Status: This is my first story that I am uploading onto here. I am only uploading the first chapter for now because I do not want anyone stealing it but I might put up the second chapter is enough people like it. Comments and tips are very welcome and appreciated.
The Dagger and the Crown
Chapter VIII: Terror in The Black Forest
Three days have passed and still no sign of Princess Lillian. Azazel is getting very worried for her safety. Malum senses this as they are walking through the jungle. He looks over and whispers, “Do not worry Azazel, we will find her. I am sure she is fine. They should have enough food to last them weeks.”
Azazel smiles from beneath his mask and says, “Thank you Malum. Still, I cannot help but to worry. There are a number of dangerous creatures in these jungles. Razor Boars, Gottesanbeterin, Dragons, and, worse of all, the Bone-Hounds. Hell, I’ve heard a story about how The Great Scarred One managed to wipe out a whole squad of knights sent in to kill him, by himself! Imagine if we ran into him out here. Sure, there’s also us two and we have a mage, but I think that will only increase our chances of survival by a small amount. Ormazd help us if he has a pack with him.”
“That is very true. But who’d to say that we will run into him? The messenger managed to get to the kingdom somewhat okay. Granted, he had a broken arm but still.”
“Yeah. Anyways, have you found anything else about our mission?”
“Well, from what I could get out of Selene before Alan continues to interrupt us. She told me that the princess and a envoy went to another kingdom in order to retrieve a ‘gift’ or something from their king. Even Selene doesn’t know what this ‘gift’ is. And I am quite certain that Alan will not tell us either, whether he knows or not.”
“Very true. But alas, we will probably remain in the dark until we find Lillian and the envoy.” Before Malum could say anything to that, Azazel holds up his hand. And begins looking around.
Malum looks over at Azazel and asks, “What is it?”
“Do you hear anything?”
Malum looks around, trying to hear what Azazel is hearing. He looks back at him and says, “No, I don’t hear anything at all.”
“Exactly. It’s quiet. Way too quiet for a jungle. That can only mean one thing.”
“There is a predator hunting nearby.”
“Precisely. And since it’s this quiet in our area, that means that the predator is nearby, which means easy prey is close.”
“And possibly the easiest prey out here is either us or the caravan.”
“You need to get back to the main party and warn them. I’ll scout ahead and see if I can find anything.”
“Alright.” The two assassins then part ways as Malum heads to the main party and Azazel heads off into the jungle to try to hunt down the hunter. And find his prey before he does.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, half of the knights are polishing and sharpening their swords while the rest, excluding Alan, are preparing lunch. Selene is looking over her books as Alan comes up to her. “Lady Selene, may I have permission to speak freely?” Selene looks up at the knight and nods her head. Alan then proceeds to say, “Truth be told Selene, I still don’t trust those two assassins. It’s been almost four days and we have yet to find anything. How do we not know that they are simply not leading us into an ambush? For all we know, they could’ve been the ones who stopped the caravan.”
Selene puts a bookmark in her book, sets it down, looks up at him, and says, “Look Alan, I am aware that some of the assassins have killed a few members of your order. I am very much aware that they are some of the most dangerous assassins alive. But one thing I do know is that once they have accepted a contract, they will follow it to the letter. So until this is over and the princess is rescued, hold your tongue and deal with it!” This took Alan by surprise. So much, that he remains silent and strolls back over to his men. Selene sighs as she prepares to look back into her book until another shadow falls over her. She groans as she says, “What is it this time?” She looks up and sees that it is Malum. “Oh, Malum, I was not expecting you to be back so soon. Where is your friend, Daemon?”
“That is what I am here to speak to you about. We are not completely certain, but we think that we might have found the caravan.”
Selene’s face grows bright with excitement as she jumps up and eagerly asks, “Really?! Where? Where is it?”
Malum holds up his hand and says, “As I said, we do not know for certain. It is only a hunch. For all we know, it could be nothing. That is why Daemon is investigating. It may take him a while but hopefully, it is the caravan.”
Selene looks at him thoughtfully and asks, “Out of curiosity, what makes you think that it’s the caravan?”
“Well, it is rather complicated. You see, we can tell how dangerous an area is by the amount of sounds created by nearby animals. If it is incredibly noisy, it is somewhat safe. But if it is silent, that means something dangerous, like a predator, is nearby. And if there is a predator, that means easy prey. And the easiest prey that would be in this area is a weak or dying animal, the caravan, or us. Again, it is a gamble at best but it is the most we’ve gotten so far.” Selene sighs as she sits back down. Malum bows his head and says, “I am sorry Lady Selene. I wish that we could do more.”
Selene looks up at Malum, smiles, and says, “No no, it’s alright. I understand. I just hope that we can find them soon. I am sure that Herald is getting more and more worried the longer we are gone.”
“I understand. And I assure you, my partner and I will not stop until we have found her.”
Selene smiles as she stands up and, much to Malum’s shock, hugs him, saying, “Thank you very much. I can tell by your voice that you are being sincere about it. And I believe you.” Malum, at a complete lost of words, doesn’t say anything. After about a minute, Selene releases her hold on Malum steps back, and says, “I’m sorry, I don’t really know what came over me.”
Malum raises his hand as he says, “It is alright.” Before they could say anything more, Azazel returns back to camp, clearly exhausted. Malum looks over at him and says, “Azazel?! What’s going on? Did you find the caravan?”
“Y-yes, I did. Oi, I never ran so fast in my life. Listen, we have to hurry. I found the caravan but I could get any closer.”
“What?! Why not?”
“Razor Boars. There are Razor Boars around them. And I could sneak in no problem. Sneaking back out would be another thing.”
Before Selene or Malum could respond, Alan comes over towards the young assassin and asks, “You found the caravan?”
