Chapter 1
Tired, desperate, and heartbroken, these were the only words to describe Travis as he haphazardly traversed the vast Calling Forest. The knights from his kingdom were on the hunt for him and he knew all too well why.
His Uncle, the standing King, had revealed a dark secret about the truth of his birth. With his father sick and bedridden, there was no one who could stand as his defense against the sudden revealing.
In the Calling Forest, thick vine covered trees sit among the inner most parts of the forest. With his quick thinking, Travis hides deep underneath the dense appendages, praying that the strolling knights not notice his presence.
Footsteps pass him with loud rustling and pattering through the grass. Moments soon go by as he goes unnoticed by the fleeting patrol of guards. It seemed as if his fate was finally changing for the better.
Now with his breath abate after the short rest. Travis begins to make his way out of the cluster of vines that created an opportunity to evade his pursuers. Barefooted and with nothing, save the dried blood stained shirt he wears and the shorts that have fallen to tatters, he frantically claws his fingers through each small opening among the curtain-like surface.
Without warning, a sharp silver dagger suddenly cuts through the vines and slits between the webbing of his index and middle finger, just as he tries to get out.
Hot blood pours from his wound and begins to slowly trickle down the purple locks of the tree. Travis holds his breath to control the pain that would otherwise cause him to flinch. In this moment, hope was all that he had left. Hope, that the owner of the dagger would overlook the obvious clue to his placement behind the vines.
As if to mock this hope, the dagger is pulled out, and he soon hears the familiar noise of approaching footsteps that accompany the assailant with the dagger.
“Come on out.” a voice commands through the lengthy cluster of plants. “Come out now before we have to cut you out.” it continues. Travis pulls along the vines and peeps through as he makes his way out.
A masked person, wearing a red cloak stands before him. Their mask a yellow gold with a dark purple lining around the eye holes that were shaped like those of an owl.
Behind them stand a group of men that number between thirty and fifty. All men that are covered in a mixture of furs, hides and armor.
“Is this him?” the Masked One speaks out and ask, questioning their subordinate who steps forward. This beige skinned young man with short brown hair, dressed in a black stripped turtle-neck, who seems out of place from the others, nods in agreement.
“Tie this one up!” the Masked One shouts to the small crowd behind them. “No further harm is to come to him. He’s our ticket into favor with the Kingdom of Hearth.”
Travis’s eyes widen as the men approach, making his plea. “Please, I beg of you—hear me out!” The Masked One turns to their pleading bounty. “I hate it when the prizes talk.”
“Please!” Travis begs once more. “I am the named Prince of the Hearth. I can and will give you anything you want from the Kingdom! Just, please help me!” he yells as loud as his body allows.
The Masked One grabs Travis by his thick kinky hair, slams his face to the ground and runs it through the grass until it has rubbed into the soil below as they are crouched with him. The group watches with smirks on their faces; holding back laughter.
“Alright… If what we want is the kingdom. Can you give that to us?” the Masked One ask after pulling the young man’s head back up. Travis nods as the soil bits fall from off of his face with the motion.
The Masked One draws their face closer to his. The young man stares at them, seeing the distorted reflection of himself in the golden mask. “And if what I desire is the throne. Can you promise it to me?” they ask him.
He nods once more and replies. “By whatever means that is possible of myself; you will have a throne in the kingdom. Just please…help me reclaim it first.”
The Masked One dust the soil from off of Travis’s face with heavy slaps using the back of their hand and stands to their feet.
A cloak is carelessly thrown from the Masked One onto Travis’s head. He shuffles through the cloak and looks up at the figure of the person who moments ago scrubbed his face through the earth.
With the cloak removed, their body and shape are made visible. There, before Travis, were curves that started right below the Masked One's ribs down to their thighs. For a short moment, the lovely full figure captures Travis’s attention.
“Sounds tempting… You’re coming with us. So don’t get any ideas about running.” the subordinate threatens as he looms above Travis with a satisfied smile. The young man rises to his feet and clinches his hand into a fist; slowing the bleeding from the injury caused by his captor.
Night arrives…
The small band of bounty hunters set up camp on the outskirts of the Calling Forest where the trees aren’t covered in vines. Travis sits on a stone staring at the dancing flames of the campfire and begins to ponder what had led to his current events.
He was fortunate to escape the knights in the forest. Even more so fortunate to have escaped the castle. This made him think to himself; how long would this luck last?
The Masked One walks past Travis and sits next to him on an individual rock. “For now, I’m going to hold you to your promise. First thing is to get you back to the Kingdom to reclaim it, then it’s all ours.” the Masked One remarks.
Travis turns to them after glancing around the camp. “Was this all of the men you have to accomplish the task ahead? You don’t have nearly enough man power to handle the entire Kingdom worth of knights…” he adds.
