Decoy

At the site of Aden's battle.

About a dozen men wandered around the site of the battle, examining the corpses and the marks left behind from the scuffle. A few meters away a thick-bodied man armed with a halberd stood supervising.

Different from the rest the said supervisor wore a rusty iron breastplate. The item only had its pauldrons left attached to it, looking like it was probably a scavenged from a discarded part of a knight's complete suit of armour.

The breastplate had a large gash from the left pauldron all the way down to the lower right side, as if cleaved by an axe or halberd. Despite the signs of numerous repairs, the item looked to capable of falling off with just the right amount of poking.

Along with the fact that it was absurdly tight on the hulk's body as if one size too small for his huge frame, made the gash appear even more precarious than it already is.

But unlike his armour, the hulk's weapon comparatively was a well-crafted. An iron halberd with a shaft about six feet in length stood upright in his hand.

It had a nine-inch wide axe at the top for cleaving just underneath another nine-inch spear tip perfectly suited for impaling softer targets. All together the impressive weapon stood at nearly 7 feet in height, just barely taller than its user himself

"Boss, We have good news. After inspecting the site, the brothers came to the conclusion that Snailtooth and his men were killed here about a day ago and by just one person." One of the men said jogging towards the halberd wielding hulk.

"One? ONE!? I thought you told me that there were three tracks, how come it's one now."

"DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL!!!!" The hulk said on the in a very angry but subtly insecure voice as he menacingly tightened his grip on the halberd.

"No! no no no no, I meant to say that there were three people but only one fought with them. " The other rogue said hurriedly, backing up to create some distance lest this barbarian cleaves him in half.

"Only one?" The hulk asked in a curious voice. Counting his fingers, he cocked his head sideways in deep thought.

"Yes! Yesyesyesyes, Lord Vlad I, I hmm... I think it was a knight who was probably escorting some nobles." the rogue said nodding his head like a woodpecker before hesitantly adding.

"Hmm..." The one known as Vlad hummed in thought before falling silent for a while, the other rogues all stopped what the were doing in an attempt to stop making noise, not daring in the slightest to interrupt his thought process.

They all patiently stood there, waiting for him to finish thinking. A few minutes later Vlad's eyes brightened.

"HEHEHEHEHE!"

He soon began laughing in his horribly gruff voice.

"Knight Uhn...? I think I killed a few before, they're not so tough." Vlad said smiling derisively. Rubbing the chest plate of the armour he was currently wearing, he reminisced about a not so distant memory.

After thinking for a bit longer his smile broadened even more...

"I wonder what this one would have for me to take after I kill him..." he continued causing the rest of the bandits to feel a trace of sweat on their brows.

"Robbing Knights?" They thought.

"Only Vlad could say something so absurd in this group."

"But he does have such qualifications."

"Hmm, I guess you are right, at least he had once slain a knight despite his suspiciously inefficient or even more likely insufficient mental faculties."

"Even the knight had a look of disbelief up until the point of his death."

"I couldn't believe it myself."

"Hope he does get us killed this time though." Conversing with body signs, the other bandits traded thoughts as Vlad's stood there silently smirking to himself.

"Lo-lo-lord Vlad, I-i want to go back to the base to-to inform Lord Reamus about our findings." The rogue from earlier stammered out.

"Ehn? Do what you want. Leave me alone." Vlad waved off the bandit.

"Uhmm... I should I request for reinforcements? " The rogue asked hesitantly.

"Reinforcement? For what I alone am enough for one puny knight, tell Uncle Reamus that I Vlad the impaler will deal with it!"

Although it sounded highly arrogant, the possibility of Vlad needing reinforcement for a single knight was highly improbable in the hearts of the surrounding bandits.

They had all seen how dangerous he can be in a fight and have even witnessed him slay one of those famed killers before, so with this thought in mind, the rogue didn't try to convince him otherwise. Quietly he took off eastwards to their temporary campsite to relay the message back to base.

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Stonehelm Harbor

South of the fallen capital of Algrim, Greystones.

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Three people rode hurriedly towards the harbour town, although many people, merchants and common folk alike visit this harbour to leave the subcontinent Diyias this group looked peculiarly different from the rest.

