HT Chapter 8

Tempest and Rune traveled in silence, in the direction of the church in the center of town.

As they got closer and closer, the mud and stick huts turned into houses made of stoned, something that looked much more civilized. Houses grew farther and farther apart until Tempest and Rune saw a field of burned crops and dead animals.

“Those animals are horses and the fat ones are cows. But they look different than the cows back home.” Tempest’s attention was caught, and he approached them. He reached out to the animal and stroked its charred body.

“It doesn’t matter, Tempest. Let’s get out of here.” Rune scowled.

“And who are you to rush me?” Tempest snapped. He stood for just a moment admiring the farm when off in the distance he heard voices he did not recognize. The voices sounded like they were coming from inside the farmhouse.

Rune knew that this was their cue to leave. He tried to rush the nobleman, but was unsuccessful. With each attempt to make Tempest leave came an excuse for him to stay. Tempest crept closer to the building, coming from behind it where there ware no doors nor windows. The voices grew louder still, until Tempest was able to make out certain words and phrases. This was a dialect of Sulvikian that was being spoken, one Tempest actually knew. His curiosity peaked, he turned a corner of the house with the intentions of getting as close to a window as possible so he could hear the conversation without getting caught.

"This is ridiculous!" Rune scolded again, growing more angry by the second. He was right behind Tempest now, and only doing so that he would not get caught. Rune was frustrated now for being dragged into a risky situation.

Now directly underneath the window, Tempest was close enough to hear. Being so close to the voices, Rune could scold no longer for fear of being found out.

"This town... Useless..." The voice was low and raspy. "Never stood a chance, them. Could'a had more fun."

Both Tempest and Rune recognized the voice immediately. This was the voice of a Ray'as. Rune urged Tempest to leave, for their own safety and because in his eyes Tempest was acting without any good reason. Tempest shushed him.

"Should've we had." A second Ray's joined the conversation. "But it's over now. The assassin Sadia is out."

Tempest's mind reeled. So they knew about Sadia all along? And they decided to kill an entire village of people just to do away with one assassin? That, coupled with their newfound paralyzing death scream and the swords that could cut through marble. The Ray'as did not have those things at their disposal beforehand. And more pressingly, if they knew about Sadia what else did they know about?

"What do you thinks become of the black-haired boy and the woman that follows?"

"They are not dead. Not so easily." The second Ray'as growled heartily. "But now we know how easily they are drawn out."

The 'black-haired boy and the woman that follows?' Surely they did not mean Aneurin and Farah? Tempest's heart skipped a beat. Did they mean to say that they were expected this whole time? That this entire time they were all playing the Ray'as' game? ...Were they really that smart? Come to think of it, Tempest and Rune both wondered about the new 'power' the Ray'as had acquired. They had never screamed before, nor had they ever carried swords as giant as the ones they carried now. Surely this did not mean they were planning something?

Aneurin and Farah needed to know this. Tempest grabbed Rune by the collar of his shirt and yanked him away, and carried the angry boy with him back the way they came.

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Tempest and Rune were pleased to see Aneurin and Farah were already in front of the church in the middle of town, but it looked like Aneurin had had an adventure of his own. His cloak was torn from his body, his arms battered by blood and open wounds, and his abdomen bleeding out. Farah was in the process of wrapping her cloak around Aneurin, who sat on the charred ground in front of her, and tending to his wounds when Tempest and Rune approached.

“It looks like you two ran into Ray’as as well.” Rune frowned, standing directly in front of Aneurin.

“They screamed.” Aneurin looked up at the teenage boy. “The Ray’as screamed, and it paralyzed me. Did you two experience anything like that?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Rune crossed his arms. “Tempest was having trouble just taking out one by himself. I had to step in and save him.” Rune smirked, happy to defile Tempest’s name. Tempest, who did not understand what was being said, stood off unknowing in the background.

“Rune, that’s enough of that.” Farah scolded him. “Just one Ray’as is enough to give anyone trouble.” She finished tending to the wound on Aneurin’s arm that had been giving her some issues, and stood up. “Sadia is in Eternity. We need to get of here now.” Aneurin rose, nodding his head in agreement.

“There's something you should know first.” Rune straightened himself. "It's possible that the Ray'as knew we were coming."

"What do you mean it's possible?" Aneurin suddenly turned hostile, spitting emphasis on the final word. He moved forward, ignoring the pain, but Farah pushed him back.

"Continue, Rune." Farah nodded.

"It's possible they knew we were coming, that they knew about Sadia being here this entire time, and slaughtered this whole village just to rid of her." Rune narrowed his eyes. “We overheard two of them talking up north.”

Aneurin said nothing this time, bothered greatly by all this information. He stood up, his eyes cast to the ground, and turned his back on the group, beginning to walk the other way.

