In the stillness of the night, chirping, croaking, hooting and howling of the wildlife fills the space in between the silence. Moonlight stretches over the land of Wesout, the clear skies reveal the three moons watching over Kaul'n and the infinite number of stars glistening around the vastness of the sky.
"Where are we Verna?" Jon said, awaking from his unconsciousness on the back of the warhorse. "Have we arrived Grama's cave yet?"
Silence. Jon looks at Vernack's back; he notices the partially burnt tunic he was wearing revealing patches of burn marks on his back. Hearing Jon's voice, Vernack tightly gripped on the horse reins and pulls it in an attempt to slow down the horse.
Atop the horse, Vernack was deathly still, only allowing the late night wind to blow his faint green and black hair and brush-past the burn patches on his left arm. As if in deep thought, Vernack blankly stared off towards a distance feeling as if someone is choking him as he holds back the tears from showing.
"Verna, where are--"
"We will be resting here for tonight" Vernack speedily said, forcing his voice to sound as calm as he could.
The two dismounted from the horse and set up camp with only a campfire as their light and the surrounding leaves as their bed. Foraging only a handful of berries nearby, Vernack gave all the berries to Jon as he makes a makeshift bandage by ripping some of his tunic and covering the burn on jon's right leg.
Again, silence. Nature's ambience keeps the camp from being deathly silent, and as if nature's call to sleep, a strong wind blows pass the camp killing the campfire and silencing the wildlife nearby.
"Verna... just tell me what happened to grama" Jon soft voice seemed loud enough for the resting horse to be alert.
"They... I..." Vernack chokes up as he remembers seeing the lifeless bodies of his family, he coughs as if trying to clear his throat. "They are--"
When Vernack was about to finish his sentence, Jon suddenly embraces him and says nothing.
"Ow! Jon my back has burns too, your hands are making it hurt" Caught off guard by the embrace, he immediately forgot what he wanted to say.
"Grama and the others were found, were they not?" Ignoring his cries of pain, Jon's muffled voice resonated on Vernack's chest and brings him back to reality.
"Yes..." Vernack replies as he returns Jon's embrace even tighter, tears flow down his cheek.
The two fell asleep as they wept that night, and as if feeling sorry for them the horse rose from his sleep and laid down beside them.
****
Hours into their sleep, Vernack awakens to the sound of clopping. He hides Jon in a bush and checks their surroundings. Alerted by Vernack's movement, the horse awoke from its sleep and being a trained and experienced horse by an elite horseman it crouched beside Vernack prepared for any situation.
"Is it true that Lord Volux plans to pillage another village tonight?" One of the cavalryman on a brown steed suddenly asks out loud, thinking that no one would hear them.
Although it was completely dark in the forest, the moonlight reflecting on the surface of the source's plate-armor made it easier for Vernack to spot where the sound came from.
"May Ansi guide their souls, but it is true." Another cavalryman on a black steed mournfully said.
"I would rather be out here fighting against Slies' patrolmen than taking innocent lives." The cavalryman on a brown steed spat.
"Alas, Lord Volux is--" As one of the cavalryman was about to finish his sentence, a distant sound of a horn blowing was heard.
Without any hesitation, the pair rode off directly to the sound of the horn. Although the cavalry was gathered near Vernack's camp, because none of them carried any torches, the camp was never found.
'It looks like they are in a hurry, does not seem like to be searching for me though' The cavalrymen passed by their location in a swift, only leaving their hoofprints behind.
A few moments later after not hearing anymore unusual sounds, due to too much exhaustion, Vernack passes out beside the horse. The horse sees the sudden collapse of Vernack, it bites onto his right arm and drags him beside Jon.
It surveys the area for a moment before going back to sleep beside the two.
****
Morning came, the gentle breeze of the night has passed and the nocturnal wildlife enters their lethargic state leaving only the sound of the leaves rubbing against each other as morning wind blows past its branches. The first to rise from their sleep is the horse, seeing that the two are still asleep it leaves them for a bit.
An hour later, the horse returned and still sees the two asleep. Worried that they might be dead, it licks Jon's face and gently nudge Vernack using one of its front legs.
"Give me another minute grama, please" Vernack said sluggishly, pushing the hoof of the horse away from him.
"Ahh! Who is licking me?" Jon thrashed around accidentally hitting both Vernack and the horse.
"Euh! Jon stop recklessly swaying your arms!" Vernack knocks Jon's head immediately after getting hit in the gut by him.
In response to Jon's thrashing, the horse turns its back and used its hind leg to throw some dirt on Jon.
"Ack! Stupid horse why did you have to that?" Jon retaliates by throwing back some bundled leaves beside him.
Seeing that Jon is fine, Vernack could not help but smile. However, the horse throwing dirt at Jon was the most hilarious part.
The morning for the three was joyous as if last night were only a dream, no, a nightmare that seemed too real for everyone. The three filled themselves with the berries around them and drank water from a river they passed along the way of their travel.
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Hours into their trek, Jon hears Vernack stomach grumble constantly the more they travel along the river.
"Verna, if you are hungry, I can give you my berries?" Jon's politeness warmed Vernack's heart but he also knows that he needs to eat something eventually.
