The forest remained plunged in darkness, suffocated by the heavy rains that fell day and night. The wind sliced through the path between the trees, shaking them from side to side with such force that the trunks seemed to bend in reverence, clearing a way for it to pass.
Two days had passed since Maria had to leave the city of Sephira, taking with her her children, Kaelion and Emanuelle, her older brother, Claude, and her lady-in-waiting, Isabel. It had also been two days since Kaelion had fallen into a deep sleep, following the agony he had shown in the room. Maria could not understand what was happening to her son. And, to be honest, there was no way she could: those pains and spasms, coupled with the vomiting of blood, were caused by the shadow that accompanied him.
But let us journey back two days in time—to the moment the escape resumed.
While Kaelion screamed in pain due to the side effects of his shadow feeding on human flesh—or rather, their "life energy"—Claude ran down to the hall, where all the commotion had originated. The hall should have been the same as he left it, or so he thought. But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, what he saw sent a shiver down his spine.
A man, likely wearing armor that only high-ranking soldiers used, lay on the floor, his belly torn wide open and his intestines exposed. His left arm, which once belonged to a strong man, was now nothing more than a stump, with blood spurting in every direction. His gaze reflected intense suffering before death. The soldier did not appear to be very old: around forty, slightly older than Claude.
Claude approached the lifeless body on the floor with quick strides. Upon inspecting the man, he found several gold coins that should not have been his. And when I say "his," I mean Claude's. His gaze swept across the tavern hall, trying to comprehend what had happened for one of his men to end up in such a state. However, there was no one else around, only the receptionist.
Unable to find an answer, he approached the receptionist, who was completely terrified. The portly man, who previously had a weary but friendly look, was now in a state of shock, as if he had seen a ghost. Perhaps he had.
— "Hey… what happened here?" Claude asked, his voice tired and apprehensive.
The receptionist, still in shock, did not answer. He only murmured things like "What was that?" … "It's the devil." Claude tried calling him again, but he remained unresponsive to the questions. This caused Claude to lose his patience: he slapped the man hard, jolting him out of his trance for a few seconds. The man then looked at Claude with dread. His gaze did not contain fear of the slap he had just received, but of something far more sinister—something beyond human understanding. Something beyond life and death.
Claude noticed that the receptionist's look of terror was not directed at him, but at something beyond. This made him turn around, believing there was something behind him. But there was nothing… except for Maria, who had decided to come down with Isabel to see what was happening. Claude let go of the receptionist and tried to get Maria's attention, wanting her to stay back. He did not want her to see these disturbing scenes.
— "Didn't I ask you to wait upstairs, Maria?" he said, his voice weary but trying to remain calm.
Maria stared at him with a deep look, honest despair written on her face. She wasn't frightened by the scene before her. To be honest, none of that mattered to her. The most important thing was that Kaelion had just vomited blood and fallen into a deep sleep—so deep he didn't even seem to be breathing. In her desperation, she sought help from the person she "trusted" most at that moment: her brother.
— "Claude…" she called out, her voice already thick with tears. "Kaelion… Kaelion isn't breathing again."
It wasn't true that he wasn't breathing, but her desperation was so great that she couldn't even notice his breath was shallow. Thus, she decided to leave the room, even after her brother had asked her to stay and wait until he returned. Claude stepped forward and took his nephew in his arms, trying to feel his pulse.
He placed a finger under Kaelion's nose. Indeed, he could barely feel the baby's breath. To be sure, he unwrapped Kaelion from the blanket and watched to see if his chest rose and fell, confirming he was still alive. The movement was so subtle that there seemed to be hardly any life left in that small body. However, Claude was an Arcane Knight, trained for years to reach that level, and he would not fail to notice the faint movement still occurring in the boy's chest.
Walking toward her, Claude extended his arms to hand little Kaelion back to Maria. It was then that the voice of the receptionist behind him screamed: — "It's him! He's the one who did all this!!" the man cried out, sitting on the floor.
Claude and Maria looked at the receptionist, who was shouting in tears. Maria, shifting her gaze between the man and Claude, asked in perplexity: — "What are you talking about? Who did what? And why are you pointing your finger at my son?"
As the receptionist was about to answer, a soldier wearing the same armor as the dead man on the floor burst in shouting, calling for his commander: — "My Lord, I have urgent news!"
