out of her ass,” said Minos.

Ashvell turned to him slightly upset. He tried to speak, but the young nobleman continued his tirade.

“I should’ve listened to you,” he grunted to Lira, “Remember what you told me the other night?”

“Yeah…” Lira nodded.

“Someone should really put Cassana in her place, that’s what you said, right?” Minos fumed.

“Exactly,” Lira agreed. “She’s always acting like she knows better. She always wants to be the smartest one in the room.”

Ashvell turned to his left and stared at Lira incredulously.

“I was hoping you would set her straight,” Minos pointed his finger towards Ashvell, “But you’re just so smitten with her, it’s pathetic. You’re a man, Ashvell. Why are you letting her push you around like a dickless donkey?”

Ashvell turned to his right and glared at Minos with rageful eyes. “Bro, I like you, but I won’t let you talk about Cassana like that,” he finally said.

“See? This is what I’m talking about. You are pathetic, bro. An embarrassing specimen of a man. You’re acting like some white knight, charging in to save and protect your damsel in distress, but I bet Cassana doesn’t even see you as a person. For her, you’re just a dirty doormat who enjoys being stepped on.”

Ashvell’s eyebrows furrowed and the veins on his forehead started to swell. He gritted his teeth as he kept his eyes on Minos. The young nobleman glanced at Lira, and she nodded at him seemingly agreeing with everything he said.

The young nobleman could swear he saw Ashvell’s shoulders balloon while keeping himself from blowing up. They locked their eyes for a minute and the moment Ashvell moved, Minos quickly reached for the dagger on the table and pointed it at Ashvell’s neck.

“I know you two are childhood friends, but you’re not in your little farm village anymore. Lives are at stake now, our lives, Robb’s father’s life.

“So, tell me, which side are you on? Us, or Cassana?”

Ashvell couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he managed to calm himself down, preferring instead to de-escalate the situation. Despite his confusion about his threat, he was sure that Minos would not hurt him.

“You’re crazy,” he simply said. “Cassana is doing the best that she can. We’re not forcing you to help us, Rik’s our friend, he’s from our village, we can do this without you.”

Minos moved his blade closer to Ashvell’s neck as he glanced at Lira who gave him a nod of approval. “Then you chose wrong.” He swung his arm sidewards and a spray of blood sputtered on the floor.

Ashvell flinched in response. He looked to his left and was horrified at the sight of Lira, whose neck had started bleeding from the cut that Minos gave her. He looked to his right and saw the blood on Minos’ dagger.

“Who are you? Where is Lira?” asked the young nobleman.