The golden caravan, flying the three rings of Maliri, slowly made its way toward the Silkbug Kingdom, a golden snake slithering between the sharp mountains. Steadily, the caravan moved ever northward, inch by inch, stopping frequently to fight off small bands of bandits—flies that constantly harassed the snake.

  Ashely sat on her horse, her lips pressed together as she absentmindedly stared at the caravan. She twisted her mouth in frustration as she tried to remember how many times her caravan had been attacked during the past couple of days. As if feeling her unease, Eclipse, her horse, tossed his head around, breaking her thoughts. Leaning forward to pat his neck, she whispered calming words to the agitated animal. “It’s all right, boy. Don’t be scared.”

  Eclipse was a magnificent animal, muscular and fast, his black silky hair reflecting the evening sun. He was a horse anyone would be jealous of. Honestly speaking, Eclipse was not the best horse for her—he was skittish and temperamental, a danger to inexperienced riders, but she had chosen him. If she was able to earn his trust, she knew she would be rewarded with a horse that would outrun any horse that was not from the Horse Lords of Arioria. Hearing her soft words, Eclipse snorted before standing still.

  With Eclipse calm, Ashely went back to scanning her surroundings.

  The northern route she had chosen was rough but quick, known for being the shortest path to the Silkbug kingdom. The trade path carved through the mountainous region of Vanura was surrounded by great jagged cliffs and ancient trees that stretched across the land as far as the eye could see. This inhospitable land was ruled by one of the Great Lords of Vanura, Lord Essen of House Galra.

  Personally, Ashely had an unfavorable opinion of House Galra. Lancia, the daughter of Lord Essen, had been the fiancée of Zenrom when he was still a First Pillar in the Salizian army. When he was forced out of the army due to the bureaucracy of the former Queen's family, Lord Galra had dissolved the engagement between them.

  Logically, Ashely knew that without Zenrom being forced out of the army, he would not have been employed by her father and, in turn, come into her life. But she could still not forgive Lord Galra and Lancia for breaking Zenrom’s heart.

  Spotting Commander Hagan, Ashely waved him over. “Commander Hagan, did we lose anyone in the raid just now?”

  Riding up to her, Hagan shook his head, adjusting his armor. “No, My Lady. They attacked us with a little over ten men. We shot them full of arrows before they got close to us. The bandits are of extremely poor quality. The only concern I have is the frequency of attacks. In less than a week, we have been attacked more times than what we should experience in a full journey.”

  Seeing the troubled look on his face deepening, Ashely fiddled with her riding gloves, wondering out loud. “Why are we attacked so often? This should not be happening.”

  “I do not know, My Lady,” Commander Hagan replied. “None of these attacks make sense. Ever since your father wiped out the Brotherhood of the Yellow Blade, this route has been under our control.”

  Gritting her teeth, Ashely contemplated to herself. Commander Hagan was right; the frequency and reason of the attacks were the real issues. Every time they were attacked, the whole caravan had to stop, slowing down their progress. The attacks were causing unnecessary stress and stamina loss to her caravan.

  “Commander, next time we are attacked, I want you to capture some of the bandits. I want you to interrogate them. Find out why they are attacking us.”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  “And one more thing. Between the choices of continuing in a slow and defensive formation or relying on speed to reach defensible checkpoints on our way to the Silkbug kingdom, which would you choose?”

  Ashely could see the gears in Commander Hagan’s head turn as he weighed the two options.

  “I believe the safety of our people should be prioritized. Moving rapidly in this terrain will cause accidents to happen. We should strengthen our defense and send our scouts out farther. This will slow down our pace, but it would be safer for our men. Luckily, we are using the shorter path, we have enough provisions for an extra few weeks.”

  Agreeing with Commander Hagan, Ashely signaled to the caravan leaders. “Double the range of the scouts. We continue to move in a defensive formation. I want all guards to be fully armored and ready to fight.”

  “Yes, My Lady.”

  Riding to the front of the caravan with Commander Hagan, Ashely looked up at the sky. The sky was clear, but she had an unexplainable feeling of rain, a feeling she did not like. “Commander, what are the chances of rain?”

  Looking up at the sky, Commander Hagan took a few sniffs of the air. “I think it will start raining in two to three days. It should stop before the week is up.”

  “Will it hinder the wagons?”

  “Yes, but it’s too late to outrun it now. Anyway, it should only slow us down for a day or so.”

  “I hope you are right, Commander.”

  That night, the rain started falling, a heavy drizzle that immediately soaked the land. As the rain came pouring down, rivers of water turned the dirt path the caravan was using into channels of mud. As morning came, the summer heat transformed the world into one of fog, rain, and mud.

