Chapter 11: The Hunt Begins

"You're certain about this... tournament, Sir Kael?"

An old-looking but elegant man wearing a golden tunic asked Kael as they walked through the dark halls of the castle. The lamps were out in the halls and only the light from the window at the end of the hall shone the hallway.

Kael just nodded while they were walking without looking at him. "You will administer the event, high councilor Rowan."

This will be the perfect opportunity to hunt down those traitors. Kael thought as he smirked.

"I suppose you are up to something," Rowan raised a brow as he looked at him. "I don't think you opening up a tournament out of nowhere will not result to anything."

"Never worry, Rowan. My team and I will be there on guard," Kael assured him.

A few minutes later, Kael arrived in the team chamber and there he saw Tristan looking through the glass windows. He was the only one in the room since the other three were ordered by Kael to wipe out the rest of the bandits' hideouts around the kingdom.

Kael walked inside and went behind Tristan, noticing again that he was an inch taller than the young man. It was midday. He gazed at the snow falling down on the white roofs of the buildings and houses of the capital. He could clearly see the view of the upper ring down towards the lower ring.

Kael's eyes turned to Tristan. The glass windows were slightly opened so Tristan's black hair was flailing with the cold wind.

He made Kael remember that he was just like this young man before. He grew up with his twin brother from a humble village. They both came to the capital to become knights and as years pass, they grew ranks.

Kael's brother was always one step ahead of him though and became the divine knight while he stayed as a grand knight. But when King Letholdus died from the battle, his brother suddenly became a traitor of the kingdom. Kael immediately replaced him as the divine knight and hunted his brother ever since.

"Can I ask something?" Tristan suddenly spoke up while still gazing at the window.

"Yes," Kael replied.

"I heard from my village that there were frost dragons flying here in the castle, where are they now?"

Kael stared at him for a moment before answering. He sighed and turned his eyes to the white skies. "There was only one frost dragon left here eighteen years ago, Tristan."

"What happened to it? Is it dead already?"

Kael shook his head. "It was never found again after the bloody war here against the demon clan. When the previous king died in battle, he might have sent the dragon far north with his legendary sword with it."

"The Frostcalibur?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. However, no one ever saw the dragon or the cursed blade again. Our knights here were ordered by the king to find it but until now, they never did," Kael replied and then sighed. "The blue crystal is dying. Its power needs to be restored before the demons will come again. It's the only thing that protects the North from them."

"Wait, they'll come back? I thought the north already defeated them?"

Kael chuckled and shook his head. "That was just the start of a bigger holy war between humans and demons, Tristan."

"What will happen if they attack again here with the blue crystal still dead?"

"Without the frost dragon... without the legendary sword the kings wield... and much more importantly, without the blue crystal, we won't stand a chance against the Legion."

"That's kinda' scary," Tristan said

Suddenly, the huge doors of the chamber opened. The two turned and saw the rest of the members walking inside with their blue cloak uniform.

"The whole remaining bandits around the capital were completely annihilated already, Sir Kael," Dain reported.

"Very well, then," Kael replied. "I need you to prepare yourselves for our next mission."

All of his subordinates suddenly looked at him at attention, waiting for him to continue.

"There will be a tournament coming up in the lower ring of the capital. And this is where we'll finally take down the Forgotten Winter."

Tristan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "A tournament? But how are they gonna show up?"

"We're using councilor Rowan as our bait. He will be the one to hold the competition. I believe that he's the next target of the guild,"

"What makes you so sure that they're gonna take it?" Cedric raised a brow.

"Among the four high councilors of King Terrowin, there are only two left, Cedric. The other two were already assassinated by those rebels," Kael said as he walked towards the long table. "They are now targeting the rest of the two. And we're gonna offer them the bait. We already spread the announcement of the tournament earlier to the whole kingdom. I'm sure the information already reached them."

"So this is where the real fight begins, huh?" Dain said as he punched his other palm.

"Yes. We can't just let them kill every high noble here in our kingdom, while they hide in the shadows after," Kael replied. "It's time we take the fight to them."

"Uhhh..." Tristan spoke up while scratching his head. They all turned at him. "Am I allowed to join the tournament, Sir Kael?"

Kael raised a brow and narrowed his eyes towards him.

"Hold it, young man. You have a job to do," Cedric said.

"Its fine, Cedric. As long as he's there, Tristan entering the tournament won't make any difference in our plans," Kael told him.

"If I win, I will send the prize money to my village in Cold Hills," Tristan said.

Cedric just shrugged and looked away.

"Oh, he'll win for sure!" Dain hit Tristan's shoulder which made him grunt in pain.

Kael just shook his head and then turned to Ryia. "How was your search in the far east of the kingdom?"

"We have a lead. My pets' search stopped in the White Forest miles from the capital, Sir Kael. They tracked something strange from there but I just had to stop because of the calling," Ryia explained. "The guild could be hiding in that forest."

"But that's the largest forest here in Northrend. It could take some time to hunt them," Cedric told the red-haired lady. "High level beasts also live in that vast environment."

"My children would take far less time to search for them in the forest," Ryia replied. "I will have both land and air covered."

"And if high level beasts we're talking about, then that wouldn't be a problem to me," Tristan said as he raised his hand.

"We'll discuss further about that matter after we complete our mission in the tournament," Kael raised his fist and grasped it with his other hand. "We might not need to find them after 'cause we'll definitely crush them the moment we see them in the tournament."