“So, you ask Delrose to pursue them?” Aden asked with a twisted smile.
“We ask a favor of the Master,” the knight replied, bowing low.
Yes, a favor, Aden thought. Asking me to wield the Divine Power while they remained behind. He scoffed quietly, glanced up at Elo’s wall.
“Do you know why it’s so difficult to rid the land of the Yesters?” he asked?
His question swept through the Elo’s knights like a cold wind. They shuffled their weight between their feet and fidgeted. Radon bowed deeper, and Idith noted his neck trembling.
“It’s because,” Aden continued, “their movement with a north wind at their back is very swift. Would you have me melt the whole region?”
Besides, Aden thought, the Divine Power of the Master of Biflten was for the wellbeing of the entire winter region. Limit the range of the Yesters, and the region’s other monsters will fill in the gaps. Not to mention, even his power had limits. Melting on such a scale would divert warmth from the populated lands, and the people would be left bare to the true cold of April.
“Perhaps if I knew their route, had a sharper idea of their location, but if I wander the wilds chasing them as they run with a northern wind in April, I would quickly become the hunted rather than the hunter.”
The truth of his words seemed to weigh on Radon, and his eyes cast downward. He said nothing.
“Since Elo’s Wall is intact,” Aden continued, testing the wall with his hand. As a friend of Elo, his hand passed freely as though through air. “Delrose will keep an eye on the movements of the Yesters, as we always do.”
He turned, casting a last glance to the knights. His last words had carried a sharper tone, and his eyes clearly said that his favors were at an end for the moment.
As they returned to the mansion, Aden kept sorting through the puzzle pieces in his mind. Nothing seemed to fit, and it left him uneasy.
“Idith,” he said.
“Master,” his aide replied at once.
“Do you think it is only Elo’s Wall that keeps them safe?”
Idith tilted his head slightly.
“I think it is not so simple,” he replied.
It was a promising answer. Aden looked over at him and prodded, seeing how well his mind was working.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“The Wall of Light is a defense, but they’re also close to the Biflten Mansion,” Idith expounded.
Aden couldn’t help a glimmer of pride crossing his face as his aide continued.
“The Yester tribe’s most critical weakness is your Majesty’s Divine Power. Other tribes can move in the warmth, but the Yesters melt away.”
“True,” Aden replied.
Idith squinted slightly, as though a piece had just fallen into place for him. He met Aden’s eyes, who nodded in knowing agreement.
They had made the same realization – the Yesters, so vulnerable to Aden’s power, couldn’t destroy the Wall of Light before Aden and his knights rallied and arrived from the mansion. The distance was too close. That’s why the Yesters had never made such an attempt.
Until today.
Was it merely a coincidence that the attack came now when the Duke of Winter had left for the warm region? Or had they known he wasn’t there?
But the only people who knew his schedule were in the mansion. For the people in the surrounding territory, the brutal April weather slowed all such news.
Who would tell such a secret? And to who?
Aden’s face darkened, and he thought silently for the rest of the journey home.
***
The big and white snowflakes kept falling.
The Mansion was lit by fireplaces. The warmth of them couldn’t reach outside to melt the ice, but merely shown through the crystalline frost on the windows. Because of this, Biflten glowed in the night.
“You’ve returned, Majesty.”
Knight of the Delrose order Emil bowed deeply to Aden when he entered just before dawn. He dismissed his knights and motioned Idith and Emil to join him as he stepped into Delrose’s area.
“Any report?” he asked?
“Yes, first-“
“Wait. Tell me upstairs.”
Aden walked up the stairs to his office. He had gone straight from his trip to the warm region to Elo’s defense, with no time to attend to matters here. He could only imagine how much needed his attention.
Emil, understanding, skipped to the key points.
“We sent in a knight to the Elo’s area within the Mansion.”
Aden stopped.
“What?” he asked.
Emil flinched at his response and noticed Idith also gave him a strange look. With a nod from Aden, he continued.
“Since the Elo knights that were on guard in the Mansion all went to Elo’s territory, Elo’s area was empty. We were ordered to guard their area.”
There was only one person that could ‘order’ the knights in his absence. Aden tilted his head.
“Ilyn?”
“Yes, Majesty,” Emil replied. After a beat, he added, “she ordered them to guard as well as…to gather intelligence.”
“Ah,” Aden said.
