Two shadows appeared from different directions within the forest and met in the clearing in the middle.
Once the shadows stepped into the light, it became clear that one was a male and one was a female.
The female spoke first.
"Any sign of him?"
The male shadow shook his head.
"No, I lost his trail not far from where we were separated."
The female gritted her teeth and growled in frustration.
"That bullheaded spoiled little brat! I KNEW something like this would happen. He should have never been sent on this mission. I should have told him to stay at the camp."
The young male placed a hand on the female's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't put all the blame on yourself, Sara. I am also responsible for allowing us to get separated."
The male sighed dejectedly.
"I don' t think that telling him to stay at camp would have worked. He never listens to anyone. He probably would have wandered off on his own the moment we turned our backs."
"Ugghh, I know! This whole situation is just so frustrating. We can't even complete our missions now because if we don't find him…King Nikiforov is going to have our heads."
"Speaking of which, we need to inform the castle immediately that Squire Plisetsky has gone missing."
Sara fisted her hands at her sides and shook as her anger threatened to boil over.
"I am going to pull that punk's ears SO hard the next time I see him, he's going to hurt for weeks."
The young male laughed.
"Just be sure to leave something for me."
Sara closed her eyes and took a deep and calming breath. She exhaled slowly and composed herself before taking out a piece of parchment and an enchanted quill. As creepy as their sorcerer was, she could not deny that he produced some incredible enchanted items. The quill did not need ink and would write in a code only known to the ice dragon magic clan. Before she touched the quill to the paper, she activated the enchantment.
"Scribo."
The quill glowed an icy blue in her hand, signaling that it was ready for use. She began to write:
Esteemed Ruler,
I regret to inform you that we became separated from Squire Plisetsky during a demon attack. We currently do not know his current location or status. Attempts to track him have been unsuccessful. We await further instructions. Sara.
Once she had finished writing, she ended the enchantment.
"Finio."
Once the word was spoken, the letters on the parchment seemed to come alive. They morphed into strange symbols and rearranged themselves around on the page.
The male let out a whistle as he watched the magic happen before his eyes.
"That is strangely fascinating and terrifyingly disturbing at the same time."
Sara nodded in agreement as she rolled up the parchment.
"Sure is useful, though. Keeps our messages from being decrypted if they are ever intercepted."
The young woman brought her thumb and index finger up to her mouth and whistled sharply. Within seconds, a beautiful brown hawk came down from the treetops and landed on her extended arm.
"Hey there, Ciocco. Good girl."
The hawk screeched happily as the young woman stroked her neck. Sara reached into a pouch attached to her belt and removed a piece of dry meat for the hawk.
"Sorry it's not fresh, girl. I'll get you something good when you come back."
The hawk took the dried meat from the woman's fingers and swallowed it whole.
"This is a very special message, Ciocco. Get it to the castle as soon as you can."
Sara secured the small roll of parchment to the hawk's left leg before lifting her arm to launch the bird of prey into the air.
"Sbrigare*!"
Both watched as the hawk took to the skies and disappeared into the clouds.
The male spoke as he continued to stare up at the sky.
"So what do we do now?"
Sara sighed.
"Let's keep searching for clues. Hopefully we can at least discover the direction he ran off in. He's probably gotten himself hopelessly lost in this dense forest."
_ meanwhile _
Emperor Katsuki sat at his desk, parchment laid out in front of him and brush in hand. He thought very carefully about what he was about to write. This would be the first ever contact with the foreign ice magic clan and he didn't want to start off on the wrong foot. He thanked his lucky stars that he had been taught so many languages as a child. Among them was Anglicus; the common foreign language spoken all throughout Occidentis. The emperor took a deep breath and dipped his brush lightly in the ink.
Honorable King Nikiforov of Occidentis,
I, Emperor Katsuki from Orientalis send you my warmest greetings. I wish that the first contact between our clans was on better terms. I regret to inform you that we encountered a fallen warrior from your clan near our encampment at the neutral territory of Mumei No Shima. He had been severely poisoned and is currently in our care. He is still unconscious, so we do not know his name. He is a young archer with golden hair and green eyes. We are treating his wounds and extend our full protection to him until he is fully recovered.
Best regards,
Emperor Katsuki.
The young lord eyed his letter over critically as he checked it for any mistakes or sloppy writing. Satisfied that it was a letter fit for a king, he folded it up and poured red wax on it before imprinting his royal seal.
The young lord eyed his letter over critically as he checked it for any mistakes or sloppy writing. Satisfied that it was a letter fit for a king, he folded it up and poured red wax on it before imprinting his royal seal on it.
