After the brief bandit attack, things went smoothly for the mission. Sting was enjoying his freedom, Sir Arnold was teaching Vreil how to lead a convoy and some other things, while Jeffrey, Linda and Heartilia remained in their wagons for the day and would only come outside at night, when the group stopped to eat. And so, two and a half weeks after their departure from Waterslide, the walls of Northguard appeared in front of them.

“Look at how big they are!” commented Vreil. Unlike the towns he had seen so far, Northguard was one of those places designed to hold off attackers, since it was so close to the borders. Its walls were almost fifteen meters tall, and its guards weren’t the usual unskilled, lazy ones you would meet in most towns inside the kingdom. They were mostly experienced soldiers who were undergoing training almost every day, as Sir Arnold informed him. “I pity the ones who will try to attack this town”, he said jokingly.

Since the group had been sent by the revolutionaries, the soldiers weren’t expecting them, so they pretended to be merchants. “Yes, yes, I trade mostly jewelry. Would you like some for your wives?” said Jeffrey. They had agreed that Linda would be his wife and Heartilia his daughter, while the rest would be hired guards.

“Show us your jewelry, then”, the soldiers demanded. Vreil thanked his luck for not running into such devoted guards back at Daybreak. I think his name was Seb, he thought back to the guard he had tricked all the way back then. I wonder what happened to him afterwards. Thinking back, Vreil was impressed with his progress. About half a year ago, he was almost dead in the forests near Daybreak.

How time flies.

“Here you go”, Jeffrey beamed as he showed the soldiers the jewelry they had stored in the second wagon, just in case. “Really nice, huh? I don’t want to sound too proud, but this is one of the best shipments I’ve had in quite a while.”

“Yeah, yeah, we don’t care. What did you say your name was?” one of the soldiers asked as he went to the outpost next to the gate. “David. Streiter David.”

“Very well, Mr. David. Have a nice day”, and they let them pass.

“Good job, Mr. Jeffrey”, Vreil congratulated him.

“Ha, boy. This is too easy for me. Back when I was in the palace, I had tricked much smarter people than these ones”, Jeffrey patted his chest. In the time spent together, he too had warmed up to Vreil.

“You were in the palace?”

“Yes, didn’t you know? I used to be a Baron, and own a huge chunk of land. Then the new king and his consultants came and took everything. They didn’t trust me, they said, because I hadn’t supported them enough. Ha, and ha again! Those cretins were just afraid of me because I wasn’t as easy to influence as the other idiots. So I joined the revolution to show them just who they messed with.”

“So you are helping the revolution to get your place back?”

“Not just my place. My land, my rights, my rightful position in the capital. But most of all, it is my pride I want to defend, and the future of my daughter. Until the revolution is successful and the country is safe, I will not rest. Because what is the meaning of having power if the ones you are supposed to protect are suffering? Sooner or later, that suffering will come and knock on your own door.”

“Those are some nice ideas, Mr. Jeffrey.”

“Of course they are. They are my ideas”, said Jeffrey and laughed.

“So, where is that Ashter?” asked Sting who had come next to their wagon.

“He is probably not here yet”, replied Sir Arnold, having approached them. “He will contact us as soon as he arrives. For now, we will just rent some rooms and wait. We have all that fake jewelry to sell anyway. They are nothing more than carefully coloured rocks but, unless an expert takes a look at them, they will be considered jewels of the highest caliber.”

“But that would be fraud”, commented Vreil.

“So?” asked Jeffrey, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“So, if our goal is to protect all these people, why are we stealing from them?” Sir Arnold and Jeffrey looked at each other and sighed.

“The world is not so simple, Vreil”, said Jeffrey. “But if you insist, we will only sell as much as we need to get by until Ashter arrives.”

“We will be getting rooms and selling the jewelry now. You boys go and explore the town, see if you can find anything worth mentioning. And try to discover the general idea behind the town’s design”, said Sir Arnold.

“Yes, sir.”

In the past few weeks, Vreil and Sting had learned to work together and, eventually, began tolerating each other. Of course, they were nowhere near being friends, but at least they wouldn’t stab each other out of the blue. Probably.

