Continue the story thread

last SG · 2005-06-02T12:40:43+00:00

suddenly, they heard a loud thud behind them. it was close. very close.

iveco SG

I picked up the tale where the.raven left off and blended in some fresh ideas.

iveco SG

Krobeen finished his breakfast and was clearing up when he heard a cackle coming from the fireplace. He turned around and saw Starblue's head in the fire. Surprised, he almost dropped his cup on the floor.

"Starblue, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed.

"Just checking on you," Starblue replied.

"How did you manage to locate me?" Krobeen wondered aloud.

"All the fireplaces of the various cell groups are linked by the Floo network," Starblue explained. "Fabrice just came by. He told me where you were."

"Erm, he's the fellow with the flying Cadillac, am I right?" Krobeen asked.

"Yes, Fabrice flew you over to his headquarters early this morning," Starblue said. "When he came to see me, I saw he looked really tired. Poor guy."

Krobeen heard some footsteps behind him. "Got to run," he told Starblue. Turning around, he found himself facing Orelia.

"Leave the dishes alone," she told him. "I'll take care of it. Please report to the conference room now. Harvey will bring you there."

At which point, the old man who had been trying to tell him something beckoned Krobeen to his side. Krobeen followed him out of the dining hall.

"The runes on the Raven's transcript," Harvey began. "You are not by any chance our saviour, are you?"

"Don't get you," murmured Krobreen, confused by the old man's words.

"I may have known your father. I could even have seen him die," Harvey said. "But you will learn about your true heritage soon."

They turned off the main passageway and went down a short flight of stairs. On the left was a door with a plaque. On it was written:

Order of the Phoenix

Conference Room

the.raven SG

Story Continued from the.raven's version:

Krobeen glanced around at the empty room and asked, "so whats the plan? scale the wall down?"

"no way." the.raven replied, the walls have pressure traps built into them, I tested the wall sometime ago, some bricks are triggers that will shoot out poisoned darts when pressed down by weight.

Krobeen shuddered at the thought and was glad he climbed up starblue's magic like hair.

"I need you to help me pry open the lift door." said the.raven. "I am not strong enough to do that by myself, but with two of us, it might be possible. now is the time to use those muscles of yours, farmer."

Krobeen nodded and walked over to stand beside the.raven, putting his hand on the left side of the door, the.raven did the same on the right, and they started prying with all their strength. A metallic grinding sound was heard within the tower walls as the gears that operate the door strained against the pulling. Krobeen grunted and his large muscles honed by years of farming flexed. The door moved a little but was fast closing again, the.raven jammed a brick into it, then another. when the gap was wide enough, the.raven dashed in. Krobeen did not hesitate to follow. the door slammed shut.

"sometimes the simplest method is the best method." said the.raven, panting. Krobeen realized that the.raven was not as strong as him, in fact he looked well past his prime, in his forth decade of life perhaps. the.raven's forehead was wrinkled with the constant scowl he put up, and streaks of white could be seen among his raven black hair. "now what?" Krobeen asked.

"we climb down the cable" the.raven replied and started doing that. Krobeen followed. He often climbed trees when he was a kid, and he had no trouble keeping up with the.raven.

Soon they reached the lift that was on ground floor. the.raven smashed the ceiling in and they landed in the lift.

Krobeen looked around the lift, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. colored buttons were on the walls, one of the with the word "Open" on them, Krobeen pressed it....and nothing happened.

without a word, the.raven opened a pocket on his pants, and took out a wire and a strange shaped metal device. he inserted the wire into a hole on the wall, which was obviously meant for the key and he twisted the wire. then he inserted the other metal piece and probed around for a bit. Finally a click was heard, and the.raven tugged on the wire, the key hole turned. Krobeen stared at the process with a dumb look on his face.

"lock pick." the.raven said as he put the wire and the device back into his pocket.

"who built this lift?" Krobeen asked.

