Chapter 14
Knock knock
"Who's there?"
"Sir, we have a letter from an anonymous group."
"Come in," Jade, the Jotunheim's commander, the carrier of the red flag, said to the worker.
The soldier walked in, and saluted him.
"Go on," Jade said.
"The letter is for the King,"
"Read it to me, the King instructed that I handle everything for now, he wants to be alone."
"Alright Sir," the soldier responded, as he brought the scroll out and handed it over to him.
"A falcon, from the nearby woods dropped this message at our entrance. We could tell the sender was nearby, but we couldn't find any trace of him after it was delivered." he added
"I see," Jade responded, as he opened the message. "Hmm, it seems the Prince was snatched out of the hands of Nether. That's good news. At least he's alive." Jade said, while the soldier nodded his head.
"However, they are demanding to meet with the King. And alone at that."
"What should we do Sir?"
"We'll give them what they want. Ready a chariot for the King's journey. It's quite an odd location they have here."
At Jason's end, multiple armed men were stationed at the meeting point. All were camouflaged, fully armored, and graced with weapons. They were ready for war.
"The men are set," Aaron said.
"How many men?" Jason asked.
"We have about 70 plus men in total, 50 of them are stationed on the meeting site."
"We've really lost our men…due to these multiple battles we've been fighting. We've got to make this one count." Jason responded.
"We will. I'm just glad we've gotten a more secure base. I'm almost certain that that's the most secure location available."
"Yeah, behind that swamp is the best place we could find." Jason said, "But Aaron, do you think this is all worth it? Is putting all these lives at risk really worth it?" He asked.
"Brother, who knows? No one knows the future, not even the dead. All we can do is to just keep moving. That's the only thing. Trying to take over this nightmare and make it peaceful is the most noble thing anyone here could ever think of. We're doing it so people can find rest, right?"
"Yes," Jason replied.
"If you had remained in Jotunheim you would be a part of top ranking warrior by now, but you hid your gifts from the commander, and kept acting like a normal soldier until you couldn't take it anymore. You left to bring an end to this madness, and even though everyone says Walter is the key to stopping Will, I believe you are the only one who can wield that key. I swear to you brother, I will keep fighting by your side till my last breath. You must rule Nether, no matter the cost."
"Thank you for standing beside me, soldier. I am honored to have you by my side.
"Let me return to my position. He is going to arrive any moment now."
"Alright then," he said, as he slowly became invisible.
About an hour later, a chariot with a heavily decorated horse galloping towards the location announcing his arrival before abruptly coming to a stop.
There was total silence and nothing happened until a tall, haggered old man slowly came out of the chariot.
He had no armor nor weapons, but from his confidence, the camouflaged warriors could tell he was their expected visitor. He walked some distance from the horse, looking around for signs of life. It was totally quiet.
"You can come out now, as you can see, I'm alone and I know you're there. I feel your presence," he stated.
"I'm right here." Jason replied in a stern manner, but still wasn't visible. "Step a little further from your chariot."
"If you aren't scared then you'll at least show me what you look like."
"My invitation, my rules. Walter, your son, is with me. He is alive and healthy. Whether it would remain that way is totally in your hands." Jason said.
"All I want to see is your face, Jason." The man responded.
Something's wrong, Jason thought, how did he know my name?
"Old man, that's not why I called you here." Jason said, "The attacks on all villages, Nether inclusive, must be halted. My men also have plans to strike a deal with Nether. Everything is in motion, and we have made progress. We came to you first because you have been the aggressor all this time. Stop all rampage for a month, and your son will be returned to you after."
"Nicely said, but just show me your face." He responded, pointing his finger to where Jason was standing. "You have gained yourself some recognition. Your name has spread all through the villages about all your heroics, but let me make this clear to you. Jotunheim does not believe in your techniques. We are never going to make peace with Nether."
"What are your reasons?"
"If you wanted to know, you would have remained in Jotunheim."
"Jade is no less of a tyrant. He never shared information nor did he inform you of our requests to you. All along it was you I wanted to ask, not him. In all my time with him, I never saw your face once. You never left your room once. "
"Jason, the White Knight, that's why I am here. I want to see you for myself, child… you ask deep questions, but you station 50 plus other cowards, hiding their locations, just as you have hidden yours. Is this how you bring up your army?"
The rumors are true, this has unbelievable power, he has already deciphered our tactics, Jason thought to himself.
"Lord Will, in all your time here, you have not even asked about your son once. Perhaps, the rumors of him being your beloved are all false."
"Oh, Jason, I am sure Walter is safe behind that swamp where you have him."
A piercing cold went up Walter's feet on hearing those words leaving him speechless for the moment. The composure of his soldiers was also stirred.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Jade already has Walter with him, so I'm not bothered." The old man said.
" I'm sorry then, I can't let you live." Jason responded, and in the blink of an eye, a knife went through his neck before he even finished the sentence. It happened so fast that he didn't have any time to react to it. Blood pooled out of his neck, throat and eyes, but he was still standing while Jason's soldiers uncovered themselves and surrounded him, arrows arched at him from the trees and on the ground.
"It's still a win if you die on the spot, old man," Jason added as he made himself visible. His two hands still thrusting the knife deeper into the King's throat, "You've caused enough trouble, rest now."
"The rumors were right, you really are one of the most powerful warriors to ever step into the underworld. I didn't even sense the attack coming. I wonder how you lost to Nariah." He said, barely being able to coordinate his sentences as fluently as before,
"However, what the rumors didn't include was how young, and naive you are. You really thought holding the King's son hostage would bring Will out here all alone? No one except Jade has seen the King since the war began, and no one has ever survived being on his bad side. Even the mighty Nether is crumbling already. You have no idea of what you've put yourself into by killing one of his trusted soldiers. You're going to suff–"
Jason thrusted another knife into his neck, shutting him.
"We need to hurry back, this man
was just a decoy!" He yelled "We need to hurry!" turning away from the body and ran towards his horse, "Aaron, meet me, let's go! A few men should clean up the mess, the rest of you, let's hurry back, our men are in dang–"
A deafening explosion with an unparalleled shockwave reverberating through the whole forest disrupted his speech while deafening his soldiers' ears. The bomb implanted into the old man detonated at his last breath. The bomb cleared everything with a range of about 50 meters. The once sturdy forest with nice vegetation was left in shreds as a very dark smoke bellowed the crimson sky.