-----------------------------------------

“Eileen!” called Ursula, “Before you go, a word.”

The princess was ready to leave wearing a dark green cape and hood. Everyone in the group wore one to conceal themselves in the streets.

Ursula and Eileen were alone in a private place in the cellar as the others waited by the stairs. There was a trapdoor by the back of the house that allowed them to move freely in and out of the hiding place.

“The news about Elise gave us more time… but still, you know that we might eventually need to go for another path. I lost contact with the temple of Brine, I’m afraid of what that might mean.” She paused. Eileen got concerned by the news.

“And with your brother missing, we don’t have many options left. I know how you feel about this, but marrying a noble is our best chance at taking Rodrick out of power and start helping the city and the kingdom” said Ursula, “I can’t force you to do this, but please, at least put some thought into it, you have to consider this idea.”

Eileen looked down and nodded. “I know that all too well… but there is still time.”

Ursula smiled. “I know that boy was something else… he also saved me. And if he was here, maybe our situation would be different. But we must face reality. He is not here, maybe he is gone forever… Eileen, and the longer you wait…”

“I know…” replied the princess abruptly, that topic was being brought up way too often for her taste.

---------------------------------------- Brigantium, Lord Cornelio’s House

“My lord! News from the land: the hunters found something near the north coast, between the forest and the mountains” a servant said, rushing into the lord’s mansion on Brigantium. It was in a big study room with a fireplace and stuffed chairs. By the wall near the fireplace, a full dracar skin was displayed on the wall.

“What?” said a fat older man, bald on top of his head. His attire was that of a high noble, full of details and golden pins.

“A fortress my lord… the hunters found a fortress in your lands,” said the servant.

“A fortress? What do you mean a fortress?” The lord frowned and walked towards the servant.

“They said it has high sturdy stone walls and a big gate. The walls also go a great distance my lord.”

“How long did the hunters not go to this place? Why am I only now hearing about this?” said the angry noble.

“Less than a week my lord…” replied the servant.

“That’s impossible... Someone is lying to me! I will get to the bottom of this myself… Do we have any mercenaries available in the city?” questioned the lord.

“Yes, my lord. A group arrived this week… but I heard they are rather expensive.”

“Doesn’t matter! Hire them and assemble the guards we have available. We will go see about this… fortress and raze it to the ground!” the infuriated noble said.

----------------------------------------- Eileen That night.

The group moved quickly through the streets of Longart during the dark night. With many things on her mind, she followed a few steps behind Francis and two of the first army veterans.

The dungeon was located at the city level, at the base of the plateau that held the castle. It was made inside the cave systems on the big stone wall, a proper dungeon for the castle, away from both city and from the castle itself.

There were more than one entry. Albert, the right hand of Rodrick, was helping the rebels by offering them an opportunity to enter through one of the less used passages.

As they arrived, Albert was there waiting for them.

“Quickly, before someone sees us” whispered Albert.

One by one, they entered the small wooden door made in the stone. “The knight captain is in the last cell” added the spy.

The dungeon beneath the castle was humid, dark and illuminated by the few torches hanging on the stone walls. The ground was uneven and the corridors were barely excavated enough to allow a person to walk through. Many cages and cells could be seen. Only a few cells were being used, holding thieves and thugs.

But something was not right. Deep down in Eileen’s gut she knew something was amiss. There were no guards anywhere. She moved quickly, with a hand in her sword, ready to unsheathe it.

“There, at the end of this corridor” Albert said as he entered it, followed by the group.

Suddenly, as the last one passed the door, it closed behind them.

Two mages appeared from the darkness within the room, right in front the cell block and casting argonian spells immediately.

“It’s a trap!” shouted Albert in front, alerting them.

A white fog slowly went towards them, covering the whole room in a few moments. The first to fall was Albert followed by the veterans that were in the front. Eileen and Francis moved back against the door after seeing the white fog’s effects on their friends.

Eileen covered her nose and mouth with her cape. And as she looked down towards her armor, she noticed the blue glow activating She was still wearing that same armor he enchanted for her.

As Francis fell down, without option, she followed, intentionally faking being affected as the others.

She hid a smile while watching the blue glow within her armor, glad to see that something he made was still protecting her even while he was so far away. Eileen waited for them to approach, drawing her rapier beneath the cloak so the mages would not notice it.

