"Don't lose your shit when we are in the capital. Can you do that and follow my orders?" asked Gaya.

Davarius nodded his head. The two of them began to head toward the capital.

"What that bastard Booth was doing here?" Davarius growled.

"He could have sent his men to do all this. Why was he here?" Davarius pondered.

"Maybe he needed a win after what we did to the Golden Port," said Gaya.

Eventually, after almost two hours, they arrived at the capital of Northguard. The Capital was built amidst the gentle snows of a pristine tundra. It was truly an elegant wonder. Its grace was matched by the backdrop of modest hills, which had helped shape the city to flourish. The climate these hills brought were of great importance, but they were also influential when it came to architectural designs, as the vast majority of buildings have been built in shapes and with elements of the hills around them.

The city was littered with various buildings, and their beauty was only matched by each other. Before the war, trade was at an all-time high in the Capital. It had drawn a lot of attention, including King Maxim Barnes. Over time, new cultures left their mark not just on the city's people but also on the city's identity.

Unlike any other cities or kingdom in the Ozer continent, Kingdom Northguard and its capital had the highest number of other races. It was this multicultural identity that had truly left its mark. Hundreds of shops, inns, and ethnic restaurants offer a plethora of culinary choices. Those who would feel hungry for something else could enjoy nature, one of the many natural wonders, lakes, or peaceful grass fields.

At that moment, the capital seemed gloomy. Gaya could barely see any people on the streets, which were completely blanketed by knee-high snow. Seeing the sorry state of the capital ached Davarius's heart. He saw his family's castle on top of the hill, covered in snow. He was tempted to visit the castle.

"We would have welcomed the thusians with open arms. We were a peaceful kingdom," Davarius's voice stuttered.

"It's our fault for not being strong enough to protect our people," Davarius blamed himself.

"No. The thusians were just stronger. Plus, no matter what, Maxim would have always tried to take over your kingdom," said Gaya.

"Why?"

"Trade," Gaya simply said.

"Suven is the fruit basket of the continent. Zulon has mines. Itholan is an impenetrable nature fortress," Gaya didn't say anything about the existence of the Cosmic stream in Itholan.

"And Northguard, he targeted it for trade. A trade that would take a year through the Golden Port could be made in three or four months through Northguard. Besides, the only bridge to reach Itholan by land is connected to Northguard,"

Her words made perfect sense to Davarius. Itholan people may have accepted the thusians and even celebrated King Maxim, but the Northguard people had rooted pride. They would never accept the thusians. As long as they resisted the thusians, they would continue to suffer. The only way to end this was killing Maxim Barnes.

"What's the plan, General Aelia?" asked Davarius.

"It's getting repetitive. We go to a place, kill the army stationed there and take over the place. Rinse and repeat," Gaya sighed.

"So what do you suggest we do? We can't rush into the city anyways. We still have no idea where the thusians are keeping the villagers they captured,"

"Go get captured. The odds are the thusians will put you with the rest of your people and try to break their spirit," said Gaya.

Davarius frowned.

"How do you plan on finding me?" asked Davarius.

He saw Gaya tossing a silver coin toward him.

"Swallow that,"

"What?" Davarius was taken aback by surprise.

"Swallow the coin. It will reveal your location to me. Don't bother to learn how that works," Gaya shook her head. She chuckled inside, seeing Davarius actually swallow the coin. The coin had nothing special about it, as Davarius thought. When she tossed the coin toward him, she also threw a Spyder onto him. But Davarius focused on the coin and missed the Spyder crawling onto his robes.

"I will know when you're with your people. Try not to get yourself killed," said Gaya. With a nod, Davarius flew toward the capital. Gaya noticed a Thusian patrol on the street. Davarius descended toward them.

"I hate patrolling in this weather,"

"Shut up, Marcus. If you had controlled your lust, we wouldn't be here,"

"Oh, come on. Don't blame me. I haven't felt a touch of a woman in six months. So bite me,"

"Like you bit that girl in the butt,"

"Fuck you,"

The soldiers patrolled the streets, arguing and laughing at each other. However, their laughter was short-lived. They felt a chill as soon as they saw Davarius in front of them.

"Freeze!" The soldiers screamed.

To their surprise, Davarius raised his arms up in the air.

"Holy fuck. Is that Prince Davarius?"

"It's him!"

"DON'T MOVE!"

The soldiers panicked but didn't run away. Without making any sudden move, Davarius slowly knelt down on the snow.

