Imperials Vs. Sentinels- part 4- The Valiant and the Faithful

Part 2- A hero returns

The ship docked at Verana once more, and Xavier, Shade and the captive Braixen made for the queen's fortress.

Once there, the two soldiers delivered the news to her.
"My queen, Kraven is dead and we brought Braixen to you as requested."
Xavier explained.
The queen nodded.
"I can see that. Well done, knights. And what of his son?"
Shade looked down in Shame.
"He escaped us. But without water and food-"
Xavier was cut off as the queen stood up briefly.
"We're not talking about a normal young Eevee, commander. This is Kraven's son. And you let him escape. This will come back to haunt you, just you wait."
She told the two sharply.

Braixen was escorted to the dungeon, and the two knights were excused. Over the next two days, nothing of any significance happened, until the queen summoned the knights to her fortress again. A Gallade was standing next to her, talking to her as they entered. Shade suddenly recognised him. That was the Gallade from his dream.

"Shade, Xavier, I'd like you to meet High commander Rendan. He was the best soldier in my mother's army and he's been travelling for over a decade, if I recall correctly. He also achieved over 150 kills in his first battle. What was your count again, Xavier?"
Xavier looked down.
"134 confirmations, my queen."
"Yes, that was it."
She remembered.
Rendan looked at Xavier.
"That's rather impressive."
He told him modestly.
Xavier nodded and looked at the queen.
"Did you say high commander? I thought that rank stopped being issued years ago."
Th queen nodded at him.
"It did; Rendan is the last one. He was the last soldier of my mother's army to receive the title."
Xavier then examined Rendan's  armour, particularly his iron gauntlets.
"Is this old engraved iron?"
He asked, taking a closer look.

That was the name of old, sturdy iron used in Verana before being replaced by steel.
Rendan nodded.
"Also the last of its kind."
He replied.
"Very impressive."
He replied.
Xavier then saw his weapon, looking like a large dagger. Rendan was also wearing a cape, looking slightly worn but still well kept.
"You're a very dignified looking soldier, Rendan. You must have a lot of stories to bring back from your travels."
"Many indeed, but I need to speak with the queen before I share any."
Rendan replied.
"Oh, alright. Well it was nice to meet you."
Xavier replied.
Rendan saluted him with the old knight salute.
"I hope to see you soon, Xavier. You too, Shade."

The two left and walked home.
"You didn't say much in there. Any reason why?"
Xavier asked Shade.
"None of it really concerned me. I wasn't at all involved with Verana's old army."
Shade replied.
"And you found none of that impressive?"
Xavier continued. Shade simply grunted.
"With an old blade and worn out iron? Should I have?"
That made Xavier a little angry.
"You have so much more than we did, and you don't appreciate it all. You don't know what things used to be like, with limited resources, food and shelter."
"Give me a break."
Shade shot back.
"It wasn't that long ago; it can't have been that bad."
Xavier was losing it slowly.
"Just a few years ago, your father's pathetic war goals drove our entire nation to such a state!"
Shade glared at Xavier with passion in his eyes.
"And you killed him! You got your revenge!"
Xavier had enough, pushing past Shade, and when he got back home, he slammed the door in Shade's face.
"Real mature."
Shade mocked.
"Don't speak of maturity to me, you spoiled child!"
Xavier shouted back from his room.
Shade hated how easily angered Xavier was sometimes.

Shade went outside to train, hacking at a training dummy. It consisted of a couple of bags filled with straw tied on a pole, resembling an opponent. A few swings and he had split it in half.
"Let's see Rendan's blade do that..."
he muttered. Xavier came out afterward.
"Hey, why did you split it?!"
He shouted.
"Because I can't stand you sometimes! I needed to take my anger out on something other than you!"
Shade shouted back.
"If you're going to go split something, make yourself useful and have it be firewood!"
Xavier returned. Shade huffed and went to the wood chopping block, using his halberd to chop the wood more effectively.

After an hour of wood chopping, he took the wood inside and rested in his room. At least, that was what he had told Xavier. He had to finish his planning for the big event. Without the plan, he and his few allies would surely fail.

Keeping it from Xavier was the hardest part; he normally told Xavier everything, but he couldn't reveal this to him. He had managed to do it so far, but it was a real question how long he could keep it from him.

Meanwhile, the talk of revolt worried the queen. It had been discovered that someone had been spreading messages about overthrowing the queen, as they were still at large, who and wherever they were. Shade and Xavier had been tasked with finding them, and they believed to be onto something. A poster ripped down by Shade had given them a slight clue that they had followed through to a crucial point in the investigation. It wouldn't be long between the they would find this criminal and bring them to justice. Shade claimed he'd cut them down like had planned to with Kraven. Either way, both sides of the case were running low on time. The investigation narrowed the search, but the revolution, if it could even be called that, could take place at any time. This hunt had to end soon... or the queen would face death.