Trevor stormed to the scene where everyone was staring at one of the carts. His facial muscles tightened as he perceived the muffled screaming and shouting from inside. He found a random hellhound that was staring incredulously, grabbing him by the shoulder and turned him. “What the hell is going on? Why are we stopping?” His voice boomed, garnering the others around to stare at them. The hellhound, who appeared to be a teenager, quivered: “I— I don’t know, sir! I just heard screaming and Aralt, accompanied by a few others, went inside!” From the teenager’s jumpiness, Trevor deduced that the boy had limited understanding of the situation. As the crowd got closer unknowingly, Trevor ushered them away, yelling at them to get back.

Raygnar, who halted his own cart, hurried over to see what was happening. His movements were abrupt and jerky as he searched for a familiar face in the crowd. He didn’t have to do it for long, as he noticed Kyle coming out too. “Kyle! What’s going on?”

“No idea, but I think that was Huon’s yelling!”

Raygnar gulped, only having a bit of experience of Huon’s wraith. What made him so angry this time? Especially since he just woke up from a deadly fight. It also didn’t help that this caused the entire journey to pause because of it.

Trevor continued to push people away from the cart, not wanting a vast crowd to form. He felt his teeth clenching in response to the resistance he was facing. It resulted in him getting his shield out and shoving them lightly away, ordering them to move. Then, Nahele jumped at the cart, gripping on the hood of his head. He looked hurried, as though life relied on it. Kyle’s heart leaped as he spotted this, attempting to push through the crowd towards the escaping elf. While he did that, Raygnar decided he will try to get inside the cart to help. But then someone grabbed his arm; it was a strong, tight grip that caused him to flinch. The surrounding people stood back, eyes widened as Stungalm had stopped Raygnar from moving. “What the hell is everyone doing?” He growled, “why have we stopped?”

Raygnar’s limbs shook, his lips stammering to get the words out. “I—I honestly... d-don’t know. There’s yelling in the cart, h-he ran out,” Raygnar pointed with his head in the general direction Nahele and Kyle headed. “They said it’s Huon yelling, I don’t know why though...”

With a hard huff, Stungalm released him and headed to the cart. The people immediately moved away from Stungalm as he approached, going inside the cart. His arrival silenced the yelling, and some believed he had stopped the fight. Just as they were easing up, a body was thrown out of the cart and crashed down. The atmosphere spiraled out of control, with people screaming as Stungalm flew out and slammed into Huon, punching him in the face.

Trevor attempted to maintain order to the best of his ability, attempting to keep the people calm and stay within the general vicinity. Raygnar could do nothing except witness Stungalm’s relentless attack on Huon, who battled to stand. They fiercely clawed at each other’s faces, banging against the cart or ground. Whenever Huon struck him, Stungalm retaliated with even greater force.

Aralt jumped out along with Faizan, hearing shouting outside. “Get the crowd under control, damn it! We’re making too many noises!” He commanded at a nearby soldier who nodded and started barking orders at the others. The hellhounds rounded up everyone to get them to settle down, as the scuttle between Huon and Stungalm continued.

Huon flew back, giving himself some distance between him and Stungalm. There were large bruises forming on his face, trickles of blood running down from his nostrils and lips. His head bobbed around, trying to gain balance, fighting the overwhelming desire to rest. “Oh, fuck you too! You were aware of this, weren’t you? About the damned Pencari with us!”

“I said shut up, now.” Stungalm voice was of thunder as he took a few steps forward, “Are you always this stupid? You want to make things easier for the enemies to find us?”

“Enough, the both of you!” Faizan hissed at them. “You two are going to blow our cover! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Stungalm ignored Faizan, looking at Huon, who stood like a statue. “Well? I want an answer.”

Huon’s lip trembled in anger and instead of answering, he ran up to him to punch him in the face. But Stungalm grabbed his fist, twisted it and kneed him in the stomach. Everyone stood by as Huon cried out in pain, gasping for air. Stungalm’s muscles tightened, holding him down. “I want an answer.” He repeated, enunciating every word.

Huon continued to struggle against his grasp. He looked up at Stungalm’s soulless eyes; eyes that belonged to a sadistic psychopath. It felt nearly like gazing into the abyss, an incomprehensible emptiness. “You... You’re just as much as a monster as the Pencari. Why do you fucking care?”

“Huon, please!” Kyle shouted from the sidelines, “Stop fighting, you’re making your injuries worse!”

“Heh,” Huon chuckled darkly. “I won’t stop fighting till this prick‘s mask breaks, and rip that egotistical face off of him!“ He swung his other fist, only for Stungalm to catch it. “Fuck you!” Huon growled, swinging his foot. Stungalm retaliated by slamming Huon against the cart, wrapping his hands around his neck.

