Chapter III
"Well, this should be the place," said Kiara Gustav, looking at her compass and the description of the location that Aragon gave her that led to the fields of Payon in Poring Island.
Things sure look messy here, thought Kiara.
The air was filled with the foul stench of blood and bodies were lying everywhere. Some were lying in a position that no living person can achieve, some with their necks twisted more than 90 degrees and some with their bones sticking out from their bodies. Even the peco-pecos pulling the carriage were not spared. The feathers were lying around the dead bodies of the nobles and the guards guarding them. Broken pieces of the swords and shields that the guards were using were lying around, some pierced through their bodies. In the carriage, arrows were sticking out from bodies of three dead people.
"I guess that's the head of the family and that's his wife and kid," mumbled Kiara to herself. Just then, she heard rustling noises at the bushes near her. She quickly grabbed the hilt of her sword behind her back. The rustling noise grew louder, and a lavender brown hair guy emerged, from the thick bushes brushing away leaves and twigs caught in between in his well combed hair.
"Damn it Delita, you really do know how to make an entrance for yourself," said Kiara, releasing her grip from her sword with an annoyed look on her face. "I was about to draw out my sword and slash your head off."
"I know you wouldn't," said Delita, brushing off the remaining leaves from his hands. "So this is the massacre that Aragon was talking to you about this morning."
"Yeah," replied Kiara. Silence filled between both of them as they went to look inside the carriage. Delita noticed there was dried blood trailing from the carriage straight into the forest.
"Did Aragon say anything about a survivour?" asked Delita.
"There was one I think," replied Kiara. "Why?"
Delita pointed out the dried blood trailing from the carriage to the forest. Kiara and Delita followed the blood into the forest. After walking a few metres into the forest, the trail could not be seen any longer. A rather worried Delita looked around the forest. The thick canopy layer of the trees of Payon were blocking the sun from hitting the ground and the hair was more humid than before, which makes smelling the surroundings a little bit more harder for Delita.
"Let's head back to where we started. We dunno what may be lurking around the deep parts of the forest," said Delita, grabbing Kiara's arms.
"You're a hunter-turned-sniper (AN: the reason I put it that way cause the word sniper sounds too awkward in that sentence), can't you use your skills to survey your surroundings?" asked Kiara, following Delita's lead out from the dark forest.
"This is now a worst-case scenario. The air density back there was too humid and the surroundings was too dark for me to tell if anyone there," replied Delita. "Whoever went in there might be dead by now."
Much to Delita's relieve, Kiara and himself made it safely outside from the dark forest.
"C'mon, let's head back and report to Aragon," said Delita. Kiara agreed and the both of them rode on the peco-peco that Kiara brought and made their journey back to Prontera.