CHAPTER 4: Night Before Tragedy
EPISODE: 0 《HIS STORY》
Oh yes! Finally some Action! Kind of excited.
◇ (Flûgel) 1i really do need to keep a notepad open for me to copy paste Flugel's name correctly. Oh wait
In the same day at night. it was around midnight at that time when a large horn was blown atop a watch tower, followed by several sounds of explosions. in a dark village lit up by the cinders of fires from the outside walls, people flocked outside their doors and ran into the center of crowd whereas everyone gathered.
What happened? i asked myself. Waking up Cress who slept at ease immediately after i heard a series of explosions right outside the room we were provided at. Cress then lifted up his upper body, clearly flustered and panicked.
Several things popped up in my mind as i packed up the little things we were provided. One of them was the plausibility of the men that attacked us at that night, Harming the villagers at a state of alarm like this could cause disarrays amongst ourselves.
were we being target?
Second, was about the recent incident and the reason why the village was barricaded up with wooden logs. The 'stampede', an unnatural gathering of monsters from all sizes and shapes 'running' from something. the stampede itself isn't the problem, But what caused it.
The people of this current era doesn't know this dearly, But at least the high positioned ones like the adventurers who interrogated me was in the know of this.
one thing for sure, If this information is to be spread it could cause immense backlash from the people. Panic, Frustration, and Fear.
anyways. If my initial guess were to be true. then they do have the guts to attack us at our home base. 2oh jeez you were there for only 20hours Even so, my uneasiness grew larger as i thought of it deeply.
after packing up the lent clothes and storing them inside my body. I princess carried Cress out of the room and unto the lower floor of the inn.
the case of an Orc gaining dragon blood greatly concerns me, and the reason for it as that. In the first place, there is no dragon to be found at this forrest, it would be at least in the other continent or so to be able to find one. even the more so, Dragons are a rare species that dates way back in the past way before we were even created.
No, In terms of a new species, we were fairly new, in fact, over 216 years new. which makes me think, dragons has the ability to fly and they have strong scales harder than steel and sharp claws sharper than any lance. Them migrating here might not be just a theory, that could be it.
But, Then how would such a mythical being be involved? Dragon blood. They are worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions of gold coins with the effect of being able to revitalize your health, Increase your strength and toughness, and give out a characteristics akin to that of a dragon. Sharp nails, Lizard like eyes and inhumane strength.
yet faced with such negative, the Dragon's blood was highly sought after by many. In the end, that caused their declining number, as such endangering their species. Many died for just a vial of blood, and many were sacrificed to hunt a single dragon.
it was like liquid gold, But such a thing cant come easily as that. Exposing the blood to air would make it vaporize, Making the surrounding atmosphere Acidic, and the blood itself is poisonous to humans. yet they worked around that problem and fixed it.
I don't know much above at that point, but when i came to be as i am the whole ordeal had already resolved itself a millennia ago. But one thing is for sure, even a single drop to a monster could cause it to evolve greatly, Or create a greater monster. a calamity with the same danger levels as the dragons.
Luckily, as i got outside i saw the two best friends evacuating the villagers to the back.
"Everyone, Don't stray off! Stick together and don't panic!"
"Lin! Where is the Village Chief?"
shouted Lin amongst the crowds, Then from the back asked Cathy, forming a cone with her hands to gain Lin's attention.
" Hey what's going on?"
I then walked to Cathy as she was the nearest to me and asked her about what's happening at the moment. Then she replied with just a pained smile as she looked at me and Cress
"It will be all fine Mister Flugel. Please take away Cress as far away as possible. "
She replied, without even explaining the situation.
"Is it a night raid?"
and it is precisely that she nodded her head truthfully about the situation. I collected up my thoughts, stored them at the corner of mind as i looked at the present currently. worrying about something that may not be correct is just a waste of time. It is as she says, Getting out of here is my first priority, and Cress's safety also depends on this.
I then nodded and walked away, but before i did.
Cathy was looking at me as if expecting something. Was she really expecting me to help? I'm not that kind of person though.
"it's... okay-"
"Ahhh!"
from the distance from where Lin should be, was a screaming voice. Cress who was just watching everything as i carried him at my arms suddenly raised his head to look at the direction of the scream, Which is then followed by a loud explosion from the distance. Cress expressed a worried expression.
Cathy whom remained sullen from my decision, tilted her body and looked at the direction of the voice.
"Lin!"
she panicked. Before was she able to leave my side, i held her left arm tightly and stopped her in her tracks.
"Take care of Cress for me"
I said, Lowering Cress from my arms then left towards the direction of the voice and the loud explosion. Cinders of fire was flying right off at the distance as if it was a reverse rain, Coloring up the night sky into a bright reddish festival like light.