As Kyle kept yelling for them to stop, Raygnar rummaged through his bag, attempting to find something that might offer aid. He found the item soon after; a small hand-held object that was in the shape of a flashlight. He pressed a button, testing to make sure it was still working. Charges sparked to life, buzzing instantly. With it working, Raygnar ran up to the fight scene.

“Raygnar, wait!” Trevor called out, his voice showing imminent concern as his son got in the middle of the fight. Brandishing his weapon of choice, he pressed it onto Stungalm and pressed the button. The electrical charges zap into Stungalm, the noise itself loud enough to cause everyone to freeze. The fight between Stungalm and Huon stop, and there was no more yelling. Instead, Stungalm turned to Raygnar. “The... hell was that?”

Shit, Raygnar cursed inwardly; blinking as he had not planned for it to not work. Their gaze met briefly before Raygnar could reply. “It’s a.... it’s a human invention. A taser. Supposed to be a non-lethal way to stop things instead of a gun. It... I swore it was working...”

“Was that supposed to hurt?” He set Huon free, and Huon immediately fell into a slouched position. Getting to his feet, he maintained his gaze on the Draconic elf.

“I mean... kind of? But... well... it stopped you from punching him, right?” Raygnar chuckled sheepishly, which got Stungalm to ponder. With his arms folded, the masked human emitted a ‘huh’. It actually did... he thought, finding a point from what he considered a useless tactic. However, Huon grabbed his ankle, causing an abrupt change in his calm stance. He glared down and lifted his leg, shifting his attention back to Huon. At that moment, Raygnar attempted to grapple Stungalm before being brutally attacking Huon. He tried to remember the lessons from his childhood, and how one grips their enemies. Instead, it became an awkward-looking hug from behind. His arms were below Stungalm’s arms and he gripped on Stungalm’s upper chest.

The man in the mask had to stop again. His violent thoughts halted completely as the Draconic elf was hugging onto him. Or was he trying to wrestle him? While his mask hid his face, underneath he held a blank expression, processing everything.

Trevor facepalmed himself, “I need to train him a bit more, fuck.” He mumbled, as the rest of the crowd was just as perplexed as Stungalm. Faizan seized the chance to approach Huon and forcefully remove him from the scene. A long sigh came from the masked human as he held onto Raygnar by the back collar of his shirt. Almost like a wolf carrying their pup, he took Raygnar back to Trevor like it was nothing. The son barely stumbled to follow pace with the human as they stopped in front of his father. “Uuum... I did it, Dad?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“You sure did...” Trevor rubbed his temple. “Let him go, please.”

Stungalm did just that, “He yours?”

“My son, yes. Now, have we all calmed down?”

Raygnar adjusted the collar of his shirt, as he knew it was best to return to his horse-drawn cart. He did his part, and no longer desired unnecessary involvement.

Stungalm gyrated back to the group and spoke up, “Anyone else got any problems? Are we done acting like fucking morons?” He started, “And yes, there’s a Pencari here. I traveled with him. He is fighting against his own kind for his own reasons and is on our side, and he fought them to help you all. He saved those kids and prevented more casualties than we got. So, if you got a problem with it, get the fuck out!” He pointed out of the group. “Good luck surviving though, because ya’ll can’t even fight back. But I promise you, if you got ideas of harming the Pencari, Nahele, then my fist and pistol sword will be the last thing you see. Got it?”

The humans all stared at one another. Some were suppressing their opinions by clenched fists and narrowed eyes. With the silence, Aralt spoke to his own people, “He won’t bring any harm to us, that I promise. Right now, though, we cannot stand here where we are vulnerable to enemies. If you have complaints, let’s leave it at when we set up camp.” Aralt nodded to Faizan to resume their walk. “We wasted enough time as it is. Let’s go.”

The hellhounds returned to their positions, including the one that was dragging the cart Huon and Stungalm emerged from. Faizan made sure Huon was at a different cart, but he decided he would have to keep him on restraints just for his safety and everyone else’s. Before Stungalm resumed his usual duty, he trailed after Trevor to the very front. Once close enough, he whispered, “Does your son not know how to fight?”

“He does... just not in melee range.” Trevor sighed, going through the multiple dialogue choices in his head. “He is better at ranged and magical attacks. Strength... was never his specialty, making him at odds with our fellow kind.” He shook his head, “So thanks for going easy on him, he meant no ill will stopping you.”

“I am just more... confused...” Stungalm drawled out. “Anyway, since everything is under control, I will go back to what I was doing.” He found no reason to stay any longer and left the group to stay near the outskirts, continuing his vigilant duty. The journey then continued, but the surrounding air was stone cold around them. Whispers from each group as they conversed, not realizing their voices carry further than expected.

With the long silence between the two groups, Nahele placed his head into his palms, sighing. The sudden realization of being better off alone burdened him heavily. To distract himself, he took out the wood and dagger to whittle again. But his shaky hands prevented him from doing a decent job, and he ended up shoving the stuff in his bag, hanging his head low as he was desperate to crawl and hide somewhere. Kyle sat next to him, trying to reassure him; “I know you’re not a monster. They’ll see it.”

