This journey had taken a long time, but Lucien had never once wavered from his goal. He prayed to Stellara every night to protect and guide his loved ones’ souls. To ensure their safe journey through the perilous sky.

Every once in a while, that strange rabbit would appear whenever Lynn was asleep, and would show him that his family was doing fine up there.

He didn’t know whether what the rabbit was showing him was the truth, but it made him feel better and like his prayers were being answered.

The journey may have been tiring, but seeing those walls made him feel calm. His journey was one step closer to being over. One step closer to him being able to be with his family again.

Of course, there were a few things he had to do before he could join them up there. He had to make Adam pay for what he had done, and make sure Roddy was okay.

Lucien hadn’t heard anything from the elves, meaning that nothing had happened to Roddy while he was with those bandits and his foul beast of a father.

Once Lucien had got his revenge, he would make sure that someone would be there to take care of Roddy in his stead. There were a few good candidates that came to mind.

He also wanted to get Lynn back to her family. Although they had bonded over the time they spent together, he felt that she had spent far too long away from her family.

Once all of that was sorted, then he would truly be at peace.

“We’ve finally made it.” Lucien looked up with tired eyes at the towering walls on the horizon as he ran his hand through Chase’s mane.

Whitmore Castle.

The central trade hub of the region, from which Lord Whitmore held power.

Towering walls of dark, almost black, stone had surrounded the city since its inception several centuries ago. Despite countless wars and battles, the walls looked as if they had just been built yesterday.

There wasn’t even a speck of dust or a bit of dirt on them. They were abnormally clean. As if nothing was allowed to mar their visage.

The walls were shrouded in mystery. Some locals even believed that the wall was alive, that it was a giant and terrifying snake that protected the city. Those who were old enough to remember would pass down stories of the wall moving so that the city could continue to grow under its protection.

Although this wasn’t true, there was some credence to the myths.

The wall did, in fact, move on a semi-regular basis so that the city could expand. However, it was due to the city’s mages that the wall was able to move, not because it was alive.

This wasn’t a secret, but some people would rather believe that the wall was a giant snake. It gave them a sense of security.

The road beneath their feet had turned from dirt to gravel, to fully paved, even before they set foot in the city.

Both the entrance gate and the road were wide enough to allow several wagons to pass through at the same time. The road was split in the middle, with one side consisting of three lines going in, and the other of three lines going out.

Each group had to stop at the gate for an inspection from a group of guards. Just from a quick glance, Lucien could spot about two dozen guards, and that’s just those that were visible.

They were both excited that they were so close to completing the goal that they had set out for, but they knew that there was no way for them to go straight in, so they tempered themselves and joined the back of the line.

They were stuck behind a group of five people. Based on what they were wearing, Lucien guessed that they were an adventurer group. Almost certainly a small one considering the quality of their armour and weapons.

Whilst Lucien wasn’t a smith, he was used to dealing with good quality gear back home. At least, he could trust his gear to save his life in a pinch. He couldn’t trust what they had at all.

The group consisted of three men and two women. Two of them, a man and a woman, looked to be in their forties like Lucien. One guy seemed to be in his mid thirties, and the remaining two were a lot younger, being in their early twenties, possible even being in their teens.

They all had a few cuts and bruises, but one of them, the youngest man, had the left side of his stomach all bandaged up.

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“That was a waste of time,” one of them grumbled.

“If I had known that someone else had taken the job, I never would have agreed to it,” the older man said apologetically.

“How much do we have in our savings?” the injured one asked. He was worried that his injury would cost them the rest of what they had. The only reason they took this job was because they were desperate for money in the first place.

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure we can find some labour work to keep us afloat. You just focus on recovering,” The older woman said.

“Maybe we should try working somewhere else? I think heading south isn’t a bad idea. There’ll be less competition down there,” said the guy in his mid-thirties, causing everyone else to stop and look at him. “What?”

“Have you not heard the rumours?”

“It’s not safe down there.”

“I’m not going there.”

“I don’t want to die.”

All four of them gave their own responses, leaving him stunned and confused.

Seems like the news of the bandits has already reached this far. Lord Whitmore might already be preparing to stifle it. That’s good news. Lucien thought.

Eventually, after waiting long enough, it was their turn to go through. The guards stopped them for an inspection just like they did everyone else. Considering it was only the two of them and they didn’t have a cart with them, it wouldn’t take too long.