The voice belonged to someone who had just run a marathon. However, when his gaze fell upon the knight lying lifeless on the floor, his expression shifted from exhaustion to shock, then to disgust, and finally to something resembling pity. Claude did not let that pass, but he would deal with it later. First, he had to understand why one of his most trusted soldiers was running and calling for him. With an accusing look and a cold voice, he asked: — "What is it, Kandria? Why all this shouting when I asked for the minimum of attention to be drawn?"
The knight gave a brief bow in apology and began to speak: — "Sir, I found some of Duke Hoffman's men."
When the soldier mentioned Duke Hoffman, Maria's look became apprehensive, loaded with anxiety. Isabel, who was slightly behind, walked over to her and, breaking protocol, held her lady's hand, whispering words to try and calm her. Claude didn't notice the change, as he was entirely focused on what Kandria was saying. As soon as he heard that information, the dots began to connect.
In this world, coins are divided into gold, silver, and bronze. However, to maintain "inflationary control," the Royal Mint always identifies which region each coin originates from. For example: Duke Hoffman is one of the greatest dukes in the Kingdom of Alafia, and under his command, there are marquises, counts, viscounts, barons, and some baronets—or rather, knights who have ascended to the nobility. To maintain total control over the currency, the Royal House regulates all coinage minted by it and the dukes, leaving it to the dukes themselves to distribute these coins to their vassals. In this way, both the Royal House and the Ducal Houses—which are also part of the royalty—control their subjects and vassals with firm hands. And for this identification to exist, they mint the coat of arms of each House onto the coins.
Back to the point: when Claude found gold coins on his soldier, he couldn't accuse him of collusion with Duke Hoffman simply because they were in the duke's territory. But upon receiving Kandria's information, he concluded that the soldier was, indeed, working for Hoffman.
While Claude stared at the dead soldier on the floor, lost in thought, Kandria spoke again: — "My Lord, I don't believe it is necessary for me to tell you this, since you killed Knight Rupert, but he was in collusion with some of Duke Hoffman's soldiers."
Claude looked away from Rupert, who lay lifeless on the floor, and turned to Maria. He didn't even have to think twice about why she had that apprehensive look. He walked over to her and, placing his hand behind her head, pulled her gently forward and kissed her forehead, bringing a bit of calm to his sister. Then, he turned back to Kandria and gave orders: — "Kandria, call Raphaelo and Onir and remove this damned Rupert from here." — "What should we do with him, sir?"
With a voice colder than absolute zero, Claude replied: — "Do as you wish. Burn him, decapitate what's left of him, feed him to wild beasts… do whatever you want." He paused while Kandria nodded in agreement. After a few seconds of silence, he gave new orders: "But do it fast. We need to get out of here urgently!" — "Yes, sir!" Kandria barked, already leaving to call his companions.
Turning back to Maria, Claude's gaze was sad, but there was determination in both his eyes and his voice: — "We need to get you out of here, Maria. Pack what you have. Just wait for my men to remove the body, and then we leave."
Maria nodded and began to turn to head upstairs and get Emanuelle. It was only then that she remembered Claude hadn't said anything about Kaelion yet. She turned back to him. She noticed he was watching the boy, and before she could even ask, Claude cracked a half-smile and answered the silent question: — "He's alive, sister. Don't worry."
Maria nodded upon hearing that. She turned to go get Emanuelle, a slight relief in her chest.
While Maria was upstairs packing her belongings to leave the city of Sephira, Claude remained in the hall, trying to understand what had happened to Rupert—and how that could have happened to his vice-commander. Just as Claude was an Arcane Swordsman, so was Rupert. Of course, Rupert was still a few levels below Claude, but he still saw no one nearby capable of causing such destruction to a man like him.
What really happened here? Who could wound a mid-level Arcane Swordsman? Claude thought as he looked at his former companion's body. Regardless… he was a traitor, and I would have killed him anyway once Kandria brought me this news… Shrugging, Claude turned to the receptionist, who was now kneeling on the floor, hands on his head, murmuring phrases like: "It's an evil spirit"… "It's a demon in the making."
Hearing those murmurs made Claude pensive. He remembered well certain legends: demons capable of taking "human" form, of walking among men, and even passing as one so easily that no one could tell what they were—until the aura leaked out. Some demons were feared more than others. And, of course, the most feared were precisely those who could assume human form.
