Creak

  A hooded figure walked the dark corridors with a sway in his step, appearing as if he was a drunken fool stumbling to his room to try and sleep off the alcohol.

  Boom

  A flash of lightning from the window lit up the dark corridor for a moment to reveal the face of the swaying figure to be a weary young man with bags underneath his sharp brown eyes that were surveying his surroundings.

  Spotting nothing unusual, the young man in dark garbs stumbled his way down the end of the corridor to reach a door that most likely had guests still awake if the young man was to go by the light coming from the bottom of the door.

  Knock knock… knock

  “Password.” A muffled voice came from the other side of the door demanding a code to enter.

  “It's me. Open up.” The hooded young man ignored the demand and instead made one himself.

  “Password.” The voice behind the door repeated itself once again followed by faint snickers.

  A resigned sigh came from underneath the hood. “The gullible one.”

  The door immediately opened up and a whiff of alcohol escaped the room to enter the noses of those outside. In this case it was the hooded young man who couldn’t help but welcome the familiar scent.

  “Hey Rookie. Did you find anything?” The beer bellied York welcomed the new recruit of their team.

  “No,” Kai sidestepped the second-in-command to make his way to a table where a man and woman sat cards in hands. “As usual.” Kai reached for a cup on the table only for it to be yanked out of his hand.

  “Thank you.” York grabbed his drink before sliding his cards that were on the table over to him. “But you can have this.”

  Laughs came from the two other individuals on the table. The woman with a bob cut let out a smirk after seeing Kai grumbling to himself. “Need I remind you of what happened a few days ago.”

  Kai winced at the memory of him celebrating completing his mission or halfway completing his mission with alcohol. His reaction got the three others seated at the table with him laughing.

  “Where’s the Captain?’ Kai noticed the Captain's absence after finding the brooding man nowhere near his usual spot by the window.

  “Where else?” Hal answered “ Making sure our guest of honor is nice and cozy.” Widening his eyes, he dropped a card in excitement resulting in Kai and Greta groaning in frustration.

  Gathering the cards on the table Kai asked “How long?”

  “Almost an hour.” Hal answered counting the copper on the table ignoring the glare being sent his way by York as it was his money that was up and not Kais.

  “He sure does take his time," Kai said while passing out the cards to everyone at the table before reviewing their trip so far. “Two days of preparing his stuff-”

  “That he should’ve already done.” Greta cut in with a complaint, narrowing her eyes at her cards.

  “Three days of walking the Dark Forest-”

  “Don’t forget his reason: ‘I must take it all in for who knows when I’ll be back.” This time it was Hal that butted in.

  “ And then two days of shopping and an extra day to rest from all that work. If we don’t make it back to the Academy in three days, Spirits who knows what’s going to happen.” Kai broke down their adventure so far with a glint in his eye.

  York, scanning the cards on the table and the cards in his hand, warned his squad mates “Lets not complain too much about the man. He is a Grandmaster after all. Who knows, he might just burst through that door to ask you all to say it to his face. Hahaha” York let out a laugh that combined with his large belly echoed through the room before dropping a card.

  The moment York let go of the card he placed on the table, another card was slammed onto the table.

  “Hahaha, I WIN. Now give me your-”

  Boom

  The door burst open causing an immediate reaction from the famous Squad 4 of the Honor Guard: York immediately summoned the cups that were made of stone into a small shield and the water that was once held in the cups were now formed into a meter long snake that floated above Greta and Kai who stood a step behind her with a dagger in hand to guard Hal who was holding a bow and arrow made of the flames of the many candles in the room aimed at the intruder.

  The light from the flickering flames barely reached the figure standing in the doorway but it was enough to recognize the old man and their Captain who he held in his arms.

  “CAPTAIN” “Peter.” The worried squad mates quickly reached the two men and guided them to a table. Laying their Captain down, they quickly stripped him to reveal old cuts and new that marred his body. The new cuts being the ones that were currently gushing out blood. Black blood.

  “Kai, go get my bag in the cabinet. The small peach colored pouch.” Kai could only silently obey the order not trusting himself to utter a word that could reveal his fear, not knowing his fearful expression was clear as day.

  “What happened?” York, horrified at the sight of his old friend, demanded an answer. His tone was absent of respect that was usually given to those of the elderly man’s status.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Grandmaster Ken scratched his bushy sideburns, revealing his hand was burnt.

  The sight caused York to freeze in shock.

  For a Grandmaster to be injured, someone of similar strength must have dueled them or multiple Masters must have teamed up to make up the strength.

  Both possibilities were horrible for it could mean there is a power that could spare a few Masters as there are bound to be deaths. The other possibility he didn’t think was possible.

  The last time Grandmasters participated in a battle amongst themselves was during the Civil War that killed millions a few centuries ago.

  “It wasn’t a Grandmaster.” As if York's thoughts were put on display, Grandmaster Ken reassured him by finally talking.

  “ Although my opponents weren’t Grandmasters, I still nearly lost my life.”

  Kai entered the room to deliver the pouch to Greta who opened it up to reveal a Golden Petal.

  “York” She called out to the second in command who turned his shield into a large pot without even turning around. Greta quickly filled the pot with water and placed the Golden Petal into the pot before feeding the tonic to the seriously injured Captain.

  Grandmaster watched the Captain’s body slowly begin to stop leaking blood before he chose to reveal his opponents. “They were Masters. Not just any Masters but assassins.”

