When the door opened I saw a little girl before me, she had the same eyes as Elena so I guessed that she must be her little sister. She looked at me for a second and then lowered her gaze to my hands; did she expected me to bring something. I could tell she was disappointed with me for some reason.

“Can I talk to the Chief” I asked her politely with a smile.

She started running inside while shouting “Grandpa someone is here to see you”

I went inside instead of waiting for someone to show up. The first thing I came across was a dining room coupled with a kitchen. A woman was seated there in a chair. As soon as she saw me she stood up in alarm.

“Who are you? You guards promised that you won’t bother us without a reason” She said in an agitated tone.

“I came here with the news regarding your daughter. No need to be so alarmed” I assured her.

Just then an old man and old women came into the room.

“What about my daughter. Is she safe? Did they capture her? Where is she?” the women started firing a series of questions at me.

“Calm down Hellen, guards outside will hear you” said the Chief to calm her.

“Ah.. There’s no need to worry about them, I just sent them on a little errand. They will be back soon so I would like to explain even thing before they arrive.” I said to the old man who was now cautions after hearing that I have sent the guards on errand.

“Who are you?” The old man asked me with a worried expression.

“It doesn't matter who I am. Elena is outside the village; I told her to stay there and came here to check things out. I accompanied her to the village.” I said looking at the old man.

Suddenly Hellen sprang on me and grabbed my shoulders “Where is my daughter, please bring her to me. I beg you.. Please” she then slumped down and grabbing my legs while sobbing.

I felt pity for her situation; she was old enough to be my mother’s age. Yet here she was grabbing the legs and begging a person who is not much older than her own daughter. I grabbed her shoulder and then raised her. I looked at her and

told her that I would bring her daughter back at any cost. I told her not to worry and wait patiently for her daughter.

The old man interfered me and said “Don’t bring her here. The captain is waiting for her and as soon as she comes, he will take both her and Hellen into custody and take them to Levylon for execution”

“Don’t worry. I have something special planned for the Captain. I promised to protect Elena and would see it though” I said in a firm tone.

There was a knock on the door and the old man went to see who it was. He came back with a big bulky man in armor and two other guards. The man was heinous to look at with scares all over his face.

“I heard your Sire is here on business. I am the captain of the guards of Levylon. I am extremely sorry for not being here to receive you, Pardon me for my rudeness. As a loyal servant of his highness I shall serve you with all my strength.” The Captain said while placing the right hand to his shoulder.

“You came at the right moment. This chief here told me that there are no decent men in the village to escort me to the forest. I’ll have you and your men escort me to the forest.” I said to him now changing my voice into an arrogant tone.

“Forgive me for my impudence but we cannot leave this village. We are assisting a diplomat of Levylon on a mission and abandoning it would harm our trade ties. I request your sire to take few men from the village along with a few guards. I will personally assist you in choosing appropriate men to accompany you” The captain said to me.

I stared at him for a moment and then started walking towards the door “Very well, I never thought that a mere captain of Levylon denying an order directly from a subordinate of the Royal family. You can start digging your grave along with that diplomat in his foreign soil. There is no place in this country for the graves of rebels and possible spies of other countries.”

I slammed the door behind my back and left the house. I walked a few steps when the Captain came running towards me.

“Sire, please wait. I did not intend to disrespect you or the Royal family. If I had known that it was such an important mission then I would have never opened my mouth. I would comply with your every command and immediately arrange the guards to accompany you. I myself would guard you to ensure your safety. Please don’t take my rudeness to heart” The captain said in a fearful tone. Funny what a little bit of authority can do.

After a few minutes we were on our way out of the village. The captain told me that he would arrange for horses for us to ride. I denied him telling that bringing along horses would impede our journey into the forest.

“Your sire, May I know what is your purpose for visiting the forest” The Captain asked me hesitantly.

“It is said that there’s a dragon in the forest, we are going to confirm those rumors and observe it’s behavior if we came across it” I said to the captain pretending to be displeased by his questioning.

The guards started murmuring among themselves.

“I heard the rumors that his highness was interested in the dragon for some time. Wouldn’t it be better for the knights of the capital to carry out the mission? My men are not strong enough to withstand the attacks of a dragon” The captain said in a pleading tone.

“The knights are already stationed in the forest. Due to some preparations I was delayed and told the knights and other mages to go ahead of me. Your mission ends after I regroup with the knights, you may very well return after that.” I replied to him which satisfied the Captain and clear any lingering doubts he had about me.

I led them straight towards the place where Elena was hiding. I saw Elena sitting under a tree looking at the flowers before her.

As soon as the Captain saw Elena he stopped in his tracks and then shouted on top of his lungs “Men, Capture her. Don’t let her get away”

The guards started running in Elena’s direction and soon captured her. Elena resisted for a few a whiles but she quit her struggle when she saw me.

The Captain was the only one who was still besides me, all the guards were a few distance away securing Elena. I drew my sword and quickly placed it on the Captain’s neck.

The Captain and the guards were surprised by my action but stood there motionless.

“Drop your weapons or else you’d be carrying back a headless Captain” I told them in a loud voice,

The guards stood there without moving. I inched the sword into the Captain’s skin and blood dripped down his neck showing them that I was serious.

“Drop your weapons now. Do as he says dammit.” The captain screamed on top of his lungs. I took the Captains sword and knife with my other hand and threw it away at a distance.

I formed a black ball of energy and pointed it at the captain.”Release the girl and get on your knees.”

After being release Elena ran upto me and stood behind my back. The guards dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground as ordered. I told them to group together on their knees and they complied.

I extended my hand towards the kneeling guards and concentrated. The black energy grew big and I released it in their direction. An explosion sounded out as all the guards and the tree behind them were blown into pieces. It happened so fast that even Elena was surprised. I quickly turned my sword and with the hilt of the sword hit the head of the Captain with force. With a grunt the Captain fell on the ground unconscious.

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Here's another chapter. I know that the pace of the chapters has become slow but I don't want to rush and make a mess. My main focus is on the developing the characters and giving an appropriate background to the things to come in future. If you feel anything is bad or not to your liking, let me know so that I can learn and grow to write better stories. I request you not to give very low ratings without giving a proper reason.