"Kenjiro."
A small and slim form stepped out of the shadows and knelt before the emperor.
"Yes, Lord Katsuki. How many I be of service?"
"I need you to take this letter to King Nikiforov in Occidentis."
"Lord Katsuki, I have never been to Occidentis, I do not know where it is."
"I am aware, Kenjiro. Worry not."
"I apologize, Lord Katsuki. What would you like me to do?"
"You will take my best horse and one of my guards with you to the shore. A boat will be waiting for you there to take you across the strait to the land of Occidentis. The guard will accompany you to the island and Azami will be following right behind you. Use him to courier this letter into the castle once it's within sight. We do not yet know if they are friendly toward strangers or not, I do not wish to risk your life."
The young servant bowed his head until it touched the floor.
"Thank you, Lord Katsuki. You are much too kind to this worthless servant."
"Kenjiro, stop that. Look at me."
"Yes, Lord Katsuki."
The young servant raised his head and sat back on his heels as he folded his hands in his lap.
"That's better. Now, my sources tell me that their castle is quite close to the sea. So you won't need to travel far."
"Yes, Lord Katsuki. As you wish."
Lord Katsuki looked eyed his servant critically.
"Are you certain that you can you handle this assignment, Kenjiro? It's a very important one."
The young servant immediately shot to his feet and clenched one of his hands into a fist.
"Yes! Of course, Lord Katsuki! I would do anything for you!"
The lord stepped in close to his servant.
"Kenjiro, you are my best and most trustworthy servant. I have absolute faith in you."
Kenjiro's eyes sparkled at his lord's praise.
"I apologize for having to ask this of you. Normally I would just send Azami, but he too has never been to Occidentis."
"You are the Emperor Lord Katsuki, you do not need to apologize for anything!"
The emperor groaned inwardly. Sometimes Kenjiro's enthusiastic devotion was a bit overwhelming.
"Make the appropriate preparations for the long journey. You shall leave once darkness has fully fallen."
"Kenjiro bowed deeply to his lord before excusing himself and leaving the study."
Having finished his royal duties for the afternoon, the young lord went to check on the young archer. He found Yuuko already in the tent, redressing the young man's wound.
"Greetiings, Yuuko. How goes the recovery?"
"Greetings, Yuri. Well, thanks to you we were able to gain access to his wound. Demon viper venom is awful stuff. I've been working on purifying the wound and packing it with poultice. We're lucky that we got to him when we did. He wouldn't have lasted much longer."
"How did you know where to find him?"
Yuuko's surprise showed clearly on her face.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Yuri. I thought someone had told you already. It was Momiji. She apparently got himself covered in thorns and went to the young man for help. Then she called out to us to come help her new friend."
The young lord was clearly impressed by this new bit of information.
"Momiji deemed him trustworthy enough to approach? Fascinating!"
"Aren't you worried at all about this stranger in our midst, Yuri? We've haven't had any dealings with this clan since the Gods bestowed their power upon us. We both fight for humanity...but we have no idea what kind of people they are. Certainly you've heard the rumors?"
Young Lord Katsuki sighed as he took a seat next to the kitsune maiden.
"Of course I have heard the rumors. Who hasn't? Members of The Ice Dragon Clan are supposedly as cold and unforgiving as the element they represent. 'Brutish, barbaric and unreasonable folk' they say.
"Exactly! I'm not one to turn away anyone who clearly needs help...but we can't let our guard down. We don't know yet what we've brought into our inner circle. If he's an assassin or has assassin friends...your life is in danger!"
The young lord took the kistune's hands into his own.
"It warms my heart that you have such concern for my safety and well-being, Yuuko. I've known you all my life and there is no one else I'd rather entrust it to. But please try to have some faith in your Emperor. I may be kind, but I am neither stupid nor weak. I can more than hold my own in battle and have eyes that can see down to any creature's very soul."
"Oh, Yuri...I didn't mean to imply that you were any of those things...I..."
"I also have great faith in you in your judgment. There is no way you would have brought a dangerous character to our camp. Momiji also would have never approached him had she felt even the slightest hint of evil."
The kitsune maiden gave her Emperor's hands a tight squeeze.
"Thank you Yuri. Your words mean the world to me."
"Worry not. I shall weigh this young man's worth as soon as he opens his eyes. We will certainly know then what we are dealing with."
_index _
Scribo - write (Latin)
Finio - Finish (Latin)
Sbrigare - Italian (quickly/hurry)
Mumei No Shima - 無名の島 Nameless Island
Azami – means thistle. It's the name of Lord Katsuki's eagle