Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Fire

Chapter 10 The Next Target

Hendrick decided to do a little research on his next target just in case the girl he met at the flower shop paid him the gold. Hendrick was completely sick in the head and wanted nothing more than to go out and take another job offer. He would even do this for free if it weren't for the fact you need currency to get by in life.

Word gets by rather quickly in the Kingdom of Fire. Rumors spread here and there. The next target he was after has been identified as Jordan Delar. For the past two days Hendrick read the paper and asked a few locals what they knew about him.

It's been said that Jordan specializes in making fireworks and this year he had a huge request to set them off for the kingdom's festival. To Hendrick's knowledge, he got in contact with Princess Crystal and together both of them killed dozens of innocent people.

It wasn't Hendrick's job to figure out how these two knew each other or understand why they did what they did. It was his job to find his next target. Although just like everyone else, Hendrick figured that they would be traveling together so following Crystal's tracks may be one in the same as following Jordan's.

Hendrick was sitting inside the blacksmith's home, thinking how he might go about gutting the poor lad. The blacksmith was actually Hendrick's brother and he was just as horrible. Hendrick's brother forged every weapon the bounty hunter had in his arsenal but his favorite had to be the saber he always had by his side.

The door busted open and the girl he had seen two days ago marched up to him and slammed a bag of gold on the table. "I have it now. The gold. Happy?" Lilac was frustrated and scared at the same time. She felt uneasy being under the same roof as someone who hunts down people for fun.

Hendrick took the bag and spilled it over the table. A pile of shining gold coins was laying there before his eyes. "Well you certainly got this fast. Who'd you steal it from?" Hendrick teased Lilac but she wasn't having it. She just stood there with her arms crossed and had an angry expression. Hendrick started to count the gold as he continued speaking with her.

"Don't be a stick in the mud kid. How about we discuss a plan of action while you watch me count my gold." "You're the bounty hunter. How about you start telling me how we're going to find them." "We will be heading east. If my target is traveling with Crystal then I bet they'll want to escape the kingdom. This kingdom borders the ocean in the north, south, and west. The Kingdom of Terra borders this kingdom in the east. I imagine it would be hard for them to hitch a ride on someone's boat with someone as recognizable as Crystal so that leaves them with one option."

Lilac already saw a flaw in his plan. There wasn't a single guarantee that they had actually headed east. "Where along the border do you think they would go and what makes you think they haven't already crossed it?" Lilac asked him. Hendrick chuckled and pointed at a map pinned on the wall. Lilac saw that there was a red circle marked in a certain spot.

"I've been doing my research lass. That red spot is my target's home town and it's located in the east. I imagine that they would lay low there until they find an opportunity to escape." Lilac turned away from the map to face the bounty hunter again. "You got all of that information in just two days!?" Lilac was disturbed how obsessed this guy was at his job.

"Luminar isn't the only place with a higher security thanks to the incident. The borders are also being watched with a close eye." Hendrick was done counting the gold and took his saber mounted on the wall. "I say we go now. Any objections to that?" Hendrick said in a menacing tone. Lilac didn't want to object. "Let's just get this over with."

The two got on different horses and both of them headed off into the night. Lilac didn't like any of this. The idea sounded alright in her head but now that she was actually going through with it, she felt frightened. It may just be because she was traveling with a madman but it also didn't feel right leaving Ella behind in Barrow.