“Born.”

Interesting. I already knew that Aliera was Anshar’s daughter so it shouldn’t come as a surprise but the things it implied were… curious.

“When is their birthday then? Perhaps we can throw a birthday party for the Gods?”

Lily joked. I elbowed his side to warn him to be more serious.

“It is when the first flower blossoms in spring. That is the day when Aliera was born and slew the Demon King Atlues. But you don’t have to worry about throwing a birthday party since we already celebrate it with the Festival of The First Flower.”

The old woman kept answering Lily’s jokes seriously. Getting more info was nice. So Aliera already slew a Demon King, huh? Did that mean there was more than one Demon King? Or did they change with the time? Also, did Aliera slay him the day she was born? How old woman sounded told me that but…

I nearly laughed imagining baby Aliera holding an oversized sword on top of the corpse of the Demon King.

“That sounds hard to determine. How do you know the exact time?”

I asked. She shrugged and kept cleaning the temple. I felt compelled to help her but she stopped me from doing so.

“How do farmers know when to harvest their crop? How do you know how to walk? How do parents know when their children are hungry?”

“So you go with your gut feeling?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t sound very formal.

“What about other Gods? Wouldn’t you want to pray to Anshar since he is the King?”

The old woman chuckled.

“Do you think Anshar would get up from his throne and help us? We are not worth his time.”

“What about Zephyrian?”

Lily jumped into the conversation. Was he curious about his God?

“That trickster would forget us the moment he turns his head to the other side.”

Like God, like the Chosen, I guess. I patted Lily’s shoulder. He was frozen like a cartoon character.

“Thank you for answering our questions.”

I said while dragging Lily who was still frozen.

“There is no need to thank me. It is old people’s job to inform younglings.”

I guess that was the all information we could get? I headed to the exit.

“Hey, kid before you leave…”

I turned around. Lily and Nocturna stopped with me. The old woman was no longer there.

“You were right. This village doesn’t have much longer. This night is the end.”

I looked around for any place the old woman could go. However, there weren’t any places to hide or go. I even went back and checked.

“Where did the old lady go?”

Lily asked after searching with me.

“Gökbörü can you find her?”

Gökbörü shook his head and let out a sad woof.

“This went from a theology lesson to a ghost movie very quick. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Lily said as we exited.

“Did you guys hear what she said?”

I asked.

“No?”

“She said this night was this village's last day.”

Lily's attempt at humor had vanished, replaced by a deep sense of unease. Nocturna's eyes darted around nervously, our encounter at the temple seemed to increase her nervousness.

"What do you think she meant? Or what she was? Or why were you the only one who heard her last words?"

Lily finally broke the silence by spewing questions.

“The answer to your last question is probably because I am the chosen of Aliera. For others… I don’t know. Let’s find Bolverk and we think the rest after that.”

We headed to the tavern but I suddenly remembered something.

“Nocturna, can you still form barriers?”

She shook her head with a red face.

“I am sorry.”

“It is okay. It is not your fault.”

Damn. If it was possible I would send Nocturna to prepare a barrier around at least the tavern in case everything went to shit. But this trial really limited our hands.

We entered to tavern. It wasn’t as crowded as yesterday but there were still several people drinking and eating. Some of them frowned seeing me. Bolverk was also here. He raised his cup when he saw us.

“Hey, younglings! I was worried when I didn’t see you guys here.”

He chugged his drink and slammed his cup into the table.

“Give me another.”

We sat down beside him.

“We paid a visit to the temple.”

I said.

“Oh, a quick prayer?”

“Ughhh, yeah? We saw an old lady there.”

Bolverk laughed.

“Which one? This village is filled with old hags!”

We tried to describe her as best as we could.

“Well, I don’t know anyone like that. Do you?”

He asked to tavern owner who was listening to our conversation.

“That doesn’t sound like someone I know and I know everyone in this village. Did you ask her name?”

He asked us rather disinterested.

“She disappeared before we could.”

Bolverk laughed for a second before seeing our serious faces.

“She said this night was this village's last.”

The tavern owner put to cup roughly on the table.

“Look, kid. It is not good to lie. I don’t know what you are trying to get by gathering attention like this but it is not going to end well.”

I caught his hand before he could pull it.

“Look at my face and tell me I am lying.”

The tavern owner's expression shifted from annoyance to surprise as he gazed into my eyes. I held his gaze steadily, my face unflinching.

“Whatever, kid.”

Despite that, he didn’t seem to be convinced. It was normal. People rejected the idea that their lives and everything they knew could be ended. He freed his hand from my grasp.

Bolverk got off the chair and headed to the door.

“Hey, pay first!”

“I’ll pay later.”

Bolverk answered the tavern owner with a tired voice. He pointed us to follow him. We exited out of the tavern together.

“Alright younglings, I am getting the heck out of this village. Are you coming or what?”

We looked at each other before Lily exclaimed:

“What? Are you believing us?”

Bolverk sighed.

“How do you think I survived all this time? Run away the moment you feel something is wrong. I don’t have to believe you with all of my heart, I just have to be cautious.”

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

He slowly walked towards his cart. Donkey neighed disgruntly seeing him.

