--- Kandros

"Your mail for the day, sir."

"Thanks, Bilan. You can leave it there, on that table."

Geez. What would I do without this assistant? To think there was a time when I worked in Rayol... It feels like long ago. Things are surely different now.

Kandros, on the other hand, couldn't say to have changed much. Since the final days of his service in the republican capital, under Lady Ainar's unforgiving lead, his schedule had only grown busier. The Council of the Elders couldn't ignore his exploits anymore, not after all he had done to eradicate the roots of evil from the Free Kingdoms in the past year or so.

Yet, I suspect my merits on the field weren't the only reason behind my promotion. Taking part into so many hunts and reaching this age without dying... I bet it caught Balinar's attention.

With a formal invitation, Kandros had been finally granted a place among the paladins of the Holy City. There, he could take his job much more seriously. Using the Order's resources, he investigated every rumour, every story he heard about dark magic users. It was his personal quest, the young man repeated to himself, a crusade that would have continued as long as he lived.

His colleagues didn't openly approve his attitude. They said there was a fine line between being overzealous and give ear to everyone who came in with news about unholy practices. Still, Kandros didn't care. He had become so good in sniffing out those things that it barely made any difference if he had to go against self-proclaimed necromancers or simple occultists that had taken their studies way too far. The other paladins, even those who were higher-ranked than him, had to let him do as he pleased.

And it had all started with those monsters torturing and killing his partner.

How many did I punish, from that night? Too many to count. And yet, I can't feel satisfied or take revenge. Sometimes I feel like I'm cursed, an empty shell of my former self walking around the world as the hound of the Makers.

But Kandros didn't really care. Not as long as there was evil for him to fight.

"Let's see what came in," he groaned, going through the mail. "I... Wait, this is from the South. Maybe..."

A sealed envelope, bearing a mark that identified it as confidential. The insignia imprinted in the wax confirmed the sender was one of the paladin's contacts in Norburg, in the kingdom of Cassidia.

The young man read its content rapaciously. It basically confirmed the weird news that had started circulating two days before, that a dangerous foe had made his appearance.

Here. A person who looks and acts as a necromancer broke into a feast the King himself was attending in order to deliver a surprising, and unbelievable, declaration of war. It all happened so suddenly. Still, my contact wasn't among the witnesses and can't say if this weirdo was the real deal or just a rogue Mage who harboured some grudge against the Kingdom. After all, the only known thing about him is his name...

Kandros blinked a couple of times when he reached that part, then he quickly went through the letter again. And again. And again, just to be sure.

Damn. This is important. Someone I had almost lost hopes of finding has finally showed his face. It surely brings back memories...

Apparently, at the banquet the intruder had carelessly given out his name while he fought against one of the guests, a boy who was close to the princess of Cassidia and, who would have guessed, was also an Elemental. No wonder he had been able to resist a powerful fear spell, those people were very resilient to any form of magic. The Lord of Norburg had obtained even more information by interrogating this young fellow...

Roric? The same Roric I already met? No, it's impossible. But it must be! How much it's been, nearly two years? He's the one I gave money that time in Rayol, when I was stationed there. So, he was an Elemental, huh?

The paladin went on with the message, which contained little more. In order to shed some light on that affair, he had to go there in person.

Three months. For three months I searched around Aregat for any trace of where Rickhart had gone... Nothing. There was nothing. Not even in his house, someone had completely burned it down. And now that scum simply pops out out of nowhere, attacking such powerful people like it's nothing?

He slammed his fist on the table, itching for round two. It was the right chance to get back on the hunt.

***

After a trip of ten days, Kandros reached the city of Norburg.

The paladin had been so fast that he hoped his request of seeing Lord Isaac, which traveled with a pidgeon, had managed to arrive before him. The Order had an efficient web for the delivery of its mail, it was true, but once outside of the Free Kingdoms things were very different.

Luckily, just giving his name to the guards at the entrance of the villa was enough. When he stopped his horse in front of the building, Kandros noticed that its owner was already expecting him at the window of his study. The two had never met, but the Lord of Norburg was said to be quite cooperative towards the representatives of the Light.

"Come ahead," said Isaac from inside the room, answering the paladin's knock.

