"Jeanette, wake up."

Jeanette opened her eyes and saw a furry face looking down at her. She opened her mouth to scream only to stop, realizing it was Griffin, again.

"Can you stop doing that?" Jeanette snapped.

"Wake up the others," he told her urgently, "we need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"Why don't you look outside."

Jeanette got up from her bed and rushed towards the window, expecting to see another fire burning the forest down. Instead she saw five men in black, hooded cloaks, talking to a villager.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Jeanette asked him, annoyed.

"Can't you see those five men in black cloaks?" Griffin exclaimed.

"Uh, yes I can."

"They mean trouble," Griffin explained as quickly as he can, "they're here to look for Conor."

"How do you know?" she asked, unconvinced.

"I have a bad feeling about them," he said in a hush voice, "I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen today. So we need to get out of here."

Jeanette sighed, "You're just over-reacting."

Just then, Conor burst into their room with Max following behind him.

"Guys, we need to get out of here," Conor exclaimed.

"What? Why?" Jeanette asked, confused.

"There are five men in hooded cloaks looking for us," Conor explained as quickly as he can, "John says that he knows those men. They are assassins, hired to kill very wealthy, important people, especially kings."

Jeanette looked back out the window just in time to see one of them men turn. Their eyes locked as they stared for a while. Then the hooded stranger turned to his companions, pointing towards them.

"Uh guys," Jeanette announced, "they might have spotted me from the window."

Suddenly, John appeared outside the doorway.

"Quick, follow me," he ordered and ran through the hallways, the others following behind.

They stopped in front of a door and John tried to open the door.

"It's jammed," John said, "this is supposed to lead us up to the roof."

As John and Conor tried to open the door, Jeanette heard voices coming from below them.

"Everyone, stand back," Max barked, backing up.

"I don't think that's a good idea-" Griffin started but Max was already running towards the door at full speed.

He hit the door hard, landing on his side with a loud thump.

"And they say dogs are smart," Griffin muttered.

John quickly pulled some sort of pin from his cloak and started picking the lock.

"Um, can you please hurry up," Griffin said, nervously.

Jeanette can hear footsteps coming closer and closer.

"Almost there," John replied.

Just when the assassins came into view, John had opened the door revealing a staircase going up. Conor was already dashing up the stairs, the others quickly following him. After they reached the next level, another door stood in front of them. Conor ran towards the door, not bothering to slow down, and jumped up, doing a flying kick, opening the door. He landed heavily on his back but quickly got up. John and Conor put there backs behind the door just as the assassins reached them. Jeanette spotted a heavy looking crate and she pushed it towards the door, blocking it. It kept the door close, for now.

"We'll need to jump," Griffin announced, who was standing on the edge of the building.

"What, are you crazy?" Max exclaimed.

"Nope. I'm smart," Griffin replied with a grin then leaped of the edge.

They all ran up the edge and saw Griffin paddling in a small pond.

"Ugh, I hate water," Griffin muttered.

"I'm turning crazy," Max growled then jumped off the edge as well.

There was a loud bang and they turned around to see the door moving. They only have a matter of seconds before the door opens.

"See you guys down there," John said, jumping after the two.

Jeanette looked down and her eyes screwed up. They were a couple of stories high.

Jeanette hesitated, "I can't do this."

"If you can climb a steep wall, then you can jump of," Conor encouraged her.

"But it's too high," Jeanette argued, backing up from, "and climbing up is different then jumping down."

Conor grabbed her hand, "Jeanette, look at me."

She looked at Conor in the eyes and all her fear vanished, "Believe me when I say this but I've never seen someone so brave. You remained calm as you led us through the woods when there was fire all around us. And I've never seen someone climb up such a steep wall. You need to believe in yourself, Jeanette, because...I believe in you. Trust me, I'll be right beside you as we jump off this building together."

"Hey you guys," Max howled from below, "are you just going to sit there or are you going to jump?"

Jeanette took a deep breath and slowly nodded, "Okay, let's do this."

"Okay," Conor said, smiling, "we'll jump at the count of three. One-"

Just then, the door burst open.

"Three!" Jeanette said and jumped off the building with Conor.

As they resurfaced, Conor glared at her, "I thought two was after one, not three." But his eyes shone with laughter.

Jeanette felt herself smile and together, they swam towards the others and ran into the woods.

A man with a long, black cape that stretched towards the ground, was looking out a huge window. It was the same man who was at the cave yesterday with a huge beast. There was an urgent knock on the door and five other men with hooded cloaks burst into the room.

"Sir," one of the man said.

"Did you kill him?" the man asked, not turning around.

"I apologized sir," the assassin answered, nervously, "but they escaped."

"That's twice you failed me," the man said darkly, "I told you to burn the forest but they escaped. I told you to kill Conor before they wake but they still escaped."

The assassin who spoke said nothing and avoided eye contact as he turned around.

"You're lucky i'm giving you guys one more chance," the man muttered, "It's time to take the Golden Diamond."

"Who would hire someone to kill you?" Jeanette asked Conor as they walked through the woods with the others.

