Darak watched her for a second, the look in her eyes was like his but a few years ago, a demand to right a wrong, ‘I can’t change your mind on this, can I, meaio,’ he thought but nodded, “I will deliver him as soon as you are strong enough to cut him down your self.”

She looked back down to her parents, “Can we bury them, I don’t feel right leaving them like this.” she said, her voice still a bit raspy from her crying.

Darak couldn’t see her eyes, but he raised his free hand and willed lightning to crack the chains off then raised them with an open palm to the sky. “Show me to the cemetery.” he said as he stood and held his staff out for her to use which she did before taking the lead, their walk through the village drew the eyes of the villagers, but none said a thing.

Darak moved his staff and tore a tree free of the ground as he willed three coffins to form from it, the magic making three coffins fit for a noble, then whispered a simple incantation to reanimate her family and free them to fit within before removing the magic and letting them rest again, he waved his hand as they approached the church, forcing the bell to toil for her family, and she led him to a spot beside some others.

“That is my grandparents, and their parents, only right they be laid here.” she said and gestured to the gravestones to the right.

Darak took a step forward and raised his staff excavating three plots, then lowered the coffins in, before turning to her, “Do you want to say anything before I bury them?” he asked in a soft tone.

She looked down at the coffins, “I am sorry, if I had been more careful and wise you may have avoided this fate, but I will reap what those noble had sown, and I will present you with their heads when I do. Forgive me father, mother, and sister, I was not smart enough to protect you.” she said then turned to him and nodded.

Darak wasn’t sure if he could stop her, but this would help, and he lowered the soil back into the plots, before He raised both hands, “Please stand behind me, I am going to thank your family for bringing you into this world.” he said as he willed a magic circle into the air over him and felt her grip on the back of his coat and gasped.

Darak imagined the sight he wanted and poured his mana into the spell, the formula changing and shifting, growing more complex with every passing second until the circle pushed and broke the rain clouds as it required more and more space to keep growing until the sky above them was the glowing lines of his mana, a rich and unnerving multicolored display of power, and then it folded, over and over again, coming back down and became a small magic circle the size of a novice spell before he reached down and pushed the spell into the soil under them.

He felt the earth shift and shake a bit before three gravestones pushed themselves out of the ground and stood like monuments to her family, each had a perfect statue of her family, their faces smiling, and stance like those they were most comfortable in, the words under them seem like nothing special, but he saw the magic he willed into the script he stood up and gestured, “Go and ask the gravestones anything.” he said warmly.

He watched as she stepped closer and whispered a question and the words shifted to thanking her for burying them and apologizing for not being there to speak, the words getting her to cry again. Darak stood over her and said nothing, ‘I can’t say a thing, she needs to grieve and I am not the one she needs, she needs family and friends.’ he turned to the priest who came out of the church, walking over in a huff, but Darak didn’t care until the man turned to reached for Meaio, and he pulled the man away with a sorcerer hand and over to him holding him a bit in the air, as he silenced the world from them.

“What, unhand me, you have no right to bury them here.” he said but shuddered as he turned to face Darak.

“By whose order?” Darak whispered to the priest.

“By the order of the noble lady of these lands.” The priest said back and tried to free himself with a pathetic display of magic power.

“The noble lady of this land is grieving and if you know anything you should realize that if you disturb her now then your church will become your mausoleum, now leave.” Darak said and threw the man with a wave of his hand, before turning to face him. “I will not hesitate to end your life as her family had suffered. You may either speak blessings and comforts to her or stay away.”

The Priest stood, “i will see those graves up rooted end the gravestones shattered, you will not endanger god’s domain by this brazen act of defilement.” he said back.