"We're leaving now. You can explain these heavy accusations to Father Arin when we return."

“We're leaving now. It's about time.” Rune spat in Tempest's direction. Tempest, who would show more disgrace by not responding to the child at all, said nothing and followed after the dark-haired Euphasian male.

The group, beaten emotional and even physically on Aneurin's part, made their way out of the village. Though Aneurin was wounded, he did not wish to tarry in the village for long. Being exposed to the smoke and flames was hard on their health, and they had no reason to stay any longer than they already had. Aneurin's wounds, he knew, were not major and could wait until they settled into an inn at night and Farah could focus her entire attention on them. Passing his gaze behind him onto her eyes, he could see that his condition was worrying her greatly. This only reaffirmed what he knew before to be true; Aneurin knew from the start that Farah would be worried.

Aneurin and Farah said nothing to each other as they walked, their heads were still wrapped in the memories the village held within its burned walls. Saying something would have just made it more painful. To keep her mind busy, Farah tried to focus on Aneurin's physical condition. She had treated the wounds on his abdomen sufficiently enough, but his arms still needed to be treated with herbs and medicine that she had not been given time to prepare. As he walked, the wounds on Aneurin's arms continued to bleed. Farah cringed, saddened greatly, each time Aneurin wiped the blood off of his hands that had dripped down. He had done amazing to take down three Ray'as entirely on his own, but to try and take on five was madness. Farah couldn't help but be a little sore at him for not at least trying to call for back up. But her emotions would have to wait till later; right now, Farah had to keep an eye on his open wounds and make sure they would be alright until they stopped again.

Rune remained silent as well. He had hated this mission from the very start, feeling as though it were not in his job description. However assured he was in his feelings, this was not so. Going on missions with Aneurin, Farah, and Tempest was very much a part of his job as translator. Being stubborn and much younger than the rest as he was, Rune refused to accept this.

Tempest's mind was spinning with the words he had overheard earlier. Something bothered him very much about the information he had found out. Why would the Ray'as destroy an entire village just to kill one girl? One line in particular stood out.

'But now we know how easily they are drawn out'.

Tempest mouthed the words. In the context of the conversation, he had already gathered that the 'they' aforementioned were Aneurin and Farah. But there was something more, something that connected this piece of information to the rest in this giant jigsaw puzzle. Then suddenly, as if an epiphany, it hit the educated desert nobleman.

They had destroyed that entire village for the sole purpose of drawing Aneurin and Farah out. And more terrifying yet- they had won.

Tempest's heart skipped a beat. This was vital knowledge and yet he could not say anything to Aneurin and Farah, not yet. This was for Father Arin to know first, and his decision whether or not Aneurin and Farah should know.

The group reached the stable, and with their heads hung low, as if defeated, they each untied the reins of their horses. Their stock depleted by the two days of travel, they had not very many bags to carry. The group strapped on what little bags they had left, saddled up, and were on their way.

As the day grew late and the sky turned gray, it dawned upon each member of the group exactly how much time they had spent in Carius. It was now well past midday, and the group needed to think about settling down for the night or else they would be caught traveling in total darkness. It wasn't until the group had passed through the next village, a few miles west, that Farah spoke up.

“The night's upon us.” The brown-haired assassin threw her braided hair behind her from atop her horse. “We should think about settling down in the next village and restocking in the morning.”

“You're right.” Aneurin spoke up immediately after, as if he had been thinking the same thing.

“They say that we're going to be settling down in the next village for the night and then restocking in the morning.” Rune translated for Tempest. It had been the first time that he had spoken since the group had left the village. There was a spark in his voice, as if to say it was about time.

“Fine.'' Tempest thrust his chin up and looked down at the boy, who rode at his side just to annoy him. In Sulvik, the members of the lower class would ride well behind those of the upper class as a sign of respect and humiliation. The fact that Rune refused to respect this irked Tempest to say the very least.

The group came upon the next village just as the sun set. They stayed at a small inn, Farah in her own room and Tempest, Aneurin, and Rune (unwillingly) in another.

Before falling asleep, Farah made it a point to take care of the remainder of Aneurin's wounds. Upon close inspection, she could see that she had bound his abdomen well and that it had not reopened despite the travel on horseback on rough, unpaved terrain. His arms, worse than before, were at least not infected or bleeding out entirely. Farah took her time to mix the appropriate herbs, prepare the medicine, heal her companion's wounds, and bind them as well with wraps she had packed in her bag.

“Your arms are going to be fine.” Farah spoke quietly. Tempest and Rune were falling asleep on the other beds, and she did not wish to disturb them.

“I know they are. I've got a good nurse.” Aneurin stiffed a smile. Farah tightened a wrap, and though she had hurt him when he moved his arm slightly.