Azazel groans and says, “Yes, I found the damn caravan. Now, we need to get going before they run out of wood. That fire is the only thing keeping them from becoming pig food. Now, let’s go!” Azazel then turns on his heel and runs in the direction of the caravan with Selene, Malum, Alan, and the other knights in tow.
Azazel smiles from beneath his mask and says, “Thank you Malum. Still, I cannot help but to worry. There are a number of dangerous creatures in these jungles. Razor Boars, Gottesanbeterin, Dragons, and, worse of all, the Bone-Hounds. Hell, I’ve heard a story about how The Great Scarred One managed to wipe out a whole squad of knights sent in to kill him, by himself! Imagine if we ran into him out here. Sure, there’s also us two and we have a mage, but I think that will only increase our chances of survival by a small amount. Ormazd help us if he has a pack with him.”
“That is very true. But who’d to say that we will run into him? The messenger managed to get to the kingdom somewhat okay. Granted, he had a broken arm but still.”
“Yeah. Anyways, have you found anything else about our mission?”
“Well, from what I could get out of Selene before Alan continues to interrupt us. She told me that the princess and a envoy went to another kingdom in order to retrieve a ‘gift’ or something from their king. Even Selene doesn’t know what this ‘gift’ is. And I am quite certain that Alan will not tell us either, whether he knows or not.”
“Very true. But alas, we will probably remain in the dark until we find Lillian and the envoy.” Before Malum could say anything to that, Azazel holds up his hand. And begins looking around.
Malum looks over at Azazel and asks, “What is it?”
“Do you hear anything?”
Malum looks around, trying to hear what Azazel is hearing. He looks back at him and says, “No, I don’t hear anything at all.”
“Exactly. It’s quiet. Way too quiet for a jungle. That can only mean one thing.”
“There is a predator hunting nearby.”
“Precisely. And since it’s this quiet in our area, that means that the predator is nearby, which means easy prey is close.”
“And possibly the easiest prey out here is either us or the caravan.”
“You need to get back to the main party and warn them. I’ll scout ahead and see if I can find anything.”
“Alright.” The two assassins then part ways as Malum heads to the main party and Azazel heads off into the jungle to try to hunt down the hunter. And find his prey before he does.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, half of the knights are polishing and sharpening their swords while the rest, excluding Alan, are preparing lunch. Selene is looking over her books as Alan comes up to her. “Lady Selene, may I have permission to speak freely?” Selene looks up at the knight and nods her head. Alan then proceeds to say, “Truth be told Selene, I still don’t trust those two assassins. It’s been almost four days and we have yet to find anything. How do we not know that they are simply not leading us into an ambush? For all we know, they could’ve been the ones who stopped the caravan.”
Selene puts a bookmark in her book, sets it down, looks up at him, and says, “Look Alan, I am aware that some of the assassins have killed a few members of your order. I am very much aware that they are some of the most dangerous assassins alive. But one thing I do know is that once they have accepted a contract, they will follow it to the letter. So until this is over and the princess is rescued, hold your tongue and deal with it!” This took Alan by surprise. So much, that he remains silent and strolls back over to his men. Selene sighs as she prepares to look back into her book until another shadow falls over her. She groans as she says, “What is it this time?” She looks up and sees that it is Malum. “Oh, Malum, I was not expecting you to be back so soon. Where is your friend, Daemon?”
“That is what I am here to speak to you about. We are not completely certain, but we think that we might have found the caravan.”
Selene’s face grows bright with excitement as she jumps up and eagerly asks, “Really?! Where? Where is it?”
Malum holds up his hand and says, “As I said, we do not know for certain. It is only a hunch. For all we know, it could be nothing. That is why Daemon is investigating. It may take him a while but hopefully, it is the caravan.”
Selene looks at him thoughtfully and asks, “Out of curiosity, what makes you think that it’s the caravan?”
“Well, it is rather complicated. You see, we can tell how dangerous an area is by the amount of sounds created by nearby animals. If it is incredibly noisy, it is somewhat safe. But if it is silent, that means something dangerous, like a predator, is nearby. And if there is a predator, that means easy prey. And the easiest prey that would be in this area is a weak or dying animal, the caravan, or us. Again, it is a gamble at best but it is the most we’ve gotten so far.” Selene sighs as she sits back down. Malum bows his head and says, “I am sorry Lady Selene. I wish that we could do more.”
Selene looks up at Malum, smiles, and says, “No no, it’s alright. I understand. I just hope that we can find them soon. I am sure that Herald is getting more and more worried the longer we are gone.”
“I understand. And I assure you, my partner and I will not stop until we have found her.”
Selene smiles as she stands up and, much to Malum’s shock, hugs him, saying, “Thank you very much. I can tell by your voice that you are being sincere about it. And I believe you.” Malum, at a complete lost of words, doesn’t say anything. After about a minute, Selene releases her hold on Malum steps back, and says, “I’m sorry, I don’t really know what came over me.”
Malum raises his hand as he says, “It is alright.” Before they could say anything more, Azazel returns back to camp, clearly exhausted. Malum looks over at him and says, “Azazel?! What’s going on? Did you find the caravan?”
“Y-yes, I did. Oi, I never ran so fast in my life. Listen, we have to hurry. I found the caravan but I could get any closer.”
“What?! Why not?”
“Razor Boars. There are Razor Boars around them. And I could sneak in no problem. Sneaking back out would be another thing.”
Before Selene or Malum could respond, Alan comes over towards the young assassin and asks, “You found the caravan?”
Azazel groans and says, “Yes, I found the damn caravan. Now, we need to get going before they run out of wood. That fire is the only thing keeping them from becoming pig food. Now, let’s go!” Azazel then turns on his heel and runs in the direction of the caravan with Selene, Malum, Alan, and the other knights in tow.