"Okay, how do I look?" Gilbert turned around in the crimson robe.
"Like a clown... Except they are more funny and less pathetic." Merlin answered with a clear annoyance that could easily be read from his expression.
"These are... Incredibly disturbing." Said Clyde as he looked at himself in the red robes that he was wearing a few hours ago in a completely different state.
"It's fine, we're all in this time so don't you worry, Clyde." Bryce tried to calm the atmosphere by speaking even softer than usual.
"I know... Thanks, everyone." The ginger headed apprentice smiled.
"Wait... Can someone tell me why are we taking the writer with us?" Merlin questioned.
"Well, we're kind of stuck with him, I guess." said Bryce. "Besides, he does know about the cult, so as long as he is quiet, it'll be okay." He continued.
"Yeah! I swear to keep my silence for exchange of all the knowledge I'll get to have!" The writer did an exaggerated salute.
"Good, good!" Merlin uttered with an obviously forced smile on his face. "Why don't you practice by shutting up for the rest of the day?"
As they walked towards the inn's entrance, several red figures started to come out of the steamy room, some drunk, some clearly not conscious, and the rest sober enough to take the lead.
"These must be the cultists they gathered from around towns." Bryce said as they approached the group slowly.
"They're not hypnotised... are they?" Asked Clyde.
"Of course they're not. What kind of hypnotism forces you to drink?" Merlin answered with a straight face.
As they followed the leading cultist, their path slowly exited the small town area and entered the reddish forest that soon covered the sky above them with a curtain of branches and leaves, taking away what was left of the moonlight, leaving behind a dark passage.
"I think we blended in!" Said Gilbert cheerfully. "I have so much to report, even now..."
"Shush!" Merlin silenced him as he focused on the group of cultists. The first few ones that lead the rest were apparently sober enough to know where their central camp was, so the rangers only needed to follow those few.
Even without the help of their horses, the distance to the central camp was closing in rather quickly as Clyde noticed more and more people dressed in red robes were walking around.
Finally, after a tedious walk to the heart of the dark forest, they had arrived to the hidden camp. Far more basic than the Genovesans' camp style, the tents were scattered about randomly regardless of rank. The area it took was large due to the equally large amount of recruits they had, but none of the observations ended up with spotting the cultist leader, William.
"Here we are. Now what?" Merlin whispered as they walked towards the middle point, scanning around as they go. There were mainly people running about doing unknown chores, carrying food and water, some carrying reddish mushrooms that Clyde thought was suspiciously similar to The Devil's Cap.
As they looked around, all of the cultists suddenly walked towards one spot, almost forming a stampede. In the sea of red, Clyde held tightly on his mentor as they got dragged into wherever the horde was leading them to. Merlin and Gilbert disappeared from view until the marching of the crimson robes ended somewhere near the camping spot, in a place that was empty except for a huge tree stump that stood above half the height of Merlin, along with a few orange and red coloured trees and bushes. The darkness of midnight made it impossible to detect the red color, so everything besides the sharp crimson colour of the cultists' robes was blackish.
"Bryce, what's happening?" Asked Clyde, feeling tense.
"Some sort of preaching, I'm sure. Keep your hearing sharp." The tall ranger said before fixing his stare on the large tree stump that was likely the stage of who gathered around all these people, the cultist leader William himself.
"Dear followers of Hyrd'mis, welcome, welcome!" A loud yet clear voice was heard near the stump. The dark eyed cultist leader raised his hands atop the tree and looked at the horde of cultists in front of him.
"It's him!" Shrieks were heard among the crowd. "All hail Hyrd'mis!"
"W-what's going on?" Clyde said, startled.
"All hail Hyrd'mis!" Bryce yelled with his loudest voice. "Just go along with them, will you?" He added in a contrasting whisper. Clyde nodded at his mentor and repeated the crowds with his quiet voice.
"It took a long time... It was hard to accomplish, yet thanks to your sheer belief on Hyrd'mis and all of your effort, we have achieved our first goal!" William waved his hands in the air as if to make his army of crimson energized by watching his quick movements. He was a master at manipulating people, and he knew that the more people he had in front of him, the easier it would be to control them.
The crowd went wild as the rangers and Gilbert cheered along reluctantly, but Merlin looked especially concerned.
