The trackers

The men of the night watch at the city of Pakresia spotted two men racing towards the city gate. They could not tell who they were in the dark of the night but they could tell they were bearing bad news.

The men stopped at the gate, panting heavily and signaled for the gates to be opened. The night watchers were alarmed and inquisitive about who they were and what they were doing in the city gate late at night.

"That's Garrod's men." One of the guards shouted and the steel gates were swung opened. They let the men in and after they gave the men some water to quench their thirst they asked the obvious question.

"What happened to the rest of the men and the gold shipment?"

The men gasped for air and replied in a breathy voice…

"Garrod is dead and so is the rest of the men."

"And they took all the gold."

The night watchers were taken aback by the report. Their horrified faces in the flickering torch lights told on them.

"Take this men to the prefect." Dave commanded two of his men and they went to the prefect's castle.

A while later the prefect of Pakresia, who was about to go to sleep, came to meet them. He was wearing unbuttoned ropes of fine linen and his huge tummy was in the open. I don't think he could button the rope, looking at the size of his tummy, perhaps that is why he preferred them unbuttoned. He had long auburn hair, mean aqua marine eyes and a mustache. Fat was an understatement. He was obese. But I guess that happens when you deal with gold. It is oily right?

"What brings you here late at night?" He asked curiously.

"Forgive us my lord for coming this late at night bearing bad news."

They replied in faltered voices, bowing with their heads touching the ground.

"What is it?" He snapped.

"The-the gold my lord."

"They-they killed your servant Garrod, the rest of our men and-and they stole the gold." The men stammered in jittery.

"They whaaaat?" Lori flared in rage.

Garrod must have meant a lot to him judging by how loud and furious he sounded and also the grieving expression on his face..

"They stole all the gold??" He bawled with wide open nose and a furrowed brow.

My bad, Lori doesn't care about anyone not even Garrod. He is mad that they lost the gold not the men. He could send a thousand more to their death to retrieve the gold. He was a temperamental man but somehow his hot temper could not burn the fats stored inside his body.

"Guards!" He yelled.

"Take this men to the dungeons."

"We will execute them tomorrow."

The guards quickly chained the two poor men and took them to the dark dungeons of the Rein Castle. They have went through a lot in just a week than they have their entire lives. They were traumatized by losing their whole squad and now they faced execution. Perhaps it could have been better if they stole the gold that littered the Bearis road and went as far as the earth could take them. They thought about it when it was just the two of them and the gold but they were hopeful Garrod was going to kill Amaros.

Lori summoned the three generals, Julian, Draco and Fredis.

Julian was the last to arrive and the late night meeting commenced.

Julian was a well toned man with short auburn hair, close set coal black eyes and a clean shaved beard.

Draco was built with silver eyes, a hooked nose, a goatee and a ponytail.

Fredis had wide set dark brown eyes, a man bun and a chin strap.

They were the three generals of the armies of Pakresia. They were great warriors and Fredis had a quite a legacy. Unlike the other two, he was born a peasant at Peruvia, a village south of Onis. After the war, his family moved east to the new settlements of Onisia in the Abalon region looking for greener pastures. They settled at Buram, a small village south of Pakresia. He became a fearsome fighter and before long he climbed through the ranks until he was appointed one of the three generals, the first low born general in Onisian military history.

"I brought you here because the gold is stolen." Lori said in a rather calm voice.

The three generals were stunned and flabbergasted, all in disbelief.

"If only you followed my instructions Julian and guarded the shipment yourself, we wouldn't be here."

"This is your mess."

"Fix it before Yorilis hears of this."

The Prefect of Pakresia, like all the other town and village prefects in the Abalon region reports to Yorilis who is based at Masia. Another city in the region of Abalon, south west of Pakresia. The whole occupied region is called District Masia.

The capital of the Onisian empire is Memphis where the king rules from. Before the war Onis was the capital.

"This is a declaration of war." Julian said sharply.

"They long declared war." Said Draco hoarsely.

"They burned Purli and prior to that they have been systematically killing our people."

"We should crush this rebellion before it gains momentum." Fredis said clenching his teeth.

"We have underestimated them and now we are paying the price for it."

"They only exist because of our mercy and now they repay us by stealing our gold." Draco added in hostility.

"They even have the audacity to come here and steal a valuable book." Lori said repulsively.

"They have been a thorn at our side for long. We have to burn their villages and roll their mountains on their roofs."

For once this men were agreeing on one thing and one thing only. To kill the Abalonians.

"Is Garrod dead?" Julian asked.

"I hear he is dead." Lori responded flatly

"There are men at the dungeons."

"You might want to talk to them before I execute them in the morning." He added.

"You are excused."

The three generals left the presence of the prefect and went to rein castle. They made their way inside and went down to the underground dungeons holding torches. It was pitch dark that even a ghost would not want to dwell there. To the two men, the bleak darkness was preparing them for where they will go tomorrow morning after they were executed.

They saw the flickering lights from a distance and a loud voice resonated the dungeon.

"Where are Garrod's men."

The two horrified men kept silent as a stone.

'Have they come to execute us before dawn?' They thought to themselves dreadfully.

"Where are Garrod's men." The agitated voice shouted raucously.

"Here my lord." They said in hushed voices.

Draco shuffled towards the sounds of their disembodied voices and unlocked the dungeon steel cells and they led the man to the first floor of the castle where they interrogated them. The two men told them everything that happened, not leaving out a single thing including the events that led to Garrod's death.

"When we went back, Amaros was wielding Garrod's hatchet axes and his body was laying motionless on the ground." One of the men said.

"So this Amaros guy took out Garrod?"

"He must be pretty strong." Julian said.

"We are dealing with insanely powerful people." said Fredis.

"We must muster an army at once." Draco added.