“I'm sorry.” Farah frowned.

“No, keep doing what you're doing. You're the expert here.”

“I guess.” Farah chuckled lightly and shrugged. She was sitting on Aneurin's bed directly besides him. She rested an empty roll on the small nightstand besides the bed. “But you know... Something's bothering me.” Farah's heart began to pound. She had started thinking about the village again- actually, she had never stopped. But she stopped trying to force the memory away, and instead let it consume her. There was one thing she did not understand about the entire situation.

“What's that?” Aneurin remained calm, though he knew what his female companion was about to bring up.

“I don't understand how Sadia's intel was wrong. She was unarguably one of the best undercover agents we had.” Farah finished fastening the final wrap on Aneurin's arm and began work on his abdomen. She could not leave it bound the way it was in good faith, so she began to undo the binding carefully. Aneurin, who was strong and had a high pain tolerance, did not budge an inch. “How could she be wrong about when the Ray'as would attack? Or were we late?”

“Honestly, I don't have an answer for that.” Aneurin cast his eyes to the ground. Farah continued to unbind. “What I'm more worried about myself is that paralyzing scream. And that new weapon of theirs.”

“I guess that would be more important,” Farah agreed, “but I hadn't come into contact with any Ray'as until I met up with you. What was this scream like?”

“It was so high pitched you could barely hear it.” Aneurin began. Rune, who had also experienced the scream for himself, sat up suddenly. “And it.... it took me completely off guard.” 

Farah gasped at this. Her closest friend, this Aneurin, had the best defense of anyone in the guild that she knew. To hear of something that had broken right through his defenses seemed unthinkable.

“And it paralyzed you?” She prompted.

“Yes. The scream infected my body like a sickness, and left me paralyzed almost instantly. I wouldn't be able to tell you how long I was paralyzed... it might have only been a minute, but it felt like a year in the middle of battle.” Aneurin sighed. Rune, who knew he had been paralyzed for a little while longer, gasped silently at Aneurin's ability to come out of the paralysis so quickly. Farah and Aneurin both noticed this, but decided not to question it.

“Rune, you said you and Tempest experienced the same thing.” Farah turned to him, knowing that he was fully awake now.

“Mhm” Rune nodded his head, compliant with the female. “It felt exactly how Aneurin described it.” Rune looked at her.

“That's so strange.” Farah removed the bloodied piece of cloak from Aneurin's abdomen and began to wrap the new one around his body. “And what was up with that giant sword?”

“We saw it cut straight through marble with no problem.” Rune sighed.

“I don't like this.” Aneurin looked at Farah. “It sounds to me like the Ray'as are up to something. After having been gone for so long with no news what-so-ever, they come back with this?” Aneurin grabbed his pants at his knees. “They're planning something much bigger. I know it.”

“You're probably right.” Farah finished binding Aneurin's abdomen. She gathered her rolls of wrap and stood. “But this is a conversation we should be having with Father Arin. Just for now, try not to think about it until we get back. We all should be sleeping now.” Farah turned, and made her way to the door. She stopped as she began to close it behind her. “But remembering Sadia, I know that's much easier said than done.” Farah closed the door behind her, leaving Aneurin and Rune to their thoughts and Tempest, who was already asleep, to his bed.

HT Chapter 7

Farah had taken the main road east, in the complete opposite direction that Aneurin had gone. She wandered through the streets silently, wanting to take to the roof but not being able to since the roofs were burned and falling down. She drew her bow as a precaution, walking slowly and prepared to dance in case she encountered any enemies, which weren’t always Ray’as. She kept her head up and her eyes on the look-out for anything out of the ordinary.

The first thing Farah noticed was how thoroughly the fire had burned the huts and everything else. It must have been a pretty strong fire in order to do this, nothing that ever really happens naturally. Considering how large the fire was and the initial reason why they were here, Farah immediately concluded that the fire was, in fact, Ray’as made. It was not far from the center of town when Farah also began to notice the bodies, and notice how neatly they were staked. Farah frowned.

The silence after the flames was thick. As Farah moved, the silence began to bother her. It consumed her, like a sickness, and the worst was knowing there was nothing that could be done about it. As Farah moved deeper east, more bodies appeared. The homes on this end of town weren’t as poor and cheaply made as the ones up north, but this was still not a rich area by any means. From what remained of the houses, Farah could tell that the fire was quick and relentless.

