This old guy with his perfect blond hair and beard got a bit on my nerves. Why didn't I dream of punching him instead of the maid?
I wouldn't have a chance against this guy. He would probably crush me quite easily, looking like some guy hanging around the gym for fun.
"Waz ics tis?" I tried to ask, but the words didn't come out right.
The older man opened his eyes, rose from his chair, took a couple of steps towards me, took a firm grip of my chin, and the bones started to crack with his hand movement. It made me think if he was here as an oversized doctor to fix my chin. I felt the left side of the face with the swollen area disappear, and a needle between his index finger and thumb. He must have done something to my face; what if he made me ugly suddenly?
"What did you do?" I asked, noticing my slurry voice was gone. It did surprise me a little that my voice was proper again.
"Ah! Your face looks normal now, Berk! Seems like you recovered well after that injection." Veronica uttered.
I just looked at her, disappointed, mostly because she hit me and remodeled my left side, and after passing out, getting beaten by a child, and now I had someone on steroids in the office. I turned my attention to the big guy, who had a deadly stare and a friendly smile at the same time, which confused me about his intentions. It was uncomfortable seeing someone who makes the sun shine with a smile. At the same time, you think maybe a psychopath is in front of you and going to kill you because his eyes show a stare that makes you feel small.
"Sit down, Berk!" Veronica raised her voice, but I was already sitting on the sofa. She must have meant the empty chair in front of the desk.
I slowly walked to the chair on the left, with the big man occupying the right one, as if he owned it. Something I found disturbing is that he looked delighted the whole time, with his smiling face. Veronica rose from her chair and started writing on the room's whiteboard.
"Turn your chairs to the whiteboard, please!" she said, still facing it and drawing something.
We moved our chairs toward the whiteboard when she turned around.
"This is the situation! For the last six months, we have been hunting for a man with a right green hand, as described by the leader who has murdered three civilians and nine soldiers of Valiant. In the end, this resulted in more of the troublesome creatures of Paladin Woods joining forces with him. Hence, we face creatures who think they can do whatever they want in Paladin. There has only been one sighting of him, while his followers have been on other crime scenes, as the last one that Berk faced killed himself out of fear of their leader. You two are here today to start a joint investigation and follow up on the latest report we have received regarding the man with the green hand. The king of Valiant Valdor Van Volden family, who is the last king of Valiant between the realm between Earth and Valiant and protector of the first world, and Berk Van Polan from the Van Polan family." Veronica said, stopping for a moment to look through her papers.
"Eh…Why did the king guy get an awesome introduction, and why did I only get Van Polan? It should have been the awesome young new protector of the Paladin woods and his handsome big brother, who is on investigation trips in Europe to find artifacts from Paladin woods, the best investigators of the Van Polan organization have had like...ever!" I commented.
Veronica and Valdor stared at me, thinking I was joking with them.
"Are you done, Berk?" She asked calmly, and I just nodded because this was not the moment to make jokes, risking to piss her off.
"While the murders have kept going, we managed to gather information from another criminal who had heard of rumors spreading in the 9TH town. According to a report we received from an insider, the man with the green hand will make a run for it. He will try to take a train to Valiant. Your job is to go to the closed train station between Kista and Hallonbergen, called Kymlinge station. There, Berk can go through the portal to the station together with Valdor, as it is hard for non-creatures to go into the stations. There is a kiosk where a Witch is working for the Van Polan organization. She can give you instructions on the situation in the train station and which orders have come in for the trains for traveling." Veronica explained.
I raised my hand, confused because Valiant mentioned the train station Kymlinge in the conversation, which had been closed for several years and is a ghost station today. It is also outside the Paladin Woods zone, which leads us into the human world.
"Eh, Veronica! What is Valiant? And why are we going to a completely abandoned train station here in Stockholm that does not even cover the Zones here in Paladin? It was closed because of ghost stories about Kymlinge station and two bodies found there, with the rumor of murder." I asked.
Valdor mumbled to himself and couldn't relax anymore with the smiling face.
"Valiant is a world like here on Earth, and Paladin Woods with its connection, but it's much bigger than you can imagine. It is a world between Earth and Hell, with only the intention of protecting Earth from Evil as it passes through the gates leading to Earth. You have the same environment in Valiant, and you think of it as a vast gateway from Hell to Earth, which is more or less impossible to get through. It's divided into several different worlds, making it impossible for any prisoners from Hell to escape to Earth. Hence, smaller areas in each world can look completely different, and everything that hinders someone from reaching the next world in Valiant. To pass, you either need to be a king or have passage stones to reach the next world. Each world you pass on becomes more and more challenging and dangerous as you get closer to the center of Valiant. Nobody has even been able to come close to the center of Valiant since the old war, because it's protected. Still, the prisoners there are also the worst of all worlds, not only prisoners from Valiant. You would probably die in the first world if you even tried." Valdor told me with excitement in his eyes as I leaned backward so he wouldn't lean too close to my face.
Okay, another world is divided into several worlds, and not here. That explanation would have been easier to say than telling a fairy tale.
"Eh…So, have any humans been there?" I asked because it would be interesting to know whether humans actually live in another world, which would be... awesome.
Valdor nodded and continued:
"It was a lot of military sent from Earth to the war, actually. Some soldiers fell in love and married another creature, so Valiant has a lot of mixed blood. While many humans live there today, the only rumour I have heard after the war was a human boy entering Valiant through a portal to rescue another boy. It is just a rumour, but what scares everyone is that the boy entered the centre of Valiant, where the worst prisoners are, and got both of them out of there. After that, nobody knows what happened to the two boys." Valdor explained with energy and dedication as if he were telling a fantasy story.
Hmm…It does sound intriguing because Zark came and took me away, but I don't remember if it was in the central part of Valiant or maybe somewhere else.
"How come the boy went on a risky rescue mission?" I asked out of curiosity.
Valdor's eyes lit up even more, and he leaned closer to my face while I tried to look away.
"That I do not know exactly, but some say that the boy has an immense power. Evil has occupied a part of Valiant, and the rumour goes that the boy will crush everything that the enemy has in store and bring back peace so everyone in Paladin can return home, but all that is just a rumour, as nobody really knows." Valdor explained.
Fuck yeah! Am I destined to be a hero? Let's fucking go!
"ENOUGH! Focus on the mission you two have in front of you now." Veronica uttered with a focused look.
Valdor stopped smiling for the first time and relaxed in his chair again. I sat up properly on the chair after having a steroid head too close to my face for the last minutes.
"The report says the man with the green hand will come to Kymlinge train station in around two hours; I need you both to go there and try to find him and arrest him so we can interrogate him. We still haven't found the cause of why the murders have been going on with the soldiers, but also the three civilians, and what connections they even have to this dangerous man." Veronica explained.
The so-called King and I got up from the chair at the same time as we walked to the door, when suddenly Veronica said:
"Berk! Be careful! Let Valdor go in front if any trouble comes, and do not try to be a hero." I gave her a smirk because of the awesome rumour that I may be a future Hero. Nobody should fuck with me, as I am the definition of badass Hero.
Veronica was right, though. I have never been to the train stations serving Valiant, so I have no clue what exactly awaits us there. The steroid dude has to up his game if he wants to be in the presence of a true rumour of a Hero hahaha!