Why am i doing this, you may ask. To be honest i myself don't know, it was just that Cress despite meeting them for only a short while had grown attached to these Girls. He tugged my shirt with a worried face, an expression he hasn't shown since he was born.
As i was about to gain distance from the two, Cathy then came in behind me and grabbed the hem of my clothes, standing there with her head lowered and Cress on her arms.
I patted Cathy's head with a smile.
"She's your friend right? "
i said so, Looking at Cress who clasped his hands tightly together.
" Be careful"
Replied Cathy.
"Sure"
"My arrows are finite, Please come back safely!"
at the distance, i could hear Cathy shouting. I then nodded my head without turning back and went on ahead.
Cress trusts these two, eager enough to be worried about strangers. And so i will put my trust on that. Even thought i may not have that much of a reason to do so, this will be a great growth material for the growing Cress. To make connections he could rely on, Not bad right?
Other than that, they treated Cress greatly.
what would happen if they were to know who he really is?
would they still react as they do?
It pains me to think that might be true. 3 Fun fact. I removed over 500 or more words of the raws from the moment Lin screamed. it kind of ruins the contrast of the mood.
◇ (Cathy) 4 wanna know what actually happened at the raws? it was only 100 words XD there was no Leader showing up, about the wall nor how they evacuated. I just wrote it there deeming it might be necessary, no, it was needed to further elaborate the situation.
I and Lin were just strolling down at the silent village, talking about the time we spent with Cress this morning until noon. we had fun, It was just an unexpected coincidence that Cress was able to swallow a whole freshly baked cookie.
just as the last brazier had lost its flame, came a sudden attack. Several men on their posts on top of the walls had their necks pulled down from the other side, which agitated the rest, forgetting to light up the braziers amongst the confusion.
Before we were even able to react due to the darkness, our leader came out with a torch in hand and proceeded to hand out several sticks of them to everyone at the bottom. Everyone on top of the wall had been killed.
me and Lin then moved on our own without being ordered and evacuated everyone on the village.
*ding*ding*din*
the bell in the middle of village was rang three times. and everyone in their houses lit up their torches afire. One, two, three and before we know there was already a horde of them waiting at the center with their belongings hastily prepared.
"everyone! as we had planned before hand! Please form a line and evacuate at the nearest village for safety!"
Shouted Lin as she stood up on top of the wooden boxes.
*boom!*
an explosion came right after, And the place from where the battle had started was ablaze the moment we know it. The walls we had built to prevent the siege of the monster, was burning right in front of our eyes.
we had no time to waste. I thought, Hoisting up what little the village has to a wagon pulled by a horse. The kids that were too weak to walk on their own, and women was also on board as they went out at the back door of the fortress.
Our enemy was completely one step ahead of us, and it hurts to say that we were completely overwhelmed because of this.
I brought out a bow inside of a bag that's hanging on my waist and stretched the bow, Putting it back into its original shape as it was folded to save space. Likewise, Lin whom had her sword hung on her waist also unsheated it and kept it right beside her as we evacuated everyone who was still left.
Lin is the only one who can protect me, But who can protect Lin? The moment i heard her dream was to be an adventurer, that same night i cried out in tears, in fear that i may lose my only childhood friend. The thought of her dying while i sat powerless sent shivers down my spine, and so i strived to protect her in my own ways.
In way that would support her, and be with her. I would like to be a mage, But... that is just Childs dream. Magic, is always read aloud in bards and story books, but have we never seen one. No, in fact. We cannot use it.
So i opted to use a bow. Pulling a string, shooting endlessly day and night, i was able to surprise my best friend.
the rest happens after that.
as we evacuated almost everyone that's left, Flugel came out of the Inn provided for him and met with us. Should i say it? No, i thought to myself. Watching at Cress's face, i only gave a vague answer, which is answered perfectly by Flugel the moment after.
as two are to leave, i forgot to ask for their help but... We're just strangers. I have no authority to ask him for that, and it may endanger a child like Cress who remained expressionless all this time.
Wasn't she surprised of the explosions happing at the background? The sounds of burning wood, and muffled screams...
" Ahhh!"
a familiar voice, I looked around scanning the area for Lin. But she wasn't to be found anywhere near, this is it. It is happening, one of my worst fears in life.
Without even thinking about it, My body moved on its own, following the source of the voice before being stopped in my tracks by Flugel.
"She's your Friend right? I'll do it"
he lowered Cress from his arms and handed her to me. He then left without saying a word after that, But i followed suit and grabbed the hem of his clothes without even realizing it.
"Be careful"
i muttered, then he patted my head with a smile, clearly my face getting hotter right after.
as his figure slowly disintegrated to the background, I placed Cress on top of my shoulders as we did this morning and collected my quiver at the side of the Stacked boxes.
"Cress, Can you hold tightly?"