Darak dropped the silence vail he had thrown up, then allowed his fury to thunder out of him in waves, as he focused the mana flow technique he knows, before taking a step towards the priest, his last spell before speaking out amplified his voice so it would boom over the whole town, “You dare to defy the will of the Dark Prince of Magic,” the air around him whipped “to test your resolve against the Master of the Hundredfold Spell,” the sky grew dark as clouds gathered “to challenge the man who has walked both the heavens and hells,” he willed lightning to come down and coat his form “you would provoke the man that had subdued Alucard the Bloodied Horrer,” he shifted the mana flow to a deep and bloody red, “Hear me now and once, if these graves are damaged or destroyed, or those buried beneath them are moved, then I shall return and I will erase this village as one would wipe away spilled milk, this is your only warning.”

The priest and a few that had followed fell backward.

Darak didn’t stop and took a second step, “And the world will know not who you were or why there are but ruins and a graveyard, and I will drag your souls to the hells for you have insulted the family of my loved one for whom I hold back, so I ask again, you dare?”

The crowd of cowering villagers and the priest shook their heads and ran away as soon as Darak stopped willing his magic to form, and a hand pressed on his back, turning a bit to look.

“I don’t know why you did that, but i know your words just now were true, I think it is time we go home.” Meaio said as he turned to face her, her face a bit shy, and her eyes red from crying.

Darak smiled at her, but looked to the gravestones, raising his free hand, “Come spirits and guard these stones and warn me of pain done to them.” he chanted and felt the spell take hold as the leaves around whipped up and over the statues, before looking down to her, “Yes, let us go home, my dear.” he said and pulled out a pouch hugging her with his staff hand he held the pouch tight, “ Ekat su ot ruo s’emoh gnittis moor.”

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The world ripped and tore to the sitting room of their home, and he let her go slowly, looking down at her, “I know it wouldn’t do much coming from me but I am sorry for your loss.” Darak said softly, a wish for her return to form edged in his tone.

She looked back up, “No, it means more from you, I know that if you had known you would have stopped it, but it is too late now. Can I ask you to watch over Arcaio, I want to be alone.” she said back slowly as she glanced about the room.

“Only if you agree to take Zaiz with you so that if you need something he can tell me.” Darak said back and took Arcaio as she nodded, while Zaiz stepped over and took to her shoulder.

‘I can’t heal those wounds my love, but I will come whenever you need me, so please do not be rash.’ he thought as she walked up the stairs, finally looking down at Arcaio, smiling at the boy as he woke up, “Sorry, I am not your mother, but I care about you too, so come, dad has something to do” he said and willed the coat off and left the staff at the door, stepping out into the street, turning towards an employment office near and walking.

His walk through the street was nice but still a bit hollow to him without Meaio at his side, but his stride did not falter, finding his way to his objective he found a clerk within a bit unpleasant at first but after paying to get some help the process was sped up, even more so after it was made clear that he was a practitioner of magic, until finally, he got the address of a maid that is willing to be a in-house maid, leaving with a fast pace to distance himself from the people that worked there he found himself in a tavern, which he stepped into carefully.

Finding the bartender currently telling a few patrons to leave if they have no money left, Darak took a chance and spoke up. “Excuse me, I am looking for a Merie, Do you know her?”

The Bartender looked at him and then yelled a loud, “Merie! It’s your lucky day!” before he turned back to him, but Darak was calming Arcaio down from the loud call. “Apologies, she works the upper floor and I can’t make it up the stairs right now.” the burly man said.

Darak smiled at him after Arcaio settled back down, “It is alright, ailments come and go in time or with the help of a priest.” He said and turned to the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs off by the far side of the bar.

The late-teens girl who peeked around the corner looked over to Darak and then to the Bartender, “Yeah Dad, did you call?” she asked with a bit of confusion.

“This gentleman is looking for you.” the bartender said and poked a thumb at Darak, getting the girl to walk over and smile wide.

“Pleasure to meet you, I am Merie. How can I help you?” she asked in a sweet tone.

