Chapter 3 - And his world burns

The night turned orange as the capital started a parade. Citizens flood the street as they celebrate the first day of the Tourney draws to a close. Most are in a festive mood but not William, as he still insisted on Lenato's shady action.

Eldric shrugs it off and replies that he and Lenato were rivals in their younger days. But, if anything, Lenato wanted his son to avenge him when Eldric defeated him 20 years ago in the Tourney. And to that, he sees this challenge.

William can't stress this enough, but Eldric reassures him that Lenato is kinda like that, a sour loser. The two share a laugh and proceed to eat their dinner.

As they were enjoying their meal, William asked Eldric how he had defeated George. Eldric replied that when he slammed his shield against George, he felt George's leg lose its balance. This was George weakness, and Eldric decided to force George to work against it.

"That's what I said to my grandson before the match but he insisted that my alchemic mixture of vinegar, sugar and cornstarch will solve it. I am grateful you spared him and don't you worry, George's wrist wasn't badly damage." It was the old man that William met in the arena.

"Berg Frosthold!" Eldric stood up and hugged Berg. Eldric was about to introduce Berg to his squire, but Berg smiled and said they met in the arena. Bern complements William's good eye and observation skills.

"Are you sure you want to train under me, William? Your wits and quick thinking is suited under my tutelage compared to my meathead of a grandson." So Berg says jokingly said to William as he pointed to George at the tavern entrance delivering ordered barrels of ale.

Eldric goes with the joke, and William is not having it. Frowning and red, the two knights had a hearty laugh. Finally, after reminiscing their days of adventuring together, Berg says his farewell to the two as he and his grandson leave to complete their delivery to the other taverns on the capital. But before he does, Berg gives a keg to Eldric as a present and invites them to visit Frosthold once the Tourney is over, an invitation that Eldric gladly accepts.

Eldric and William proceed to have a feast. They drank the delicious ale and ate their scrumptious dinner to their hearts' content. Suddenly, Eldric groaned in pain. He started to sweat till he felt feverish. William was about to ask what was wrong, but Eldric said to be quiet and leave immediately.

Eldric nearly collapsed, but William was able to catch him and let Eldric lean on his shoulder. As they left the tavern, Eldric informs William that when they were eating, he noticed the company two tables away from them kept looking over their shoulder and thought that those are knights that want to intimidate him off the tournament, but it seems that isn't case.

William asked why he thought so, and Eldric replied that knights don't poison their competitors. Those aren't their ways. William shivered. Poisoned? How did it not affect him? How Eldric was the only one affected? How his Sense didn't pick this up?

Eldric snaps William back to reality and says to focus and take him to a clinic. William follows his instruction but halts in their tracks and sees the parade is blocking their path as streets are littered with people. Not wanting to waste time, William took the detour via the alley.

Suddenly, two assassins rush behind them as they are in the middle of the alley. William hears the two running towards them. He pushes Eldric to the side and grabs his dagger. William manages to stave off the two assassins' for a while, but the two overwhelm him. A kid is no match for two killers; William knew he could not do this alone. He screams for help, but no one can hear him due to the noise from the parade.

In an unexpected move, Eldric jumps to his feet and stabs one of the assassins in the chest. William then grabbed the assassin's sword and fought the other to a stalemate. Eldric, despite his weakened state, fought on and killed the other killer. Eldric uncloaked the assassin and saw that these were the same people he saw in the tavern.

"I don't know who I pissed off this time but we need to leave the capital now!" Eldric says as he pulls himself together. William wants to take Eldric to a nearby clinic, but Eldric argues that these assassins expected them to move into the alley. They anticipated they wouldn't take the street due to the parade and even manage to poison him. Eldric says this is all calculated and theorizes that if they push further, he is sure assassins will set upon the clinic or worse, the doctor might be in it too.

William felt the dread and the guilt. He was never put in this kind of situation. Before, it was hunting with Eldric, and then it evolved into tackling thieves and muggers, but now assassin.

They carefully thread capital, but their slowed pace started to take a toll as Eldric got weaker by the minute. Finally, as they near the capital gate, they see all the guards by the entrance are killed by a group of assassins.

With no choice, William caused a distraction by grabbing two stones by the ground, striking against each other to spark and set the nearest building on fire. As the fire started to get big, he slammed the doors in the neighbourhood to wake and warn them about the 'accidental' fire. His squire's recklessness angered Eldric, but William ignored his mentor's scream of disappointment as William's distraction worked. The assassins fled the scene, not wanting to be seen near the fire least be blamed for the fire.