"The first goal... What do you mean?" He wondered, thinking aloud. Gilbert looked at him nervously, without a word.
"What do I mean, you say? Why of course, I mean Redwood! It is under our complete control!" The old man had heard Merlin's voice among the crowd, surprising the dark haired ranger that thought his voice would get drowned out in the loud atmosphere.
"This is bad news... How could they even-" Bryce was about to say when William continued his speech.
"With the control of the town in our hands, as the only political figure they have has accepted Hyrd'mis, we can finally start our first movement to our actual target!"
"Redmont shall be ours! Hyrd'mis awaits!" The loud chanting filled the ears of the rangers. Gilbert was looking down at his feet. Bryce's face clearly started to become a light shade of blue.
"We... have to do something..." Clyde tugged at his mentor's robes and shook him awake.
"Clyde, listen." The long haired ranger took a deep breath. "If we don't end things now, it's over for us. The Genovesans and several other threats already exist, a third one that turns friend into foe is too much for Redmont."
Clyde nodded anxiously. Among the crowd, Merlin appeared, dragging Gilbert with him.
"What the hell... What do we do now?" He said.
"C-can't you guys fight? You're pretty good at it." The writer uttered, stuttering. The tension of the crowd was reaching its limit as the cultist leader ended his speech, causing them to scatter into smaller crowds by the second.
"I'm not fighting this many." Replied Merlin curtly.
"We need to take down the leader and his subordinates." Bryce said decisively.
"Won't they just continue the cult by making them into a martyr?" pointed out Merlin, who was annoyed at the difficult situation, tapping his foot on the forest soil without noticing.
"Yes, but most of these people are not actually loyal followers, are they? If it's a smaller crowd, it will be easier to handle. We need to avoid the bigger crisis now." The tall ranger ended the discussion.
"Fine, as long as we don't fight like half the country, that is." Merlin conceded defeat in his own way. He is growing up even now, thought Bryce as he could see the tetchy ranger arguing further without point whenever his friend made a sensible point.
The crowds were finally scattered to the point where it was possible to see without one's eyes being covered in red.
"Hey, you four. Why are you standing there?" Someone mildly familiar appeared in front of the group. The man had a slender moustache and a thin build. Merlin recognized the man as one of William's subordinates. Clyde quickly pulled at his robe's hood and covered his face upon his eyes nearly meeting the man. His mentor stood in front of him to hide him from sight even further as the man kept approaching them.
"Are you really Hyrd'mis' loyal soldiers? You look a bit too... Aware." said the man, Cleo, with a stare that was undoubtedly condescending.
"We are but servants of our Lord, sir." Bryce bowed in an emotionless manner. Behind him, Clyde felt anxious once more, seeing Cleo again.
"Really? Then..." His face presented a malicious smile. "Bow to me."
All of the group bowed to the slender man, as he watched in pleasure. Gilbert acted a bit slower, but Cleo didn't notice.
"I guess that was easy. Next, tell me the name of our Lord at once."
"Hyrd'mis!" They said in unison. Because Merlin messed up the pronunciation, Bryce yelled a bit louder to drown his voice out.
"Hmm..." He breathed calmly as he twisted his thin moustache with his fingers. "Finally... Kill yourselves."
All at once, Bryce and Merlin drew the saxe blades they had hidden in their robes and lifted it over their heads, ready to stab themselves in the gut. Clyde went blue and tried to do the same as well, but drew the heavy hilted throwing knife in confusion, nearly dropping it. Gilbert didn't have a knife, so he quickly thought of another way and acted as if he was about to strangle himself, wrapping his hands around his neck.
"Enough, stop!" Cleo said with no sign of terror on his face. "Hmph. They are puppets, after all. Good." He thought to himself aloud. "Follow me." He said, then casually walked towards a narrow path in the forest. The group followed right after.
The path lead to an even narrower passage, where trees were standing so close to each other it was practically a wall made of hard wood. In the end of the road was a small clearing that had several hypnotised cultists, some with a crystal that was hanged over their necks like the bard, some with the same goggles as Clyde's. Added to the small group of cultists, they waited for Cleo to speak.
"William, Ruby! I've gathered them." He called the other two as they walked out of the dark passage as well, standing in front of the cultists as a trio.
