Thornblade Chronicles - Volume 1

Chapter 5

"Should we begin our meeting while we eat?" asked Devon, who had picked up a sandwich.

"We can," Charles looked to his guild members for their approval. Despite being the leader, he wanted decisions like this to be influenced by everyone. Sarah nodded while Eli shrugged.

"The sooner we start, the sooner we can start this adventure!" Albert cheered, picking up a grape and trying to toss it into his mouth. He missed.

"Very well," Charles chuckled at his failure. "As we know, the Great Revolt failed in this kingdom. We know a Mienard can be beaten by another who has an enchantment similar to Eli's."

"Ensorome Victra," Devon mumbled.

"Precisely. Unfortunately, Eli is the only one of us who has it," he explained. "Until now, our only hope was to wait until a Mienard, such as Eli, showed up."

"Enchanting our gear is not as simple as engraving the same markings into your swords, right?" Albert inferred.

"Correct. The swords require a special item to become enchanted. Our informant has discovered an item exists in a dormant fire mountain that will allow us to enchant our weaponry."

"A fire temple? Our quest is in the Craglands?" Devon's eyes lit up.

"Not quite. The Craglands contain too many fire mountains, and we do not have the time to search through every one of them. As nothing can grow there, we would starve before finding the correct one. Rather, our informant found an artifact tied to the fire mountain. Her information will help us to locate it."

"Could she not have gone to that location herself to retrieve the artifact?" asked Albert.

"No. Our informant is not a fighter, and she claimed the artifact is heavily guarded. She could not get close to the area without guards noticing."

"So it is up to us to get in and find the artifact. That sounds fun," Devon smiled. Albert chucked another grape in the air, this time successfully catching it in his mouth.

"Fun? Yes. But what creatures are we facing? We do not know all of Eli's enchantments. A fire beast may be difficult to take on, and a stone monster could be annoying," Albert retorted.

"The artifact is in the mountain range close to where Eli awoke," Charles explained. "The creatures we will have to fight on the way are likely weaker Sopala. The creatures guarding the artifact itself, however, are of the Dark Lord's creations," Charles sighed. The guild members traded glances.

"How wonderful," Albert grumbled. "He will know when we take them out. He will discover somebody is plotting to attack him, and he will kill us all."

"Not necessarily," Sarah started. "If he had known what the artifact is, he would have it destroyed, or at least he would have taken it for himself. Would he not?"

"But why guard it?" asked Eli.

"Out of concern that it could be a threat, perhaps? Or possibly, he could not understand the artifact, so he sent creatures to uncover its secrets? Multiple heads are better than one."

"Or he is waiting for a guild like us to uncover the artifact for him," offered Devon. "We could be playing into his hands."

"Hold on a moment. If your informant was capable of finding this information, what is stopping the Dark Lord from finding that same information?" asked Albert.

"Our informant spends little time in one kingdom. She heard of this artifact from one of the other kingdoms who successfully overthrew the Mienard in charge but failed to name which one. When the Dark Lord attempted to cut off all contact with the outside world, he prevented himself from learning this information."