Chapter 12

From hence will begin

The night at the port of Daetrals was typical. The setting of day had not killed the crowd, it was in fact, the streets began flooding with people the moment the last trace of day was gone. Xiven kept his hood on. After all it would be too suspicious to be seen walking around behind a mask. It was not logical to wear a hood in the night, but Xiven would rather not remove his mask, he felt safer with it on.
The mask wielder kept to the side walk. Crowds were always helpful to hide in. Xiven felt his stomach growl. He ate little for past two days not only to keep himself light but also to minimise contact with the locals.
One thing felt strange to him. According to Kurosawa, the Daetrals port was under King Rudifus' control, yet it did not appeared to be under suppression as he had imagined it to be. Trade was fluid and the locals were feeling a little too safe to be under an iron grip. Moreover, for a town this rich, and peaceful, it was also strange that they had virtually no military capabilities.
Despite that, the mission never left his mind. It was day three since he left Kurosawa's keep but he was no where near done. Preparations took a day to complete and travelling took another half a day. After one full day of searching, Xiven found only a few sources.
The town's governor office was easy to spot but it was heavily guarded and difficult to pass. The mask wielder decided early that he'd save that for the last.
With one day left to his promised date, Xiven was determined not to be embarrassed by his own promise. Thankfully he was already on a trail. On one of the abandoned armories he spotted a chipped off blade from a sword. The material of the blade had a rather unique ability to channel and focus mental energy and it was not commonly found in this region. It was a favourite of the once famous Migruid mageknight.
Xiven had turned the steel into the black market, expecting to fetch a high price. Much to his surprise and dismay, the fragment was worthless and in abundance. Tracking from there on and he would be able to find out what exactly this town is trying to hide.
The mask wielder presented himself as a collector. He paid much bribes to buy favours, and sorted out information from multiple sources. In the end he concluded that the steel was imported from the north harbor. Wasting no time and the mask wielder began his survey of the harbor once he arrived.
There were many of shipments each day. If Xiven had not paid for information, he would not be able to tell which was which. Each day without fail, large amounts of the steel will be imported. It was strange that no one actually notices it. The goods were packed on wagons and pulled to another location.
Xiven pulled out his new mask from his belt. It was a mask containing the emotion of embarrassment. How he got it, it was no pleasant memory. The mask wielder already tried and tested the mask's ability and unlike his other masks which gave him physical enhancements like inhuman strength and dashing speed, this one actually made him invisible, like a chameleon. It was perfect for his mission, so much so that he almost laughed.
Day four and the shipment arrived without fail. This time however, instead of an official leading the convoy, another man sneak a bag to a third man while the escort pretended not to see anything. A small wagon quietly trailed off from the rest. It would seem that the black market stole it's share from here. The things people would do for greed, he was disgusted.
Xiven snapped the new mask over his existing mask and followed the cargo. His body faded away. He was turning ethereal save for the part where he still can touch and be touched.
The mask wielder easily slip pass the guard hound. He smiled at his work. The concealment was so complete that even his scent was blocked out. The only problem now was that if he was to be careless, he would leave behind footprints.
The convoy was separated into several groups, each heading toward a direction. Xiven conveniently picked and followed one of the wagons. The destination was a rather grand looking forge. The mask wielder slapped his forehead, how could he had missed this. It was evident that there were several of those in the town.
He wanted to explore the insides of the grand building but he had not trained enough in the mask to last this long. Fatigue was eroding him away. Slipping to one of the unguarded side walls, Xiven removed his mask. His body returned to reality. From his pocket he fished out a piece of paper and transfered the pattern on it to the wall. It was a tracking spell given to him by one of Kurosawa's sorcerer.
With that, the mask wielder wandered off and reported his findings to Kurosawa. That would be all for today.