“Forget them,” Nahele hissed, his shoulders clenched. “He has the right to be pissed at me. I should’ve gone back on my own after what happened to them...”

“But you’re not the one who harmed us all, right?”

Nahele maintained silence at that moment, but Kyle was certain he detected a slight shaking of the head in response.

----------------------------------------

Despite the obstacle presented to all of them, they could continue their walk with no more disturbances. Seeing the sun set behind the hills, they camped for the night. All men gathered under Aralt’s command, each assigned their duties: hunting, foraging, and patrolling to maintain camp security. While doing so, he ensured humans behaved well, considering their leader was unconscious. It’s likely that he won’t be awake until tomorrow. And in that circumstance, he won’t be moving from that spot. Also really? Did that lunatic really think it was smart to start a fight where his leader slept?

Shaking his head, he focused on setting up the tents. With little possessions, humans would have to share the tents with his people. Meanwhile, Trevor and Raygnar were setting up their sleeping spots inside their own cart; so the two were taken cared of. The people set the campfire and prepared to cook food. With the number of people they had, Aralt understood the necessity of abundant meat or foraged items. Let’s hope we receive a good haul, he thought with a hard exhale.

As he supervised everything, his eyes caught the sight of Kyle and he couldn’t take the off him. His tail wagged, betraying what he was thinking. Oh fuck it, might as well. Everyone seems to be doing alright.

With a shrug, he meandered over to him. That was when he noticed the Pencari; Nahele was there. He held a frown, but he kept it under wraps, as he didn’t want to give a bad first impression. “Hey... how’re you two doing?” He asked them.

“We’re alright,” Kyle responded, having a small smile to Aralt. “Just a bit relieved that there are no more altercations.” He observed the surroundings, wanting to make sure that everything was indeed calm.

“Yeah... thankfully, that masked man calmed everything down. Seems your kind really respect him... or well, adequately enough to avoid provoking him.” He then shifted his focus to Nahele. “What about you?”

“You don’t need to be talking to me,” Nahele mumbled, keeping his head low.

“Yes, I do. You’re part of us now and I want to ask. You can simply say ‘you’re fine’ if you don’t want to say anything," Aralt said, maintaining his relaxed posture despite his immense structure. “I also wanted to mention to you,” He turned back to Kyle, “Your friend, Ronan... he’s fine from what Malik said, unfortunately his wounds reopened trying to stop that lunatic. He’s sleeping it off again, if it helps.”

“No... it does,” Kyle nodded. “I’ll give him time to rest and recover. I know my mother and little brother are as well. They are not used to the travel, anyway.”

“I don’t think most of your people are,” Aralt wiped above his lip, debating if he should be forward or not about what he was feeling. “And as well.... you mind if you and I... talk alone?”

“Alone?”

“If you’re ok with it.” Aralt reassured, trying to be as approachable as he can be. His facial features softening as his heart held onto the hope that maybe he would say yes. Meanwhile, Kyle had to ponder his answer. Aralt didn’t give him a terrible vibe, but he was not sure if he wanted to be alone... solely because of his ‘past’. But then again, it depended on how far they went, and it would give Nahele a chance to have time to himself. “Uuum... sure. Something wrong?”

“No, nothing wrong. I merely wanted to ask a few questions.” He backed away so Kyle could walk out of the spot he was sitting at. “We won’t go too far if it helps. Probably not a good idea if those enemies might be around anyway,”

“That’s good.” Kyle approved of it as the two of them walked out. The elf raised a brow and subsequently retrieved a book from his bag, opening it. He flipped through many of the drawings he had done in the past. For a while, he focused his attention on one of them; a woman wearing an Eukasian kimono sitting by a geometric-patterned window, looking out into the scenery which could not be seen. His shoulders slumped, remembering when he drew that, before he kept going through the pages. He explored different portraits of animals and people that he had encountered. He made charcoal from burning leftover wood and subsequently shaped them for drawing. Afterward, he reached the page’s end, which featured a deer drawing.

The deer was supposedly white; with designs on their body and orbs drawn all around it. He gazed at it with intensity and recalled a more cherished memory. The hand maiden, who he grew up with, would show him various drawings of significant figures; gods, goddesses, and historical figures. One of them being that white deer with orbs; a spiritual guardian that diverted from his previous master to be his own.

Gaia’s beloved companion remains cherished despite the separation.

His gaze locked, hands folded in prayer, memories of the lost in the burning settlement flooded back:

“In your hands, lovely Gaia, we humbly entrust those children and adults that they will be embraced with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but the fullness of peace and joy with you and your garden of Eden forever and ever.” A trembling sigh escaped his lips as he straightened his shoulders.

As he stared at the stars slowly appear in the dark skies, he knew, at that moment, the first step to this ‘legacy’ that he promised to his hand maiden would be to repay a debt.