The Catalyst

Chapter 1: The Letter

The light rain drowned out the sound of the masked person's quick footsteps. Even while heavily injured, the young man still managed to move swiftly through the forest, gracefully dodging and jumping over obstacles, a bag swinging at his side.

As he neared the edge of the forest, golden flashes of light caught in his sight. They came from the capital city of the Kingdom of Cyra, which was still wide awake late into the night, celebrating a large event. Instead of going through the front gates, he continued running through the outskirts of the forest, until he neared the giant castle that loomed over the whole city.

From there, he finally hopped over the walls and landed in an alley, which led to a large street that intersected the bridge to the castle. Despite the slight rain, people danced and kids ran about, vendors happily showing off and selling their goods.

Usually, the person would've preferred to avoid any unnecessary interactions, and scale up the walls of the castle and sneak in unnoticed, but in his current state, that would prove to be difficult. So, he had no other choice but to slip into the crowd, and make his way across the bridge without grabbing the attention of any guards.

The Royal Family was close with their subjects, so naturally, on special occasions such as the Prince's 20th birthday, the palace gates were opened, and common folk were allowed to mingle around in the palace courtyard and the royal gardens. Though, there is a reason why this particular birthday was especially significant.

Not as many people were allowed inside the palace itself, the guards only letting past distinguished guests and other members of royalty. The masked person pulled aside his cloak as he walked up to said guards, and held up a medallion.

The guard raised a hand, "Sorry sir, you cannot pass beyond this limit. Also, please remove your mask, you are not permitted to conceal your face beyond the palace gates."

The person held the medallion up insistently, not saying a word. The guard raised an eyebrow and hesitated, but after recognizing the symbol of a hawk, he let out an "oh-", and nodded to the other guard, both stepping aside. "As you were."

The person continued onwards. As he stepped inside and the doors closed behind him, everything was quiet, save for the water dripping off his clothes and pattering onto the ground, and the distant chatter of guests. Usually, the person would be a bit more respectful and dry his shoes off before walking indoors, but he could feel his consciousness slipping, and there's no telling if there's still something that stands in the way of him and the receiver of the letter he was carrying, so there was no time to be courteous.

He took a moment to let the warmth of the castle seep into his skin, then made his way down the halls, intently searching for the receiver. He hadn't met them in person yet, but he was sure they wouldn't be too hard to spot.

He turns his attention to a small group of chattering people turning a corner. One of them was a man excessively dressed in fancy clothes and jewels, and the rest seemed to be scholars and others of high class, with two guards trailing behind them all. None of them were the person he was looking for.

The fancy one immediately stopped chuckling as soon as he saw the person, his face scowling in the blink of an eye, "Hey, you! Who are you?! Who let a beggar in here?!"

The person blinked, Am I really in that bad of a shape that I'm mistaken for a beggar?

He held up the medallion again as the man approached, expecting him to step aside so he could continue his search, but he adamantly blocked the person's path.

"A Hawk's Messenger?? Hah! Don't make me laugh- you look more like a thief!! You probably stole that!! If you really are a messenger, then who are you delivering to?? Let me see the message," the man demanded.