"No need to worry about me, as you can see my muscles are healthy as always" He confidently presents his pecs and forces a smile.
Jon heartily laughed at Verna, almost outbalancing himself from too much movement as he laughs but the horse could feel that Jon was moving too much so it did its best to not accidentally make Jon fall off.
A minute later, Verna collapses and falls off the horse alarming both Jon and the horse. Panic, Jon immediately dismounted and checked on Vernack.
"Verna... Verna stay with me!" Jon first slowly shakes Vernack then gradually increasing the strength of his shaking.
Seeing that Vernack was unconscious and Jon panicking, it immediately forced Vernack on its back and let Jon ride him. It ran towards a random direction that Jon was not leading him too.
"Bale! Where are you taking us?" He does his best pulling the horse's rein towards a different direction, but because Jon has a frail body and the horse being trained for battle, Jon could not do anything to stop its movement.
Bale, the horse, brush pass many bushes and tree branches, jumping over rocks and sliding down steep areas. Jon could only hold down Vernack's body and close his eyes as dust get into his eye due to the speed of the horse while tightly gripping on to the reins.
Suddenly the horse stops on its track, standing on the top of a hill it looked as if the horse was surveying the horizon. Jon notices that they have stopped and slowly opens his eyes, only to see a beautiful scenery. Trees of green, pink, orange, red, and yellow blend nicely under the sunlight, a mountain range barely seen from a great distance as its gray hue blends with a resting fog around it, and birds of different species moving to-and-fro over the lively forest.
"Wow~" The beauty of nature eases Jon's mind for a moment, but a second later he sees smoke from a distance and points at it. "Bale, over there nearby a river, if there is smoke there could also be people, at least that is what Ramus used to tell me."
Seeing where Jon was pointing, Bale readies itself and looks at Jon as if telling him to hold tight.
"I am ready Bale, ride on!" He once again held Vernack down and tightly gripped onto its reins.
A second later, Bale suddenly jumps and lands on a steep ground, perfectly balancing itself enough to slide without budging the two children on its back.
"Bale, you could at least slow down a bit!" Jon yelled out as he anxiously held Vernack’s body down while Bale is doing a lot of jumping and galloping.
After passing countless of rocks, bushes, and trees the horse gradually decreased its speed as soon as it got closer to the smoke. Suddenly halting about sixty meters away from the camp, it gets down on the dirt and let Jon and Vernack out of its back.
"You are not coming with us Bale?" He looks at the horse in its eyes, showing a longing gesture although they have only been together for a day.
The horse huffs at Jon in reply, standing back up and licking Jon and Vernack's face.
"I love you too Bale!" Jon laughs as he embraces the horse in return, only joy found all over his face, but seconds later his smile immediately turns to a frown and a drop of tear flows down his cheek. "I hope to see you again, Bale."
Bale continued to lick both the children's faces before slowly backing up. It faces in a direction opposite of the camp and readies itself to leave. It looks back at Jon and Vernack for a moment before it neighs and charged ahead the same direction they came from.
Jon and Vernack were left alone, near the camp that they believe people are living in. The gentle wind brushes the skins of the two, and the sound of the leaves rubbing against each other as if they were dancing to the blow of the wind would occasionally break the silence.
****
"Bah! Those stupid nobles always get on my nerves these days." A loud raspy voice is heard from inside a tent.
"If ye had enough of them, then ye should take their prestige!" Another voice is heard inside the tent.
Inside the tent, three figures sat apart from each other, a burly man sharpening his arrows, opposite from him is a scrawny man making a rope out of large dried leaves, and next to him is a muscular woman deskinning a deer-like animal with three eyes, six legs, crystal-like antlers, and its pelt colored in crimson red, a color that is unusual for many living beings in Kaul'n.
"Ay! Enough of your bickering Balak, if those devil-like Supriars heard what you said, not even your balls would be left intact." An imposing figure wearing nothing but a ragged cloth to cover his genitals enters the tent. The imposing figure looked as if he almost died as his complexion was worse than what it originally could have been, his body cold and wet as water drops from his messy hair and scruffy beard.
"Bah! Let those bandits with 'prestige' come over. I would love to test out my arrows against their beloved 'crest-engraved steel breastplates', their 'highest and strongest armor that even a firebolt cannot pierce'." Balak scoffs and spat on his arrowhead and polished it. "I bet I can pierce through their armor if I spat on it, those bastards would panic that the crest was dirtied by my--"
Before he could finish his sentence, the muscular woman throws the tongue of the deer-like creature at his face. He looks back at the woman in disgust and just let the tongue slide off of him.
"Hilarious, Kleo, absolutely hilarious." He monotonously said as he wipes the saliva residue on his face.
"I could have thrown worse." Kleo howled as she instantly rips of the pelt of the deer-like creature. "And I did remember saying that to call me Lahar a fortnight ago."
"Of course madam 'Lahar'." He scoffs as he attempts to bow like a servant.
"Alright, shut it you two. You may be thirty now but your attitudes say you are five." The imposing figure's throaty voice immediately silence the two. "Lutar, how long until those nobles pillage Meadow Cross?"
