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Riou couldn’t lower his guard just yet.

"I saw at least another one, the guards are still unaware that there is an attack, I will get back to the princess now to guard her”

Bhalrom seemed reluctant and was about to speak against it. But given the boy’s help so far, he remained silent. As the boy left his sight, Bhalrom quickly went to look outside since he couldn’t hear the boy moving anymore. To his surprise, there was no one to be seen there anymore.

‘The boy is good’ was his only thought and without losing any more time, he gathered all the air he could in his lungs and shouted.

“Guards! We are under attack! Sound the alarm!” A powerful resounding voice echoed through the castle.

The alarm was finally sounded by the guards alerting everyone. Bells began to echo in all corners of the castle.

Riou was once again involved in the shadows, moving swiftly and unnoticed throughout the corridors and down the stairway, some guards passed by him unaware of his presence.

Back to the kitchen Eileen was taking care of the unconscious Lilly. When she noticed Riou returned, she was clearly glad to see him.

“There is still one more mage around at least.” He said approaching her. “We can’t relax just yet”

The princess nodded, Riou took position once again by the door to watch.

‘The enemy knew too much’ it was clear to Riou that the attack was planned at great detail.

‘They were so certain of the actions they needed to perform, they came prepared to succeed without failure. One strong mage to get the princess at the training hall, someone that could take care of the young Lilly. Which means the other two were meant for the queen. So why did I only find one?’

Riou spotted the guards approaching the kitchen with caution and called them in, informing it was secured.

‘Maybe he was just a support? Or maybe the getaway driver? He could be waiting by the exit to provide an escape route. That means he probably fled when he heard the alarms” Realizing that possibility, Riou needed to make sure his prisoner was still there. He could be used to provide a lead towards Max.

Riou once again left the kitchen in a hurry to everyone’s surprise.

He ran towards the garden and quickly advanced in a straight line towards the training hall where he left the broken mage restrained.

He looked at the place and cursed his luck, his prisoner was already gone.

Taking a deep breath he looked around ‘They couldn’t be that far’ but there was no one there to be seen.

So he started to run once again towards the nearest stairway, his aim was the upper walls, there was a good chance the enemy could leave by the same place they entered.

The back wall was another garrison structure, a small house on the wall with its reinforced doors and windows. But the door was open and he could see a couple of dead guards on the floor, there was no blood, but their limbs and necks were all twisted.

Riou couldn’t see any movement inside so he continued looking for them in the other rooms of the garrison. Until he finally found an open window.

Down, far below at the ground level he could see 2 dark figures moving, carrying what seemed to be a third one with a dim blue light around him, the chain spell was clearly still in effect.

They were escaping north.

Riou put his feet up the window and was ready to jump on an impulse ‘Should I jump?’ As he looked down the long fall below him, his legs trembled, the vertigo got him and he stopped having second thoughts about such a crazy stunt.

‘They somehow were able to get there from here, how? I should be able to do something similar’ he was thinking to himself when Bhalrom stormed the garrison with a few guards. As he saw Riou looking by the window, he quickly went to look as well.

“Cursed Fiends!” He shouted turning back to the guards “Assemble a search party, the invaders are escaping to the north, go!” said the angry knight. The guards quickly acknowledged the order and left at once.

Bhalrom leaned toward the window supporting his arms on it. He sighed and in a calmer tone he said looking to Riou “I don’t know what could have happened if you were not there” he paused for a moment gathering his bearings of the whole situation “Thank you for saving the queen” he said in an almost solemn voice.

“Don’t worry about it, I got lucky, that man he was distracted and overconfident, so I just used the opportunity” Said Riou also looking down the window as the dark figures were disappearing at the terrain below.

The knight smiled in a better mood “The boys in the army did said you were a rare talent” he tapped Riou in the back a couple of times “let’s get back to the castle, the king will want a report”

They got back to the King study room. There were guards all over the Royal wing now.

The king was looking by the window near his desk while the queen was sitting down in a chair recovering from the attack.

The princess was at her side while Lilly was awake and also tending the queen.

“They used a sleeping spell on you, your majesty, the effects are already dissipating, but rest for a while longer until you can recover completely” said Lilly accessing the queen status all bandaged up in the head.

On the ground, the body of the mage was already taken by the soldiers and just a small stain of blood could be seen on the carpet.

