The path of Unity

Chapter One - Finding the young child

Laughter could be heard in the distance, there was a hooded man standing at the end of the street, wearing a long brown cape that was large enough to cover his entire body. The rain was coming down heavy, but the man could hear the laughter coming from the local tavern. There were houses lining both sides of the street he noticed as he made his way towards the noise. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted multiple people covering their windows so that he could no longer see into their homes. The response he received did not bother him, he continued towards his destination.
The tavern’s personal guard sat next to the doorway, the dagger glinting in the light spilling from the doorway, a clear warning flashing against his dark clothes to all of those thinking of causing trouble in the establishment.
“Welcome to the Rat’s Nest. They serve the best ale in all of Glassmarsh, come on in and enjoy.” The guard greeted the hooded man with a mild tone of voice, contradicting his appearance.
As the hooded man took a step towards the tavern door, the guard stopped him with a simple raise of the hand as he stood, blocking the man’s entrance.
“Before you enter, you must leave all weapons out here with me.” The guard said while looking at the hooded man from head to toe.
“I don’t think so.” Stated the hooded man while pulling out a pendant showing a five-pointed star, a war hammer could be seen in the centre of the star.
“do you know what this is?” the hooded man questioned the guard.
“It is a pendant that the followers of unity carry with them at all times.” The guard said while looking closely at the symbol.
“Very good Now, do you know what the symbol in the centre means?”
“It is the symbol of the warrior class within the order. Please proceed, but as I cannot take your weapons, please do not draw them.” The guard stated, shock written over his face as he moved away from the doorway. Without another word or glance shared between the two men, the hooded man entered the tavern.
Upon entering the establishment, the hooded man was welcomed with the smell of ale and cooked meats. The tavern was busy with a crowd of people dancing and singing while they drink, he could see many men trying to catch the eye of the bar maids. He watched as one man gulped his ale before attempting to grab a passing maiden, who took no time to reject his advances with a swift slap to the face. The young woman walked away while the man was rubbing his face in shock over what has just occurred, a group of men around him began to point and laugh over the situation they had witnessed.
The hooded man scanned the room, looking over the many lights upon the walls, the oil paintings of people he did not recognise, until he spotted the Unity star ornament that had been placed with care. The man looked at it with a face full of disgust as he noticed that it was not the symbol he first thought it was, there was something off-putting about it.
“A fake, a mockery to the order.” He spat while looking at the symbol.
The man’s eyes then moved onto a well-groomed bartender with golden hair, he was dressed in what could only be described as the tavern’s uniform, although it was still clean which was an odd sight to see. He made his way over to the bartender, dropping a velvet pouch of silver coins upon the bar.
“I’m trying to find someone, maybe you could be of assistance”. He stated while scanning over the patrons of the tavern.
“Aye, and who might that be?” the bartender responded with a thick southern accent.
“A young boy.” The hooded man said as he leaned in towards the other man.
“A young boy?” the bartender queried, looking at the hooded man with a wary expression.
“Yes, a young boy by the name of Jacob Hout. He must be around the age of nineteen now.” He stated as he watched the reaction of the bartender. He shook his head, almost as to wipe the shocked expression of his face. However, it was too late, the hooded man has seen his eyes shoot to the left of his cloaked figure.
The man turned away from the bartender, towards the direction that the man had looked, there he found a young man, his head face-down on the table. He put his hand on the young boy’s shoulder to shake him awake, with a panicked and dazed look in his eyes, the boy jumped off of the seat he had been occupying almost falling to the floor.
“What’s happening? Who are you?” The boy asked while taking a defensive stance, almost like he was ready to turn tail and run given a moments notice.
“Are you Jacob Hout?” The man asked while peering into the young boy’s face, seeing past the mop of black hair that was hiding part of his face, a small pale scare could be seen just below his left eye.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. Depends on who is asking.” The young boy said with an almost sneer to his voice.
“Jacob, you have been summoned by the five points. I need you to come with me.” The hooded man said whilst eying the boy, watching to see if he understands what is being asked of him.
“Hey barman, hit me again.” Jacob shouted towards the bartender while holding up his hand, signalling that he wanted another tankard of ale.
“If you do not learn my name, I will hit you with the mug of ale. You have been coming here for the past three years, learn it and I will serve you. The bartender stated calmly as he filled the tankard with ale while raising an eyebrow at the young boy.
“Jacob, it’s concerning your father.” He hooded man spoke solemnly.
“Did that fool at the door tell you that this is the best ale in all of Glassmarsh? It looks like piss, smells like piss, but tastes surprisingly good, almost fruity, very off.” Jacob interrupted while looking at the tankard that the bartender had pushed towards him. He too another sip while re-focusing on the hooded man.
“Jacob, this is important, it is regarding you father.” He stated again, getting more and more agitated by the boy.
Jacob took a breath as he pulled the tankard away from his mouth, wiping his face with the back of his hand, he looked at the man with a serious expression, his eyes expressing the pain he feels every day.
“My father is dead; he went missing three years ago and no one has heard or seen him since.” He said, ending his sentence by staring into the ale clutched in his hand.
“Yes, he disappeared, but he is far from dead my boy. One of the points of Unity has foreseen that he is alive and searching for something.” The hooded man responded.
“Which point has seen my father?” Jacob questioned the man, sobering up quickly at the mention of his father being alive after all this time.
The man’s head lowered at the boy’s question, his voice changing to match the sympathy he felt.
“The point of death. That is why I need you to come with me.” He replied, watching the pain once again fall over the boy’s eyes, like a veil. As Jacob opened his mouth to respond, there was a loud yell from the doorway of the tavern.
“HOUT!”.