It was a busy day in the small village of Generisches Dorf, its inhabitants went about their day to day, it was already close to noon, and everyone was going to their homes or to the tavern, to have lunch, among the men and women who walked the streets. In the streets, a person was wearing strange clothes, with a backpack on his back, the person walked with his head down, hands in his coat pocket, and a hood covering his head.
The person received suspicious looks from the people around him, after all, he was a strange figure in the small village, but the person did not pay attention, he just walked towards the tavern, when he opened the tavern door the sounds of conversation soon stopped, all the men and women stopped talking and watched the stranger.
The stranger started to walk around the tavern, ignoring the stares that were sent at him, the stranger then sat down at a table in a dark corner of the tavern, with his back to the wall, but with a field of view to the tavern door, the stranger he placed his backpack on the floor next to his chair, placed both hands on the table with intertwined fingers and with his head down, the stranger waited to be attended to.
"Hello, good day! What will you want today?" A woman, a waitress at the tavern, asked the stranger.
"A bowl of soup, please." The stranger replied.
"Leave it to me; your soup will be ready in a few minutes." The waitress said as she walked away.
After that interaction, the gazes of the tavern regulars left the stranger and everyone went back to their usual conversations.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned with the stranger's soup, "Here is it! A nice meal to you!"
"Thanks." The stranger replied.
As the waitress walked away, the stranger began stirring his soup with the spoon, lifting his head slightly, the stranger removed the spoon from the bowl and brought the steaming soup spoon to his mouth, blowing lightly, but before the stranger could take his soup, the doors of the tavern were kicked almost knocking them off their hinges.
It was a group of guards wearing leather armor with metal parts, there were five in total, and a better-equipped man was leading the group, when they started walking through the tavern, everyone looked away trying to look as small as possible, the leader of the group he approached the counter of the tavern, sat down on a stool in front of the counter and without saying anything knocked his pine on the counter.
The man on the other side of the counter, presumably the tavern owner, nervously handed a mug of drink to the leader of the group; the leader took a sip of his drink, looked around at the startled people in the tavern, and started talking.
"Wow, what silence! I wonder where all that excitement from before went. It doesn't matter at the moment." The leader of the group of guards said with joy in his voice, and then he got up and started to walk around the tavern.
"I think you must be wondering why my friends and I are here. Well, sirs, our dear Lords need your cooperation, starting today there will be an increase in taxes."
The eyes of everyone in the tavern widened, and their mouths fell open, but no one dared to speak.
"I know. Worrying news, but understand this is for your protection, with your tax money the Lords will be able to invest in your safety. Just imagine! More well-equipped guards walking the streets and protecting your homes and families from monsters and criminals."
"You mean protection against you, that is!" One of the tavern customers said.
This seemed to encourage the other diners.
"That's right! We already pay enough taxes!" Another spoke.
"You are the real threat here!"
"More guards on the street means more control the Lords have over us!"
This angered the leader of the group, his hand went towards his sword and the leader unsheathed it, upon seeing this, the whole tavern fell silent.
"Very well! If that's how you fuckers want to play it, then so be it, we'll start collecting taxes now! Spew, everything you have! And don't even think about disagreeing; imagine what would happen to this small village if I reported their lack of cooperation to the Lords!" The leader said with a smile.
With a nod from their leader, the group of men began to collect all the money from the tavern's customers, no one considered reacting, everyone knew what happened to people who tried to revolt until one of the men approached the stranger sitting in the corner of the tavern.
"Spew all you got." One of the guards in the group said.
"I don't have a lot of money at the moment, just enough to pay for my food." The stranger replied.
"Does not matter! Give me everything you have, and you better have more when we come back for the next collect!" The guard demanded once more.
"As I said before, I only have money for this meal, if I give you my money, I won't be able to pay for my food, which means I would have to leave without paying, and that would be a crime. Isn't that right, sir guard? Moreover, that means you'd have to arrest me, wouldn't it? But judging by what you and your friends are doing at the moment, I believe you are not good at your job." The stranger said with noticeable sarcasm in his voice.