Kandros entered and got rid of his cloak, accepting the seat his host was offering.

"Thanks for receiving me on such a short notice, My Lord. I assure you this matter is of absolute importance for me."

"Don't mention it. I'm always happy to give aid to the Order, even more in these times of crisis. You wanted to know about that cursed Elemental, right?"

"It's just a part. What I'm mostly interested about is the necromancer who snuck into your home," replied the paladin. "He is the reason why I came all the way here."

Lord Isaac huffed, rustling the papers on his table.

"That will be enough, then. What do you want to know?"

"I'd like to hear what happened, in every detail. And then, the information you got from the young Elemental."

"Fine. It all started when the King and his entourage were about to arrive. Our security measures had just been revised and..."

The nobleman proceeded to list, thoroughly, all the people who were supposed to protect the safety of his villa the evening of the banquet. Things seemed ordinary enough, from Kandros' point of view, and began checking imaginary boxes inside his mind.

Judging from what he's telling me, his servants were all in the right places at the right time. So, it must mean that the necromancer entered without the help of anyone. Yet, how did he get into the city in the first place? He's supposed to have a very distinctive visage and appearance, and unless he used some kind of spell we don't know the only possible solution is that an insider lent him a hand.

Roric, the young Elemental, wasn't definitely affiliated with the necromancer like the nobleman said. Kandros kept for himself the fact that he already knew him, albeit on a lesser extent, but just from their short time together he didn't think that boy could help his most hated enemy to inflitrate Norburg. Someone else was definitely involved.

"My Lord," the paladin went on, "Where is the Elemental now? You haven't executed him, for what I could get."

"His Majesty the King ordered us to let him go. He's been missing ever since. Why?"

"It's nothing. I'd love to hear more about the necromancer from someone who... Met him up close. But that's impossible, I guess."

Kandros thanked the Lord of Norburg for his time and left, with some notes he had taken during the conversation. There were many places in the town he still needed to visit.

The usual procedure would be to report back to Balinar and at least track down the Elemental. The Order considers those people as a menace as well. Yet, that Roric has probably fled from the Kingdom at this point.

With only Rickhart as his target, the paladin made a quick round-up of the other contacts he had in Norburg.

There's a lot of questioning to be done.

***

Many, many questions and broken bones later, Kandros could finally say to be satisfied.

It had taken two full days for him to interrogate all the local ruffians, starting from the small fries and following the chain of command until he found the real crime lords. The paladin wasn't there to do the guards' job, however, and his time was valuable, so he restricted himself to simply asking questions, using his fists only when it was absolutely necessary.

A man he grilled that night had revealed he had helped a strange fellow to enter Norburg the same day of the attack to the villa. It had to be the right lead. A sudden visit to one of that scum's acquaintances, the smuggler who had hidden the intruder into his own wagon, gave him the final piece of that mystery.

If Rickhart came from the West, it must mean he either crossed the river on boat or took the safest roads he could find. Depending on where his current hideout is, my best bet right now would be Lyngard.

Again, the Order's protocols were stricter than Kandros could afford. He was operating far away from the Holy City, but at the same time the rules required that he asked at least for another paladin as backup.

That would take too long. If this necromancer managed to get close to King Sebastian unnoticed, then his plans were already in motion. He must have thought to eliminate the head of the country swiftly, without effort, laying the pavement for the rest of his scheme.

The fact that Roric, the newfound Elemental, was at the feast had to be a mere product of chance. Kandros was still conflicted on what to do about that young lad. He had never hunted his kind before, nor he had ever had any interest into doing it. All he cared about were those who used dark magic.

Fine. Especially for me, Roric being there was a stroke of luck. He contributed by getting in the way of our enemy, and I'll let his existence slip for now. If I were to meet him, though, he would be a huge help. If he is really an Elemental, I mean.

The paladin took a long breath, and jumped on his horse. An hour later Norburg disappeared behind his back, but his eyes were already fixed on the western horizon, where the sun was setting. There, somewhere, lay the answer to his questions. Maybe it was hidden behind lies and secrets, but the young man was willing to go all the way in order to find Rickhart and uncover his plans.

All he had to do was follow the trail of evil.