It was in the mist of night that Viyetral and Farelen reached the hideout occupied by the conservatives. They had taken their main carriage with them — mainly due to the help from Thrandul.

  Landel had already arrived earlier. He had been taken to the hideout by the same men who had helped Harwin and Kraft break out the prisoners.

  In the hideout, the captains that were held prisoners were actively receiving treatment. Upon seeing his old comrades, Swven was the first one to get up. His counterparts were mostly delirious, so they were not even aware of their surroundings.

  “Captain Farelen, Captain Viyetral, I never expected you of all people to be sent here.”

  Swven stood with his back straightened. He himself was a captain as well but was junior to Farelen and Viyetral — well most of the other captains and younglings were.

  Farelen without any hesitation hugged the elfin-beast. Their height was comparable, but if one were to examine from a distance, they could clearly see that, although both of them shared similar stature, their build was different — Swven had much more broader shoulders and an overall wider anatomy than his counterpart.

  Viyetral, who was much more reserved, shook the hand of his junior once Farelen had let go.

  “You should not be standing Sev. Obviously you have been tortured by those scoundrels. I am sure none of the those weaklings could have piereced through your skin, but you should rest now, and leave the rest to us for now.” Farelen advised.

  “You are correct, none of the them could really injure me except for that traitor Lyrital. He used the weapon commander Neilzen....I am truly ashamed that I was not able to protect his life. I do not know how I can atone for this grave mistake.” Swven looked down with shame.

  “No need to feel guilty. If we got depressed by the deaths of our comrades whom we had no chance of saving in the first place, then all of the elfin race would have just mourned from dawn to dusk. Neilzen lived and died a warrior, so we can not pity his sacrifice. Rest up now; we will have great tasks for you in the coming days.” Viyetral tried to console his junior.

  Swven adhered to the orders. Viyetral and Farelen made their way in the other room where Harwin and the other party members were residing. A man was sitting in the far-end of it whom neither of them recognized.

  He was an old elfin man — he had a slim and frail body. However, he had a shrewd face. The old-man was dressed in common clothes, unlike the current council-men. Beside him sat a much younger lad, who shared similarities to the old man — both were clearly related.

  Harwin and Kraft stood up to welcome the leaders of their party. Alisa was busy examining the wounds of Landel — he had stopped bleeding, but they were still deep enough to be troublesome. He had been thrown at a literal wall — which almost broke to the otherside — so his insides were shaken to the core.

  “I see that you two have succeeded. Good work! Rest up for now, as we still have many matters to attend to. Landel, young lad, you got hurt for the first time in a battle. He was quite a tough opponent, do you not agree?” Farelen mocked.

  “I was ordered to hold back till the damn signal. How would I have known what that man had up his sleeves. It was as if he had become Graftel himself.” Landel replied.

  “That was quite surprising, I wonder what that was—”

  Farelen got interrupted by Viyetral who clearly wanted the giant to read the room. The latter then stepped forward and proclaimed:

  “I am delighted to meet you. I am Viyetral and this fellow here is Farelen. I am sure that you are already aware: we are here on the behalf of the sword-saint, Graftel. I am grateful for your loyalty so far. I do wish we could have met under much more peaceful circumstances. Please do let me know your names so we can move past the pleasantries especially given the urgency of the situation.”

  Both men stood up, the older one was the first to speak:

  “I welcome you captains. I am Torvin, and this fellow here is Leaf — my son. Before proceeding forward, I think it will be better for you two to eat and drink first?”

  “No need for such formalaties. I am afraid that we are very short on time. Let us eat after discussing our plan from here on out.” Viyetral rejected the offer.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Of-course, let me bring you to meet the other council-men, rather former council-men who share our common cause. I am sure that you will be glad to meet them.” Torvin replied politely.

  They were led to another place. Harwin was also brought along by Farelen, but the rest remaind.

  This hidden outpost was not a building parse — its main entrance appeared to be an abandoned mine. It lead downwards to different sections or rooms with each room going deeper and deeper as if entering burrows. This was not a newly constructed structure, but the first lord of the town had built this hideout hundreds of years ago — very few men knew about its existence. It was Celeborn, the student of Neilzen, who was taught by his master regarding the place. The deceased commander trusted no one more than his student, yet both suffered tragic end.