"Listen here, you…" The guard grabbed the stranger's arm and forced him to face him, but soon the guard fell silent because staring back at him were two glowing yellow eyes.
"M-mons… AAAHHH!" The guard never quite finished, as the stranger used his remaining hand to grab the guard by the back of the head and smash his face against the wooden table, breaking it in two.
The tavern patrons jumped back, startled by the display.
"What do you think you're doing? Get him!" The leader of the group ordered.
The three remaining guards drew their swords, and one of them ran towards the stranger, but the stranger got up quickly, with both hands he grabbed the chair he was sitting on earlier and smashed it on the side of the head of the closest guard.
The guard hit by the chair not only had splinters of wood piercing his face, but he was also thrown by the force of the blow towards a table where two customers were sitting, the table was crushed by the body of the guard, food, and drink were thrown to the ground, the guard stood there unconscious, probably.
Now there were two guards and the leader left.
"So who will be next?" the stranger asked.
With a scream of rage, the two remaining guards charged toward the stranger, the first one landed several slashes towards the stranger, but he was unnaturally fast and managed to dodge all the blows, the stranger then punched the guard in the stomach, and the force of the blow forcing him to spit blood and saliva, the stranger then grabbed the guard back, his fingers sinking into the armor due to the strength, and forced him to bend over, the stranger then pulled his right leg back and threw it forward delivering a knee to the guard's nose.
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!" The guard screamed in pain.
The sound of the guard's nose being broken echoed through the tavern, blood flowing like a river from his now crushed nose.
"You bastard!" The last guard shouted as he raised his sword and charged.
The stranger seeing this lifted the guard he was holding above his head and threw him towards the advancing guard, the two were sent away until they hit a wall and slid to the ground, the guard who was hit recovered from the blow, but the last thing he saw was the sole of the stranger's boot heading towards his face before everything went dark.
"Now only you are left." The stranger said to the leader of the group as he approached.
"Stop! You know who I am?" The leader asked, but the stranger continued to approach.
"I am a loyal servant of the Lords! Do you know what they will do if something happens to me?"
However, the stranger kept coming closer.
"That's right! They'll tear this place apart until there's nothing left! And soon after they will come after you!" The leader said with a desperate smile on his face.
"They will only destroy this place if they find out what happened here. I doubt the Lords believe one person beat the guards, but perhaps they believe you because you are of higher rank. That means all I have to do is shut your mouth, permanently." The stranger said as he approached.
The leader understood what the stranger meant by this, so he started looking around for something to get him out of this situation, the leader then saw the waitress from the tavern next to him, the leader faced the waitress with a smile cruel, the scared waitress tried to walk away, but the leader grabbed her by the arm and put her in front of her with a sword on her neck, using her as a shield.
"Stop or I'll finish her off!" The leader said while smiling confidently.
The stranger stopped, considering his options.
"That's right! Stay still! Now surrender!" The leader shouted, but he failed to notice anything.
The stranger's backpack was still in the corner of the tavern slowly opened, and a hand came out from inside the backpack and sneaked through the tavern, due to the current situation, no one noticed the hand moving through the shadows and slowly approaching the man holding the waitress as a hostage.
"Didn't you hear what I said? Lace… AAAHHH!" Suddenly the hand grabbed the leader's leg with force, almost breaking it, and pulled it to the side causing the leader to lose his balance and let go of the waitress, the hand retreated to the backpack before anyone noticed it.
Seeing that the barmaid was safe, the stranger rushed forward at great speed, grabbed the leader by his face, and smashed the back of his head against the tavern counter, the strength being such that the left and right parts of the counter were shattered, ripped from the ground, at the end the leader was dead, his head reduced to a red paste.
"Looks like its over." The stranger said as he looked around, the tavern was silent; everyone looked at him in fear, wondering what his next action would be.
The stranger walked around the tavern picking up the bags of coins that the guards used to collect taxes, there were four bags in total, filled with coins forcibly taken from the people in the tavern. There were four bags in total, the stranger placed three bags on the counter and took one for himself.
"Do you mind if I have one?" The stranger asked the people in the tavern.
Everyone quickly shook their heads.
"Thank you, I'm grateful for that." The stranger said as he bowed to the people in the tavern.
