Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius walked swiftly through the halls of the grand palace in Eroa's capital. It was the home of the royal family as well as the base of operations for the organization that Lucius had joined.

Two years into his training with his biological father, Kalivas, he was told he needed more field experience. However, given the amount of people who knew his face and knew his abilities, becoming a normal soldier would not do.

Instead, Kalivas put him in contact with an old friend who was an acquisition specialist for the King's Shadow. He observed military and knight recruits regularly to see if any applicants held the skills or the personalities required to join the organization.

On his first contact with the geezer, Lucius was accepted instantly. Six months later, Kalliope followed him. Lucius was sure she would not have passed since she did not have a stealthy bone in her body, but apparently, brute force was deemed necessary at times, so she was accepted in the end.

Though he was the youngest to join, Lucius quickly showed how much he excelled at the work. Tracking down rebels, sorting through misinformation, and threatening informants, all seemed to be things he was very good at.

In no time he was granted command over a small unit, then a larger one. And finally, about six months before the end of the war, he was named a commander and granted the codename, Titan.

Having reached the doorway to the room he was searching for, he breathed deeply in preparation for what was going to be an exhausting meeting. Satisfied with his preparation, he opened the massive door and stepped inside.

Waiting for him were five other people, all dressed in the same armor as him, with cloaks, and black, featureless masks. The armor they wore was a blackened leather and fur armor that covered most of the body. Underneath it they all dark, skin-tight clothes. The ensemble was finished off with the masks and a hood.

Cloaks were the only part of the outfit they had a say over. Each member had a different colored one. Lucius kept his sand-colored one because he had no care about fashion and had yet to replace it after his Alorek Campaign.

"Titan, so glad of you to join us. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." One of the other commanders said with a judgmental tone.

"Spider. A pleasure as always." He answered while taking a seat.

"Well, now that we are all here, we are to discuss the next steps." This time the man who spoke was the largest, physically, of the people here. He also had a booming voice that exuded authority. He was the Grandmaster of the order. Codenamed, Crown.

Crown passed out a series of documents to each of the individuals surrounding the table. Lucius kept his closed, waiting for his turn to have his assignment announced.

"Spider, we are sending you into Alorek. I know we tend to keep our people in the borders and Titan was an exception to this, however, we simply need to keep an eye on their movements, at least for the next few months to ensure that peace is the option they are sticking to."

"Sir, I understand but… the desert doesn't agree with me."

"In what way?" Crown growled.

"I'll deal with it," Spider said, retracting a little into his chair.

Continuing the meeting, Crown individually divided out the assignments one after another. Before getting to Lucius, he dismissed the rest of the commanders.

Spider, of course, had to get one more word in edgewise "Good luck, Titan. The fresh faces always get the worst assignments." He laughed the entire walk out of the room.

Lucius sighed and shook his head before opening up his folder. As he read the document, his eyes tracked across the page faster and faster.

"Crown, is this accurate? This is my mission?"

The grandmaster looked at him and slowly removed his mask. "Yes, Titan. As a reward for your service and efficiency in resolving the Alvora assault, we have selected you for this specific mission. The king gives you his well wishes on this assignment."

"Sir, are you sure? I know I'm only six months in, but will the order be fine while I'm gone? This is rather long-term."

"We are aware of that, Titan. However, it has been agreed upon already by both myself and King Verdayl. You may still receive assignments from time to time, and are required to report your position every time you change location, but yes. This is your long-term assignment."

"Thank you, sir. And his majesty as well."

Lucius bowed and exited the room. He needed to rush back to Kalivas' house… though now it was technically his as well. When Lucius made it into the rank of Commander as part of the King's Shadow, he was also formally acknowledged as Kalivas' son and an heir to his father's house.

The news was kept private and only Kalivas, Lucius, Crown, Atil, and Kalliope were there along with the king and his aide.

It was some sort of problem for people to know that Kalivas had a son at the moment. The time would come later for the information to come to light, but when he was granted his position in Kalivas' house was not that time.

In the months since he did find it curious that Kalivas was the only member. It was a small house and at the moment it was only Lucius and him that were part of it. Kalivas inherited it from his father and his father's father.

Lucius was under the impression it that his biological father was a member of the Panther Clan since that was where his mother was from, but that was not the case. His maternal bloodline had renounced him due to his status as a Marked One. Even in a nation where strength was the primary source of respect, the hatred of the Marked Ones' cursed blood was a point of contrition.
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"I need to inform Kalivas and Kalliope of this. Potentially Lord Atil as well. I will most likely be bringing his daughter along on this and it may be some time before they see each other again. Though… I have a feeling that won't be a problem for him."

Lucius thought about the amount of desire that Kalliope had for him and shuddered for a moment. Sometimes he could not tell if she was looking at him through the lens of love, admiration… or hunger. Most of the time it felt like hunger…