“It is a pleasure to meet you too, I am Darak Lordarn, Arcanist and master of the mystic arts.” Darak said with a bit of a bow. “This is my son Arcaio.” he added as she looked down at the bundle in his arms, “to the reason for seeking you out, My wife and I are looking for a live-in maid to take care of some of the housework and the baby when we are away. The job comes with a room, three meals a day, a wage of two silver a day, and if you have the ability to, training in the use of magic.”

Merie looked at her dad, who seemed enthusiastic about the offer before she looked back up at him. “Could I possibly be paid upfront now for a week of wages?” she asked, her tone curious while her expression mainly was still, a clear desire to hide her motives.

Darak cocked his brow before he spoke, “I would like a reason for such a request, that is a substantial amount of money.”

She looked a bit away and thought over his counter to her condition then back up, “My father and mother are sick, they will heal in time but they can’t run the whole tavern by themselves while they are like this, I would like the money to pay for treatment.” she said back with determination.

Darak smiled wide, “It seemed I had forgotten the benefits that you get in my employ,” he chuckled and stepped past her to the bartender, “Good sir, can you tell me of your ailment?” he asked before either of them could figure out what was happening.

“Ummm, nothing much just can’t bend my knees much anymore.” The bartender said.

Darak smiled and turned to Merie, who had trailed along behind him, “Can you hold my son, I need both hands for this.” he said while holding him out, which she luckily did as she took the baby in her arms.

Darak reached into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet of animal teeth and animal parts, holding it with both hands he focused his mana to will the druidic arts to the foreground, then tranced some script in the air in front of him “Oh earth mother hear my call and send your sons and daughters, there is one that needs to be absolved of his ailments, his pain is nothing before your healing wind and rejuvenating waters, oh earth mother come and mend this man.” He chanted and the bartender glowed a bright flash of green and blues before the light faded. Darak smiled at the man, “Could you show me to your wife, I still need to treat her.”

The bartender shifted a bit and got ready to feel pain, but was surprised then started jumping a bit behind the bar, running out and grabbing Darak’s hand while shaking it hard and fast, “Thank you, sir, bless you, sir, you have done me a great favor, I will repay it, I swear I will.” he rambled off.

Darak freed his hand then clasped the man’s shoulders, “No need to pay me, your daughter will be my maid, and as such the care of her family via the use of magic is a benefit she has access to, this is nothing but me upholding my end of her employment, now where is your wife.”

“Father, stay down here, I’ll take him.” Merie said and walked towards the stairs.

The treatment of the mother was quick and easy and as they came back downstairs Merie turned to face Darak and held Arcaio out to him, which he did, and looked him over.

“So, if I work for you will I get time off?” Merie asked.

Darak looked up and smiled, “You can have time off as long as my wife and I have no visits to make, if the week has nothing planned and we are not likely to be summoned then you can have any day of the week you wish.” He said back.

“And what are my other benefits?” She asked after a second of thought.

Darak smiled a bit more intently and answered her “The first is treatment as you saw, this treatment will not cost anything unless the treatment requires materials that have a value of five gold or more. The second is Blessings, I can perform a blessing for any family member you wish. Lastly, you will be equipped with magic tools to protect you from harm and warn you of danger, this tool will be returned at the end of your employment whenever that happens.”

Merie seemed to think over the job offer, then finally nodded and extended her hand, “then i accept, I trust you not to be a bad employer.”

“And I trust you not to fool me and run away.” He said as he shook her hand, carefully letting a mana wave out, and going a bit wide eye, “It seems that you also possess a capacity for magic, so I will also be training you alongside my wife. Now here is the address, please arrive as soon a you are ready.” he added before pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to her.

Merie looked it over and nodded, “Right I shall arrive this afternoon.” she said back with a smile.

Darak bowed a bit and walked out, taking a few steps before a mental message rang out to him “master there are some men trying to force their way into the house, however, they are failing for now, please return soon.”

Darak didn’t care to rush through the streets and pulled out the last pouch he had on hand, willing the magic into being. “Ekat su ot ruo s’emoh gnittis moor.” he chanted and watched the world rip and tear to his sitting room.