Vale spat out the foul "delicacy" provided by the chef today. His face wrinkled up in disgust at the plain taste of it. "Did we get a new chef? This food tastes so simple."
The baron gave him a look. "War makes it difficult for supplies to get through. I'm afraid you will have to get used to it." As he finished speaking, a servant came briskly to his side, whispering something in his ear. Vale scowled at the servant, as if blaming him for the food.
The baron's face paled. He stood up immediately, and yelled for the guards. "Take the boy to his room. Now!" Vale sat there, confused.
"Why? Don't we get dessert?" The guards did not respond as they yanked him out of his chair. Yelling could be heard from the corridor, as well as the sinister noise of steel striking steel. The baron drew his sword now, yelling at the guards to hold the door shut.
Vale was dropped unceremoniously on the chair as the guards rushed to the door. "Damn! Who is it? The sect could not have arrived here so quickly." The baron was yelling at his servants and guards, as if they knew. The hallway was eerily quiet now.
A few seconds passed, with the only sound being the heavy breathing of the guards bracing the door and the baron facing it. Vale had stood up now, and was wise enough to not make noise.
The door was blasted off of its hinges, causing the two guards to scream as they were thrown back with the force of it. The baron stood about 5 feet from the door. The dust obscured whatever was behind it. Vale felt the cold hand of fear settle in his heart.
The baron, seemingly realizing something, whirled around and rushed towards Vale. "Baron? W-what are you doing?" The baron roughly picked up the boy.
Vale felt the cold edge of steel against his throat. "You come any closer and I'll just kill the boy." The baron's voice shook. The dust settled now, enough for a silhouette of a man to appear. The man stepped forward.
He was a large man, in a tattered bloody cloak. He held a simple sword in his left hand, and a strange chain that had an almost sinister aura to it in the other.
"Shrike? What the hell do you want here?" The baron seemed dumbfounded.
As the baron hesitated at the tall stranger's appearance, suddenly the man's hand was up and the chain was flying forward. It whipped over Vale's head, straight into the face of the baron. Vale heard a gasp from above his head, as well as a crunch of bones.
"Baron?" The sword fell from his throat. Vale turned in horror at the baron, who heavily fell to the ground. His face was a mess of blood, and it was hard to tell what the sinister chain had even done to him. Vale turned his gaze back at the stranger, who was now approaching him. "Please- I don't-" Vale was cut off as the main thumped him in the side of the head with the flat of his blade. Vale's vision turned to black.