"engineers from an ancient time." the.raven replied, his hand going for the button marked "open", but suddenly it snapped backwards and grasped Krobeen's throat instead.

"I have no use of you anymore, I almost forgot that." the.raven said evilly.

Krobeen knocked the.raven's hand away with a powerful swipe of his hand, and he pressed the open button in panic. the.raven drew a dagger out and aimed it at Krobeen's neck.

mad with desperation, Krobeen slammed his body onto the smaller body frame of the.raven. In the limited space the.raven could not dodge and was pinned down onto the floor, but the experienced the.raven was not helpless, his dagger was going to pierce Krobeen's skull, but he stopped as he saw what was beyond the now open door.

iveco SG

"Order of the Phoenix?" Krobeen burst out. "Is this what your organisation is called?"

Harvey nodded, and put a finger to his lips for silence. They stopped at the door and Harvey rapped the brass knocker gently. A voice sounded "come in" and both of them entered the conference room.

Krobeen glanced around the conference room. Almost all the poeple inside were wearing crimson robes. At the head of the table sat a dark-complexioned man. On his right was Fabrice. Perched on the top of a bookcase was a phoenix. A tattered old hat lay beside it. A bloodstained spear lay across one of the shelves.

"Welcome, Krobeen," the dark-skinned man said. "Orelia has briefed me about your arrival this morning. My name is Joe Albuquerque, the leader of Cell Group Delta of the Order of the Phoenix. Fabrice - I believe you've met - is my deputy. Please have a seat."

Krobeen and Harvey took their places, and Albuquerque resumed speaking.

"The transcript recovered from the Raven's body is of great interest to our organisation," Albuquerque continued. "It was written more than one millennium ago, before the world was torn apart."

"A thousand years ago, all races lived in peace and harmony. Humans, Centaurs, Ogres and Pandaren were at peace with one another and the world was a great place to be.

"However, a powerful mage Volsang had some devious plans. He fashioned an orb with the power to corrupt all living, thinking creatures. He unleashed its vile powers on the world, making the races hostile to one another. Much innocent blood was shed, and all races suffered heavy casualty tolls.

"Then the leader of the humans came up with a plan to defeat the warlock onece and for all. He gathered enlightened members of the four races and began telling them of his great plan. However, before he could commence his attack on Volsang's forces, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

"The leadership thus fell to his youngest and surviving son, Lionel MacLaggan, better known as the Half-blood Prince. He was part-human and part-ogre, hence the nickname. A fine young man he was, andhe was sure Volsang was responsible for his father's unntimely demise. Hence it was only natural that he wanted revenge.

"Unbeknownst to everyone, Volsang had built up a band of elite forces that were fiercely loyal to his cause. They called themselves the Knights of the Banner of the Black Knife, and had a reputation for their ruthless efficiency. Just as Maclaggan and the forces of the light thought they had beaten the last of Volsang's minions, a party of the Black Knives ambushed them as they were celebrating their victory on the peak of Razor Hill. The allied army scattered, and MacLaggan disappeared. His body was never found.

"That night, the world was torn apart as Volsang's power spread rapidly across the land. The once-serene world became a wasteland overnight. MacLaggan's wife and children were driven from their castle into the wilderness. It was not known what later became of them. The hostility between the races intensified. The Centaurs formed their own kingdom in the northern forests of Redeth, and were openly hostile to anyone who tried to explore the place. The Ogres retreated to the barren desert of the East, where no man has ventured. The Pandaren set up home in the Caves of Dalaran in the south and isolated themselves from all contact with the outside world."

the.raven SG

Krobeen followed the.raven's gaze and looked into a face as evil as the.raven's, in fact, the stranger newcomer reminded him of the.raven. Curiously, the man had an owl roosted on his shoulder. The owl blinked its large eyes and turned its cat-like face around, almost as if it dislocated its neck. seeing that, a raven a few meters away cawed, as if amused by the head turning stunt of the owl. the raven then flapped its wings and flew into the lift and landed on the.raven's shoulder, who had then stood up and was staring intently at the newcomer.