The mages ignored the others and went directly towards her. The moment they were in range, Eileen attacked with lightning speed and precision.

She quickly perforated both mage’s throats in succession with two quick movements. They couldn’t scream nor cast any spell, falling down moments after by the loss of blood.

She rushed to the door and focused her senses. With a single thrust of her rapier she pierced the thick wood, hitting whoever was behind holding the door in place.

A male voice shouted in pain from the other side as she felt the blade piercing through its flesh.

After Riou enchanted the rapier, it could pierce almost anything with ease. Eileen was very used to it.

She knew time was of the essence, as more enemies were sure to come after such a scream.

The princess quickly woke up her group. They were a bit dizzy but coming to themselves after the mages were dealt with and the fog was gone.

Eileen blasted the closed door open with a spell. Outside the door the body of the guard could be seen with a wound on its chest.

Without delay they rushed out, back by the same way that they came inside.

Luckily the door to the outside was still open and there were no more guards waiting for them there.

As everyone was out, Albert locked the door behind them. “Scatter! This way it will be harder for them to follow our tracks. We meet at the hideout in a few hours!”

Everyone nodded as each took a different path.

Eileen rushed away with her enhancement spell at great speed, she was already reaching the first houses of the city when she noticed something coming in her direction.

*BOOOM* A carriage exploded near her, the blast throwed her off balance and she fell to the side.

From the top of the houses nearby, three sinister figures appeared wearing tight black clothing, a strange leather armor that covered them entirely, leaving only their eyes out.

She could see a strange and eerie red glow on them.

They were not normal pursuers.

Without delay, the one in the middle of them shot another fire spell. The princess immediately put up a water barrier to block it.

*BOOOM*

Another explosion occurred when the fire spell came in contact with the barrier and Eileen was once again blown away, rolling and tumbling on the stone ground.

Injured and winded by both impacts, she tried to get up and flee. She sucked up the pain and dashed as fast as she could away from the enemy.

But despite her attempt, the sinister figures were still able to catch up to her. A fight was inevitable as she could not escape.

She stopped and prepared, unsheathing her rapier again and conjuring a defensive wind barrier.

Another explosive spell was shot at her. This time Eileen used the wind magic to block it from afar.

*BOOM* once again echoed in the city.

But this time, the other two didn’t stand aside watching. They quickly appeared beside her, one to each of her sides ready to attack.

They pulled out daggers and were coming in Eileen’s direction. Aiming for her arms and legs, clearly wanting to capture her alive.

She was able to use her rapier to deflect the attack on her left while miraculously dodged the other with great speed. She jumped away trying to get some space from them once again.

As she was caught in the momentum of her jump, another explosive spell was already incoming at her. And this time she would not have time to counter it. She just braced herself and protected her body with the only barrier she could put up in that condition.

*BOOM* echoed yet again.

But Eileen was unharmed as she fell to the ground on her feet. She looked up after the sound.

Before her was a blond woman in dark leather armor and plating. She was standing there with her back to the princess.

“Therese?” said Eileen in an impulse at a first glance, but her hair and size were slightly different. It couldn’t be her master.

The woman’s presence alone was enough to make the three foes wary of her and forget about the princess. The blond knight turned her head slightly towards Eileen, showing a pretty young face. The strange woman looked at Eileen with squinted eyes, something seemed to bother the warrior in black about the princess.

But Eileen didn’t wait to find out. She used the opportunity to escape and dashed away. She just couldn’t risk being captured there, or all would be lost for good, as she moved away from the fight, the princess glanced back at the blond warrior.

She remained there, standing just like Therese would, clearly not interested in her anymore.

So the princess dashed through the alleys, going towards the wall on the other side of the city to lose any pursuer. Far away from the enemy while she slowed down and tried to hide to see if anyone was following her.

Some time passed, there was no sign of any pursuers anymore. She then began to move towards the hideout now it was safe.

--------------------------------------- Rebel Headquarters

“Where is Eileen?” questioned Ursula as everyone but her had come back.

The veterans shook their heads as Francis cursed the winds.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know they were prepared. Some guard must have talked. But what we need to find out now is what happened to Eileen,” said Albert as everyone agreed.