"Is this all our jeweled and goggled members? It's rather small compared to how much we had to work for it." Ruby said, placing a hand on the left of her face. Her eyes shot out a cruel look.
"It's all jeweled members that can fight. I threw in a few more to fill in, too." Cleo answered indifferently.
"Are you sure this is all? We are going to corrode the whole wall with the crimson mist, so we need all we have." Asked William. Clyde almost let out a small shriek from hearing their plan.
A hole in Redmont's walls would make an unexpected attack, perhaps a pincer movement, by opening up a new spot to send armies in. Normally, such an attempt would be prevented easily, but the cloudy fluid made from Devil's Cap could quickly melt it down if used in huge amounts.
"I'm sure that this is all. We just need to give the order now. Someone needs to keep watch, too." Cleo answered once again.
"You do it. I'll make sure the others stay in place, and Ruby can handle the crimson mist stocks." William set the plan. Nobody resisted or disagreed with him, as they knew it was pointless.
The rangers and the writer looked at each other. All of them knew that this was an opportunity, yet none of them knew what to do at the moment.
As soon as the order to move was given, they marched along with the troop of jewelled men and women towards Redmont. The slender man was riding on an ebony horse, carrying a lance on the horse and a hilted sword on his belt. Despite his equipment, his clothing was only supported by a small chestplate made of padded leather and nothing else in regards of defense.
"Forward! Don't turn left until I give the signal."
Cleo commanding them and standing right by them, nobody could say anything about the situation, nor could they make a shared plan. Bryce knew inside that something was approaching. He didn't know what exactly, but he sensed a movement somewhere, and decided to trust his instincts. Looking right into Merlin's and Clyde's eyes, he hoped that they would understand.
"March! Now turn left!" As soon as Cleo's voice rung in his ears, Bryce swiftly moved out of the crowd and drew his saxe blade.
"I challenge you to a duel!"
A wave of silence hit everyone. Cleo didn't know how to react for a few seconds, until Bryce lifted his hood off.
"It can't be..." The slender man smiled in a crazy manner and let out a small laugh.
"Knight of The White Lily, Bryce himself? Inconceiveable!" He let out another exaggerated laugh.
"Yes, in the flesh." Bryce responded with a quiet voice.
"Bryce? Wh-what..." Clyde felt very confused, until he felt someone grabbing his arm.
"To that leader guy! Come on!" Merlin dragged him out of the scene and ran back towards the camp. Gilbert was left alone, and feeling lost, he watched them silently among the cultists.
"Cleo... The Shieldless Knight, I presume?" Bryce said calmly as he glared at the man atop the horse.
"It's me... I must say, all that knight business didn't really pay me well. I guess I just needed a better way of living." He said as if he was taunting the ranger in front of him.
"Better? I might have left knighthood as well, but I am clearly above thinking this miserable life is better than that!" The tall ranger yelled.
"You speak far too confident for a knight without horse." Said the Shieldless Knight, and he charged right at the ranger.
Swiftly dodging him, Bryce held his knife tightly. After drifting off into the distance from the sudden movement, the man atop the horse turned slowly to charge again, this time with a lance in his hand.
Suddenly, the ranger's ears caught a familiar whinny to the west. He turned his head around to see a smoky cream coloured horse running towards him.
"Pfeil!? How..." He knew that words were meaningless at the moment, so the ranger quickly hopped onto his horse and dodged the lance of Cleo at the last second. As the hand of the man was extended, Bryce threw his throwing knife to the man's hand, making him drop his lance in efforts to dodge the knife. Picking up the slightly heavy lance, he now had a new, yet familiar weapon in his hands.
"I knew you'd struggle, so I came as fast as I could!" Pfeil said excitedly as Bryce got ready for another attack from Cleo, this time with his sword. The man lifted the metal edge effortlessly and swung it around. The Shieldless Knight's fame was in attacking so swiftly with that single sword, that his opponents would be dead before they got to counter, but he was against a foe that was taught in two different ways of combat, thus he couldn't predict the equally swift movement of the ranger. Bryce used the saxe knife he grabbed with his left hand to parry the blow, but there was no room to use the pointy lance he held in his other hand. Pushing the slender man back with relative ease, the ranger drove his steed away to build speed, ready to use the pole weapon. However, before he could charge at Cleo, the man had tailed him with his horse, attacking from behind. Alerted by his senses, Bryce turned his back to parry another strike from a disadvantaged position.