“So, you ask Delrose to pursue them?” Aden asked with a twisted smile.
“We ask a favor of the Master,” the knight replied, bowing low.
Yes, a favor, Aden thought. Asking me to wield the Divine Power while they remained behind. He scoffed quietly, glanced up at Elo’s wall.
“Do you know why it’s so difficult to rid the land of the Yesters?” he asked?
His question swept through the Elo’s knights like a cold wind. They shuffled their weight between their feet and fidgeted. Radon bowed deeper, and Idith noted his neck trembling.
“It’s because,” Aden continued, “their movement with a north wind at their back is very swift. Would you have me melt the whole region?”
Besides, Aden thought, the Divine Power of the Master of Biflten was for the wellbeing of the entire winter region. Limit the range of the Yesters, and the region’s other monsters will fill in the gaps. Not to mention, even his power had limits. Melting on such a scale would divert warmth from the populated lands, and the people would be left bare to the true cold of April.
“Perhaps if I knew their route, had a sharper idea of their location, but if I wander the wilds chasing them as they run with a northern wind in April, I would quickly become the hunted rather than the hunter.”
The truth of his words seemed to weigh on Radon, and his eyes cast downward. He said nothing.
“Since Elo’s Wall is intact,” Aden continued, testing the wall with his hand. As a friend of Elo, his hand passed freely as though through air. “Delrose will keep an eye on the movements of the Yesters, as we always do.”
He turned, casting a last glance to the knights. His last words had carried a sharper tone, and his eyes clearly said that his favors were at an end for the moment.
As they returned to the mansion, Aden kept sorting through the puzzle pieces in his mind. Nothing seemed to fit, and it left him uneasy.
“Idith,” he said.
“Master,” his aide replied at once.
“Do you think it is only Elo’s Wall that keeps them safe?”
Idith tilted his head slightly.
“I think it is not so simple,” he replied.
It was a promising answer. Aden looked over at him and prodded, seeing how well his mind was working.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“The Wall of Light is a defense, but they’re also close to the Biflten Mansion,” Idith expounded.
Aden couldn’t help a glimmer of pride crossing his face as his aide continued.
“The Yester tribe’s most critical weakness is your Majesty’s Divine Power. Other tribes can move in the warmth, but the Yesters melt away.”
“True,” Aden replied.
Idith squinted slightly, as though a piece had just fallen into place for him. He met Aden’s eyes, who nodded in knowing agreement.
They had made the same realization – the Yesters, so vulnerable to Aden’s power, couldn’t destroy the Wall of Light before Aden and his knights rallied and arrived from the mansion. The distance was too close. That’s why the Yesters had never made such an attempt.
Until today.
Was it merely a coincidence that the attack came now when the Duke of Winter had left for the warm region? Or had they known he wasn’t there?
But the only people who knew his schedule were in the mansion. For the people in the surrounding territory, the brutal April weather slowed all such news.
Who would tell such a secret? And to who?
Aden’s face darkened, and he thought silently for the rest of the journey home.
***
The big and white snowflakes kept falling.
The Mansion was lit by fireplaces. The warmth of them couldn’t reach outside to melt the ice, but merely shown through the crystalline frost on the windows. Because of this, Biflten glowed in the night.
“You’ve returned, Majesty.”
Knight of the Delrose order Emil bowed deeply to Aden when he entered just before dawn. He dismissed his knights and motioned Idith and Emil to join him as he stepped into Delrose’s area.
“Any report?” he asked?
“Yes, first-“
“Wait. Tell me upstairs.”
Aden walked up the stairs to his office. He had gone straight from his trip to the warm region to Elo’s defense, with no time to attend to matters here. He could only imagine how much needed his attention.
Emil, understanding, skipped to the key points.
“We sent in a knight to the Elo’s area within the Mansion.”
Aden stopped.
“What?” he asked.
Emil flinched at his response and noticed Idith also gave him a strange look. With a nod from Aden, he continued.
“Since the Elo knights that were on guard in the Mansion all went to Elo’s territory, Elo’s area was empty. We were ordered to guard their area.”
There was only one person that could ‘order’ the knights in his absence. Aden tilted his head.
“Ilyn?”
“Yes, Majesty,” Emil replied. After a beat, he added, “she ordered them to guard as well as…to gather intelligence.”
“Ah,” Aden said.