“Let’s search the city… it’s all lost if she is captured” added Ursula.

Suddenly the trapdoor in the back opened and everyone turned towards it, surprised. Bhalrom entered carried by Lilly and Serena. They were wearing prisoner rags and they all showed signs of harsh punishments, bruises and wounds all over their bodies, especially the knight captain.

“Lilly!” exclaimed Ursula, running to help her. The veterans followed to help support the knight captain.

“How?” questioned Ursula while holding Lilly, that just smiled, relieved to finally be free.

The red haired mage looked back, indicating that more people were coming behind them.

A blonde woman wearing dark leather armor and a breastplate began to walk down the stairs into the cellar, followed by another woman with brown hair wearing the same equipment. They seemed top grade and very, very expensive. Immediately, they all knew they were Lionesses.

Behind them, a man covered in black, with details in dark blue cloth to his left and waist, appeared. He had a scarf covering his face and a hood covering his head completely, due to the lowlights of the place, a shadow prevented them from seeing any part of his face beneath the hood..

They knew it was a man by body type and posture.

The two women positioned themselves like bodyguards as the man walked forward.

He silently entered the cellar, passing Ursula and the veterans that kept looking at him. Soon everyone inside the cellar was following him with their eyes in silence.

Bhalrom and the two mages were quickly brought inside to rest at the inner quarters.

He stopped after passing by Albert and Francis. Both of them looked at the stranger in surprise.

He slowly turned his head to the knight’s assistant for a moment and then to the noble’s son before continuing forward in silence, looking at their hideout with interest.

He seemed to be analyzing something that no one there could guess what.

“Who are you?” questioned Ursula, coming towards the man.

“Elise is safe… Once the King returns, she will be delivered to him” replied the man abruptly while still looking at the place without turning to face her. After analyzing the main hall he continued towards the side rooms where everyone slept.

“Where is she?” said Ursula, intrigued by the news.

“How do you intend to fight the Yellow banner that took over Allard?” questioned the man, ignoring the court mage’s question completely.

The mysterious man reached the inner quarters of the hideout followed by Ursula and the two bodyguards.

The court mage pondered for a moment, on what to reply to him, not too sure if he was really a friend. But before she could say anything, Francis, the young noble, stepped in.

“With most of the royal family gone, we can only rely on Princess Eileen… So to save the country, she will marry me. That way we will gain support from the nobles and lords and depose Rodrick and his claim on the throne” replied Francis proudly.

“Does that mean the old king is dead?” questioned the stranger.

“We don’t know… but given that none survived the plague so far… it’s likely he didn’t survived” replied Ursula, sighing.

“I see,” he said, watched by everyone in the cellar.

His attention was suddenly caught by one of the rooms as he looked through the open door.

“Princess Eileen is not too fond of the idea… but she will have to come around it sooner or later” Said Ursula as he entered one of the rooms. Immediately going for a leather bag that seemed full of old clothes.

Ursula and Francis watched without understanding what he was doing.

He pulled some clothes from the bag, commoner’s clothes, too small to fit a grown man and some old black shirt. Made from a strange material and was different from any clothing that Ursula had ever seen. Amidst those clothes he saw also the princess’ old battered training gear.

He looked at it for a moment, lost in his thoughts, contemplating something.

“I must go” he said suddenly as he dropped the clothes back into the bag and left the room in a hurry.

“Wait, who are you? Will you help us? How can we contact you?” questioned Ursula as the man quickly went toward the exit. “I will contact you”

The man walked towards the exit, but as he was in the middle of the cellar, he stopped.

Someone else was coming through the trapdoor.

-------------------------------------------- Eileen

Eileen was returning to the hideout after she was sure that no one followed her.

The trapdoor was opened, which was very unusual.

Something was not right, so she cautiously walked down the stairs.

In the cellar, she saw a man in dark clothes completely covered from head to toe followed by two women. Eileen quickly recognized the armor and the face of one of them. The blonde was the one that helped her against those three enemies.

The man in black stopped moving completely, he seemed frozen in place as she looked at him from a few steps away.

He was strangely still and completely silent. Not only him, everyone seemed tense.

Eileen’s hand went to the rapier as she looked around and noticed everyone’s concerned expressions.

Both women behind him tensed up as she went for the weapon. The man quickly raised his hand and both stood down immediately.

