What Lurks Behind The Trees

The cursed

"We're here on King Edmund's orders!"

"Why?" Dyron asked as the whole village watched from the sides, covering their mouths and whispering between themselves.

"To take you." The king's soldiers grabbed Dyron by his arms and dragged him to the carriage cage. Dyron's heart sank, he knew that the king somehow found out that he was still alive, but he was not ready for the reaction.

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"Alright!" Alan clapped his hands "Does anyone know the castle layout?" He grinned at the hundreds of eyes standing in front of him.

An old man from the back walked forward, back hunched over and beard reaching his belly "Vaguely... I've been in this castle for what seems like a lifetime." He laughed bitterly.

"Could you tell us the easiest and fastest way to get out of this castle and the capital if we were to escape through the dungeon gates." Aden said crossing his arms.

"Well from what I've heard, the dungeons are very close the eastern gate, or the back gate as they call it. We can go over ground and across the back gardens and there we'll find the eastern gate. It is quite a small gate, so there won't be many guards." The old man said scratching his beard.

"This is impossible! Look how many we are, there's no way they'll miss a swarm of scruffy men, we're bound to get caught!" One of the men said, other men nodded in agreement.

"Would you rather stay here and die slowly?" Alan asked. "Don't you also think that it's somewhat suspicious that every few days someone gets called out by the guards and never makes it back."

"Greg, can you summon that arm of yours?" Aden said pointing at his left arm.

Gregor nodded and closed his eyes in concentration, a few seconds later his arm grew longer, he had gotten the hang of this quicker than he expected. The other men could never get used to it, they stared in astonishment and wonder.

"Are you ready to kill?" Alan asked tilting his head to the side. Gregor swallowed, he was uncertain and hesitant, but he had to do this. He knitted his eyebrows in determination and nodded his head once. Alan nodded back and smiled.

"Now how many of you can fight? At least decently? We might need to fight our way out. Whatever guards we kill, we take their swords." Aden asked. About a hundred men came forward leaving the elders and the injured.

"Alright, when the sun sets, we start."

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"His majesty, king Edmund Shield of the kingdom of Osledel!" A guard announced.

"Leave us!" the king said to the guards in the room, making them flinch and scurry.

Dyron scoffed at that. Glaring at the man sitting on the throne with his nose high up in the air.

"Well, well." Edmund stood up and opened his arms "Welcome Blackwood! I haven't heard that name in quite a while. Until your son came along." He laughed obnoxiously. Dyron just glared.

"I thought you were all dead." He then said in a quieter more sinister voice. He walked down the steps to Dyron and stared directly at his eyes. "Well I guess I'll have the pleasure of killing you myself since my father already had some fun with you Blackwoods" He smirked.

"Do not lay your hands on my son. He knows nothing." Dyron said through gritted teeth.

"Do you by any chance have other sons?"

"No."

"Actually, your answer does not matter, we'll have to check your home and hunt down every last Blackwood."