As she walked one house in particular sparked her interest, one whose walls had not been entirely destroyed. A pot sat in front of the doorway that she recognized; Farah walked over to it and picked it up. It was a brown pot, with a symbol on the front that Farah had seen plenty of times before. It was the diamond-like shape of the Assassin’s League, the symbol used for the pretend Euphasian Trading Co, and Farah hoped that this was the house of Sadia, Father Arin’s Carian contact who had reported the lead in the first place. Farah had known Sadia a little, having both seen her around and met up with her in this town on a few occasions back when Gideon was on the team in order to carry out a few smaller missions that weren’t actually directly related to the cause, but typical missions that teams often carried out anyway. They came to Carius on a few occasions, helping spark trade in the town with foodstuffs and other supplies and once even helping to build a school that Farah could see in the far off distance, now burned to the ground. Farah both hoped and dreaded the thought of seeing Sadia in the burned hut, knowing that if she was in there then she was as good as dead. Farah hoped that she had made it out, and as Farah looked at the inside of the burned and empty pot she hoped that she would find no essence of Sadia in the old hut. Farah put the pot back in the place she had found it.

When Farah entered through the doorway, still holding her bow, she saw that the back of the hut had been burned down. All the house’s contents had been destroyed, and nothing remained except the concrete foundation, just like the other houses in the village. So far, there was no sign of Sadia but Farah wouldn’t get her hopes up just yet. Farah decided she would continue to look some before coming to the conclusion that Sadia had gotten away. Farah walked through the empty back of the hut and landed outside in what used to be the backyard, where the last half of the roof had tumbled down upon. From the rubble, Farah could see a small hand sticking up out of the straw and stone. The hand was obviously a woman’s, and Farah’s heart sank. She sheathed her bow and pushed the rubble away with her foot, and uncovered the face of a blonde-haired woman completely burned and bleeding on the right side. That half of the face was burned far beyond recognition, however Farah could distinguish certain facial features from the other side. The woman had a slightly rounded face, with full lips that seemed better fit for smiling and small creases besides her eyes that indicated that the woman had spent most of her life laughing and smiling.

This was Sadia, and Farah closed her eyes. She bent down on the rubble so she could grab hold of Sadia’s hand.

“My Sister, may your soul be carried on the wings of Eternity, to the place where all our Brothers and Sisters make peace and merriment.” Farah spoke the blessing of the Assassin’s League softly, her voice pained. “Your job on this world is done, and your journey to Eternity has just begun.”

Farah stood sighed as if trying to push the image from her mind, and coughed slightly before drawing her bow once more and wiping her forehead of sweat and standing up. Farah did not cry, because she couldn’t. As a trained assassin, she was prepared and used to situations like this. Of course it depressed her, but she couldn’t allow herself to get sucked into the emotions. Farah turned away from Sadia, as if turning away from the memory of her with Farah, Aneurin, and Gideon building the school and carrying out other missions. She left the hut with her head up high as if the body was just another anonymous victim, and as if she had not even seen it. Farah resumed her stealth walk, her bow drawn, and reader to dance. It was obvious just by the way she carried the bow that she had been training with it for most of her life, and was indeed extremely comfortable with it. Farah looked as if she enjoyed a good fight, and of course enjoyed a good fight, however felt as though this village had enough blood and bodies on its land.

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Rune heard the noise and came running downstairs, dropping what he had been looking at, to meet Tempest faced with a rather large Ray’as. He was surprised to see the beast, yet, before Rune could get a word in the Ray’as, still facing Tempest, opened its mouth and screamed.

The scream was so loud that Tempest and Rune were nearly blown back by the sheer amount of power in the Ray’as’ voice. Instinctively, Tempest and Rune both went to cover their ears, but could not reach their ears in time before they were paralyzed. Was this fear that prevented them from moving? No, it was not. Adrenaline pumped through Tempest’s veins so quickly that it pained him being unable to swing a sword, to meet the Ray’as’ skin with metal. Rune felt nothing but pain as well, wanting more than anything to move and to fight. So this was not fear. This was something else. A force, that of which they had never felt before.

The Ray’as was laughing. He raised his free hand and pushed Tempest to the ground, and laughed some more. Once on the ground, Tempest realized he was able to move once again. Just as the Ray’as raised his greatsword to swing at him, Tempest raised his scimitars in an ‘x’ formation and attempted to catch the Ray’as’ blade.

Rune, still unable to move, was forced to watch. The Ray’as had not seen him yet, and was too caught up in fighting Tempest to notice him. Rune knew of the Ray’as’ short line of sight, but did not realize it was that bad. If only Rune could move, he would fight with every fiber of his being. But Rune could not move, and was thus stuck to watching it all happen without even being able to speak.

Tempest caught the Ray’as blade with his scimitars, but the force with which the Ray’as pushed down his sword was so great that Tempest was afraid the Ray’as would push past his defence. So just before Tempest lost hold of his scimitars he rolled out of the way, just missing the great blade as it swung down and hit the floor, cutting through the cement foundation of the church.

