Chapter Ten

"How do you know my name?" I asked, my voice shaking with every word.

My body froze, and my heart thumped at an incredible speed to hear this man, Nor, say my name. He continued to stare at me with his sharp eyes. They were so red it looked as if they were glowing.

"That's none of your concern, Clovius. Just know that I've kept my eye on you and your people for a very long time; now it is time you people face the consequences."

"What do you mean by consequences? What did we ever do to you?" I yelled, demanding an answer. The man pinning me down pulled my hair back, and a painful scream escaped my mouth, shutting me up. A grin formed on Nor's face, "Pretending to forget what happened sixteen years ago is not going to help you escape this situation."

"What are you talking about? My people and I lived in these woodlands forever!" I said, grinding my teeth as the pain in my head from my hair being pulled grew. Nor froze for a second. He looked genuinely surprised. "I see, well...." He pulled out a long thin sword, and the silver blade glowed white from the snow surrounding his feet. It was flawless and looked like it had just been made by the most talented blacksmith. Fear grew in me as Nor took a few steps toward me. He stopped only a few inches when his cloak almost touched my chin.

Tears poured down my face and onto the wet soil underneath. "Please... don't do this!" I whimpered. The sharp end of the sword met my sweaty neck, and Nor began to push it softly into my skin, letting a bit of warm blood roll down. I cried more and begged him to let me go and spare me, but none of my begs changed his indifferent expression. Instead, he just looked at me with those eyes as I cried in pain, like he was used to hearing the screams from his victims.

"Let me explain this very quickly to you. You and your people once lived in a village like Clacton, Dorham, Kalada, and Madgrove. Your village was named Eldham. When I took control over the villages sixteen years ago, the people of your village foolishly tried to protect their land by declaring war on them and my army. But," Nor looked at the crowd of people behind him with pride, "Your people lost so quickly against my army, and I ordered them to massacre every being in Eldham. Leaving no one to survive and to let there be a lesson for anyone who plans to disobey me."

Nor looked at me again, his expression changing quickly with a look of disgust. "Unfortunately for me, though, some of you escaped during the massacre and chose to live in these woodlands, hoping I would never find you guys" He twisted the point of the sword in my neck, blood gushed out, and more of my screams followed. "Thankfully, I found out after a couple of years. And I only waited for the perfect time to capture you guys when you were most vulnerable. So now, it is time to kill you."

Nor lifted his sword, ready to slit my throat. I screamed, and the man pinning me down pulled my hair even more. Trying to quiet me, but nothing stopped me. Then, before the sword met my throat, a loud voice could be heard in the distance. "Stop!" Nor froze, looking to the right where the voice was coming from. I looked right as well, grunting and trying to breathe. Finally, someone emerged from the trees, and to my surprise.

"Miss Mallory!" I yelled; tears flowed when I saw her. No words can describe how relieved I was when Miss Mallory showed up. She looked at Nor with a death stare; anger was visible on her face. She had a mysterious-looking sword drawn, it was a golden sword that glowed unimaginably, was transparent, and symbols were inscribed on the base of the blade. Since her arms were lifted from her cloak to hold the sword, I could see her forearm, which was covered with tattoos with mysterious and mythological designs. Her fingers were also covered with tattoos and words unfamiliar with my language.

Miss Mallory approached Nor slowly, saying, "Let the girl go and let us live in these woodlands. We are not dangerous to you and will not stop you from accomplishing your goal. We are not a threat." Nor looked at Miss Mallory, eyes widened. No words could escape his mouth for a few seconds, but then he turned to face her, pointing his sword towards Miss Mallory. "It has been a while, my friend. Or should I call you, Salamasina." He grinned as Miss Mallory grunted, "You will never call me that again. I abandoned that name a long time ago." Miss Mallory and Nor walked circularly around each other with their weapons drawn. "Why not? It suits you well." The man grinned again, "Oh, I think I know. Maybe it is because you failed to protect your people in Teirm, so you chose to live a completely different life with these strangers whom you have no relation with. Now that makes more sense, doesn't it?" With a blink of an eye, Miss Mallory darted at Nor, and their swords met in a loud burst that could be heard throughout the entire woodlands.