Ursula appeared from behind him a moment after with a relief expression “Princess!”

Eileen relaxed a bit, noticing Ursula was fine. “Who is this?” she questioned Ursula while her attention remained on the suspicious man.

Everyone remained silent, as no one knew the answer to that question.

Eileen looked at the blonde woman. “Who were those three mages? What happened back then?”

“Master?” questioned the blonde. As the strange man nodded once to her.

“Undead mages, so I finished them” she replied bluntly as if it was a logical action to take.

She then looked attentively at Eileen and then turned to the other warrior whispering “Can you also smell her scent?” questioned the blond to her partner warrior. The brown haired woman just squinted her eyes suspiciously and nodded while looking at Eileen.

“So you really are from the clans…” confirmed the Princess, noticing the lioness traits.

“He brought Bhalrom, Lilly and Serena back, he claims to have saved Elise as well,” added Ursula, intervening in the conversation from behind.

The princess was surprised by the news, but squinted her eyes at him. “Where is Elise?”

“Safe” he replied bluntly in a deeper voice.

Eileen unsheathed her weapon and pointed it at the man. At that same instant, she felt a strong killing intent from the two behind him.

Eileen could feel it, both of the lionesses wanted to rip her apart viciously. The princess swallowed hard and prepared for a fight.

Such killing intent reminded her of Riou and the time they trained in the castle.

“Stand down!” the man immediately commanded with authority the two behind him. Eileen, who was looking at the two at the moment, noticed the furious look in their eyes vanishing immediately, the killing intent was real and was completely gone in an instant. Like children scolded by their dad.

The princess realized that his commands were absolute to them, no question or doubt remained after his orders

The two warriors lowered their heads towards him respectfully “Yes master.”

‘Who is this man? To have two lionesses at his command. Even Therese would have trouble against those three mages… and this blond woman even had enough time to come back here before me… If she really fought them, that’d mean she is very strong. No, chances are that they did not fight at all, this could be just an act to win our trust’ pondered the princess, doubting that someone from the clans could surpass Therese.

The two looked like Lionesses but that couldn’t be right. Therese is the only one that left the clans and came to this region. All other Lionesses served under their clan leader and house.

Everything was just too suspicious for Eileen to believe in that mysterious man.

“It’s a bit too convenient… right after we were ambushed, you saved me and then appeared with the prisoners. And you also claim to have saved Elise. If she is really safe, why don’t you tell us where she is? Why didn’t you bring her here?” insisted, clearly wanting to know about her cousin.

The man remained silent.

“Who are you? You are not from the clans… how can you have Lionesses as bodyguards?” questioned the princess once again, more seriously this time.

The strange man just continued walking towards Eileen. Clearly intending to leave.

The princess kept her sword up but let the man pass beside her, followed by the two female warriors.

He stopped briefly while at her side, Eileen felt his intent to whisper something.

“I’m a friend of a close friend of yours,” he said in a low tone without turning his head.

He then continued walking

Eileen squinted her eyes as her suspicion grew even more, no friend of hers would have lionesses as bodyguards or wouldn’t show his face.

He left the cellar in silence followed by his guards.

The princess went after him immediately after he left the cellar. But there was no one there anymore by the time she looked outside.

A familiar feeling struck her… but she quickly put it aside and rushed back inside.

“Lilly!” said Eileen approaching her.

“I’m fine Eileen” Lilly was already resting in an improvised bed.

“What happened?” questioned the concerned princess.

“Earlier today, we were brought to the upper levels of the prison. Then, not long ago, the woman with the brown hair stormed the place. I’ve never seen anything like it. The guards… they stood no chance against her. She went by as if they were nothing… She opened the cages with spells I never saw before and helped us out”

“Spells? A lioness used spells to open the cage?”

She nodded “She brought us outside and helped us through the city. In the middle of the way we met the blond one. With the two we were able to get here quickly. The man in black was already waiting by the trapdoor when we arrived” explained Lilly.

“Who is he? Do you know?” Eileen asked the red haired mage as she also looked at Ursula.

Francis and Albert were close by, listening to the conversation as well.

The first army veterans were treating Bhalrom and Serena, as they needed medical attention.

