Chapter 4: Hidden in Plain Sight

Stella led Julius by hand as they weaved through the alleyways in the dark of night. Passing by tents and sticks with piles of garbage, Stella turned a corner and dropped to her knees. She began clawing at the crevice between the wall and ground that was encased in snow. Eventually, she hit a wooden bar on the wall that was roughly the size of a small window. The sound of metal clanking echoed through the alleyways. Unable to pinpoint exactly which direction the sound was coming from due to extreme exhaustion and blood loss, Julius drew his sword and prepared for a fight. At this point, he was on his last legs. The next fight would likely be his last if it was a decent opponent or group.

“Bingo!” Stella cried out.

“Hurry, get inside!”

Julius looked back to the wall that Stella had been clawing at and saw a square hole that was barely big enough for someone to squeeze through. The sound of armor and guards hollering grew louder.

“I hope they don’t sniff around too much.”

Julius grabbed Stella by one hand and tossed her through the hole. Due to her small, childish frame, she went through without incident. He then dove through the square that was barely large enough to fit through. The room that the hole led to was pitch black and completely silent. The moonlight that shined through the window gave Stella enough light to walk over to the hole. She began to reach her hands out to bring snow back towards the window in an attempt to cover their tracks. She closed the wooden bar. This snuffed any moonlight that was seeping into the room and encased the two in total darkness. The only sound that could be heard was the heavy breathing of Julius and Stella and dripping water from melting snow.

“What is this place?” Asked Julius.

“I think it was some kind of storage… ummm… weapons maybe?” Replied Stella.

“Gunpowder.” The sound of an old woman struck Julius like a bolt of lightning.

“Who is it?! Who’s there?!”

Julius drew his sword.

“Calm down! It’s just Auntie!”

He was surprised by her sudden explanation. The old woman spoke.

“No matter what this place used to store, it is abandoned now. Now tell me… why have you brought someone here, Stella?”

“Ummm… it’s kind of a long story. I don’t really have time to tell it. I need to get back to my part of the slums before a plant notices that I’ve left.”

“I see. If you are questioned by the guards, you can just claim ignorance. They do not know that I was with someone, so you should return to your place.”

“Right. Ummm. Julius…”

Julius, despite being in complete darkness, could feel anxiety rising in his heart. The reason for this was known in his heart.

“We’ll… meet again, right?”

Julius sighed as if annoyed by his younger sister.

“Of course we’ll meet again. I’ve seen who you are as a person, and want to make sure you are okay in the future. We will meet again. I swear it!”

“Right!” Stella yelled happily.

Despite the black cold surrounding him, he felt warmth at hearing her excitement. His current blindness did not prevent him from knowing the look of the smile on her face.

“Alright then! I’m off!”

Stella held her ear to the window to make sure no one was near. She then crawled out and closed it behind her. She could hear Julius before the window shut completely.

“Be safe!”

Stella smiled once more as she ran off into the direction of her home.

A cold breeze rolled through the alleyways.

On the other side of Stormfell, in an enormous castle on top of a hill surrounded by fields of green.

“Your Majesty! Urgent news from Norkfell!”

A large man with a bald head and pink beard sat on a throne. On top of his head, he wore a golden crown with ornate jewels. This crown signified the head of the Royal Family. The King of Stormfell opened the letter that his personal aid had retrieved from the kneeling messenger. As the man read, his eyes opened in surprise at the contents of the message.

“This… is unacceptable. Notify the 2nd, 3rd, and 5thprinces. Send a message to the 4th, 6th, and 7thprincesses as well. Make sure everyone is under protection at all times. Also, contact him.”

The personal aid that was in deep bow until this moment looked up in surprise. He immediately looked back to the floor and understood what to do.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

The aid and messenger left through the enormous doors opposite the throne. The King called out to the fortune teller off to the side at the foot of his throne.

“Krell. Show me Prince Noel.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

The ugly hunchback called Krell held an orb in his hands. This was an effect of his personal magic that he was born with from his clan. An image of a scarred man appeared on the orb. The pink hair left that it was no doubt Prince Noel. His lips were melted away, but it was obvious that he was currently donning a smile for an unknown reason. Seeing the extent of these wounds, the King had observed enough and dismissed Krell. Besides the guards scattered throughout, the King was the only one left in the room. His extravagant yellow robes covered the floor around him. He shifted his head onto his arm as he looked at the ceiling while deep in thought.

“The Dreamer, huh…”

Time passed. In Norkfell, armed guards run through the alleyways while on the hunt for the insurgent. They had been searching for over a day, but had yet to find The Dreamer. Other than a strange order by the Prince that left them with a sick taste in their mouth, they had made no actual progress. They had searched every single alley in the city multiple times, yet no clues had been found despite dead bodies in the slums. The head of the Norkfell City Guard stood in front of an extravagant bed. The figure of a man was underneath a white sheet.

“Prince Noel. Head City Guard James, reporting our current status.”

The figure’s head shifted slightly as he spoke in a rushed, eager, and pained tone.

“What is happening? Is there any more progress?”

“No, Sir. We’ve had no progress in twelve hours now. We have searched all known buildings and homes. We have no reason to believe that anyone in the city would aid such a criminal, but we have been thorough in the search. Presently, the only possible conclusion is that The Dreamer is no longer in the city.”

“What?! How could he have escaped?! Didn’t you lock down the exits of the city?!”

James slightly recoiled at the harsh response by the royalty before him. He knew better than anyone what kind of things Prince Noel was capable of, especially when it came to The Dreamer. He rushed his next words in a slightly shaking voice.

“We did. However, there are many places of the wall that are unsupervised. If he had previously set up an escape plan capitalizing on the lack of guards in poor areas of the city, it is possible that he has long since left the city and entered the mountains.”

Prince Noel remained unmoving in his sheet. The dead silence caused James an incredibly uncomfortable feeling of anxiety.

“I’m sorry, Sir! I will immediately lead a group of guards to slay him! Forgive me, I beg of you!”

Prince Noel finally spoke after another full minute of silence. James was drenched in cold sweat underneath his armor.

“I understand, James. Do not beat yourself up too hard.”

James’s eyes widened before he exhaled a sigh of relief. An enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His lips parted a slight grin at such a happy moment.

“That’s my job.”

“Amon!”

“Cut his arm off and feed it to the dogs while he watches.”

James’s face showed intense surprise before he begged the Prince to reconsider. Before he could finish his begging, a large hand with a white glove grabbed him from behind and dragged him out of the room in a nonchalant manner. James’s resistance was completely futile in the grip of the man called Amon.

Prince Noel remained unmoving while his head faced the ceiling. His body began to shake, either from frustration or pain. Blood seeped through the sheets as he passed out. As his eyes shut, a faint groan of either pain or rage leaked out.