Richard, with his father's permission, took two of his horses from the barn of Julius, the farmer who lived close to the entrance of the village. He gave one of them to his friend, Felix, who was delighted to have a horse of his own. "Thank you," he said, turning back to the chief and giving a bow of respect. Then the trio all got on their horses, ready to leave the village. Richard and Felix saw this as a great time for Cyrus to leave the villagers with a word of encouragement, or at least a motivational speech of some kind. But instead, he spun around with his horse suddenly and rode off, leaving the other two looking dumbfounded. "Well, what are you both waiting for?" asked Frederick. "Aren't you supposed to be following him?" You both were fine with leaving earlier than this, weren't you? Don't get all mushy with us now! The duo smiled, and like Cyrus, they spun around and rode off without looking back. While the others cheered, Frederick and his wife looked grim amid their smil
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
After another long day of walking and riding, the trio could finally catch a glimpse of their destination from the Highlands. Seeing the town from afar just the way it was drawn in the map gave them the hope that Richard was right all along. Although there seemed to be some inconsistencies, it was most likely because of recent developments between when the source the map was drawn and the current day. Right before the town was another large forest, where they would hopefully be able to arrive at and set up camp, as the sun was already setting. But it seemed a bit too far, and they worried their horses would get too exhausted while trying to get there before nightfall. Nothing much had changed within the few years of Richard's knowledge, and with great excitement, the trio rode down the hill, letting go of all worries as they headed for Fayhold. It seemed their horses shared the same excitement, as they showed little sign of exhaustion after running several miles, with Ceres seemi
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
The first rebel, an archer, shot his arrow, aiming at Lucius, but right before he could shoot it, he felt an arrow lodge itself into his chest. The rebel looked in shock at Richard, who had pulled out an arrow and fired so quickly that he didn't notice. The rebel behind Richard was about to attack, but the chief's son instinctively ducked and kicked, putting an arrow through his hip, causing the rebel to scream out in pain. The other rebels had begun attacking the other two—Cyrus and Lucius—who had begun fighting side by side by default, both being great swordsmen. Richard noticed Felix and cried out to him to get on one of the horses and ride away. "We will catch up with you soon!" Richard cried out. "But don't get too far!" He also signaled for the other horses to follow as well, lest harm come to them in the fight. With those instructions, Felix got on the horse and began galloping away, and as he was moving, two archers readied their bows, ready to fire at the unsuspecting rid
At that point, they were all right in front of a building that marked the end of the road, which now forked into three directions. The building was oddly guarded by a perimeter of armed guards. And while Richard was still speaking, they all heard a voice coming from above them. "What was the unrest about, Lucius? I could hear the grunting and shouting in my room," asked the voice. "Please don't tell me it was another rebellion." "I would hate to directly defy your plea, prefect. But that is exactly what it was. I'm sure you know at this point the kind of people we are dealing with," Lucius replied. Richard and the others widened their eyes as they looked upward as well, realizing that the person talking was Kendrick Thorrington, the person they were looking for. "And who are those strangers with you?" asked the prefect. "They don't seem to be around here." "Actually, they are visitors from Sargath, a village in the Griffindale territory," Lucius replied. "They claim to be related
Far in the extreme ends of the town was an isolated area, covered in bushes that hadn't been cleared yet for the complete construction of the new walls. This was the hiding place of the rebels, where they would meet to discuss tactics and strategies. It was also the temporal hiding place for Harold Hamilton, known to those outside the upper echelons of the leaders of the rebellion as "the Berserker." There he was, having a casual talk with Conrad, his close friend and confidant; Olivia, Harold's lover and Conrad's sister; and Emil, a stealth hunter. But just as they were having a good time, a messenger arrived, breathing heavily. This caused the three of them to get up immediately, each alarmed by the manner with which the person had barged in. "Were you being followed?" asked Harold, getting upset. "No, that's not it," the person said, panting. "You came here in a hurry, which means you didn't bother to check if you were being followed," Conrad said. "Running towards an isola
"As foolhardy as ever," Conrad said. "How did things get to this?" Then he looked at the young rebel, who was still kneeling there, catching his breath. "Leave us," Olivia said to him, and he immediately got up and scrambled away. Then one of them spoke up. "Harold is the inspiration for most of the rebellion, and it is mostly thanks to his reckless behavior. For some reason, the people see it as a virtue," Emil said, combing his fingers through his hair. "So what do we do now?" asked Conrad. "Are we to wait for the census?" "How is that even going to work, exactly?" "Don't bother," replied Olivia. "That isn't going to happen. He was just making the point that the rest of the rebellion would differ from our standpoint on the issue, and we can't fight that." Emil nodded. "I see," he said. "I guess that explains why he dismissed us so suddenly. I thought he was just being a jerk." "He was just showing us that he could go down this road without us," Olivia said to Emil. "You