The adventurers start gathering around trying to figure out what had just happened, and party leaders of higher statuses try to get everyone in order.
Before everyone has the time to assemble I make sure to pull Vanessa up from the ground.
"Everybody calm! We are not completely sure what happened, but I assure you that it is nothing to worry about!" The captain in charge of the guards yells out from standing on a box. In this situation his voice is just adding to the chaos however.
I turn around to see both Heather and Linda running over, but before they can reach us a loud blast of sound blares, echoing throughout the mountains all around.
"SILENCE!" On top of a pile of crates, even higher than the guard captain, a blond figure clad in a dark cloak with silver outlines and a large horn in hand, addresses us all.
Wait a second, isn't that the guy I met outside the inn? I suppose that his hair could've been mistaken for light brown in the light that evening.. Wait?.. He's the prince?! Back in the inn another one of them was wearing the fancy cloak, but now he is? Who really is the prince?
"In the name of Prince Cedric, myself, I order silence!"
I guess I didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"This rabble is Northerton's finest?!" He looks down from his elevated position and smiles amused at his men. "Don't make me laugh! I heard the adventurers from out here were battle hardened and were among this kingdom's best!" His smile drops and as he pauses the prince briefly buries his forehead into his palm.
The silence is deafening. Somehow everyone has completely forgotten about the dungeon and all eyes are on this guy. I can't help but be impressed by this sudden display of power, but by a few grunts I can tell that he angered a few from the crowd with his insult.
Prince Cedric then looks back up and his expression goes deadly serious, his voice goes so deep and low that you feel like you have to lean closer to hear, although he speaks just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"On the other side of that door, is a terror far greater than anything any of you have ever faced, or will ever face again." Cedric drops his voice even further, becoming barely audible. "A terror leftover from the ancients."
Hm?
Then he suddenly raises his voice to the point of nearly causing me to jump, and as he crosses his arms together, Prince Cedric further antagonizes the crowd. "And you think we have time for confusion?! When that door opens, do you think you can do anything about it in this state? Not in a hundred-and-fifty years. That cyclops will crush your skulls, and you won't be able to do a single thing!" He laughs.
While everything he says comes out as completely natural, I can't help but think that every word and every gesture he does is carefully calculated.
He gives off the airs of someone who is in a whole other league from everyone else.
A-hundred-and-fifty years.. Oddly specific, and a cyclops? Is he saying he already knows what that sound was?
"When I gave the guild the request to summon their best adventurers I never expected this to be the turnout. In light of my mistake, I will allow those who are afraid to back away. No consequences. If you are weak, you will only hold back the strong, so if you feel like you are weak, I order you to leave!"
Silence. Only multiple frowns.
As an observer, I feel like the prince has no tact, but yet, is this exactly what he meant to do? It is clear that he doesn't care what reactions he gets, only what results he sees.
He has authorized those who want to leave to go, but doing so would admit weakness and the prince being right. So no-one will leave?
I look all around and observe everyone else doing the same, and after a couple minutes of this and Prince Cedric looking down on everyone unwavering, he once again speaks.
Not a single person left.
"I see. So only the strong remain? Then let us get on with this." With everyone's eyes on him he takes a deep breath before continuing. "Get you your posts."
Then he simply jumps down from the box and disappears behind the wall of heads.
That's it?! "Get to your posts?!"
Everyone in the crowd seems equally stunned to the sudden end, everyone but the captain of the guard who immediately takes advantage of the continued silence to give out orders.
"You heard him! To your posts! Prepare for the expedition!"
YOU ARE READING
The Witch's Relay
FantasíaThe witch's relay.. Nearly two-hundred years ago, the great witch hunts began, resulting in a near-extermination of everything magic. Had it not been for the few passing on their teachings in secret, the art would've been all but lost. The people wh...
