Chapter 4: What is that?!

" I don't believe she gave me anyway to contact her. This is a bit troubling." Martin was completely stumped. He had no way to contact Aella so how would he be able to ask for any guidance. " Let's see, I could try praying, however she herself admitted to not being an actual god so that probably won't work. Wait, didn't she say that she is the guardian of this world? she should be keeping an eye on me even now." Before Martin could think about the matter any further a knock came from the door.

"Please come in." Martin said as he walked to the door. Standing outside the door was a young women. She wore what seemed to be the clothes of a nun. Martin was a little confused as the last person he expected to find in this castle was a nun. He quickly searched through the previous Martin's memories and found that she was indeed a sister from the local church and was one of the new healers hired by the baron. "You must be the healer my brother called for. Come in." Martin gestured for the girl to come into his room.

"Thank you." The girl said rather nervously.

'Hehe. Either this is her first time healing someone or her first time in a man's room. She seem's to be around the same age as this bod... as me. I should probably get used to referring to this body as my own.' Martin thought for a moment then smiled at the girl. "Would you like me to call for a third person. I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable." He truly didn't like seeing this girl look so nervous. 'She reminds of when Claire was younger. There were times when she would refuse to leave my side.' Martin smiled to himself as he thought back to his beloved daughter.

The nun blushed and quickly shook her head. "My apologies my lord. It's my first time being alone with a man. Please forgive my immaturity." The girl quickly apologized and bowed her head.

"Don't worry over something trivial like that. What's your name young lady?" Martin asked.

"Cynthia, my lord." Cynthia replied with a confused expression. 'Young lady? He doesn't seem to be any older than me.'

"Well Cynthia the faster we get this over with the quicker you can be on your way. We wouldn't want any weird rumors floating around now would we?" Martin chuckled to himself at the mere thought of being with someone so young. 'Even though I am technically around the same age as her now, mentally, I'm old enough to be her grandfather. That just feels so wrong.'

"Of course not my lord! I would never-"

*RAAAAAAWWWWEEEEEERRRRRR*

A deafening roar shook the floor beneath their feet. Martin and Cynthia were caught by surprise by the horrifying sound and immediately covered their ears. Cynthia's eyes opened wide in shock from the roar and her body began to visibly tremble. Both of them were paralyzed for a few minutes. Maids could be heard screaming from the halls and the heavy footsteps of the fully armed guards could be heard as they ran through the castle. Martin recovered from his initial shock and ran to Cynthia who had fallen to her knees.

"Are you alright?" asked Martin.

"I... I think so. Wha... What was that terrible sound?" Cynthia trembled as she forced herself to speak.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Sounded not too far from the castle." Martin paused and thought for a moment. "I'm going to go and ask around, see if what I can find out. You stay here where you're safe. If anyone tries to move you tell them to speak with me." Before Cynthia could even reply, Martin was already out the door running down the hallway with a strange smile on his face. "This should be exciting. I hope its something good."

Many of the servants seemed to be in a panicked state so didn't even bother with them. As Martin was heading towards the door he ran into the guard named Darius. "Young Master Martin? Your father was asking for you earlier. He's already at the front gate."

"Darius do you know what that roar was earlier? The entire castle is in a panic." Martin asked while trying to mask his excitement.

"According to the baron, the Forest Lord is fighting against a strong opponent. Your father wants all troops at the ready. There could be a chance he wants to finish off the victor. Anyway he wished to see you as soon as possible."

"Thank you Darius. I'll go see him right away." Martin left Darius and ran to the front gate on the outer wall. Guards were moving here and there trying to get to their posts but what surprised Martin was that each guard showed very little fear unlike the servants in the castle.

As Martin approached the front gate he spotted a man on a massive war horse unlike any he's ever seen. The beast was nearly three meters tall with a beautiful black mane. However, the most striking feature of this horse, was its eight powerful legs. This was a mount any man would be proud to ride into battle. The man on top of this amazing creature was none other than the baron himself. Fully clad in steel plate armor with a shield on his back and a massive calvary sword on his side.

The baron himself was built like a mountain. Broad shoulders, thick arms, and a massive chest. 'If someone told that he fought dragons with his bear hands, I'd probably believe it.' Martin looked at the man who was now his father and could barely hold his excitement. 'This is what a knight should look like. If it wasn`t for the grey hair coming out of his helmet you'd think he was still an elite soldier in the army.' Just as was thinking of all these things the baron turned his head and caught sight of him.

"Martin! Come here my son! Today is your lucky day my boy. You are finally going to see your old man in action! Haha!" Despite the serious tension felt in the castle, the baron was obviously in a very good mood. According to Martin's memories the old lord hasn't been able to defeat the lord of the forest for the past two decades. It was really a sore spot in the old man's pride. Now might be his last chance to settle the score with the monster. "Mark my words boy. That overgrown lizard is going to meet its maker today, I can feel it. Now, Martin, I you have gone hunting with your brothers before. Today being a testament to that. This, however, is completely different. There is a reason this beast has been lord of this forest for so long. It isn't a threat level seven for nothing." The baron looked at Martin seriously. "Remember, no one will be able to protect you out there. You are responsible for your own life. Now then, someone get this man a horse, some weapons, and good armor!"

In a few minutes a normal horse was brought out with a spear, bow and arrows, and a set of armor. Martin was delighted at the sight of the weapons and armor as he thought that they looked pretty good. It took a few minutes for the servants to help Martin put on the armor. Then he tested the bow a bit, drawing it a few times to test its draw weight. Finally he picked up the spear and thrust it a couple of times. When he was done he quickly got on his horse and rode next to the baron. The baron looked at Martin with a face of approval before signaling for the group to start moving. "Let's go men! Let's show this beast who the real monsters are!" There were twenty men in total, each on horse back. Soon everyone was moving at a trot threw the forest.

"Where's Andrew and Liam." Martin asked as he didn't see his brothers among the men.

"I sent them ahead along with a few men, to scout out the situation. Liam had already sent word through his messenger hawk not long before. Two mud trolls seemed to have moved in not long ago and are now challenging the lord of the forest. Alone, one mud troll wouldn't stand a chance against the lord, but together? They can put up quite a fight. I doubt the lord will lose though. The beast was able to fight me off, there is no way it will lose to a couple of trolls." the baron said with a satisfied expression.

'This lord of the forest sounds quite strong. If my memories are correct, the lord is something called an elder drake or drakon. Supposedly, it is a close cousin to the famous dragon. Sounds impressive. Can't wait to get a good look myself.' Off the party went to see this clash of titans.