The people of Hillcrest kept saluting King Luca Cole as he moved around the place with his eyes on the ground while he looked out for the people that had brought him there.
At the end of some minutes, he noticed that the people did not know what had brought him there and their thoughts of why he was there was a real good one so he had to pretend as though their thoughts were right about his coming so that he would not make the people see him as a selfish person.
Luca and his men had to assist the people a little for over two hours before asking after the men that had brought them there. First he enquired about their chief because that would be the person who would know about the people living in the villa and if they are to get a first class information about Zachary, then that would be the person to tell them what they want to know.
They were led to the chief of Hillcrest, who was also at a point putting some things in order for the structure of the village to come back to its original state before the attack of the dragon.
"Excuse me," King Luca said from behind as he came close to the man who the villagers had pointed him to as their chief.
The elderly chief in his mid sixties turned to see who was calling, and seeing it was the king of Palind, he bowed his head, "Your majesty. What brings you to Hillcrest?" The chief added that question because he knew the level of how Hillcrest was not regarded, so for king Luca who was always busy to come there, there had to be something of great value that had brought him there.
The king answered, "I heard of the attack of my people so I came to see how they are faring after the attack."
"We both know better. Come with me inside the hut."
The chief had already predicted this and he knew that the reason Luca had given that response was because some other villagers might hear his major reason for coming there. So he took him inside the house which he was still putting the outside in place, and when they were sitted and alone with only one of the king's men who had come into with them, for the others stayed outside, assisting the civilians in the work which they were doing.
Now that there were only three inside the house away from others, the chief continued with a question to the king. "What really brought you here to Hillcrest, your Majesty? I know it is not because you heard of the dragon's return."
Luca was not amazed by these words of the chief, and since they were no longer exposed, there was no need hiding what exactly brought him down to that place. "I'm looking for a man and I believe you should know who it is because he lives here in Hillcrest."
"You should be referring to the veteran retired warlord, Zachary Hawkins?" The chief knew that would be the only person that would bring king Luca there, but he does not know why it took so long for him to come asking for Zachary. In this wonder, he said to himself that maybe he had lost a lot of good soldiers against the orcs that keep pressing on them, and thereby needs experienced soldiers like Zachary and some others to come back into the army.
"Yes. That is exactly who I am looking for. Please tell me he survived the attack of the dragon."
The chief kept silent for a while, wearing an odd and sad face just to pull the legs of King Luca by making him think that the person that brought him there was no more.
Luca Cole fell for that trick as his mood also changed. He could not ask after Eric Claus because he believed that nobody knows about him yet and if Zach would fall, then he too would not have survived it.
At the countenance of the king fell, the chief then brightened up his face again as he said with laughter, "He is still alive. He helped us against the dragon."
Instantly, the sad mood of king Luca changed too as he asked with so much anxiety, "Where is he now? I need to see him."
"I don't really know where he has gone. His shelter was towards the hill. You can check for him there if he's still there or if he has left with those that departed from the village after the attack." That was the only information he could give to Luca concerning the man he was seeking. Maybe that information could help or not.
"Thank you very much for this information. I shall go over to check if he is there or not." He stood to his feet and left the house in haste. His mind was at ease that Zachery was alive, therefore theis said savior would also be alive.
He was certain of one thing that if Zachary was no longer in his said residence, then he and his men would ride after the people who were heading of the fortress of Warcton since the chief had assured him that all who left the village were heading to the same location, so Zachary's case would not be any different.
Coming before the house on the hill, it was very quiet and any man in his right senses would say that no one was home because it was mid-day so the area should not be as quiet as it was.
His intention and that of his men was to give up and turn around to ride after those that were moving to the fortress of Warcton at once instead of waiting some time trying to check the building for somebody.
They all looked at themselves and made some communication with their eyes, of which at the end, the king nodded his head, and they turned the rides at once to leave the place without knocking on the door since they were all having the same opinion. Not even one of them stuck to the plan of checking the building first. And following a simple code which states 'Once everyone has a uniform thought or opinion about a particular thing, then that opinion is right and should be acted upon with no further doubt.' So that was exactly what they did at this point in time.
