A FOREBODING BANNER

With a fiery hair, dyed crimson, he walked in with poise and an unfaltering determination.

Equipping a polished armor with a pauldron made of red dragon scales. A rune sword hung on his back, with a red pulsating orb, radiating at the center of the handle that made it seemingly alive. It was a masterpiece of craftmanship.

He donned a red regal cape, with sun-ring symbols emblazened intricately on the fabric. The equipment was adorned only by esteemed personnel, and Leon certainly carried himself like one. 

With an unwavering gaze, he examined everyone present in the room.

There was a slight pause when his eyes and Yel's met, as if they were trading probing words in silence. 

It's easy to give a rousing speech, when one's presence alone, provides an abundance of motivation for the audience. Leon could walk in and out of this room, without offering a single word, and many would die for him when battle comes. 

He was not a saint, but he exuded saintly confidence. That, was the impression Yel deciphered from his piercing glares that felt as if he was peering into your very soul.

Folding his arms, lifting his chin up; then with a voice that demanded to be listened to, he spoke.

"I'll keep this briefing short. The duke is transporting a priceless item to Saint Michloe's chapel, on the other side of the Malign forests"

He gave a short pause to let the prospect of going through the dangerous forest, sink in, before carrying on. Everyone including Klein was wholly attentive, understanding this was no time for jokes.

"Our job is to make sure it gets there in one piece. Failure is out of the options. If you can't keep up, we will leave you behind" his words were sincere, this statement especially so.

"The idea is to make this mission straightforward, so if you do as instructed, you shall be rewarded.. Stella will talk strategy." He said, then nods to Stella, giving her permission to take over.

Then over to Al, made a silent gesture. He wanted Al to join him on the way out.

"We set off in 60 minutes. That is all" Leon concluded and with that, turned around to leave.

His regal cape followed through for dramatic effect, as Al joined him on the way out.

As the echoes of his footsteps faded away into silence, the entire room felt a huge weight lifted off their shoulders as they quietly muttered among themselves the splendor of what they've just experience.

However, this was extremely short-lived as Stella stepped forward, a soft light glowed on her staff drawing the attention of everyone as she called out.

"Alright everyone, your attention please" her voice resonated across the room, as she pulls up a map on a nearby white board in the room.

"There's only one path from Reinvelle to saint Michloe's chapel traversable by land. It runs through the grasslands of Reinvelle, beyond the Malign forest, and across the bridge that borders Duke Rave's domain and the ouskirts of the main city, Lukemia" Stella said tracing the path on the map.

"The obvious obstacle would be traversing Malign forests. With it's treacherous pathways and sneaky wild and deadly beasts, we'll have to be careful in our approach. The beastkin do not take kindly to disturbances in the forests, so the key would be to limit, or misdirect the origin of any said disturbance" said Stella as she turned back to the party.

"That said, there's no reason to panic. The team here is more than sufficient to get through this mission unscathed, so long as we all fulfill our roles efficiently"

Her voice provided an overflowing degree of reassurance for the party, as she went through the part each and everyone in the team would play.

If Leon demanded respect, Stella demanded admiration.

With a strategy so sound, everyone was already in celebratory mode once she concluded, despite the mission not having started.

"I'm delighted everyone is in accordance with the plan. However, do bear in mind, the beastkin are unpredictable beings, so I'll remind you all to stay alert, even if things appear to be going swimmingly"

This warning served as a much needed reminder to the party, to remain grounded, it's never a done job until the report papers signs it so. 

"So, in the absence of any questions, I shall inform Leon of the mission plans. Until it's time to depart, I leave you to your devices" With that said, Stella bowed gracefully, and exited the room.

As if on queue, Klein chimed in.

"*whistles*, boy! were those guys hardcore or what!?"

"Shut up you!" Luche gave him a light playful knock on the head as some of the others in the room shared a small laugh to lighten the mood.

"Hahaha well considering even you were all ears for the briefing Klein, I must say the members of Grimstone banner are nothing if not admirable" said an impressed.

"A given for any named Rank A party. With Al acting as their eyes and watcher, Stella playing a major role in strategy and support, and Leon as their indomitable leader, Grimstone Banner currently ranks 5th, in the Adventurers revered 10" Luche gave the team an update on the named party standings.

"Whoa! They've climbed that high!? last time I checked they were 9th!" Klein said to his surprise. 

"That was 2 years ago dummy! you really should refer to the guild book more" Luche said. 

"Yeah that's a far cry Luche. We all know Klein and books don't really see eye to eye" Yel followed. 

"I swear Yel, whatever are we to do with him? To think Tilla could potentially have their very first Holy Knight and it just had to be Klein of all people" Luche said shaking her head in frustration. 

"Eh, You guys stress the unnecessaries too much" Klein waves away their complains as he starts walking towards the door.

"Besides, now I get what you meant by this job being all but worth it Luche. With Grimstone Banner here, might as well kick off the festivities hahaha" Klein was in a buoyant mood on his way out.

Then he paused by the door. "You guys wanna join me for a drink before go time?" Klein offered

Luche sighs before responding - "might as well; not like there's much left to do, aanndd as long as we're drinking off your tab, it should go a long way to getting your off the tavern quickly"

"ahhh lovely Luche, you nay comprendre. For you see, the more we owe, the more we tend to drink"

Klein was quick to turn the tables on Luche's plan, she was clearly annoyed.