"well met again, dearest of my friends." the man said, and his owl hooted. "If you tell me that starblue is dead, I am going to be mad." he grinned an evil grin, much like the way the.raven did it. "just joking, I dont give a damn about that lass, but rainee prefers her alive."

"well, what do you think I came here to do?" the.raven replied. "to picnic?" Krobeen almost laughed, but the two dangerous looking men was not to messed with, he noted.

"so you killed her." the man replied. "oh well, so be it, I was sent here to retrieve her, but its seems that I am a bit late." suddenly, two swords appeared in the man's hand, and Krobeen did not even notice when he drew them. "However, you head is wanted by the black knives, badly. my friend." the man said coldly. and two younger men stepped out behind two trees, Krobeen only noticed them then, but the.raven did not seem surprised by their appearances a bit, obviously he had sensed them long ago.

"I am not your friend, the.owl." the.raven said, as he drew his own swords in a fluid motion. "you backstabbing bastard."

Krobeen realized that something must have happened between the.raven and the.owl that had led to such hatred between them, but he had no time to ponder as he watched the two younger men approach. He tensed and grasped his own rusty sword.

In a manner strangely similar to the.raven, the.owl stepped forward with a practied step, his footfalls making not a sound. the.raven stepped forward as well. The birds mounted on their shoulders flew up as the two men were within striking distance. the.raven glared at the.owl, who similarly glared back, their eyes seeminly burning with hatred.

the.raven SG

OMG iveco, now its really hard to follow my story Laughing

The.raven's version continued:

starblue ran and ran, finally free. the feeling of freedom was exilarating. Finally she was too exhausted to continue, and he collapsed in a heap.

"Run Starblue, run!!" Krobeen's words sounded again in her mind, she was so touched by Krobeen's selfless act. She gazed forlornly at the darkening sky and wondered if she would ever meet Krobeen again. She prayed that Krobeen had survived the malicious the.raven.

the two younger men charged at Krobeen, each of them using a whip like weapon. they swung their whips in unison, and were obiously well trained in their style of combat. their whips seemingly alive, like two snakes snapping their jaws at Krobeen. Krobeen had never faced such a combat style, in fact, the farm boy had never faced any kind of combat style before, and he was driven back easily, having a hard time dodging the whips, his face bruised with a hit from one of the whips. He heard a continual ring of steel from the side, and he turned just a moment to look at the fight between the.raven and the.owl.

Not all the adventure tales Krobeen had ever heard could prepare him for the sight before him. Never in his dreams did he visualise such a titanic battle between two extremely skilled swordsmen. But his distraction was cut short as a whip hit him on his stomach and he grunted in pain, concentrating again on his own fight.

the.owl feinted a thrust at the.raven, who easily brushed it away, then followed with one of his own thrusts, which the.owl lifted up high with his left sword, and his right sword slashing cunningly at the.raven's exposed side. seemingly exposed, for the.raven deftly blocked the.owl's slash with his left sword, as if he expected the.owl's trick. the.owl grinned, "not bad, my friend, our minds are ever so alike, even though we are on opposing sides now." the.raven sneered and slashed his right sword across, then followed with the momentum and spun around a complete circle, bringing his left sword across in a wide graceful sweep. the.owl jumped then ducked, as agile as the.raven, then did a flurry of slashes at the.raven, who nimbly leapt back and dodged.

Krobeen was hard pressed by the two young men, his rusty sword slapped off his hand by one of the whips. The fight suddenly came to an end as one of the men wrapped his whip around Krobeen's neck while the other trippsed Krobeen's legs with his whip, causing him to fall the the ground, strangled.

the.raven panted with exhaustion. He was after all a middle aged man, and his stamina was waning. For some reason, the.owl seemed to be getting the upper hand.