  Celeborn had picked out handful of conservatives himself and only brought along people, whom he absolutely trusted, to this place. All of the guards of the hideout were directly under his command as well, and they were instructed to not let anyone out without prior approval. Such precautions were necessary to keep anyone from betraying them and revealing the location of their main headquarters.

  Soon, Viyetral and the others found themselves in a hall of sort. It was built with stones — not anything flashy at all. The hall had few chairs and a round table. There were about ten or so council-men occupying the seats. There were also ten guards along the edges of the room — each stood there with a stern expression.

  All of the men stood up once they saw Viyetral and the others entering.

  Torvin was the one to introduce them:

  “Men of the forgotten cause, these are the men sent out by the great sword-saint himself to rid the town from the corrupt tyrants.”

  All of the men bowed their heads a little to show respect.

  “No need for such things. We shall first determine if you are worthy of our help or not. I must say that I have already been quite displeased with the governing body of this town, and you were also part of it before. I can not simply trust you without knowing to a certainity that you are indeed faithful.” Farelen was boisterous as ever; he did not bend his words.

  “My friend here is quite bold. He speaks freely as you people have already heard, but there is certainly weight to his statements. If not for the unpleasant experiences, we would have never uttered such words.” Viyetral reasoned.

  “We understand. We hope to convince you of our loyalty soon enough.” Torvin assured.

  The other men were not disgruntled either — they maintained their smiles.

  Viyetral and the others sat down to finally commemorate the meeting. The others followed their lead and sat at their designated seats. The round table had a large map of the entire continent placed on it. It was an expensive thing in this world, but considering that these men were in power once, so they certainly had the funds to procure it."

  “First agenda of this meeting: we have successfully freed the captains. However, we have also lost Celeborn, who I am informed was the head of this group. I will take his place, is that acceptable?” Viyetral proposed.

  “It will be be an honour to fight under your leadership. Any man personally sent by the sword-saint is worthy of leading.” Torvin replied.

  “What about the others? I need to make sure that all of you are in agreement, so raise your hands if you object.”

  Of-course none were against it. Viyetral held the power in that room, he had Farelen on his side, but more importantly, all of the former underlings of Celeborn had been ordered by their former leader to abide by all the commands of Viyetral.

  “Moving on, I am sure most of you already know that sword-saint has chosen his successor. The young man is Landel, a prodigy in the way of sword. He have had been trained by the sword-saint himself. Most importantly, he has already proved himself in the arena today — against the champion of this town. I want all of you to accept him as the successor of the sword-saint, as this was the main reason we came to this town in the first place. Of-course, we found quite the mess here. Anyways, If anyone is against it then raise your hands.”

  None objected again.

  “Very well, then thirdly: I would like you to reaffirm your representative in this room — the man who can speak for all of you — as that will make communication easier.”

  “Torvin is the one whom we had selected previously, and we remain firm on our decision.” A man spoke from amongst them; the rest of them nodded in assent.

  “I shall keep that in mind. Now moving to the main topic: I will be going back to the town tomorrow. Accompanying me will be Farelen, Landel and few of the best warriors here. We will be discussing terms with the corrupt, treacherous councilmen there.” Viyetral stated.

  A young man from among the council stood up at this — most of the older folks frowned upon his action.

  “I want your permission to ask a question.” The young man requested.

  “What is your name young one?” Viyetral asked without any change of expression.

  “I am Riytr, my father was a former council-man. He was also part of the conservative ideology but was murdered when most of us were ousted.”

  “I am grateful for your father's sacrifice. You may ask your question, though this is an exception. In the future, as already instructed, all of you must direct your questions through the selected representative — Torvin.”

  “I will keep that in mind. I want to know why do we not attack the town’s hall first thing in the morrow? We already have you two — greatest warriors of the elfian race fighting beside us, leading us then what is stopping us? Are those tyrants so powerful that they can even stand in the way of the sword-saint's greatest soldiers?”

  The room went silent — a tension filled the air. The young man was firm in his question, yet the older folk were terrified by his boldness. The conservative councilmen were influential, but as of now, they were far too simpler to replace thus they needed to be careful with their words and actions.

  All eyes laid at the man sitting in the middle of it all for a response.....