They run past the gates, into the stables to grab their horses and ride off to the forest. For an hour, they could rest easy, but they could hear search parties from the assassins are tracking them from a distance. So William released the horses on separate paths to distract their search for them. It eventually bought them some time.

With only the moonlight shining their way in the dark forest, William carries Eldric on his back while feeding him herbs they come across. It wasn't much to cure the poison, but it did negate the pain.

In a moment of solitude, William lays Eldric on the ground says he need to pee. As he placed his hands over Eldric's, he noticed they were drenched in blood. So he checked if Eldric got any stab wound and instead found out that Eldric was secreting blood from his skin.

He walked a few paces away from Eldric and turned towards the tree. He fears for his life and feels powerless to do anything. But then he stopped, and he remembered Eldric's words to him earlier – to focus.

There, his Sense activated like never before. Unknowingly, his will to live, his desperation to save Eldric and his fear fueled his Sense to reach new heights. Earlier, he could detect things a few meters from him. Now, it widens his awareness, and he allowed him to hear even the slightest shift of the leaves.

He suddenly felt a chill in his spine. He felt a third person is breathing above him. He feigns to unbuckle his pants and pretend to pee. Then, he quietly unsheathes his dagger and throws it towards the branches above, hitting the unsuspecting assassin and falling unconsciously to the ground.

William assumed his death was about to loot him, but the assassin's survived the wound. As he woke, his eyes met William's. He turned pale and shouted, "Demon! Get away from me!"

The assassin flailed wildly and as he tried to crawl away from William. He wrestled out of William's grasp, but William acted fast; he grabbed the dagger on the assassin's chest and pushed further till the assassin collapsed.

William wasted no time and began to loot the assassin. He returned to Eldric, was informed of what happened, and showed a letter from the body. Eldric instructed William to open the letter, and there they saw the instructions"' Pentalium' paid for the death of Sir Eldric Tarwood. Mobilize the capital's initiates and kill him tonight!"

Before understanding what they read, William's Sense runs wild as he detects footsteps gathering in their direction. The scream by the assassin alerted the others toward their area. William's eyes run from to side; he detects more than he can count. Hopelessness has taken hold of his heart.

Eldric looked at his apprentice and saw William's green eyes were now scarlet red. Eldric realized the poison had clouded his mind. The poison took its toll, and the herbs are just delaying the inventible.

Despite knowing they won't survive this onslaught, William franticly lifts Eldric from the ground but refuses to run away.

"It's over William." Eldric says. He made up his mind and drew his sword.

William can see it in Eldric's eyes; he will act as bait to let William escape. William disagrees, but Eldric will hear none of it.

Eldric grabbed William's shaking shoulder and hugged him. "We know that I won't able make it. You have proven to me that you have what it takes to be a knight. You are to me."

Eldric pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it in William's hand. "Return this to Princess Chatelaine. With this, she knows I trust you and I hope she will take care of you in my stead."

Eldric grabbed William's face to calm him down. "Fear deters a man from his path. Kill fear with focus. Never forget that William. Don't let your fear win you over."

Tears began to fall. William didn't want to hear this nonsense and insisted Eldric come back with him.

Eldric turned and grabbed his shield. He mustered the last of his strength and yelled to the sky to let every assassin to his area. William rushes back to his side, but Eldric slams his shield against him. It was so strong that it set William flying a few paces.

"If you want to be official knighted, then go back to Tarwood. Wait for me and I will make you one." Eldric kids in the face of death as he begins to walk towards his assassins.

William ran with a heavy heart to leave Eldric alone. But, despite trying his best to hide it, his tears won't stop falling. At this moment, as he reached the edge of the forest to a swamp and he heard distant screams. He realized the worst had come. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

In this moment of weakness and desperation, the word Pentalium rings to his mind. Fiery passion swells within him and burns his sadness. He clenches his teeth as rage and vengeance fuel his will to live.

As he came to, he found himself staring at the pond's reflection and seeing his green eyes turn red. Startled, he rubbed his eyes to see if what he was seeing was true. As he calmed down, his eyes returned to the usual green, and at this moment, he understood why the assassin panicked a while back. And realized that if he can hone his Sense, it will be his greatest weapon. A tool for his newfound desire to avenge Eldric. What more will it become once he is fully trained to be a knight. What more will his power bring him? One thing is sure, closer to Pentalium.

He picked himself up and began his journey home back to Tarwood. He lost Eldric to this Pentalium, and now he muttered this word over and over again. Never letting go of his hate. Never letting go of Eldric's death.