“I don’t know,” said Lilly as Ursula also shook her head as well. His identity was a complete mystery.

Eileen nodded. “All I know for sure is that those two are from the clans, Lionesses, but that shouldn’t be possible. No lioness is allowed to leave the clan and serve someone else than the clan leader. And he would not come to Allard” said Eileen, pondering for a moment before continuing.

“I don’t like this. Why is he helping us? And why can’t he answer our questions? Something is not right… Why didn’t he bring Elise here too?” asked the princess.

“I agree that he is rather strange… We need to be careful until we are sure of his intentions,” added Ursula.

Eileen stood up. She knew Lilly was tired and needed to rest.

The princess looked at Serena and Bhalrom, but they were already sleeping, covered with bandages made by the veterans. They seemed happy to see the knight captain free once again.

After discussing what happened with Ursula and Francis, she proceeded to her room to store her things and rest as well. As she entered the place, she noticed Riou’s clothes scattered on her bed on top of the bag.

“Ursula!” called Eileen. The court mage, Francis and Albert quickly came to her to see what was going on.

“Who did this? Someone messed with my things?” questioned the concerned princess pointing to the bag.

Ursula nodded “It was him… He wandered around as he pleased and then entered this room for some reason… he looked at those clothes for a moment and then left” Eileen quickly went to check the bag..

As she noticed all of them were still there, she sighed relieved.

Francis shook his head and stormed away.

“I don’t like that man… We can’t trust him” said the princess, clearly bothered by his actions. She didn’t know why, but she had that strong feeling about him.

---------------------------------- Riou

“Something happened, master?” questioned Attia.

Riou was putting his ring back as they watched the rebel hideout entrance from the roofs of the neighboring houses.

He was looking for a good watching spot.

“When I saw my old clothes in that room, I realized Eileen was with the rebels,” explained Riou.

Both Attila and Bellica were surprised “That woman with the blade? Is she the one to be your mate master?” asked Bellica surprised, realizing they almost attacked her.

“Sorry master” they both said in unison while lowering their heads. He just waved to them as there was no reason to apologize.

“That’s why I felt your scent on her! Now it makes sense since she had your old clothes. Is that a tradition here, master?” said Attia, curious. “I want some of your old clothes too then!” added Bellica excited

Riou thought it to be a very strange remark. Why would Eileen have his scent just by having his clothes in a bag? However, before he could ask, Bellica continued.

“Why didn’t you talk to her? I bet she would want to see you” questioned the lioness, rather confused.

Riou smiled but shook his head “I couldn’t, not like that. And I believe someone down there might be a spy for the council. The trap and the pursuers Attia fought… they could easily get everyone but they all went after just one of the rebels. It’s clear it was a trap within a trap. They wanted to capture Eileen at all costs.” Riou nodded while pondering.

"They probably didn’t want to expose the spy attacking this place directly,” added Attia.

“Maybe they didn’t want the rebels to know what happened to her either?” suggested Bellica.

Riou nodded “At least now I can try to use that to our favor” he said looking down. “For my plan to work, the enemy must be completely unaware of us.”

“What are you planning, master?” questioned Attia.

“I want a hidden party protecting the rebels here, day and night. Two gray and four blue cloaks, veterans only. The mission will be to protect Eileen and capture the leader of any group that might attack them. Tell them to bring it to me back at the village.”

“How do you know that they will attack?” questioned Bellica.

“Since we freed their prisoners and both princesses are out of their hands… Their only option is to go for Eileen directly. They’re probably still intending to marry her to the knight next month” explained Riou.

“I understand, they have no other option now,” said Attia.

“Since their spy probably was here and saw us today, they will probably try to figure out who we are before acting. But once they find nothing, it's very likely that they will attack to capture her”

Riou pondered for a moment. “Also, send 4 blues to the temple of Brine to guard the king and queen. I have a feeling they might want to make sure they are dead and might send someone to do the job. We need to avoid exposing them until the priestesses are ready to come to the city.”

Attia and Bellica acknowledge the requests.

“Let’s return to the village for now and set everything up.”

-------------------------- That night in the Hideout

Eileen was going to sleep. She took the black shirt from the leather bag and hugged it before she fell asleep.

--------------------------- 2 Days later in the Village.

