"What's the point of saving Erdas when they never really cared?"

"Maybe because you chose not to."

- - -

-Rollan-

"What now?" Rollan muttered, mostly to himself.

"Simple," Devin, who was beside him, sneered, "Don't be a traitor and soften over a spoiled, rich girl."

Rollan only scowled at him before focusing on the task at hand. He quietly made his way behind the circle of Conquerors so that he was right behind the Greencloaks.

As he did that, the Greencloak man spoke, "Zerif, why am I not surprised?"

"Greetings," Zerif spoke coldly, "We meet again, Tarik. Oh, and Lishay of course. Unfortunately, I met your brother a while ago saving that general."

"You killed Hanzan," the Greencloak named Lishay snarled, "You'll pay for this!"

But before she could move, all the Conquerors raised their weapons, some aiming their bows at her. The Greencloak named Tarik held her arm to stop he which she reluctantly did. Rollan could see the Niloan girl, Abeke, and Mistress Meilin. Is she even known as a Mistress now that her father's dead?

"I know our entrance was not exactly polite," Zerif spoke, his focused entirely on Abeke and Meilin, "but we dream of a better Erdas. These Greencloaks, they're hiding something from you, aren't they? They haven't told you how important you actually are?"

Meilin only scowled as Abeke's grip on her bow tightened but Rollan spotted the unease in their actions.

"Well, of course we have the answer to that," he went on, "These people want your powers. These Greencloaks, the guardians of Erdas or whatever they call themselves, only want power for themselves. Have you ever wondered why they're always so secretive with the Nectar?"

"The Greencloaks are heroes," Abeke replied but it sounded weak compared to Zerif.

"That's what history tells us," Zerif growled, "but you'll never know for they've covered up every bit of mistake in all the books they've written. All the books you see are written only by the Greencloaks. How would you know the truth?"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Meilin spat.

"Because it's true," he replied coldly, "The Greencloaks have been hiding why you're so powerful but we're not like that. I'll explain myself why you two are so important, only if you join us."

"They only want power from you," Tarik spoke up, "Look at what they've done to Zho-"

"Meilin, Abeke," Zerif interrupted, "You have something only a few others have. You've done something no one has ever done until now. You sum-"

Just then, there was a cry of pain followed by more, filling the night. Immediately, Rollan's vision disappeared as he was suddenly in the sky. No, he was seeing through Essix's eyes. He saw what specks of red, weaving through the forests and trees as they jumped down on the Conquerors. Rollan was suddenly back at the clearing and was recovering quickly. It wasn't the first time he was seeing through Essix's eyes.

All around him, he finally saw the people up-close. They wore a long, flowing red cloak and white masks that looked like animals. Nearby, there were flashes of light as Spirit Animals were summoned from both groups. Rollan's gaze snapped back to where the Greencloaks were and saw one of them talking to the others, only he didn't wear the mask.

I can't mess up this time. I'm not going to soften over a rich girl again, he silently told himself as he quickened his pace towards them.

As he approached, he looked closely and realized he was the blonde guy who he saw at the party.

"We need to get you all out of here," the blonde guy was saying.

"Who are you?" Tarik demanded suspiciously.

"His name is Shane," Abeke quickly replied, "He's a friend."

Rollan flashed out both his daggers and ran at Shane. Unfortunately, Abeke had spotted him and summoned the huge leopard, Uraza. The leopard snarled at him but before she could jump, Rollan heard the familiar cry of Essix as it dove towards the leopard. Uraza could only glance at the falcon in shock.

The boy named Shane fixed his shock gaze on him, "You...You-"

"Yes, I did," Rollan nodded gravely before twirling both his daggers.

"Why are you on their side?" Shane questioned, taking out his blade and taking up a defensive stance, "Surely you know who the good guys are."

"I may know," Rollan replied, "but that doesn't make me good. I've been bad since I was born."

"Once a thief, always a thief," he flinched slightly as he heard the unmistakably sound of hatred from Meilin, "Roll, the Amayan thief, right?"

"You guessed right," Rollan answered, meeting her gaze as he saw a whirlwind of emotions. Anger. Hatred. Betrayal. Distrust.

But before anyone could move, Rollan suddenly spotted Devin sneaking up on Shane, unnoticed. His blade was raised high as he prepared to deliver the kill. Acting out of instinct, Rollan threw his dagger, aiming perfectly at the same spot on Devin's arm, who fell back in pain once more.

"I've had enough deaths tonight," Rollan spat then his gaze landed on Meilin who looked back in surprise, the anger in her eyes fading for a while.

He took a deep breath, preparing his remaining dagger, "I really don't want to fight you. All I want is the necklace around your neck. That's all we want and we will let you go unharmed."

"Let us go unharmed?" The Greencloak named Tarik narrowed his eyes, "I've known Zerif long enough to know he doesn't play mercy."

"King," one of the red cloaked people, a girl from her voice, suddenly appeared by Shane's side, "You must leave now. We'll cover you."

"Thank you Talon," Shane replied with a nod then added more quietly, though Rollan heard it, "We'll meet at Eura."

For some reason, Rollan thought he had heard of that voice before. It just sounded so familiar. The group was already moving out but before he could move, the Redcloaks formed a defensive line in front of him which made him feel frustrated and relief at the same time.

"What are you doing just standing there?" His gaze snapped back to Devin who was struggling to fight of the two red-cloaked figures because of his injury, "Help me here before I start planning to kill you!"

With a reluctant sigh, Rollan quickly dashed to his side as Devin threw back one of his daggers. A part of him just wanted to let Devin handle it all by himself but he wasn't that cruel, even if he was an enemy. Rollan twirled his daggers as he faced then, one of them red-cloaked figures being the girl named Talon.

"Oh, so has the legendary black cat summoner need help from the famous Amayan thief, Roll?" Talon sneered but Rollan knew that he had heard of the voice before.

He glanced at Devin who only looked at Talon with shock before sputtering, "R-Renna?"

That's when Rollan finally remembered the girl Devin had been with when he pranked them in the garden earlier. No wonder he thought she was familiar.

Renna flinched before speaking, "When the mask is on, it's Talon. We are the Redcloaks, and I advice you not to cross our paths."

- - -

Just to let you guys know, the character, Talon from the actual books, her real name isn't Renna but I have given her that name for the purpose of this book.

The Redcloaks are here! And Shane is still King. But Devin isn't a Redcloak named Worthy (yet?)

Please vote and leave a comment on what you guys think. Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- - -

Guys, need a quick help. Please comment down below for one of the names given.

1. Cyra

Or

2. Sierra

This character is a blank panther that you will be seeing in "Rise of the Wyrm." (Once I publish it)

Thanks guys!