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
While Emil had left the bushes to give the siblings some private time, the young rebel had already gotten back to his home. Emil processed everything that was happening and felt like he needed to have some time with the other members of the leadership echelon to discuss how they could bring Harold under proper accountability. Harold was like a fire that couldn't be quenched; he was like a gear that could drive a machine independently without help from the other parts. He and the other two were regarded as his close friends, but they were always subject to putdowns. To people who were familiar with them, it was like they were nothing more than complementaries who supported him in everything regardless of their logical disagreements with him. Emil had just about had it with Harold. He wanted to talk to him personally, but knew that would only end up being a frustrating experience. But with the others, along with delegates and leaders from the lower echelons, it might prove to be a l
The prefect took all the proper precautions to make sure that his home was safe, fearing for his life and that of his daughter. Immediately the mole left he had ordered for soldiers to fortify his home, guarding everyone carefully. He put all the functional rooms on guard, and the empty ones to be thoroughly searched. He was expecting the assault to happen that night, or at least long before sunrise, when the area was still dark. He couldn't take any chances. He kept himself armed that night before getting to sleep, putting his sword by his side and locking everypoint in such a way that it would take making a loud sound for anyone to get inside. Natalie's room was heavily guarded to the point that she almost thought that she was on trouble until one of the guests explained it was her father's orders under the presupposition that there would be a rebel attack on the house that night. That made her even more worried, although this time it was not about herself. Cyrus and
Kendrick was upset with all that had just happened as he looked at his surviving soldiers. “My daughter had better be safe or I will be having everyone of you executed!”, Kendrick said as he ran towards his daughter's room. But she burst open the locked doors from inside and ran out to him before he could get there, crying out loud. Kendrick kissed her forehead as he wiped off her tears with his thumbs. “It's alright”, he said to her. She looked beside him and saw Cyrus, covered in blood and sweat, panting. Kendrick noticed she was looking at Cyrus, and he smiled. “That young man saved my life”, he said, and she looked back at him. “If not for him, I would have been killed.” Felix and Richard were behind the dead soldier who that last rebel had just killed. Richard had killed a few of them with his arrows, while Felix followed behind. “What happened to all the soldiers I had stationed outside?”, Kendrick cried out angrily. “How could they let this hap