"R-release me!" The ginger headed apprentice shrieked as the red robed cultists carried him over to the dark, gloomy tent inside their small camp.
Clyde had panicked couldn't notice where they took him, but it seemed like this small group of cultists were not the main force. The young apprentice couldn't imagine how a group of alchemists could impact Araluen this much.
"Shh... Stay silent child, you're among friends." The leader of the cultist group lifted the crimson hood from his head and revealed his aged, fair coloured face. His dark coloured eyes radiated a gentle aura around him, but Clyde could never trust any of them at that point.
"Among... Friends? Nonsense!" He struggled to break the grip of the two other cultists holding him from each of his arms.
"Well, you're not wrong. Who greets a friend like this, William?" The woman staying beside the old man was also wearing the cultists' outfit. Clyde recognized the women from the recent fight.
"You are right as always, Ruby." William, the older cultist, smiled innocently as he signaled the cultists to tie the ginger headed boy to a chair.
"S-stop! Don't come near!" Clyde screamed at the top of his lungs as the old cultist approached him with a small crystal in his hands.
"Calm down, my friend. I just want to show you the beauty of our lord, Hyrd'mis." William replied with a serene voice.
"Y-you're going to... hurt me! I k-know!" Clyde struggled even harder with the sudden surge of emotions coming from the past. Somehow, taking a quick glance at the crimson crystal seemed to made him feel mad.
"Hurt? Yes, you seem to be hurt... Inside your mind, am I wrong?" The cultist kept getting closer.
"No worries. Just look into the crystal. The beautiful, deep crimson... The true colours of our lord, he who will embrace anyone and grant them eternal pleasure..." He held the crystal closer and closer to the boy's face.
As Clyde was forced to look at the crystal, he felt even more angry. Those thoughts he had for himself, for his father, for everything, grew up like the flames of a large bonfire.
"Do you feel mad? About the past, maybe?" The cultist kept talking.
"I... Yes." Clyde answered. What would they do with that information, anyway?
"Look into the crystal. Our lord Hyrd'mis appreciates how far you've come, how much you improved yourself. The only obstacle to your eternal happiness... is the past." He concluded with a creepy, yet caring tone in his voice.
Clyde looked deeply into the crystal. The searing feeling of hatred was tiring. He wanted to end it. He wanted to stop reminding himself of the past. He wanted to get rid of it. What would he do without the memories of his uncle? But he wouldn't remember his father, and all the suffering he had taken.
Clyde paused for a few minutes as the crystal consumed his thoughts. He... He could just get rid of his personality. If he weren't himself, nothing bad would have happened. This Hyrd'mis surely accepted how he felt. He wanted to be happy for so long... Would it be the final step at achieving his happily ever after?
"Bravo. Now, with a flick of my fingers, your suffering from the past will be vanished." The cultist smiled in a dark manner that destroyed his facade in a split second, snapping his fingers. The victory was his.
"Come on Bry, lend me a hand already." Merlin called the still startled ranger as he tried to yank the crystal pendant from the bard's neck.
"You will prevent my eternal happiness!? I won't allow you to!" The bard struggled.
Bryce sighed, then approached the bard from behind, walking slowly and silently. Then he suddenly caught the man by his arms and watched as Merlin cut the hard, thick rope of the pendant off as he kept struggling.
"My enlight... Er... Who... Who are you guys?" Finally let go, the Bard's senses were slowly coming to himself.
"I'm Merlin, remember? I was pretty much your only customer, no wonder people don't pay you even a piece of copper." The dark haired ranger said sarcastically.
"Ah, the rangers... How did I get here?"
"Come on, we'll tell when we make it back to Norgate." Merlin replied, already bored of the situation.
"So, they were targeting me? I just thought they really liked my songs." Said the bard, disappointed. As they warmed up in the empty inn, he had regained his consciousness.
"Seriously? It should have been obvious! I won't save your hide if you get tricked by another weird cult and preach about Drag'har or something." The blue eyes of the ranger glared at the bard.
"Clyde... Where's Clyde!?" Bryce suddenly spoke after a few minutes of silence.
"Eh? Who's Clyde?" The bard asked cluelessly.
"Where is he? Tell me, you have to!" Bryce held the man by his shoulders and shook him almost violently.
"C-calm down! I didn't see him!" The bard screamed for his dear life.
"Bry! What has gotten into you!? Let the guy go!" Merlin rose up quickly.
"Hey, you know where the cult went next?"
