AT THE CAPTAIN'S OFFICE

Adam was sitting in his office in the palace in the late afternoon, he was reading all the documents sent by the officers across the kingdom as usual in order to find anything suspicious that may help him in his investigation and search for Irene.

"Damn it, nothing interesting in all of them.", Said Adam angrily while throwing the documents on the wooden table in front of him.

"General Rhaegel hasn't informed me anything yet about that man named Lance, the same goes for Broudgrak, he must be still searching about the source of the metal polish I found at the hunter's house, not a single clue about their place now.", Thought Adam before looking at another folder on the table.

"And there's that case with the Minister's assistant.", Thought Adam before holding the folder and opening it, it's clear that this folder was opened a lot recently.

"Noah Downvale, he comes from an average family here in the capital Arlyn, he was the only divine energy user in his family and was looked at with impression and proud, he got a very good knowledge and skill, maybe not a dangerous divine caster, his divine speciality was in healing and that's a safe divine art, but that's not only his talents, he's perfect with the documents and paperwork, that's why after his graduation from the divine school here in Arlyn he was appointed custodian of Arlyn's library, the greatest library in Vidin, maybe Vidin isn't that good with knowledge and divine energy, but for someone as young as him to reach this level is actually a sign of his precision, but that's not the problem.", Thought Adam before turning a paper to reveal another paper below it that contained a hand drawn picture of three dead people.

"The Downvale family was found murdered three years ago, the father, the mother and a young daughter who was just 16 years old, the one who didn't die was Noah, when he came back from the library that day he found them like that, no blood, no wounds, just dead, the parents were laying dead in their bedroom and the same for the girl which was Noah's sister, there wasn't a single clue on how they died, no weapons or divine magic, an analysis was done for revealing if dark energy was used but also nothing was found, this case was closed just after six months because the lack of clues, since it got nothing to do with the palace or his highness it wasn't even important to me then, but after a year everything changed.", Thought Adam while putting the folder back and looking towards the window.

"When king Walt informed me that minister Morgan had chosen a new assistant, this was a sign that I should start investigating all about Noah and his past, that's when I stumbled on the Downvale family case for the first time, I found nothing suspicious about Noah's life, a respectful young talented man, no wonder why the Minister was interested in him after meeting him in the library, by the time he was even convinced that Noah is the best one to succeed him as the minister, but that case was the only thing that was worrying me, when I decided to take a personal look at the case I found that it was closed without getting solved, they were killed mysteriously, it's impossible for the three to die the same way at the same time, but there was no single clue, the only thing that I found suspicious was that there were two officers who held the investigation, not one as usual, but they didn't work together, the first one appeared to be an old friend of mine when I used to serve under general Rhaegel in the army, his name was William, and he was a very smart officer, after only two weeks from investigation William suddenly went missing, not a single clue about where he went until today, after him another old officer held the investigation, his name was Liam, Liam wasn't able to solve the case and in 6 months the case was closed, I talked to Liam right after I started doing my private investigation about Noah to find anything important as all the documents were useless, but he told me that all the time they've spent on this case was useless too, he was even sad about losing William, he stated that although the age difference between them they used to be close to each other, he wasn't even able to find anything about William too, but all of that changed in the last few days.", Thought Adam before he took a small envelope from the inside of his coat and opened it then took a small paper out of it.

"A couple of days ago before I went to Orstone to check on what happened there to find the hybrid, Liam came to visit me and gave me this envelope.", Thought Adam as he started remembering that he was patrolling the palace to check that all the guards were in their positions before finally checking the gates, that's where he noticed Liam coming out of a carriage, the guards attempted to talk to him but even before they stop him Adam raised his voice in a calm tone.

"Let him in, this is officer Liam, show your respect soldiers.", Said Adam before the guards at the gate saluted Liam in respect.

"Thanks, captain Adam.", Said Liam as he passed the gates and was now facing Adam.

"You're welcome, officer, come inside, it's going to rain, we can talk as much as we want.", Said Adam politely to the old officer before him.

"Thanks, captain, but I'm in a hurry and I needed to give you something urgently.", Said Liam while looking somehow afraid, of course Adam noticed the tension.

"You don't look well, officer, is something bothering you?", Said Adam as it started to rain.

"Today was my final day in service, I'm finally retiring, I turned 55 today.", Said Liam calmly.

"Well I hope that suits you, officer Liam, congratulations, you served your kingdom well, but you talked about giving me something urgently, right?", Said Adam.

"Yes.", Said Liam before he took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to Adam.

"Put it in your pocket to avoid getting ruined by the rain.", Said Liam, Adam wasn't understanding what was going on but he did what Liam told him to do.

"Today while I was getting my things out of my office I found this envelope, it was between some of my old personal documents that I don't use, the one who wrote this letter was William, he hide it in a way that no one finds it soon, he knew that I was going to retire after two and half years.", Said Liam in worry.

"Did he mention where did he go?", Asked Adam while looking with hope, he can't believe that finally there's a clue about his friend William.