The stranger then went towards his backpack, put it on his back, and started walking out of the tavern, on the way he found the waitress he had saved, the stranger put his hand in his pocket took out some bronze coins, and handed it to the waitress.
"Thanks for the soup, it was delicious." The stranger said to the waitress, the waitress nodded in thanks.
The stranger opened the tavern doors and backed up slightly as sunlight hit him; the stranger looked out of the tavern from left to right, then lowered his head and walked away.
-XXXXXX-
Damn it! All I wanted was to travel without attracting attention! Now look what happened! Why can't I go five minutes without anything bad happening here in Midgard? It doesn't matter now, what's done, now I just need to get to the next town or village without any problems.
"Lord Alan, are you all right?" Noir asked me as he and Rubrum climbed out of my backpack.
"Yes Noir. Why the question?" I said without paying much attention.
"Not that I'm questioning his actions, but I've noticed certain changes in your attitude. You have been more aggressive, quiet, and impatient. Your recent actions in the tavern only confirmed my assumptions, you did not hesitate to use violence and kill, and you took one of the bags containing the coins taken from the village population. I will ask one more time. Are you all right?"
I took a deep breath as I thought about what Noir just said, he was right, these changes didn't go unnoticed, and "I don't know Noir." I whispered.
"I'm sorry, Lord Alan, but I don't understand. Could you repeat?" Noir asked.
"I don't know." I said again.
"I don't understand, Lord Alan."
"I DON'T KNOW! FINE? I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed in rage.
Scared Noir and Rubrum walked away from me, I soon realized what I had done.
"I'm sorry, Noir, Rubrum, I'm sorry." I said to the books in front of me.
"Don't be sorry Lord Alan, I should apologize, due to my boldness I ended up touching a sensitive subject. If you allow me, I will remain silent for the rest of our journey." Noir said as he bowed, meanwhile, Rubrum did her best to nod her "head".
"Wait Noir… I… I… I don't know exactly what's bothering me… it's a feeling of frustration inside me… A feeling of emptiness… I know this is due to Rose's death, but still, the feeling won't go away although this anger I have because of everything that happened… I don't know what to do with it. Should I forget it? Accept it? Or embrace it? Instead of going to the Land of the Forests, should I seek revenge on the Lords? Revenge for Rose's death? I don't know what to do Noir… I don't know what to do…"
I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Noir.
"Lord Alan, I won't dare say I have the solution to your problem, I won't dare say I know what you're feeling, but understand. I also feel outraged by everything that happened; Miss Rose didn't deserve what happened to her. But please, don't seek revenge, after everything that happened, we try to rest, let's go to the Land of Forests to get some peace, and we'll see what we do from there."
Rubrum then threw herself against my chest. Was she trying to hug me? I don't know if that's it, but I returned the gesture.
"Thank you both. Come here Noir." I said as I opened one of my arms and called Noir in for a hug.
"Lord Alan, I am not worthy of…" Noir stammered, but I didn't let him finish, I pulled him into my embrace.
"Shut up and enjoy the moment." I said to the book.
"I… I… I'm glad you're feeling better, Lord Alan."
"Thanks to both of you." I replied.
We left the hug and walked back down the road, our journey ended up taking us to a familiar place full of memories.
-XXXXXX-
I never thought I would go back to this place, I thought as I looked at the entrance to the city of Cagliamola, it had not changed at all, as soon as I passed through the gates I entered the first alley I found. Its better this way, we would have serious problems if someone found out who I am, although it would be difficult due to my new appearance, but I prefer not to risk it.
"Lord Alan? Where do we go from here?" Noir asked from inside my backpack.
"Let's take a little break from our trip, Noir, it's getting dark, and I'd like to go somewhere." I said to Noir.
I started walking through the alleys of Cagliamola, I managed to see some people walking through the streets going about their lives, and I managed to hear some snippets of interesting conversations from these people.
"…Did you hear what happened in Cathedral City…"
"…An angel… Giant flower…"
"…The two were presumed dead…"
So does that mean I was presumed dead? Perfect! I, an angel? Honestly, I look more like a monster. I stopped listening to the conversations and followed, I finally got to where I wanted to be, our old house.