"You go and inform the General. We'll take him to the special place,"

These were the last words Davarius heard before everything went dark. The last thing he saw was the bottom of the soldier's sword. He felt a sharp pain before collapsing to the ground. From the sky, Gaya saw the soldiers knock out Davarius cold and drag his body through the snow. She slowly followed the soldiers.

After an unknown amount of time, Davarius woke up in a dimly lit room. He heard water trickling down, drop by drop. He looked around to see nothing but muddy walls. The air smelled like blood and piss. He could move neither his hands nor legs. When he looked down at his feet, he noticed iron shackles around them.

He shook the iron shackles, yet they didn't come out as he expected.

"Your royal highness," Suddenly, Davarius heard a whisper. He turned his head in the voice's direction. In the dim light, he saw a man behind bars a few meters away from him.

"Shit, they caught you," the man sighed.

Davarius couldn't see the man's features very clearly due to the darkness in the area. He could only vaguely see the man's torn dress and messy brown hair.

"Are you alone?" asked Prince Davarius.

"I am with the people in my village. Your royal highness, you must save us. Grandpa Eddie is dying. We can't breathe here," The man's voice stuttered. Judging by the tone of his voice, Davarius could tell he was exhausted beyond words.

"First, you have to relax. What's your name?'

"Alex," the man replied.

"Alex, relax. I am here to get you all out of here,"

"But how? You're stuck here, just like the rest of us," said Alex.

"I have a plan, but I need you with me, alright?"

Alex did not respond for a few moments.

"Alex, you're with me?" asked Davarius.

"Yes. Yes, your royal highness. I just wanna get out of here. I can't stay here for long. I am losing my mind," Alex cried. His sobbing startled Davarius. He wondered what kind of torture Alex would have gone through to make a grown man like him sob like a child. Manger boiled within Davarius. All of this suffering because of the thusians. The hatred toward thusians grew bigger by the second in Davarius's heart.

"I am going to get you all out of here, okay? I promise,"

"He will comehe will come.oh my godhe will be here soon" Alex cried out loud. He suddenly panicked for no reason. To Davarius's surprise, Alex tried to bend the metal bars with his hands. Alex was so desperate to get out as he began to bite the bars.

"Who is he?" asked Davarius. However, Alex didn't respond to Davarius. Instead, he kept trying to bend and bite the bars. Davarius looked behind Alex to find another saner villager.

"Alex, get your shit together man," Davarius growled. The sound of Alex's groan was interrupted by several heavy footsteps. As soon as Alex heard the footsteps, he frantically crawled back into the darkest corner of his cell.

Davarius leaned back, waiting for the soldiers to approach him.

"I hope you come to my rescue again, general," Davarius mumbled under his breath.

Soon, Davarius saw several shadows in the dim light. They slowly made their way toward the cells.

"Here he is, my lord," Davarius heard some voices. Unfortunately, he couldn't see their faces in the dim light. A group of soldiers opened the iron door to his cell. Thanks to the torches in their arms, Davarius finally saw their faces. Although he recognized none of them, the blonde-haired youngster in fancy robes seemed familiar for some reason. The soldiers around the youngster were armed to the teeth. It was apparent to Davarius that this guy was someone important.

"The prince of Northguard. How the mighty fall," The youngster chuckled. He approached Davarius step by step. Davarius wanted to slap that smirk off of his face.

"You know my soldiers told me you surrendered yourself. Now here's my question, why would a rebel like you surrender yourself without a fight?" The youngster stared at Davarius from head to toe with his hazel eyes.

For some reason, the youngster smelled like blood.

"I think you are planning something," The youngster exclaimed.

"Now, here's the deal. I don't have the time or the brain to figure out your plans. So I am going to go into the next cell and start taking heads one by one until I hear your plans," Davarius remained silent as the young man turned around and left his cell. As he said this to Davarius, he ordered his men to open the cell where Davarius saw Alex.

Davarius heard the villagers groan as though they were unable to speak.

"Nonono" Alex screamed.

Davarius gritted his teeth.

"It'd be a good time for you to show up, Aelia," mumbled Davarius. Meanwhile, the youngster chose his target. It was an old man who looked as thin as a stick. The youngster dragged the old man by his neck until Davarius was able to see him clearly.

The young man unsheathed his sword from the sheath dangling on his waist. He raised the sword in the air.

"Wait," Davarius shouted as the young man stopped his swing just a few inches away from the old man's neck.

"Diddle diddle" A sweet voice echoed through the underground. The soldier immediately tensed up. A smile formed on Davarius's face seeing a shadow of a girl in the walls.

"Who is that?" the young man asked his men.

The footsteps sounded louder and louder with the passing seconds.

"You wanted to know about my plan, right? This is it," Davaris laughed.