The Enemy's Hero || For Blood and Redemption || BOOK ONE

Ch. 04 || Detective Work for the Rune Looter

The former King of Faramir wished for his sister to succeed to the throne. At the time, her husband was offended by the King's decision.
Outraged, Amodeous declared war on his brother with the support of his army; where a particular Knight made Baal's success infallible.

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Moinsêda, 998 ATY
Three Hours Later

"The Chief mentioned that the barrier was broken, but I don't see anything," Meir mumbled.

We were walking around the perimeter expecting to find the debris of a crumbling wall or an ancient force field, but we found neither. Meir was visibly confused, pacing around the village at least a hundred times. I, on the other hand, was frustrated and wanted to lash out at that pompous elf. But I knew it did no good either way. I was just glad we were getting paid for the job.

"If you were a village full of elves, where would you put your..." I trailed off as my foot kicked over a rock.

It wasn't just a rock though. I bent over and picked it up, recognizing the markings. If it weren't for the suffocating stench of Majick on it, I would have felt more inclined to be relieved. Despite how diminutive the rock seemed, it was undoubtedly the barrier. Sae Zoro was tethered to the connections of their land, which would explain the carvings on the mineral.

"Meir!" I shouted, gaining his attention. He jogged over. His brows raised in interest when he saw the knowing look on my face.

     "You found it!?" He beamed in relief, then immediately frowned once he glanced down at the rock in my hand. "Why are you holding a rock?"

"It's the barrier," I stated.

He blinked slowly but didn't look away from it. "But it's a rock."

I groaned, which caused Meir to look me in the eyes instead. "I know it's a rock! But look at the markings. It's a protection rune: it expels dark Majick and curses. These rocks must be surrounding the village and hiding in plain sight."

"So if there's several, why isn't the barrier working?" Meir scratched his head incredulously.

"Because one must be missing. It's strong enough to repel most dark Majick, but if one's missing, it explains how someone got the plague."

He furrowed his brows. "For someone who's never seen the plague before, you know an awful lot about this."

"They have protection runes like these in Atrêvillé."

"Where you grew up." Meir was piecing the puzzle together.

I sighed and placed the rock back where it was. I never liked thinking about my life before the Cabal. It reminded me about my father and the war, or the slums that Dane and I dealt with after he died. General Godric and the Cabal were the only family I had left — or so the General tried to tell us.

But I knew that it was me and Dane against the world: against the slums, against the aftermath, and especially against this mission. He wasn't by my side, but every second I was away from him was a second he was on my mind.

"I rather not talk about my life," I murmured.

"Why? I barely know anything about you," he pressed.