“But what about this village? Aren’t these people your friends?”

Nocturna asked. Bolverk shrugged.

“What do you want me to do? Do I look like a legendary warrior?”

“We can warn the people together. If it is with you, we will have much more credibility.”

I said as he tried to climb to his cart rather clumsily and slowly.

“I only have enough credibility to make people believe I don’t have any debts to pay! Do you think people will believe some old fart like me if I said you will die tonight together with you?”

I shrugged.

“Yeah?”

Bolverk failed to climb and fell down ass first to the ground. He held his hip.

“Guess karma is real, huh?”

Lily said while looking at him. Bolverk failed to get up. I moved closer to him and helped him stand up. Well, not really. More like I roughly lifted him up.

“Bolverk, look at me.”

Our eyes met. Bolverk, still rubbing his hip where he had landed rather ungracefully, met my gaze with a mix of annoyance and hesitation. He then looked at my hand holding him in place.

“Looks like you didn’t leave me any other choice than looking at you, kid.”

I took a deep breath and spoke.

“You told me you adventured once. I don’t know why you exactly did that. But I know that happy people do not adventure. Do you know why?”

He just stared at me grumpily.

“Because people go out of their way only to change something. People with loving family, friends, and a house don’t go and hunt monsters. Wealthy people with a lot of land don’t go on expeditions in a desert to find a treasure.”

I stole a glance toward Nocturna and Lily.

“People who never discriminated don’t go and fight against their oppressors. People who had a happy home don’t go and try to fit somewhere.”

I pulled Bolverk even closer.

“Only people who are unhappy adventure. That’s because they want to change something. That’s because they are discontent with how things are going now. That’s why they leave what little comfort they have, take risks, and struggle. You were once one of those people.”

He struggled to free himself and I let him. He lost his balance and fell again.

“Firstly, kid…”

He got up.

“Don’t spit in people’s faces when you speak. Secondly, I am not that old that you need to scream my ear off when speaking. Thirdly, not everyone is a thinker like you. I didn’t adventure to change shit. I just wanted to be rich and famous. When I realized I couldn’t be rich and famous if I was dead, I stopped doing it. That’s all. I had no such things like ideology, goal, or philosophy besides that.”

I sighed. Lily patted me on my shoulder.

“You didn’t get rusty with those speeches. This old man is just as stubborn as his donkey.”

The donkey neighed when Lily mentioned it.

Bolverk was a practical man, driven more by personal gain than ideals. But I couldn't give up just yet. If he cared only for his well-being very well, I would make it about his well-being.

“Where will be going? It is well over past afternoon. Do you think you can reach to closest village before the sun goes down?”

Bolverk raised his finger and started to mumble. From his expression, I could tell he was calculating something.

“You probably should also calculate how many times your donkey will stop to mess with you.”

Lily shouted behind me.

“Stop talking brat! I am trying to calculate something!”

As Bolverk muttered and calculated, I exchanged glances with Lily and Nocturna. I let Bolverk concentrate for a moment but his donkey had other plans as it started to neigh furiously.

“Fucking hell! Okay, okay I will help you. Not that I have any other choice anyway. I already lost too much time. But if nothing happens or if I die, I am blaming you, you, you, and lastly you!”

“Woof?”

He said as he pointed to each of us. Gökbörü let out a small voice as Bolverk pointed to him. He jumped off the cart.

“My knees! My back!”

I tried to help him but he flipped me off as he walked back to the tavern at a snail’s pace. With Bolverk finally convinced, albeit grumblingly, to help us we entered the tavern. Everyone suddenly looked at us.

“Alright, listen to me now.”

Bolverk shouted.

“We don’t need what you are selling, old man!”

One of the villagers laughed.

“These guys received a prophecy! This night something bad is coming! We need to prepare!”

The villagers exchanged uneasy glances, clearly torn between amusement and skepticism. They continued to mutter among themselves, some laughing it off, while others appeared more thoughtful.

One of the bigger men stood up.

“Did you finally lost it Bolverk? Or did those kids trick you somehow?”

I stepped forward but Bolverk stopped me.

"No one's lost it here, nor did the kids trick me. I've seen enough in my years to know when something's amiss. Now, I'm not asking you to believe everything they say, but I am asking you to listen.”

The tension in the tavern was palpable. Some of the villagers exchanged nervous glances, while others remained skeptical. I stepped forward, feeling the need to clarify.

“My name is Poyraz. I have a “connection” to Aliera. When I went to your temple to pray to her, I received a prophecy about the destruction of this village.”

I didn’t pray to her but let’s make the story more credible.

“If we want to survive we have to come together.”

The room fell into a contemplative silence. Then, the tavern owner, the same man who had doubted us earlier, cleared his throat.

“Get out of my tavern. I won’t have you being a harbinger of doom and ruining my business. Get out.”

“If everyone dies you won’t have to worry about your business.”

He looked angry now. He reached for something and pulled out a sword.

“Get out or I will force you.”

I looked at his eyes.

“Make me.”

Customers looked excited that they were about to witness a fight.

“Are you sure we should antagonize him?”

Lily whispered.

“They see us as just children. I am just going to put a little show.”