Valtava: Dragon Sword

Chapter 5

"HAVE YOU FOUND HIM YET!?"

"No, Lord Navarro, we have searched through every inch of the Northern Lands. Please spare me for being incompetent!"

"AAARRRRGHH!"

Lord Navarro knocked the glassware off the table, smashing them into pieces as they collided with the floor. The Hollow Men in the room all lowered their heads, not daring to make eye contact with him.

Amber went up to the reporting Hollow Man and grabbed him by his arm. "Are you sure you didn't miss anywhere? How could he just disappear? He has never stepped more than half a mile out of the gates!"

Lord Navarro pointed a finger at her. "You have the guts here to question where he went? Where were you when you were supposed to keep an eye on him? Was this all a plot to send him away?"

Amber shook her head desperately. "I really don't know where he went! I never told him to leave by himself. He...he must have been kidnapped!"

"Nonsense!" Lord Navarro howled, slamming his hand hard on the table. "No one dares enter my land without my permission."

Amber knelt down before him and pleaded, "Please, Lord Navarro, let me go out to look for him. I'm his mother and I should take this responsibility."

"You? What plan are you devising now? You also want to run off now, don't you?"

"No, that's not what my intentions are! I just want to find my son back..." She began to tear up again, not being able to imagine what she would do if he were lost forever.

"I don't need you to cry right now! Guards!"

Several Hollow Men stepped forward. "Yes, Lord Navarro."

"Lock her up in the dungeon. I don't believe that little rascal will abandon his mother here. I will torture her until he finds out and can no longer bear."

"Yes, Lord Navarro!"

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Tony peeked open his eyes, wincing at the blazing sun hovering above him. He felt his body half-submerged in water, the other half lying over a large rock. He felt so foreign from his body that he believed for a moment he was in the afterworld. As he scanned the view around him, he slowly regained his consciousness and realized he had been washed up to a shore. Above him was the cliff he had fallen from, and he was astonished that he was still alive and breathing.

He grunted as he pulled himself out of the water and onto dry land. There was not a single person or animal in sight, and only a few trees were planted in between the rocks. At this point he was hungry, exhausted, and shivering from the cold water his clothes were soaked in. He climbed through the rocks and walked along the wall of the cliff, hoping to find some sign of life.

After what seemed like hours of trekking, his eyes landed on what appeared to be an opening into a cave, partially hidden by bushes. He approached it slowly, not knowing what might jump out at him. He brushed the plants out of the way and leaned his head inside, taking a few seconds to adjust to the darkness. After making sure there was nothing about to lunge out at him, he tiptoed inside, holding his arms up to the walls for support.

The inside of the cave was more spacious than he anticipated, and dried grass was scattered over the ground. His attention shifted to a figure at the back of the cave, who was seated and seemed to emit a magical glow around him. He was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his late thirties, with long black hair and a thin, wispy beard. Tony's mood lightened up, and he ran up to the man to greet him.