"And when he then raised his sword, all were amazed. Though the size of a cricket, his temperament blazed." Alex joyfully cried out as the rest of the gang laughed.
Archer and his righteous sons had returned from their mission in the mountains earlier than expected and were on their way back to Auradon city on their horses. If they made haste, they might even be able to attend the royal cotillion. Archer, Lancelot, Royce, Aden and Alex had been joined by four other soldiers who'd also received their pardon.
At the moment, all group members were laughing about Alex's self-written poem about king Arthur, Archer's father. Even Archer couldn't help but grin every once in a while.
"As had been for told, the young boy was now king. And for who disdained that, this had to sting. But rule alone he could not, he was surely not able. And so, he called on his friends, and built a round table. With a loyal group, of friends at his side, in the fight against evil, he might just turn the tide. He had one more ally, who knew this from that. He was old and grey and wore a funny hat." He said melodiously.
The group cheered, and Lancelot grinned to himself when his master, Merlin, was mentioned.
"Together they fought evil, and defeated it in a blur. Yet none of this would have happened, without Excalibur!" he concluded, which caused the loudest cheer from the group so far. They all clapped, and Alex made some grateful hand gestures.
"Excellent poetry my good friend." Aden said while munging on a piece of meat. "For our next fight we shall let you construct our battle cry."
The rest laughed, but Alex seemed flattered. "I will take you up on that challenge." He said and the two shook hands. "What did you think, Archer? Was it historically accurate?"
Archer smiled. "I wouldn't know, I was never there myself. I've heard my father boast about his accomplishments though and your poem aligns perfectly with that." The group burst out laughing again.
"I really can't wait to see the look on Ben's face when we show up to cotillion." Royce said smiling. "I say we feed him drunk afterwards." The rest of the group laughed.
"Don't count your horses just yet." Lancelot said. "The road is still long."
"Why do you always have to be such a downer, Lance?" Aden laughed. "Brighten up a little, let the boys dream!"
"I prefer to think of myself as realistic." Lancelot replied coolly.
"Don't try to reason with him Aden." Archer said. "The magic has long gone to his head."
"Maybe that's why it's so big." Alex joked which caused the group to start laughing again and one of the soldiers to spit out his drink.
"But really." Archer said. "Realistically, we could make it to cotillion. Won't that be great guys, first night back and it will already be as if they've thrown us a party."
"Why shouldn't they? We are heroes after all." Royce boasted.
"That would have to be the case, they won't be throwing us a party any time soon for our humility." Alex joked.
"The ladies won't know what hit them." Aden said smoothly. "I heard that Audrey is single now."
"Because she just broke up with Ben you idiot." Royce spat. "Maybe I'll go and court Ruby for the evening."
This made Aden sputter. "You stay away from her, she could do much better than some baker's boy with hay on his head."
"Maybe Archer can finally find someone that lives up to his standards?" Lancelot proposed.
"I thought you just said that you were a realist?" Royce joked before everyone started laughing again.
"At least I'm allowed to have standards." Archer added, and Royce started blushing.
The group laughed again, and just when Royce wanted to give an angry reply they were alerted by a yell from the front.
"HALT!" Lancelot, who was leading the group, suddenly yelled, and the group stopped.
Archer quickly looked around but saw nothing heading their way. "What's wrong Lance?" he asked as Lancelot stepped off his horse.
Lancelot kneeled down on the dirt road and inspected the ground. Archer suddenly saw it to; the ground was unmistakably covered in dried blood. He and Aden also descended from their horses and joined Lancelot.
"What happened here?" Aden asked.
"Someone or something has been bleeding here, a lot." Lancelot said.
"Could've just been a deer, or a boar. Maybe attacked by wolves or whatever." Aden said dismissively, though he did look around suspiciously.
Archer looked beyond the blood stain and saw what seemed like a trail. As if whatever had lied on the ground had been dragged away. He followed the trail, which led him to a bush at the side of the road. Behind it, he saw a pair of feet sticking out from a pile of leaves. "Lance!" he yelled, and Lancelot quickly joined his side and kneeled down next to the corpse.
Lancelot moved some of the leaves of the body, and they saw an elderly man with thick glasses and a large wound in his chest. "Stabbed." Lancelot mumbled, "Blead out." He stood back up. "This man was murdered."
A shocked gasp went through the group, who had all joined them at this point.
"How long has he been laying here?" Archer asked Lancelot.
Lancelot examined the wound and the man's face. "My guess is maybe just over two hours, the blood has mostly dried but there's still moisture in his eyes and mouth."
"I know him." One of the extra soldiers, whose name was Rodrick, said. "He is an herbalist. He often came through towns around this area."
"You wouldn't happen to know if he's been around recently?" Lancelot asked hesitantly.
"I wouldn't know." Rodrick answered. "I've been on duty for a couple of months now."
"This man was quite old." Archer said, "My guess is he didn't come here on foot."
"No." Rodrick replied, "He drove one of those small bicycle cars, what are they called again?"
"A rickshaw?" Royce answered.
"Yes!" Rodrick said.
"So, where would the rickshaw be?" Archer asked loudly. "He wouldn't happen to maybe have taken a horse?"
"I'd sincerely doubt that, sir. This man was known for always taking his rickshaw onto markets and such."
"There are some tire tracks here!" Aden said loudly. "They head further down the road."
"Rickshaws don't move fast, especially on these dirt roads." Archer said quickly. "The killer must have taken it, which means he's still nearby!"
The other soldiers immediately jumped into action, quickly getting on their horses again.
"Rodrick!" Archer yelled. "Take the body back to the town and report what has happened. Send some of the fastest riders down this path and have them join up with us later on while we will try to intercept the killer! Also send a message to the nearest town, have them stand on lookout for that rickshaw, should it appear!"
"Yes sir!" Rodrick saluted, and he stayed behind while the rest of the group spurred on their horses and galloped away.