Albert followed closely behind William on his horse, reminiscing about the old days. Six or seven years ago, Albert had started reading fairy tale books to keep William interested.
William's favorite book was called "The Legend of the Nine Stones". He was particularly fascinated by the story of Tianlong the Dragon and its rider, Yu Sheng. The story still played vividly in his mind whenever he remembered Yu Sheng's story.
Yu Sheng, a princess born in the Great Xia in the East, was to be sacrificed to end the incessant rain that had been falling for eight months due to some foolish traditions. During the sacrifice ceremony, luck was on her side as all the water around her was transformed into a magical force that turned into a dragon to save Yu Sheng. Of course, this was only a brief summary, but the legend was built on it. Yu Sheng later gathered enough followers to conquer Great Xia with the power of the dragon. However, these events took place in the second book, and William didn't like the second book very much.
Albert was disappointed here; his goal had been to spark William's ambition and immerse him in a dream, but it had backfired. Instead, William had developed an interest in mythical creatures like dragons, focusing on the fantastical elements of folk tales.
That was why they were out today. They reached their destination in the evening darkness. In front of them was the entrance to a huge canyon. There was no grass, no creatures, and no sign of water. Albert doubted that they would find even a small snake in this desolate place.
They quickly set up camp and, after eating, went to bed early. In the morning it was William who woke Albert. He had been the first to get up and was already covered in dust, indicating that he had been exploring the area and the entrance to the canyon.
Albert looked at Goar, who should have been on night watch and saw him shrug helplessly and shake his head. Because of the Prince's orders, Goar didn't dare to do anything.
"Grandpa, wake up, I found the entrance!"
William's excitement showed on his face, but Albert calmed him down and the whole camp woke up for a quick meal. The team of eight worked like a well-oiled machine, packing up the camp in a matter of minutes. After erasing their tracks behind them, they followed the direction led by William.
About half an hour into their walk into the canyon, they came to a small cave entrance that resembled a fox's den. The only difference was that this hole was stained with dried blood, unlike the others.
The rumor Albert and William heard went like this: "A group of mercenaries had discovered this place, but something inside had killed them all. The one who managed to escape and bring the rumor back to Highrock City was interrogated by the guards at the entrance, and he died during the interrogation. According to the guards, and later confirmed by Albert, the man had no shoes on his feet, and they were nearly torn from walking in the heat. His mouth and tongue were parched with thirst, and unfortunately, he died of starvation when he finally reached a place where he could have been rescued". Albert hadn't taken it seriously at first, but at William's urging, he had checked it out and found that the incident was real, and the man's story matched what was being said.
"Why would someone die over a silly rumor?" That was William's first thought, but Albert looked at it from a different angle.
"Could the purpose of this rumor be to get you and me out of Highrock and then assassinate us? After all, you are not favored by the Crown Prince. Besides, he still hasn't secured the throne, and in his eyes, you're becoming more and more of a threat," Albert thought, speaking to his grandson as if he were a young prince.
"You're right, but me, a threat? I'm sure my brother doesn't even remember my name. In fact, he probably doesn't even know he has a brother in such a distant city," William's face was filled with disgust that day. Whenever he vaguely remembered his brothers, his stomach churned.
"We will travel discreetly with a small group, as we always do. We're here for a hunt," this was William's final decision. And now, as a result of his decision, they crawled through the small foxhole into the cave.
Goar was the first to enter, and as soon as he did, he shouted to the others, "Clear. You can come in." Goar was still the most suitable name for exploration among them, as he could be considered the fastest among them. It was also known that he could see better in the dark than the others. As soon as Goar entered the cave, he lit a torch inside and illuminated the cave's interior for those who would follow.
When William and the others entered, they were awed by the sight inside. The first thing they noticed was the smell, a mixture of damp and metal. "This place has all the signs of an iron mine," Albert remarked. He had experience in this area, having worked in several of their mines. He had come to this conclusion from the red chunks of rock and the inexplicable dampness inside. Normally, iron mines weren't very damp, but this area was close to the desert, so it would be normal for water to be stored at the bottom of the cave. Following Goar, they each lit a torch and descended deeper into the cave, Goar leading, Matz following, and William and Albert behind.
For half an hour they didn't see a single bat or similar creature. The first unusual object they encountered was a skeleton that didn't belong in the cave. It was wearing rusty, almost disintegrated clothes. Two of its ribs were broken, and it probably died from the wound it received to its ribs. William was the one who noticed that this was different from a normal skeleton. He bent down, examined something, and then showed it to the group.
"This man didn't die the normal way," he said, showing the rusty sword in his hand. The sword should have been at least a meter long, judging by the thickness of its hilt, but it was barely thirty centimeters long. Its tip was cleanly cut off. Despite the rust, it still showed signs of being cut easily.
Soon, Goar found the cut end of the sword, and the team placed them side by side. Indeed, as they suspected, the sword had originally been three feet long, but the skeleton's opponent had managed to cut it in half.
"Whatever that man was up against was definitely much more powerful than him," William said earnestly, but his excitement was easy for everyone in the room to see in his eyes.
"William, let's go back. Our lives are more valuable than anything else, right?" Albert was the first to voice his doubts. His intention was to protect William, as always, but his words backfired.
"Where are we going to run to, Grandpa?" William's eyes radiated more heat than all the torches combined. "You keep telling me to be ambitious, but at the first obstacle, you're trying to hide me behind a rock. Enough is enough! Since we got here, we're going all the way!" William stood up and started walking deeper into the cave, not waiting for the others to follow.
Albert could hardly believe what he had just heard. It was the first time he had received such a reaction from William, and he couldn't decide whether he should be happy or sad. He just followed William's footsteps in silence.
A few meters later, Goar retook the lead and began walking about five meters ahead of everyone. Soon after, they noticed that they were slowly descending, as if walking down a spiral staircase.
Shortly thereafter, they began to see more skeletons. The cause of death for most of the skeletons was heavy blows. Many of them had their weapons broken or cut in half. One skeleton was even wearing heavy plate armor, and whoever their opponent was, they had cut the plate armor in half from head to toe.
Including William, the most excited and eager of the eight, they all began to worry after seeing these causes of death. Whatever was inside was much stronger than them.