Chapter 357

Late that night,

Vorbuk thought about the words that the elf, Elas, had spoken to him. The elf had seemed worried about General Vulen returning home to Yiven Kingdom. From the expression he had seen there seemed to be risk in General Vulen returning home to his king. The General's actions in making his trade with the Drethia king had been enough to be considered treason against the Yiven Kingdom.

Unable to get the words from Elas out of his mind, Vorbuk decided to take a late night stroll with Prince Leo, Sebastian, and Ashley. The four of them were searching through the ruins of the magic tower. Even though the magic tower had undergone heavy damage the tower still stood strong in the depths of the witch's garden of Drethia Kingdom.

Hallways and rooms were both stained with blood. A heavy scent of death wafted throughout the air making it difficult to breathe. From a glance one could only imagine the horrors that occurred in the magic tower. Every step had to be taken carefully to avoid broken glass from shattered potions and equipment.

A sound of crackling fire could be heard coming from the palm of Leo's hand as he lit a fire for them all to see using his mana, taking a look around he said, "I really do not understand how General Vulen gets around more places then a slave from the red light district."

"Pffft!" Ashley tried to refrain from laughing because of something the prince had said. He did not want to give in to the prince's jokes about General Vulen.

"How many times has he got away from us? Rather then insulting him," Vorbuk maintained his calm as he searched through a mess of old documents that had been partially burned on some countertops that were used for conducting experiments, "I find his determination to survive amazing."

Sebastian remained quiet as he listened to their conversation. Stepping over to Vorbuk he glanced through the papers spread out in front of him. Everything was a mess but it was clear from a glance that anyone could tell the things that were written held information about the brutal experiments that were done on mortals inside the tower.

Vorbuk hesitated when he saw a signature on one of the documents, "It seems even the king of Drethia was involved in the tower's work here."

"After it was destroyed he probably found it too much of a risk to help rebuild the tower. Outsiders would have had more risk at finding out what really happened here." Prince Leo said as he walked over beside them and glanced at the documents.

Vorbuk asked the prince, "I do not understand what is going through the General's mind to do something like this and flee back to Yiven. If he had left things alone he probably could have really become someone usual to me."

"Do you think someone is helping him get around?" Prince Leo asked.

Ashley intervened to say, "That is likely."

"What do you mean?" Prince Leo asked.

"The one who is aiding him from the shadows would likely be the god Chynir." Ashley answered like it should have been obvious to the prince.

Vorbuk ignored their cold glances at each other and spoke to Ashley, "You think Chynir has been using him all along? I thought he was loyal to the ice queen."

"He is known famously for being in love with the ice queen to the point it makes others sick," Ashley explained, "However he has always been obsessed with her. If he thought it meant he could benefit her further he would surely side with the god Chynir. That god would surely do what he could to ensure his pawns were safe until he was done with them."

Ashley saw their silence and asked, "Haven't we already seen how angry he gets when a pawn is taken down?"

"You think he has a deal with the god Chynir just like Pr- King Curtis?" Vorbuk asked him.

"It would seem likely." Ashley replied simply.

Vorbuk thought deeply about General Vulen's situation. It bothered him deeply and there was nothing he could do. He was already close to reaching Drethia's capital. If he wasted time and left for Yiven to look into General Vulen's matter it would delay everything further.

"Master," Ashley said while observing Vorbuk's expression closely, "If he is marked as a servant to one of the gods you would never be able to successfully mark him. You can not overwrite a god's claim on someone's soul. That elf can never be trusted and should be left to his fate. If King Joseph kills the general it would only benefit master."

"How long?" Vorbuk asked all three of them.

Prince Leo asked first as him and Ashley wore confused expressions, "Pardon? How long for what?"

Ashley's face dimmed as he had a feeling what his master was asking.

Sebastian spoke up first, "A few months at most. King Joseph will likely stall in the execution but depending on the pressure of the nobles he could be executed as early as a few days or weeks."

"If he has fallen as far as to running home to Yiven without anyone else helping him..." Vorbuk thought out loud, "I guess you could consider him an abandoned dog at this time?"

"Master-!!!" Ashley wanted to refute him but there was a sudden pain in his chest as he raised his voice.

Master, you can not trust that elf! He wanted to scream at him. Ashley worried that one of these days his master's trust in others would become shattered beyond repair.

"I seem to have a thing for picking up strays these days. We should learn more about the King of Drethia as well but I can not let go of a chance to truly grasp onto someone as useful as General Vulen. Even if he has done so many things- Aha" Vorbuk laughed at the fact of how many times the general had truly worked against him, "He has so many uses that I can not turn him away even if he has done so much damage."

"What about Drethia?" Prince Leo wanted to know what Vorbuk was thinking when they were so close to reaching the capital of Drethia.

"Ashley," Vorbuk pointed to Ashley, "You will head on for the palace and learn what you can about the king. The rest of us will head for Yiven. I think it is time I meet with the Yiven King."

"The pirates aren't going to like the new plans." Prince Leo muttered.

Vorbuk laughed, "I suppose they wont but-!"

BOOMMMM!

The sound of something exploding could be heard as the entire tower shook violently. Everyone did their best to maintain their balance where they stood.

Sebasian stumbled and his back slammed against a glass cabinet behind him. The glass shattered from the impact. Grunting in pain he managed to grab onto the wall to remain standing. Everything had gone so quickly that nobody else seemed to notice as he maintained an appearance as if nothing happened.

Hm? Sebastian noticed Ashley casting a glance in his direction. Perhaps he noticed but Ashley would not say a word about what happened.