"your swordsmanship have improved, or is it because of your new sword?" the.raven noted, refering to the.owl's gleaming green sword.

"Its called Green Destiny, I got it from another world by slaying some crouching tigers and hidden dragons." the.owl grinned proudly, "how do you like it?" he said, and as if to accentuate his point, he chopped the.raven's right sword in half.

surprised but not caught unprepared, the.raven continued fighting with one sword, but was broken again by Green Destiny.

"you would not have beaten me without that sword of yours." the.raven said with a scowl. TO which the.owl replied with a grin, "dont be a sore loser."

iveco SG

"Around the same time, a well-known Far Seer named Drek Thar made a prophecy. He later wrote it down shortly before his death. His words are contained in the transcript.

For a thousand years from now, on the day of the winter solstice, the Half-blood Prince will be born again. He shall take his rightful place as leader of his people and banish the corrruption that ails the world, and his kingdom will be one again.

"Many people believed Drek Thar's words and clung on to that sliver of hope that their Messiah would be reborn and lead them out of their misery into a more cheerful existence that they once had. Of course, there were a handful of false prophets oever the years, but nobody doubted the Half-blood Prince would ever return, albeit in a different form.

"Although the body of Lionel MacLaggan was never found, his spear was subsequently recovered. His initials had been carved on the handle, so it was recognised to be his. It was given to the Grand Wizard Godric Gryffindor for safekeeping. It passed into possession of many powerful wizards and witches over the years, the last being Minerva McGonagall.

"Over the millennium, the Black Knives grew powerful and influential. They paid bribes to the weak leaders to get legislation favouring them. The human kingdom was split into Blueth and Redeth. In the last three centuries, the Black Knives had grown so powerful that they were able to infiltrate the royal courts of both countries. They kidnapped the Princess of Blueth and exchanged her for one of their agents. This agent later married the king of Redeth and has been exerting much influence on politics. The king of Blueth is virtually demented having lost his wife in childbirth and the Black Knives have virtual control over the nation's affairs.

"In the past three decades, many people tried to fight against the oppressive rule of the Black Knives, but have been caught and tortured to insanity. It is said that the Black Knives keep creatures that suck out the human soul, turning its victim into a zombie but it hasnot been verified. Minerva McGonagall decided that seomthing had to be done to bring down the corrupt rulers and restore justice to the land. Thus, the Order of the Phoenix was born. McGonagall believed that we would rise up once again in peace and prosperity, like the phoenix from the ashes.

"McGonagall recruited many freedom fighters to fight for her cause. Among them were a young married couple. The wife was pregnant with her son, and was due to give birth close to Christmas. While away on a mission for the Order, the husband was ambushed and killed. Before he died, he instructed his company commander to take care of his widow and child. The company commander obliged.

"Three days before Christmas, the child was born after a difficult labour. Minutes after the baby came into the world, a mysterious assassin apparated into the house and injured the company commander. He slit the throat of the baby's mother and would have finished him off if the company commander had not regained his composure and retaliated. The assassin, realising he would not survive this battle, disapparated as suddenly as he apparated.

"McGonagall was alerted, and she felt that the boy's safety was her top priority. She had him sold to a childless farmer and his wife. That boy was you, Krobeen. The prophesy spoke of one who was to come on the winter solstice, and that was when you were born.

"The second part of the prophecy was fulfulled when you pulled MacLaggan's spear out of the tattered hat when Fawkes came to you as soon as we detected Starblue's escape. Only the true heir of MacLaggan would be able to pull the spear out of the hat. The company commander who saved your life is none other than Harvey and the person you killed in the tower tried to kill you 18 years ago. Consider your parents' deaths avenged, my boy."

Albuquerque finally finished speaking. He reached into his coat and took out a hip-flask. He uncorked it and took a long pull after speaking for the past quarter hour.

the.raven SG

starblue fell asleep on the ground, dreaming of Krobeen, and wishing he was well.