Riou left his house in the middle of the morning wearing his armor and dagger, ready to go out once again. On the way, he passed by the children’s training grounds and saw Elise with them.

Finding it curious, Riou approached them. The children immediately noticed him, they all stopped what they were doing and flocked around him.

“Do the trick master! Do the trick!” shouted the children, surrounding him. Elise approached as well, but she seemed rather embarrassed for some reason.

“Fine, but just once…” he blew in his clenched fist and threw something up. A small white ball went up and busted not too far from them. Small snowflakes began to slowly fall as the children jumped and tried to catch them.

Riou approached Elise as the children played with the snowflakes. “They love snow and ice, there was nothing like it where they came from” Riou paused looking at Elise. “And I must say, I never took you for someone that likes children” he said smiling at her.

Elise looked a bit confused by the remark, still a bit embarrassed by Riou’s presence there.

“I mean you came to the training ground to play with them, right?”

“Play? Yes! Play, of course… I came here to play with them” the princess was forcing a smile.

“Well, I hope you are enjoying your stay here. If you need anything, let me or Arthas know” as he was preparing to leave. Elise nodded and waved goodbye to him awkwardly, relieved that he didn’t discover her.

The day before, she went to the basic training grounds, but as she couldn’t keep up the teacher lesson, she was sent back to the kids’ training until she had the fundamentals down. She was devastated and ashamed because of that.

The young man began to walk towards the portal point. They set a small house to serve as a gateway house and protection to the crystal. That way everyone could use it as necessary, as the blue cloaks and above could easily activate it as well.

As Riou approached, he could see Bellica was leaving the gateway house.

“Master!” said the warrior, lowering her head respectfully.

“Good morning Bellica. How is the mission going?”

“So far no signs of the enemy in the city. Attia will be bringing the report on the temple soon. She is talking to the team at the other location” replied Bellica as she had just returned from the city.

--------------------------------------- Hideout

“I’m afraid Ursula is right Eileen” said the knight captain. He had bandages all over on his torso and arms, but he seemed to be recovering well.

“I don’t see a way out of this… I heard from the guards that the King was on his last breath. I don’t like this option, but if your parents died...” said the knight captain with a fearful expression.

“It all will be lost if Rodrick gathers the support of the majority of the nobles. The best option is indeed to marry Eileen and claim the throne before he can amass more supporters.”

Eileen sighed. She knew what she had to do.

Bhalrom put his hand on the princess's shoulder.

“The old garrison has a hidden passage that leads outside of the wall. I heard it's closed now because of the plague. I will go with some men to the temple. I need to see how the king is. If he still lives, he needs to hear from me that this plague had nothing to do with the first army, that my duty to him is not finished until I clean my name and the soldier's reputation.”

Eileen smiled. “I will go too. It’s been too long since I saw them. I need to know if they are still with us” Eileen looked at Ursula and Francis. “Once I return, we will make the arrangements,” she said, forcing a smile.

Ursula nodded silently.

-------------------------------------- Iris

A vase flew through the room in the castle. The green banners on the walls waved as it hit the stone and shattered into pieces.

“Who is it? It’s not the Magus… So who is helping them in Longart?” questioned the man with a noble’s attires.

“I don’t know, Lord Griffith. The magus was seen in Iris’ streets recently, as for the stranger in Longart… nobody has heard or seen anything. Not even the guards. The only one that saw him and lived was our spy at the rebel hideout and even he couldn’t provide much information” said the servant.

“This must be the same one that helped them in Brigantium. Showing up again after so long, but why now? After all this time in the shadows... we need to find out who he is!” said the lord once again. “Leave! Don’t come back until you have better information”

He walked towards a cabinet and took an orange round stone, small enough to fit easily in one’s clenched hand.

He poured mana into the stone, a voice echoed from it.

“Yes master Tessai?” answered the strange voice from within the stone.

“Put an end to the rebels. I don’t care if you kill everyone. This has gone too far, there can be no mistakes now. Capture the princess at once!”

“It will be done” said the voice as the Lord closed the connection.

“If I bring these failures to the council… the shadow master will have me killed. There can be no mistakes now. I can’t take any chances, the princess must be captured before the next moon.” He reassured himself as he stored the stone once again.

--------------------------------------------- That night.

