34 Pelvin

Few hours earlier

Found on the corner, was a table seated by men with wary and watchful eyes, they concealed their eyes as much as they can to avoid drawing attention. Their swords were loosely attached on their waists, it clinks with their every movements. Pelvin was one of the middle aged man at his thirtees who sat on the table, he had a short, scraggy, dark brown hair, the sides of his hair was well shaved, his eyes featured a playful and keen aura, his cheeks were slightly thin but his posture was burly, his limbs firm and strong.

The four men he was with had names he could easily forget, they were notorious men who steal and kill, due to circumstances he was forced to join their team. They had one common goal after all, to capture the mage, not to mention their target was no ordinary mage, she was a Pillar.

Pelvin was a man who lived his life as a merchant and from a seemingly normal family, he felt himself being out of place.

Their brazen talks involved hunting and assassinating civilians and even mages, it was quite a feat for a normal person to defeat a mage. He could never mingle well with them, but their connection were pleasantly warm, they even assisted him when he was in trouble. As much as he disliked it, he was getting close on their circle.

As for his combat experience, after the dark closure, he managed to impale several demons with his sword, he got trained by these men and he was even taught how to make a smoke bomb, they were surprisingly chill to him. He never expected it from these types of men.

These men drew their faces closer, sneaking glances to a certain table. "What should we do?" One man said.

"Ugh, let's just go there and snatch the girl." Another said.

"Idiot, if we do, we could get trouble from the men who she is with." Another added.

They stroke their bearded chins, after they were clueless, they collected their stares unto Pelvin's face.

"Hey new guy, do you have any idea?" One said.

Pelvin leaned closer. "We could just take her when she's sleeping." He said.

The faces of the men lit up, they nodded. "Of course, ha ha." One said.

Pelvin sighed, sometimes they didn't have common sense, it was a wonder how they survived this long. But in this lawless land, only these kind of people will survive, especially those who obey King Dersim's will.

The double doors suddenly got swung open, the noise lured their eyes, they stared upon a man entering, who wore a cloak as black as the void. His hood slightly bent, concealing his face underneath a pool of darkness. A shards of light richochettes over his face, revealing an obscure smirk.

The men felt a bit of uneasiness infront from his presence. "Who is this guy?"

"It's Grim." Pelvin answered.

The wooden floor creaked as he made his path upon their table, when he went close he halted behind Pelvin.

Grim cackled. "So how's your progress?" He said.

One turned his face wary unto him and then he spoke. "Ey, who the hell are you?" They carressed the hilt of their swords, readying to attack in case he might try something.

"No need to trouble yourselves, I'm a servant of his highness." Grim said.

Another took his attention. " You're going to promise us a fortune after this, ey?"

Grim's shoulders shuddered as he emmited a gremlin laugh. "His highness never lies."

Pelvin narrowed his eyes, assessing for Grim's intent. "What do you want Grim?" He said tensely.

Pelvin's face was unbothered as Grim patted his shoulder, his head followed Grim as he walked away.

"Don't fret Pelvin, you're family is safe, for now at least." Grim chortled eerily.

Pelvin clenched his fist in the most determined way. "We will definitely get that freedom." His eyes burning as he casted his tumultous iris upon Celina.

Pelvin calmed down for a moment, he then stared incredulously at Grim. "Why are you here? We're in the middle of something."

Grim cackled. "I'm just checking on you, making sure you're not escaping, Lord Vanduz paid me a hefty coins for this job after all."

Pelvin grunted.

Grim whirled, then strutted away to the door. "Well then, good bye, I still have to check the others and see how they are doing."

Pelvin clenched his fist, he scowled. "You people are gonna pay for this someday!" He bursted under his breath.

Then, the other men reached out over his shoulder. "Hey Pelvin, could you do us a favor?"

After the night became old, Pelvin sighed, he was forced to trail the girl alone, he couldn't refuse them since they have done a lot for him. And as for their business, they told him they were going to rob some houses around the village.

Thus, he was found alone on the lonely night, under a thin glow of the moonlight, which basked upon his body. His eyes careful, he clung his back upon the wall of a house, he peeked over the corner as he trailed the two. Right now, they seemed to be kissing since they were closing their faces. The pale man the girl was with, sent some shivers on his spine, his eyes were active and sharp, like a prey on high alert.

A feeling lingered on his skin, whispering on his mind that he needed to maintain distance. When he noticed they were done, the pale man seemed to be walking away leaving the mage girl on the soil, right now she was fragile as a vegetable.

A flicker of smile ran across Pelvin's face, he slinked towards the two. But he halted when the pale man returned to get her, Pelvin cursed in his head.

Right now his target was moving to an inn, Pelvin tried to remember the face of the inn, he then trotted away to call the men.

They barged in upon the inn, through the doorway, luckily the innkeeper was sleeping, they slinked across the room, their steps light and quiet. Pelvin was always behind, even though the people he was with act like buffoons, sometimes, their instincts were quite keen, so he relied on them.