Krobeen gasped for breath as the whip tightened on his neck. He could not draw in any air and was suffocating. "such is a hero's fate." Krobeen lamented in his mind as he was going to die. Suddenly, a black form darted towards his adversaries, distracting them. It was the raven, pecking their eyes and darting away nimbly when they swiped at it. the whip around Krobeen's neck loosened and Krobeen got up, coughing and wheezing.

the.raven ducked from the.owl's swing, then leapt and ran. The.owl chased after him, swords slashing at his back. In a surprising maneuveur, the.raven ran up a tree and leapt backwards in a somersault, landing behind the.owl, a throwing dagger appearing in his hand. any ordinary person would have been surprised by this stunt, but the.owl had seen the.raven do it before, and was prepared. the.owl spun around in a flash, his own throwing dagger whistling from his hand towards the.raven's face. the.raven's dagger similarly spinning towards the.owl.

Krobeen thrust his sword into the back of his distracted adversary, shocked, the other young man swung his whip at him, but missed at the raven clawed at his eyes. Krobeen slashed at the man's arm and he dropped his whip, then stabbed his sword into the man's stomach. The young man put up a furious expression as he died in agony. the raven cawed and landed on Krobeen's shoulder.

"err...thanks, bird." Krobeen said, "I guess I owe you one, I should not try to kill you anymore." Krobeen said apologetically, but the raven simply looked at him with its glittering eyes, as if saying "ROFL n00b."

the.raven SG

the.raven's version continued

the.raven turned his head just in time to dodge the dagger. The missile nicked a line of red across the.raven's face. His own dagger struck the.owl in his chest, missing his heart by less than an inch, if he had not been quick enough to shift his body, he would have been killed, but he was the.owl, not so easily killed. He slashed across and left a gash across the.raven's stomach, the.raven stumbled backwards in pain, his hand clasped on his stomach. the.owl grabbed the dagger on his chest and gasped in agony, and he attempted to get up. the.raven sprinted away before he could attempt any more tricks. the raven flew after him. Krobeen did not waste any time hanging around the dangerous the.owl and his adrenaline rush causing him to act on impulse, he ran after the.raven, not sure why he did that.

the.raven SG

Who exactly is the.owl? whats his history with the.raven? what will happen to Krobeen? what is starblue's fate? what is queen rainee plotting?

stay tuned for the next episode of........Raven Battle!!!! yes thats the temporary name for my story, I will think of a better one, so STFU!!!

iveco SG

Can the Order of the Phoenix remove the corrupt Queen Rainee and restore the Half-blood Prince to his rightful place in the universe? Stay tuned for more on the Royal Peasant.

the.raven SG

LOL can u change your character's names pls, later my readers get confused.

iveco SG

Well, I picked up your tale where you stopped. As far as I am concerned, you have been killed by MacLaggan's spear to the heart. Laughing

the.raven SG

watever, only what happens in my version of story is authentic Laughing

the.raven SG

After a long trek, the.raven leaned on a tree and panted, his stomach wound bleeding freely. The raven perched on the tree and looked as if it was concerned. Krobeen approached, looking at the weaponless and badly injured the.raven, a thought formed in his mind. I could kill him now, and end his evil existence. Krobeen pondered, but he did save my life when he could have killed me, wait, but he did it for selfish reasons. Krobeen could not make up his mind. Finally, Krobeen thought about the tales of heros, a hero would not do such a despicable thing as to kill someone badly injured and unarmed. Krobeen thought, that would be without honor, besides, the.raven could not heal himself because he gave his own potion to Krobeen. Krobeen relaxed his grip on his sword.

