You might've guessed from reading the quote below me, there may be some Reilin in the next chapter!

- - -

"What's with the names?"

"Code names, probably. Just like yours."

"My name isn't a code name. They just called me Roll because I have a habit of rolling out of trouble."

-Shane-

-3 Years Ago-

"Please help me," a young boy pleaded, his eyes filled with fear.

The room was dark with only the moonlight coming from the window providing light. Shane could make out his brother's outline through the dark.

Shane placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Don't worry, Reynald. I'll cover for you. Just make sure you hide him well."

Reynald nodded and Shane started to walk out his room. He glanced back at him and gave him a reassuring smile, "I promise, i'll be right back."

Shane quietly closed and crept through the hallways. He stayed close to the shadows of the walls as he cautiously made sure that no one saw him. He then reached the stairs and started to creep down as quietly as he could.

He could see the light illuminating from the room where his father usually holds important meetings. He could hear voices he couldn't make out He looked around before creeping his way towards the door. As he walked closer, he could make out a few words.

"Sickness...long time...beasts..."

He could make out his father's voice along with another man's voice. He thought he heard his uncle, General Gar's voice too.

Curiosity got the best of him as he decided to slowly open the door. He then heard the words more clearly.

"...These beasts must be captured," the unfamiliar man spoke, "Those who summoned them are as dangerous."

"This has nothing to do with Stetriol," his father spoke.

"Oh but it does," the man spoke once more, "Because if Erdas is going to be threatened, so will be Stetriol."

"Listen," Shane could tell that his father was fighting to stay calm, "I have listen to your pleas yet you don't have proof. I have made my decision so now, you must leave."

"Very well then," the man growled darkly, "You have made the wrong decision. I warn you, King Irwyn, your kingdom shall fall. I'd watch my back."

Shane quickly darted back up the stairs as he heard footsteps approach. He then watched as the door opened, revealing a man with a black hooded-cloak. Shane then remembered him being one of the visitors he had seen on the day of Reynald's supposed Nectar Ceremony.

Suddenly, to Shane's surprise, the man seemed to have glanced up, his eyes meeting his. Shane held his breath, knowing he had been spotted but the man only gave him a cold smile before walking once more.

The man stopped at the exit and turned around, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a book.

"You might be needing this, King Irwyn," the man grinned, dropping the book at their feet in an impolite way before heading out the door.

-Rollan-

-Back to the Present-

People say that home is the best place you could go to. Home is where everyone would always want to come back to. To Rollan, you'd think he'd disagree when there were many people trying to hunt you down but to him, he would've wanted to come back home.

The only reason was because the only one who cared about him, raised him up, and stayed by his side, was there. His mother, the reason why he agreed to help the Conquerors, was there. Now, his mother was somewhere in Erdas being held as a prisoner and her life rests upon the Conquerors.

So to him, Amaya was still his home, but he was having a hard time seeing it that way. Especially right now.

"We could've been out of this city right now if you weren't so famous," Meilin muttered to Rollan who replied with a glare.

"Says the daughter of the famous General Teng."

"That's not what I meant."

"How many meanings does 'famous' have?"

"Will you two quiet down?" Abeke, who had usually been calm, hissed in annoyance.

They had reached Amaya very early in the morning but the ship couldn't risk going nearer to the city, so they had to swim. Anuqi, the Ardu girl who summoned Suka, had also stayed on the ship for the Redcloaks thought that they should be fine with only them in the group since it's an easy mission.

They had been walking for almost an hour, hiding from alley to alley and trying to blend in to the crowd...but it wasn't easy. Everywhere they went, the militia patrolled the streets which had surprised and confused Rollan.

His face (which was nowhere near his identity) was plastered throughout the walls, the words:

Roll the thief

WANTED!

Report to the Militia for a huge bounty award from the Prime Minister himself

"Is that supposed to be you?" Conor had asked.

"Does that look like me?" Rollan snapped in annoyance.

Even Greencloaks had been seen, patrolling the streets with the militia. Tarik had said that they better keep a low-profile for now. The Prime Minister might not agree to let him free.

Sure the militia and the Prime Minister had been trying to hunt him down but Rollan never remembered patrols this frequent and big. He had stolen the Prime Minister's necklace a couple of years ago and Rollan hadn't messed with the Prime Minister ever since.

"How were you able to pass through this city easily?" Conor asked him as they started moving once more, "There are soldiers everywhere!"

"There hasn't been this many soldiers looking for me unless I had just stolen something very important," Rollan muttered, "And I haven't stolen anything."

"Maybe news of the Conquerors broke out?" Abeke suggested.

"Or they must've heard of what had happened to Zhong," Tarik spoke and Meilin flinched, "Conquerors might've been spreading the news to strike fear in the hearts of the people."

"Yeah but why is it specifically his face plastered on the walls?" Meilin pointed out, "If they've heard that Roll had joined the Conquerors, wouldn't the Conquerors be a threat as well?"

"The Prime Minister must've missed my company," Rollan spoke, "So now he's searching for me so he could keep me in Amaya forever."

"So, who are we supposed to be looking for?" Abeke asked Tarik.

"The Redcloaks managed to contact former Greencloaks, Monte and Barlow," Tarik answered, "But first, we need to get out the city and into the plains."

"Which Great Beast are we looking for?" Meilin asked.

Tarik furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not exactly sure. From the information that we managed to salvage, there's supposed to be a Ram named Arax. There's also Tellun the Elk I believe but other than that, i'm not sure."

"You know about sixteen Great Beasts and you know that they hold powerful talismans," Meilin said, "but you don't know of their whereabouts or what powers they hold?"

"We have a seer named Lenori," Tarik explained calmly, "but I haven't heard of her since I left for Zhong. She hasn't sent us a message yet. I doubt they even know where we are."

"As for the talismans?" Rollan piped up.

"The books we have are old and we have some missing pages," Tarik said, "Some of them are written in a forgotten language."

Even with how calmly he had said, Rollan noticed how fast his expression cleared. His eyesight had immediately sharpened, something that always seems to happen though it seemed to have doubled. He was suddenly aware of everything that's happening around him.

He caught the slight hesitation in Tarik's voice, he could heard the words of a vender who they had passed minutes ago clearly. He heard a low whistle that came from one of the alleys, from a boy to be exact.

But what he felt the most was something radiating from his chest. It's as if he was feeling some sort of power or energy. He then glanced down where he wore his talisman, Essix's Talisman. He then reached in and grabbed the talisman, lifting it off that it wasn't connected to his skin.

Immediately, the power he had felt disappeared, his vision returning to normal. He had to blink a couple of times just to remove the dizziness that he felt.

"Are you okay?" Conor asked anxiously.

It took him a couple of moments to finally reply, "Yeah...fine."

As they went on walking through the city, Rollan's thoughts were still on what had happened before. Once they had left the city, he already knew what power his talisman holds.

- - -

I'm so sorry for the long update! I don't need the feel to explain, because every writer keeps on using the same excuse with school and stuff. I have a winter break next week so i'll try and publish as much as I can.

The continuation of "The Ten Keepers" series is finally out! "Rise of the Wyrm" is in my works so if you want to know what happened to the cliffhanger I left you at, it's there!