"Faster girl!" he barked as if his horse could talk back. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOXAXJhJFu
Oliver had risen up the ranks quite fast. When enlisting into guard service a year ago, he was timid and shy at first. Though, through the help of mostly Llyn he had become much stronger in a very short time span.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKprmxqTkVH
He finally made his way to the gate, the guards were on edge, they were in the dark on why the gate had been closed in the first place. Oliver pulled up his horse sharply.
"Alert everyone here!" he shouted, voice cutting through the thick fog, "Any man with red eyes and black hair, trying to leave, stop him immediately, don't let him go, and alert Captain Xander immediately. He could also be wearing a black cloak, so look out for that. No mistakes!" Oliver shouted again. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkbpRte5Dz
The guards quickly sprang up from their resting places and swung the wooden, logged gate open. Shadows moved through the fog, there was already a line of people waiting to be let in even at this hour. Some were travellers, others merchants, they all muttered in frustration.
"Why the fuck are we looking out for some random person?" One guard whispered to his friend.
"No clue, but if it's orders from Xander… we must listen." his friend said.
"Red eyes…? I didn't even know we humans could have red eyes." another guard scratched his hair in confusion.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCwCZZ8FbP
Flemdale was in an interesting spot on the map. To its right was a cliff, small, though travellers could not pass over or around it as the Risli river flowed from there, impossible to bypass. To the left, a dense, untamed forest, massive in width and somewhat in height named Blackvein, it was packed with trees with leaves so thick the sun barely touched the ground. The locals had still yet to make a path or add lanterns, and rumours of disappearances, kept even the boldest from venturing there. Only some had made it through, speaking of untamed beasts, and other horrors… no one knew if they were speaking the truth. So, anyone wishing to leave from the north or south had no choice but to pass directly through Flemdale or else add days to their journey by going all the way around the edge of the forest. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNs3X66Sey
Oliver then turned his horse around and raced to the northern gate to relay the same message.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpapgxcoJt
Meanwhile, back in front of the tavern, "Don't leave your post," Llyn said to the three guards who were stationed in front of the tavern. All three were thick around the waist, armour straps digging into their chubby skin. "And do not doze off. If you see a man in a cloak, stop him, he could be dangerous then report back immediately, do you understand?" Llyn said, talking slower so they would understand,
"Yes sir!" they all barked in unison, a beat too quickly.
Xander stepped forward towering all three, his gaze cold, "If I hear you three buffoons sleeping inside the tavern, or neglecting your duty," he said calmly, "I'll have all three of your heads," said Xander in total seriousness. The guards nodded hard then saluted.
"You, take this wagon to the graveyard, and bury these bodies." Llyn said, pointing at one of the chubby guards, whose salute was imperfect.
Mervin was the chosen one for this job. "But–" he stuttered, I don't have a horse, I can't carry it by hand sir… It'll be too heavy," he begged, looking down.
"You will." Xander decreed with cruelty and a slight smirk.
Mervin was dumb, but not dumb enough to reject any order from Xander himself.
"And don't bury these three… burn their bodies instead. I don't want them taking up space in my graveyard," Xander instructed as he pointed to the wagon, still smirking.
"Yes– of course, sir," he replied forcefully. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9XiYpDSMl
Mervin then slowly walked behind to the wagon, then wrapped both his fat hands around the wooden shaft. He grunted as he lifted, legs trembling, his broken boots scraping against the mud. The two wheels barely budged at first. His face reddened and embarrassed, he had to do this or else. He then tried again, with a strained cry he managed to raise the front just enough for the wagon to creak forward an inch. Sweat beaded on his brow as he began to drag it away. The weight of three dead men fighting against him the entire way. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQz98YC1z1M
Xander let out a mocking laugh as he watched Mervin vanish down the left alley beside the tavern, the fog swallowing him whole. Then both he and Llyn started to head toward the stable to the right of the tavern to retrieve their horses.
"All these guards are pathetic," Xander scoffed, speaking to Llyn as they walked.
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Flemdale did not have many guards, around fifty or so. It was a small town after all. Not to mention most of the town guards who enlisted were lazy, sluggish and tempted by the promise of steady coin. Few had true discipline. Fewer had spine.
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They entered the stables, McCarth was there, tending to a beautiful black horse.
"Oi, who the f-" he shifted his head to the right and saw who had just entered. "Ahh, came back to take your horse's eh?" he said to both of them.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWB7frCZNP
Xander ignored him, he didn't even glance at McCarth. McCarth being an ostler opened the first stable stall to where Llyn's horse was.
"Have you seen someone wearing a black cloak, roaming around here?" Llyn questioned as he got on his white horse, once again he was the only one asking the right questions.
"Why you wan' know?" McCarth said, thinking as he backed away from the stall entrance and proceeded to open the next stall for Xander's brown horse.
"Confidential." Llyn muttered.