I looked left and right, it was late, and there was no one walking the streets, I put my hand on the doorknob, and to my surprise it opened, I took the hood off my head and took a step forward.
"I am home." Said, but there was no one to answer.
I started to look around, our house had been ransacked, probably the guards who came to arrest us when we fled Cagliamola. I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, this will take so much work to tidy up.
I lifted the kitchen table that had been thrown on the floor and put it in its correct place, when I took my hands off the table I saw there was something in my fingers, I dragged my index finger across the table and then rubbed it on my thumb.
"Dust. How long has this place not been cleaned?" I took my backpack off my back and put it in a corner of the kitchen, went to a closet, and pulled out a broom and a cleaning rag. I propose we begin.
"Lord Alan, where are we? Oh!" Noir asked as he climbed out of my backpack with Rubrum beside him.
"Yes, Noir, we are back. Can you guys help me clean this place up?" I replied with a sad look.
"Yes, Lord Alan." Noir answered, and Rubrum nodded in confirmation.
First, I used the broom to remove dust and cobwebs from the ceiling of every room in the house, meanwhile, Rubrum used his magic to make the cleaning cloth float and remove dust from the furniture in the house, meanwhile Noir washed the dirty dishes that were in the sink.
Then I started to sweep the dust that was on the floor, Rubrum cleaned the windows and Noir took out the garbage, when we finished the house was sparkling clean, now there was only one thing left. I entered a room in the house, our old bedroom.
I started to look around, running my hand nostalgically over the table where I used to study and the shelf where I kept my books, now there was none until I sat down on my old bed.
"Noir, Rubrum, let us stay overnight," I said to the books, the tone of sadness and longing was noticeable in my voice.
"Lord Alan, you have…" Noir didn't quite finish, I just stared at him and Noir stared back, I don't know what kind of look I had on my face, but Noir didn't question me further.
"As you wish. Come on, Rubrum, let's rest." Noir said as Rubrum followed him; the two walked towards the bookshelf and took their usual spot.
I took off my boots, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling, seconds passed, minutes passed, when an hour passed I realized something, I couldn't sleep, I was sleepy, but I couldn't sleep, that feeling of emptiness didn't allow it, I don't know how much time passed, but after tossing and turning in bed I finally managed to fall asleep.
TIMESKIP
I woke up to the sound of people walking through the streets, it was already dawn, better get up soon and prepare breakfast, I didn't want to be late for work, with a long yawn I got up in bed.
"Good morning Rose!" I said while looking at the bed across the room, but no one answered, there was no one, so I remembered everything that had happened.
I lowered my head in sadness and saw something was dripping on the sheets, I brought my hand to my face, I was crying again, take a deep breath, Alan, this is no time to cry, Rose is dead and nothing will change that, you need to move on.
I threw my feet out of bed only to be hit with excruciating pain; the sunlight streaming in through the window was burning my feet.
"AAAHHH!" With a cry of pain, I jumped back on the bed, only to slam the back of my head against the wall.
I started shaking with rage, take a deep breath, Alan, and take a deep breath… ENOUGH! I quickly got out of bed, cringing in pain as the sunlight hit my body, I started to pace left and right not knowing what to do.
"Lord Alan, has something happened?" My agitation ended, waking up Noir and Rubrum.
"I AM TIRED! EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG! BEING ATTACKED BY A BUNCH OF TUGS DURING THE NIGHT! I SHOULD NOT LET THE ONE THAT SURVIVED GO AWAY; I SHOULD HAVE STEPPED ON HIS HEAD UNTIL THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT! NEXT, ROSE AND I BECAME WANTED CRIMINALS! WE WERE CHASED OUT OF OUR HOUSE AND ALL OVER MIDGARD! THEN ROSE CATCHES A DEADLY PLAGUE AND I'M TAKEN TO CATHEDRAL CITY, WHERE WE'RE BOTH TORTURED DAILY BY ORDER OF THE LORDS! THE LORDS! THAT'S IT! WHEN I LEAVE HERE, I WILL GO AFTER EACH ONE OF THEM! I WILL RIP OFF THEIR HEADS AND PUT THEM ON SPIKES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CATHEDRAL CITY!"
