“We are home!” Sierra shouted as she closed a door behind her.

  Sloan walked with her and entered without saying a word.

  He took off his shoes and thuls before leaving them in the doorway.

  Sierra followed her brother’s example and did the same before heading further into the house they found themselves in.

  “Sloan, Sierra? Are my ears hearing right?” They heard a male voice coming farther down the hall.

  With each of the siblings’ steps, the worn-down wood creaked underneath them.

  The walls didn’t seem to be in better condition; they looked rather torn and moldy.

  The candles flickered in the area, and the house had a slight wet smell that could make anyone uncomfortable.

  The siblings, however, passed through the area with familiarity and without looking bothered.

  They entered a door and saw a short man, his back to them, cooking dinner.

  He held a wooden spoon in his hand as he stirred a soup over a fire that gave off the smell of meat and potatoes.

  “Sir Inston, long time no see. We brought some flowers for you,” Sloan said.

  Without looking at them, the short man held out his hand backwards before Sloan gave him the flowers.

  Inston brought his hand back and took a look at the gift presented by the siblings.

  “Very interesting, a mutated Lavandula angustifolia. These flowers are a great natural repellent for lower-ranked wihts, but they do not usually grow around this area.”

  “Where did you find them?” Inston asked, speaking with a calm, slow, and low voice.

  “We found them during one of our contracts; a village was surrounded by them,” Sierra answered.

  “Hmmm,” Inston stopped what he was doing for a brief moment before continuing.

  “What is bothering you, children? I can feel that both of you are stressed about something. Did anything happen that I should be aware of?” He asked without ceasing his stirring motion.

  “Well, how do I say this? We completed a contract as indicated, but we ran into a problem once it was done,” Sierra began.

  “A reaper blood wiht appeared and destroyed the village we were supposed to protect, now we are stuck in here until they verify our story,” she finished with a sigh.

  “That must have been hard. How about both of you sit with this old man and have dinner like we used to?” He asked.

  “I am sorry that we have not been able to visit as often now that we are hunters. I know we owe you everything, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Sloan said before bowing in his direction.

  Sierra followed her brother’s example and bowed as well, causing a small laugh to come out of the man’s mouth.

  “You foolish kids. I would never get upset about you both not visiting me. I am old, and who wants to be with an old man?” He asked.

  Both siblings shook their heads rapidly, and Inston smiled.

  “I see both of you as my own children, and I like to see the independence developed in my absence,” he replied.

  Inston ceased his stirring motion for good and turned around, revealing his features.

  He had a scar traveling from his neck further down into his body, telling stories of someone who had been through his fair share of dangerous situations.

  His small frame was filled with the powerful muscles of a warrior that squeezed against his frame, threatening to tear his plain grey shirt apart.

  His hair was white, and many wrinkles adorned his face, but the sharpness in his features suggested he was far from being an ordinary old man.

  Inston grabbed the pot of soup, looking at the siblings with his deep blue eyes before standing and heading to the counter.

  “Sir Inston, we want to be here with the person who saved our lives. You are more than an old man to us, you are our old man,” Sierra said with a cheeky smile.

  “Hahaha! The rate of growth is showing; keep at it. Let me serve both of you my special soup, I know the food you kids be eating is insulting compared to it.”

  He opened a cabinet and took out three bowls, laying them on the ground and filling them to the brim with soup.

  “Eat up, kids, so you can grow tall and strong,” he said while flexing his muscles, clearly joking.

  “Thanks for the food, Sir Inston,” Sloan thanked with a smile before Sierra followed his example.

  The three of them ate in silence, not wanting to disrupt the comfortable atmosphere that had taken place.

  Sloan and Sierra’s faces were full of delight, something that warmed the heart of the old man who smiled warmly at them.

  In a couple of minutes, there was nothing to be seen on their plates; the food had been devoured without mercy.

  “Hahh!” Sloan gave a satisfied sigh.

  “The food was delicious, I would kill to eat food like this every cycle,” he commented.

  “It is nice to see both of you visiting me, but this is not just a casual visit, is it? I can feel that there is something that both of you have not told me yet,” Inston said with narrowed eyes.

  Both siblings wore uncomfortable expressions, and after a moment of doubt, Sloan spoke.

  “You remember our failed contract?” Sloan asked, and Inston nodded.

  “Well, we did not take it alone…” Sloan let his words hang in the air.

  Inston narrowed their eyes on them, and the air grew heavier.

  “Children, have you not been listening? How many times have I told both of you never to trust anyone?” He waited for an answer, but was met with silence.

  “The only team that should be allowed, let it be between yourselves,” he said, visibly trying to calm down.

  “We know, Sir Inston, but he was only a boy, and he was way younger than I was,” Sierra explained.

  Inston shook his head at her words.

  “Putting his age aside, he was a great hunter and saved us from being killed. If it were not for him, we would be dead right now,” Sierra defended.

  “That is not all, however, he put his life in danger to give us a chance to survive. If it were not because I recovered in time and managed to reach him while he was in danger, he would be dead,” Sloan added.

  Inston didn’t look pleased at all with their words, looking at them with a disapproving gaze.