"Ah, I forgot. How come you act so close to that ginger boy?" He asked maliciously.
"None of your business." Bryce tried to keep pushing the man away as their weapons locked into one another.
"I've spoken to him, you know. During his training, where we taught him about our Lord..." He put on a devilish smile.
"What did you do to him!?" The ranger yelled, suddenly overcome by emotion. The cultist had found the weakness that lied in the strong duelist in front of him.
"Nothing... Just something to remind him of his past, a beating or two?"
Bryce didn't respond as he vigorously pushed the man back with the sheer power of fury.
Watching him while making sure the brainwashed group didn't move, Gilbert felt anxious, as he noticed a pattern in the taunting of the cruel cultist.
"Hey! Don't give into him, he's trying to get to you!" He screamed at the ranger, hoping to be of some use as a non-combatant.
"Shut up!" The slender man yelled at the writer. "Followers of Hyrd'mis, lynch that man!" As soon as he finished his words, the small group of soldiers chased Gilbert as he ran towards Bryce in desperation.
"Ahh! Snap out of it! Help me!"
Bryce sighed as he rode Pfeil towards him. Gilbert quickly reached for the hand of the ranger and jumped on his mount. However, the combined weight of the two and Gilbert's position would make the fight much harder for the tired ranger. It needed to get a decisive end soon, or the crowd of jewelled people would either kill them or die trying, both being results that the ranger didn't even want to think about.
"Gilbert, stay low." Bryce said as he held onto his lance. It had to end as quick as possible.
It had been a while since Merlin and Clyde separated from their teammates, and the duo had reached the small clearing at last. The grass on the soil wavered as the wind blew from the south. There was nobody in the clearing except for the red headed woman closing the entrance to the camp.
"Waited for someone else? I'm afraid William has important business to attend to." The woman, Ruby, smiled sweetly with a contrary glare shooting out of her amber colored eyes. She also had a large leather bag hung over her shoulder, touching it with her hand periodically as she spoke.
"Quit the chat and move." Said Merlin curtly. He wanted to end things swiftly. Clyde said nothing and just glared at the woman.
"Move? I'm afraid I can't do that." Ruby answered and took a small bottle out of the bag. The bottle had the same cloudy crimson mixture in it, wafting around the air as she removed the cork on the top. "You will wait until William is done, or else, the crimson mist will consume all of us. All of it is in my bag." She giggled maliciously.
"You..." Merlin grinded his teeth, looking at the woman as if he was on a frenzy.
"It's getting itchy as it scatters in the sky... Isn't that wonderful? Your death is the last step for our success, and my victory!" She said as the mist flowed out of the glass bottle gradually. "Ah, little Clyde. How glad am I to see you?" She followed suddenly, the small apprentice finally catching her eye.
"What... You knew it was him?" Merlin was surprised.
"Of course! I knew all about it. Dear Cleo wanted to duel with the Knight of The White Lily, and I wanted him out of my sight... So that I could finally have William all to myself." Ruby said, her face changing into a softer one saying the last sentence.
"Heh, big deal." Merlin snickered. "We're one step ahead, anyway. If we just kill you..."
"Then I'll drop the bottle in my hand, and you will become molten meat in seconds." Ruby said, smiling sweetly. "At least, you two will be the fuel of our love... Do you believe in it?" She asked as if she was talking among friends.
"Ew, no thanks." Merlin said, making such a disgusted face one would have thought he had trash shoved on his face. "Look, if you're going to talk about love stories, you'd best make it quick and move out or die."
"Ah, my dear William..." Ruby started talking again, completely ignoring Merlin. She was in pleasure of buying their sweet time by force. "At first, it was just the two of us... The jewels, the hypnotism, everything... It was our own idea. Hyrd'mis in particular was a passion project for me. We made a concept that people couldn't help but bow in front of, and it made William so happy..." Her amber eyes looked like they had absorbed all the light in the spot. She was blushing, painting her face into a light pink color. "Don't you get it? This will be our happily ever after... And I'll do anything... anything for that happily ever after."
"This woman's out of her mind! Clyde, do something!" Merlin desperately said.