The guards were lead by a stout man with a long, bushy black beard. He had a five pointed star on his chest, signifying his higher rank compared to the other guards in his group, with badges ranging from a single point of a star to a three pointed one.

“Names?” The guard with the three pointed star took the lead in asking the questions, while the rest observed the pair with the same level of professional interest as they did everyone else who passed through those gates.

“Lucien Rowe.”

“Lynn Barker.”

“Reason for being here?”

“We’re guards from the south, here to pass on a message to his Lordship about the bandit raids,” Lucien said.

There was a slight pause as the look on the guards’ faces changed. The one who was talking to them stepped back and started whispering with his leader.

The leader waved over one of the lowest ranked guards and sent him off to inform the higher ups so that a decision could be made on what to do.

“We’re going to let you through, but if you wouldn’t mind, could you please wait at the side. We need to inform our superior.” The highest ranked guard took over control of the conversation as he guided them to a small sitting area on the other side of the wall just off the road.

“Of course. We understand.” Lucien didn’t want to make things difficult on them, so he decided to wait.

Besides, with the guards’ help it would be easier to see Lord Whitmore than if he was to just stroll up to the castle by himself.

The highest-ranked guard stayed with them, deeming them to be of higher priority than his previous job. However, he did make sure that he was standing in a position where he could watch over his team at the gates should anything happen.

Lynn sat off to the side, taking in the sights of the city. Even while being just at the gate, it was more magnificent than anything she had ever seen before.

Multi-storey buildings were commonplace. Every building looked like something fit for a mayor or a noble in her eyes. Even the worst buildings were beyond something she would find back home.

At least here, there wasn’t a single person that she would consider as poor in sight.

“Which village are you from?” he asked, trying to start a conversation with Lucien to gauge the situation.

“Locham.”

“Locham? That’s far, you must have been travelling for a long time.”

“I have to admit, it did take a while. But I’m here now, and once I pass on that message to Lord Whitmore, then there won’t be much left for me to do here.”

The guard could tell that Lucien wasn’t just talking about here at Whitmore castle.

He was familiar with the look in Lucien’s eyes. The look of someone who didn’t have much left to live for. He had seen many people that had suffered from tragedy that had that same look in their eyes.

He had seen many people that kept pushing on because of a single purpose. And he had seen how broken they were after the fact. He sympathised with Lucien.

He didn’t know what had happened in the south, but he could tell that it wasn’t good. He had an inkling that it might even have a grave impact on the future of the region.

“I’ve heard rumours that the south is becoming increasingly unstable as of late. That bandits have been getting more audacious and are now openly defying the king,” the guard said, eyeing Lucien to try and gauge his reaction.

As if it’s that extreme. They don’t think about the king, or any nobles for that matter. They’re just interested in gold and slaughter.

Lucien could tell what the man was doing. He didn’t want to pass on any specific information to anyone who wasn’t either directly affected by it, or in a position of power. But, he felt like he could at least give the man a bit of a heads up.

“It’s definitely getting worse down there. Bandit’s have been attacking the villages more and more frequently,” Lucien said.

The conversation ended there as Lucien closed his eyes and took the chance while they waited to rest.

While they were waiting, the messenger raced back to the nearest barracks. Hoping that someone with sufficient authority to see Lord Whitmore was there at the moment.

Luckily for him, he spotted such a person the moment he entered the barrack’s main room.

There was a stout, middle-aged man sitting at a table, playing a game of dice with an elderly man.

The young guard felt like he was struck by lightning as he stared at the old man in disbelief. He stood their frozen for a moment, completely forgetting all forms of etiquette until he hurriedly saluted to the middle-aged man, then gave a wizard’s bow to the old man.

“Sir, I have something important to report.” He tried his hardest to stop his voice from shaking. Just the pressure coming off the two men as they sat there made him want to collapse. And it was only now that he realised, that despite this being the main room, no one else was in here besides the three of them.

“Well it looks like our game is going to have to be called here today old friend,” the middle-aged man said as he somewhat hastily stuffed the dice back into its cup, As if he was latching onto the chance to stop.

The disparity in their coin piles was enough to show that he didn’t want to lose the rest of the money he had on him.

“Of course. It’s probably for the best that you get back to your job anyway.” The old man stroked his beard and looked at the young guard with a kind smile, showing no intention of leaving.