Arlena cast a sidelong glance at Derrick, who was a few steps ahead of her in the wilderness, then peeked over her shoulder to watch Gavon strut with his nose in the air and hands clasped behind his back.

She rolled her eyes. How did I end up getting paired with those two, she wondered and chewed on her lips. All of this felt like a recurring nightmare at this point.

Malakai was the one who paired her with Derrick and Gavon, who, for whatever reason, volunteered to head their group since Malakai and Arigir had to take the two other groups to track down the beasts.

Both she and Derrick were newcomers, and the archmage didn’t want to send them off to be slain by the beasts. Their quest was to look for survivors and strengthen the protective seals over each village that had yet to come under attack.

The first village they came across during this arduous journey had not come under attack, so Gavon strengthened its seal to keep the beasts at bay. Most of the villagers, however, had already fled by the time they arrived, since all the nearby settlements had turned into ruins.

From what they heard, many ran away to the Great Forest of Secrets to seek refuge in Druasdûr. The following two villages they came across were riddled with the stench of decay, and it was apparent that the beasts had got their fill recently.

Every turn, every corner was teeming with disfigured and mutilated remains. But Gavon said they had to search every nook and cranny for survivors, despite the bloodbath before them being as apparent as day.

By the time they reached their fourth village, they had lost all hope of finding survivors. As they came to a standstill in front of a brutally destroyed ornamental gate, Derrick could no longer bear the sight of carnage and urged the dark-eyed mage to continue down the trail instead of going into the village. There was a hint of desperation in his voice that neither she nor Gavon could miss.

“There’s no one here, master! We must continue!”

“No, not yet. We have to make sure.”

Derrick averted his gaze, evidently worked up. “There are people out there who need our help! We can’t waste time here! We must find them before it’s too late!”

“What concerns you, boy?”

Arlena glanced at Derrick as Gavon said this. The guy was on the verge of shedding tears. But Derrick wouldn’t respond. He didn’t want to give away what caused him such distress. Gavon heaved a sigh and patted his shoulder as if he knew what went through Derricks’ mind.

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He then took the lead into the village without waiting for either of them to follow suit. Derrick remained in place and couldn’t lift his eyes off the ground. She breathed out. It didn’t feel right to leave Derrick behind, but she didn’t fancy the idea of losing sight of the wizard and getting lost either, so she tapped Derrick’s shoulder and then hurried into the village to catch up with the mage.

Gavon broke off in front of a tavern. She followed his gaze. The lights were still on. The entire village was crowded with cadavers, and someone had most likely forgotten to turn off the torches in the chaos that broke out in the village.

But Gavon had to make sure there was not a single survivor left behind and waited to be rescued. So, he told her to wait in front of the wooden fence and then entered the tavern by himself.

She saw Derrick scuff his feet out of the corner of her eye and sighed. His eyes were still on the ground, and he refused to look at her. She crossed her arms and wished she had followed the mage into the tavern instead of having to deal with this moody guy.

Things didn’t get any better either, as the seconds passed and Gavon didn’t show up. It was as if the tavern owner had taken the dark-eyed mage hostage or something. No longer able to wait with bated breath, she advanced to find the mage when the boy grabbed her arm.

She was about to snap back at him for touching her without permission when she noticed he was not even looking at her. She followed his stony gaze, and her eyes became as wide as the hovering moon.

Beasts!? She looked down. The ground quivered. There were at least a handful of ogres and twenty times as many trolls coming through the gate they had just passed, and they were all marching towards them at breakneck speed!

Gritting her teeth, she shifted her eyes to the tavern once more and cursed out the dark-eyed mage. What in the world was he doing in there!?

She was about to go look for him when Derrick yanked her away from the tavern and towards a pasture, which was on the outskirts of an impenetrable, dark forest. They were halfway through the village and just inches from entering the meadow when she broke free from his grip.

“What’s wrong with you!?” she shouted. “Are you just going to abandon Gavon!?”

Derrick tried to catch his breath. “I just want to survive, I thought you wanted that, too.”

“… Survive!?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “I don’t want to be saved or survive, I can take care of myself!”

She brushed her hair away from her face and was about to return to the tavern when he interrupted her.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed! That’s what you’re doing!”

“At least I won’t die a coward!”

She took only a few steps towards the village when she heard a strange clamour behind her. At first, she thought Derrick was following her and ignored it on purpose, but then she heard someone chuckle right behind her. It sounded so sinister that she broke off and held her breath.

As she turned around – holding her breath – two trolls charged at her and knocked her to the ground. Before she knew it, they tied her hands. That was when she realised they had already caught Derrick and stuffed something into his mouth so he couldn’t warn her.

The trolls hopped and danced afterwards as if there was a feast, which there probably was now that she thought it through. Then one of them dashed to fetch the giants on the other side of the village, while the other salivated and smacked its ugly lips as it eyed them down.