Duke Aldan held the carriage door open with his right hand and using his left supported his Wife as she stepped up and into the ornate carriage. As she settled onto her seat Duke Aldan quickly followed. In the carriage with them was baby Crius and his wet nurse Maria. Duchess Eluna hated that she couldn't nurse her son personally, but this was what was best for him given how weak the birth had left her.
The leader of the house guards, Rhys, a sandy, brown haired mage with dark brown eyes and a neat goatee, cantered up alongside the carriage on his steed. "Everyone is in position, Your Grace. Shall I give the signal to depart?"
"Yes and be extra vigilant out there. If things are as bad for the King as Duke Zelos stated in his communication, then Crius could be the next ruler of the Kingdom and that paints an even bigger target on us."
"Understood Your Grace, we're well prepared for any who may come at us."
"Good. I'm counting on you, Rhys. Okay let’s set off"
Just as Rhys was about to command the guard detail form up, seven heavily armoured men on horseback galloped up to the front of the house at full steam, creating a blinding cloud of dust as their horses abruptly stopped mere inches from the guards. The sudden appearance of the seven men in indistinct armour immediately putting all the guards on high alert. It wasn’t until Duke Aldan’s voice called out of the carriage that they visibly relaxed, their hands moving away from their sword hilts.
“Cedrick, you’re supposed to be at the barracks training our next generation of troops. What are you here?” Lord Aldan questioned, frustration creeping into his voice at his brothers appearance.
“I told you brother, you are not going to the capital without me and the others.” A stern expression showing as he removed his helmet, a clear indication that he wasn’t to be swayed on this matter. Turning toward Rhys he added “And Rhys, I can’t believe you were going to let Henrick travel without us.“
Cedrick was much the same as Henrick, only his fiery red hair was cropped shorter. He wasn’t quite as tall although probably a touch stockier in build, the family resemblance was undeniable.
“Cedrick, I don’t care if you’re my little brother, I expect you to adhere to my instructions when I issue them. I won’t hesitate to demote you if you don’t follow them. And as for Rhys he tried to convince me to bring you and our friends along but I need you here safeguarding the estate. If we all leave for the capital it places us in a dangerously vulnerable position.”
“Alright, I understand, and they shall remain here as you instructed but I’m still coming with you. You may be head of the family, but I still hold the role of the general of our troops. They answer to me and it’s under my command that they will escort you on this journey.”
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Two days into the journey and less than a few hours from the capital the attack came, they were passing through a wooded area and were on high alert when magical traps were triggered, several explosions going off at once, a tree fell on the ornate carriage clearly designed to hamper if not kill Duke Aldan and his family, if not for his reactions and superior strength the tree may well have crushed them immediately but he managed to hold the weight of the tree with a glowing orange sword, pressed to the roof. One of the family’s skills, shielding sword preventing the advance of the tree.
Another explosion triggers poisoned spikes that fly towards the carriage from both sides. Rhys, a mage by trade, conjures up a wall of earth along the left side blocking the spikes from reaching the carriage although it still cut down a few of the guards he commanded who fell outside the line of the earth wall, their bodies instantly wasting and turning into withered husks.
On the other side Cedrick was contending with a similar issue, not being a mage his sword sent out a wall of flame burning up most of the poisoned spikes. Then his eyes glimpsed it in the peripheral, a slower one that missed the initial defence clearly about to get through. His body moved on instinct, dropping his sword and racing to push his hand into the path, stretching with everything possible to prevent it from hitting his brother, and his family. Almost believing he wouldn’t make it in time panic accelerates his body and he catches it with the flat of his palm. The poison begins to act immediately his arm muscle quickly wasting away. Without hesitation he sends a surge of sword flame through his own arm destroying the poison and along with it the muscle and it’s functionality.
Having just about survived the first wave of the attack, Cedrick was caught off guard and struck in the side by a flying tree trunk. Being unable to use his now wasted arm for defence he is knocked out of the way as two more trunks come screeching along aimed at the carriage. His falling body flails but he can only watch and call out with guilt and dismay “Henrick. I’ve failed you. Right side.”
Duke Aldan hears the call as he’s inside the carriage, gathering his strength to repel the giant tree, his head slowly turns in reaction and in doing so he witnesses the wet nurse Maria’s upper body become a mist of blood, his son Crius, knocked from her arms and onto the floor His wife screams as she sees Crius injured and then slumps down, passed out from the torment. The next instance, two black garbed warriors rip off what remains of the door and grab his now unconscious wife and drag her away towards the tree line where more black garbed warriors are firing bolts towards the caravan as cover for their retreat.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Rage runs through Henrick and a wave of elemental sword aura explodes upwards, the power splintering the tree and turning them into ash, he scoops up his son and leaps out behind the wall of earth Rhys has erected.