"Uh... Erm... I think they said... Ghoulsbane?" The bard answered, trying to calm down.
"So, that is the next destination. Bry, I've sent Gale and Feder over to the stable. Now come see him and let's go." Merlin left without waiting for the old ranger still sitting on the chair, his face cupped by his hands.
"Forgive me, I'm not feeling too well." Bryce said with an unfamiliar, silent voice, throwing a silver coin at the surprised bard as he left the inn. The bard made sure in his mind to make some songs praising the rangers and shaming the cults, and he quickly forgot about the incident as he thought about what song to play next.
"Is he ready?" Merlin asked the man taking care of the smoky cream coloured horse. The horse looked smaller than the other horses in the stable, but its barrel shaped body was looking as sturdy as them. Done with the grooming, the man wiped a few drops of sweat off his forehead as the horse shook its fair coloured, long mane comfortably. Merlin watched them, waiting for a response as he got impatient by the second.
"Ah, right." The man put the saddle on the horse. "He's ready."
"Hello there. Is Feder here?" Bryce suddenly appeared in the stable. The long strands of hair on the ranger's head were messy and greasy, showing how much of a hurry he was in to see his injured horse's situation.
"Yep, yep! Sure is!" In a moment, the chestnut coloured horse appeared in front of the tall ranger. The elderly eyed of the tired horse looked at his owner with apologetic eyes.
"Feder... I owe you my life once more." Bryce pet the nose of the horse, shifting his gaze to the reddish burn marks on the body of the horse.
"You have done enough to pay for it. Although, I would have liked to have one last apple..." The horse said.
"Y-you mean..." Bryce was startled.
"Quit it already, chestnut!" Merlin glared at the horse.
"I'll survive this, no problem. Just wanted to see if you would care if this old horse was to die." Feder uttered, lowering his head down.
"Nonsense. After all we did together, I won't forget a thing about you. As soon as you heal up, we..." The gloomy ranger looked around as if he sensed he had said something wrong.
"About that..." The veterinary spoke.
"I'm afraid your horse won't be able to be of service anymore." He said as if he were apologizing.
"Feder... So that's how it is." Bryce shed a tear and let his hands go through the mane of the horse.
"Don't be that sad. I've been looking forward to my retirement. Time to pass the torch on..." Feder shook his head and scattered a few strands of hair from his mane as he slowly walked away to start his new life.
"And this is the unlucky one that gets to be yours now." Merlin said sarcastically as he walked towards his friend, along with the horse that had a smoky cream coloured coat.
"Life without Feder at my side will be hard..." Bryce paused for a second.
"But I won't let that affect my stance to you, my friend." He gently pet the new horse.
"This is Pfeil. Poe personally brought him over here. His password is 'Like a river'." Said Merlin.
"Okay, I guess I should give it a try. Like a river." Bryce jumped on the horse, only to be violently thrown off the saddle. Landing on a sack of wheat, Bryce got up visibly annoyed as Merlin laughed impishly.
"So funny, Merlin. That cheered me up. What's the password? The real one, please." asked the tall ranger, disappointed.
"Sorry, not sorry. Couldn't help it." He kept chuckling. "It's 'Like the wind'."
Uttering the correct password, Bryce finally got on Pfeil.
"Nice to meet you, owner! I will do whatever it takes to protect you!" said the new horse with a childish joy.
"Please don't take whatever it takes. I've got enough people killed for that reason." Said the gloomy ranger with a silent voice.
"Are you okay? I want to cheer you up!" The horse excitedly said.
"Want to cheer me up... Go kick Merlin in the guts!" Said Bryce jokingly.
"What? He finally snapped! Don't kill me..." Merlin played along with the joke.
Suddenly, he flew over to another sack of wheat with a light kick from Pfeil.
"Ow! Weren't you kidding, Bryce? What a heartless monster." Merlin got up slowly.
"Are you happy now?" Asked the energetic horse.
"Oh, about that..." Bryce struggled to prevent himself from chuckling.
"I was joking but I guess that really did lift my spirits up a little."
"Okay! From now on, whenever you feel sad, I shall hit that blue eyed guy!"
"Bryce, do you want a new horse? You'll have to get a new one if you don't silence this one." Merlin said threateningly.
"Okay, okay. Pfeil, don't hit Merlin again. I was kidding." Bryce put on a forced smile and left the stable with the grumpy ranger. It was a change, maybe not welcome, or not wanted, but it happened and he felt like he needed to get used to it. And most important of all...
He needed to find his apprentice before too late.