~Excuse the late delay between chapters, dealing with some RL problems~ nEoQuIcKsiLvEr

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I never put much faith into destiny and fate, even the Hero would say the same things I would. Only my other companions would talk some semblance of it. But, for some reason, my life seems to be out of my hands at times. The things I did, the things I would do. It just seems like I'm walking a road that I can't leave. Like any man who moved in the darkness, I went slowly as to not stumble in despair.

Right now, I was in front of an Elf that looked sympathetic and I felt for his plight.

"Please! Help me!" The Elf said.

I walked up to Vera and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Demitri! You're here! What happened?" She asked.

I gave Vera a smirk.

"Don't worry about that," I replied. "It looks like you might need my help."

Vera looks at the distraught Elf pleading to her.

"Yes, it seems his children are missing."

"I heard," I said.

The Elf looked to me.

"Are you willing to help me, sir!?" The Elf said.

I nodded my head to the Elf.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"It's Darius sir!" He replied.

"So tell me the details," I said.

The Elf nodded at my suggestion.

"I'm a merchant who sells a variety of minerals and ores."

It wasn't uncommon for an Elf to become a merchant selling nature's goods.

"I travel with a group of other merchants who deal in the same business as I do," Darius said.

"Why were you near the North Mountains?" I said.

 "My family and I were close to the North Mountains at an ore deposit with our troupe."

The Elf looked at the other merchants who were injured.

"And?" Vera said.

"A group of deranged beasts attacked us! They were dark and black, I have never seen such monstrosities before."

My expression turned serious when Darius mentioned the dark and black monsters.

"They are the dark things from the North Mountain," I said.

Vera looked surprised.

"Dark things?" Vera said.

"Shadow monsters," I said. "One of the dark things that live in the North Mountains."

"One of?"

I looked at Vera with a terrible expression of worry.

"Yes, there's more of them that live in the North Mountains, vile and grotesque creatures," I replied.

Vera seemed skeptical at my comment.

"Have you ever been through the North Mountains?" I said.

Vera shook her head.

"No," she said. "It's forbidden."

"With good reason," I said.

My mind started to imagine some of the variety of creatures that lived in the North Mountains and I began to shudder.

"My children and I got separated in the mayhem and confusion," Darius said. "Someone said they saw them running into a cave inside the North Mountains."

The Elf fell on his knees to beg us.

"We'll help you," I said.

The Elf looked shocked before he cried with tears of joy.

"Thank you! Please save my children!"

"Does your carriage still work?" I said.

I looked at the mess of half broken carriages and the horses that were flustered by exhaustion.

"No, but I think I can ask someone for help."

Darius ran off towards one of the other merchants.

"Time is not on our side," Vera said.

Vera looked at Darius who was desperately pleading to other merchants for a wagon.

"Yes, but we might need someone else to come help us."

I looked at Vera who started to ponder.

"I have a friend but I don't know if I can find him."

Suddenly a tall Elf dressed in a variety of colors from head to toe came close to Vera. His appearance would be like that of an Elven Hunter if not for the weird color scheme.  He had long blonde hair on one side of his head and the other seemed to be shaved. A bow and a set of quivers filled with arrows were on his back. I looked at the eccentric Elf who didn't seem to notice my presence.

Vera herself had a look of disgust and was appalled by the Elf.

"Vera, darling! Why didn't you tell me you were in Avalon?"

Vera tried to distance herself from the Elf.

"Lenard, how did you know I was here?" Vera said.

Lenard gently grabbed some of Vera's hair to smell it.

"I have my ways, sweetheart."

I looked at the Elf named Lenard in a state of confusion.

"Demitri, this is uh…my friend Lenard," Vera said.

Lenard noticed my presence as soon as Vera introduced me.

"Her lover," Lenard said.

Vera became flustered.

"No! Definitely not! Don't listen to him! He's just always pursuing me!" Vera said.

Lenard seemed to sharpen his eyes on me because of Vera's denial.

"Who are you?" Lenard stood tall over me.

"This is Demitri, he's saved me from the Goblins that invaded the Wild Forests," Vera said.

I nod my head to Lenard who seemed to dislike me.

"He looks like a ruffian Vera, you shouldn't hang around with strays," Lenard said.

I snicker at his comments and cross my arms.

"An Elf dressed like a clown is telling me what I look like?" I said.

Lenard raised his chin at me and before I could say something Vera stepped in.

"Demitri stop it!! Lenard may look a little eccentric but he's actually one of the best rangers in the forest," Vera said. "Lenard is a good person at heart."

I look at Vera in disbelief.

"It's true and he could help us in finding the children!" Vera said.

Vera looked at me with pleading eyes and so I waved off the negative comments made by Lenard.

"Vera, what are you doing with this plebian," Lenard said.

"Actually Lenard, Demitri was going to help me and I needed your help as well."