Northguard was full of interesting people and places, especially the market by the center of the town. There, near everything was sold and bought, and it was full of people running around and shouting in loud voices. Young girls were waiting by the entrances of small houses and there were even a couple of elven merchants. Those last ones were surrounded by curious children, staring excitedly at their double-coloured eyes. Vreil remembered the time when he first met Pier, when the other three that were with him were lost staring in Pier’s eyes. Vreil, however, had felt no such curiosity.

“Sting,” he suddenly asked, “does it feel like the elves’ eyes are pulling you in?”

“No, not at all”. I am too suspicious then, thought Vreil. Although Northguard was pleasant, Vreil and Sting didn’t forget the orders they had received from Sir Arnold. They had already found out that the town was centered around the market, and most of the streets were placed either north-south or east-west. They had only seen the central parts of the town so far but, from what the townspeople had told them, the town was almost square, covering a swathe of land about five square kilometers big. Not too large for a town, but not small either.

They distanced themselves from the market and walked into the suburbs, wandering the alleys for a while, trying to find something interesting but with no luck. Here, the scenery was different.

All they saw was beggars, whores and cheap bars. Children were idling around bare-footed, trying to find some way to live through the day. Puke was all over the street corners, apparently too much for the stray animals to eat, and shady people were eyeing everybody walking.

Not only the people, the streets and buildings too were beyond dirty, a clear contrast to the center of the town where everybody was well-fed and well-dressed. Apparently, only the nobles and the rich could stay there.

Vreil remembered that in the town of Daybreak, the situation was similar. He hadn't thought much about it then, but now...

The truth was that Vreil wasn't so obsessed with the revolution. So far he was just going with the flow, having found a new place to call home. But now... Perhaps there was some more merit to it. After all, this was indeed a problem of the people above just not caring, and for it to occur in two out of two towns that Vreil had visited was a bit too coincidental.

Exchanging a look, the two Arknas thought the others had probably finished their jobs by now and decided to return to the convoy.

But as they were exiting an alley, a man appeared and blocked their way.

“Two Arknas in the same place? That’s strange”, he said, grinning, and his voice seemed to carry a strange weight. Vreil and Sting immediately put their guard up.

They had gotten the information about Sting's eye lense and had made one for Vreil too. It wasn't too difficult with some magic, so now both of them should appear to be perfectly normal.

“Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that there is a bounty on all Arknas, dead or alive. I don’t care either way, so follow me quietly if you want to live.”

The man was dressed in rags and he wasn’t taller than Vreil, but there was something about him that made him feel extremely dangerous. Despite their collective power, their first instinct was to get away from him; it was like he was emitting the same kind of mental waves snakes do, the ones that make humans fear them, but even more powerful. Looking at him was like looking at a charging gorilla.

“And what if we refuse?” replied Vreil, trying to keep his voice straight as he drew his sword.

“Then you die.” From inside his rags, the man pulled out a sword too. It was long, with a red line going from the handle to the tip and, when he turned it, they noticed that it was so sharp that if its edge was facing them they almost couldn’t see it.

“Now”, he said, “do you really want to die?”

Suddenly, something big fell behind Vreil and Sting, and they glanced back ready to defend themselves. A wolf-like figure was standing behind them.

“Milos?” asked Vreil.

“Found him”, shouted Milos.

“Oh great, the bounty just keeps growing”, commented the unknown man, joyfully.

“Well then, shall we raise it a bit more?” a deep voice came from the roofs, and it was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been poured on them all. Momentarily, the unknown man’s eyes widened, but then he was back to normal again. He was less than three meters away by now, and he pointed his sword towards them.

“Don’t even think of doing anything funny, Ashter.” His voice was different now, deeper, heavier, serious. As if before, he was merely joking. “They are my hostages.”

“Really? A man such as yourself, of such high status, being pushed to the point where he needs to use hostages?” Ashter asked from up there, staring the man down from the nearest rooftop.

“Sometimes you just can’t do otherwise. Who would have thought that you were here as well? I had heard you were on your way to the Magic Council.”

“There was a slight change of plans. Tell me, what is the great captain of the Black House doing in a backwater place like this? Shouldn’t you be cuddling in your bed at the Capital by now?”

