Chapter 14
Once the caverns had been made livable we began to train relentlessly leading up to our first mission. Which was 6 months after I had selected them to join my squad. We had been tasked with greeting and protecting guests from Druiga. Druiga is the hidden continent on our planet. The reason we were put on protection detail is that all the people of Sharnem despise outlanders. We were initially reluctant to take the mission because of the fact that we were protecting outlanders. When I went to Draco to question why we were put on protection detail. We had a relatively deep conversation about my reservations and why he is allowing outlanders into the country. If I remember right the conversation started with me bursting into his quarters in Fallen Star Keep.
"Why in the hell are you ordering my squad to protect some outlanders?" I yelled in a demanding tone.
"Because I am unwilling to allow another squad to take this mission" Draco explained to me in a much calmer tone than I had used initially.
"I understand but why are you allowing outlanders into Sharnem" I questioned in a calmer tone.
"The reason I flattened the mountain and built this keep was to allow the people of Sharnem to interact with the mountain spirits. I am allowing foreigners into the country so that the people of Sharnem can spread their knowledge and experience with other nations. Also I carefully chose which country the outlanders would be from. Which is why I chose to invite the Crown Prince, His wife, His brother and His brother's team which has 3 other people and a shapeshifter created by a magical outburst." Draco told me in the hopes of answering my question.
"Why did you choose to invite them and not the king of Druiga?" I asked after I finished wrapping my mind around a shapeshifter created by a magic outburst and not a spirit.
"First the king of Druiga recommended them, Second the brother of the crown prince and one of his team members are apparently abnormally strong, Third the country of Druiga is also isolated like Sharnem" Draco explained.
After that conversation, it was around a month before the guests from Druiga arrived. That was when we met Ulellinn The Crown Prince, Gwendolin The Princess, Soaryn The Brother, Aerd The Reaper, Raethien the Assassin, Zaenia The Child Sorceress, Satyros The Shapeshifter. Soaryn and Aerd are the strongest of the group. Those two were not branded by a dragon but they were able to go toe to toe with Sten. From what I say they were the best of friends and trusted each other completely. The main thing that bothered me was the fact that Aerd had an artificial arm that radiated magic. The other thing was that when Soaryn and Sten were sparring one on one it seemed like Soaryn was holding back. After the sparring match that Sten ultimately won I questioned Soaryn as why he was holding back. His response was that his body wasn't strong enough to handle going all out for more than a minute and that if he had gone all out he would of killed Sten. So during their visit we showed them around Fallen Star Keep, Ulentor Fort, and The Meadows of Light. They stayed with us at all times and as such they slept in the caverns with us nearby. During this mission I noticed that Zelphar was acting strange, but I chalked it up to his incredibly strange personality. Shortly after we had returned from the Meadows of Light Soaryn wanted to know if there were any uninhabited areas where he could train.