Chapter 12

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Hunter stood by the window and looked out at the city. It had been years since he stepped foot on the Continent. The buildings and familiar cobblestone paths were lit with torches, but it was not the same city he remembered. The years he had spent as a young boy had faded away. He shook his head; no, those years of his life had not faded away. They had been wiped away. The times he had gazed up at his father in wonder and the years he had spent training with the castle guards had been wiped away. They were nothing but a dream, a dream from which he had been rudely awoken and now desperately wanted to return. A dream he wanted to make a reality again. But as he looked out at the familiar, yet foreign city, his eyes kept going back to the alabaster structure in the centre.

Where it all began.

The towers of Ilaburn Castle casted shadows on the city and he could see the vendors closing their shops or packing their carts. There was a time he had walked those streets with his friends as they hung off every word he said. He would jauntily strut down the cobblestone paths of the city. But now remembering the boy he was and comparing him to the man he had become, the memories only served to anger him. He was so naïve. He had left the city with Gavin, both wanting to find their own adventure. Hunter had indeed found an adventure, but it was one that came in the form of a woman.

The memories of her still haunted him, despite how wholeheartedly he wanted to forget them. The last days he spent with her would forever be branded in his soul—if he still had one to spare.

Ilaburn, the castle and the city, was a source of fine boyhood memories but brutal adult mistakes that he would spend his whole life rectifying.

But first, he had to get the key from the King.

"Dinner is ready."

He turned away from the window and saw Gavin standing in the doorway. Giving him a nod, he stepped away and walked to the door. He looked at his friend, taking in the dark rings around his eyes and the loss of colour from his otherwise jolly appearance.

"Anything?"

Gavin gave him a sad smile and shook his head. When his wolf had come back, Gavin had been excited to finally have his other form back as well. He had, on countless nights, complained that he would have preferred to be stuck in his animal form than his human.

Between the two, Gavin had struggled the most when the lock was forged. His identity was strongly linked to his scouting abilities and when he could no longer shift, he became angry.

"Once we have the key it will be like old times." Gavin said and turned to the kitchen. He did not ask further questions or offer words of encouragement. He had too much respect for his friend to offer him empty words.

Reaching the main room of their humble cabin, he saw that Tal and Elias had set out a simple dinner. They ate in silence and once the lot were sitting, nursing their drink of choice, Tal spoke.

"We need to begin scouting the city."

He nodded. If they were going to get anywhere near the King, they had to know the city inside out.

"Gavin and I can head out in the morning and scope out the castle. We need to know the guard rotations if we have any chance of getting into the castle undetected." Hunter spoke but he saw Elias shake his head.

Furrowing his brows, he looked at him, "anything to add?"

"The castle is tightly secured. There is not one window in which a sentinel is not watching his surroundings. Trust me, I have tried to get in, but it is built and guarded like a fortress."

That may be the case, but the one thing Hunter learned from his many "adventures" was that there was always a way in.

"Then we make our own way into the castle."

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