  “Now I see that the time in my absence has made the softness in your hearts grow. First of all, why would a boy that young be a hunter?” He shook his head.

  “It makes no sense unless he is part of a church or of noble origin,” Inston said with a sigh.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Sloan and Sierra widened their eyes at that.

  “Part of a church?..” Sierra let those words hang in the air as she looked at her brother.

  “It couldn’t be, right?” Sloan asked.

  “What would happen if that boy who aided you was part of the Church of Orgurd? The church that took your parents away? The church that killed them? The church that destroyed your future?” Inston asked with a heavy tone.

  Sloan and Sierra fell silent, not daring to speak and remembering the times they had been together with Alhen.

  As the silence spread, Sierra thought about the time she had spoken with him atop that rock outside the cabin.

  She had said, ‘If you do not remember the red orphanage, that means that you were sold or given to a church.’

  ‘Given to a church,’ Sierra thought, feeling something stirring in her chest.

  ‘Wait, no. It could all be a coincidence. Alhen has not showcased signs of being like the people in that church. I am not going to jump to conclusions at the moment,’ she stopped herself.

  “Why did this poor decision come to be?” Inston asked before driving a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

  “We needed one more person to take the contract, but no one wanted to work with us because of our age. Sierra found a boy who was willing to help us in exchange for group experience,” Sloan explained.

  Inston was about to take another bite out of his soup when he stopped.

  “That was all he wanted? Group experience? What is that even supposed to mean? I am telling you that the boy wanted something else in return; maybe he got it, and you have yet to notice, you fools!” Inston reprimanded.

  “The boy had a mentor; he was the one who allowed him to come with us. I am sure that he wanted his mentee to get more hunting experience,” Sierra said.

  Inston scoffed at her words.

  “If it were me, I would never let my mentees go hunt with an unknown group for something as stupid as experience. How does he know that neither of you will turn your back on him?”

  “He made sure by threatening us. I am sorry, but I was desperate to get that contract. We normally do not get accepted because of our age, and we were running out of silver coins.”

  Inston, hearing this, sighed heavily.

  “Foolish children, if all you wanted was money or a home to stay at, the doors to my house will always be open. You do not have to take these risks for something trivial like that.”

  “We understand, Sir Inston. A mistake like this will not happen again,” Sierra promised.

  “The reason why we came here was that we were saved by a kid. We cannot accept that despite all our training, we had to rely on him to get out alive,” Sloan began.

  “Obviously, we were especially trained to combat humans, but it is still frustrating,” Sloan said sincerely.

  There was a brief silence that hung in the air and turned suffocating the longer time passed.

  Inston smiled widely and said, “I was waiting to one day teach you again why I was called the greatest hunter of humans back in the day.”

  “But Sir Inston, we-” Sloan began, but was interrupted.

  “This time, instead of humans, I will be teaching you more in depth how to fight wihts, is it not exciting?” Inston asked.

  Sloan and Sierra looked at each other before nodding.

  This was what they were waiting for.

  “If you will accept us once again, we will be in your care,” Sierra said with a bow, and her brother followed her example.

  “Good, follow me. I have been waiting to give you this for many years, and now I think that both of you are prepared for it,” Inston said before standing and urging the siblings to follow him.

  They didn’t hesitate and stood, following after him.

  They left the room and came upon a door that, when opened by Inston, led them to a basement.

  Spiderwebs, mold, and dust were present everywhere they looked.

  The air was suffocating, and they could barely breathe in that environment.

  Inston, however, looked to be strolling through a park with an unbothered expression.

  The siblings covered their noses as they reached the bottom, where Inston took a gas lamp and lit it with some matches from his pocket.

  “Hiss!” The match turned on and lit the gas lamp, illuminating their surroundings.

  The inside was empty, with not a single object in sight.

  “Sir Inston, what happened with everything that was in this basement? I only came here once, but I remember clearly that it was filled to the brim with things,” Sierra asked.

  “They were all useless to this old man, so I threw them away. The only things I did not throw away, however, were the beauties I am about to show you,” Inston said before guiding them to the corner of the room.

  He gestured for the siblings to step away and, from the corner of the room, took five steps forward into the middle.

  He then took three steps to his left, turned and took two to his right, turned once again to take one step to his right, and turned for the last time to take five more to the left.

  “Sir Inston, what are you doing?” Sloan asked, but was only met with silence.

  Not knowing what to do, they stayed still, waiting for his instructions.

  Inston closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  Something on his back glowed a bright red before a sound was heard underneath the planks.

  Sloan and Sierra looked at each other and wondered what that sound could have been, and they soon got their answer.

  “Crack!” Inston kicked the wooden floor, breaking it and falling inside, his figure being swallowed completely.

  “Sir Inston, what are you doing!?” Sierra screamed before she approached and looked inside the hole, searching for him.

  Sloan approached from the side and took his position beside her, actively looking for him.

  The hole looked deep, way too deep.

  ‘Was this here the whole time?’ Sloan wondered before deciding to take a risk.

  Without waiting, he threw himself down the hole, feeling his body falling at a rapid pace.