The silence was still as the empty expanse of space, they could even hear their own heartbeats. Crouching across the wooden floor, they immersed themselves into the heavily dim path of the corridor, with no light source on sight, they could barely make out the doors lining up across the walls, they poked some holes with their sword upon the thin wall and peeked through. This room was empty, they proceeded to the next room, others were occupied but it wasn't the people they were expecting, one after another until they accidentally caught a glance of a couple copulating, with muffling moans roaring over their ears, they quickly lurched away.

Stumbling upon a shabby door, they noticed there were tiny cracks upon it, no need to drill a hole, all they had to do was to look over the gap. The one who took the lead positioned his eyes upon the gap, his iris roamed as he surveyed the room inside. Upon eyeing the woman on a bed, he turned his attention to the others, he smiled and gestured at them notifying they found it, they readied their crouching stance to barge inside the room.

The one who took the lead displayed his fist, then he counted, rising one of his finger every second.

"Gentlemen what brings you here." A casual voice of a man spoke.

Their eyes broadened from shock, they traced the noise which seemed to be coming from the ceiling. Upon looking up, a pale man was clinging above, with his arms spread out, pressing upon the walls and suspending himself.

He dropped himself and landed with a thud.

The men made several steps backwards, with their crouching position they could not help but tremble their legs. The pale man mustered a manic smirk, he loomed over them, shooting out shivers to their muscles, they moved one stepped backward, with fear swirling on their mind.

"Hey, what's the matter are you scared?" The pale man said.

Pelvin sneered, he recognized he was the mage's companion but he won't need to worry since he was just alone.

The men beside him quickly recovered their courage, they stood up to their full height. "You idiot, we just don't want you to scream and sound an alarm." One spoke to the pale man in an audible whisper.

The pale man chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't."

The men then snickered. "Then that's reassuring."

Their swords were hoisted on chest level, their grin wide and cunning, malintent reeked from their faces. Two of them charged forward and swung their blades, at the same time the pale man quickly dashed across them, the pale man was quicker to strike, thus their chests got cleaved open and blood bursting forth. They groaned and fell to the floor. The two left shivered their limbs. "Mo-mo- monster." He stammered.

The pale man casted his fangs upon them, he swooped to his side, lifting his jaws open then he latched his canine teeth upon a man's neck, he sapped the man's blood until his skin dry and pale.

Pelvin sneered, he turned around and quickly jogged away. He swiveled his head and tried to check the scene from behind him.

When he spectated, his companion was leaping and dove close to the pale man's back, he thrusted his sword, piercing through the pale man's head. Blood trickled down splattering the floor, turning it wet, the man was now at ease, but for some odd reason the pale man didn't back down. The pale man released his fangs from his comrade's neck, it fell down as a corpse.

The pale man turned around, he dislodged the sword stuck through his head like it didn't bother him, dropped it on the ground with a clank. Blue flames lit up upon his wound, healing the hole inflicted on his face.

"You're not an ordinary man are you?" The man said with a chaotic lips.

The pale man glowered upon him, he laughed menacingly, he dashed and swung his nails as he went through the man, with his sharp nails, he raked his gut open letting blood gush out to the floor.

Pelvin got halted when he noticed it was now only both of them who stood. The pale man turned to him, he jogged across the corridor as he rose his sharp nails like a claw.

Pelvin took a deep breath, he knew it was his end, he grabbed the necklace on his chest tight, staring at it wistfully as it reminded him of his wife.

***

The early sunlight flooded the room with its pleasant glow, illuminating every detail on every corners of the room.

Celina sprang up with a jumbled hair, her head was groggy and heavy as though her mind was being muddled. She groaned from frustration. "What happened?" She tried to recall her earliest memory, but it only ended when she started to drink her second bottle. After that, it was fuzzy, yet there were still some shards of memories left, but she couldn't clearly tell.

With a saggy face, she lifted herself up from her bed, the surface of the bed she was on felt rough, the entire room looked cheap and dingy as well. She was slightly annoyed, even if she was drunk there was no way she would choose this dirty room. After she turned her head to her right, she got completely sobered up, she noticed a chalk pale of corpses lining up upon the floor. There was only few stains of blood seen on the surface. It struck her like a rain of needles into her chest. She gasped and clamped her mouth from surprise. Her eyebrows fell down to her eyes, she became fierce as she looked at Blue.

Blue was there on the corner, who sat with his arms crossed upon his chest. Besides Blue was a frightened man, luckily he was still alive. However, this man huddled himself on the corner, his mouth quivered, his grimace crumpled and eyes sullen, as though he just saw his worst nightmare.

She dropped her weight upon the floor, then staggered like a blind person and leaned upon a wall.

Celina growled. "Blue! What did you do, who are these people?! Didn't we have a deal that you won't kill anyone while my magic is sealed." She hissed.

Blue grunted. "Make some exceptions, don't fret and make a scene here. In fact, you should be thankful, since these guys intend to take you away."

Celina stomped her foot. "Then what about him?" She pointed at the man.

He smirked amusedly. "Ah him? Since I was full, I decided to have him as a food reserve in case I get hungry."

She sneered. "Blue! Next time something happens, wake me up, I don't want you to kill anyone ever again in my presence."