Chapter 12: The Way of Welcoming A Guest

"Take this to my king." Varius handed a scrolled letter to a soldier. "We will take a little detour and meet the rebel tribal chiefs. The king wants them to submit to him," he said when the soldier galloped away.

Varius moved into the dense jungle with his soldiers when a tree suddenly fell and blocked his way. They had to halt their horses forcefully. "Stop! There is a blockade!" a soldier shouted.

Suddenly, a woman wearing a wooden crown appeared on her horse with a bow in her hand, loaded with an arrow. It was Dyna. The tribal soldiers under her command surrounded them before they could respond.

Varius recognized her. "So it is you, thief woman. So brave of you to block my way." He noticed the crown she was wearing. "I guess I have some luck today. That crown belongs to my king."

"And your heart belongs to my arrow," Dyna said, and shot the arrow.

Varius tried to evade and even almost managed it. The arrow just grazed his arm. "Ah."

He jumped down from his horse. His soldiers too did the same before they all pulled out their swords.

"Protect Sir Varius!" a soldier cried, resulting in the soldiers surround him and make a human shield to protect him.

Dyna and her soldiers shot a barrage of arrows at them. A few of the enemies died by their hands, but the enemies were able to hold their ground. But they knew they could not for longer. Varius waited for their arrows to finish. One by one, his men were dying.

"Do not let your guard down!" he cried to his soldiers. As soon as the arrows stopped, he cried again. "To the offense!"

Both the parties clashed. Varius showed his abilities as a warrior and cut his enemies. But he did not have the numbers. His soldiers were dying one by one. The tribal warriors finally managed to kill everyone except him.

Varius swung his sword around as they had surrounded him. "I will not go down before taking some of you with me," he announced. Suddenly, an arrow hit him near his shoulder. "Ah." he winced in pain.

"I had kept an eye on you for a while," Dyna said. "I can kill you if I want, but I have some use of you."

Varius had let his guard down. A man suddenly hit him in the head from behind. He dropped to the ground and passed out.

***

Someone rode horses crossing the jungles like wind. It was Prince Colt, Kyte, and others, who headed for the hidden camps of Prince Rozerd. The horse they rode belonged to the enemies they had killed earlier. Soon enough, they could see the camps from a distance.

"We are here," Kyte said and slowed down his horse. Everybody did the same.

"Is my brother here?" Colt asked.

"Yes, and he is waiting for you," Kyte responded.

Colt could not be happier than this moment. Since he had arrived from his diplomatic mission, he had only faced hardships, and he knew there were even harder days to come. He was a bit relieved that there was someone with him in these times.

They slowly reached the wooden entrance where a soldier tried to stop them, but as soon as he saw the stranger was Prince Colt, he let them pass after bowing.

"My prince, it must be hard to meet your one brother and form an alliance against the third," Kyte said.

"It is, Kyte," Colt responded. "But it seems our fate takes us this way." He jumped down from his horse and looked at Kyte. "I do not care now. I will face whatever comes my way."

"I am sure you will, my prince." Kyte bowed. "I will take you to Prince Rozerd. This way."

A soldier came and took their horses away. They both walked through the camps. Prince Colt observed men preparing for war. Some of them sparred, some readied their weapons, some kept watch.

"Wow, things look tight here," he reacted.

"Yeah, it is just a matter of time before they find us," Kyte said. "We have to be ready at all times."

"Yeah."

They stopped outside a camp.

"I will tell the prince about you." Kyte stepped in and, after a few seconds, he walked out. "You can enter now, my prince."

Colt did not waste a second and hurried inside. "Huh?" He was surprised, as he found no one inside. He moved his eyes around, but could trace no one. He suddenly sensed some movement behind his back and hopped away instinctively.

"As fast as always." It was Rozerd who tested his brother by doing a surprise attack. He had swung his sword from behind. "Let us see if you still possess those monstrous skills."

Colt smirked. "That was some way to welcome your guest, brother." He pulled out his sword. "I gladly accept your welcome."

"Warriors greet each other with swords only." Rozerd swung his sword again, but Colt blocked it this time. They exchanged some attacks, and it went stalemate for a while.

Kyte could hear them fighting from outside. He had a smile on his face. "We have got some lively atmosphere after a while."

Colt and Rozerd contested their strength and pushed their swords against each other. Colt pushed aside his brother's sword and elbowed him in the face. When Rozerd was pushed a few steps because of the blow, Colt side-kicked his chest. He applied the appropriate strength to not hurt his brother.

"You are still my strong brother," Rozerd said and threw the metallic wine-glass at Colt when he got a hold of it.

The youngest prince evaded it, but it created an opening for Rozerd.

Rozerd swung his sword again, but Colt blocked and hit it away. The speed of the counter was so overwhelming that the sword flew away from the hands of Rozerd, letting Colt place his blade calmly on his neck.

"You still lose against me in a fair fight, brother," Colt said.

"Are you sure?"

Colt realized there was something wrong. He looked down and saw a dagger in his brother's hand, just near his abdomen. He smiled and put his sword away. "You have learnt some tricks while I was away. Impressive," he said, and sheathed his sword.

Rozerd took his sword as well. "I have never felt such joy when meeting you."

They hugged each other.

"Yeah," Colt responded. His face turned sad after he took a pause. "After what brother Hammer did, you are only one I could have come to."

"And now you are here," Rozerd said.

***

"Wake up!" Dyna splashed water on Varius, who was tied to a wooden pole.

It awakened him with a shock. He found himself bounded and saw Dyna and the tribal men around him. He also saw a familiar old man with them. It was Gilbert. "So, you are alive," he said.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Gilbert replied sarcastically.

Dyna was glaring at Varius and tried her best to not kill him at the moment. She said to him, "If you do not want me to do the same what you did to my father, just answer my questions."