Chapter One

Better Than a Dungeon

Jackal had found himself standing in the middle of a field, he could feel the warmth of the sun on his face as he stood there. Looking around he could spot a house nearby and realized this was his old home. He started running toward the small cabin almost uncontrollably. As he got closer he realized it was rapidly deteriorating before his eyes, at the same time the plants died at his feet and the ground he was running on became barren. When he got to the front of the cabin he found an empty doorway and ran right through it. He stopped when he realized he was not in his old home but, in a black void. Turning around the door had vanished leaving him in the darkness. "Return the light" said a voice that he could not even figure out from what direction it came. "Return the light before it's too late" the voice spoke again leaving him just as confused as before. He opened his eyes, he was breathing heavy while looking around not sure where he was. He steadied his breathing and calmed down, he was in the dungeon of Cornelia Castle. The rays of light shining through the bars in the window told him it was morning and that he was waiting to be told how long he would be staying.

Walking around his cell that even for him seemed small. He was a little below average height, thin built arms and legs, he wasn't as strong as some but, he was fast and light on his feet. He had short light brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing a green tunic with green pants with brown leather boots. It felt like hours before the door had opened and he was face to face with one of the king's knights. "You're coming with me thief the king wants to see you." Jackal followed just to get out of that cell even if he was surrounded. As they went up the stairs out of the dungeons and into a large courtyard he realized the castle was in an uproar. "All this over little old me?" he asked not caring for a response.

"Be quiet thief or lose your tongue." The knight directly behind him spoke as they entered the front door of the main building. The group of three men went up more stairs and through another door where they stopped.

Jackal found himself face to face with the king, a tall man with broad shoulders and thin arms and legs, light brown hair with blue eyes looking down at him. The two knights that brought him in were now on one knee to Jackals left and right. "We have brought him as requested your majesty."

"Good you may rise and return to your posts." The king responded. They did, leaving Jackal in the throne room with the king directly in front of him. To the kings left was the Chancellor and to his right was his head guard a tall older man with little expression in his face.

"Now thief have you given any thought as to why you're here." Said the king now looking directly at Jackal. Jackal adverted his eyes "no your majesty, I haven't a clue."

"you may have noticed the commotion outside, would you like to guess why?" The king asked. "No your majesty." Jackal said starting to get worried about where this could be going. "Well thief my daughter, Princess Sarah was kidnapped last night. When the alarm was raised you were found sneaking around. That means at worst you had a hand in it yourself and at best you were trying to rob me."

Jackals heart sank unable to find any words that could keep him alive much less out of the dungeons. After a moment he tried talking "Your majesty I swear I've nothing to do with any kidnapping, I'm just a thief trying to find some gold."

The king laughed "So the thief got honest did he?" The king continued "I've brought you here to give you a choice. Rot in the dungeon or, help save my daughter in exchange for a pardon." The king paused for a moment then continued "we know she was taken by one of our own knights named Garland. He would see a large group of knights coming, so we are going to send a mercenary who can fight Garland and you to help him sneak in unnoticed."

Jackal froze for a moment trying to figure out how the hell to get out of this. The best case is to accept and run at the first chance he got. He would be a wanted man and live on the run but, he would not be dead and that would be a plus.

"THIEF." The king yelled which nearly made Jackal jump out of his skin. "You are trying my patience thief. Now make a decision it shouldn't be that hard to see the better deal." The king was looking very angry now and Jackal only saw one possible choice.

"I will help rescue princess Sarah your majesty." Jackal still unsure he made the best choice to stay alive. "Good." The king replied "Remember you run you won't rot when we catch you, you'll hang." With this the king looked to the man on his right "bring him in." The king said to the man on his right. The man simply nodded and left the room. He showed up with a man who was only about a head taller than Jackal but much more muscular, he was wearing leather armor and an iron helmet. He wore a two handed broadsword on his back mainly covered by a bronze shield and a smaller short sword on his left hip. He had green eyes and his eyebrows showed his hair would be black if it wasn't hidden from the helmet. He stopped beside Jackal looked down at him and then to the king "ready to go at your word, your majesty."

"Good you can take him and start north, you should get there in two days by foot." The king said to him. At that word the man grabbed Jackal and started pulling him out of the room. With that they were on their way.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hello this is my first fanfic please keep this in mind. I will try to update every two to three weeks until completed.

Reviews and criticism would always be appreciated. If you read this far thank you and have a nice day.