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"Of course! Anything for you darling! But you don't need the help from the likes of him! You only need me!"

Vera looked at me again and I exhaled a breath of air before looking away. I began to ignore Lenard much to my own chagrin as Lenard continued his insults. After a while, Lenard stopped trying to provoke me as he tried flirting with Vera. Lenard and Vera made small talk while I waited for Darius to find transportation. Darius finally came back with a wagon and horses that looked worn down but seemed reliable enough.

"Let's hurry," I said.

We all gathered into the wagon and set off to the North Mountains. I wanted Darius to wait here but he couldn't bear waiting while his children were lost and alone. I reluctantly agreed that he could come as long as he stayed out of our way. I didn't want Darius to die under our care while we searched for his children.

The hours passed by and the sky reflected the change. Lenard was laying on the back of the wagon, resting with a cap over his face. Darius was driving the wagon and looked worried. Vera guided our way through the forests from the driver seat of the wagon. I looked up at the sky from the back of the wagon and noticed that soon the sun would set.

"Damn," I said. "I didn't think it was going to take this long to get to the North Mountains by wagon."

Vera looked back to me.

"The regular roads were blocked off due to the Goblin invasion," Vera said.

I went close to the driver seat.

"We have to hurry and find the children before it gets to nightfall," I said.

Vera and Darius looked at me with apprehension.

"Why?" Vera said.

"Most of the creatures in the North Mountains are nocturnal," I said.

I didn't know if I could protect this group and save myself from what laid inside.

"I think we can handle it," Vera said.

"There's also another problem," I said. "The inner walls of the North Mountains are made out of condensed moon rock."

Vera tilted her head at my statement.

"So?" She said.

I started tapping my fingers on my arm.

"They reflect when shined by moonlight and it will brighten the caves inside the North Mountains," Darius said.

I looked up at the changing sky and saw some clouds forming ahead.

"Wouldn't that make it easier to navigate inside the mountains?"

"No, because you will see those dark things and they will see you too," I said.

I grimaced an expression to Vera who looked fearful.

I didn't want to make her scared but I had no choice. We couldn't be reckless inside the North Mountains. The things that laid inside would only make men wish they dreamed of nightmares. I had my companions to get me through the journey before. Now, it was only myself and two Elves not counting Darius. 

Finally, we had reached the North Mountains from the roads of the Wild Forests. The tall jagged terrain and protruding landscape told everyone to be fearful of the mountain. But what was truly dangerous was what lurked inside. It was too steep to climb and most people would just go around the North Mountains though it would take a week's journey. Even the Kingdom of Bareth and the Demons that lived further north of the mountains would go around it.

We had to find the children inside the mountain and hoped that they were still alive.

Darius stopped the wagon near the base of the mountain and we all exited.

"It's here," Darius said.

There seemed to be a cave entrance at the base of the mountain. I looked up to the sky and see that the sun finally began to set. From the outside, the cave was pitch black and the sound of nature was silent. Trepidation filled me as I lead the way to the mountain entrance. Light from the outside reached inside the cave like piercing arrows. Parts of the cavern were lit while others stayed hidden in the darkness.

A sound like the shuffling of feet could be heard and I pull out my broken Mithril blade.

"Careful," I said.

Soon two small Elven children appeared in the light and Darius had seemed to glow with joy.

"My children!" Darius said.

But before he could go to them, I dash over and cut the head off one of the children. Spinning around, I stab the other child through the heart. Their blood spurts on me and I stood over their dead bodies. I looked over to the group of Elves who looked at me with grief and anger.

"Demitri!" Vera yelled.

"What have you done!?" Darius screamed.

"Stay back Vera!" Lenard said.

Lenard took aim at me with his bow.

"What are you doing?" I said.

I cleaned my Mithril blade while gazing at them.

"YOU KILLED THESE CHILDREN IN COLD BLOOD!" Lenard shouted.

"Look again," I said.

The group of Elves looked at the bodies of the children and soon shadows dissipated from them. With the shadows gone they saw the grotesque monsters in their place. Their skin was smooth but wrinkly folded at their limbs. These monsters had no eyes but only noses and mouths filled with jagged teeth. The monsters had lanky bodies with sharp claws and contorted arms and legs.

"What…are..they?" Vera said covering her mouth.

Lenard vomited and Darius was shaking all over.

"Ghasts," I said. "They aren't quite the same as the Shadow Monsters you saw but they use shadow magic just the same."

"Shadow magic?"

Vera walked closer to me as anxiety seem to cover her face.

"They can look like whatever they want to get their prey," I said.

Darius was still shaking and looked to have sweat covering his face.

"Why do they look like Elven children?" Vera asked.

"They might have seen them inside the caves," I said.

"H-how could you tell what they are?"Darius stammered.

I look at Vera and then the others.

"Because they smell like Death," I said.