Chapter 6

"General Vulen! There has been a sighting of the crown prince in Silvervane's Forest just outside their town. He seems to be traveling on a merchant cart towards the next town. Should we proceed as planned, sir?" A young elf warrior bowed to Vulen as he spoke.

General Vulen looked to be in his thirties, but he was really well past a hundred in years, and well respected by the warriors under him. The elf army had been fighting along side the Kingdom of Ethiadan for centuries in secrecy, but most of the Kingdoms around knew that they were really working in the shadows. The elves were always crafty to cover their tracks so it was hard to find proof of their work behind the scenes, but many had caught on and kept silent in fear that they would get dragged down from the trouble of speaking up about the situations the elves were involved in.

"He's simply on his own?" Vulen pondered over how to make his next move. He had brought a small group of warriors into the Kingdom of Cadirade to work from the shadows as he had repeatedly throughout history. He had rarely ever come to know defeat when he sought out to achieve a goal.

"Yes, sir!" The young elf nodded.

"Things may be simpler this way since he left Silvervane we can use this opportunity to our advantage while there aren't many around. A simple merchant ain't going to be able to do anything."

"How do you wish to proceed, sir?"

"Elas, take a couple men with you and tail the crown prince. When you get the chance I expect you to take it. I will take the rest of the men to Silvervane to complete our mission we came for. I expect you to know what to do without me spelling everything out for you."

Vulen's glare at Elas was enough to make his body shudder as he slowly bowed and backed away from the general. He couldn't find the words to respond as his voice was caught in his throat so he could only manage a simple nod before turning to dash towards the other elves.

"Aywin! Allisa! You two are coming with me to go after the crown prince, Leo!" Elas shouted at a warrior, Aywin, and a female archer, Allisa. The three of them quickly disappeared into the forest towards the direction of Leo.

"Looks like we will have the crown prince's head to display to his majesty personally." Vulen laughed as he watched the three leave.

Vulen slowly pulled out a magic crystal from his storage bracelet and pushed his mana into it. He could feel a heat burning into his hand from the crystal as he gazed into it. The image of Silvervane slowly appeared within it.

"Your majesty, my queen, Lyra." He spoke softly at the crystal as he imagined how proud his queen would be of him if he brought back the head of the crown prince for her. He could not help but smile at the idea of it.

Vulen was deeply loyal to his queen. He had grown up along side of her, but his emotions towards her queen was something that was forbidden and so his loyalty to her was something that was heavy. He would topple any Kingdom for her that she would ask him to. To him he did not care how many souls he had to purge from the world for her if it meant even a sliver of praise from the queen herself.

That was the soul reason for him accepting the mission he was on with his men. They were all loyal to follow him in any time of need, but little did his own warriors know that his own loyalty to the queen Lyra held deeper meaning to him then even his own army. If the queen asked him to he was the sort to be willing to drop even his own pride and slaughter his own men at the drop of a hat. His heart was filled with a darkness that was not easy to let go of.

Was it obsession or was it love? To Vulen it may very well be both for him. Lyra was a queen who was smart, however, and she knew how loyal Vulen was to her. Often his missions were simply her taking advantage of his feelings towards her and most assumed he had no idea about it, so he often found himself being asked why he accepted such dirty missions under the table from the queen, but he would always laugh them off.

"Queen Lyra is my everything!" Would always be his response when others would try to convince him that he was just a tool to her. He knew it in his heart too that the queen was often using him simply because of how he would drop everything and anything for her, but he could not shake how deeply he felt for her. There would never come a day when he could be anything more then her loyal General, but as long as he felt he could be by her side then to him that was simply enough.

"Ready yourselves men! It's time to head to Silvervane!" Vulen shouted at his men as he stuffed the crystal back into his bracelet after making sure their path was clear to head out.

His hand tightly gripped his sword as he stared off into the distance towards Silvervane. His mission was a simple one in his mind. His mind was made up to follow the queen no matter where the path would lead him. It was just a small and simple town, but it would strike the beginning of many struggles to come for the Kingdom of Cadirade. Tonight would be the night that Silvervane would perish from Vulen's Massacre. Many lives would perish without any warning.

Little did Crown Prince Leo and Vorbuk know that the merchant cart they were traveling on had just escaped a blood bath. The night was silent, but in mere hours the air itself would become heavy with hundreds of deaths as Silvervane's town was wiped from the kingdom of Cadirade by the elves working for the Kingdom of Ethiadan. Many lives would fall to the hands of Vulen. The few that escaped the massacre would run to the neighboring towns and cities for help and shelter, but nobody would make it to Silvervane in time.

That night Silvervane had fallen under the cover of night to the hands of Vulen. That night he had earned a name amongst the kingdom of Cadirade, The Silent Butcher.