The man frowned. “I have the upper hand, Ashter. If you don’t let me go, I will first kill the taller Arknas, then I will ask you again. So, will you let me go peacefully?” Vreil and Sting paled; they were being treated as if their combat power was absolutely zero! Both Ashter and the unknown man were behaving as if the man's blade was already next to their throats.

“Touch either of them and you die”, came the deep voice from above, and it pulsed with threat.

“I wouldn’t dare test my might against the acclaimed Flood Bringer”, smiled the man. “But if I die, so will at least one of these innocent children. Make your choice, Ashter.”

The wizard frowned again, and power began slowly rolling out of him in waves. These ripples of power were almost visible, resembling blue rings, and even Vreil felt nauseous at this display of magical might. This was far beyond anything he could dream of. The unknown man’s grip tightened on his sword, but its tip remained steadily pointed at Milos and the two Arknas.

“You have my permission to leave here unharmed”, finally spoke the wizard, voice buzzing with indignation. “But I will remember these words of yours. Pray that I never walk into your town, lesser immortal, or the debt incurred through tongues will be paid in blood.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched, but he did not reply to Ashter’s threat. “And you won’t attack me or go after me?”

“So long as you do not harm anyone, I will not.”

“I will trust your word”, said the man and sheathed his sword. Then, disregarding his status, he ran as fast as he could.

“Just in time”, said Ashter as he glided down. His previous anger seemed to have melted away like snow in the oven. “If we were late by ten seconds, you would be dead. And so would he”.

“Wait, did you just glide through the air?” asked Vreil, ignoring the elephant in the room.

“Yes, I did. And I believe I have not met this young man before, have I?”

Vreil looked at Sting. “Sting, this is Ashter and this is Milos. This is Sting”, he introduced them.

“Nice to meet you”, said Sting, dripping with sweat.

“It is nice to meet you, too”, said Milos, smirking. “Actually, I have seen you before, but you were unconscious.”

“You are the boy that joined us recently, from the Black Beard pirates, correct?” asked Ashter.

“Yes sir, that’s right.”

“You have quite an interesting story with our leader. You tried to kill her once, then you saved her once. Do not worry, I trust you.”

“More importantly, Ashter,” asked Vreil, who remembered what Sir Arnold had told him, “why haven’t you told me about how great you really are, going to mountain Death and all. There are many legends about people going there, but I didn’t think there were actually people that strong. And who was the one who attacked us, anyway?”

“You did not ask me, so I did not tell you. And he was Baron Geddon, the captain of the Black House and, supposedly, the strongest warrior in the kingdom. If you ever meet someone like that again, I suggest you split up and run as fast as you can.”

“So that’s why he was feeling so dangerous.”

“No”, the wizard smiled, caressing his beard. “That was a type of magic. It is just a small trick that most people can do. All you do is show others the colors of your soul. It is what I am going to teach you next. And to Sting, of course, if he wants to.”

“I would appreciate that”, Sting answered. Now, he could understand why Captain Black Beard always had some kind of atmosphere around him.

“And how come Milos is here too? I thought he was back in Waterslide, training”, said Vreil.

“But he is training. He was sent here to help me find Geddon, and apparently that was a success. Good job, Milos.”

“Thank you, Ashter. Vreil, I left a day after you did, that's why I didn’t tell you. It was just me and a horse on the trip so I got here much faster than you did, about a week ago, and have been searching for Geddon ever since, with Ashter.”

“But Sir Arnold said that Ashter wasn’t in town.”

“Yes, because I forgot to tell him”, Ashter chuckled.

“Who is Sir Arnold?” asked Milos.

“He is the temporary head of the convoy and the second diplomat to the mission, beside myself”, answered Ashter.

“No, actually, I am the head of the convoy", Vreil corrected him, but he felt he had to add something more. "Although Sir Arnold is clearly more skilled than I am. He has taught me quite a few things.”

“Is that so? Good for you, Vreil”.

As they were talking, they were walking towards the convoy and, by now, they had reached it. After the introductions and greetings, and after Jeffrey had whined about how he had already paid for the rooms because they hadn’t told him they were in town, they agreed that they would leave immediately and set camp for the night right outside the Dark Area.

“Night in the Dark Area is not a pleasant experience, so we should aim to enter it right at dawn”, as Ashter had said. Milos, unfortunately, couldn’t come; he wished them luck and rode his horse back to Waterslide.