It took the sword three days to reach the outskirts of the continent Odin. The sky was void of any moons. Only stars peeked through the dark sky, glimmering like specs of gold dust in the black sky. Draven ordered Sarah to stop the sword. He stared at the distant land through the window.
"Why are we stopping?" asked Sarah.
Draven just put on a long black leather coat to hide his black armor underneath.
"Do you see that mountain?" Draven pointed at the knuckle-shaped mountain chain in the distance.
"Hmm," Sarah nodded.
"Hide among the forest. You'll be safe there," said Draven. He didn't plan to take Sarah with him to Sinith. Instead, he wanted her to stay in the sword and watch his back. Surprisingly, Sarah did not argue with him. The reason was she knew she was more useful in the sword than with Draven outside.
Draven flicked his wrist as the broken sword slung out of his wrist.
"Let's go," Margoth excitedly shouted at Draven. With a nod, Draven turned around and left the hall, leaving Sarah behind. After Draven left the ship, Sarah pressed a button as several red lights flickered across the room. The sound of metal door closing resonated in the hall.
As soon as Draven jumped into the air, his wings appeared on his back. He hovered in the air, watching the sword slowly move toward the mountain. He slowly followed the ship behind. Before departing to Sinith, he wanted to make sure Sarah and the ship stayed hidden.
The forest surrounding the mountain was tremendous, shadowy, and archaic. Its canopy was marked by chestnut, oak, and crab apple. Light barely penetrated the canopy to reach the ground. The entire forest was gloomy, thick, and inhabited by no humans. The reason Draven chose this forest was, its located at the border between Sinith and Vabria. Curling branches dangled from every tree, and a mishmash of flowers, which claimed quiet corners, were a welcome change in the otherwise dark green lower level.
The closer he and the warship got to the mountain, the more he heard a tumult of animal sounds, most belonging to foraging beasts. They were in harmony with the rustling of the leaves and branches of the tree tops in the wind. Thanks to the ship's dark pain, it perfectly blended in the darkness. The ship slowly penetrated the canopy. The sound of crushing twigs and screaming animals lasted until a few minutes after the sword's landing.
"Perfect landing," Draven heard Sarah's voice in his head.
"If anything comes closer to you, shoot first and ask questions later," said Draven.
"Roger that," said Sarah.
Draven did not linger in the air any longer. He flapped his wings and headed toward the kingdom of Sinith. It took Draven almost fifteen minutes to reach the outskirts of Kingdom Sinith, his mother's homeland. Unlike Veland, Sinith wasn't divided into cities. Instead, Sinith was one big city. City was an overstatement considering it was nowhere close to any other cities in Etheria. Years of war and fights between factions reduced the kingdom to ruins.
Bordered between knuckle mountain to the North, fjords to the South, a lush forest to the East, and pristine beaches to the West, Sinith did not lack any beauty. The kingdom itself was mainly covered in forests and mines. The country's landscape was elegant; calm lakes, resource-rich mines, and gorgeous farmlands were just a sliver of the magnificence Sinith had to offer. Due to the unstable situation in Sinith the kingdom had strict laws and a high crime rate.
Hovering in the sky, Draven stared at the kingdom. Despite the towering city walls around the kingdom, the people weren't safe. In the middle of the city, Draven saw a giant statue of a man raising his sword to the sky. Draven couldn't help wondering what the story behind this statue was. But showing his thoughts to the back of his mind, Draven flapped his wings once again. He soared through the air until the city walls became close enough for an archer to shoot Draven down.
Draven quickly closed his wings as he began to free fall. He noticed several soldiers wearing crimson-red armor patrolling the city walls. Before they could notice Draven, he used the teleportation power to reach the ground. He appeared behind a shabby old home.
"Find someplace to pass the night. We can gather more information in the morning," Margoth suggested. Sinith was not Veland. If the mercenaries or the soldiers saw a suspicious figure in the night, they would draw their weapons without warning. At that time, Draven would be left with no choice but to fight. He preferred not to start a fight until he got as much information as he could. Simply put, Draven wanted a better understanding of what was going on before drawing a plan for how to deal with the mercenaries and the wars in Sinith.