The three looked at the scrawny man, waiting for a reply. Lutar stopped working the ropes and made a sharp whistle. Suddenly an indistinguishable colored bird, with three tails, naturally styled wings that form cloud-like designs, the beak longer than an index finger by three inches , and its eyes golden like the sun, enters the tent.
"If I could remember correctly, that thing is called as 'Vena Hiders' by the Elves?" The imposing figure said in awe by the beauty of the bird. "Although I have seen it more than a hundred times now, I am still in awe by the majesty of this bird."
"Here in Wesout, Ryner's species are called 'Three tails', alas, Ryner's kind have been hunted down and abused by many kingdoms that they are barely seen nowadays." Lutar feeds the bird a piece of leaf, a healthy-colored green leaf that came from the famous Alonian trees. As if talking to the bird, he spoke in the way that the sound the bird makes.
"So, any reports?" Balak impatiently said.
"Ryner said that the Supriars are being led by a golden-plated knight and heard that their next target is Baron Slies' home, Meadow Cross. Lutar conveyed Ryner's message deliberately as he pulls out a map from one of the barrels nearby, presented it and pointed to where the bird said will be the next attack. "The attack will be done tomorrow but no time of day was stated."
The imposing figure approached the table to closely check on the locations that were mentioned. Silence. Lahar and Balak joined the imposing figure in looking at the map, while Lutar spoiled the bird with three more Alonian tree leaves.
"It seems like, soon our services will be used by either the Supriars or the Cristos after the attack on that village." The imposing figure broke out into such boisterous laughter that the others could not help but join him as well.
"Balak, call on the others, let them know about an upcoming event." He says after showing a sinister smile while he goes around the tent to dress in the scaled armor that he would usually wear. "If they refuse, let them be and come join with me quickly."
"Yes Pyrlord, it will be done in haste." Taking his equipment, Balak immediately left the tent while covering his face with the skull of a Torbir, a bear that is twice the size of a polar bear and have wavy patterns around its body, resembling the movement of magic in its body.
****
*Present day*
"Pyrlord, word about the attack in Meadow Cross has been spread to nearby villages." One of the members of the camp enters the tent in haste.
"Good, in a few days’ time, either the Supriars or Cristos will hire mercenaries for the upcoming war." Pyrlord confidently said while looking over the map that showed the villages and castles in the territories of the Supriars and Cristos. "Also, send a message to Krampus that I will be needing his services in an upcoming war."
"Chief, I believe that demon, Krampus, would not be accepting your request just like before." Lahar said as her silvery voice takes Pyrlord's attention. "Based on his previous reactions, I do not think he would be willing to work with us, especially if we were to be under a mortal kingdom."
"Lahar, I know what I am doing, of course I know he will not immediately accept my request." Pyrlord smirks as if he were expecting someone to mention that. "Tell him that I will pay in blood."
Pyrlord's method of payment to gain the services of Krampus and his goons left the others dumbfounded. Pyrlord only grinned when he saw the reactions of the people around him.
Several villages have been marked with a flag by Lutar as he waits for more reports from Ryden. With nothing to do but wait. Lahar then prepared a meal for the whole camp to be able to eat.
Suddenly, without Lutar calling for Ryden, the bird flew inside the tent to talk with Lutar about what it had found along the way. Pyrlord noticing the immediate return of the bird, he was also intrigued by whatever report the bird has in store for them.
"Lutar, any reports?" Pyrlord moves closer to the bird and stares at it in hopes to understand what it was saying.
Ryden weirded out by Pyrlord's action, it moves closer to Lutar and hides behind his back. However, this did not stop Pyrlord from doing his best to be able to communicate with the 'three tails'.
"Chief, Ryden said that on the way back here to rest for a bit, it saw two children, the two are only about thirty meters away from here. And the two seem like are suffering from dehydration" The pity in Lutar's face says it all. "Maybe we should heal these kids and learn any information that we have about the world and last known locations of those murderers."
After hearing about the situation of the two children, Pyrlord looked at Lahar and Balak for a moment.
"Bring the children!" Pyrlord orders one of the members of the camp to meetup with the children outside his doors and bring them back to equally made
****
"A little more Vernack, we will be there soon!" Jon slurs his words as exhaustion continues to overcome him.
As Jon was to reach the perimeter of the camp, he was instantly met by one of the members of the camp.
"Child, it seems like the Pyrlord took interest in you, and it seems like you are dehydrated based on yours and his dry lips." The random person then gives Jon a water canteen for him and Vernack to drink.
Jon drank until halfway through leaving some for Vernack. However, seconds later Jon's vision go blurry and his mind went numb as if he was getting consumed by darkness before he fell to the ground. Seeing that the child collapsed, the camp member instinctively caught his body and lifted Vernack on his left arm.
The member immediately brings the two inside the tent and places them on top of a stack of hay inside the tent.
"Chief, what must we do with these two?" Lutar curious on why Pyrlord saved innocent children.
"In my early years, I once was a refugee from the ravages of war, just like these two. It seems like nature wants me to redeem my losses." Pyrlord monotonously said. "Meaning, I will be taking in these children, as my apprentices from now on.