Unknown to Krobeen, the observant the.raven had noticed the changes of expression on Krobeens face as Krobeen looked thoughtful then showed rage and then confusion. Immediately the.raven figured out what was on Krobeens mind. Dont try anything funny, n00b. the.raven warned, his eyes staring at Krobeens, causing Krobeen to look away.

why have you tagged along? the.raven asked suspiciously.

well. Krobeen did not know how to answer, why indeed? He did not think about that when he followed after the.raven. I guess we fought together against a common enemy, and we are on the same side.

I work alone. The.raven said coldly, then grunted in pain.

If we encounter another swordsman as skilled as the.owl.. Krobeen said worriedly.

we are screwed, n00b. the.raven answered. funny, though now that you mentioned it. Ive never met anyone else as skilled as the.owl. he and I are the most skilled fighters in the black knives, at least in this region of the world. Now that Im no longer in the black knives, he is the second most powerful person in the black knife organization of this region, the right hand man of the Blackmaster.

Blackmaster? Krobeen asked curiously.

the leader of the black knives of this region, the father of queen rainee. The.raven replied, there are only a few Blackmasters in the world, they form the ruling council of the black knives.

Krobeen was starting to get confused, so he kept quiet.

I was the left hand of the Blackmaster. The.raven continued, but it seemed that he was talking to himself now as much as he was speaking to Krobeen. But I was tired of all the deceit and treachery of the black knives. And I loathed the Blackmaster. The.raven said harshly, his voice full of venom when he mentioned the Blackmaster. He turned me into what I am, he made my life a hollow and empty shell, in which there is only darkness, and nothing else. The.raven stopped talking, and kept quiet.

Krobeen did not understand a Fuck the.raven was saying, it was too cheem.

OMG n00b, we have wasted too much time. The.raven said suddenly, we have to shake off pursuit. And he started off immediately, ignoring his wound.
Krobeen followed behind.

the.raven SG

starblue awoke to the sounds of howling wolves, shivering with fear and also due to the cold night air. she gingerly started walking, her long hair flowing in the wind and reflecting off the moonlight. Luckily, there was a full moon that night, and she could see her surroundings. She climbed up a slope, where she thought would be safe from wolves, and lied down shivering, thinking about Krobeen, and wishing that she had Krobeen's muscular arms wrapped around her to keep her warm.

"wtf are you doing?" Krobeen asked. As the.raven for some reason started going back the way he came.

"STFU n00b." the.raven answered, "now heres a free lesson for you. listen carefully, I am going to backtrack, then go another path, to lead the.owl astray, if he is indeed following my tracks."

"hmm thats smart." said Krobeen.

"we would have to do this many times." the.raven said, as he bandaged his wound to stop it from dripping blood on the ground.

"wtf? why?" Krobeen replied.

"dude, the.owl is a formidable opponent, he would not be easily tricked, we would have to leave several different tracks to confuse him." the.raven stated.

Krobeen understood the.raven's reasoning, and followed along, learning as he did.

the.raven SG

dressed in a lavish silken gown adorned with gems, Queen Rainee impatiently fondled with her diamond embedded crown.

"starblue is alive, rainee." the.owl said, not having to address her as queen, as he owed no servitude to her. black knife rankings overrule court rankings. "I've searched the tower, there was no sign of her body, she must have escaped before I encountered the.raven." he added.

"Find that wench." Rainee replied coldly, "and what happened to the.raven? I see you are injured."

"He escaped us, I had to find starblue as well, and the two agents who went with me were killed." the.owl said in an annoyed tone.

Rainee chuckled and mocked, "I had thought you more competent, the.owl. 3 against one and you let him escape?"

"not three against one, he had a partner." the.owl glared at rainee angrily as he replied.

"I thought the.raven works alone?" Rainee asked, looking bored.

the.owl simply shrugged and started to leave. his owl flying by and landing on his shoulder.

"my father expects more competent work from you, chief lieutenant." Rainee mocked at his back.

King Ryan, the ruler of Kingdom Redeth, heard his queen's raised voice and hurried over to her private chamber. "what happened, my love?" Ryan asked concernedly, "I heard commotion in here, who was it?" when rainee did not reply, the young king put his arms around rainee's thin waist, and whispered "whats bothering you, love?"

