The Crimson Champion

Chapter 5: Villainous Schemes And Mysterious Plots

Yuri sits on his throne in Brightshine Castle, the place where the emperors of Solaris have ruled from for generations. He picks up a device from a table next to his throne, holds down a button on it, and brings it up to his face.

"Lonril, Lorelei, and Grelnar, come to the throne room. I must speak with you." The magic in the device sends Yuri's words straight to the rooms that the three generals are currently in.

After a few minutes, Lonril walks in, followed by a woman with long blond hair wearing white and gold armor, and a middle-aged dark-skinned man with short black hair wearing cloth armor and a sleeveless brown leather vest that shows his strong arms.

"Lonril, have your shadows brought you news on where Brutus is going next?" Lonril nods. "Yes. I was coming here to tell you, actually. He is heading to the village of Virkom." Lorelei stands stiffly, not saying a word.

"Perfect." Yuri looks over at Grelnar. "Grelnar, you are to go to Kantiron to find and train new recruits for the army. If Lonril didn't have Brutus's whereabouts, I would've sent Lorelei with you, but..."

Yuri grins evilly at Lorelei. "Lorelei has other business. She is going to Virkom to collect Brutus for me." "I-" Lorelei stops talking and nods. "I will bring him to you alive." "Good. The three of you are excused." The three generals bow and leave the throne room.

As they leave, Grelnar nudges Lorelei with his shoulder. "It's such a shame that we're not going to be working together again, dragon lady." Lorelei immediately grabs her spear device, taps the button on it to extend it into a spear, and points it at Grelnar's throat.

"I thought I told you not to call me that." Grelnar laughs. "So what? I'm just trying to be friendly." Lorelei glares at him. "I don't want anything to do with you after you tried to throw my friend in the dungeon. She was your daughter, damn it!"

Grelnar growls. "She wanted me to commit treason! I did what I had to do! Besides, that was four years ago! Haven't you gotten over it by now?" Lorelei starts to say something else, but Lonril chants a phrase and summons rapiers that point at the two generals.

"The two of you are acting like children. You both need to stop this nonsense and get started on your assignments." Lorelei silently collapses her spear and storms off towards her room. Grelnar grumbles. "Go to hell, elf boy." He walks off towards the kitchens. Lonril sighs, then he de-summons the rapiers and goes off towards his study.

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Grelnar enters the kitchens and he stuffs raw meat and other provisions into a sack. He then goes to his room and grabs his trusty battleaxe, Goliath. He walks out of the castle and he walks through the city around the castle.

When Grelnar gets outside the city to the large plains, he loudly whistles. A large gray behemoth charges towards him but stops right in front of him. "Ha ha ha! There you are, Skullcrusher! Let's get the hell out of here!"

Grelnar reaches into his bag and tosses Skullcrusher a gigantic chunk of raw meat. After Skullcrusher finishes eating, Grelnar jumps on his back and they ride southeast over the plains towards the town of Kantiron.

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Lorelei enters her room and shuts the door. She grabs her enchanted backpack and starts to put all of her belongings inside of it. When she gets to a specific book, she looks around to make sure she's alone.

Lorelei opens the book at a specific part to reveal a portrait of Brutus she drew and hid inside the book. She takes it out and sadly stares at it. "I knew this would happen eventually, but..." She puts the portrait back in the book and shoves it into her bag.