"Well in that case I'll be there to ensure you don't go too far!!" she insisted. 

"Hahaha oh please, we both know you're much a drinker as I" 

"Yeah yeah hold that thought. Yel dear, you coming? Perhaps...I could get drunk, and... you could get lucky?" she asked, turning towards Yel, virtual signalling her intentions.

Yel shook his head and let's put a smile.

"Tempting, but not at the moment I'm afraid. There's something I want to clarify about my role with Stella"

"Hehe I suppose another time then. We'll be at the tavern, meet us there when you wrap up" Luche said catching up with Klein.

"Sure thing" Yel nodded

Luche and Klein made it out of the room, picking from where they left off with their conversation. Then Yel contemplated his next move.

"I may have criticized Klein before, but I haven't been hitting the books of late either, to think Grimstone's Banner is now 5th instead of 9th in the rankings, casts a whole different view on this mission" 

Yel was starting to truly consider the sketchy details of this job. 

"For a job that's clearly beneath the rank of such an accomplish party, why did they vie for the slot...or did they already have this slot given to them by the duke himself..."

Then Yel's mind strayed back to Ema's worry and their discussion before. 

"what do you think Ema, about the job?"

"I... I'm not sure. Still sounds like a sketchy job for me. I mean, why would the Duke open up 4 slots for a job that's suppose to be 'simple'?"

Yel thoughts weren't getting him anywhere, instead, they weighed heavy, and fearing it could affect his performance, he thought it wise to curb the matter before it's too late. 

"Thinking won't get me anywhere; Instead these conflicting thoughts could hold me back. I should confront them about this while we still have time" 

Yel left the room, in search of Stella.

Outside the guildhall

Yel search took him outside, as he looked around to see if he could find any signs of Stella or her team.

Then the sun reflected a light to his eyes from the far left. Quickly, he deduced the origin and found Stella just leaving a room. 

"hmm...what was she doing in the client's room?" Yel headed to her direction. "Informing them of our strategy perhaps?"

As Yel was approaching the room, he saw Al stepping out too. 

"hm!?" He made a sharp turn to hide himself, while maintaining distance enough to pick out any discussion between the two. 

"You secured the stones?" Al said in a low voice. 

"Yes. They should be adequate in case the shadow walkers intervene" Stella responded in kind, they're keeping their discussion secret. Yel couldn't get them clearly.

He had to risk it and move further in, while concealing his presence.

"Alright Al, I'll go get the carriage ready. Please ensure our lady isn't disturbed" Stella ordered.

Al nods and stands guard, while Stella turns around to find Yel just a few steps away from her. She was startled.

"Ah Shepherds! you scared me!" 

Yel raised his hand in apology 

"Forgive me, I half expected you to have picked up on my presence already"

A convenient lie. Curious what they were talking about, he snuck close and managed to pick out the last statement without them noticing, but that's all he heard.

Al gave him a curious and suspecting look before Stella took control of the situation.

"That's quite alright. So Yel Arki was it? What you brings you here?" she asked.

"umm...yeah, I had some concerns...about the mission?" 

"Oh! would you like to go over our strategy? or perhaps your role in it? We can always talk in the party room"

Stella said wanting to carry on her way but Yel interrupted. 

"No-no, not strategy, it's um-ummm..." Yel was nervous.

He didn't expect to be, but these were A rankers - a named party, 5th in the revered 10, he couldn't help but admire them. So he didn't want to trouble them with something he feared could be trivial. 

But then, he lets out a heavy breath to calm himself, and then posed his question.

"Excuse me, but...why is Grimstone Banner...bothered about this mission? It seems way beneath your standing so much I find myself distracted, by thoughts there is more to this quest than just a simple escort job"

Yel started nervously and ended strongly, much to Stella's surprise.

Al however remained composed but Yel was certain he saw just a tinge of a smile formed on his lips.

Then Stella smiled and strengthens her grip on her staff.

"Interesting, it seems we had a thinker in our midst after all" 

"You mean!?" Yel wanted to push his query but then was stunned by what happened next.

Stella's smile quickly shifted from charming to malicious. 

"A shame, I didn't think I'd have to do this here"

Yel could feel the atmosphere had changed, her golden staff was emitting a blinding glow, and the pressure was fully directed at him, he could feel it.

"This is not good" thought Yel, as things weren't looking up.

This wasn't just any ordinary glow, it was terrifying, it felt fatal.

He wanted to step back but his arms got locked behind his back, held together by Al, which immediately turned to a choking hold.

Yel could not move anymore, he was stuck. He didn't see Al leave the door, perhaps because of the blinding light. 

"urgh!" he's struggling to break free as the light grows bigger and bigger, as he's sweating bullets. 

"Tsk, I can't let it end like this...done by my...stupid curiosity..." Yel is cursing his luck, things were looking grim as Stella's glow was fully lit.

"I'm sorry it had to come this, but I suppose we will have to do the mission without you"

Stella said as she slowly directed the light on her staff towards Yel's forehead, the pain was slowly building up already as he screamed

"Ahhhh!" Yel cried out...