The rebels were moving in the silence of the night. Eileen and Bhalrom had prepared a few men to travel to the temple. It was a couple days away on foot, so they packed supplies before leaving.

Meanwhile, dark forces approached quickly towards the hideout unaware that the princess had left it. A single mage in dark robe with argonian runes inscribed in his cloth bearing the mark of the council followed by four undead fighters.

They carried weapons and a sturdy-looking studded leather armor. They moved quickly, leaving only the trail of their glowing red eyes.

But before they could reach the hideout, they were intercepted by two cloaked figures.

A man appeared in front of the sinister group that stopped immediately at the sight. The other one appeared from thin air right behind them.

Both were wearing dark gray cloaks and covered their faces.

The council agent smiled from beneath the dark hood after noticing the swords on their belts and the armor.

“I must congratulate you… not everyone can detect my puppets on the move, much less ambush me” he said to the one in front.

“Remember the master's order” said the first man to the gray cloak at the back. “We need to bring this one alive”

“I know! I feel a faint mana connection from him to the undead, it should be easy to capture him after we deal with them, ” said a woman from behind the enemy group.

They were completely ignoring the dark mage.

“You are foolish to appear before me! I’m a true death lord, disciple of a great dark master, follower of the Death God! My undead cannot be rivalled by any living creature!” The mage put his hand forward and conjured a red energy on his hand. The undead red eyes glowed even brighter.

“This undead are the scourge of the beastmen… Not even the mightiest warriors can withstand their power. They flee by the sight of their red eyes! And you were stupid enough to stand in my path, now die,” said the mage, commanding the undead to attack.

The four undead moved so quickly towards the two strangers that they seemed to vanish. Two went to the front while two went for the cloaked one at the back.

The undead were ready to attack with death spells activated on their bodies and their swords.

The death mage watched with a smile as he knew the undead would kill them in an instant.

But as the undead got near them, they just fell to the ground as flashes of light shone from their eye sockets and mouth.

“Come… our master wants to talk to you,” he suddenly heard from the man in front approaching him, walking on top of the bodies of his undead.

“What!? How… You were outnumbered… Those undead could equal the best beastmen warriors in combat! Their swords were empowered by death magic, a single cut would kill a man… their bodies strengthened with dark magic, creating an aura to weaken the enemy! How mere swordsmen of Allard could deal with two of them at the same time? What kind of magic did you use against them?”

The gray cloak in front of him looked confused. “I don’t know what you are talking about, those undead were very common, now surrender or I will have to knock you off” added the gray cloak.

“Hahaha!” the mage laughed loudly. “You fool, I will make your body my servant after I kill you!” said the mage chanting a death spell towards him.

A purple ray was shot by the dark mage at the cloaked man in front of him. It hit him right in the chest as the mage joyfully laughed.

“Die!”

The gray cloak just shook his head after receiving the spell right on as if it was nothing. He then continued towards the death mage “A Death Beam of this level won’t even graze this armor that was enchanted by the master personally”

“You should be dead! That spell should have disintegrated you whole!” shouted the mage, conjuring a more powerful one as the man approached.

The dark council mage knew he was in deep trouble and quickly pulled a dark stone with a red Rune from inside his robe. But before he could use it or cast another spell, everything went black for the undead mage. He fell down on the ground as the other gray cloak stood right behind him.

“Was that the ‘slumber touch’? You know that our master doesn't like when we use spells that need physical contact with the enemy” questioned the one in front.

She nodded. “I know, It was a variant of the Sleep of the Dead… it also needs contact, but they were so weak, I thought it would be a problem.”

The one in the front seemed to smile and shook his head. “You should know better, even if the enemy is weak we must follow his guidance and rules all times”

“I know! I wasn’t going against it! I just wanted to put his teachings to good use! It’s different! I’d never go against his orders!” she said in an apologetic tone, trying to convey that was not what she meant.

The one in front nodded. “Now take this one back. Make sure he doesn’t wake up. The blue cloaks went after master’s mate so I will stay behind and watch the ones that remained at the hideout, just in case of another attack.”

-------------------------------------------- Few hours later. ************

*SPLASH* Water was thrown at the dark mage’s face.

“Wake up”.

The dark mage was sitting down, tied and bound by a spell in some sort of cave under the surface of the earth. The walls seemed to be made of rocks and dirt, no windows could be seen in the small square room.