"Now that you've learned it all, it's time to die!" Her face suddenly turning into one that was akin to a fierce beast, Ruby threw the bottle and what remained in it to the rangers.
However, the ginger haired apprentice was ready this time. He threw another bottle with a white, cloudy fluid in it with such precision, the bottles crashed into each other mid-flight and their vapor condensed into white specks of crystallized dust.
"Wh-what? What did you do, you little-" The woman clad in red said before Clyde interrupted him.
"It's alchemy!" The boy unexpectedly ran up to the woman and tackled her, throwing off her balance. After steadying her steps, she touched the bag with her hand again, only to feel the empty leather bag in her palm as she saw Clyde run off with the crimson mist trapped in the bottles.
"Good job, freckles!" Merlin said in genuine joy. "You handle William!"
"What!?" Clyde turned to him in disbelief.
"Don't look, go!" Merlin yelled with such fury that Clyde couldn't help but run through the narrow tunnel of trees, avoiding the woman's grasp.
"Heh, so what? That little runt is nothing for my dear William to handle. Nothing!" She drew twin knives that was hidden in her robes.
"Then it is just you and me. I shall remove one more obstacle with joy!"
"Same here, really." Said Merlin, thoroughly bored. He drew his twin saxe knives as well, and made the first move.
Clyde ran with the bottles in his arms, if he had his ranger clothes on him instead of the red robes, stuffing them in his own medicine bag would be a great help, but now he had to move quickly while still holding the bottles, knowing that if he dropped any, he might die a painful death. Though he thought this in a child's mind, he also thought that his short height would not make it a huge drop for the bottles. Suddenly confused, he decided to give himself to running as fast as possible.
Approaching the camp, the boy thought he would see the cultist leader on the run, but he was greeted by the old man along with his legion of followers behind him, right in front of the exit.
"Welcome, lad. Are you here to return to Hyrd'mis? Or will you still refuse your enlightenment?" He said menacingly.
"I'm here... To k-kill you!" Said the boy, holding the bottles tightly.
"That I'm aware of. So you made it past Ruby... She was a respectable pawn that played her role just right." Thinking that the woman was dead, he voiced his last opinion of her as a form of requiem. "So, my final offer: Do you want eternal joy or not?"
"I don't want... I don't want anything more to do with you!" Clyde was about to throw a bottle he struggled to grab as he tried to hold all the bottles in place with one arm, yet he couldn't throw it, because he realized that if he did, he would likely kill most of the cultists, innocent or not, in the process.
"Hmm, when I am shielded by my faithful people, you can't throw that, can you?" The old man taunted the boy with his dark eyes.
Clyde tried to distance himself from the cultist's words, and focused on a way out. What could he do?
"Come on, my trusty legion, dest- Wh... What are you doing?"
The boy put all of the bottles on the ground and opened his arms as the cultist leader spoke.
"I..." He tried to find the strength in himself.
"Go, tear him ap-"
"Followers of Hyrd'mis, listen!" Clyde yelled with all of his strength. It was a voice that he himself hadn't heard before. The power to speak up, the power to share his honest thoughts... Clyde realized the strength of his voice. The old man's screams were drowned and no longer a source of fear for the young apprentice.
"I know! I know that just being happy without any condition is something we miss... But is it what feels right? Is burying our heads in the sand okay? I fell in the same trap... and I won't let any of you do the same!"
Hearing his words, most of the jewelled cultists looked at him with blank eyes.
"No! Don't listen to such lies!" William suddenly felt weak.
"That guy is taking advantage of you... He knows that you're hurt and he benefits from it! Don't you see!?"
A big majority of the cultists were now listening to the child over William.
"Wake up from your dreams and leave this place! Go back to your own reality, please!"
As he said that, the hypnotised people walked out of the camping spot as if they were given another command. Did it work? Were they free? Clyde didn't know, but he knew what he had to do now.
"You don't have any shields now!"
"I might not, but I have a weapon!" William said as he showed the kid the bottles he had left on the ground. Having picked up some of them as the boy's sight was fixed on the cultists, he was ready to throw the mixture.
"I gave you a chance. You should have taken it!" He bottle after bottle with fury.
Clyde jumped backwards and took out one more bottle from his robe. This time, he poured the white fluid all over his body.