Rudifus paced around his room, stroking each scripture, each carving on his grand pillars and each painting. This was a room of heritage, histories and things people could not bear to let go off. He did not appreciate these relics left behind by his so-called father and those before him. Much of the history told here were exaggerated, muddled by lies and barren of content. It was to make a king feel good about himself and his family. Regardless still, he was in a great mood. His back and fore with the desert rogues will soon come to a conclusion. Fate had told him.
Standing before him were three others, his personal squad of elite assassins. People called them the black hand but Rudifus bothered not to name them. Phobia, Shadowblight and Acedia, each well trained and highly skilled that if they banded together, they would probably be able to take down a small army. Although the king was happy with them, he felt that the team was uncompleted and therefore had not attained their fullest potential.
Fortunately, Eerie SilverLotus will be the one to fill this devoid. He will complete the so called black hand and bring that renegade knight to his knees. Rudifus was confident that it will happen. Fate had demanded it.
The tranquil in the king's room was spoilt. The room outside was rocked by an explosion and the palace guards were getting thrown off. King Rudifus sighted. More fools who wished to be king. Taking no hurry, he turned to his throne and sat down. Those insolents had not picked good time, now that all of the black hand were present.
The invaders were a band of four warriors. Initially they begin their assault with a group of twenty men. Now only the top four remained though they were unscathed. Rudifus was perhaps, arrogant. He believed so much in the fact that no one could kill him, that he often left his palace poorly guarded.
The four finally entered the throne room, where Rudifus sat. They wasted no time, one of the four, presumably a magi dressed in a white robe leaped forward and drew a symbol in the air with his staff.
"Word of path, Flames twenty-seven. Blast." With that, pyrotechnic burst out of the symbol in front of the caster. King Rudifus raised his eyebrows.
"A Southern magi? Only so few remain. " Rudifus said sheepishly. Much to the disbelieve of the magi, the flames bent at a sharp arc before it reached the king. It was as if he was not meant to be hit.
Rudifus smiled and turned his eyes to Acedia, who stepped out of the shadows. Out of the three, Acedia was the only one without a mask on. He wore a set of black tights, covering the majority of his body until his neck. His silver white hair, green eyes and compact body made him looked like an outstanding assassin, if not for the fact that he was constantly yawning and never looked serious enough to kill.
The Four invaders took up an attacking stance, expecting all three of the black hand to make a move. But as if mocking them, the other two sat down and remained in the shadow.
One of the four, an archer, pull out and fired an arrow, the magi responded by drawing another symbol in the air with his staff. The arrow duplicated into twos, then tens and finally hundreds. Acedia stared at the magi with the corner of his eyes.
"Imprisonment sixty-eight. Steel light." Acedia mutter and stroke a symbol on his arm. He then pointed his finger in the direction of the arrows and colossal walls of light shot up, surrounding him and the king. The arrows darted harmless into the walls. Acedia dispelled the walls.
He was quick, before the magi saw him, Acedia was in the air pulling out a dagger.
"Dope." Acedia mumbled and scratched on the dagger before throwing it. The dagger split into two and caught the archer plus another of the four in the heart.
"Slice. " Acedia drew another symbol on his arm and mumbled again. Icicles erupted from the ground, injuring the magi and killing the last of the four.
"Words from the south, paths above fifty with minimal incantations and not needing the use of a Pelvsy steel. What are you?" The magi coughed out. Acedia did not reply, but just simply smiled.
"I'm surprised someone still uses my magic till this day, but you're far too weak." Acedia whispered. The magician's eyes widened in disbelieve.
"You are... It can't be..." Without letting the magi finish, Acedia drew another symbol, this time the symbol stretched all the way from his arm to his body.
"Word of path, Flames eighty-four. Astral Lock down." The spellweaver clutched his hands at the magi, and a huge meteorite slammed down into the ground. There was no evidence of an assassin attempt left.
Acedia frowned. Now he would be blamed for killing an ant with a sledge hammer. Rudifus raised an eyebrow.
“That was the fourth southern magi you completely decimated, can't you leave a few of them behind for questioning?” Shadowbrite spoke from the shadows. Apparently he was quite ticked off. Indeed Acedia had a bad habit of killing off potential information, leaving behind usually only those who made up lies to save their skin.
“Oh well, my bad.” Acedia started smiling again and shrugged his shoulders.

Kurosawa rushed Chron to the meeting room. The information they received from Xiven was minimal, but it was enough for them to conclude and decide on a few things.
Chron had already been briefed and he was not comfortable with Kurosawa's idea. He knew Xiven will not agree to it as well, but Kurosawa was determined. Chron only hoped that it would not come to this. The preparations were nearly complete and they should be able to rendezvous with Xiven in a week's time.