Beside a large man that resembled one of the lion clan members, was a younger man.

The dark mage couldn’t move from the chair, something bound him to it very tightly. Not even mana was passing through his limbs.

“So you are the mysterious party that has been messing with my master’s plan,” said the death mage, smiling as he continued trying to concentrate mana in his hand. But despite his efforts, no spell was forming.

The young man approached. “Forget it… this bound spell will not allow you to cast anything.” The man paused and stood before the dark mage.

“Who is your master?”

“Oh, I see what this is… you will torture me and try to get some answers, right? Too bad for you I can’t feel any pain! This body is just a vessel. If you release me from it I will just find another.” answered the joyous death mage.

The young man smiled happily at the dark mage. “This is my domain, you will feel pain if I want you to.” The young man looked to the other one and nodded.

The lion walked behind the dark mage and put something on his back.

A sharp pain erupted from it. A pain that wouldn’t go away despite his movements or attempt to dismiss it. “What have you done to me?” he questioned, unable to see what it was.

The pain slowly and gradually increased.

As a disciple of a death lord, he had undergone the undead ritual, moving his soul from dead body to dead body to extend its own lifetime.

Pain was something long forgotten.

“You see… in the spirit realm there was this… thing. We called it soul eater.” The young man said with a smile.

“Nasty thing, not that big compared to some of the other stuff we found there, but definitely one of the worst things for sure. Dark gray fur on an elongated body. It only appeared at night. No eyes or mouth. You must be asking yourself, how does it feed or locate its prey then? And I’d tell you that no matter how big or strong its prey was, once it attached itself to it, there was no chance for survival.”

The young man circled around the chair where the death mage was sat down contorting in pain.

“The secret was in its claws, very small and very sharp. The thing used them to latch to its victim and consume its very essence through them. What you are feeling now it's just my take of the real thing… with a little twist of course, especially designed to deal with undead like you” said the young man.

The mage went silent.

“Or do you think you are the first stubborn undead mage I've had to deal with? No… I’ve dealt with worse things than you. And all of them couldn’t stand the Soul Eater claws.”

The dark mage screamed and desperately tried to escape its body. Unable to do so, he realized he was completely trapped by spells he couldn’t recognize.

He looked very surprised and even a bit fearful at the young man that smiled at him.

“Your very soul belongs to me now… well, what is left of it at least,” the young man said smiling devilishly as he walked away from him.

“Now… let’s try once again, who is your master?”

------------------------------------------- couple hours later

“So that’s how it went… The knight’s servant is the spy... I must confess that the Vanishing letter event was bugging me for ages. Now I understand what Callas said, it makes much more sense now” Riou said to the death mage that was clearly on his last breaths.

“Please… no more. I said everything I knew. Make it stop! Make it stop!”

“No, you didn’t tell me enough on thisTessai guy. Or as he likes to be called in Iris, Lord Griffith.” questioned the young man once again.

“The green banner… the knight… he, he supports Tessai in Iris for ages now. That’s all that I know” said the death mage while suffering greatly.

“Why? What does he gain with it?” continued Riou.

“He is a depraved man… full of deadly diseases and curses. If it weren’t for Tessai he’d be dead long ago. He needs his magic to ward him from death. And the green banner is needed because he controls everything there. The black Rose, the assassins… this way Tessai has a hand and in every dark organization in Allard”

“I see… You mentioned your previous order was to find Maximilian, the Great Magus, do you know where he is now?”

“I heard he was in Iris… but we do not know what he is planning or doing there. He is a clever man and knows how to hide from our agents. That’s how he survived so long, we couldn’t find him there.”

Arthas came from outside. “Master, we are expecting company at the front gates. How do you wish to proceed?”

Riou pondered for a moment. “Let them come, I will handle it myself, tell everyone to stand down and wait for me”

Arthas nodded and went back.

“You promised to make it stop…” said the death mage, contorting himself on the chair in agony.

“Fine… I think I got enough from you already” He snapped his fingers and a light shone brightly inside the room, the death mage’s weakened body instantly became dust when touched by the bright light. It quickly scattered amidst the dirt in the room disappearing completely.

From his back, a claw fell down on the chair he was sitting, curved like a hook and hollow.