Warring Kingdoms - Strife for Victory

Chapter 4 - The War's Beginning

I rode with Gibard towards the hideout of mercenaries that he had talked about. I wandered what it looks like? Will it be up on the trees? Will it be underground? What would they be doing? What would the people -

"Halt! We are here!" Gibard interrupted me with a shout.

I looked around where we arrived. We were at the entrance of a tiny little cave that was hidden behind a massive tree. Most people wouldn't have noticed the cave but I saw it upon closer inspection of the area around us. The tree that covered the cave was massive, and in the trunk there was a strange symbol, carved into the bark.

"Leave your mount out here. He will be safe." Gibard said.

I looked around the tree to find an area where I would be able to tie his lead. I tried each of the branches, and when I found the strongest branch, I tied it there.

"I'm getting impatient! Lets go already!" Shouted Gibard. I was having problems with my knot.

"Wait a second!" I replied. Then I finished my knot. "Okay, let's go."

I joined Gibard at the entrance of the cave. He first crawled in and then I followed. We had to crawl about a few feet until we felt the passageway enlarge. Now we could stand straight inside the cave. There were lit torches on the walls of the cave and the cave was a seemingly never ending downhill. Then Gibard shouted,

"Okay! We're here."

"Oh lord finally. I was seriously getting tired of walking inside this damp cave." I muttered with relief.

Gibard opened up a rickety wooden door. It felt like it was going to break any second. But I couldn't believe my eyes for what was on the other side. There was a massive room, much bigger than the size of a cathedral. The ceiling was all the way up and the room felt like it stretched out to eternity. Chandeliers that hung from the ceilings lit up the city below. Houses were scattered along the room, and there were shops, blacksmiths, bakers, wells, everything we could find in a normal city. But in the center of this underground city, there was a road that lead to a castle.

"Wow.. I didn't expect something like this to be underground." I said with shock.

"I was surprised at first. But you will get used to this." Gibard replied calmly.

Gibard lead me to the castle. The castle was a big stone castle with tall towers and flags of the mercenaries. The gate was guarded by two heavily armoured man armed with a spear. They crossed the spear over the doors.

"Who are you?" They asked me in unison.

"Harrem, Kerrik, this is Halt, the strong fighter I was always talking about." Gibard replied.

"Oh.. Um.. The council was expecting you." The man in the right said, "I'm Harrem. Nice to meet you."

"Im Halt Archard. Nice to meet you." I waved him off.

As we walked into the castle, our footsteps echoed off the walls of the castle. I looked around with awe. We climbed up a short amount of stairs to arrive at the.. what was it called? Hm.... Oh yeah. The council's room. Gibard knocked, then he opened the door. The council's room had a circular table in the middle where people sat around. I assumed that they were the council members because.. it says.. "The Council's Room". They all turned to look at us both.

"Sorry for the disturbance but.. Halt, Halt Archard. The famous man I kept talking about, has arrived. I may present to you, Halt Archard." Gibard said.

I did a small bow but was interrupted by an old man sitting right across the room from the door raised his hand. He signaled me to sit. I found one chair closest to me and took a seat. The chair was made of well polished and varnished hardwood, and the cushions were made out of some type of velvet.