“Keep my son safe a moment Rhys, I need to find where they have taken Eluna.“ Duke Aldan quietly commanded and immediately shot off to the tree line on the right a wave of his sword sending forth a blazing arc of flame that devoured several trees and black garbed warriors.
He chased for ten minutes but was unable to find a trace of Duchess Eluna. They had fully withdrawn taking his wife with them. He drops to his knees, tears streaming down his face and roars, flame blasting outwards from his body.
“I will find you! Every single one of you will die horrible deaths for the events of this night. Remember this night as your last happy memory.” The roar of his words were audible several miles away where a now semi-conscious Cedrick looked to Rhys.
“Be ready to move out in five, we need to make haste to the Capital. If we lose Crius too then Henrick will turn the entire Empire upside down and without the King, with this rage running inside him, I’m not sure even Duke Zelos could stop him from going to where we can no longer reach him.
The majority of the caravan was ready to move out when Duke Aldan returned to them his first thought was of his son. “How is he Rhys?” He asked, the worry giving his voice a slight tremor.”
“Not well. His breathing is shallow, he has taken some serious knocks today. He is clearly a fighter just to have lasted this long.”
“Of course he’s a fighter, he’s a lion just like us.” Cedrick tried to lighten the mood with some bravado as he mounted his horse with a single armed flourish. “He’ll survive this and go on to become the strongest of this entire continent.”
“Brother” Henrick looked to Cedrick’s wasted arm as he too leapt in to a saddle and started the group moving at pace, anxious to get Crius to the King’s healers in the Capital.
“Don’t worry brother. To protect our family I’d give it all.”
“No, you are expecting a child of your own. That’s not acceptable. This is why I told you to stay home. I appreciate all that you have done today but I will not allow you to keep taking on danger for me. If I fall you must keep the family going. This is your last active mission. After this I’m retiring you to be a trainer at our barracks. We’ve lost a lot today but I refuse to lose you and Crius too.”
“No, you can’t do this.”
“It’s done. That is your new mission, accept it, keep the estate safe and train our children so that they can grow up to surpass us and never feel this pain of loss.”
“I understand that but there must be another way.”
“This is the best way and you know it. I will have to leave the estate in your hands anyway to find Eluna, I’m effectively making you the head of the family just without the boring politics.
Cedrick nodded his head, silently acquiescing to Henrick’s decision and wishes.
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An hour later after holding a blistering pace for the final leg, Henrick, carrying Crius, Cedrick and Rhys arrived at the capital. They’d broken away from what remained of the main group, less a few that Rhys had left behind to investigate the garbed warriors, and increased their pace once they hit the King’s roads that were manned with guard towers. Henrick headed straight for the King’s castle where the chief healer was immediately called.
After several hours of intense healing, Crius was given the all clear health wise but not without some bad news, his core was cracked. He may never be able to store energy within it.
“Tell no one of his recovery” Duke Aldan commanded the healers. “Crius is only safe as long as those who attacked us think him dead, in fact spread that disinformation instead”. Next, he turned to his brother resting a hand on his shoulder “Cedrick, I need you to keep watch over my boy. Let no harm befall him. It is time I find what Rhys has discovered and begin my search for the culprits.”
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While in an all-black carriage where even the windows are painted black, the slumped form of Duchess Eluna lies on the floor as two cloaked individuals people sat above her in the carriage.
“The losses are unacceptable, we need to ask for more money to compensate our losses. The brief did not specify that we would be taking on the third most powerful man in the kingdom while he had so much help. That single swipe of his sword eradicated forty percent of our force not including that his brother was also there. If he hadn’t been put on the defensive from the get-go none of us would have come out alive.“ The first cloaked figure talked nonstop at the other who merely drummed their fingers on the arm of the seat, their head slightly tilted as if in mock amusement whilst letting the first vent. “Well say something, you’re supposed to be the leader. Do you want people to take advantage of us in such a manner in future?”
“You wish to press me into action? As you just said I’m the leader of this operation. You should be sat awaiting my orders, not spewing this mindless garble without thinking.”
“But…”
“Enough” The leader cut him off. “My orders are as follows, send an advance team ahead of us and eradicate thirty five of his guards. The same number we lost in that single strike. Have them leave a message with him stating that we will be arriving shortly and… to prepare at least three times as much money or he will not receive the goods.