  ‘Sir Inston has a reason for doing anything. Considering how he is, I believe he wanted us to follow him,’ he thought.

  He heard the sound of his sister screaming at him from behind, but he was already too far out of reach for anything to be done.

  Sierra gritted her teeth, thought ‘screw it,’ and jumped down as well.

  It was a long fall, the whole time she tried looking further ahead, trying to locate her brother or Inston.

  This didn’t happen, however, and she landed with a hard thud in ice-cold water.

  She felt her body sinking and shivering.

  The shock from the sudden temperature change caused her to become paralyzed, unable to move.

  Just as she sank deeper into the water, she felt something grab hold of her shirt and pull her up.

  “Hah!” She breathed and tried to distinguish who had saved her.

  She could barely see, only being able to observe some white skin, but that wasn’t too much of a clue.

  “Sierra, are you alright?” A voice too familiar to confuse rang out.

  “Sloan, I am fine. Just what were you thinking following Sir Inston like that? What if there was no water down here, and instead a hard floor? We could have died,” Sierra voiced out.

  “The situation should have been reversed. I should have jumped down, and you had to jump after me to rescue me. You are supposed to be the logical one, not the other way around!” She complained

  “I am sorry, but in the end, nothing happened. Sir Inston should be somewhere around here; let us look for him,” Sloan replied.

  Sierra scoffed before agreeing with her brother.

  They swam close together, trying to find Inston, but apart from where they had landed, there was nothing else.

  “Sir Inston is definitely not here. Where could he have gone?” Sierra questioned.

  “I believe there are two possibilities on where he could be. Either there is a secret entrance here on the surface that we have not found yet, or he is deep in the water,” Sloan responded.

  “That makes sense. How about we look around for a bit and go down if we find nothing?” Sierra asked, and Sloan agreed.

  They searched for a hidden passage, something that would allow them to continue on the surface, but nothing came up.

  “Yeah, I believe that he is underwater. How about I go down first, and if I do not ascend in five minutes, then it means I found the entrance?” Sloan asked.

  “Well, we have no choice, go ahead, I will wait for you here,” Sierra responded.

  “You will? I thought you would be killing to offer yourself to go first,” Sloan asked.

  “I am not like that all the time,” Sierra rolled her eyes.

  “Here goes nothing,” Sloan said before submerging himself underwater.

  Sierra waited patiently for five minutes to pass with a focused gaze.

  Her body trembled from the cold water, and she was sure that she wouldn’t hold out for long in this state.

  “It has been three minutes now, and it is so damn cold!” Sierra exclaimed.

  She couldn’t hold on for much longer, so she decided not to wait the full time and descend by herself.

  Taking a deep breath, she filled her lungs with air before activating her Luna signum, which glowed a bright white before going underwater.

  She gritted her teeth as she told herself to be strong; the cold was starting to affect her.

  Sierra descended for some minutes, and the water seemed to stretch out forever below her.

  Three minutes in, she found a green light glowing deep into the floor below.

  Her hands and feet moved rapidly to take her to the location, where she eventually found a small hole where her body could fit.

  The green light intensified inside this hole.

  She took it as the entrance where his brother and Inston had gone through.

  Swimming down, her body hugged the sharp walls tightly, and she made sure to be careful not to cut herself.

  Sierra kept on moving forward until her body climbed out of the water into an area lit by a bright green light.

  Contrary to her expectations, she didn’t fall; the gravity seemed to be inverted.

  “What? I think this is not how gravity is supposed to work,” Sierra muttered to herself.

  “I know. We have been waiting for you,” Sloan voiced out.

  Sierra looked to where the voice had come from and found Sir Inston sitting down with Sloan in front of a chest, which seemed to be the origin of that blinding light.

  “Sierra, I thought you would be here in a few minutes, but it seems that you headed out before time, typical of you,” Sloan commented.

  She gave him a roll of eyes before approaching them.

  “Sir Inston, what does the chest in front of you have to emit such a powerful light like that?” Sierra asked, ignoring her brother.

  “You do not like beating around the bush, I see. This is the gift that I wanted to present to both of you. Come closer,” Inston said.

  Sierra stood beside her brother, who observed Inston’s actions with great focus.

  Inston took hold of the chest before the familiar red light came out of his body and seeped into the green light.

  The light became blinding and started adopting a red color, being brighter than the place they found themselves in.

  It made both siblings close their eyes to it, unable to gaze at it directly.

  When they opened them, what lay in front of them, they couldn’t believe.

  “I like those reactions. I imagined this moment for a long time. These are the thuls of your parents, and now, they are yours,” Inston said with a smile.

  Sloan and Sierra gasped and watched with mouths agape as their parents' thuls were presented to them.

  Sierra was the first to act, reaching out to take hold of the thul belonging to her mother.

  She felt a hand touching her shoulder, however, and she stopped.

  “I cannot hand these thuls just yet, I want both of you to do something first,” Inston said.

  Sierra and Sloan snapped out of their dazed state and looked at him with curious expressions.

  “What do you want us to do, sir?” Sloan asked.

  “What I want is that boy’s head. Bring it to me, and you will get what you want.”

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