The cackling voice echoed in his head, filling Rein with dread. He knew something supernaturally horrible was about to happen to him. The fear of the fallen was deep-rooted in the world-- one of the common evil things that these devils would do was to possess anyone’s body!
The very next moment, Rein felt a sharp headache that was accompanied by an ear-splitting ringing, causing him to immediately collapse onto the ground. Rein tried to think clearly but the pain was so intense he could only try to hang on to the very bare semblance of sanity.
His mind besieged, Rein completely lost track of his surroundings, including Jein’s reactions. He rolled around on the ground, clutching his head, as the continuous sharp pain pierced his very soul. He barely hung on to his mind by thinking of his treasured memories with his parents given the events that had just transpired.
The sharp pain slightly abated, before the voice was heard once again. The voice had changed to an extremely alluring motherly tone.
“Why are you holding on? Your parents have gone onto the next world... you and your younger brother won’t have much to hang onto even if you continue to live… you should consider it an honor to have your body be taken over by an advancer, and pass onto the next world to spend a blissful and joyful time with your parents...they are likely impatiently awaiting your arrival right now...don’t you remember their warm embrace? Dear, with my abilities, ‘our’ younger brother would definitely be safe!”
With that said, the sharp pain returned, more unrelenting than before. Rein continued to hang on, but he could not help but start wishing he could ‘go’ and meet his parents again.
An insidious idea had planted itself in his mind-- If the afterworld exists… perhaps he could spend an eternity in bliss… wouldn’t that be wonderful…? But he remembered-- Jein and Meynan might still need him. Jein’s fate would be uncertain if he mingled with this devil!
He had to be there for them surely! He constantly tried to picture Jein’s excited expressions of the past in his mind, as well as Meynan’s beautiful figure and her smile from childhood through the many festivals and yearly celebrations they had enjoyed together.
His sanity was like swimming against a riptide that wanted to drag him to the depths of the seas. Rein found himself gradually tilting to insanity, before barely clawing back a bit of himself, yet soon being pulled away again by an irresistible force. Luckily, today would not be the end for him.
“Ugh.”
The cackling voice grumbled and Rein’s sharp pain immediately ceased.
A banging noise echoed in the stone room. The sound did not originate from the hatch of the stone room’s ceiling, but rather from the tunnel. This meant that the mercenaries had finally discovered the secret tunnel originating from the Hehr Mansion, and was about to forcibly break the hatch that had been blocked from the inside.
The splitting headache completely vanished, and when Rein finally regained clarity of mind, he was lying on his back in the stone room, and he glimpsed a black cloud seeping through the gaps between the hatch and the stone ceiling in escape.
“Big bro! Big bro!”
Rein didn’t notice it during his intense headache, but it was likely that Jein had been screaming at him for the whole time, worried about his big brother suddenly rolling on the ground and clutching at his head. Only Rein could hear that cackling voice of the fallen that had attempted to possess his mind and body.
Rein figured he was now temporarily safe, saved by that devil’s fear of being caught by this band of mercenaries. The devil must have lost his body, hid in his father’s body and then tried to take over his body? It was likely that the devil led those mercenaries to the Hehr Mansion before hiding in his father’s body.
As Rein’s thoughts reorganized themselves, he had managed to more or less connect the dots. He felt a strong hatred for these mercenaries and their indiscriminate methods, but he now understood their fear of the fallen.
“It’s a secret escape route!”
An elated muffled voice suddenly reverberated through the tunnels to the stone room.
Rein blinked and quickly realigned himself, doing his best to shake off the remnant dull feeling in his head. He looked at the hatch in the ceiling of this stone room. He quickly picked up the remaining pouch he dropped during the crazy headache he experienced, and hung it around his very own neck. This hatch would be both his and his younger brother’s only chance at survival now.
Rein turned towards his parents’ corpses, kneeling before giving a bow. Jein imitated him. Both he and Jein hooked the four fingers of each hand.
“May our bonds remain locked in our hearts for perpetuity.”
Such was the farewell greeting in this realm. Rein was fully aware of how delicate their current situation was so he no longer dawdled.
He lambasted himself for being a useless son, unable to even give his parents a proper burial. He could only swear in his heart to take care of Jein and find a way to avenge his parents.
Rein then rapidly climbed up the ladder towards the hatch, and Jein followed with his dead eyes looking back down at his parent’s corpses. At this age, Jein already had an initial understanding of death.
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Rein nervously but silently lifted the hatch by a sliver, looking out through the gap into a storeroom. The devil had escaped through this hatch too-- who knew if he was waiting to pounce again?
Luckily, Rein saw no black wisps that he associated with these fallen devils.
He exited the hatch, then reached down to pull Jein up through the hatch as well. He then closed the hatch, and used his whole body weight to shift some heavy crate on the side on top of the hatch.
Rein quickly recognized this was a storehouse just two streets away from the Hehr Mansion that his parents had shown him before. It was right next to Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge.
This storehouse was a secretly hidden room with an entrance that looked to be part of the wall next to Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge from the outside. It was well insulated to heat and sound as a result, designed for both safe storage of key items, and as part of an escape route.