"I understand, but then what?" Noir asked me.
"AND THEN! THEN, I… I… I… AAAHHH!" I punched the wall next to me in frustration, the house shook and an impression of my fist was left on the wall.
"I don't know Noir. I just want to go home now. Nier and Yonah, they're one of the few things I have left now, but I have no idea how to get back and even if I did, look at me. Would they recognize me? Am I still considered human, Noir?" I said as I turned to Noir and Rubrum.
"Lord Alan I…" I didn't let Noir finish, I held my palm up in front of him.
"Sorry if this might sound rude Noir, but I don't want to talk right now, I need time to think. I just want you to know that you did nothing wrong, thanks for trying to comfort me."
"If that's what you want, and then I won't question it, but don't keep these matters to yourself, Rubrum and I are here if you want to talk." Noir said to me as Rubrum nodded in confirmation beside him.
"Thanks, now let's go." I put on my boots, Noir and Rubrum got into my backpack, and together we left our house, I closed the door behind me, giving a last goodbye to this place, I will probably never come back here.
Again I walked through the alleys of Cagliamola, I think I was approaching the exit of the city, and when I left one of the alleys I felt someone bumping into me and the sound of something falling to the ground.
Looking to the side, I saw a sir shorter than me and slightly fat, he was dressed in good quality clothes, but not to the point of being a noble, the sound of something falling was a wooden box that the sir was carrying.
"Let me help." I said as I held out my hand to the man.
"Thank you, young man." The man said, as he looked at my face, his eyes widened for a moment.
"A problem?" I asked as I helped the old man to his feet.
"Your eyes are scary." The man said, but he seemed to have realized what he had said, as he started to apologize right after.
"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant…" I didn't let him finish.
"Do not worry, I understand." I said as I picked up the wooden box and handed it to the man.
"Thank you, young man, if it's not a bother, can you help me get the other boxes into my wagon?" He asked me.
Wagon? Looking to my right, I saw a typical old west carriage, the ones with the white fabric canvas on top, better known for appearing in cartoons.
"Hm... Fine." I said.
"Thanks!" The man replied.
So together, we started putting several wooden boxes on the back of his wagon.
"Tell me, young man, what is your name?"
"Hm... K. Josef K. at your service!" I said.
"Nice to meet you, Josef, my name is Augusto!"
"Nice to meet you, Augusto! If you don't mind me asking, where are you taking those boxes?"
"Oh! No problem, I'm a merchant; I'm taking these boxes with my products to try to sell them in the Land of Forests."
I almost fell to the ground with that statement.
"Serious? Tell me, would you mind taking me too?"
"Young man, I appreciate you helping me carry the boxes, but I'm not the most appropriate person to take someone on a trip, not to mention, of course, that we just met."
"I can pay for the trip." I said as I showed him the bag of coins I got from the tavern.
"Hm... Three gold coins!" Augustus said.
"A gold coin!"
"Two gold coins!"
"A gold coin and a silver coin!"
"One gold and three silver coins!"
"One gold and two silver coins!"
"Done!" Augusto said as he extended his hand to me, I accepted his hand, and together we made our trip.
-XXXXXX-
Nothing interesting happened during the trip to the Land of Forests, Augustus and I spoke a little, and at one point he asked why I wanted to go to the Land of Forests, I said that I was a land surveyor hired by the Lord of the Land of Forests and that I was heading towards his castle.
Augustus didn't ask me what a land surveyor was, in fact, he hardly spoke to me when I said I was in the service of a Lord, I think it's better that way, the less I have to say about myself the better.
Eventually, we reached the Land of the Forests and the books didn't lie about this place, trees the size of buildings, dense foliage that blocked out the sunlight, and thanks to my improved senses I could see things moving among the trees, little dots of light floating far. They must be fairies.
According to Augusto, we are in a region of the Land of Forests, formerly called Italy. Hm... Maybe I'll pay a visit to Rome. I was brought out of my thoughts by the strong smell of smoke that attacked my nose.
