Hex looked at the four people from the Northern Hawks faction. He came with Hestia to the location given by Althea.
To his surprise the other party came with all their Knights. This made him wonder whether they were too trusting or too confident.
Contrary to the Hawks they had left Oron close to the Squires and Adgar was hidden in the darkness of the night, close enough to assist them if things went south.
They stood on a rock filled cliff, which was a good vantage to keep an eye out on their surroundings whilst keeping their presence hidden.
The Hawks were all wearing their robes with their emblems sewn onto it. The coldness of the night didn't seem to bother them.
"So, why have you called us here?" Hestia asked once they sat between the rocks.
"The same reason why you have agreed to come, I suppose," replied the female Knight of the opposite team.
'She should be Lady Briella,' Hex thought as he observed the Knight. She was a head shorter than Althea and in her late twenties.
She was not as beautiful as Althea but her allure lay in her voluptuous curves and sensual lips. Her voice was tantalizing as well.
"A Squire from our camp attacked you?" Hex cut in, unwilling to go back and forth with pointless discussions.
Before Briella could reply, Althea nodded. "And someone of ours attacked you guys?"
She looked at Hex when she asked the question. She seemed to suspect him to be the one to survive such an attack.
"Yes. And he shouted something about being a Dawnbringer. I am already told they are an evil organization with their tentacles into many groups."
Hex summarized his knowledge about the Dawnbringer so Althea could add things she might know.
"Our intelligence had informed us that they were becoming active in this region. We haven't learned about their objective but they are usually involved in destruction followed by proselytizing."
"Basically they push people into desperation and then provide hope?" Hex was quick to grasp the intent behind the Dawnbringers actions.
"Yes," replied the Knight sitting behind Althea. His gray hair and mustache made him look fierce. Hex knew he was Sir Ivran, an old acquaintance of Hestia.
"The first time we heard about them was about twenty years ago. A member of theirs destroyed Notresol, the largest city of the north. She did it single handedly."
Ivran seemed to have gone back in time as he continued his tale.
"More than a million people died. The Commander and we tried to stop her. We nearly died. But thanks to the Heavens, the baron arrived. He defeated the Witch, as we called her. And after pursuing her for a year or so, he finally killed her."
Hex couldn't help but feel a bit proud when he heard his master had killed someone as evil as the Witch.
"Sadly, the baron's wife died in that battle," Ivran sighed at the final part of his tale, but it caused everyone to look in shock at him.
"The baron had a wife?" Hex blurted out. No one in the town had ever talked about it.
"Yes, I only met her once. Beautiful and kind. She was an angelic human."
Hex and Hestia looked at each other feeling bewildered. The thought of the cold and aloof baron having a kind and warm wife sounded absurd.
"Okay, but what are we going to do next?" Althea interrupted suddenly. "We know the Dawnbringers are dangerous and planning some kind of destruction. But what do we do?"
Hex wanted to continue listening about the baron but he knew there were more pressing matters.
"The first thing we need to consider is why did the attacker shout out their identity," he remarked.
That bothered him. If the attacker hadn't acted so strangely they wouldn't have guessed their identity.
The others seemed to have considered it too. Ivrain, who was the most experienced, had a theory.
"I think they wish for us to be paranoid. The more we distrust each other, the less likely we will team up. A divided group is easier to beat."
"It makes sense but we are missing something. If we didn't know about them, we would still be easily defeated by a trap," Hestia pointed out.
"So they want us to know about them. They don't mind us killing their members hidden in our ranks. They probably don't mind us teaming up too," Hex listed what they knew so far. He felt the answer was hidden in between.
"What if they are nearly done with whatever they are preparing and need things to escalate now?" Suddenly the last Knight at the scene asked.
Knight Orvyn was a pudgy man with a receding hairline. It was the first time he had talked.
His theory made the group worry. There were very few things more worrying than realizing that your enemy had placed you on a crossroad where every direction was within their expectation.
'Is there nothing we can do to stop the enemy?' Hex refused to keep waiting for the enemy to attack. 'They are even prepared to lose their hidden members…'
A thought suddenly struck Hex. Why was the enemy willing to sacrifice their members? They were the best trump cards one could have. It didn't make sense, unless…
"What if…what if the enemy doesn't mind discarding their hidden members because they don't care about the outcome of the clash?" He asked slowly as he looked at the group.
"You mean it doesn't matter who lives…they or us?" Althea asked seemingly understanding where Hex was going with his question.
When the Knights connected the information and the questions their eyes lit up in understanding.
"They need the corpses? But why?" Briella asked.
"Because they need it for a bigger trump card." Hex felt the pieces fall in place the more he thought about it.
He turned towards Althea. "Did you dispose of the corpse?"
When he saw Althea shake her head, he felt he had made the right guess. "I think we should check the places where we left the corpses."
"Okay, but if they took it, we need to investigate what the trump card is, don't you think?" Ivran asked.
Before Hex could reply Hestia stood up with a smile on her lips.
"I think that should be pretty simple. The enemy wants to use our group to attack yours and vice versa. Why not try to lure one or two out and have these two kill them? Meanwhile the Knights will keep an eye on the corpses. Somehow they need to be collected."
The plan sounded good. They could kill the traitors on one hand and find a clue about the true masterminds behind the scene. All they would risk is a couple of Squires.
Neither party thought that the Knights could be traitors because then there was no need to meet. Any of the Knights present could wipe an entire squad of Squires out without breaking a sweat.
After they agreed, they finalized the plan. The Knights discussed the finer details regarding their temporary alliance during the first round.
Althea stood beside Hex as they gazed at the forest veiled in darkness.
"Are you willing to kill your people?" She asked without looking at Hex.
Hex remained silent for a while. Just as Althea thought he wouldn't answer, he turned towards her.
"I am willing to save my people."