'Well… I finally get to meet the knight's friends, and it seems my presence isn't exactly welcome.'

A small group glared questioningly at his sudden appearance. On the left, a distinguished beautiful woman clad in a peculiar aged, and mossy armor gazed in Damian's direction. Her auburn hair, pale skin, and sharp features; all worked together to create an alluring unorthodox aesthetic.

"...Would you care to explain what's going on here?" The huntress's tone appeared stern and faintly irritated.

"Hey, come on now—there's no need to be rude! Captain, you wanna go ahead and introduce us to the guest you've brought!" A second new face greeted Damian and the knight: A large man clad in simple grey armor, his appearance showing a clear discrepancy from the others. But, while his appearance may seem dull, his stature and presence beg to differ. Out of everyone here, Damian couldn't help but double-take with hesitance at the large man. Not to mention, he seemed to be the only traveler out of the group who actually had a weapon visibly equipped—a large greatsword strapped around his waist.

Lastly, a silent hooded figure sat aside, keen on listening in. Unfortunately, no matter where Damian looked, he couldn't find any clue to the hooded figure as all he could make up was a thick layer of brown cloaks.

They all surrounded a large campfire; everyone clearly questioning Damian's presence.

"This 'guest' will be joining us for the remainder of our mission," the knight stated simply.

"..."

"Greetings, noble travelers. I am a simple merchant looking for civilization around these dangerous lands. I understand the risk I've put myself in and after meeting this man here, I've bargained for him to guide me to a town he speaks of. I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience of joining in on your current mission, but I hope we can come to an understanding with what I've offered to this knight here." Damian explained, before bowing respectfully.

The whole of the group now shifted their gaze to the knight, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

"If you could give us a moment," the knight excused himself.

"No no, please, take as long as you need." Damian urged, fully satisfied.

While the group had begun their discussion, Damian remained standing a fair distance away—out of earshot but still capable of observing their expressions. For the majority of their talk; they were left indifferent. However, all of this soon changed into looks of utter shock—now stealing glances at Damian.

'Well, they must be surprised I had a 'relic of god'. I guess this secures my way home.'

Eventually, the knight broke from the trio and approached the masked merchant.

"We'll be leaving at sunrise," the knight claimed indifferently.

"I understand, and thank you again," Damian replied, shifting uncomfortably at his peculiar glowing gaze.

After getting settled, Damian sat around the fire—separated from the others. Everyone lay in silence, occasionally stealing glances at the mysterious merchant. The whole situation grew awkward, but no one seemed to care for the atmosphere—choosing to focus on the rations in front of them. At some point, Damian was even offered food by the knight but declined the offer. This ambient quiet remained until nightfall when the knight signaled to the hooded figure and declared our time to rest.

Whilst everyone shifted their posture preparing to sleep, the hooded figure stood, approaching the campfire. The stranger carelessly reached into the flame—immediately, Damian was left in awe.

The right hand swiftly motioned the fire as if commanding, guiding the flame to the left palm. The flame gathered continuously from the campfire until only a frail subtle flame was left. The rest of the fire, now condensed into a rough sphere within the palm gradually began to change color from its bright and distinct orange—to that of a mesmerizing grey.

'...Pretty..cool.'

The hooded figure then, after creating such a marvelous sphere of fire; carelessly dropped the flame onto the ground. The grey fire then formed a ring, continuously growing larger instantaneously. The flame passed by everyone, not leaving a mark on anything it touched—simply dispersing further into the forest.

'What was the point of the fire..?'

Searching briefly, Damian found himself a place to rest amongst the four strangers. His eyes fell lazily, but he was far from tired. As the night grew, Damian's eyes wandered endlessly; studying each and every detail—endlessly bored.

***

*SHIINNNG*

'God, how long has it even been?'

*SHNNNK*

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

'That knight has done nothing, but stare into the campfire and occasionally drink from his flask. What the hell is his deal..?'

*SHINK*

'Not to mention that both the huntress and the mysterious magician have yet to move a single muscle. The huntress has her eyes closed I guess, but I cannot for a second believe that she's actually asleep.'

*SHNNK*

'That fire too… I've only ever seen stuff like that on public television. These four gotta be similar to some of those special people living in the inner parts of the city.'

*SHING*

'Can this guy please shut up!?'

In quiet ambiance, the toll of scraping metal consistently pestered Damian's mind.

'This annoying, loud, and large piece of trash will not stop sharpening his sword! And even more annoying is that he keeps sneaking glances at me and the knight. What's this idiot's deal?'

Damian wordlessly glared at the large man, slowly growing uneasy at the possible reason for endlessly sharpening his intimidating blade. Unconsciously, Damian's eyes began to wander restlessly, searching for any source of distraction from the accumulated stress.

*SHNNNG*

'My god, please, I need this end..-

Almost as if to answer his silent complaints, the hooded magician slowly stood from where he rested, gathering everyone's immediate attention. The loud periodic metal scraping ceased in an instant.