"Augustus! What is it?" I said as I poked my head out of the wagon.
"Must be another attack!" Augustus replied.
"Attack? From what?"
"From the Lord of the Land of the Forests, he attacks villages of elves and other non-humans to drag them to his castle, these people are never seen again."
"Hm... Thank you for everything, Augusto, but I believe we must separate here!" I said to Augusto while delivering his payment for the trip, and then I jumped out of the wagon and ran towards the smoke.
"Wait!" I heard Augusto screaming, but I didn't stop. I'm tired of just running away and reacting, maybe if I finally take the initiative things will get better, maybe I can find the answers to what bothers me so much.
The village of Lyllenas was on fire, the forces of the Lord of the Land of Woodlands were invading and killing everyone in front of them, some elves managed to fight back using their superior speed to dance among the soldiers and slash them with their daggers, others used their precision from above the trees to use bows and arrows to hit the soldiers below.
However, that wasn't enough, what the elves had in skill the soldiers had in numbers. They were slowly overwhelmed by the Lord's forces. Elves were being killed on all sides.
Amid the panic, an elf carrying her daughter in her arms managed to escape the village, but two soldiers were chasing her, the elf ran through the trees, but suddenly she was thrown to the ground when she hit something, looking up at the elf flinched as she saw two bright yellow eyes staring down at her.
"There you are… AAAHHH!" One of the soldiers chasing the elf was killed by a Dark Spear piercing his heart, courtesy of the black book floating on the right side of the yellow-eyed stranger.
"Who are you… AAAHHH!" The second soldier never managed to finish, as the red book on the stranger's left side shattered the soldier's head, releasing a red orb of magic.
The elf seeing this display of power hugged her daughter tighter and crawled across the floor away from the stranger, the stranger then extended his hand and asked.
"Are you okay?"
The elf looked confused at the stranger.
"Are you okay?" The stranger asked once more.
"Yes." The elf replied as she accepted the stranger's hand and stood up.
"Great, don't leave here." The stranger said as he walked past the elf, the book on the stranger's right side opened and a weapon's handle came out, pulling the handle, it turned out to be a large axe.
The stranger held the ax in both hands and approached the elf village, "I hope this works, and I haven't had the opportunity to train these things."
Suddenly, two bulges formed underneath the stranger's clothing, these bulges began to increase until the back of the stranger's clothing was ripped open.
"Shit! Those clothes were new!" The stranger screamed in frustration.
The thing that had ripped off the stranger's clothing was a large pair of wings, the stranger began lightly flapping its wings, and "It's like having a second pair of arms." the stranger said.
"Are you two ready?" The stranger asked to the books beside him.
"Yes." The black book answered.
The red book just waved.
Hearing the answer, the stranger flapped his wings, launched upward, and disappeared into the dense foliage of the trees.
"Forward! Wipe out these nasty elves and take the survivors back to our Lord!" One of the human men, the one wearing the most ornate armor, called out, this was the attack commander.
With a war cry, the other soldiers behind him raised their swords in the air, some soldiers then threw torches towards the elves' houses, which, because they were made in the trees, soon began to burn.
The elves were cornered; those left to fight could only buy time for the others to flee.
The commander of the soldiers then commanded his men, he raised his sword upwards while looking towards the skies "Continue, victory will be… What?"
The commander stopped when he noticed something strange in the sky, there was a shadow forming in the foliage, this shadow grew more, and more, the commander's eyes widened when he realized that this was not just a shadow, it was a person, and that person was falling in your direction.
"Enemy attack… AAAHHH!"
CRASH!
The commander was unable to command his men as his head was pierced against the ground by the metal spike protruding from the tip between the blades of a great axe.
The blow cracked the ground and raised a large cloud of dust, when it dissipated everyone could see what had happened.
That ax was in the hands of a stranger wearing a hood and with two wings coming out of his back, the stranger took off his hood, revealing his gray-skinned face, night-dark hair, and piercing yellow eyes. The stranger removed his ax from the commander's body with a sound of ripping flesh.
"So? Who will be the next one?" The stranger asked as two books slowly came down from the sky and floated beside him.
END OF THE CHAPTER