  Zenrom stood at the mouth of a small cave they had found last night, the muggy air causing his clothes to stick to him.

  “Hey, Boss, what’s our plan?” San asked, walking over to him and passing him breakfast.

  Taking the dried jerky from him, Zenrom scratched his chin, taking a moment to answer. “The fog and rain are thick enough to keep us hidden. Using them as cover, we will make our way to the caravan. Once there, we will hunt the bandits that are hiding nearby without drawing attention.”

  “Winks is gonna love that,” San murmured, his eyebrows lifting slightly. Just by looking at his face, Zenrom knew he was asking if it was the best idea.

  “I know Master Maliri told us to not interfere unless necessary, but I think it would be good for us to take a more practical approach. We both know that in a normal situation, the caravan would not be attacked this much. It doesn’t make sense that Ashely’s leadership should be tested this way. By culling some of the bandits in the area, we will be creating a more natural situation.”

  Nodding at Zenrom’s words, San pursed his lips together. Breathing out steadily, he smiled. “If you put it that way, I guess it does make sense. I’ll go wake up the others and tell them the plan.”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Watching the grinning man scamper back into the cave, Zenrom finished eating his jerky, feeling a kind of relief. Doing something, anything, in this situation felt better than waiting out the rain in the cave.

  Stretching, he tried to chase away the fatigue lingering in his body. Last night, he had not slept well, nightmares keeping him up all night. In his dreams, a child's skull had morphed into Ashely's, her bloody face turning towards him, questing him—asking him why he did not protect her.

  In his dream, Zenrom had tried to move, but his body remained frozen. Muscles straining, he had silently screamed, willing his body to move, but he could not. Gasping in panic, he had woken up, finding himself wedged between the cave’s walls and the hard floor. For the rest of the night, he had waited for the others to wake up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. I’m usually better at keeping my mind focused, he thought. Why am I so distracted? So worried? I need to get a grip on myself.

  Glancing down at his empty hand, he frowned. I should also get more food. I’ll also check on the men to see what’s taking them so long. Turning his back to the rain, he headed back inside.

  Less than an hour later, the four men silently crept down the mountain, carefully observing their surroundings, searching for bandits. As elite guards, Zenrom and his men melted into the rain, moving so quietly that even a wandering deer missed their presence, its head bobbing up and down as it ate.

  Crouching behind a fallen tree, Zenrom tilted his head back, smelling a faint smell of smoke. With the rain soaking everything, it was not strange for fires to become smoky. Using his hands to signal Cam, Zenrom pointed at the direction the smoke seemed to be coming from, silently telling the man to circle and come from the opposite side. Neither of them knew who the fire belonged to, but it didn’t hurt to set up an ambush just in case.

  Watching the stout man acknowledge his signal and disappear into the fog, Zenrom turned to the remaining two. Using his hands, he signed for them to hide. Stay hidden until Cam has time to get into position. Once he’s in position, we will seek up and see who set up the fire. Seeing the two nod at him, Zenrom hid behind the roots of a large unturned tree, slowly counting to himself.

  The earthy smell of wet dirt and vegetation filled his head as he pressed himself into the roots, the smell grounding him to the current situation. While he waited, he busied himself with checking his gear, making sure that his weapons and light armor were properly in place—he had seen enough men die to know how important such things were.

  As the minutes dragged by, Zenrom felt the rain slowly bleed through this cloak, water dripping down his back. Shifting his body uncomfortably, he cursed as more rainwater got in. It’s been around five minutes. That should be good enough!

  Looking around and catching San and Winks’ eyes, he gave the signal. It was time to move closer to the fire.

  Using the rain and fog to cover their approach, Zenrom led San and Winks to a place where they could observe the fire. Once in place, they carefully peered around the base of a tree and into the camp.

  Sheltered against a large tree was a makeshift wooden shelter, a small, smoky fire just outside the shelter. Gathered around the fire were five men, their wet and miserable appearance obvious to Zenrom and his men. Carefully studying them, Zenrom made a mental list of what they were wearing, their weapons, and their location.

  The five men were all sitting around the fire, the largest man sitting on a log near Zenrom, a large axe buried in a stump next to him. As for the remaining four, three of them were sitting near the fire, their wet hands holding what appeared to be bowls of water and some vegetables. The last man was sitting away from everyone else, a piece of dried jerky in his hand.

  Studying the men, Zenrom noticed the mismatched clothes they were wearing, their attire ranging from something a farmer would wear to what a noble would—a mix of rags and riches.

  “The clothes.”

  Zenrom heard San whisper near him, his voice was pitched so low that he barely heard him. Nodding once in understanding, Zenrom conveyed he knew what San was talking about.

