ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

Chapter 112 HIDDEN AGENDA

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Doran sat in his dimly lit study, the air thick with tension. The fire in the hearth crackled softly casting flickering shadows on the stone walls. His fingers drummed impatiently on the wooden table as he awaited word from his henchmen. The plan had been simple-eliminate Kaelen and his companions swiftly and silently. Yet, the silence stretched on, and his nerves grew more agitated by the minute.

Crrrrr!

A creak at the door broke the stillness, and one of his henchmen entered, his face pale and his steps hesitant. Doran's sharp eyes locked onto the man, sensing the bad news before a word was spoken.

"Well?" Doran demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

The henchmen swallowed hard, standing rigidly at attention. "My Lord, Kaelen and his group... They've fled the town."

Doran's expression darkened instantly, his fists clenching on the table. "Fled? How? You were supposed to take care of them tonight!"

The henchmen stammered under the weight of Doran's furious gaze. "T-the others went to kill them, but they were intercepted. They didn't make it. It seems someone else was protecting them."

Doran stood up abruptly, his chair scraping across the floor. His eyes blazed with anger as he took a step toward the trembling henchmen. "Intercepted? By whom?"

The henchman shook his head, his voice barely a whisper. "We... don't know. But Kaelen and his friends escaped the night."

Doran's rage erupted as he slammed his fists down on the table, sending papers flying. "Fools! I gave you all simple orders and you failed me!"

The room seemed to tremble under the weight of his fury. He paced back and forth, his mind racing. He had underestimated Kaelen, but now it was personal. He would not allow them to escape his grasp so easily.

After a few tense moments, he stopped, his voice cold and commanding. "Send out every man we have. I don't care what it takes- find them. Dead or alive, I want them brought to me."

The henchman nodded hurriedly, eager to escape the room before Doran's temper flared again. "Yes, Chief. I'll see to it immediately."

As the man left to carry out his orders, Doran stared into the flickering flames of the fire, his mind swirling with dark thoughts. He couldn't afford to let Kaelen and his group slip away. Not when they posed such a threat to the very existence of the town, especially Kaelen.

But just as Doran was making a determined decision in his mind, the group had already been traveling for hours, putting as much distance between themselves and the town as possible. The night sky loomed above, stars twinkling in the distance as their only witnesses. The air was cool, but tension still clung to their group, lingering after the chaotic escape from Chief Doran's assassins.

Kaelen, Morris, Guinevere, Ethan, Sofia, and Eldric marched on in relative silence, the weight of recent events hanging heavily over them.

As they passed through a narrow forest path, Morris finally broke the silence, his voice cutting through the night air. "Alright, Eldric, it's been bothering me since you showed up. Why were you stalking us this whole time? And why didn't you help when we were dealing with that Illusory Bloom incident?"

The sun, now rising, cast a warm golden glow across the water, and the scent of salt filled the air. The group came to a stop at the edge of a beach, its white sand stretching out for miles.

"Finally, we finally arrived at the beach" Guinevere said, breathing in deeply. "It's been forests and towns for days."

Sofia looked out over the ocean with a small smile. "It's beautiful."

Ethan pointed ahead. "Look there—an old port."

In the distance, they could see a series of crumbling wooden piers jutting out into the sea. An abandoned port, its structures weathered by years of neglect, sat eerily quiet. Seagulls circled overhead, but the place seemed untouched by human hands for a long time.

"That's strange," Kaelen muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Why would a port like this be abandoned? There's no sign of life anywhere."

"Probably long forgotten," Morris speculated. "Or cursed, knowing our luck."

Eldric, standing a bit apart from the group, kept his gaze on the horizon. "Cursed or not, it looks like the perfect place to find a boat that will get us across this sea"

Kaelen nodded in agreement. "We should check it out, but we need to stay alert."

As the group began making their way toward the port, moving along the shoreline, Kaelen couldn't shake the uneasy feeling settling in his gut. Something about the quiet was off, as though they were being watched. His hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword, his senses on high alert.

Unbeknownst to them, hidden in the cover of trees not far from the beach, Doran's men had spotted their movement. Several pairs of eyes tracked Kaelen and his companions, noting their position along the shoreline.

One of the scouts, a grizzled man with a scar running down his cheek, leaned over to his companion, whispering, "That's them. Doran will want to know right away."

His companion nodded, slipping back into the woods to report to their leader.

The scout remained hidden, continuing to observe Kaelen's group as they moved toward the abandoned port. He smirked to himself, already imagining the reward Doran would offer for bringing in Kaelen and his friends, dead or alive.

Back on the beach, Kaelen's unease grew. He glanced at Morris and whispered, "Stay sharp. Something feels off."

Morris nodded, his hand resting on his own weapon. "You think we're being followed?"

Kaelen's eyes scanned the distant treeline. "Maybe. I can't be sure, but it wouldn't hurt to stay prepared."

Guinevere, hearing the exchange, moved closer, her voice calm but serious. "We should scout ahead and check the port. If there's trouble, I'd rather face it on our terms."

"Agreed," Kaelen replied. "Let's move quickly."

With the group on high alert, they picked up their pace, heading toward the abandoned port, unaware that Doran's men were closing in from behind.