Hunters & Dragons by Nick Venom (some good books to read .TXT) 📖

Episode One "White Rose"

Russ entered the leader of his party’s house. He walked up to his leader, Noah, and announced news he received from the receptionist, Emma. “We were given a quest by Emma.”

“What kind of mission is it?” Noah asked. He turned towards Russ. He was polishing his hand crossbow with an old rag. 

“It’s a guarding mission. You know the princess?” Russ asked. Another member of the party, Thatcher, shot up. His eyes were dark due to lack of sleep. 

“The princess?” He shouted. “We’re guarding her?” Thatcher asked. Russ nodded. 

“When’s the mission?” asked the last member of the party, Jean. She sat on Noah's half-broken couch but now stood up. 

“Tomorrow,” Russ responded.

“Would guarding the princess do us any good?” Noah asked with a pained looked on his face.

“We should take it. Guarding the princess can earn us a large sum of money; Maybe even some favors.” Russ informed his group. Rook shook his head, chuckling.

“Always thinking of ways to take advantage of the situation,” Thatcher said. Russ nodded and started laughing.

“It seems like we can’t afford to reject this quest,” Noah said. He let out a sigh. “How long is the guarding mission?”

"Over a week or, so,” Russ said, twirling his bo staff around in circles.

“... A week? Damn,” Noah whispered.

“How many other groups are going?” Jean asked while digging through her bag. 

“I heard six,” Russ said. “This is really high-profile. I can’t wait to see the profit!” he said with his smile on full display.

“What’s the reason for the trip? Or why are we invited? We’re a new party.” Noah exclaimed.

“Apparently, the princess is visiting a small village called Titoria on the outskirts of the nation. That village seems to have historic roots and looks important for the royals. Why an F rank party like us was invited is over my head.” Russ said.

“Everybody pack up! Be prepared to leave at first light,” Noah ordered. His party nodded and dispersed. Russ left through the front door and went to search the marketplace for medicine while Thatcher went upstairs to get his stuff since he slept over at Noah’s house. Jean stood up and packed her stuff, as she also slept over at Noah’s house in a different room than Thatcher and Noah. Noah started staring at Jean as she packed her stuff. Jean turned towards Noah and their gazes met, lingering. Neither of them spoke, allowing silence to rise.

“I-I’ll see you later.” Her voice, which was clear, now turned into a whisper.

Noah nodded. “Y-Yeah, um, I-I’ll s-see you later,” he stammered. Jean walked to the stairs and walked up to them, reaching the top. Noah turned around and softly slapped himself. What were you thinking! I can’t even talk to her, he thought.

Jean turned around and looked over at Noah, who was too busy softly slapping himself to notice her gaze.

Episode Two "Princess Katelyn"

The party woke up early the next day, packing their items in their tattered bags. They ventured from the guild house to the castle of the Crown, a half-hour adventure. 

They stood in front of the castle’s main entrance, two large black-metal fences, with the other parties surrounding them. Bodyguards stood on the sides of the fences, dressed in black and white suits, standing straight and at attention.

Five minutes passed before the reason the several parties waited at the main gates arrived. Princess Katelyn Atraciral appeared, strolling down the cobblestone path that connected the castle and the main gate. She was in a set of iron armor instead of the Crown’s usual red, black, and gold robes. Her pink hair was styled into a ponytail, protruding out of her helmet. Behind her was a squad of Royal Guards; men and women dressed in iron armor alongside their leader.

She strolled through the main gate, standing in front of the parties. She stared them down, snapping from one party to the next. She cleared her throat, satisfied with what she saw, and took her helmet off, addressing the parties. 

“Welcome! My name is Katelyn Atraciral, I am the third princess of the Atraciral kingdom. Today I need your support to guide me to Titoria.” She announced. “Will you help me?”

Some groups were cheering for her, but most were silent. Not everybody was happy with the Crown as most of them were only there for the money. Even so, they were forced to clap when one of the Royal Guards stepped forward, took his helmet off, and glared at them. It was enough to motivate them to cheer and shout, even if there was no emotion in it.

With all preparations completed, they set off immediately, moving from the castle to the main gates of the capital. From there, the real trouble would begin.

Noah turned around and faced his group---healer Russ, tank Thatcher, and magician Jean.

“You guys prepared? We’re going to be gone for a week.” Noah told them. They nodded.

“We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t,” Russ said.

“Bodyguarding a princess is a once in a lifetime chance for a knight. It’s why knights were created… to protect the Crown.” Thatcher remarked.

