Around half an hour later, Garten was still feeling angry. Most of the people in the citadel were already in the hall, preparing for Rake's speech. It let Garten wander about freely to let off some steam without running into people.
He came upon an abandoned training ground, stacks of swords neatly placed beside targets and training dummies. No better way to vent out his anger than to slice apart an inanimate object. Jupiter had often tried to correct Garten's venting methods, but had gradually given up through the years. Garten didn't enjoy coping through violence, but what else was he supposed to do?
Sweat trickled down the back of his neck about fifteen minutes into his whirling training. Adrenaline ran through his veins and into the very deepest part of him, awakening a fire that he didn't know was gone.
"Ambassador."
Garten whipped around, sword outstretched in caution, breath coming out in short gasps.
Perk looked mildly annoyed at the sword on his neck. "I see you heard the rumour?"
Garten scowled. And of course Perk added salt to the wound. "Yeah," he said in a clipped tone. "Someone spread a rumour that I'm a traitor."
Perk laughed a little, walking over to a sword and picking it up. Garten didn't let his guard down, eyeing the young buck carefully. Perk's eyes gleamed in the dim light.
There was thunder in the distance, and a few drops of rain landed around and on Garten.
"I wonder why they think that," Perk said carefully, beginning to circle Garten slowly.
"Let me guess," Garten said exasperatedly. "You spread the rumour."
Perk shrugged. "Your definition of 'spreading a rumour' is different from mine."
Garten narrowed his eyes. "So you really are a spy."
"A 'spy'," Perk laughed. "You think so low of me." He swung his sword around experimentally. "I haven't really done anything to damage your cause, if that's what you're worried about."
"Then why are you here?"
Thunder rumbled. How ominous.
Perk shrugged. "A final respect to a friend of mine."
"I find it difficult to believe that you have friends."
They were at a stand still. Perk was attempting to goad Garten into a fight (Personally, Garten felt he deserved a pat on the back for not completely obliterating the kid right then and there), which Garten was resisting. It was a back and forth type of fight, no one willing to actually get into a physical fight. A physical fight would surely draw attention, and Perk's cover would be blown.
Garten exhaled, using his final card. If he could subdue Perk now, it would save him a lot of trouble.
"I'm certain your father would be proud you're working for his killer," Garten said, tilting his head at Perk.
The change in Perk's behaviour was practically instantaneous. His golden eyes hardened and he lunged forward. Garten, expecting this move, dodged quickly, twisting to land a hit on the back of Perk's neck. It would possibly knock him out, which would allow Garten to tie him up and arrest him. Perk, however, seemed to know this was coming and whipped forward quickly. The space between them widened out again.
Garten sighed. Perk wouldn't back down, would he? He was fighting a loosing battle, someone with years of experience on him.
Perk smirked. Overconfident, Garten thought to himself.
Perk reached into his pocket and brought out a strange looking device. On one side of the circular object, the letter N was engraved. Perk toggled some type of button and the scent of blastpowder filled the air.
"Wait-" Garten shouted, lunging forward to stop Perk. Perk threw the bomb in the air, before running and vanishing down the hallway.
Black smoke engulfed Garten's vision.
"Garten!"
Garten came to, his ears ringing. The scent of smoke was still thick in the air, causing him to hack a little.
A soldier's face swam before him, unfamiliar.
"Perk!" shouted Garten, leaping to his feet.
"Yes, we know," the soldier said, trembling a little. "He brought the wolves here. Sir, they broke through! They're in Cloud Mountain!"
Garten stared, uncomprehending. "What?" he finally said.
Wolves. In Cloud Mountain. Where they hid their orphans, their families, the civilians. It was First Warren all over again. He stared at his destroyed sword for a few seconds, the blackened twisted metal now useless.
"Be careful if you see Perk," Garten finally warned, rubbing soot from his face. "He threw a bomb at me. Who knows how many more he has."
"Yessir!" the soldier saluted and began his run to the main force. The shouts of the soldiers and the growls of the wolves were in no way comforting to Garten. He had to find a weapon.
Wincing when he felt the burns on his arm, Garten scrambled to find one of the unharmed swords. They may have been dull, but they could save his life if he needed. After an afterthought, he grabbed two just in case. Perk was still about, and the bombs were most definitely dangerous. It was practically a miracle that Garten had survived with just burns.
He passed by dozens of soldiers locked in combat with wolves.
He needed to find Wilfred.
Where was he?
Was he dead?
Thousands of thoughts pounded in his head, causing the usually calm and composed buck to panic a little when he found himself no closer to locating his brother. He couldn't even bear the thought that his brother might be dead, mauled by a mindless wolf in a mindless slaughter. The very thought made bile rise in his throat.
He raced through the halls, helping whoever he could in a frenzied panic. No familiar faces passed him. No one.
"Garten!"
Picket's voice broke through Garten's panic, allowing relief to set in.
"Jupiter's Crossing," Picket gasped, running alongside his uncle. "Perk sent Smalls to Jupiter's Crossing."
"You know?" Garten said, trying to wrap his head around the situation.
"Heather screamed it at Perk. Of course I do," Picket said, rolling his eyes. "We don't have much time." Garten's nephew swallowed. "I heard that Prince Kylen was going to be there."
Cold dread filled Garten's entire being as the two of them sprinted through the woods, heedless of danger. Weaving around boulders, over fallen logs, through thickets. Thw pure adrenaline was the only reason why Garten was still standing. He barely felt the throbbing of his arm, as horrible as the wound was.
"There," Picket gasped, ducking behind a tree.
Smalls was tied up, a red-eyed wolf and a rabbit looming over him dangerously. Two hawks were soaring in the distance, dark blots in the sky.
Kylen. Garten's blood ran cold at the look in the young prince's eyes. Absolute rage and pure malice, coupled with cold, cold indifference.
The words they were exchanging flew over Garten completely, whereas Picket seemed to gather on every word. The explosion must've affected Garten's hearing, hopefully temporarily.
"What's going on?" Garten whispered.
Picket glanced at his uncle. "The rabbit, Kylen, he wants to kill Smalls right away. Something about claiming his birthright. The-The Green Ember, right?"
"Yeah," Garten responded lowly. "Kylen, from reports, is as much of a power hungry moron as his father is."
"Now is not the time to be snarky," Picket grumbled to himself.
"I have a plan," Garten said, leaning forward a little. "And all I need you to do is wait for my cue."
After explaining his plan quickly, in low, hushed voices, Garten and Picket broke off. Picket went to find higher ground, and Garten crouched in the thicket. He could hear the voices now, much clearer.
Kylen's cold voice rang through the air. "Once we kill my dear, dear cousin here," he said to Garlackson, "I suppose we should root out the other Jovesons. They've been festering too long in my father's kingdom now, have they?"
Garten gritted his teeth.
Just one minute.
Garlackson looked annoyed. "Can I kill the princeling or no?"
"Wait a little," Kylen said. "Wolves," he muttered under his breath. "So impatient."
Now.
Garten stood up and strode out of the bush, eyes narrowed. Smalls' eyes widened, and Garten tilted his head warningly at the young prince.
"Ah, Garten Longtreader," Kylen said, whirling around to face him. "How fortunate of you to come here. Now." There was an edge to this tone.
Garten smiled a little. "I hear you're planning to kill the prince?"
perk gets zero character development rn :/
f in the chat for Garten, he goes thru so much on a daily basis,,
also i had the idea that Garten would use dual swords for ages cuz its cool ;-;
ohohoho garten has a plan. its not a good plan and he'll probably end up on the bad side of it, but its a plan. Picket will FLY if its the last thing that garten does :|