As Bhalrom promptly and respectfully addressed the king “Unfortunately the rest of the invaders fled to the north, my king, probably towards the mountains. I’ve already dispatched a search party”

The king just nodded once in agreement.

“Do you have news about Max’s location?” Asked Riou, very anxious, he really wanted to know what happened to him.

The king in the same manner shook his head “No, not yet, no one has seen him. It’s like he disappeared” said the king, turning to look at the boy “But don’t worry, he can take care of himself. He can be a ghost, if so he wishes”

Riou clearly didn’t intend to wait and see what happened to him, so he promptly questioned the king.

“Who Maximilian knows in the city? I doubt the enemy has taken him, he must have left on his own accord…. where could he have gone?”

The king sighed understanding what the boy was feeling.

“He is not very well known in the city, but he has a few friends, the tavern owner of the Drinking Bear” Said the king pausing and thinking who else he knew.

“There also the Landgraves to the east side of the city and then Lady Eleanor, far out in the outskirts of our land, she has a manor near the source of the Dracar river.

“I will search for him in these places then” Said the boy rushing out once again without waiting for any reply.

The princess seemed to move in the direction of the boy, but before she could take another step the king spoke to her.

“Eileen, please tell me what happened outside”

Elegantly as always, the princess turned to her father. She began on the part they heard the thunder and how Lilly was caught off guard when she left the door.

But the next part was a bit more tricky to explain, so she had to gather her thoughts.

The king was expectantly waiting for her to continue.

“We ran outside, Riou was holding a sword… When he saw the mage preparing the lightning spell, he planted the sword in the ground and ran towards me. The sword was hit by lightning and we both were fine. He then told me to go help Lilly while he took care of the mage. A few moments there was another flash and thunder.” She paused remembering.

“I looked back, Riou was punching the Mage’s stomach that fell down instantly. I then turned to tend to Lilly and Riou arrived moments after.”

“He punched?!” Said Lilly in disbelief. “a high tier mage capable of lightning magic was beaten by a boy’s punch?” She couldn’t believe it.

“I can only state what I saw.” Said the calm and cold princess looking at her friend.

The king pondered for a moment, before looking at the knight “The mage must have redirected the spell since he was close to Eileen.” Bhalrom nodded agreeing. “What do you think about the rest? Is it possible that the boy could take down a grown man with his bare hands?”

Bhalron nodded “The boy is full of tricks my lord and mages aren’t known for their fortitude and endurance. We saw first hand how the boy handled one of them in here” Said the proud knight captain. “It was their mistake to have underestimated him”

Hearing that, the two girls’ ears raised up, Lilly was the first to speak with uncertainty in her tone.

“What do you mean? You can’t possibly be saying that he also took care of another mage” Said Lilly with piercing eyes at Bhalrom in complete disbelief.

The princess was silently expecting the knight’s answer as well.

“You may not believe it, but we were cornered and the queen was taken as hostage after the spell of the mage. The mage was about to flee with her when the lucky trickster killed him with a kitchen knife”

“He was so fast, that even the dark mage didn’t realize what happened.” Said once again the proud Bhalrom.

The red haired mage was angry, mostly at herself. She was a prideful woman and the fact that a boy, much younger than her was able to win against the mages that knocked her out and also save the queen. That was driving her furious.

She couldn’t help but to think that the boy was not capable of such feats. There had to be another explanation for what happened.

The princess was silent, she began to grasp the boy’s capabilities. He was good, but now, after calmly analyzing these events, she couldn’t help but wonder how skillful he really was.

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A heavy summer rain began to pour in the city the moment Riou stepped on its streets.

To escape the rain he searched for a dry spot below the short roofs of the houses nearby. A frail attempt to protect himself against the heavy weather that came pouring on the capital.

People vanished from the gray streets and he could only hear the sound of the heavy raindrops hitting the stone road and wooden rooftops.

Riou needed a lead about Max's whereabouts so he decided to go to the only place he knew.

‘I doubt someone could have had a jump on him.... and a mage battle between mages of his caliber would have brought lots of attention. He must have left on his own will, but why didn’t he tell me about it?’

He moved constantly in the direction of the Drinking bear at a hurried pace.

