Chapter 6

Eli

As Shinon followed Hrothgar down a back alley to meet the Paladin's Lord, thanks to good lighting from being outside in the day, he was able to notice the features more of the tall and poised man. He had regal posture, and well kept brown hair, with graying lines. His face showed his age, but in a way that agreed with him. His wrinkles didn't make him look old, but distinguished. Shinon guessed this man was in his mid forties.

"So what nation do you serve?" Shinon asked, "And who is your Lord?"

"You will meet him soon enough." Hrothgar responded calmly as they kept walking, "But you should know...I serve no nation. My allegiance is to Lord Eli, and Lord Eli alone."

"Whatever..." Shinon mumbled, knowing there was probably far more to that story then Hrothgar was sharing. As long as Shinon got paid though, he didn't care of the Paladin served the nation of Satan.

"Who is this?" A young male voice was heard from the shadows to Shinon's left. "And why do we only have one mercenary?"

A short figure stepped out of the shadows. Shinon took note of the youth, a boy who could not have been older then sixteen. He had messy purple hair and piercing blue eyes. On his forehead he had a sparking cyan diamond shaped gem, that looked as if it was implanted onto his skull. He wore a dark gray mage's robe.

"This is Shinon, my Lord." Hrothgar replied respectfully to the youth, "And I promise, his skills are worthy. And while we only found one in this town's tavern, I was given a lead to a nearby coliseum0 that will have more capable warriors."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Shinon asked, looking at the little shrimp in front of him. "Surely this isn't the Lord of yours that would be my employer? Do your parents know you're out of school, kid? Come on, Hrothgar...don't waste my time with this Crap!"

Shinon turned around to return to the tavern and began to walk away, but then the youth spoke out, which caused the archer to pause.

"My parents are dead." Eli responded sternly. "They were murdered five years ago, along with everyone else in my tribe. I am the last remaining Elementalist, and with me is all the wealth that they accumulated over the years. So I assure you, sir, if you stick with us...you'd be well compensated."

"I am Eli's uncle." Hrothgar continued, "I used to serve the Kingdom of Light as a Paladin. When my brother and his wife gave birth to Eli, and realized his magical potential, they moved their family southwest to join the tribe of Elementalists...the Sunder tribe. Then, five years ago when their entire tribe was annihilated save my nephew, I left my post with the Light and became Eli's keeper."

Shinon turned around and responded. "You both just said a lot of words I do not understand. I'm not from this region, I have only been here for two weeks and I have been unconscious for...two weeks. So far the sights I have seen is killer fish people and a hospital bed. So I don't know anything about Elementalists...we don't have those in Tellius...and I don't know anything about the Kingdom of Light, or tribe of Thunder...(He meant Sunder)...but if you are telling me you have money to pay for me to help with whatever little job you are doing...then you are speaking with words I understand perfectly."

"That's exactly what I am saying..." Eli looked at Shinon eyes, with a piercing determination and grit shining through his own eyes. "We are looking for great warriors, and we can pay them."

"What's the job?" Shinon asked.

"For the past five years I have been tracking the bastards that destroyed my village, killed my parents, and massacred everyone else in my home. The culprits were two master swordsmen who have since split up. One is the great Sword Demon, Cypher, and the lesser is his former apprentice, Kilvren the leader of the Unforgiving Sword. The two have since split paths and we have been tracking Kilvren for several years now. As it turns out our last lead pointed us to a nearby forest as the the current hideout for his pack of mercenaries, the Unforgiving Sword. I am wanting to assemble my own gang of respectable warriors and extract my revenge on Kilvren. When he is dead, then we will set our sights on the Sword Demon."

"Damn..." Shinon resonded, "That's dark." The archer looked at Hrothgar and asked, "And you, uncle, are you good with your nephew leading this little killing spree? You're just going to go in with him in battle and hope he isn't forever traumatized and changed for the worse for years to come because of it?'

"What do you know of trauma..." Eli spoke, his voice lowered as he worked to suppress his anger and rage at Shinon. "Watch your entire home be decimated by two men and then come speak to me about how you would appropriately handle that situation. Maybe you'd want to talk it over with a loved one but...oh wait, they're all dead! Hrothgar knows my reality...the moment I watched my parents died I was traumatized and changed forever...and that was the moment where my life was set onto this bloody path that will end in either my demise, or that of the two men that have taken everything away from me."

"I made an oath on the honor of my dead brother that I would protect Lord Eli at all costs." Hrothgar responded to the cocky archer's sarcastic comment. "I know I cannot stop or dissuade my nephew in his endeavor...but the best I can do is make sure he makes it through to the other side of it, alive. So while his mission is to seek Justice for his fallen town and parents, my mission is to keep him safe at all costs."

"I don't know whether I think that is sweet, or just really messed up..." Shinon responded coolly, seemingly to show no emotion or concern to their dark and sad tale. It wasn't in the crimson archer's nature to visibly show concern for others, and he wasn't planning on starting now. "You could have just told me that we're going to kill some guys that killed your family...If you can pay, I'm in."

"Very well then..." Eli replied with a smile, gauging this conversation as a personal win. "Then, Mr. Shinon...we're going to kill some guys that killed my family, and I'll pay you to come and kill them with me."

"Now that formalities are out of the way..." Hrothgar interjected, "Let us leave this town and make our way to the Dragon Fang Coliseum to recruit more warriors. This job will not be an easy one, and we could use all the help we can get."

Author Notes: Hello there! Thank you all for reading this story. If you've made it this far I'd love to encourage you to drop me a review or message sharing what you think about my story so far. I've loved writing it and I'd love to hear from my readers. I hope everyone is having a great day/night!