223 Aelfdene's Punishmen

"Then you accept your punishment for endangering the life of the princess?" King Regin's cold voice rang out.

"I accept."

The only person who could make him stop was his late son and probably his wife and children, but right now, Terrence didn't say anything and watched as the whole incident took place, his eyes void of emotion, almost mirroring that of his father.

Cleon clenched his hands at his side into a ball as he stared at the impending doom of his friend.

"So be it."

King Regin raised his hand holding the sword and a light glint flashed on the sword. Aelfdene took in a deep breath as he awaited his fate.

He knew his King, when it came to his children, he was a different man entirely, purely overly protective of them, especially his one and only female child.

Queen Aelinor may not have been able to see it back then, but they knew. He often would ask that they secretly watch and protect them, especially Prince Blade since he shot everyone out and kept to himself.

Regin feared so much that what had happened to his first son would happen again, so the generals were each assigned to watch over them.

At that minute, the sword came swinging down towards his neck. All the generals had their heart in their throats, but outwardly they looked calm, save for the cold sweat that broke out on their foreheads.

SWOOSH!

CLANK!

The moment when the sword was about coming in contact with Aelfdene's head, Cleon shut his eyes quickly, unable to witness such a scene.

When the sword hit the ground, Lyklor and Borak gasped, followed by a sigh as their eyes pooped open.

At their gasp, Cleon finally managed to open his eyes, no matter what he was still a general and he should witness his friend's final moment and not shut his eyes away.

Rather a ground stained with blood and a head rolling on the floor, Cleon's eyes were met with a clean and sparkling sword and a perplexed Aelfdene.

His eyes moved on their own and landed on the stunning figure in front of them with his back to face them.

"Nothing you did would warrant me taking your life," Regin's voice rang out, shocking everyone and bringing a sense of calm to their troubled hearts.

Cleon could not believe what he was seeing, "Haha," he chuckled at the situation and moved his gaze back to his friend. Their gaze met and a smile displayed on their lips as Aelfdene closed his eyes briefly.

"Thank you, your majesty," Cleon and Alfdene said at the same time, the joy evident in their voices.

"Did you think I was that bad and monstrous?" Regin asked them, shocking them with his question and making them dumbfounded.

"Your majesty."

He placed both hands on his arm and guided him back off, his cute smile never leaving his face for once. "If I had killed you for saving my daughter, then I would have been the monster you had thought me of."

"I never thought of you as one, your majesty, even with my life on the line," Aelfdene said to the King, his face turning serious as he stared into Regin's green eyes.

"I m glad I never disappointed you," Regin added. "We did scare Cleon though, he shut his eyes when the sword came crashing down," Regin joked, his eyes moving to where Cleo stood and laughed when their eyes met.

"Cleon has always had a soft heart, your majesty. Do not blame him."

"Hey, Aelfdene, I am still here you know," Cleon protested. 'And Prince Terrence didn't do much to ease up the situation, his eyes were almost as cold as his majesty's."

All head turned towards Terrence's direction to see the eyes Cleon spoke of, but all they met was his smiling bright eyes. By the time the situation died down, the coldness in his eyes melted away.

"He has changed them, hmm like father, like son."

"I couldn't give the king away now could I?" Terrence replied Cleon, his gaze leaving Cleon to land on his father. "From the look of things, I think I did well, father."

"Yes, you did. You played the part very well," Regin commended him.

Looking at them now, one wouldn't believe that the once tense atmosphere suddenly became this lively with everyone having a peal of hearty laughter at the situation.

All of a sudden, Aelfdene's smile dropped and upon seeing this, Regin's own dropped as well.

"I also apologize to you and the royal family for failing to capture the hybrid," Aelfdene spoke hope.

He had an apologetic look on his face now. He felt bad not being able to deliver the hybrid to the royal family. Even though that wouldn't have soothed the pain they felt, but it would have somehow compensated.

"If she was easy to catch, then she would not have posed as a threat at all. I expected this. She is twice as strong as her mother being a child having the power of the three races. This was also the same reason why I wanted Avery back home. She was no match for the hybrid."

"Father," Terrence spoke up, ready to refute his statement but stopped when Regin held up his hands.

"I have not finished, son. Perhaps now while she hasn't mastered her powers fully, Avery might be a match, but then again, we are talking about the hybrid here and this is not about me having faith in my daughter or not. Feelings aside, I speak the truth when I say, alone, Avery won't stand a chance."

King Regin moved away from them and went back to sit on his throne.

"If you had captured her, I would have sensed it the minute you stepped foot in the palace. Anyways, brief me on the situation and what you could find. From the much we know, we would be able to plan and strategize better."

"Yes, your majesty. Following General Lyklor's suggestion, himself, Borak, a soldier and myself went back to the forest peak to check the cliff from which the hybrid fell off. We found out that they had indeed survived and took a tunnel leading out of the forest. Although it took some days but we followed suit and soon arrived outside the forest."

Aelfdene went on to explain to Bayard about the things he saw, capturing everyone's attention. He skipped the part where Borak and Lyklor together with the other soldier abandoned him and returned.

This was because, by the time he returned after following the trail, he met them at one of the entrances to the forest.

As much as they had wanted to return, it wouldn't sit well when others caught wind of it. And since he had since gone, they decided to wait for his return

"I went ahead, following the trail and came to a dead end," Aelfdene added, pausing to take a breath.

"What do you mean by you came to a dead end?" It was Prince Terrence who spoke next.

"The hybrid was gone, there was no more trail."

"Where was this?" Regin asked him, not full getting the story and needing clearance. Did they hybrid just disappear into thin air just like that?

He needed to know what really happened, bit by bits, all details inclusive.

"Your majesty, she disappeared. There was no more trail. Their trail came to a halt in front of the entrance to the valley of lost souls."

Everyone gaped at the news, all except Borak and Lyklor who pretended not to be shocked as well so as not to give away their secret.

"Did you properly check? What if they had masked their prints and lead you there, making you believe that they had disappeared?" Terence questioned him. He wasn't just about to believe that she vanished into thin air just like her mother and kingdom now, was he?

"Yes, a thorough sweep of the area was done and still nothing. But I did find something rather interesting. There were marks on the ground, signifying a fight must have taken place. I do not think that was formed as well though," Aelfdene added.

His gaze darted from the Prince to King Regin, watching as they processed the news in their heads.

"I also saw some marks, like a sand storm, pointing towards the direction of the entrance. Whatever it was that happened or occurred may have somehow thrown or made the hybrid go into the mist."

"This is big news. With her in the mist, that is if she really entered, then it would become harder to find her. The other way would be to take the long journey and keep up with the chase," Regin concluded.

"But father, do you think she would be able to survive being in the valley for long?"