Devran glanced at the double doors to the right from the dais. Two guards in gray armor stood there, but he could’ve sworn he had seen a third person. He pushed it out of his mind. It had probably been just a servant. He had something much more important to worry about.

“Now,” earl Hagen spoke from his throne, “to what do I owe this visit?”

“I think the reason is clear already,” said his father. “Something must be done about Rass Skanler. He’s a menace and a disgrace to the title of nobility. Every day he remains as earl another family suffers. More and more, his people can't endure it anymore and prepare to rise up in rebellion.”

The earl nodded. “And I’m sure that you have much to do with the last part.” He paused to look at his wife before continuing. “I’m well aware that all you say is true, as it was true years ago when you seemed ready to declare war. Instead, you and your men disappeared at the last minute, leaving everyone to wonder if Skanler had finally found and killed you.”

“If he had found me, then no one would be left wondering. That madman would surely spread the news around for everyone to hear.” Vasilis slipped his hand under the tunic’s right sleeve, raising it up for display. “While I’m not dead, I did come awfully close to it and didn't come out unscathed.”

Devran knew that wasn’t an understatement. His father had been on the brink of death when Devran found him.

It was supposed to be a quick and easy job. Grab the town’s huntswoman and her son to find out if they attacked the scout camp. Despite weakened, his father was still a Paladin, so he should've been able to deal with the mother. Barton went along for support along with four Fighters to deal with the kid.

When evening came and Vasilis still hadn’t returned, Devran knew that something had gone wrong. He considered raising camp and leaving. That would be the most logical option. His father was the only Paladin they had in the vicinity and, If he met with a stronger opponent, then there was little hope for Devran faring any better.

Ultimately though, Devran couldn’t bear to do it, so he left by himself to look for them. His heartbeats thumping in his ears as he cautiously went up the small hill where the huntswoman lived. The smell of ashes became stronger as he approached the cottage until he finally came upon the house’s burning remains.

A man’s body laid underneath the collapsed doorway. One of the Fighters who followed his father on the mission. Circling around the cottage, Devran came upon another dead body, this time a blonde woman. Another one from his group. He counted five stabs wounds on her chest, all of them deep.

Looking back to the house, Devran saw what appeared to be a shoe sticking out of the ashes. He moved away some of it to find another body laying underneath. The head had been crushed against the floor, but the body didn’t burn all that much. Another Crusader. Barton.

That death felt particularly painful. Unlike the dead Fighters, he knew Barton from a long time ago. Along with Samn, the man was one of Devran’s few friends. As much as it hurt though, there was nothing that could be done. Devran could only hope that his father was still alive.

Rummaging through the ashes, he found two other bodies, both of them from their group. This tallied up to everyone who had accompanied his father. Devran couldn’t stop wondering if his father had met a similar fate.

Not finding anything else inside the house, he then began searching outside, to where the signs of destruction continued. One tree had been broken in half. The smaller one behind it had been uprooted. Finally, at the foot of the third tree, Devran found Vasilis.

One of his arms was missing, not so much cut as ripped apart. His thigh had been stabbed twice, both wounds so deep that they came out from the other side. Vasilis barely breathed.

Devran didn't stop to think. He placed his father over his shoulders and carried him away in search of a healer. Greenflower had one, but the old man was only a Mage, too weak to be of any help.

So instead, Devran sprinted back to their camp at the forest, all the while praying that his father would hold on. He did.

Back at camp, the best healer was only an Archmage. The woman couldn’t completely heal his father, but at least she managed to prevent him from dying. Only with time and constant healing did Vasilis recover, but not without lasting damages.

For starters, his arm was gone. Without a Warlock, it was impossible to reattach a Paladin’s body part. Even if they managed to find one, the arm had already started to rot. Besides that, the wounds on his thigh didn’t heal properly, so he’d walk with a limp from then on after.

Still, the most serious damage wasn’t physical. They had been only a few months away from declaring war against Rass Skanler, but there was no way to do it without Vasilis. As such, they were forced to abandon any notions of war and went back into hiding, pausing their operations.

Devran saw how much of a blow that was to his father. At times he feared that, instead of his falling to his injuries, his father would simply give up on life.

As for the mother and child who caused all that, they both seemed to have disappeared. Neither of them was ever seen again in Greenflower. To this day, Devran still wondered how they managed to cause so much destruction.

Vasilis claimed that, suddenly, the mother started casting Warlock-level spells. Devran trusted his father wholeheartedly, but he still found it hard to believe. Such a thing sounded too much like the Grenfell Massacre, where the Olsens claimed that a southerner Archmage slaughtered a group of Paladins and Warlocks.

If the southerners were able to do such a thing, they wouldn’t have lost the war in the first place. To Devran it sounded much more likely that the Olsens framed the deaths on a southerner to sow fear and impose even harsher laws against the slaves. Which he did.

Looking at the empty sleeve, lady Athalia raised her eyebrows in surprise. “What happened?”

“I underestimated an opponent,” said Vasilis. He removed the hand from underneath the sleeve, causing it to fall lifelessly. “Or maybe I overestimated myself. Regardless, the end result is clear to see.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you for your sympathy, my lady. While unfortunate, that’s not the first body part that I lose.” Vasilis' lips curved up into a smile. “Not the largest either.”

Lady Athalia wasn’t impressed, any signs of warmth disappearing from her face.

Hagen coughed. Devran didn't fail to notice the slight twitching at the corner of the earl’s mouth. “Getting back to the matter on hand, what are you proposing?”

“While delayed, my objectives didn't change. When summer arrives in a couple of months, we'll be declaring war against Rass Skanler. We hope to count with my lord's support.”