Rune was amazed to bear witness to this. What kind of metal was it made of that made it possible to cut through cement? The Assassin’s League had been battling the Ray’as for the past hundred years, but no one had seen a weapon such as this. If the Ray’as was able to cut through that cement with such ease, it was easy to imagine what kind of damage that sword could to do Tempest.

Suddenly, as though freed from a trap, Rune’s arms dropped to his sides and he fell to his knees. He took the opportunity to draw his weapon, a sickle attached at the end of a long chain. A Ray’as’ skin was tougher than steel, and they didn’t have any weak points except for one; the back of the neck where their skin was soft. This made it easy to decapitate them, and it was often decapitation that was the killing method of choice when dealing with Ray’as.

Tempest saw Rune moving out of the corner of his eyes, and when seeing the young assassin draw his weapon he knew what Rune intended on doing. Without making it obvious that he had seen Rune, Tempest made an effort to turn the Ray’as in a way that Rune would have easy access to the back of its neck. This meant not attacking the Ray’as directly, but playing with it and in the meantime, focusing on building his own defense. Revitalized, Tempest stood back up with a quickness, spread his feet apart, and raised his scimitars.

“Is that all? I’ve seen humans with more power in their little finger.” Tempest taunted the Ray’as.

“Whelp!” The Ray’as growled, falling for the taunt, and just as the Ray’as began to sprint towards Tempest with its greatsword raised, but just before it swung down Tempest jumped to the side, safely out of the way, and watched as the greatsword came down on the cement foundation again, cutting through it cleanly.

Rune knew what Tempest was doing, and with the Ray’as bent down like it was with its sword in the ground Rune knew he had a perfect shot. The trained assassin raised his sickle and swung it. The teen’s aim spot on like always, the sickle landed itself on the beast’s neck. The Ray’as shot up, surprised, but before it could turn around to meet its second attacker the child pulled the chain so that the sickle cut cleanly through the Ray’as’ neck. Its head rolled onto the floor, and its body fell to the concrete with a resounding thud.

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Aneurin was in the heart of the flames. He was hot and drenched in his own sweat, and his boots soiled by soot and the blood of the dead ones. He had discovered nothing of any use, no traces of Sadia nor of any survivors who could potentially shed some light on the strange occurrence of events that led up to the fire happening. All Aneurin found was burning bodies and crumbling houses, all caked in a thick coat of red.

As Aneurin walked, it got harder to breath as smoke and soot penetrated his lungs despite wearing his hood in a fashion that it covered his mouth and nose. He was beginning to cough more frequently, but continued to push on in hopes that the flames would die down soon. However, as he traveled deeper west it seemed as though the stubborn flames would not quench themselves any time soon.

After exploring as much of the west as he could handle, Aneurin decided to turn to the south. He could tell he was in the middle of the shopping district, as he was not encountering many homes so much as he was buildings with a purpose made obvious in its design and architecture. He searched through every shop he came across, only to find the charred remains of shop owners and their families.

Aneurin had been exploring what seemed to be an inn when he heard a sound behind him. He raised his metal claws, prepared to fight, and turned facing the direction the noise came in order to face the danger.

A Ray’as plowed through the wall, its sword drawn, and yelling. It said something Aneurin could not comprehend as it raised its sword, ready to strike down.

Aneurin was prepared to swing his claws when the Ray’as stopped in front of him and screamed. Aneurin was surprised and tried to ignore it, but the sheer force of the scream pushed him back and paralyzed him. Aneurin tried to raise his claws once more, but found that he could not move any part of his body. Confused, he watched almost helplessly as the Ray’as swung its sword to meet Aneurin’s flesh.

Though, Aneurin was not helpless. Just before the sword met the top of his head, Aneurin broke free of the strange trap the scream had laid on Aneurin’s body and he managed to move out of the way. The sword fell to the ground, cutting through the dirt and getting itself caught in the ground. As the Ray’as struggled to retrieve its sword, Aneurin drew his claws and swung them at the beast. They wrapped themselves around the beast’s neck, and Aneurin pulled forward so that the beast fell onto the hilt of its own sword. Temporarily knocked out, the beast laid there motionless. Aneurin took this opportunity to draw his sword and charge forward at the Ray’as. He cut through the beast’s neck, watched as the head rolled onto the ground, and its body fell limp in front of its sword.

Aneurin reached over and untangled the claws, retracted them and placed them back on the knuckles of his hands. He then looked over at the Ray’as’ sword. Aneurin had never seen the Ray’as use a weapon like it. And to have cut through the ground so easily, it must have been a powerful sword. Aneurin took the sword and the sheath, attached it to the other side of his hips, with the intention of bringing it back with him to the Assassin’s League and handing it over to Father Arin to be studied and observed.