The Masked One scoffs and plucks up blades of grass from the ground. “You don’t know who we are, do you? My men and I, are more than enough to handle your pitiful lot of knights!” the Masked One boast as they release the grass into the fire.
“I’d be a lot more worried about myself, if I were you. Who knows? We might just hand you over once we arrive. Save ourselves the trouble…” the Masked One says as their eyes peer over at Travis.
“So, don’t go getting your hopes up, yet. I know those knights we passed were hunting you. For as far as I can read you. You’re more useful as a bargaining chip at best.” the Masked One explains harshly.
Travis grabs onto the hood of the cloak and pulls it over his head. “I can imagine that that'll be more use than I actually am, but thank you for hiding me.” he says from under the hood while ignoring the threats.
“You know, I’ve got to wonder about the obvious, with the knights from your kingdom chasing you and all…” the Masked One continues. “Just how much have you fallen out of favor with your father, Sir Prince?”
Travis clinches his eyes shut and gasps tightly. When he opens them again, he begins to stare deep into the fire before him. The Masked One sniffs around and rises to their feet. “Do you smell…burning flesh?” they openly ask him.
A bright flickering light slowly approaches the encampment from amid the trees. To the surprise of everyone there, the approaching light is one of the bounty hunters set ablaze. His thick hide armor flakes away as bit of it are charred.
The man’s screams are let out as muffles of agony due to being gagged by a rock far too wide for his mouth.
He walks closer to his comrades; all of which are horrified by the flesh melting from his body. The man reaches out for help as he finally collapses to the grass below in the smoldering remains of the dying flames.
The masses all turn from the man that is bound for death, readying their weapons upon hearing the approaching clanking of armor; bracing for the coming battle.
“Look at that. The perfect opportunity to show the prince our might as the finest hunters in the realm. Leave only two of them alive. A very interesting scheme just came to my mind!” the Masked One shouts out and order to their men.
The Masked One grabs the saber from out of its sheath on their waist, it has a musical whole note on its guard. They quickly fall into stance and formation with the group.
“Protect the prince and cut down our enemies!” they yell as their men rally in battle cry. The men charge into the knights with their spears, all aiming for the opening in the armor. This was a tactic that had been employed among the group of bounty hunters to deal with the many armored bounties they encountered.
Jab after jab, a knight is cut down. Many of the knights attempt to parry the point of the opposing spears to their armor in hopes of breaking the long-range weapon. But, each try was in vain and met with merciless retaliation.
The bounty hunters were never cheap in their wares for the job. Each spear was forged of the strongest wood for their shaft and only the highest quality of tempered metals for the spearhead.
Within the first twenty minutes of the skirmish the knight’s numbers were cut down to two, despite the bounty hunters standing with fewer in their group. Travis watches the battle unfold and end, keeping an eye on the Masked One’s men as they fight with finesse, unlike any he has ever seen.
The Masked One orders the men to bind and gag the two remaining knights. Their plan was to spend the night “interviewing” the leftovers from the battle for valuable intel.
As the night went on, many of the bounty hunters decided to sleep through the remainder of the night. Although, Travis was not sure how they could sleep through the “interview” that their leader had commenced.
The noises were haunting and endless. Each minute was filled with a new note in a manner that mimicked an opera orchestrated by the sounds of pain and torment.
Morning arrives…
Travis reluctantly greets the morning sun, accepting that he was not going to get adequate sleep the previous night. There lays a cloister of armor pieces, varying in size, next to him as he rises from the fresh dew of the grass.
“What do they expect me to do with this?” he expresses out loud. “We expect you to wear that as we head into the quarters of the kingdom.” a young woman remarks back to him.
The young woman stands behind Travis, her skin a honey cream and shoulder length hair complimenting her with a dark auburn shine. She looks at him impatiently and kicks the armor closer his way.
“You’re coming to the castle with us, so hurry up and get dressed! The leftovers told me they have to report back to their barracks three days from now, when the sun is a sixth into the sky.” the young woman orders him. A short silence is shared between the two. “Are you the Masked One?” Travis finally asks meekly.
“Is that what you’ve been calling me in your head all this time?” the young woman talks as she ties her hair up. “Yeah, it’s me. What? Did you expect me to wear my mask underneath a helmet?” she contemplates.
Travis starts to put the armor on. “I guess I’m just surprised someone as young as me is running a band of bounty hunters.” he compliments.
The young woman puts the helmet on and shouts out, ignoring Travis. “All right company! We have limited armor because some of you slobs got too eager and damaged the goods!”
“We go in as we discussed! Everyone has their story straight, right?!” the young woman continues as the group all nods. “Then let’s haul ass, get this done and get what we work for!”
The young woman puts on a nearby helmet and forms up with the men as they march off. Travis hurries and puts the rest of the armor on; quickly following behind the band.
