Frederick wanted to question Cyrus's right to put him in the spotlight that way, but decided to be held accountable first. "I recognise that you are not from around here", he said. "But I digress. The main driving force behind I and my brother's success in joining the King's Diamond, unlike the others, was not by sheer talent or hard work. But rather, it was by bloodthirst. I and my brother, deep down had a thirst for blood. Growing up in the streets, we had the little we needed for survival by killing, and ever since childhood we had been that way, ever since we watched our parents get killed in cold blood and avenged them immediately. We thought we would never kill again, but what we failed to realise was that one never turned back once he goes down that path, and we learnt that the hard way. Just as we had killed our parent's killer and got the things he had on him for ourselves, we went on by that example, using violence to get everything what we wanted. After all, we were bot

Only four villagers died from the war, and their sacrifices were celebrated by the rest of the village that night. Their families mourned for them, while the rest of the village would see to their cremation and burial later that day. Cyrus would be present for everything, wanting to personally honour the sacrifices of those men, as he felt somewhat responsible for their deaths. Though the village had survived the attack, the roofs of most of the houses were severely damaged, and in a few houses, the roofs had completely collapsed inwards, and it was a mess. So a lot of families had gone to work, putting things in place as much as they could so they could at least sleep comfortably that night. They were grateful that the attack did not occur during the rainy season or on winter. The younger children were at the battlefield, harvesting as many weapons and armour as they could find from the corpses of their enemies under strict supervision of the older children. After a short momen

At about that time, Felix was at the back of his house seated next to his mother's grave. He took a cup of mead and poured half on it on the heaped soil. "I know you've never been a fan of mead", Felix said. "But you promised to drink it with me someday." Then he wiped a tear from his eye. "I am leaving the village", Felix said. "With Cyrus. Just as you told me, I do have a royal relative - though he is a lot different compared to what you made him out to be. It seems you three share the same strange silver hair everyone talks about. Fortunately, I got my father's brown hair instead. Though I never met his mother, the one you spoke the most about - the characteristics you said she had, I found all of them in her son. He is selfless, brave and stupidly naive - Everything you said your sister was as a young woman. Though he isn't a coward like I am, he still needs me - At least, he says so, but I'm yet to find out how." Then he took a few gulps of the drink before pouring the left

Not too far from the Sargath village was Fayhold, a town three days' ride from the city's walls. It was the first proper stop from which one would no longer be able to see the mighty walls of Griffindale's Capital City, even though it was built on a tall hill. Cyrus, Felix, and Richard were riding on their way there, and the chief's son was quoting from a recent book he had read a few times about the areas around Griffindale. Particularly, about Fayhold. "It was an independent town, free from all rulership from external forces until quite recently, when they were captured and made a client region under the wing of Emperor Athanasius, ruler of the Midlands" he said in an assured tone. "How sure are you that is the case?" Felix asked him. "How did you even get access to such information to begin with?" "Well, my father had his sources from within the city walls, though he hardly read from them at all," Richard replied. "But I can assure you that it is up to date. What I just quoted

The men's armor only consisted of the breast plate, cauldron, and gauntlet, and each of the men was armed with shields and spears. "Who are you?" one asked. Before the others could figure out what to say, Cyrus spoke up. "We are travelers," he said. "We came here to see someone and spend some time with him." "Who is that person?" he asked. "Kendrick Thorrington," Richard said. The moment he said that, the guards were all on edge, looking at the trio like they were real threats. "What is your business with him?" one of the soldiers asked. Cyrus looked at the others and almost smiled. Frederick was right in his assumption that his brother, Kendrick, was now a person of influence. If he wasn't, the guards wouldn't have been on defense when they heard his name. But he still wasn't sure what kind of influencer Kendrick was. As far as they knew, Kendrick could be a criminal who may have caused so much trouble that anyone affiliated with him could have been seen as a threat. "D