"It appears we have an intruder" the hooded magician announced in a quiet harmonious voice.

'...Well…this isn't exactly what I had in mind.'

Everyone turned to the magician unsurprisingly as if expecting this to happen. The knight was the first to speak:

"Only one?"

The magician nodded, pointing to the dense forest:

"It approaches from the West."

'...It? Ah...Don't tell me...'

Severely anxious, Damian quickly realized who may just be their mysterious intruder.

The knight furrowed his brow:

"Something about this doesn’t seem right."

In silent affirmation, the magician turned to the masked merchant—making eye contact with Damian.

"It's strange, isn't it? That ever since we met you, merchant. Something from the forest has been watching us, very carefully."

'...Not only the knight but him too? What's up with those eyes..?'

Thoroughly taking in the sight, Damian again couldn't really understand what he was looking at exactly. Within each of the magician's grey eyes, lay a single striking golden line marking the center.

Upon making contact, Damian fell into a brief stupor before snapping back at the accusation, concealing his fears:

"I don't know what you mean sir. Was there something watching us this whole time? And if so, what exactly do we do?"

The knight frowned:

"Do we have time?"

"No, it's already upon us," the magician replied indifferently.

Steeling himself, the knight fearlessly spoke:

"Then we must stand our ground and-

In interruption, a pitch-black humanoid creature emerged from the depths of the forest. Several meters in height, its incredibly slim and gangling body towered above the campfire. Its ashen white face, devoid of anything but a large pair of eyes stared into the five travelers. The beast without any mouth began to emit a sound akin to gasping and struggling to breathe. The knight visibly paled at the sight.

The knight twisted his face away from the opponent, urgently calling to the others:

"MOVE-

Mercilessly, the beast's slim arm shot forward at an unbelievable speed; instantaneously reaching the knight. Prepared, however, the knight swiftly brought his arms into an odd forward position—attempting to block the piercing blow. From within the knight's hands, a strange object immediately manifested itself—making up for the odd posture. As for Damian, all he could comprehend was the sudden blur of something colliding with a large tree to his right, completely destroying the tree. Slowly gathering his senses, Damian turned to the magician in search of answers.

"I don't know what you are merchant, but it's best you leave. You will not survive this if you stay much longer," the magician explained to Damian without any change in their indifferent tone. The magician's arm slowly presented itself from under the large cloak, upon closer inspection; Damian spotted that same distinct symbol of the sun engraved on the leather. The magician's palm slowly caught fire, preparing for battle.

Damian clumsily backed away in the chaos, breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction.

'Crazy, this is crazy! How the hell am I supposed to get out of this situation!'

Damian hastily rushed away from the scene, gathering more distance as the seconds passed. Horrid screaming could be heard as if he was still meters away from the black beast. Damian could feel powerful shockwaves as the fight continued, nearly toppling his balance with each blow.

Unfortunately, for as far as he had gotten, it meant nothing. Soaring through the sky, a remnant of the battle afar collided with the forest soil—a few meters away from Damian. The impact sent him violently falling to the ground. Disoriented, he quickly gathered his scattered thoughts, attempting to scan the surrounding environment. Almost immediately, Damian spotted a human figure nestled deeply within the crater. It was the knight. Utterly shocked, he hastily crawled toward the battered knight—inspecting the scene in horror:

Gaping holes littered the man's body relieving puddles of blood onto the dirt. His eyes glowing in incandescent light—slowly began to grow dim and distant. From the knight's hand, a beautiful white sword rested within his lifeless fingers. Gradually absorbing the situation before him, his jumbled thoughts and questions coalesced into a single phrase:

~"Take it."~

After its prolonged hiatus of silence; the mysterious voice finally returned. Damian while stuck in this devastating situation, still noticed the slight change in tone from the voice: A tone closer to excitement than neutrality. Damian furrowed his brow:

"What the hell are you talking about?"

While he's always been suspicious of the voice, Damian was left with no other choice but to listen. At first, his mind gravitated to the white sword, but right before grabbing it, he paused—spotting a faint glow emanating from underneath the knight's shattered armor. Instinctively, he began searching the corpse for whatever the voice was exactly talking about. Immediately, he slowly pried at the plates and leather; revealing a familiar sight. That same eerie glass shard he'd stolen from the church statue. Only this time, there seemed to be a key difference in its appearance:

Glowing runic text could be seen littering the glass.

'What the hell?'

Damian now holding the object in question quickly realized a major issue:

'...So what exactly am I supposed to do now?'

*RUSTLING*

Left unsure, Damian was then caught off guard by sudden movement nearby. Fearful, he watched the forest carefully as the unknown figure revealed itself.

As Damian observed the scene with keen eyes, a human slowly emerged from the forest. Fortunately for him, this one didn't come crashing down from above…

"That isn't yours Merchant. Hand it over." Exclaiming in a threatening and expectant tone, was an unexpected but familiar face.