Chapter 1

Hiding in his father's closet,Hogan saw a tall elegant man walk into his father's chambers.

His long iron grey hair swayed gracefully in the wind.Judging by the long silk robes,decorated with ermine, he was putting on, Hogan figured out he too was a member of the Council Of Mages,a group of witches and wizards who advised the king.

Thorg, Hogan's father was seated at his study, reading through a few scrolls. He was the head of the Council Of Mages which made him the Guardian of Asquith.Thorg had long hazel hair tied in a bunch on his head. He wasn't too hefty a man but quite big.He was clad in his armour,his sword in a sheath, leaning against his table.

The Elder walked around the chambers examining every single bit of it, lust written on his face.From the large bed to the rugs,then the golden coated windows,mirrors then to the velvet robes that donned a few mannequins, standing beside the gigantic closet in which Hogan was hiding.

"What brings you hear???" Thorg finally spoke his voice calm and firm, breaking the eerie silence that enveloped the room a few moments ago. He kept his gaze in the scrolls.

"Forgive me for coming unannounced,my lord!!" the Elder spoke in a mocking tone,examining a few books on the shelf.

"Get straight to the point, Galdon!!" Thorg demanded, looking at the Elder,Galdon his name, from a corner of his eye.

Galdon walked around the room gracefully.

Suddenly,Hogan saw something shuffle behind the grand curtains of his father's bed. It looked more like a person cringing in fright, or tension,it seemed.The figure slowly and carefully squatted down and slipped underneath the bed.

"I'm here to offer you a deal!!" Galdon said, sitting on a chair beside Thorg.

"What deal??" Thorg asked,plainly.

Galdon shoved into his pockets and pulled out a dagger. Thorg remained put, completely unmoved by Galdon's actions.

Galdon pointed the dagger at Thorg's throat,earning himself a gasp from Hogan. Galdon turned around like he'd been shocked by lightning, his eyes narrowed on the closet in which Hogan was hiding.

"Who is in there??" he asked standing up and walking over to the closet.

Hogan held his mouth shut to avoid screaming.

Galdon examined the closet carefully,barely noticing Hogan,who was squeezed into a ball of red cloth in a corner.After what seemed like forever but had only been seconds of examining the closet, Galdon walked away from the closet, giving Hogan a chance to grab his breath again.

Hogan saw the figure beneath his father's bed shuffle, nervously.

"I think you've got what you've been looking for, nothing!!" Thorg said.

"Now where were we??" Galdon asked.

"You know better!!I don't really like to memorise any business with you!!" Thorg said,calm and firm.

"Oh!!I see!!" Galdon said, brushing his fingers on the dagger.

He walked over to Thorg's side and grabbed him in a headlock, placing the dagger on his throat.

Hogan gasped, fear engulfing him as he watched Galdon menacingly trail the dagger across Thorg's face.

"Give me the Black Ruby or else I'll kill you!!" Galdon snarled,baring his pearl white teeth.

"You should have practiced before you came to ask anything from me because I'm not giving you a single hint about that stone even though it meant losing my life!!" Thorg said,as calm as ever.

"Alright then!!"We'll meet in Hell!!" Galdon said, planting his dagger in Thorg's throat.

"Nooo!!!" Hogan screamed, jumping out of the closet.

His father, the only person he had left in his life,after his mother died giving birth to him, collapsed, in a pile of armour, on the marble floor, blood gushing out of his throat.

"Father!!Father!!"Hogan cried,kneeling beside his father, tears welling up in his eyes.

Galdon stood a distance off, wiping blood from his dagger, grinning maliciously.

"Father!!Father!!Are you okay?We need to get you some help."Hogan cried, shaking his father.

Thorg just lay there, a lifeless being.

"Nooo!!! Please, father don't leave me?!Father!!Please!!" Hogan cried, tears running down his cheeks like two small rivers.

Angrily, Hogan grabbed his father's sword and pulled it out of the sheath, its silver blade gleaming faintly in the bright sun. Its golden hilt was moulded to look like a ram's head and horns curved downwards

"You wench!!" Hogan screamed, lunging for Galdon, swinging the blade and aiming for Galdon's head.

Galdon kicked Hogan sending him across the room.

"Run little boy!!Run!!You killed your father!!You should run!!" Galdon cried.

Frightened and helpless, Hogan turned and ran, crying as he went. He didn't stop until he was far away from the palace, far away from his father's death, far away from the terror that he had just seen and far away from that murderer.