The Hehr family had designed the escape route in such a way likely due to the fact that Blacksmith Tiehr’s place had numerous weapons as well as armor. In addition, Blacksmith Tiehr might be an advancer, and that was likely why, not only did the House Hehr had hired him for a princely sum, they also placed him in this important location with quality living arrangements.
With this thought running through his mind, Rein understood the wisdom of his parents. In a mess like this, Blacksmith Tiehr would surely be the best bet for safety from any pursuers. This was the brothers’ lifeline.
The exit of the secret storeroom was centered in a back alleyway, and at the end of the alley would be a side entrance into Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge. At this stage, Rein breathed a sigh of relief. They were close. Half an alleyway and they would be safe. He considered hiding in this secret storeroom, but the devil-- a fallen advancer, had made him judge that the mercenaries might have a proper advancer that could circumvent his blockage of the hatch, as unlikely as it may seem.
Rein leisurely opened the door out of the secret storeroom. In the alleyway outside, one would see a rectangular gap suddenly appear out of a normally uniform wall. What Rein saw immediately made him close the door again, and the rectangular gap instantly vanished.
Rein rested his back against the door. On his face was an expression of absolute shock and disbelief. The whole alley was filled with numerous mercenaries duking it out with a bunch of townsfolk! There were corpses, severed limbs and bloody puddles littered all over the ground! Once again, he was reminded of the mercenaries’ words-- they definitely meant it when they spoke of wiping out the Golden Desert Town!
It was also likely that the whole Golden Desert Town was in flames and smoke. Rein wasn’t sure of this since the door opened into an alleyway, but he had felt an intense heat and glimpse the smoke-filled skies above the walls when he opened the door.
The secret storeroom had well insulated walls, leading to Rein having the initial misconception that the alleyway outside would be empty and safe for their passage. Luckily, he had been cautious as a fox and not simply rushed out with Jein in tow.
It was not simply a matter of hiding anymore. Rein realized that they needed to escape the town, and Blacksmith Tiehr’s important further rose in his heart.
His thoughts also turned to Meynan, who was no doubt similarly affected. But he also remembered the mysterious Steward Xeer that had been around as long as he could remember. Yes, Meynan must be fine, he believed.
Calming his heart, Rein determined that first, he and Jein would need to reach the forge’s side door, half an alleyway away, through all the fighting, blood and gore.
A sudden thud that sent the heavy crate up into the air for the blink of an eye provided a timely reminder that the mercenaries were not far behind. Luckily, the heavy crate plopped back down and maintained blockage of the hatch. Regardless, sooner or later, the mercenaries would break through the hatch into this safe room.
He looked at Jein and did his very best to reassure the young child in preparation for the blood-soaked alleyway.
“Jein… outside there’s a lot of fighting and blood…”
Rein struggled to find the right words. He had seen severed heads and limbs outside in the alleyway, and the amount of blood soaking into the ground with smoke and dust collecting on the surface, weren’t exactly something you could prepare an eight year old for.
“Keep your eyes from looking around too much, we just need to run to the end of the alley, Jein, and meet Blacksmith Tiehr! Keep moving no matter what!”
Jein’s dead eyes brightened for a moment at the mention of Blacksmith Tiehr, and he gave a determined nod.
He quickly tore a few pieces of cloth in the storehouse, wetted them with a bit of water stored inside a pot meant for drought situations, and wrapped these around his own and Jein’s nose and mouth. Pulling Jein’s hand, he kicked open the exit and instantly rushed toward Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge.
The hot smog and haze crashed into Rein’s face, causing his eyes to tear up. He streaked forward regardless, his survival instinct telling him that any hesitation would lead to disaster. Jein was trying his best to move his short legs, but he was more or less half-dragged by Rein in their rapid escape.
Then, An ear-piercing shriek suddenly sounded, causing all the bandits and townsfolk to turn and twist their heads in agony.
A captivating female face appeared from the skies above the alleyway, floating in the haze, and the rest of her body was shrouded by black wisps of smoke. The repulsive shriek originated from her open mouth, a sharp contrast to her soft and enchanting facial features.
The next moment, she closed her mouth, and spoke with a bewitching yet angry tone, “Everyone retreat! Our mission has failed! Our hidden scion has fallen to this kingdom’s dastardly tricks! Do not waste your lives anymore!”
To Rein’s horror, more than half of the townsfolk that were fighting instantly transformed into black cloaked men and started dashing toward the end of the alley. This left the other townsfolk aghast. They had been fighting for a long time thinking they were protecting the town with allies!
The devilish woman then waved her arm, tossing out a few spherical crystals. These orbs exploded into multiple clouds of sickly green and deep violet mist upon impact with the ground.
The bandit group caught in the mists screamed as every single one of them found their skin festering with yellow-green pulps that burst open, only for the liquid that seeped out to then burn their skin scarlet. One body after another collapsed onto the ground, their faces twisted in agony and despair. Luckily, Rein and Jein, along with a few other bandits and defending townsfolk, were on the other end of the alley, and thus found themselves spared this grisly fate.
For Rein, this was the signal to quickly continue his escape with Jein. He bolted toward Blacksmith Tiehr’s forge, but his movement did not escape the notice of the otherworldly female figure floating in the sky.
Her eyes glowed with interest when looking at Jein. Rein only heard her mutter, “... a young child to groom into food....”
Rein could only lament at his and Jein’s misfortune upon hearing these words.