"It was nothing." Rainee replied, and left the room.

Confused, the young king stood alone in the room. "when a woman says "nothing", what does she really mean?" He wondered, and shrugged resignedly.

iveco SG

Royal Peasant:

"I didn't know I have such noble lineage!" exclaimed Krobeen.

"Yes, you do," replied Fabrice. "Your actions in the tower of Orthanc convinced us of your bloodline. You are indeed from the line of MacLaggan."

"The moment I saw you in the dining hall," remarked Harvey. "I was reminded of your father. You look so much like him. But those eyes, they came from your mother."

"Tower of Orthanc? Where's that?" Krobeen asked.

"It was where Starblue had been imprisoned for the past few years," Albuquerque said. "Our organisation had been monitoring the place for ages. There appeared to have been some protective magic around the area. Our forces couldn't get within 10 kilometres of it."

"How did you manage to rescue me?" Krobeen directed this question to Fabrice.

"We detected a breach in the magical wards surrounding the tower prior to Starblue's escape," Fabrice explained. "Whoever disabled the wards obviously had some foul intentions. Immediately, we despatched Fawkes to scout the area. Sure enough, he ran into you and the Raven."

"The Raven used to be the number two in the Black Knife hierarchy," Albuquerque joined in. "But he disappeared last year. Rumour had it that he went freelance."

"If he's no more with the Black Knives, as he said to me before, why did he want to kill me?" probed Krobeen.

"He's afraid of the prophecy, that's why," Albuquerque replied. "It is likely someone stole the transcript from Drek Thar's descendants and passed it on to him. Even if he's not serving the interests of the Black Knives, he still has his own interests to look after."

"Why was the Raven after Starblue as well?" Krobeen was still puzzled.

"As Chief says, the Raven has something fishy up his sleeves," Harvey volunteered. "He disabled the magical wards surrounding Orthanc and made us fear the worst. Fawkes only found two figures up in the tower, but we managed to trace Starblue with the help of the marauders' map. Right away, we despatched our escorts to her location and took her to our safe house in Puddlemere."

iveco SG

"Why do you have cell groups?" Krobeen unloaded the final question off his chest.

"McGonagall wanted to avoid detection," Albuquerque explained. "She set up 12 cell groups so that the Interior Ministry would not be able to track us down easily. Each cell group has its own chief and they report directly to her. Other than that, the individual groups work very much alone. In fact, I hardly know half the cell group chiefs since I seldom make contact with them, except during the Annual General Assembly."

At that moment, an owl fluttered into the conference room with an envelope. It flew close to Albuquerque and dropped the envelope in front of him. Albuquerque opened it and read the enclosed note. Almost immediately, his face changed colour.

"Her majesty Queen Rainee's secret police have recovered the body of the Raven from Orthanc," he read from the note. "Please be alert for retaliatory attacks from the Interior Ministry as interference has been suspected."

Turning to Krobeen, he said, "I suggest you stay with us for the time being and keep a low profile. Rainee's troops are surely on the lookout for our folks anytime soon. I don't want you to get into any trouble."

He motioned Harvey to take Krobeen to his lodgings and dismissed the meeting.

iveco SG

"I owe my life to you," Krobeen said when they were alone.

"It's nothing," Harvey countered. "I was doing my job, that's all. The prophecy needs to be fulfilled."

"I still don't believe that I, a humble peasant boy, can be a prince," Krobeen exclaimed in amazement.

"Dark and difficult times lie ahead for all of us, Krobeen," Harvey said. "Soon, we have to choose between what is right... and what is easy."

They arrived at Krobeen's lodgings. Harvey opened a cupboard and showed Krobeen some brand new clothes. He later left the farm boy to ponder over his words, not before reminding him to come to lunch at half-past twelve.

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