But why did he point at Maria's son? Claude thought, walking toward the receptionist. Before he could lean down and ask what he meant by pointing at his nephew—or perhaps his sister—Kandria, Raphaelo, and Onir entered the hall.
Onir was a man of approximately 1.74 meters. He was muscular and had stubble. His eyes were light brown, but his right eye was missing. You ask how he lost it? Well… that's for another time. Like his eyes, his short hair was also light brown. In his right ear, he wore an earring in the shape of an inverted cross. His armor was chainmail, as he was a knight of lower rank than Claude and Kandria.
Speaking of Kandria, he was about 1.68 meters tall. His blonde hair reached his shoulders, tied in a ponytail. His eyes were black—like the full plate armor he wore—showing he was a knight of higher rank than Onir.
Raphaelo, on the other hand, wore chainmail armor like Onir. His eyes were light green and his hair was nearly platinum, neatly styled. His face didn't have a single scratch or a strand of beard; he almost looked like an angel. At times, some people had already said he had the face of an "angel."
— "We've arrived, sir!" Kandria barked as they entered the hall. Claude, who was already crouching, stood up and walked toward the three, already giving orders: — "Kandria has passed the orders to you, right?" he asked, looking at Raphaelo and Onir. — "Yes, sir!" the two replied in unison. — "Right," Claude said, shifting his gaze from the three to Rupert, and then to the receptionist.
What should I do with him? In the state he's in, I don't believe he'll be able to say anything… but… Claude looked back at Kandria and asked: — "The Duke Hoffman soldier… what did you do with him? And did he say if there was anyone else?" — "The one we captured was killed, sir. And he said there was one more soldier who managed to escape."
So Duke Hoffman will know we were here… and that Maria was around too… Claude once again turned his gaze to the receptionist. He didn't want to have to kill him, but if Hoffman had a mage capable of entering that man's mind, he would get damning information. And that could affect him, his soldiers, his Order… and especially Maria.
Claude was in a dilemma. He was not a cold-blooded killer, but that didn't mean he had never killed anyone. As a knight and commander, he had participated in battles against other men and even wild beasts, and had needed to kill commoners in certain conflicts… But those deaths were justified by necessity, never for fun. And once again, he would have to do it out of necessity.
The information the other Hoffman soldier possessed wouldn't be entirely compromising, as Claude had an "alibi" if necessary—and even someone whom Hoffman, even being a duke, would not dare talk back to. But if Hoffman obtained precise information, extracted from the mind of a witness before the King, the Queen, and the kingdom's advisors—of whom Claude was a part—there wouldn't be much left to do.
Kandria, Raphaelo, and Onir were starting to remove Rupert's body from the hall when Claude ordered them to wait: — "You're going to need to take one more body…" he said, his voice cold, walking toward the man who was crouching and still murmuring the same words.
With a few steps, he approached the receptionist and leaned down beside him, whispering: — "I'm sorry for what I have to do. I swear by the gods I didn't want to… but this is for me and for my sister."
Claude paused, stood up, and removed the cloak that until then had completely covered his body. He revealed a golden armor, with runes drawn everywhere. He extended his hand and murmured some words. A golden light emerged from his palm. It wasn't a strong flare, but it was intense enough to light up the hall. When the light faded, a sword with runes and gems appeared in his hand. A two-handed sword, about one hundred and twenty centimeters long, emanating warm energy throughout the environment.
Claude concentrated and began to gather arcane energy into the blade, which absorbed it completely. With a slight crackle, the energy surrounding the sword vanished, and the gems glowed. He turned to the receptionist and whispered, before bringing the sword down: — "May your soul be blessed by the gods… and may your death be painless."
Claude aimed for the man's neck and brought the sword down with all his strength. It was a clean cut, effortless. The head rolled across the floor, and blood sprayed everywhere. Claude pointed the sword at the floor, and the energy still stored in the gems dissipated, cleaning the remaining blood from the blade.
Onir, seeing the scene, made a small grimace. He was the newest in the Order of Knights—of which Claude was one of the commanders—and was not yet fully accustomed to death… even having witnessed the death of Hoffman's soldier.
"You may take both bodies," Claude ordered. With a snap of his fingers, the sword disappeared, returning to the armor—where there was a shield and, now, also a sword. Without turning back, he put the cloak back on and began to climb the stairs to depart with Maria.