"Melt into nothing, foul creature!" Said William as he kept throwing the bottles in a craze, and suddenly, the boy took a deep breath and delved right into the red mist. As he ran inside the corrosive vapor, the fluid he poured over himself started to crystallize and scattered piece by piece, but his skin didn't feel harm, only a slight, itchy feeling.
"H-how? That mist is my own concoction, it can't be stopped!" William felt more and more anxious as the boy dashed through the mist. Did I really underestimate the kid? But he is just a small kid... He thought to himself, not knowing that these would be the very last thoughts that would pass his mind.
Clyde exited the mist and drew his saxe knife, swinging at the old man as he avoided his slashes, frightened. He was so confident in himself that he hadn't brought a weapon with himself, thinking the cultists would be enough, but even the people that willingly joined him were scattered and left him alone. As he turned around to dodge another attack, Clyde unexpectedly tackled him instead of swinging the knife, pushing him into the heavy, crimson mist. Refusing to listen to the man's shrieks, he quickly ran back to see his friends. The cultists could have ran away, but Merlin and Bryce came first.
Merlin's duel with Ruby was going at a surprisingly close, head to head way. For each swing of the red headed woman, Merlin had a way to parry it in his sleeve. However, the opposite was also true. Both of them were masters at using knives, using distractions to strike the other's weak spot, but they knew each other's tricks before they were initiated.
"Think you are talented or something?" Merlin tried to get to her by speech, but Ruby was not listening to anything. She was silently performing strike after strike, wearing Merlin down by time. She swung her knife once more, being parried by the dark haired ranger's weapon, and her secondary attack was also blocked by his other knife. At this rate, I'm going to lose... No, I can't! Thought Merlin to himself. He couldn't have it in his pride to lose, or even get hit. Suddenly, he saw Clyde approaching from far away and tried for another chance.
"Hey Clyde, wanna lend a hand?"
But not even that could distract the woman that was blinded by false love. She kept her relentless attack going and didn't look like she was going to stop.
Darn it, how can I surprise her? He thought. He was at a loss, until he finally realized something: To surprise an enemy with the same fighting style, he had to surprise himself.
Ruby lunged at him with another slash, and Merlin dodged the strike instead of blocking, getting scratched on the arm in the process.
"Agh! N-no..." He held his arm as if he was in great pain, and watched the woman's wild smile upon seeing him in that state. Just a second before she dealt the decisive blow, he used his scratched arm to thrust the knife right through her heart.
"Gh! B-but..."
She couldn't say one more word as her dark, vibrant red blood spilt on the grass. She had been taken by surprise.
"What a mess." Said Merlin, as he saw Clyde approaching. The boy's freckled face had taken a pink color from running too fast, and he was breathing deeply. Upon seeing the woman lying on the grass, he turned his face to the other side.
"Bryce... Let's go to Bryce."
"Yeah, he should be done by now, really." answered Merlin, and the two of them advanced to the spot where two former knights were dueling.
Bryce was spending the last of his strength, as he managed to protect both himself and Gilbert from Cleo, but the lance in his hand was starting to feel heavy, and both his arms were feeling tired. The cultists formed a circle around the duel spot in the plains, as the two of them kept fighting. They seemed to be given up on the slender man's orders to kill the writer due to Pfeil keeping him out of reach. Blow after blow, Bryce used his energetic steed's youthful strength to move around and prevent Cleo from attacking swiftly without pause. He tried to attack with the lance a few times, but it wasn't easy to outmaneuver Cleo's horse and cause a major damage. Stuck in a stalemate, Bryce's energy was almost completely sapped out.
"Bryce, Bryce!" Clyde yelled out his mentor's name upon seeing him. Merlin made no noise as they walked towards the knights in duel.
The mentor heard his apprentice's voice, but he could not let it distract him this time. He blocked yet another attack from Cleo, but the tired ranger was at his limit. Sweat was pouring from his face and his breathing was gradually slowing down.
"Merlin, we need to help..." Clyde looked at the dark haired ranger beggingly.
"Nope. This is his own battle." Said Merlin seriously.
"Wh-what? Please don't joke about this!" The young apprentice felt really tense watching his mentor lose.