For one, the two at the back of the group who wore veils whilst riding valiant steeds breed for the Royal stables. Their dresses were regal and clearly inferred that they were members of the nobility.

The leader of the company was a man riding a black horse a lot similar to Aden's and he also had a greatsword strapped to his waist.

Wherever they went they were bound to attract attention.

While there was nothing wrong with a company of a knight and two noblewomen riding past since it was a common practice for minor nobles to travel under the protection of knights...

The problem was with the leading knight's emblem. Wearing a black suit of armour their was the image of an armoured Griffin etched on his armour's chest plate.

Almost everyone in Algrim, even the commoners are aware of the fact that the armoured Griffin is the family emblem of the von Greifenberg household.

Ever since the "Great Rebellion," Aden's signature suit of armour had been made famous and feared far and wide throughout the seven kingdoms. The acts of valour he exhibited in defending the kingdom increased his fame, Quickly transforming his alias, the Dark Griffin into a household name known to all in Udoris.

Tales were told about him, songs were written about him, even plays were based on him. Aden had long since been upheld as a legend known to all, and despite many not having ever seen his face they upheld him as a role model to emulate.

So seeing the full body armour etched with the von Greifenbergs emblem and the greatsword strapped to his waist forced many simple-minded individuals to assume that this knight was the rumoured legendary Dark Griffin.

People soon began to speculate from the invasion fleet, the siege and the sight of a fleeing 'Aden' and who they assumed should be the queen and princess that the capital of Algrim, that Greystones had being conquered.

Although they hadn't seen it for themselves and the news had begun not spreading yet among the common folk since the battle just ended, the fact that Algrim was under siege had long since spread.

Though the news spread much more rapidly among higher members of nobility via carrier pigeon, and slower amongst most common folks and peasants since they don't have access to such luxuries they still could only make wild guesses and estimates using common sense in regards to the ongoing war.

Soon news began spreading that the queen and princess were fleeing under the protection of the Dark Griffin.

But while 'Aden' was recognized from his armour and weapon, recognizing the 'Queen and Crown princess' was more of an educated guess.

It was popular knowledge that the king is believed not to leave his family's safety in the hands of anyone other than his sworn brother, while also Lord Aden is not obliged to personally escort anyone else in the kingdom other than the royal family being the king's sworn brother.

Even if Aden was exiled from the capital to guard the border everyone still gave due respect to the legend who managed to earn the king's heartfelt respect and even more remarkable slain a thousand men during the Great rebellion.

But what everyone else didn't know was, while they were right about Aden escorting Iris and Irina away from the capital, they were wrong about almost everything else.

If someone who personally knew Aden looked at the 'Aden' here, even without seeing his face they would immediately notice that while this one was using a claymore it was totally different from the one Aden normally used and the horse was definitely not Aden's famed mount Black Betty.

Even the women were impostors disguised as the queen and princess, although they were dressed up in regal clothes they didn't possess the demeanour and aura consistent with true royalty.

The trio were decoys arranged by Leonard to draw the attention of search parties away from the real queen and princess in order to buy them more time to escape.

They had been instructed to gather as much attention as possible, laying down a trail that can be easily followed, before disappearing so as to confuse their pursers.

They rode through a few more towns, stopping just before nightfall on a dirt trail just between two towns.

In the woods just a few minutes from the harbour town they stopped among the shrubs to avoid being seen as the three ditched their disguises revealing their true identities.

A chiselled man with green hair and two average looking blondes stood looking at the pile of luxurious garments lying at their feet.

Expressionless, the knight took out a flint, setting the garment ablaze on a wet clearing amongst the forest litter. the women watched on with pained emotions as the expensive garments burned to a smouldering crisp.

"Here is your reward, the king thanks you for your final service." The man said tossing the women two lumpy looking pouches.

They opened it and the sight of dozens of gems and expensive jewellery direct from the royal treasury entered their sights. Involuntarily they let out elated giggles as they measured how substantially their wealth had grown.

There was enough wealth in pouches for each of the women to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

"There should be a ship heading to Ivonne at the harbour, board it as soon as possible and leave this place quickly for your own safety. "

"Thank you." Both women said with gratitude before scurrying away happily.

The unknown man looked away from their receding figures, towards the north where the capital laid before letting out a sad sigh.

"I hope you survive my king," he mumbled walking away.