Just like any kingdom in Etheria, Sinith too had a tavern in its capital. Despite the crippled economy of Sinith, people tend to drown their sorrows and pain in booze. Thanks to Margoth's acute senses, Draven was able to sneak toward the tavern in Sinith under cover of darkness.
"ARGGGHH!"
Draven was a few buildings away from the tavern when he heard a scream of a woman.
"Let go of my mom!" Another voice of a boy followed the woman's scream.
"Sounds like a job for us. Don't you think Draven?" Margoth asked. Draven could sense the excitement in his voice. If they went to the tavern, they would only get some information. But if they chose to help this woman, Margoth knew it would end up in Draven killing whoever was hurting the woman. Finally, he could devour an evil soul instead of meat for a change.
As Margoth expected, Draven turned his gaze toward where the scream came from. He used the short distance teleportation to travel between the houses undetected. While he was teleporting, he noticed several groups of soldiers wearing crimson-red leather armor patrolling the streets. Yet, none of them bothered to check on the scream. Which meant one thing, those who were messing with the woman were their own colleagues.
As Draven expected, he saw three men wearing the same crimson red armor as the ones Draven saw on the streets surrounding a woman and a boy. Due to the darkness and Draven's sneaky movement, they didn't notice him. The woman seemed to be in her early thirties, and the boy was in his teens, probably fifteen or sixteen.
"What were you doing in the middle of the night, Tanisha?" said one of the soldiers.
Blood trickled down from the corner of her mouth. Judging by the dark patch on her face, it was obvious one of them had punched her in the face.
"Are you trying to start a rebellion again? You know we don't tolerate that kind of activity anymore right?" asked another soldier.
"Where is the rest of your flock?"
"I don't do that anymore. I left that life behind me. Now let me and my son go," said the woman named Tanisha.
"Let you go. Darling, your son punched a soldier of Flaming Phoenix in the face,"
"A sucker punch," the soldier who got punched quickly interjected.
"A punch nonetheless. It's a crime. We have to punish him, unless," the soldier placed his hand on Tanisha's shoulder with an evil grin. Lust glistened in his eyes.
Draven couldn't stay in the darkness anymore. He removed his long brown coat and threw it toward the soldier who stood several meters away.
"What the," the soldiers were startled. They quickly turned around, drawing their swords out.
"Who are you?" asked the soldiers. Draven's armor and his predatory eyes made them feel a slight fear in their hearts.
Tanisha quickly grabbed her son, holding him closer to her.
Sling!
Draven flicked his wrist as his sword extended from his wrist.
"You-"
The soldier's words were abruptly cut short. To their shock, the young man who just arrived disappeared from their sight. Suddenly, blood spurted out as they saw a head flying away. Tanisha immediately closed her son's eyes. She wanted to protect him from the horror. The remaining two soldiers felt a chill as their bodies went rigid in pure shock.
Draven did not give the soldiers any time to retaliate. He swung his broken sword with enough force to cleave another head. As the second head was flying in the air, Draven teleported behind the last one and plunged the sword straight through his heart.
"Awesome," The boy's words surprised Margoth. Usually, a boy like him would either scream or just faint. But this kid admired Draven for killing them.
"That sword," Tanisha mumbled. She completely ignored the three bodies, spraying blood all over the walls.
"Where did you get it?" Her question surprised Draven. Even in the dim torchlight, Tanisha could see the engraving on the sword. This sword was etched onto her mind. She couldn't believe she had finally seen it in real instead of in a painting.
"Where did you get it?!" Tanisha raised her voice.
"Mom," The boy got afraid of the sudden change in his mother's voice.
"Is this woman gone crazy?" Margoth asked Draven.
"Why do you want to know?" Draven asked Tanisha.
"Because it's mine!"