"Ugh, fine. I can give a small, tiny hint." Merlin replied. "Bry! Do the unexpected!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"The unexpected? What do you have that I can't expect? You are a knight and so am I. I know everything!" Cleo laughed at Merlin's words as he charged at Bryce for the last blow.
Bryce also started charging towards his foe, building speed by the second.
"Gilbert, you're in charge." Said the tall ranger suddenly, jumping off his horse at the last time.
"Wh-what? No! Come back, I can't-" The writer instantly went in panic.
Also surprised, Cleo's movement was disrupted for a second, and that second was all that Bryce needed. Grabbing his saxe knife, he threw it from the distance to instantly stab the cultist on top of his horse, making him fall down and roll on the soil as a lifeless body. Without making any words, Cleo had perished.
"I was a knight... But I'm a ranger now." Bryce uttered as he stood next to him.
Pfeil stopped instantly afterwards, leaving Gilbert to complain about Bryce's reckless decision while breathing heavily.
"So, we're all clear now?" Asked the writer, changing back to his lavender clothes in the warm inn room. With the heads eliminated, the cult had not much reason to stand, but the jewelled cultists that they couldn't recover, along with the actual cultists, were still missing.
"Not 'all clear' yet, really. We need to fetch the rest of them." Answered Merlin. Perhaps he was the happiest to change back into his normal clothes, but he wasn't going to voice his feelings about it.
"Now, aside from the leftovers, we need to escort Gilbert back to... Where did you live, again?" Asked Bryce.
"Oh, I'm a traveller, I don't have a home." Answered Gilbert. "I'm glad I got to journey with you, I learned a lot of new things to write!" He added excitedly. "Perhaps I'll write something about rangers?"
"No you won't. Also, why are we still not arresting him?" Merlin said with an annoyed tone.
"He did help a little..." Clyde tried to defend the writer out of pity.
"Yeah. Besides, he won't write anything about the king or us, will you, Gilbert?" Bryce playfully put his hand on the writer's shoulder, seeing him nod, but he made sure to squeeze his shoulder just hard enough to remind him of that promise.
"M-maybe I'll write a story book this time! Er... If I do write about those again, I won't object to being arrested." Gilbert finalized his plans.
"You can't object to being arrested, idiot." Merlin sighed. "You were kinda helpful, but mostly a pain, so all I'm giving you right now is an out. You better take it." He smiled at the writer in lavender clothes as he bowed and went out of the room, saying his farewells.
"Will we see him again?" Asked Clyde.
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Time will show." Answered Bryce.
"Hopefully not." Answered Merlin.
It was once again time to say goodbye for the rangers. Merlin decided to follow the cultists to ensure they don't resurrect the cult, but his friend had his concerns.
"So, you are really fine with taking the rest of the cultists on your own?" Bryce asked.
"Yes, Bry. I can handle that much, you see." Said Merlin, feeling overwhelmed by his friend's protective nature. "You just take good care of Clyde. He's not that bad. Likely better than you." He laughed and waved a small goodbye to the mentor and the apprentice. Waving back, Clyde realized this was one of the first times he saw an actual smile on Merlin's face. It was for a mere second, but both Bryce and himself was willing to cherish that one second of honest emotion.
Riding back home on Pfeil, Bryce and Clyde talked about daily, relaxing topics. Clyde had missed Gale so much and wanted to see him back home while Bryce wanted to visit Mark to see how the Head Healer was doing, and so on, until the mentor remembered suddenly:
"Clyde, since we're leaving, is there something you want to do before we go home?"
"Hm? Oh..." Clyde went deep in thought for a moment.
"Yes... I think."
"Does it really feel alright to be back here? I know that you..." Bryce felt concerned about his apprentice for a moment. Far from the snowy, small town, the two of them were walking towards the old manor.
"It's okay... I just want to set things straight." Said the ginger headed apprentice.
The moment they stepped in front of the manor, Clyde felt the memories flooding back, but he couldn't act like any of them never happened, nor could he constantly remind himself of them. It had happened, and it was past. Now it was time to confront the last person left in his family.
However, right as he approached the door of the manor, he noticed something different in the yard. Beside the grave of his dear uncle, there was another grave. Running towards the yard, he read the name written on the marble gravestone.
"Here lies... Paul de Alexandre." He read the grave with a shaky voice.