As they were talking, a guard came to the rein castle and informed them about four more men who had just returned. It was Ronnis and his comrades. They too told their story of a giant of a man who made them hide in the forest. Well they left that part out. They only said they retreated. Ronnis informed them also about the magic tracking dolls.

They came to a conclusion that there were most likely three of them, Amaros, The giant and the animal control magic user.

The following day they put out a dead or alive bounty for Nathan at 200 gold coins, Leo at 250 coins and Amaros at a staggering 1000 gold coins. The bounty also included that whoever helps recover the gold will be made a noble and exempted from taxes.

The news of the stolen gold spread like wild fire in the region and Amaros became an overnight sensation and an overnight rich man.

Julian talked Lori into sparing Garrod's men pointing out that they would be needed to fight the war and he reluctantly agreed.

The three generals summoned a meeting with military officials. Those invited were 15 lieutenants and 12 druids. They were thirty all together.

The Pakresian army boasted an army of 20 000 warriors. 15 000 were active and 5 000 were reserves. Each general was commanding 5 000 men of the 15 000 active men. The 15 lieutenants were all in charge of a thousand warriors and the Druids and centurions were in charge of 100 warriors.

Solis, the Druid was selected to lead a tracking squad and Enzo, one of the lieutenants was selected to lead the support squad. Frisia, a Druid was also part of the group. Dronn the scent magical tracker, Elio the print tracker and Bayden who possessed the night X-ray vision were also among the trackers.

Enzo hand picked fourteen warriors from his 1000 men and they left Pakresia for Aciri where the heist took place.

From there they followed the trail of the doll for 4 days until they reached the boarder of Abalon. They rested and spent the night there, all wondering what tomorrow held for them. At the back of their minds they knew it only held trouble, nonetheless they were hopeful that they would come back in one piece. But one piece is something that most people search oceans for and never find.

The next morning dawned crisp and sunny and they continued their doomed journey into Abalonian territory. No sooner had they walked in their territory that Uriel, the first sword, caught their presence. They had been on high alert since the discoveries of the dolls and they stationed the quad mages in all the three villages that stood between Yoshino and the Onisians.

At Nara they stationed Magnus, Masa, Benjiro, Agatha, Christos, Harris amd loannis. The village was surrounded by mountains so they stationed less warriors there.

At Matsushima they assigned Uriel, Nathan, April, Lucia and Ethan. The five of the seven swords of Yoshino were stationed there because of its strategic location. It is at the heart of Abalon. North of Nara, south of Hokane and west of Yoshino. It will be quick for them to offer support to any of the villages.

At Hokane they stationed Atlas, Refilwe, Midori, Dara, Arthur, Lelato, Silas, Efren, Reneilwe and Aurora. The rest of the quad mages were at Yoshino. Joel and Amaros where at the mountain cabin training.

Uriel had been trying to elude a number of girls who all wanted a piece of him when he sensed the druids magic. The tracking party broke through their territory at the north west region near the destroyed village of Purli, the side of Hokane but Uriel sensed them when he was at Matsushima, a village 70km south of Hokane before those stationed at Hokane sensed them.

He found an excuse and told the girls that he had to leave. When he was a distance away from the girls he leapt into the air and an orange lightning flashed as he disappeared into thin air. A moment later he re-appeared 130 km away from Matsushima in the forest of Hokane.

Unsurprisingly there was someone who was on to the Onisians before he felt their presence. There were crows and ravens high in the sky, watching their every move. Nothing goes unnoticed by Leo. He is the complete spy mage this world has ever seen. Well at least according to him.

"Ever since we entered this territory, my senses have been dull." Dronn said.

"Me too, there is something, a spell of some kind interfering with my magic." Enzo responded.

"I thought I was the only one feeling this weird sensation." Solis added

"I started feeling contrary magic when we approached the border and it's getting more intense the more we go deep into Abalon.

Uriel was listening to them talking about Refilwes large scale spell. He stalked the intruders silently without making any sound. The druid's magic was unlike any he ever felt and there was no way he could put it into words.

A while later Nathan, April, Lucia and Ethan landed near him.

Nathan felt the presence of the tracking party when he was fixing an old desolate woman's door hinges. He then strode to April and Lucia who were about to break fast. He could've dashed but he did not want to alarm anyone.

"Where is Uriel." He asked.

"I last saw him about an hour ago." April replied.

"He must be somewhere around here with girls on his tail." Lucia said.

"I think there are people coming, north west of Hokane. Nathan responded

"If Uriel is not here then he is probably there already."

"Okay let's go meet our unwelcome visitors." April said, stretching her neck and knuckling her fingers.

The four of them together with Ethan left in a hurry. A 10 year old boy who was playing with Ethan saw them leave and followed them.

Along the way April, Lucia and Ethan detected their magic too and pelted through the forest silently and joined up with Uriel.

"Who could they be?" April asked.

"This is the road we used when we returned from Aciri." Nathan replied

"They are tracking the gold."

"Most of them have faint magic aura." April said.

"Yeah they are either weak or suppressing their magic." Lucia responded.

"What's the point of suppressing magic if it's still detectable?" Ethan asked.

"To make you underestimate them." April answered.

"You still have a lot to learn Ethan."

"Things ain't always as they seem."

They watched the group of trackers for a while trying to learn more about them.

Their grandfathers, Daniel and Raphael lived in the mountain cabins after the war and they mastered the art of stealth in order to survive. They passed the technique down to their grandchildren. Cassie, Uriel are the masters of this stealth technique. It allows the user to detect magic from about 150km away and it makes their magic undetectable. So they stalked the group of trackers without any real threat of detection.

As they were watching the men, the little kid appeared near the seven swords and almost immediately the tracking party halted and glanced towards the bushes they were hiding behind.