Noah smiled, shaking his head playfully. “Yeah, let's get moving.” He said. Jean and the others nodded, following Noah out of the city. They were positioned at the back of the pack while another group---Night Devils---led them into battle. Katelyn and her security detail were at the core with the other groups---Apocalyptic, Rejects, Holy Land, Blue Knights, and Order Den---surrounding them.

The group began their adventure, going through fifty miles of forest before they were close enough to the village, which was another sixty miles after that. 

After walking for a day, they covered a tenth of their one hundred and ten-mile journey. There they decided to settle down for the night and wait until first light to continue moving. The groups set up their camps with big gaps between them.

Noah stood up and scanned the area, including the atmospheres of the groups. Everybody kept to themselves, leaving no room for discussion or friendly greetings. Noah then sat back down on a piece of lumber across from Russ. Thatcher sat on a log to his right and Jean on his left. A fire was set in the middle of them.

“Something seems very off,” Russ whispered. “The princess hasn’t even tried to talk with the other groups.”

“We’ll probably be used as cannon fodder,” Noah said. “That’s why a young and inexperienced group such as ourselves were invited.”

“We were meant to be sacrificed,” Jean whispered. The others nodded and resided in silence. Jean looked up at the stars that polluted the sky. Thatcher and Russ both looked down and zoned out. Noah stood up and looked over at the princess and her guards. He walked over to her. His comrades looked over at him, their eyebrows raised and their eyes widened.

Once he got close enough to the princess’s camp, her guards stood up and embraced him with weapons drawn. “What do you wish to do?” A female guard asked.

Noah raised his hands. “I, simply, want to ask the princess why she invited a rank F party to this important adventure?”

“Return to your pit,” A male guard spat.

“Lower your arms. Do not hurt our allies.” Katelyn declared. “I can understand the curiosity of your involvement.” The princess rose and walked closer to Noah. Her straight pink hair swayed in the wind and her iron armor was scathed and bruised, showing clear signs of combat. 

Noah looked straight into her eyes, receiving the full attention back. 

“I can check the purity of a person. People who have killed or committed unlawful acts are shown to me as corrupted black masses while people who haven’t hurt a soul and/or show kindness - to all those without discrimination on gender or race are shown to me as pure white masses. This ability is what led to me choosing you for this adventure.” She told him. 

“Thank you, that’s all I needed,” Noah said, faking a smile. I don’t believe her one bit.

 He turned around and walked back to his camp. Katelyn smiled, tilting her head. She didn’t believe the genuineness of his smile. 

Noah returned to his camp, everybody staring at him for answers. “It looks like we were chosen because of our ‘purity’, but don’t be fooled. Her guards don’t seem to like or trust me, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them ditching us and claiming it was for a sacrifice.” His party nodded.

“Well, as long as we’re following you, we’ll be fine.” Russ declared.

“I agree,” Thatcher said.

“No complaints here,” Jean said.

Noah smiled. “Then we’ll have to see what awaits us in the morning.” 

 

TBC…

Episode Three "Racekillers"

The group headed out, following the rest of the parties that took lead. They moved further away from the capital and towards the village of Titoria. 

Two days passed since Noah’s confrontation with the princess. Since then, they traveled without any communication with the other teams. This lack of communication divided the parties as nobody talked outside of their group - there was, however, a single line of communication that connected all of the teams given to the leaders through an earbud-like object. Noah wore the red earbud in his ear as they followed Katelyn on the journey, picking up scraps and fending off foes that attempted to flank them. All at Katelyn and her security detail’s orders.

Now nearing the end of another day of walking and fighting, Katelyn ordered the teams to settle in for the night. Every leader was ordered to report in before settling in for the night. Noah, reluctantly, followed the order as did the other leaders.

“White Rose leader reporting in. Settling down in camp F for the night.” Noah reported in.

“Good job today White Rose,” Katelyn said over the line, receiving no more words from Noah. He instantly took off the earbud and stuffed it into his pocket. He then laid down on a blanket that Russ placed on top of the prickly stiff grass.

“What now, leader?” Russ asked.

“Don’t call me leader, I’m not one” Noah said as he gazed at the stars above him. “Just Noah.”

Russ chuckled, skimming his left hand through his messy hair. “What do we do now, Noah?” 

Noah covered his eyes with his right arm before letting out a sigh. “Wait for instructions, what else?”

“That’s it? We can’t do anything else?” He asked. Noah wiggled his index finger from his free hand. 

“Not at the moment,”