"No, but I can't imagine why he was writing this, I'm an old man now to do anything with this, but you were a close friend to William, and much more powerful than me, that's why I decided to leave this for you, but be careful, in situations like these, if walls don't have ears, they will grow ones.", Said Liam seriously, Adam stood silent for a moment.

"I'll take my leave, good night, captain.", Said Liam before turning to leave.

"Captain, may I ask you something?", Said Liam with his back to Adam.

"Of course, officer.", Said Adam politely.

"Can you promise me to know what really happened to William?", Asked Liam, Adam didn't know what to say as he still doesn't know what's going on but he knows deep inside that he can work with any clue.

"I promise you, officer.", Said Adam.

"Thank you.", Said officer Liam before going back to his carriage.

Adam stepped inside the palace and opened the envelope impatiently to read what was inside and he was surprised with what's written in it, that's why he was acting boldly towards Noah the day he travelled to Orstone.

"I hope that when you find this letter the case would have been closed officer Liam, something strange is happening, I think that I'm even being followed these days, all of that happened after I was assigned with the case and discovered strange things within the Downvale house and the case official documents, I don't know if I will be alive or no by the time you find this letter but I can't say anything about it in case you find it early, I don't want you to get hurt, just give this letter to captain Adam Aravos in the palace, he will know the right thing to do, the only thing that I can say is that the librarian can't be trusted."

Adam was reading the letter again in his office now after remembering everything.

Adam put the envelope back in the pocket of his silver coat while leaning back on the couch he's sitting in.

"Of course I took another look at the Downvale house but again I found nothing of importance, combining that with my top priority, finding the successor of Reldret's throne, and the strange incidents connected with her and the hunter helping her, all of that makes it harder to focus on Noah, I can't trust him until I exactly know what happened to his family and if he had done that to them or not, that's why I don't share any of my progress in the hybrid search with the minister unless his majesty ordered that, I can't risk something that may even be related with the Cragmoore zealots.", Thought Adam before he closed his eyes trying to relax.

"There's something worrying me with that girl, something worrying me with Noah, and even the hunter who suddenly appeared for her, maybe I can take a look at William's house, maybe his wife has noticed anything, ahhhhhh, where did you go William? You and your hobby of writing your daily diaries as kids.", Thought Adam before he smiled while remembering some of their time together at the army.

"The thought that you were afraid from something in your last days before going missing is actually hurting me, why didn't you come to me? The feeling that something horrible is happening around us is growing inside of me, the feeling that there is a huge conspiracy going on and we have no idea about it worries me very much, and why am I having those worrying thoughts about the hybrid? The people targeting her, I still don't know if that was an attack on the thieves guild or targeting her, why would an assassin possessing a black stone containing an already sealed scarlet giant be after the hybrid? The Cragmoore zealots cult has something to do with that, I'm nearly sure, can those sick bastards be really mistaking her with the cursed crimson child? But how did they know about her presence? That's one of the reasons I don't want to share any information about this case, the feeling of having a traitor, maybe between us, maybe between the council of the high priests in Reldret holy church?", Thought Adam, again and again and again, his mind doesn't stop thinking all the time and he started looking tired.

"THE HYBRID CAN'T BE THE CRIMSON CHILD.", Said a calm great voice, but actually there was no one around Adam, Adam smiled.

"You finally decided to share my thoughts, Guiscard.", Said Adam but he was still closing his eyes.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT PREFERS CALMNESS, BUT SINCE I'M IN YOUR HEAD I KNEW THAT THIS WAS THE RIGHT TIME TO TALK TO YOU.", Said Guiscard in his great voice.

Actually Adam wasn't talking to himself, of course he's not a mad man, he was talking to his bound spirit, Guiscard, the royal silver sentinel.

The bound spirits were originally strong beings that due to unknown reasons they lost their physical body but instead of dying their spirit survived and transferred into an isolated place called the spiritual verse.

A realm that doesn't apply the rules of nature and humans, a realm that contains thousands of spirits from the known realms or even spirits that comes from yet unknown worlds.

The bound spirits are called with that name because they are bound to the soul of the human who they chose to be their possessor and from which came what's know as the spiritual knights.

The free spirit may stay hundreds or even thousands of years in the spiritual verse until they feel the perfect soul to bind themselves with, the memories of the bound spirits are mostly vague about their life and the time they spent in the spiritual verse, it's like they are reborn with the birth of their possessor with some memories.

the bound spirits remain dormant in the body of their possessor until they get activated at a certain age( usually between 12 and 14 years), they give their owner specific powers similar to their own powers, in addition to granting them a spiritual weapon that differ between a knight and another which they can summon whenever they want, also by the time the spiritual knight can transform into his spiritual form, a form completely different from his human form but still humanoid in shape, it's just different (like the forms princess Leonora and general Scaldris were taking at the mountains in Legnica when Leonora was training with him, they switched back to their human form after), this spiritual form provide the spiritual knights protection against all forms of damage including magic either it's divine or dark, it also enhance the physical ability of the knight as well as allowing him to use further skills and abilities that he can't use in the human form, but all of this skills and protection depends on one thing, the spiritual energy of the knight, this also differ between a spiritual knight and another, the skill, the training, the experience and the raw power of the bound spirit itself, all of these factors affect spiritual energy and so the strength of the knight himself.