"I don't know," Conor replied, "but I have a feeling that it might've been the same person who freed the Keeper of Death."

"Well, whoever did it they're trying to stop us," Griffin meowed, "we need to get the Golden Diamond and get back to the kingdom as quick as we can."

Conor's fear rose as they walked on in silence. He knew that their mission wasn't going to be easy. Now, knowing that there's someone trying to kill him made their mission more harder. They still hadn't reached the Keeper of Life and already, this guy who's trying to kill him already has the Keeper of Death on there side. The Dark Mountains loomed above them but Conor felt a wave of determination. He started the mission and now he's going to finish it, saving the kingdom or die trying.

Suddenly, Max's ears pricked up and he started growling.

"What's wrong?" Conor asked.

Just then, men in hooded cloaks jumped down from the trees above them.

"Assassins," John warned, "it's an ambush!"

Conor felt the breath knocked out of him as someone barreled into him, knocking his sword away. He quickly got up and faced the assassin who had an axe in his hand. He spotted John already drawing out his sword as he fought another assassin. Jeanette face another one with Griffin while Max and Ursa fought two men together.

Conor slowly backed up and spotted his sword which was right behind the assassin. His attacker swung his axe at him but Conor rolled away and dashed for his sword. He grabbed his sword, spun around and managed to block the axe before it met his face. Conor slashed his sword at him but the man easily blocked it and threw a punch which Conor managed to dodge. He swiped his axe below Conor but jumped and tried to punch the man. The assassin caught his hand before it could make contact and he quickly gave him a punch of his own, sending Conor fall back. The assassin raised his axe, ready to deliver the kill. Conor looked around but the others were too busy fighting to notice him.

I am going to finish this mission, Conor vowed.

Everything went fast. The assassin quickly brought down his axe but Conor rolled at the last minute. H kicked the guy in the face making him fall back unconscious. He looked around to see who needed help but stopped dead. John had on of the man pinned down. Just then, one of the assassins sneaked up behind John, axe raised.

"John, behind you!" Conor yelled, already dashing towards him.

John spun around and managed to block the axe on time. The other assassin quickly got up and grabbed his sword. With John busy fighting the assassin with the axe, the other assassin quickly stabbed John on the back. The assassin pulled out his sword making John yelped in pain and slowly going on his knees. All the fighting stopped.

"No!" Conor shouted, dropping beside John.

"Let's go," the assassin who stabbed John told the others, "we're done here."

The other assassins ran into the woods except for one. He looked at them with an evil smile.

"I warn you, King Conor," the man said coldly, "there's no one in this world you can trust. If you don't give up now, you'll always be betrayed over and over again."

Then the assassin ran after his companions as the rest of the group surrounded John.

"Hold on John," Conor told him, "you'll be fine. Just hold on."

But they both know it won't be fine. The wound was too deep and he was already losing a lot of blood.

"We both know...what the real answer...is," John struggled to say, "have faith...Conor. Don't let my dying...get in the way...of your mission."

John looked at Conor with hope and...was that guilt in his eyes?

"Forgive me...your majesty," John said, his voice slowly fading, "forgive me...Conor..."

He closed his eyes. The breathing stopped. No one made a sound.

Conor had his head bowed down in grief. Without John to guide them, they don't know what lays ahead. They don't know where to find the Keeper but Conor didn't care. John wasn't just his guide but his friend. He died because of him. The assassins were supposed to kill him but instead, they killed John.

"Conor?" he heard Jeanette's voice behind her.

There was sympathy in her voice which made Conor's blood boil. He didn't want anyone's sympathy but there was no anger in his voice, only dullness.

"He's dead," he replied dully, "he's dead because of me."

Max started, "You know that's not true-"

"Can't you see?" he whirled around and glared at them, "it should've been me. The assassins wanted me to be killed not him. It's all my fault."

"No it's not!" Jeanette told him, her voice loud, "it was whoever-that-dude-is-trying-to-kill-you's fault! It's not your fault Conor and it will never be."

"But he's dead, Jeanette," he told her, "maybe if I persuaded him to stay. Maybe if i tried harder-"

"Conor, listen to me," Jeanette said, grabbing his shoulders so that he would look at her, "it's not your fault that he's dead. He came with you so that he could guide you. He stayed with you because he believed in you. He stayed with you because he knew that you could save the kingdom even if it meant he would die so others could live. You heard him just now not to let his death get in the way of your mission. Don't let his death be in vain, Conor."

She let go of his shoulders, "A friend of mines once told me, 'believe in yourself, because I believe in you. Now I say this to you, believe in yourself because John believed in you that he died helping you. Because Max believes in you. Because I believe in you."

"Hey, how about me?" Griffin piped in.

"So, what do we do now, Conor, King of Cylo?" Jeanette asked, smiling a bit.

Conor looked at her and felt himself smiling too, "Onward with the mission. We have a kingdom to save."

It is a tragic ending for John but the team still moves onward. There are more surprises to come so stay tuned for the next chapter!

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