  The clothing the group wore was suspicious. Most people would never be able to wear what a noble would, and to be wearing a mixture of nobles’ clothes and rags was unheard of. The conclusion was that they must have taken them from a noble.

  Looks like they are bandits, but we need to make sure, he signaled. We don’t want to attack innocent hunters.

  They have swords, San signaled.

  Turning back to the fire, Zenrom noticed that the four smaller men had swords resting next to them, the falling rain soaking the rusted weapons. None of them even bothered to keep the weapons dry.

  Alright, they’re bandits, Zenrom signaled. Both of you, spread out.

  Finally!

  Nodding at him, San and Winks disappeared into the fog, leaving Zenrom by himself.

  As Zenrom settled down to give his men time to get into position, the rain started to fall harder, smothering the fire and causing the men in the camp to curse in frustration.

  “To the rotting abyss with this rain!” the large men shouted, kicking the now extinguished fire, scattering the wet ash everywhere. Grabbing the large axe embedded in the stump, he turned to the other men, his loud voice causing the men to cower in fear.

  “Stand up, you lazy scum! We’ve sat around here for far too long! We’re moving now! Once we acquire the sword, I will rule over this godforsaken country.”

  Pulling up his sleeve to reveal a Crest of a Skunk on his forearm, the bandit waved his axe around. “Unlike you scum, I am a Chosen One. Someone who is destined to rule over the weak. Rule over people—people like you! I don't care what you have to do. Go get me that sword! Now!

  Hearing the bandit shout at his men, Zenrom bared his teeth in disgust. It was common for those who were born with a Crest to treat those without with contempt. It was an unwritten tradition reinforced by the nobility. Throughout his life, Zenrom had watched enough incompetent individuals with a Crest be promoted in the army for him to adhere to this belief.

  Suppressing his feelings, he squinted at the Skunk Crest, trying to figure out if he recognized it. Running through the numerous Crests he knew of, he shook his head. He did not know this Crest.

  It was unusual for an Arcane Knight to turn into a bandit; most of them could easily find work with any number of Lords, their strength highly sought after. Knowing this, it could only be one thing—a disgraced Arcane Knight.

  Cupping his hands around his mouth, Zenrom imitated the call of a blue jay, signaling his men. With what he had just heard, he had enough evidence to attack them.

  Stealthily drawing his sword, Zenrom made his way as close as possible to the group while still hidden, his heart pounding against his chest—something that happened before every fight. Controlling his breath, he started to draw in Aether, stopping just before his Crest started to emit light. Waiting for Cam to make his move, he felt his body tense up, his muscles primed to burst into action. In no time at all, a roar came from the other side of the camp as Cam came charging in, his short sword and buckler held in front of him, the Red Fox Crest on his arm bursting with Arcane Light.

  Rushing into the camp, Cam plunged his short sword into the bandit who was sitting off by himself, his buckler smashing into the man’s face a heartbeat later. Still roaring, he picked up the man and tossed him at the other bandits, their shrieks of horror matching his shouting.

  The chaos Cam created was all the distraction Zenrom needed. Drawing deeply on the surrounding Aether, he moved like lightning, his mind focused solely on the leader; getting rid of him before he was able to draw in Aether was a priority in this situation.

  Closing the distance between them, he gripped his sword in both hands. Taking one final, strong step, he swung his sword horizontally, cleaving the man in two. The two pieces of the man fell to the ground beside him, the smell of blood quickly suppressed by the rain.

  Swinging his head around, Zenrom saw that the remaining three bandits were already taken care of, San and Winks crushing them with quick, brutal strikes.

  Taking a moment to clean his sword on the body of one of the bandits, Zenrom looked around, making sure that there were no more potential threats. In his opinion, this ambush was pulled off perfectly. When fighting Arcane Knights, it was best not to allow them to draw power.

  “Search the camp; see if you can find anything,” he said, kneeling in front of the bisected bandit. “I’ll search this one.”

  “Do you think this guy is the one practicing chaos magic?” Winks asked, walking over and standing over the other half of the bandit.

  “No,” Zenrom replied, standing up—he had found nothing of interest.

  “If he was the one killing the children, he would have been stronger, at least an Arcane Lord. I think he was just a disgraced knight.”

  “Ah,” Winks quietly uttered, his face looking crestfallen.

  Wishing he could do something for Winks, Zenrom sighed. “We will catch him.”

  “I know.”

  As the two men stood in the rain, San called over. “Nothing here, just a bunch of old weapons and food.”

  “Alright,” Zenrom called back. “Everyone, it's time to go look for the next bandit group.”

  Looking up at the white sky, he tried to read the weather. “I think the rain will get worse. Let’s get moving.”

  This was going to be a long day.