Legend of the Twin Swords
By: Kratos the Judgment

Chapter 9: A Plan Takes Shape

As Matthew and I talked late into the night, I enlightened him as to the events of
the past week and the intentions of the mysterious man with the Shadow Sword.
He agreed to accompany me to see Hector in the morning. With dawn just hours
away, I went to sleep.

True to his word, Matthew was there when I awoke. He had gathered the
children around him and was telling his own version of the events at Dragon's
Gate. He spotted me waking.

"Finally you're awake. If you had slept any longer, I would have had to dump a
bucket of water over your head."

"Good to see you too, Matthew. Say, do you know what time it is?

Matthew looked up, but could not see the sun through all the foliage. "Can't
rightly say, but we'll be lucky to make it too the Marquess by nightfall if you don't
hurry up."

Realizing the truth in his words, I got to my feet and packed quickly. "Has
everyone eaten?" I asked. In return, I got four nods. "Then I'll eat on the way," I
said, taking some fruit from my pack before setting off. "Lead the way, Matthew."

Halfway through the afternoon, we arrived in the capitol of Ostia, center of the
Lycian League. Quickly, Matthew guided us through the crowded streets and
busy markets of the enormous city. When we finally arrived at the castle, our
guide had to spend many long minutes waving us past guard after guard. The
children, who I expected to be making quite a fuss about "actually being inside a
castle," actually surprised me by saying very little about the experience. Except
for Ernst, however, who was gawking with awe at almost everything in sight.

Eventually we arrived at the two large gates leading to the throne room. With a
signal to the guards from Matthew, they sprang into action and pushed open the
two heavy, metal, doors. My companions and I entered immediately.

Hector, who had been sitting on his throne conducting some sort of business,
stood up with an angry expression on his face. "Matthew," he boomed, as
impressive as ever, "what are you doing, interrupting procedures and bringing
strangers like…" He stopped his rant abruptly. "By the heavens!" he said. With
a sudden motion, he called my name and descended from the throne. "My old
friend," his mood had changed for the better, "what brings you here?"

A minister stood up behind him and cleared his throat. "Lord Hector, what is
going on here?" he asked, a slight sound of hesitation filling his voice. "Who is
this man?"

Hector whirled around, his cape flying from the speed with which he turned. "You
will show respect! This man is a hero of Ostia, nay, of all Elibe! Had it not been
for his skills during the events on the Dread Isle, none of us would be standing
here today! This meeting is adjourned."

The whole assembly was shocked. Behind me, I could hear the children gasp at
the power of Hector's words. I had to admit, Hector was a very impressive
person. He turned back to me, giving me his complete attention. Behind him,
the council, or whatever had been going on here, dispersed without a second
thought. "You haven't changed at all, Hector. But now is unfortunately not the
time for happy reminiscing around the fire."

"Somehow, I thought you'd say that," Hector replied. "You only seem to show up
when something bad has happened. Still, it is only because of your presence
that we manage to reach victory in the end."

"I hope not to live up to that reputation in the future, but right now, things have
gone badly. Hector… Wil and Rebecca are both dead and the next person on
their killer's list… is Lyn." I struggled with that last part. I still didn't want to
believe it myself, but the truth was just that.

"Where did you hear this? Are you sure?" The news had deeply upset Hector,
and his tone of voice clearly showed it.

"I heard the news of the deaths of Wil and Rebecca from these three'" I said,
indicating the children. "And that fiend told me of his intentions by himself."

"You met him?"

I nodded and told Hector of how I had come to meet the children and later the
wielder of the Shadow sword. When I was done, he immediately spoke again.

"I would be happy to help you, and I'm sure Eliwood would as well, but as
Marquesses, I doubt it will be easy for us to leave our Cantons like this.

"Would it help if this man had attacked at least one village in Lycia?" I asked.

"Yes," Hector replied. "Yes it would."

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Kratos