‘Their objective must have been to occupy him with other things and somehow move him away from the castle while they attacked it. How did they lure him out like that?’ thought the boy to himself trying to put the puzzle together.

His first stop was close now, he could already see the Drinking Bear tavern.

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The door was closed, which was unusual and there was some sign written on it. But he didn’t care and just entered the tavern.

Inside, he observed that the majority of the tables were full, but it was a different public than the previous one he had seen. These people didn’t look like the usual merchants and citizens that he saw previously ther.

These customers were mostly armed men, wearing commoner clothes in many different shades and colors. From dark green to some lighter brown and even a few dirty white shirts.

Their pants were similar to the one Riou himself used before, a heavy and durable mesh of cloth and fabric.

Everyone there turned to watch the boy that entered and walked inside.

At a corner table in the back, he noticed a different figure that stood out of the rest, a big man in a yellow shirt with a small leather vest on top of it.

Dark brown pants and big boots in the same color. He had messy but voluminous black hair that reached his shoulders. He had piercing emerald eyes that also watched Riou as he moved. The man was smirking slightly and he could easily see the entire tavern from where he was sitting.

His sword was close by leaned against the table. With him, there were 3 other people, 2 men that seemed very similar to each other, both with red hair tied in a ponytail while having shaved just the side of the head.

One of them had two small axes, similar to hatchets laying in front of him on the table.

The third was a pretty woman, about 25 years old and the Allardian looks, tanned skin and short black hair.

They were indeed a very strange group of people, “Mercenaries?” thought the boy looking at them.

Riou was searching the tavern, but was not able to locate Syldis in the main hall, so he went towards the counter to check the kitchen.

But before he could reach it, one man of the group stood up and blocked his way. He had Black hair cut in a bowl style, a slim figure and an elongated face like a rat.

“What a young man like yourself doing all alone and wet at a place like this? Don’t you know the city is dangerous when the night comes?” Said the man in a slow and clearly intimidating tone.

Riou was confused as to why he was being targeted like that, but then he looked down and remembered that he was still using the noble’s clothes.

“I’m just here to talk to the tavern owner, it will be just a moment and then I will be gone… so if you excuse me, I’m kind in a hurry” Said Riou in a polite manner trying to walk forward and past the man.

“Not so fast my lord...” Said the man blocking the way once again “You see, this tavern here is already fully booked for this evening” Said the man showing his friends around him. Everyone else in the tavern was silently watching their interaction. “I think you should look for another tavern my lord” Said him again in a cynical manner.

Riou looked the man in the eye. He was not in the mood for playing around.

“I have business here… also, I’m not a lord. So why don’t you give me a passage and we can both go about our way?” Said the boy clearly fed up by the man’s attitude.

The mercenary laughed at the boy before responding.

“We have a brave one boys! Shall I teach him a lesson?!” Shouted the man so everyone could listen to him.

But before anything happened, Riou noticed a big figure leaving the kitchen door and approaching the man from behind.

The mercenary then grabbed Riou by the collar with both hands to intimidate him. But the boy just smiled completely unphased by his attitude. The mercenary couldn’t understand it.

It was only when a big, heavy hand dropped on the mercenary shoulder that he realized who was behind him. He immediately released the boy as he knew that behind him was the large woman with golden hair, the owner of the tavern. And judging by the heavy hand on his shoulder, she was definitely furious.

Without even turning towards her, he quickly moved away from Riou and back to his seat, very quickly and very quietly without saying a word.

As soon as he sat down the whole tavern erupted in laughter.

“Hahahaha what are you going to do now Hugh?”

“Backing down already? C’mon Hugh? Hahahaha didn’t you say that you were going to teach the boy a lesson?”

Such calls could be heard all around amongst the general laughter.

Syldis was clearly not amused, she turned to the man in yellow at the back. Everyone silenced in the same instant.

“Viktor! You should know better than to let your men act as they want! This is not your house, you know the rules to come here” said the large woman very loudly.

The man in yellow just shrugged, he still had the same smirk in place “The boy is unharmed isn’t he?” He answered in a calm tone.

The woman waved to Riou to approach and to take a stool by the counter, she kept glancing at Viktor with disapproving eyes while waiting for the boy.

She moved behind the counter as Riou sat down, there was nobody near them and they could finally talk privately.

“Sorry my dear, you know how mercenaries can be…” She said in an apologetic tone.

