Hell's Bane (COMPLETED)

Chapter Two: A Stranger in the Dark

Drea found herself kneeling in front of the king with her jaw clenched. Despite the heat radiating outside with the rising sun, she suppressed a shudder. Beside her, Hugo also knelt with a look of discomfort, though there was a strange glimmer in his eyes that Drea couldn't understand.

"Are we kneeling to him or Davis?" Hugo muttered, seeming to read her thoughts. Drea raised her head again and looked at Davis, standing beside the king's throne. He also looks uncomfortable. Blood in the sky, Davis rarely shows it when he's uncomfortable.

The silence persisted for several more moments, and Drea could almost imagine the king being amused as he watched them fidget in their awkward positions. Clearing his throat and thinking about his words – probably just to enjoy making us wait a while longer, Drea muttered to herself – the king began.

"You're probably curious as to what's taken place over last night."

Is that the best you can say? Drea fought the urge to give a faint smile, only stopped by Davis' warning glance as he added, "King Mortimer and I have finally agreed to become partners in the Claimant business. Reyes will receive fifteen percent of our entire profit, plus a sample of any artifact that we find, provided there can be a sample."

Mortimer took a crystal vial out of his dark robe. "As a starter, your leader has given us a sample from the Fountain of Youth, which I recall the Claimant just recently found and spurred a bidding war over. I have hopes and believe that if all works out well-"

Mortimer gave a subtle, but venomous, glance at Davis.

"-Our partnership will flourish, and both sides will come out satisfied."

Davis took over the conversation. "As for us, Hugo and Drea, King Mortimer has given us more than enough resources for the entire journey. Four horses await outside, each of them with food and water packs strapped to them."

Four? Drea thought.

"-Put some of those resources in your own bags, if you can, in case anything happens to the horses, and we end up losing everything. As for the fourth horse, King Mortimer has been so gracious as to provide a guide, who'll go as far as Issenhal River."

"Issenhal River?" Hugo suddenly blurted out. Drea frowned. There really is a lot of explaining to do.

Davis looked at Mortimer and then nodded. "We aren't completely sure of the path, but one thing is certain – if we are to get to the Dustwillow Mountains and retrieve Kazim's Blade, we have to go down Issenhal River. There are other ways too, but they will take far longer."

Hugo and Drea waited for their leader to continue, but he merely said, "That's all. Thank you, King Mortimer, for all you've done. I'm sure that you will hear from us shortly, perhaps in a few days."

Mortimer nodded but didn't even turn to look at Davis, and for a moment, Drea wondered if the king only sat there all day, unmoving just as he was for the short instances when the explorer had seen him.

"Well, we'll be going now," Davis said, and Mortimer only nodded again. In silence, the explorers left, where they were greeted by a bright sunrise shining on the king's front garden and four horses standing at the end of the clearing of flowers.

"You ready to go?" the guide asked, dismounting his horse and walking forward to shake their hands. "Call me Emmanual. I'm sure his Majesty already told you how far I'll go before I leave you three."

Davis nodded but could only suppress a frown as he saw Emmanual's scrawny build. "We should make haste. Before we go, though, do we have supplies for a campfire? And shelter for the night?"