The village was burning and I watched it with a silent satisfaction. The cries of its massacred inhabitants left me cold, just like the land that gave me life. An ironic smile crossed my lips as I imagined the Elyos, burning with this righteous fury and crying for vengeance for this vile and unjustified act of Asmodian cruelty or something like that. They were innocents, right? Just like the people from that slaughtered village deep in the Beluslan mountains. Two days ago, I think...
My second-in-command and a good friend of mine, Lugh, stopped by my side and his appearance abruptly cut my thoughts.
"Blood for blood, my friend" he uttered while watching the same scenery of death and destruction.
"Blood for blood," I grimly agreed.
It was a dirty work and I never enjoyed murdering unarmed villagers. I liked the prey that could fight back. I made a plan and my fellows executed it. Still, there was a reason for satisfaction. My choice of target was no random pick at all.
I heard a thud of feet coming from the direction of the the village. Lugh apparently heard it too and took hold of his bow.
"What the... ?!" he pointed the arrow towards the coming sound and drew the string.
One of the villagers. Trying to flee. That was good. Haven't seen us yet. He ran a few more steps and then cried in horror. Spotted us, no doubt. He took a sharp turn towards near forest, hoping to find a redemption there. I slowly put my hand on Lugh's arm, letting Elyos escape. He lowered the bow and looked at me, surprised.
"They must know that their evil won't go unpunished," I explained. "And call the men. Send the rangers to me. I want the rest, inculding you, on the other side as fast as possible. Don't be afraid, the rangers will join you before the dove boys arrive."
"And you?" Lugh raised an eyebrow.
"Not yet," I frowned. "Something personal."
The Elyos troop found the village in a deathly silence. The sound of falling ashes and collapsing beams was all they heard.
"Such bloodshed," The Elyos commander shook his head bitterly. "They spared no-one."
"Just like you in Beluslan," rang a cold voice among the smouldering ruins.
They turned after the sound and saw a high Asmodian clad in a dark leather armor and a bow on his back, step out from the shadow. His head was bowed. Lower face obscured by cloth, long black hair clamped together at back of his head. He looked up. The commander involuntarily shook when he caught the sight of his cold blue eyes.
"Seize him!" The Elyos called out, as soon as he woke from his numbness.
I waited for nothing and fell back into the shadow of a dense trees behind me. Everything went as I anticipated but still I felt tensed.
"Find him and bring him here at any cost!" I heard the commander shouting in Elyos.
"It might be a trap, sir," objected one of his scouts.
"Then be cautious damnit! But I want him alive if possible," he responded - or at least I thought so.
Some went running right ïn my initial direction, others split into two groups and spread in the surrounding area, where we placed before a ton of traps with the rest of my rangers. This should provide them enough fun so I can finish my business...
The centurion - or whatever he was, stayed behind just with two heavily armored bodyguards, most likely musing about what he would say to his superiors after his return with me as a prisoner.
Act with confidence, I thought as I emerged from the shadows.
The soulshards on my bow came alive with a silent crack. The first of the Elyos didn't even get a chance to react. A well-aimed shot went straight through his throat. A soul infused arrow sent the other guard to his knees and the third finished the job. The commander remained still, not daring to reach for his sword. He was at my mercy and he was well aware of that.
"What do you want, crow?" he exclaimed, quite aloud. His Asmodian was heavily accented.
"Shh, dove boy," I whispered. "We don't want your men to come here too early, don't we?"
"I suppose this... " he spread his arms, "... is for that village in Beluslan then?"
"The village, yes," I admitted.
"Then you have a wrong man," he assumed, dispassionately.
"But I'm not talking to you because of this village," I remarked sharply. "Seventeen years ago, or so. Morheim. Mountains covered in snow. Do you remember now?"
Elyos frowned. He searched his mind – or tried to look like that to get more time. But this was my game and I intended it to be played by my rules.
"Let me help to refresh your mind," I hissed viciously.
I snatched a knife tucked behind my belt and tossed it in his direction. The Elyos instinctively cowered but it just rammed into the ground next to his foot.
"There was a blood on this blade - an Elyos blood. It just doesn't happen every day to have a daeva injured by a mere mortal, does it? It was my father's and I believe that this was the reason why we've found him tortured to death and not just slaughtered like the porgus as you did to others." I paused for a short moment before speaking again: "So, commander... do you remember?"
"I remember," he told plainly.
"Oh, I thank you," I smiled coldly. "I wasn't entirely sure that it would be you, who'll respond to this."
"So you came for a personal revenge," he stated with a slight of mockery in his voice, "And what now? Kill me?" I was pretty sure that he complied just because he believed himself perfectly safe. After all, what means one death for a daeva?
"You should know why I wanted to be this certain," I shrugged. "You know, these weapons are all too hard to obtain and too expensive to be just wasted. Take a better look."
"These weapons... ?" he asked suspiciously.
"Refined drenium," I shrugged and drew my bowstring.
His hand shot for his sword even before I finished my sentence. He managed to take a half-step before my arrow found him.
"Blood for blood, commander," I whispered as his body fell to the ground.
The unforgiving blizzard whipped the peaks of the Morheim mountains but the pilgrim in black relentlessly advanced forth. After a while he finally managed to reach a frozen plateau where the storm a bit subsided. The traveller breathed heavily after the arduous journey but did not rest before finding a particular heap of stones.
I put my facecloth down and then touched the stone tablet at the base of the cairn.
"Azphelumbra, father," I said as my hand swept away a layer of snow which covered the carved letters. "I've come as I promised I would. I believe you'd be proud of me. I'm a daeva now." I extended my hand and put my father's weapon on the top of the tablet. "Here's your knife. It served me well. Now as the revenge is complete, it should be given its final rest by your side. You'll be remembered. Blood for blood, father," I bowed with my fist on my chest and then turned away.
I made a few steps as a strange sensation forced me to turn back. I blinked. Was it some sort of mirage or did I just saw my father, standing at the cairn with a faint smile on his lips? I stepped forth but the image faded away. I smiled, then turned away and began my descent at last.