The whole family was in the castle's great dining room, it was not as luxurious as one would expect from an old noble house, they had seen better times, the furniture was old and worn. Aulos' father had been a good man, but not a great noble, in his time there were no great wars to fight or great services to do to the kingdom, and because of that he could not clean up the dishonor and degradation to which his family was subjected in the time of his grandfather.
The Nolaks came from one of the oldest noble lines, one that went back almost to the arrival of humanity eight hundred years ago to Sentria. In the time of his grandfather his lands were a fruitful county with more than seven towns under his charge, however disgrace and dishonor stained and marked the family. During a visit by the king to the lands of the then Count Nolak there was an unexpected dungeon break, the Nolak forces could not respond in time and finally the king died. His successor demoted the family to simple barons, keeping two towns that should remain independent, Greenville, Ilentown. His uncles in the mountains were demoted to simple lords, simple bannermen.
When his uncle Filmon died three winters ago, without issue, Aulos' brother Berius took his place as Baron. It had only been four years since Aulos inherited the title when his father died on a hunting trip, he had not yet had time to make his barony shine like his younger brother, the two had begun the life of nobles almost at the same time.
"Father, everything is ready for the hunting party, we can leave tomorrow morning, we will be a total of twenty knights, and thirty soldiers..."
"Let's hope it's enough, and we find that beast soon, if the vassals keep losing livestock it will be a problem for everyone..."
Tadpole, taking care of the peace and ensuring that the vassals who worked the farms outside the city walls did not have problems with the monsters was the main job of every great noble, which justified their existence and reason for being.
"So tomorrow we go hunting... good! I'll prepare everything to be ready..."
"Tadpole, who said you were coming?"
"But I can help..."
"You are a child, you are weak, you would only hinder us or endanger us as soon as you were scared of any monster..."
"I am not scared, I am not afraid of anything..."
"Your brother is right Gael, you are not ready yet, your time will come when you grow up..."
"But Dad..."
Little Gael seemed very disappointed at not going on the hunting party, his childish mind was eager for adventure, and he was not aware of his own weakness. He tried to resist, citing all kinds of arguments, but his father's decision was firm.
His older sister, Lizi, seeing the tribulations of her little brother, did not hesitate to mortify him, those two were like water and oil, it was impossible for them to get along...
"What did you expect, you are a weakling, you are not even good enough to hold a sword..."
"I am almost as tall as you..."
"Yes, but you are a useless person with no strength and hardly any magic, you are good for nothing..."
"Well, if you are so powerful, why haven't they invited you to go either?"
"Because I am not as stupid as you to believe myself a heroine when I haven't even gone to school..."
"You are a spoiled brat..."
Gael pretended to freeze his sister's face with a jet of ice, but she was faster and much more powerful, the small jet of ice could not fight against the gust of wind that sent the boy flying backwards while his hands and feet began to freeze...
"Enough! "I've told you a thousand times not to use magic against each other!"
Lizi quickly canceled her magic and set her brother free. She put on her best good and repentant girl face.
"Sorry mom, I won't do it again, but Gael tried to attack me and I only reacted on instinct..."
When dinner was coming to an end, the little ones were sent to sleep. Gael was disappointed and had also been humiliated and insulted by his sister. But he didn't want to anger his mother and father any further, so he went with his head down to his room. However, the evil Lizi didn't miss the opportunity to torment him again.
"Have you seen, little brother? You will never be as powerful as me, in a few years I will go with the hunting parties, at most they will let you take care of the animals, or they will send you to the knight school if you stop being a skinny lanky guy..."
That final blow set the boy's heart on fire, he had to find out how to show everyone, his parents, his older brothers, but especially that unbearable Lizi, what he was capable of, he would not stop, he would be a hero, a great magician... He just had to find out how...
The hunting party left for the northern forests at dawn, they were a considerable force for a city as small as Ilentown, for about a month only the oldest guards would remain in the city, enough to protect the quiet population but little more. Everyone prayed that nothing serious would happen during that time.
Gael had gone ahead on his way to the castle, he had accompanied his mother to see off the soldiers and knights who were marching under the command of his father and brother, but he was not in the mood, he had spent the whole night trying to come up with a plan to prove his worth but nothing came to mind.
When the procession left, he looked for an excuse to run alone to the castle. He knew the streets of the city like the back of his hand, and it was a quiet city, without bad neighborhoods, only the port and its two taverns were the places he could not approach.
He was sulking when a farmer with a bad face approached his house, then he heard a conversation that gave him an idea.
"It seems that you do not bring a single horned rabbit... it will be difficult to get through the week Onofre..."
"What can I do Tiria? I've already told you that something is scaring the game on the other side of the mountain range, not a single rabbit has been seen for days... if only the soldiers had not gone north we could ask them to send a couple of them to see if there was anything... but I alone don't dare to explore further... if there is no rabbit, there is nothing..."