The encounter over, Aneurin continued on his way with hopes of encountering Farah soon. It was now extremely difficult for him to breathe, and he wanted very much to meet up with the rest of the group and get out.

It wasn’t too long, however, before Aneurin encountered yet another Ray’as. It came at him from inside a burning store, and when he engaged in battle with it another Ray’as came from a different direction. And then another, until Aneurin was surrounded by five Ray’as.

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Farah had moved on from Sadia, and had continued on her way. The mission now done, Farah immediately moved south to meet with Aneurin. She wanted more than anything to leave this desolate, burning village of death behind her and never return to either the village nor the memories it held within its walls.

She moved quickly, her only objective to find Aneurin. Farah traveled the southern end of the village until she heard noises that sounded like steel clashing with steel. Farah broke out in a run, moving quickly towards the noises until the scene became clear to her. Before her eyes, in front of a small strip of shops, she found Aneurin in heated battle with two Ray’as, with three decapitated Ray’as strewn around him. It was obvious to Farah, however, that Aneurin was starting to struggle. Fighting three Ray’as was starting to take a toll on his body, on top of the pain he must have been feeling inside from having been exposed to the flames for so long. Farah immediately grew worried.

From a slight distance behind a building, Farah drew her bow and waited. When a Ray’as was turned in the right position, she let go of the arrow and watched it fly, striking the Ray’as in the back of its neck. Green blood flowed from the wound, and the Ray’as turned to search for the source of the arrow. Aneurin knew what had happened immediately, and took the opportunity to decapitate the Ray’as with his sword. Farah turned to look at the second Ray’as, who was behind Aneurin and was about to swing its sword, to take advantage of Aneurin in his tires and unguarded state. Farah immediately got to work on that Ray’as. She dipped her arrow in a small pouch full of poison attached on the belt at her hip, drew the arrow, and let go.

The poison had an immediate effect on the Ray’as, draining all of its energy and strength from its body. As soon as the poison entered its body the Ray’as fell to the ground. Aneurin took this opportunity to decapitate the beast.

“It’s safe to come, Farah.” Aneurin shouted for his companion to reveal herself. He coughed again and watched as Farah revealed herself from behind a burned building. She approached him, immediately checking him for wounds.

“Are you alright?” Farah searched him frantically, finding that his hood had been torn from his body and there were open gashes on his arms and on his abdomen, which was now exposed.

“They’re just scratches. I’m fine. Are you okay?” Aneurin tried to step away from her. She took the hint and straightened herself.

“I’m fine. Where did they come from?” Farah pressed. Aneurin shook his head, revealing that he did not know. There was a moment of silence, until Farah remembered something important. “I... have some bad news.” Farah frowned.

“It’s about Sadia, isn’t it?” Aneurin’s voice grew grim, and Farah nodded.

“She’s in Eternity now.” Farah said, a saying that revealed in itself that she performed the League’s blessing. Aneurin bowed his head in respectful silence. After the silence, Aneurin raised his head.

“We have to find Tempest and Rune and get out of here. There’s no use in wasting time here anymore.” Aneurin turned, and both he and Farah made their way north towards the center of town.

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“Let’s get out of here already before any more show up!” Rune made his way out the church. Tempest let him go, but made his time to look around a little more before deciding to move on. Satisfied there was nothing more to see, Tempest left the church behind him.

Now standing outside the church, Tempest and Rune stood wondering where to go next.

“We should start heading back. There’s nothing more to see here.”  Tempest sighed and began to walk in the direction in which they came. They had seen nothing except a Ray’as, and Tempest couldn’t help but feel as though they’d accomplished nothing. Rune, tired of the village anyway, followed surprisingly without a word.

HT CHAPTER 6

The small village of Carius was three miles further inland, and was a poor village made up of smaller stone houses and was no more than a mile long across. It was a very run down village, with dirtied streets that were no more than a worn path made by years of farmers and gatherers walking the same way back and forth each day. Farah, Aneurin, Tempest, and Rune arrived only a few hours after the rain had stopped early in the morning; the sun had not reached its maximum height, and the night’s rain and early morning drew had not yet dried. The air was still crisp and cold, and though it was a little better, to Tempest’s sweet relief since it was not nearly as cold, it was still unpleasant. The beat down appearance of the town enhanced the cold however- the two seemed to go hand-in-hand.

The town was far off in the horizon, and barely visible. Upon seeing it for the first time however, even Tempest knew the village just over the horizon was, in fact, Carius, since Carius was glowing with a bright orange light. This bright orange light swirled as it reached up to kiss the sky, and licked the hovering clouds. As they got closer, the three understood; the bright orange light was not just orange, it was a mixture of reds, blues, and yellows. The warmth they felt as they approached the town came from these flames, and they knew then that the village was on fire.