"And what makes you think that she's not the one?", Asked Adam.

"I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS STILL SERVING THE GODS THAT THEY SLAYED THE CRIMSON MOTHER BEFORE SHE ENGAGE WITH ANY DEMON AFTER SHE DESCENDED DOWN YOUR REALM, PLISTURA CONTINENT, THIS CURSED GENERATION WASN'T GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE FOR RECREATION, MAY THEY ROT IN HELL.", Said Guiscard, his tone was somehow proud with what the gods did, and why shouldn't he be proud? He's not a normal silver sentinel, he's a royal one, the normal silver sentinels were a battalion serving the gods and fought in the war against the demons, highly trained soldiers from the same lineage of the gods, of course they were weaker than the ruling gods but that doesn't mean they were weak, they used a special type of force that helped them in the battlefield, the royal silver sentinels were even stronger than normal ones, those also fought in the war but in the hardest battles alongside the gods themselves, Guiscard was the only royal silver sentinel bound spirit to be recorded in the history of the spiritual knights, there were several silver sentinels bound spirits recorded in history but not royal ones, so of course that's why Adam is the strongest spiritual knight in Vidin and one of the strongest spiritual knights across the continent, possessing such a unique and strong spirit isn't easy, it requires such a strong soul to be recognized by such a noble spirit.

"You know what, Guiscard? You're actually strange creatures.", Said Adam while still smiling.

"DO YOU MEAN THE BOUND SPIRITS? WHY?", Asked Guiscard.

"Shouldn't you know whatever I think about since you're inside my head?", Said Adam sarcastically.

"I'M TRYING TO HAVE A NORMAL TALK WITH A FELLOW SOLDIER LIKE ME WITHOUT LOOKING INTO HIS MIND.", Said Guiscard in sarcastic tone while still maintaining his great voice.

"Alright, royal one, I mean that you remember specific things but in the same time you're forgetting a lot of your memories, all of the bound spirits are the same, look at you, you can remember the thing with crimson mother while you can't exactly remember how you managed to defeat the demons.", Said Adam, he was still closing his eyes.

"THAT'S HOW WE ARE CAPTAIN.", Said Guiscard.

"I guess it will be up to the genius who will be able to solve the puzzle of the bound spirits creation, I don't think that I'll live to see that day, but I hope to see it.", Said Adam before shifted his body a bit forward and started stroking his brown hair backwards while thinking deeply.

"YOU'RE THINKING A LOT ABOUT HER LATELY, WHY DON'T TAKE A BREAK AND CHECK ON HER?", Said Guiscard, he was actually taking about Gena, Adam's wife, he was thinking about her now.

"I'm just very busy lately Guiscard, but I'm starting to feel guilty for not even passing by, all what's happening is giving me enough headaches.", Said Adam before finally opening his eyes.

"YOU'RE JUST NOT OCCUPIED, WE'RE SOLDIERS, AND I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING OF, YOU'RE GETTING ANNOYED THAT ALL OF THIS TIME BOTH OF YOU STILL CAN'T HAVE A CHILD, WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU LAST TIME WASN'T RIGHT ADAM.", Said Guiscard.

"Guiscard, I really don't want to talk about it, especially now in these strange days.", Said Adam, his tone was somehow annoyed.

"YOU'RE THE BOSS, I'LL BE RESTING FOR NOW.", Said Guiscard before he finally stopped talking, Adam rubbed his forehead with his left hand.

"Why is everything always complicated?", Said Adam before a knock on the door caught his attention.

"Come in.", Said Adam while getting back to his formal attitude, a guard opened the door but didn't step inside.

"Captain! There are two visitors that they claim knowing you, they said you were their tutor.", Said the guard, Adam narrowed his eyes while remembering before a young man stepped inside followed by a young woman, they were both the same age, about twenty years, the man was having black hair in the same style as Adam, he was having blue eyes and white ethnicity, he was wearing a similar coat like Adam but a different kingdom insignia than Vidin.

The woman was beautiful, she has a long blonde hair that nearly reached the bottom of her back, similar blue eyes and white ethnicity, also the same coat like her friend.

"Captain! We truly missed you.", Said the woman enthusiastically as they stepped inside while waving her hand.

"Calm down, soldier, the guard are looking at us.", Said the man by her side in a low voice, she looked at him.

"You're just jealous that I'm the captain's favourite.", Said the woman while smiling.

"Ahhh.", Said the man, Adam smiled while looking at them.

"You can go now guard, I actually missed these youngsters.", Said Adam while smiling, the two arrivals smiled happily after hearing this, the guard calmly closed the door leaving Adam with them.