Reclamation: Part 2

"This is it, guys. Let's open the door and see how much treasure we can get from inside." Kevin said

"I'll go first. You watch my back." Trevor said

"As you wish." Kevin said

They climbed the stairs up to the throne room. It was completely trashed. Larry gasped as he looked at the giant corpse on the floor. Barry investigated it and saw that it was headless and that the head had no eyes. The walls had massive cracks in them. There was no gold or anything of value in the room. They walked out to the balcony.

"Wow." Marvin said

"It's beautiful up here." Larry said

"Yeah." Barry and Trevor said

"Why would King Reagon want this kingdom?" Kevin asked, "It is destroyed."

"It's about the land, not the castle or buildings." Trevor said

"Oh." Kevin said

"The sun is setting. We should head back." Barry suggested

"Yeah, we should." Trevor said

As they began to walk back, the sun painted the sky beautifully. The warm wind relaxed their bodies. They reached the beach where they set up camp and told commander Sephtis Mabuz about what they saw. He laughed and told them good work. The next day they would do the same, except now they had to find monsters and kill as many as they could. The five knights quickly fell asleep and were eager in the morning.

They rushed back into the capital of Crow. They searched every building they came across for monsters or something valuable. Rarely would they find gold or jewelry. Sometimes they found some weapons, but nothing really useful. The monsters in the streets were weak and easy to take down.

"This is not as exciting as I thought it would be." Kevin said

"I'm having fun." Trevor said

"I'm hungry." Larry complained

"Same." Barry laughed

They sat next to an old church and ate their lunch. After that, they continued exploring the city. As they walked through the streets, they came across a strange, half-destroyed building.

"What was that?" Kevin asked

"Didn't look like anything important." Trevor said

"Hey guys, let's check it out." Kevin said

"Sure." They agreed

"Is this a temple?" Kevin wondered aloud

"Maybe." Marvin said skeptically

"Come on, let's explore." Kevin said

The five of them entered the building. It was strange, it had lots of medical equipment. It wasn't a hospital though, the hospital was closer to the center of the city. They wandered around the building and inspected the tools. Inside a drawer was a vial. Inside the vial was a purple liquid and the label was worn away.

"I wonder what this does." Barry said, reaching for the vial.

"Don't touch it!" Larry said, grabbing Barry's arm

"Yeah we should put it in a bag safely." Trevor said

"Or we could destroy it." Marvin said

"We should bring it to Commander Sephtis Mabuz." Trevor said

"You're right." They agreed

Trevor took a rag and covered the vile and placed it into his bag. He nodded and they left the strange building. They walked back to camp and made it back before sundown. The knights hurried over to Sephtis. Trevor handed him the vial with the purple liquid. The commander inspected it closely.

"I've seen this before... I can't remember where though." Sephtis said

"We found it in a strange building on the edge of the inner city." Trevor said

"Was there any more there?" Sephtis said

"No, just this one." Trevor said

"Take some rest. I want you to go back to that building tomorrow." Sephtis said

"Yes sir." Trevor saluted and walked to his tent

The knights woke up early and headed out before the sun rose. They rushed to the capital and quickly entered the house. Each of them split up and searched different areas of the house. In the basement there was lab equipment. There were no chemicals or anything that they could bring back.

"Hey! I found something!" Kevin yelled from up-stairs

The rest of them hurry up to him. In his hand was an old journal. He opened it and flipped through the pages. It was notes about the mysterious fluid and how to make it. Trevor pointed to a passage on the page.

"This... can... strength... speed... also..." Trevor tried to read

"Most of it is illegible." Marvin said

"We should still bring it back. Keep looking for other things." Trevor said

"It's noon, we should finish up here and look in other buildings for things." Barry said

"Just a few more minutes here." Trevor said

The group searched as they made their way to the exit. Kevin was holding the book. Trevor led them from building to building. They found nothing. The number of monsters was decreasing. Trevor began to lead them back to camp. They looked at the broken buildings as they passed by. Finally, they arrived at the camp.

Trevor took the journal from Kevin and presented it to Sephtis.

"We found this. There is no name but it refers to the purple liquid. Most of it is unreadable." Trevor said

"You are the only group to bring back something other than gold. I appreciate it." Sephtis said

"So... what do you think?" Trevor asked

"I don't know. I'll read it after I eat." Sephtis said

Trevor nodded and returned to his tent. They ate dinner and went to bed.

The next day, the knights stood outside the camp and waited. After a while, Sephtis emerged from inside the tent. He walked over to them and held out his hands.

"I have finished reading the journal. This is interesting information. Most of it is worn away, but I understand a lot. There is a name mentioned, Clover Shard." Sephtis said

"King Clover Shard?" Trevor asked

"Yes, it was used on him. There was a doctor that made this. I doubt he is still alive." Sephtis said

"What was his name?" Trevor asked

"The doctor's? I have no idea." Sephtis said

"Oh." Trevor said

"When will we be returning home?" Kevin asked

"In two days." Sephtis said

Trevor and the group saluted and headed off to the capital again. They wandered the streets and hoped to find something.

"Let's head to the east side." Trevor said

"Okay" Kevin said

They marched east until they reached the outer wall. Then they continued north. They noticed that there were fewer monsters around. Eventually they came across the strange building that they had visited earlier. A large hole was at the top of the roof. Inside the building there was no sign of life. The group turned and headed south. They went to the southern gate and returned to camp.

They stood at the shore staring off into the distance. The sound of the ocean was peaceful and relaxing.

"We'll head home soon." Marvin said

"I can't wait to see my wife and daughter." Trevor said

"I can't wait to see my parents." Barry said

"Yeah, same." Larry said

"Hey, do you see what I am seeing?" Kevin asked, pointing over to the forest next to the ruins.

"What is it?" Trevor asked, looking at the forest.

"I see three kids. They look injured!" Kevin said

"I'll tell Sephtis!" Barry said, running into the camp.

The rest of the group ran over to the three kids. The kids hands were high above their heads. The knights had their hands above their waists.

"Lavernius! Lavernius! Lavernius Bear is here!" one of them shouted

"Calm down! My name is Trevor, We are here with Golden Gate." Trevor said

"My name is David, this is Hazel and that is Ash." David said

"Tell me what happened." Trevor said

"It is a long story." David said

"Here, let's walk to the camp." Trevor said

The knights escorted the adventurers to the campsite where they met Sephtis. They were given warm food and something to drink. They were exhausted.

"What happened to you? Why are you here?" Sephtis asked

Silence followed. Sephtis felt the fear oozing out of the adventurers.

"Do not be afraid. I wear this mask to protect my identity. Start whenever you are ready." Sephtis said

"We came here a few days ago. He said his name was Levi Bruin. That was a lie. His real name is Lavernius Bear," David said, "It was fun though, the things we did."