Chapter 11

An ominous hooded-robed figure can be seen slowly walking amongst the crowd. A breeze rustles the figures robe as the wind blows back the hood. A young man's face can be seen… perhaps in his early twenties.. dark brown hair of medium length… green piercing eyes… a slight scar next to his right eyebrow..

A wolf-pup's head pops out from underneath the man's robe shocking nearby pedestrians. The pup curiously looks around as it's tongue hangs out. A cold wind blows by.. "Yelp.." the pup snuzzles back under the robe.

A young girl nearby happens to glance over at this time.. she seems to be out enjoying herself. "Aww so cute!" she excitedly walks over. "Hi, my na..me is Sara, ca..n I say Hi to the pu..p?" the girl stammers. The man notices she has light brown hair with a few braids throughout her hair giving her quite an elegant look. The pup looks on with wide eyes as it attempts to hide itself further within the man's robe.

The girl looks slightly disappointed… "Sigh" I gesture for the pup to say hello.. the pup looks at me with suspicious eyes. I of course nod in a reassuring manner. The girl outstretches her hand before lightly picking the pup up.. She hugs the pup tightly… perhaps too tightly… the pup seems to struggle to breathe.. I watch the pups misfortune as a grin appears across my face. "Awoo wollffff" the pup attempts to escape the girls arms.. but does not succeed.

"M'Lady, I have just arrived and am trying to locate the Inner Conclave, would you happen to know where this place is? Her eyes widen slightly as she glances over "ah? you called me M'Lady.." a blush appears across her face. "I.. um.. can gui..de you there um..- sorry what was your name? "You may call me a not-so su-.." I hesitate.. looking at her innocent eyes… "mmhh call.. me.. Kyle" a dark glow flashes in my eyes for a moment.. "Okay! Let go!" "Wolfff!" she gently tugs on my sleeve as she leads me through the city.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

As the young girl tours me through the outer rim of the Imperial City, I learn that Sara is tailor of sorts, she enthusiastically describes some of her designs. She seems quite passionate and so… with her suggestion I somewhat reluctantly agree to let her make some changes to my robe in the near future. While I think that my robe is perfectly fine.. apparently it gives off an ominous aura.. I don't really agree but decide to let it go.

As I head deeper into the city I now realise how incredibly vast the Imperial Capital is.. It is incorrect to call it a city.. but more like it's own world.. lakes and meadows can be seen within… over arching bridges criss-cross throughout the city. The further one goes towards the inner conclave, mountains can be seen.. should the outer wall ever be breached these mountains would act as a impenetrable defensive line. Temples, fortresses, and other defenses can be seen constructed upon these mountains.. The mist and snow makes the arrow towers almost invisible. Had Sara not pointed it out, I would have failed to notice them..

It takes us the majority of the day but we finally draw near to the entrance of the Inner zone.. the mountains seem to resemble a beehive… countless cave entrances can be seen as soldiers patrol… they hold torches at each entry point. The cold wind blows as an intimidating aura emanates from the area… I hesistate before gazing back at the direction we came in but the snow storm clouds my vision…

"Hmmm… I don't think this is the right place I was supposed to go… Sara lets head back the way we came…" Before she can respond a loud horn is blown.. A flurry of activity can be seen amongst the mountain ranges… soldiers start to form up… blazing bonfires light up at each sentry point. Then you see a heavily armored squadron charge towards our direction.. I barely make them out as their movements form afterimages… my eyes widen.. "Terrific…"

I seem to recognize the squadron…""Is this one of those death squads!?" I mutter to myself.. Legend has it that the Emperor trained them through the harshest of training.. they would fight monstrous creatures with their bare hands… they would not even fear death. Among those... there were elites that were sent on suicide missions.. these missions were so terrifying that the soldiers were not expected to survive… of course there were those that did in fact survive! These legendary warriors were bestowed a set of enchanted gold armor personally by the emperor himself as a symbol of their strength. I do indeed notice that the squadron approaching you all wear gold armor... my mind races as I assess my limited options...

The snow is blowing hard.. if I flee into the snowstorm perhaps I can escape.. "That could totally work.. but…" I glance over at the young girl beside me.. "No.. I can't run.. Dam how do I always seem to get myself into these sort of situations.. "Sigh" the wolf pup bounds through the snow around us, seemingly unaware of the imminent crisis. The pup flounders in the snow… "Woolfff" the pup dives into the snow beside me before then jumping out again. I can't help but laugh at the sight... seemingly unfazed by the approaching soldiers.. +1 Charm.. the young girl gazes in awe.

"Attention!" The tallest and mightiest of the warriors approaches. The commander kneels before us in reverence. "We have been expecting you."

To be continued.