The Best and the Pest

Chapter 14

The next day Golden Guard marched quietly through the corridors of the castle with his hands behind his back. His cloak hid them and yet you knew exactly where they were. The path he followed led to the huge hall in which the unfinished portal to the human realm was being built.

He quietly entered the huge room and closed the door behind him. He quickly hid behind one of the many pillars and watched as Emperor Belos stood in front of the unfinished door. The innumerable pipes glowed brightly around him, while an abomaton stood at the service for them. He himself felt his own tension ... Suddenly there was a quiet chirping next to him and the little Palisman, who had been following him since his mission in Latissa, appeared next to him. So far, Golden Guard had always managed to keep him hidden, he couldn't imagine how others would react to him .. He was especially afraid of Emperor Belos ... he knew how important the little beings were to him ... The little red bird landed on his left shoulder. "Tschu! Chu!", Golden Guard tried to chase him away quietly and somewhat annoyed with a wave of the hand. But the little one just landed on his other shoulder and looked calmly over at him.

Before the blond could react, however, the voice of Emperor Belos startled him. "Would you like to see how it works, Hunter?" His voice sounded stern towards the end and the boy felt a shiver on his back and not only because of the way Belos had pronounced his real name. The little palisman on his shoulder transformed into his wooden figure and quickly the boy tucked it between his cloak and his back. Then he stepped forward as best he could, "I didn't mean to hide Emperor Belos ..."

The tall man turned his face to the boy, the mask he was always wearing was not on his face either. This was how his long hair was seen that looked a lot like the one from Golden Guard. The blue eyes, which otherwise shone dangerously from under the mask, now almost seemed to radiate warmth ... and yet the green stuff that went through his face destroyed the happy expression.

Golden Guard had never understood what it was actually about, he didn't dare to ask, but he was already sure that he would look for a solution to help Belos. The boy, called Hunter, finally stopped in front of the stairs on which
Belos was standing in front of the door.

"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open." Belos turned back to the door and yet the younger one could well imagine the expression on the Emperor's face.

"Is it true that Rain doesn't boil in the Human Realm ..?" The boy asked and dared to step closer. He was interested in what it looked like in the human world, but he was even more interested in wild magic, but he couldn't talk about this in front of Belos .... so he now wanted to see if he could talk about the human realm. "It is.", Belos began and turned to him with a gentle smile. "You know, I've been there before. Did I ever tell you that?" The blond shook his head slowly. "The trees there are green, nights are quiet, I look forward to seeing it again ..."

Belos gaze now focused him more. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?" Slowly the man stepped down the stairs and Hunter turned more to him than they were almost next to each other. Golden Guard looked to the side, unknown to the Coven Heads, he was internally busy with another thought which he now revealed in front of Belos. "The operation at the knee .... why did you switch me out with Kikimora ...?" His gaze met that of Belos again when he himself looked up at him rather ashamed.

Emperor Belos gently placed a hand on his shoulder and led him down the stairs. "Everyone has a use Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders and you .... well ... The titan has big plans for you." They continued on their way together before looking each other in the eye. Hunter listened carefully to Emperor Belos, at least until his next sentence .... "And it would be such a hassle to find you a replacement."

The boy's eyes widened when he looked ahead frightened and before he knew it he was already standing at the entrance door to the room. The hand of Belos was no longer on his shoulder, but instead the Emperor stood before him inside the room. "So now, you can be useful by staying safe in the castle.", He said calmly and looked down at the smaller one, who quickly replied: "If this is punishment for failing my last mission i swear i can do better!" Belos in front of him smiled at him again.

"Good night, Hunter." And with that the Emperor closed the door in front of his right hand. The 16-year-old stared hesitantly at this, before turning around in shock. He had a lot of thoughts in his head and yet he knew exactly what to do. For a few seconds he closed his eyes before he guiltily looked back at the door and then ran off.

It was nothing new to him that he was constantly being sent on missions. Already he no longer felt the tiredness of his body. The only thing on his mind was Belos. What could he do to make Belos happy or proud, what could he do to make him feel better, How could he be a better right hand man .... It was an endless circle of questions that he kept looking for answers. His own needs were far behind, the main thing was that he lived up to Belos expectations. Therefore, he did not listen to the words of the man who was also unknown to the others his uncle, but decided to go to the knee to complete the mission in front of Kikimora.

He wanted to make Belos proud ... he didn't want to be replaced. As horrified and shocked as he still was, he didn't notice how quickly he passed the coven leaders of the Beast Keeping, Abomination and Plant Coven.

All three looked after him in surprise, had only briefly seen the boy's expression and asked themselves roughly the same question, what had happened ... They knew that he had gone to Belos, but they couldn't say whether his reaction was something to do with the Emperor.

"Huh, weird pest.", Darius muttered and even though he said it in his usual down-looking tone, the other two Coven Heads knew that he wasn't serious ... they had all got used to the increased presence of Golden Guard by now, even if some of them still called him the plague or something like that.