“So much for a lead.” Aneurin spat, the first to comment from on top of his horse. “Looks like we got here to late.” Aneurin cursed under his breath, judging by the size of the flames that the town had been lit up the night before.

“What in the world...?” Farah’s mouth hung open, not expecting to find anything like that as they came closer to the village. Aneurin sighed at her side and Tempest was too amazed and to say anything.

“We’ve got to hurry.” Aneurin tightened his grip on the reins. Both he and Farah smacked them once against the horses necks, forcing the horses to travel from a gallop to a fast sprint, the two of them wanting to get to town as fast as possible in order to check out the scene. Tempest and Rune were next to follow.

When they finally approached the small village, the sight was worse than what they had originally thought. Every house was set ablaze, every straw and mud hut burning straight to the ground along with the trash along the sides of the roads and covering the short stone walls with soot. The flames were vicious, cracking like a whip in the otherwise silent afternoon. The village itself obviously had no set plan to its design, and all that was left after the fire was the remains of what used to be a stable, a few cottages, and a small farm or two. When the group had arrived at the village, they did not dismount immediately. They stood standing along the outskirts of town at first, observing the flames and trying to gather as much information as possible considering survivors, injuries, and deaths. And of course, their own safety. There was one thing that all four of them noticed almost immediately as they stood untouched by the flames that devoured the self-sustaining village.

“There’s no sound. No one is screaming.” Tempest spoke with a deafening calm, like that after the storm. “Everyone is silent.”

“He said there is no sound. No one is screaming.” Rune translated, remaining his calm. “Everyone is quiet.”  Farah and Aneurin both looked at him with heavy eyes. “Unless they all got away but there’s no way the entire town could have gotten away in time.”

“Change of plans.” Aneurin took lead of the situation, observing the burning village.. “Search for Sadi. Or perhaps, Sadi’s body. But our own safety is number one. Don’t do anything that puts your safety in jeopardy. We’re too late already, so there’s no point in doing anything rash.”

Tempest lowered his head and the three listened to the flames roar for another minute, and when the flames began to grow quiet Tempest looked back up to see the flames were beginning to die down.

Farah, Aneurin, and Tempest dismounted their horses and dragged them over to what used to be the stable by the ruins just outside of town. The flames had now segregated themselves to the further half of the village, and the group could now enter without fear of being engulfed. They traveled down the bordered dirt path to the middle of town, standing just in front of what used to be the church.

“Alright, here’s the plan.” Aneurin met each of his companion’s eyes. “We split up. Rune, go with Tempest and cover the north. You’ll hit fire, so be careful.”

“Fine.” Rune crossed his arms in defiance, not happy to be left alone with the desert nobleman.

“Farah, you and I have to travel our own ways. We’ll cover more ground that way.” Aneurin turned to face her, and Farah nodded in agreement. “Cover the west, and I’ll cover the east. After surveying our areas, move south and we’ll more than likely meet up there.”

“I understand.” She confirmed, but realizing that Aneurin being in the east meant he would be in the heart of the flames. Farah frowned, knowing he had arranged himself to go that way for her own protection. “But Aneurin... please be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me, Farah. I’ll be fine.” Aneurin gave her his word. “Everyone, we meet back right here at this church once we’re satisfied we’ve surveyed our ground thoroughly enough. If you get here and no one’s here yet, just wait for the others to show up. We’re all trained assassins, so as long as we’re careful this shouldn’t be a problem. But remember what I said; Nothing. Rash.” The rest of the group nodded their heads, and each person went on their way.

Aneurin traveled down a path that lead into the eastern part of town, leading him into the heart of the flames. It grew hot, and he began to sweat, but he ignored that. It wasn’t soon after splitting up with the rest of the group that he noticed that the farther east he traveled the more bodies seem to stack up along the sides of the roads and besides buildings. The first body he encountered was a woman’s body that fell from the rooftop of a smaller home standing against the main road. The body fell next to him as he walked past, her limp and burned arm falling on top of Aneurin’s shoe. He did not gasp when this happened, but rather let it happen calmly. Aneurin stared down at the body with little emotion on his stone-set face, looking at what had used to be a decent-looking dark-haired woman, old enough to be the mother of many and possibly even the grandmother of some. Her body was thin and frail, and looking past the badly burned skin Aneurin could tell that her limbs looked as if they had been worked hard her whole life. She wore a typical maid’s outfit with a bonnet over her head, though what once one a brightly colored outfit simply dirtied by hard work was now burned beyond recognition. Aneurin avoided looking the body in the face, not wanting to spend any time looking at the remnants of what had been a painful scream out of hard and true pain that remained on the face that had at one point smiled, had cried, had felt emotion and had lived. Aneurin’s face softened, and he opened his mouth from beneath his hood slightly and took a deep breath in. He realized that this was a bad idea once the charcoal entered into his throat and he began to cough violently. Aneurin’s face hardened again, and he removed himself emotionally from the body. He shook the arm off of his foot and continued to walk along the main road. The roof of that same house collapsed as he walked away, and Aneurin did not turn back to look at it. He kept the same stoic appearance as he walked, and he began to notice that the bodies became more frequent the further into town, and the deeper into the flames, he walked.

