Donis gulped as he faced Thorin, two days had passed since the battle in the harbor, but, he couldn't take the scenes of the devastating fight out of his head.

-" So? What do you want with us?" Kamni couldn't take the tense atmosphere and decided to get straight to the point.

Thorin smiled, he liked to ease tension before negotiations, so he tried to calm them down. " Are your wounds healed?"

-" Mostly..." Kamni knew that holding information back wouldn't be smart, but, he at least wanted to confirm some matters too. " The information that you want, is it about Dalmaak?"

Thorin's eyebrows perked up and gave Baltsar an inquisitive look, he didn't expect for him to leak information so quickly. " It looks like Baltsar already spoke with you all... but first I would like to know what happened two days ago." Thorin had no idea of what started the whole confrontation that night, he already suspected that Dillia was the one who started it all, but, in the small chance that she wasn't the one at fault, he would have no choice other than to punish Baltsar companions, after all, he was the one responsible for Dillia.

-" We arrived in the hideout, but, as no one answered I asked for Dillia to wait." Baltsar quickly began to explain what happened as he thought that Thorin would have an easier time trusting him. " I just didn't expect Dillia to attack as soon they had appeared on the hideout."

-" So after she attacked, you guys fought back?" Thorin's gaze returned momentarily to Donis and Kamni. "Sigh... What caused her to lose control?"

-" I don't know, I asked her to stop fighting, and mentioned that I would tell everything to you." Baltsar began to think about what possibly triggered Dillia so much. " Oh yeah, she was especially upset when I touched her."

-" Touched her?" Thorin was visibly confused, he knew that Dillia was someone prideful, but, being consumed by inner demons because someone touched you seemed like something strange.

Thorin was still deep in thought when the door opened and Dillia entered the room, she looked frail and weakened.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

-" Tsk, I just remembered some bad memories when this pig touched me." Her gaze was full of hostility as she faced Baltsar and the rest of the group.

Thorin observed the girl, he was happy that she was fine, but, this didn't lower his worry about the situation. " Bad memories?" Thorin was especially worried about her mental state, losing control so easily could be a serious disadvantage for the group. " I don't think that you should partake in this mission."

Dillia's face twitched in anger, the thought of being sidelined in this mission hurt her pride. " Huh? Do you want to make sit and watch as you and SBO-1 take all the glory?" This mission was important for the church, and she wanted to be a part of it.

-" This isn't about glory, what would happen if you lose control in the middle of the fight against Dalmaak?" Thorin was firm in his decision.

-" Thorin!" Dillia's heart sank, she wanted to make contributions to the church, as this was the only way for her to be able to visit her family. " You can't do this! I need to participate in this mission."

Dillia's outburst caused fear in Baltsar and his group, as they remembered the night she lost control.

-" Your emotional state isn't in a good condition." Thorin was disappointed by Dillia's lack of emotional control. " Prove to me that you won't lose control easily, and I will back down on my decision."

Dillia bit her lips in hesitation, she was too prideful to share her trauma with Thorin, but, it looked like she had no other option. " It's better if we talk alone,"

Thorin accepted her request, but first, he wanted to finish the conversation with Baltsar's companions. " Now, we can finally get to the interesting part." Thorin was curious about the situation in the Northern kingdoms, after all, he never believed that a proud people like them would submit so easily.

-" The eastern army and Dalmaak are currently stationed near the Calm Highlands, they are barely placing soldiers in the kingdom's capitals as no one is brave enough to stand up to them... Until now at least." Kamni tried his best to tell all the important pieces of information to Thorin.

-" Until now?"Thorin was interested in Kamni word's, he didn't know if the man was referring to this his group or another one that wanted to rebel against Eastern control.

-" The Eastern Empire didn't ask much when the kings surrendered, we all knew that this was a setup." Kamni took out a craving of a tree, in its trunk a female face could be seen. " Those bastards! They banned the worship of Gaia."

Thorin was flabbergasted by the news, banning the worship of a local deity was something unbelievable. " Are they asking for a rebellion?"

-" In the beginning, only some parts of the army showed discontent to the submission to the Eastern Empire, but, now..." Kamni's face was serious as he spoke. " The Clerics are all joining together and leaving the Northern Lands, most of them are gathering people for a rebellion, but, I heard that some others decided to join pirates and bandits groups."

-" Joining pirates?" Baltsar was surprised to learn this piece of information. " What an end for a cleric."

-" You tell me. There was news that the head cleric of our Kingdom even joined the Blackbeard crew!" Donis spoke with amusement, the idea of a holy man joining a bloodthirsty pirate crew was too strange.

-" Blackbeard crew?" Baltsar thought back to the news that he received yesterday from Vysard. " Well, what rotten luck he got!"

Donis felt curious about what Baltsar was speaking about, however, Kamni continued to speak before he could ask.

-" And this isn't even the most baffling part! The Eastern Empire now worship their Emperor as one true god." Kamni gave a small pause and then continued. " They are calling him Adam Kadmon, The True Sun!"

Thorin's face darkened as he heard what the man said, he even thought that Kamni was playing a distasteful prank on him. " Adam... Kadmon?"