"Clyde, what's..." Bryce couldn't bring himself to ask a question.
"Heheh. It's just... Funny." Clyde let out small tears from his eyes. "I came here to tell you... That despite everything... I tried. I tried to love you, dad... I always wanted your love, too." He fell on his knees. "After all, I'm your son... I wish things didn't end up like this."
"Clyde, this isn't your fault." Bryce tried to comfort his apprentice.
"I know. It's not, but I still feel sad. I don't know... if I should or shouldn't, but..."
"You're such a nice person, Clyde. Even after everything, you still think of other people." Bryce smiled at him gently. The apprentice turned his face towards him and smiled as well.
"Here, I brought these for your uncle." The mentor took out a bouquet of primrose from one of the bags attached to the saddle of his steed. Clyde accepted the flowers with a thankful look on his freckled face and put the flowers on his uncle's grave.
"I'm sorry I couldn't visit you, uncle. I love you still, and I hope that you love me too. I will visit you more often, I promise!"
He took one flower out of the bouquet to place it on the grave next to his uncle's, the stood up.
"I feel... a little better now. Thanks, Bryce."
"Clyde, you wanted to do all of this, so thank yourself."
After a long time, returning to Greenfield couldn't be more relieving. There were no prizes, celebrations or anything after the mission. After all, it was another basic mission for the other rangers. Bryce was sure some would even underestimate the amount of work it took to get rid of the cult, but he decided to keep a level head instead of bragging pointlessly. After the visits and the reunions, the moon started to appear a bit over the horizon, and brought with itself a curtain of soothing shade called night. Standing in front of their hut were the mentor and apprentice.
"It has been a tiring journey, hasn't it?" Asked Bryce.
"Yes..." Clyde couldn't say more, feeling drowsy already.
"So, you're ready to end the day?"
"Hmm... I think..." The young apprentice almost tripped over and fell.
"Clyde, would you mind... Would you mind if I ask you a question?" Bryce said as he opened the door, welcoming the apprentice inside.
"What is it?" The boy asked back curiously.
"It's... No, nevermind. I can't do this right after that." The mentor turned his shaggy bearded face away from his apprentice.
"What is it? Please, tell..." Clyde stood in front of his mentor once again.
"It would be insensitive of me to ask..."
"I... I want to hear." The boy looked at the man in front of him with eyes full of determination.
"Understood. Just sit over here." Bryce sat on one of the chairs next to the mahogany table and pointed to the other one for the kid to be seated on. The shorter chair used to be still a bit too tall for the apprentice, but he had grown slightly taller now, his feet finally touching the ground. Looking at his mentor's face with excitement, Clyde waited for the question.
"Well, you see, Clyde... You're..." Bryce took a deep breath and released it before continuing. "What would you think if I became your... your father... from now on?" He finally finished his question and nervously waited for the kid in front of him to answer.
"M-my father..." Clyde stood up and looked down at the floor for a moment. Bryce could see small tears forming up in his eyes, and instantly felt bad for asking the question.
"W-well, if you don't wa-"
"Dad!" Clyde jumped at his mentor with a tearful face and hugged him tightly.
"Whoa!" Bryce nearly fell off the chair from the impact.
"Son..." Bryce's uncertain face slowly changed to a comforted one, smiling with drops of tears welling up on his eyes as well.
Clyde sniffed after crying. "This is... Embarrassing... Heheh..."
Bryce snickered, then let out a loud laugh. "Yes, let's just stick to Bryce and Clyde for now."
"Yes, please." The ginger headed apprentice smiled sweetly once again. After all the adventures and hardships, it was worth it. It was worth to tell the truth, it was worth to try his best, because he had finally found a place he could truly call home, no questions asked.
Hello everyone! I usually don't add writer's note spaces to the chapters, but this one is special. We're half done with the story! Don't worry, there's more to come, but I think I will take a few weeks off to rest. Meanwhile, I'm preparing a small sidestory to develop Clyde and Bryce more. I hope you keep enjoying the story!
I'll also thank you for the reviews:
AreiaCannaid: Thanks for always posting your thoughts and taking time to review! They are all precious to me and keep me going.
Guest: I'm really glad that you like it so much! I'll try my best to keep the story going to its intented end.
Thank you all! I'll return after the break with sidestories and a new conflict!