“Don’t worry about it, what I really need to know is if you saw Max today.”

Syldis promptly grasped by his tone that something happened to the Mage.

“No, not today, what happened?”

“Mages in black robes and strange markings in his faces attacked the castle earlier today, they said they did something to Max and I can’t find him anywhere”

“The Twilight Council…” Said Syldis in a low tone, clearly concerned by the turns of events.

Riou had heard that name before somewhere but didn’t know the specifics. “Who are they?”

Syldis looked around for a moment, as if deciding what she should tell him.

“They are bad news my boy… they are a very old and secretive group that operates in the shadows, few lived after encountering them” Said a very preoccupied and serious Syldis

“So Max knows about them?” Riou asked.

“They and Maximilian have a long history… Max is a sworn enemy” said in an apprehensive tone.

“I myself, when I was younger, helped Max a few times against them. Their mages always wear black Robes and have some kind of magical runes engraved in their bodies that greatly improve their magic”

“I see… but what’s their goal?”

“I don’t know my dear, they are involved with a lot of things… assassinations, slavery and specially magical secrets” She explained, the big woman was getting more and more concerned as the mention of this council brought back bad memories.

“If there is something bad happening, I’m certain they have a hand in it… but unfortunately their objective is never clear, to me they are just a bunch of sadistic freaks”

Riou nodded understanding her words, he was now much more concerned about his friend.

“I think they lured him somewhere, he went on himself and didn’t tell me anything. The king said two more places he knows Max used to visit, but I wanted to check with you as well”

“It’s just like the council acts… I can think of two things that could have got Max’s attention. His last disciple, Max, taught him about 50 years ago... what was his name again?” She paused trying to remember

“Landgrave?” he said

“Yes! That is it, Landgrave” She said pondering a bit more, “But knowing Max, there is only one thing that could make him blindly rush into danger like that” her serious tone suddenly became a sad one as she finished her sentence “Eleanor”

Riou understood by the way she spoke, chances were that he went to Eleanor’s place. Isolated, far from the city, it was a good place to trap a mage and nobody would notice.

“How do I get to Eleanor’s house?” Asked the boy as he didn’t even know where the Dracar river was..

“She lives by the source of the Dracar river to the East, those are Lady Eleanor’s lands and she has her manor there.” Explained Syldis.

Riou nodded and looked outside. The rain was still strong and the night had already arrived. He’d have difficulty finding the place if he went right now.

Grasping what the boy was thinking, Syldis leaned in towards the counter and in a calming voice, she spoke with the boy

“You are young my dear, I understand your urge to help. But if the council is involved, I’m afraid you don’t stand a chance by yourself” she said in a condescending tone.

“I don’t care, I will do something about it anyway”

“You don’t need to worry so much my boy, I know the situation seems dire, but we cannot be certain of what happened. And Max survived far worse situations than this one. I’m sure he can take care of himself even without your help” She said looking into the boy's eyes with confidence in her friend’s chances to survive.

“Go upstairs, take the last room to the right, I will bring you some food and dry clothes. Rest for today, tomorrow morning we will talk more, there might be a way to help Max”

Riou sighed but agreed. It was dark outside, the rain was strong. It would be very difficult to find his way on an unknown land.

Syldis was indeed a good friend, just as Max stated. So Riou thanked her and went upstairs.

The large woman then stared at the mercenary leader.

He looked at her and smiled to himself, leaning back on the chair recognizing the look on her face.

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Riou reached the room, small with a single window and bed. To the wall there was a table with a candle in a bronze cup. Beside the table was a single chair.

He approached the window to take a better look, but the darkness of that night brought back bad memories.

“Why didn't he contact me about what was going on?” He kept looking into the dark night, listening to the rain while thinking about what happened to his friend.

Thoughts of the events in the castle returned to his mind.

‘I also killed a person today, maybe two. That other one was in a pretty bad shape, I don’t know if he can survive without proper medical care’

He took a deep breath ‘I never killed anyone… but it was the right thing to do, right? There was no alternative... I couldn’t risk a spell in those circumstances… right? Why should I expose myself to save those bad people?’

Riou looked at his hands, for some reason, despite all his reasoning on feeling bad towards what happened, had no regrets about it.

Strangely enough, he didn’t feel as bad as he thought he’d feel about it.