As they proceeded back to the main village where they would divert to the path that led out of the city towards the fortress of Warcton, they came across a young lady who was coming up to the hill and was heading for the woods which was behind the house of Zachary.As they headed towards the direction of the house without the knowledge that she was heading for the woods behind it to get some dry wood for cooking. They all stopped and followed her towards the house again making her curious and anxious since she did not know why the king had seen her and followed her towards the direction which he was already coming from. Despite her curiosity, she did not have the courage to ask king Luca Cole why he was following her. All she believed was that at some point, he would have to state the reason why he was following her.Neither king Luca nor his men asked the woman any question, they followed her till they came to the back of the house and she proceeded into the forest to pick up the fir
The rate of speed which the king used in responding to Zach was so fast. Eric was about countering it when he accepted the challenge. So he looked at Zach who had told the king to increase the number of men that would fight against him with very annoying eyes that showed his inconvenience with the decision.Zach read the meaning behind those eyes and whispered to him, "Don't worry, you will be fine. I believe in you."But Eric was more pissed by the words that he should not worry, so could not hold his peace anymore, for he had to speak out. "I am to face this trail, so I do not accept it.""Eric....!!!" Zach stretched his name."What??!!""You can not forfeit this trial.""Yes I can. Why would you ask that I face four men at a time? Have I fought against two people before at a time yet you talk of fighting four?""I believe in you. I have taught you all that you need to know." "Well, I say, I haven learnt all that I need to learn."So King Luca had to come in, seeing that the argume
At the sound of king Luca Cole's voice, ordering the test to commence, the four attacked Eric at once, putting so much pressure as their swords clashed with the staff on Eric's hands. In this test, Eric's main aim was to defend himself for as long as he could because he did not plan to fight all four at a time. With this intention of his, he expected the king to see his ability and call off the test. But the test had a goal which had to be met. Defending himself for over thirty minutes was not enough and his wooden staff had begun to crack due to the swords that were crashing with it. Soon, it was about to break into two as the men did not seem to recognize this.Since he saw that the test would not be called off, Eric had to change his agenda, noe he had to beat one of the men down before his staff would completely get broken.Harris, who was taking a very close look at the fight, noticed that the staff in Eric's hands was bending and he knew that it would not last long again if Er
His words were pleasing to king Luca Cole as he will still have to persuade Zachary to come with them to the castle, but those were not pleasing to Zach, he was very disappointed that Eric had chosen to stick to his words and make king Luca continue to bother him."Zach, you have heard from him, he wants you to come with us to the castle. You will be safe there." Luca said.But Eric had to come in because Zach had gone short of words, it was obvious he could not argue again with the king. "Your majesty, please do not misinterpret me. If my master does not want to come with you, I don't want to go with you either. I will appeal that you bear with us. I think for the time being, the best place for us to stay is here in Hillcrest. Maybe in the near future, we will come to the castle as you have asked. We have our reason, my heart tells me that it is not yet my time so when my time comes, I shall join you in the castle without you coming for us.""It is your safety I am after here. The dr
Zachary went some distance away from the house and sat under a tree facing the house then Eric came too and sat close to him without saying anything for the first few minutes."I want to be alone right now." Zach said to him. He was not comfortable with Eric's silence, he knew that soon he would say something and it would not be what he'd like to hear."I know, but your countenance leaves me very curious that my heart will know no peace unless you tell me what the problem is.""Then your heart might forever be that way because I don't think my mouth can express the way my heart feels.""Therefore you have struck me so hard that I will never recover from." Eric responded as they continued in silence, no one of them decided to speak again. Even in his silence, he kept observing Eric to see how sure he was concerning his heart being troubled. Without a doubt, it was seen in his face that there was actually trouble in his spirit, but still he chose not to say a word.The clock kept ticki
Eric was quite confused because of the rate of speed which he used in entering the house after hearing those words. He was eager to know what came over him to have caused him to move with great speed, so he followed him instantly.Entering the house, Harris had gone to bed, he had waited for so long for them to come back into the house, yet they tarried outside and in accordance to wait Eric told him before joining Zach outside, he chose not to follow them.Since he was fast asleep, Zach did not disturb his sleep, he chose to let him wake on his own when it was morning and then they could talk about this before their departure from Hillcrest. When Eric saw him come to meet Harris sleeping, and with the way he stared at the teenager while he slept, he kind of understood the reason why Zach had rushed into the house. Now that Zach had chosen to sleep and wait till the next morning, they both went to bed.First thing in the morning, when they were all awake, Zach said to his son. "Harri
The dragon flew over them at a very slow pace as it kept its eyes on the ground. In the spot where they had taken cover, it was obvious to them through the manner in which the dragon flew over them they knew that it had sensed that Eric Claus was still alive that was why it returned to finish the job.While they laid under the covering of a large tree which was full of fresh grass all around, they kept their eyes up looking at the dragon to monitor when it would leave for them to continue their journey.But the dragon showed no signs of leaving. It kept hovering around the area since its mind was convinced that the enemy was still alive. While it felt about the place, it opened its mouth, breathing out fire which consumed the house of Zachary which they had just left.As a result of the fire, those who were in the main village noticed the presence of the dragon and in fear, they all sought cover and safety. But it was surprising to them that this time, the dragon did not come to the m
From the boldness in his demand, the soldiers knew that with their actions, they would never scare him, so one of them who was not focused on him earlier had to turn to him and say. "Who are you?" "Are you the captain of this troop?" Zach asked, facing the young soldier that had questioned him. His reason for answering with a question was because he does not look like a captain, even from the way he spoke, he did not have a commanding voice or tone. Even the man that had asked them to stop in the first place had a more thick and threatening voice than him."We lost our Captain, so I'm in charge,'' the man answered as he drew close to Zach looking him in the eyes.Zach wanted to laugh because he did not imagine the young soldier to be the one to assume the rank of the captain even if the actual Captain was among the fallen. He held himself from laughing and then looked at the other twenty four men to see if anyone would counter the words of the soldier but none did as he was expecting