*******************

Rune and Tempest made their way up north. They would not encounter any fire just yet, but the evidence that it had been there was enough. The north side of the village was obviously the poorest; the homes were made of mud and sticks and the roads, like the rest of the village, were not paved. There were no shops, telling both Rune and Tempest that this was not a business or shopping district of any sort but rather a living district. And as they had noticed before, a poor one at that.

“We should check the houses for Sadia.”  Tempest turned his eyes to the teenage boy traveling besides him. Neither of them liked the fact that they had been pinned together just for the fact that they speak the same language, but Tempest at least accepted that they had a job to do together.

“I don’t need to take directions from you.” Rune, who was not so willing, began to search the home closest to him. Tempest shook his head in annoyance, and began his own search.

What each found mostly was dead bodies and charred remains of the houses and belongings that had once been their life. With each house, both Tempest and Rune began to lose faith that they would  find their Sadia dead or alive. Tempest and Rune met up again, and moved in a direction that brought them closer to the flames.

Tempest was the one to come across what seemed to have been a church within the cluster of homes in this poor living district. It was much smaller than the one in the center of town, but like the other it was made of stone and stood remarkably tall for a building in the poor district. It made it clear to Tempest that worship was something these people had taken very seriously, and if Tempest were to find anyone alive at all it would be inside this church. He did not hesitate to pry its doors open and step inside.

On the other side of the door, on the marble floor, was a mother hovering over her child standing against the back wall by the altar. They did not move, but their eyes were cast wide-open in Tempest’s general direction and their mouths were open as if they were screaming but no sound could be heard. The child was a boy no older than ten who held his hands over his ears, and both wore rags so torn that they had obviously been living in one of the homes close to this church.

“Hello!”  Tempest shouted at them, in hopes of getting a response. “Can you hear me? Are you okay?” Tempest approached them slowly, though still they did not move. Rune entered through the doors behind him, and sighed heavily.

“There’s no point, Tempest, they’re already dead.” Rune raised his hand and dropped it, letting it fall to his side with a resounding ‘thump’ as though giving up.

“I had hoped not.” Tempest straightened himself and turned to face Rune. “But how strange that they died frozen in place like this? They look as though something was coming for them. As though it wasn’t the fire that killed them, but something- or someone- else.”

“....You’re right.” Rune shook his head, hating to admit it. “I don’t like this. We should check out the rest of the church.”

Tempest surveyed the room and found a flight of stairs leading down in the corner of the room behind the altar.

“I’ll go downstairs. You should check out the rest of the church to see what else might be here.”  Tempest ordered, and though Rune hated being told what to do by Tempest the situation, which could potentially be something much more serious, demanded he comply. Rune nodded his head, and Tempest sunk down the stairs that lead into a basement.

Upon entering the basement, Tempest found piles of dead bodies laid carefully in front of bookshelves full of charred, unreadable books. Their faces looked as if they had been screaming, and some held their hands covering their ears, now frozen in place. The basement was dark, and Tempest could barely see, but he could make out their faces well enough to see terror in their eyes. Tempest realized that these bodies had the same expression on their faces as the mother and son upstairs. He wondered about this, then realized how strange it was in the first place that bodies were stacked so nicely in piles, no blood and hardly any char.

As soon as Tempest realized this, he heard a crash behind him. Tempest quickly drew his scimitars, startled by the sound. and saw a bookcase had been toppled over and a hole in the wall appeared where the bookcase had once stood.

Standing on top of this bookcase was a figure, with skin colored darker than a night’s sky. The figured towered easily a foot over Tempest, with eyes that were endless, empty pools of white and horns penetrating the skin on top of his head and around his jawline. The figure wore simple leather armor, a skirt and a breastplate, and at its side rested a greatsword that looked heavier and larger than anything Tempest had ever seen. Its pointed ears twitched, and the heavy breathing beast approached Tempest, who quickly took a defensive stance.

“Small, nosy rat. You will perish like the rest of them.” The beast rose its sword as it spoke to Tempest, who was surprised to understand. Tempest knew, staring at the beast’s white orbs and ugly face, that this was a Ray’as standing before him. And it was about to kill him.