  “Assassins?” York was clearly confused and skeptical at the situation. “ How could assassins hurt you?”

  The reveal caught everyone’s attention before a cough pulled their focus to the Captain who sat up with the help of Greta. “Starry Palace. Assassins from the Starry Palace.”

  ***

  “So, how was our little group of heroes’ first week?” Dean Frey sat at his usual spot near the fireplace, staring at the small flames cackling.

  “So far so good. A few arguments between the Republic and the Southern Kingdoms but none escalated to more than that.” Professor Laurel gave his report on the brand new Acolytes.

  Dean Frey nodded his head at the report, still having his eyes on the small flames.

  Professor Harris took a step forward once he realized Professor Laurel was done. “ I have a few letters sir, that have reached us but only one seems worthy of your attention.” Professor Harris kept his eyes on the side of the Dean’s face preparing to see the reaction of the old man after hearing who the letter’s from.

  “Ahem” With a clearing of the throat to prepare for what was next, an action that caused a chain reaction of eye rolls from his other colleagues at his theatrics, he began “Lady Ellis has sent a letter.”

  The name caused a chill to permeate the room. The breath of everyone was made clear from the smoke that came out their mouths. The small flame that was the entertainment for the Dean was quickly doused leaving the room in darkness.

  “Let me see.” The voice of the Dean met the darkness to reach the ears of those covered in it.

  A small ball of flames was projected to the fireplace, holding back the darkness once again so those could see.

  Silence filled the soft orange lit room, before the ripping of paper was heard. All eyes gravitated to the Dean, curious of what his reaction would be. And after a few seconds they got what they were waiting for: A smile. That’s all that he gave them.

  “Very well, if that’s all. You may leave.” All the Department Heads in the room bowed before silently leaving the room.

  “Now, you.” Dean Frey spoke to the giant figure standing by the door. Walking towards the old man allowed the figure being masked by darkness to reveal himself to be Commander Grant.

  Taking a knee beside the old man, he presented a sealed letter.

  Grabbing the letter to examine, he found a tree to be the stamp to seal the letter. A tree if examined more closely would allow the reader to see multiple eyes faintly found in the leaves.

  With a simple wave, water from his cup on his desk behind him was summoned to him and used to cover his hand in ice. With his hand now covered in ice he grabbed the letter to rip open only for a small burst of wind blades to shoot out from the letter but were quickly blocked off by the Dean’s frozen hand. A clean kill for anyone not of Grandmaster level.

  Reaching in and pulling out the letter, the Dean couldn’t help but frown at the stains on the letter.

  Blood.

  Unfolding the letter, Dean Frey set his gaze on one word. The only word the letter carried:

  ‘Trouble.’

  ***

  In a dark cave, lit up by the full moon's glare coming from a large hole in the ceiling of the cave, was a figure in white robes standing in a gleaming pool. The figure remained still, watching the puddle it stood in for any signs.

  All of a sudden, a ripple came from the part of the cave that the light of the moon could not reach. The white robed figure watched the ripple reach its location before lifting its face to reveal a white-haired pale woman whose beauty could compare to the moon. Pulling her blue eyes to the origin of the ripple, she found seven men in black kneeling on one knee with their heads down.

  A hum from the enchanting woman came and the man in the middle shoved his hood back to reveal his balding head and wrinkles, and inched forward as if he was too afraid to get close to the woman who many men would die just to get a glance from.

  “We intercepted the target but…” The kneeling man in black paused trying to find the right words to explain as his explanations from earlier he concocted up disappeared at the mere sight of the woman.

  The pale woman looked up to the moon now blocked by the clouds and immediately the seven men prostrated themselves.

  The seven men’s actions brought an enchanting smile to the woman’s face “You failed?” Her enchanting voice yet stern tone entered the ears of the hooded men who shuddered at the question.

  The leading man took a deep breath before answering with a “Yes.”

  “Well, then I’m sure you can at least give me a report, yes?” The woman’s question caused the men to nod frantically. “Well then tell me.”

  “We confirmed it was Grandmaster Ken, The Windblade but he was also accompanied by the man known as Berserker.” The name of the Berserker got a raise of brow, catching the attention of the man reporting. “He is the Captain of the well known squad 4 of the Honor Guard, yes? A Master of the Fire Element?” The woman stood still pondering to herself.

  The woman still staring at the moon hummed once again.

  “With the help of a Master Fire Elemental and a Grandmaster of the Wind Element we stood no chance. Half of my men being dead is proof of this. The combination of Wind-”

  “Or…” The leading man winced at the cutoff. “It is simply proof you’re all incompetent.”

  The woman took a deep breath filling the eerie silence of the cave.

  “Did you injure any of them?”

  The man eager to prove his strength said “Yes, the Berserker was seriously injured.”

  The woman gave an approving nod. An action all seven men saw as a chance. “I guess that’s good enough. It will at least leave them wary and distracted.”

  The woman now basking in the glow of the full moon raised her arms to her sides and smiled. A smile that held a deeper meaning. “I am not fond of the color of this pool.” The woman lowered her arms and looked down at the clear pool surrounding her.

  Brushing back the falling white hair behind her ear, she turned and walked out of the pool with a pout. “Change it for me.”

  Screams and shouts of pain echoed from behind as the white-haired woman walked away with a smile before muttering to herself.

  “And so it begins.”