"Hmmm, no." He said it with full conviction. McCarth loathed the town guards in Flemdale with a passion, most were pompous brats, who worsened a situation rather than helping, one of the guards even owed him over thirty silver coins which were yet to be paid back.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbiDwTgOXw
Neither Xander nor Llyn suspected a thing as they rode their horses out of the stables. McCarth was a very good liar. He silently grinned as the two horses trotted out. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVIQZGrdyT
"Send our most trusted guards through the streets of Flemdale," Xander said. "I want that bastard found." Llyn nodded in agreement.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJMpTH7TxM
The three guards who were stationed in front of the tavern doors were all brothers. Snizzle, Grogbin and Mervin were their names. Mervin was away, burning the bandit's bodies.
"I'm tired…" Grogbin said, as if already forgetting what had been said to him by Xander and Llyn.
"So am I..," Snizzle groaned as he leaned against the wooden wall of the tavern, eyes heavy.
"Thank god Llyn didn't pick me to carry that wagon, I would've shat my pants!" Grogbin confessed with a tired smile. He was definitely not lying.
"Nor me," chubby Snizzle stated. "So… we can't go into the tavern?"
"No! Unless you want your head on a stake!" Grogbin shouted.
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But Grogbin had misunderstood Xander's warning. Xander had ordered them not to sleep inside the tavern, not to stay out of it altogether. Even so, the threat lingered, and the thought alone sent a chill down their spines. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAKvYJ2LX6
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The night was thick with fog, the tavern eerily quiet now that most of the action had dispersed, and the bodies had been carried away. Snizzle and Grogbin could be heard making jokes to each other, fooling around, though they were slowly getting tired as the night went on. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTmAGpPanb
Back upstairs in the tavern, in room three, a faint creak could be heard from the window. The dark silhouetted man against the moonlight climbed through the window, which had still not been closed. Arthur, who was downstairs, was not asleep, but instead doing his best to scrub the floorboards, trying to scrub away the blood. Arthur heard someone coming downstairs as they creaked. He didn't have his dagger with him.
He quickly looked behind him, "You… you shouldn't be-"
"I owe you." then he took out his pouch from beneath his cloak, and before he could open it.
"You... can't be here," Arthur stammered, astonished at the cloaked man's bravery and audacity. Returning to the tavern after what he had just done.
"Those guards stationed outside are halfwits," the hooded figure was right. "How much, for the food I ordered and the room." his face was still cold and emotionless.
Arthur was speechless. He got up from the floor, "Nothing. You saved me and my daughter, you don't owe us a thing." 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGLrlltzJq
Outside, the two halfwits were talking so loudly they couldn't hear a thing going on in the tavern.
"Hahaha! Then Betsy fell down!" Grogbin spat loudly like a frog recalling the past.
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The cloaked figure ignored what Arthur had just said, and took out one gold coin from his pouch.
"No, no.. I can't take that," Arthur shook his head. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Mkr1ZBD8C
The figure tossed the coin at Arthur, he was forced to catch it. The man's red and grey eyes flicked to a red mark across Arthur's cheek which was still there, the imprint of Xander's thunderous slap.
"Who slapped you?" the cloaked man looked at the red mark on Arthur's right cheek and figured what action had taken place.
"The captain of this town… Xander Griffith did." Arthur looked down, shaking his head, voice heavy with defeat, "When Xander was a kid he wasn't bad… but his father… his father shaped him into the vicious bastard he is today." the cloaked man nodded his head, understanding, as if noting that specific slap which Xander had given Arthur. "What are you going to do now?" Arthur said as if he were a worried father for his son.
"Sleep, in the room I paid for, upstairs." Arthur smiled lightly, he wasn't even surprised at this man's actions any more. The cloaked figure definitely did not want to sleep out in the cold streets.
Arthur hesitated a bit then looked up, another question lingering in his eyes, "What's your name…?"
The cloaked man stood still for a few seconds, silent. After what Arthur had done for him, trying his best to protect him against the relentless guards, he owed him that much. Finally, he said, "M." for the first time in a very long time did the black figure give away his name like this.
"Just M…?" Arthur asked, a bit confused.
"Yes." M stated calmly.
"What if the guards come at night into the room," Arthur was trying to think of every possibility.
"I'll know."
"When will you be leaving?" Arthur said in a sad voice.
"Early morning." Then up he went.
Arthur nodded, he needed his rest too after a long, treacherous night. 63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5awfuRwzF7
M slipped into the third room once again. He swept his gaze across it, then pulled off his boots, they were black just like the rest of his fit. It was clear he favoured that colour. The boots on his leather were scuffed at the toes and softened by long use, the soles were somewhat worn out. He closed the window. Cold had crept into the room, biting at the air. M then unstrapped his scabbard and put it on the bed then laid back onto bed and closed his eyes, he still hadn't removed his cloak.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonc8tJ8YRt
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and then Add to home screen.