A Journey through Kingdoms

CHAPTER 18- CONNECTION

"Grah!" Mortimer shouts as he kicks over a chair in his fit of rage. After his little meeting at the tavern, Mortimer decided to head back to his office to vent his frustrations privately. "Who does that no-good bartender think he is!? To insult my authority, I'll make them pay!" He rambles on. Though it was short-lived, a knock on his door alerted him. Forcing him to calm himself and fix his appearance before opening the door to answer. As the door opened, a knight stood at attention. Luckily for him this time, they didn't start spewing out blood like that one night. "What is it?" He asks, all formal, as the knight replies with a salute. "Mr. Blackwell, we've brought back everything notable from the wreckage. They're waiting for you at the storage unit, sir!" They tell him. Finally, some good news, Mortimer thought to himself. "Is that so? Then I'll tend to that. Hopefully there's something salvageable from that lump of debris." Mortimer spoke as he walked past the knight and headed out to the storage unit with the knight trailing behind him. It took them a while, but when the two arrived at their destination,. They were greeted by several workers as well as other knights who were there to guard the haul that was just brought in from the rubble. "Mr. Blackwell, sir, the items are just in those crates." One of the knights leads as they gesture towards the crates that were piled up and opened for inspection.

"Good work," Mortimer compliments before approaching the crates to take a closer look. One by one, he inspects each crate. The first of the few were nothing but enchanted contraband weapons that he was supposed to ship out. But seeing as they were all damaged by the falling debris, they were nothing but useless to him. except for one. "Now isn't this a rare find?" he says as he picks up the fancy-looking sword that one of the workers found earlier that day. He takes a closer look at it as he admires the craftsmanship of the sword, even if it has been worn and torn over the years. He did also notice the missing piece from the sword. The indent is in the middle of the blade guard. "Are these the only things you've found in the rubble?" He asks for confirmation as he looks to one of the knights standing by. "Yes, sir. That's all we got." They respond. "Very well. Get rid of them. But I'll be taking this one to my office. At least there's something valuable to be taken here," he says as he hands the sword over to a knight to hold. "Also, there's one more thing we found that might interest you, sir," a knight adds, which piqued Mortimer's interest. "What was it?" He urged them to continue, which they did as they detailed to him what they saw at the wreckage. "There seemed to be some usage of alchemy over at the wreckage, given the glass shards we found and some corroded wood," the knight says. As Mortimer processed what was said to him, something clicked in his head. "Alchemy." He mutters.

It might just be pure coincidence for one, but to him, it felt like the stars were aligning. Pieces of a puzzle slowly come together to form a bigger picture. For the enchanting process, there was no use for alchemy, as the art of it was based more around magic than anything else. He knows this much, seeing as he was running that whole gig under the king's nose. And the fact that the target he was supposed to find information on just so happens to be labeled as an alchemist. One might assume it to be mere speculation, but according to the hooded man, the boy had one instance of thwarting and freeing a whole village from bandits. It couldn't be too far off. This was definitely something worth taking note of, as a malicious smile crept upon his face. "Good to know," he says as he composes himself in order to keep up appearances. "Assuming that there isn't anything else you need to tell me, then I'll be off to my office. Make sure to dispose of the rest. Leave no trace of it," he tells them as the knights salute his order. He gestures for the knight who held the fancy sword to follow him, which they did as they went their way back to Mortimer's office. Once they reach the door to it, he takes the sword out of the knight's possession and dismisses him. Leaving him alone in front of his door. He enters the room with no one but him in sight before closing the door.

"Have you gathered any information yet?" Suddenly, a familiar, dark voice spoke from behind him as it startled him half to death. I immediately turned around to see the hooded man standing before him with his sword in its sheath. The room darkened as every window was now covered up by the curtains to ensure nothing could see into the room while the two talked business. "I haven't yet," Mortimer said, but as soon as he did so, a blade suddenly appeared in his throat, ready to slice it open, and the hooded figure suddenly came closer in a flash. "But! I have found something that might correlate to it!" Mortimer quickly lets out as the anxiety of almost getting your head lobbed off was hitting him hard. "Then tell me now," the hooded man says as he swiftly sheathes back his sword in order to let him speak. "It might not be concrete, but I believe our goals now have a common factor," Mortimer says. "Explain." The hooded man responds. "Back at the wreckage, my men found residue of alchemy that was left behind probably during and after the place got brought down. And I have suspicions to believe that the target you want me to know more about... is the same one that ruined my plans," he explains. But the hooded man was still unconvinced. "And how does this help your case?" he says. Making sure to point out the irrelevance that he believes it to be.

"That means that we can put the blackmail thing aside and convert this into a business relationship," Mortimer says as he raises his hand forward, asking for him to shake it. "I obviously want him dead for ruining everything, and it's the same for you too, is it not? I'll make sure to help you in this because now we have a common target, and I swear in my family's name that I won't rest until I have their heads hung up on my wall," Mortimer says. His eyes exuded rage and maliciousness. The hooded man stood silent for a moment before going to shake his hand. Confirming the deal is official. "Then try not to disappoint me. I expect results," the hooded man says as he lets go of his hand before disappearing seemingly into thin air. The only trace of him leaving was the curtains flowing in the breeze of the air that was now wafting inside because of the now-open windows. "Don't worry," he says before glancing over at the sword that is still in his hands. His sights focus on the indent in the middle of the blade guard. "I already have a place in mind," he mutters as he places the sword on his table. A sinister plan begins to brew inside his wicked head.

....

it is now nighttime as we see Ecrucio admiring the red gemstone that he had bought off of Derrick earlier. "I think I'd see this gem again. after all these years," he says as he reminisces on his past, since apparently the red gemstone had somewhat of a history with him. A history that only he believes he knows. "Let's see if you still have some juice left in you, shall we?" He says as he takes out a special lens that has an odd tint to it. But as he moves it up to his eye and looks down upon the gem, something happens. Through the vision of the lens, the red gemstone looked to be glowing. As if it were teeming with magic that's leaking out of it, which was much of a contrast to what it looked like outside of the lens. "Well, I'll be. I shouldn't be too surprised, should I?" he chuckled under his breath after confirming that the gem still had magic left in it. He puts his lens away and takes the gemstone with him to a certain spot in the back. Behind the counter was a room full of things that he had collected, all lined up on shelves and glass cases. He walks up to an empty glass case and opens the lid as he gently places the gemstone inside before closing it shut. As soon as the lid closed, knocking could be heard from the front door. His head turns, wondering who it could be. He exits the back room and heads to the front door to answer the knock. "Sorry, but the store is closed for the day," the old man says as he opens the door to see them personally. But as he looked up, he saw none other than Mortimer Blackwell standing there as a looming presence over Ecrucio.

"Sorry for the intrusion. But I would like to have a chat with you, Mr. Dalfinger."