The sound vibration shook the naked trees and vibrated the ground below. "You have no right to speak of my past, you monster!" The people approached Miss Mallory, preparing to stop her from fighting Nor. But, instead of letting the people attack Miss Mallory, he demanded, "No, go find the rest of them and finish the job quickly. I will take care of this."

The people did just what he wanted and began to march into the cluster of trees with their weapons drawn. But one of them remained on my back, pinning me down and with his hand grabbing onto my hair.

"No! Don't touch them!" I begged, but I was ignored once again.

After the people left, Miss Mallory and Nor stood in front of each other with their swords touching the tip of each other. They soaked in silence and waited for somebody to make the first move. I could hear my heart thumping in my ears, and my nose twitched at the strong scent of iron from the blood flowing from my neck. Miss Mallory clutched her golden sword tightly, and sweat streamed down her forehead. Nor looked fearless, with no sign of discomfort to be seen. He only looked at her with a slight grin, waiting for the perfect time to attack.

Miss Mallory aimed her sword at Nor's hip as the bead of sweat met the ground. He jumped back, dodging the attack with flying colors. Miss Mallory ran up to him and yelled as she lifted her sword to strike again. He leaned left to dodge once again and found the perfect moment when Miss Mallory was vulnerable and stroked the back of her knee. She fell onto the ground, the golden sword leaving her hand. Nor stood before Miss Mallory, her face stiffening from the pain. Her body was darkened by Nor's black shadow. "No! Miss Mallory, please get up!" I begged, "Please, Don't hurt Miss Mallory!" Nor shook his head and lifted his sword, spots of blood visible on the shiny blade.

"People must pay the price for disobeying me." He penetrated the sword deeply into Miss Mallory's chest. She coughed blood as the sword slowly traveled through her chest. Blood gushed out like water, and the snow around her was the color of red quickly. I screamed as loud as I could, crying as I saw Miss Mallory being stabbed by that man. My face was covered in tears and snot.

He soon took the sword out of Miss Mallory's chest once the blade went through her entire body. The sword was a long blood stick dripping onto the ground in tiny droplets. Miss Mallory lay on the ground, motionless. I looked at her, and images of Hannah dead in that prison in Clacton flashed in my mind. "No..." I whimpered, "Miss Mallory, No!" I bawled. "You will not get away with this, you bastard!" Then, Nor walked up to me, drawing his sword at me.

"Don't worry; you will meet her soon." He lifted his sword, and I saw a flash of rage and frustration on his face.

I begged Nor to spare me again, but I could see the blade getting closer to my neck, so I subconsciously closed my eyes. And when I did so, after a few seconds, I didn't feel the blade's edge meet my neck. Instead, the air was silent, bewildered. I opened my eyes slowly and saw him frozen. With his sword stuck in the air only inches close to my neck. The other man that was pinning me down was frozen too.

"Get out of here, Clovius!" Miss Mallory called with a weakened voice. I saw Miss Mallory lifting her hand in the air, the tattoos on her palms glowing gold. "Quickly, get out of here, and find our people!" She demanded, coughing up blood as she spoke. Speechless, I crawled out of the grasp of the man pinning me down while also trying to not touch Nor who was inches in front of me.

Miss Mallory looked at me, her eyes losing their shine. "Go!" She shouts, coughing more. Without time to ask Miss Mallory how she could freeze them, I ran through the woodlands with great speed. Dodging tree branches that stood in my way and jumping past tree roots. After a few minutes, I emerged from the trees to the horrifying sight of some of my people being stabbed and punched by Nor's group of people. Blood covered the inside of the walls, and about five of my people were already dead on the ground. Blood covering their faces and entire body. I could see Andre and Signey fighting back; they looked tired and in pain. They tried to protect them with all they had, but the people were too strong.

"No..." I mumbled. I could sense a wave of fear, anger, and confusion from my people. These emotions were too strong, stronger than I have ever experienced. Usually, when I sense other emotions, they only affect me slightly. But now... I could feel everyone's emotions like they were mine, the pain those people inflicted on them, and how confused and upset my people were.

My body ached in agony, and I began to scream. Images of Hannah and Miss Mallory flashed in my mind, the emotions only getting stronger by the second. Finally, hearing my people in pain in front of me, I could no longer control them, and I fell to my knees as the pain in my body worsened.

Something told me to look at my hands as they thumped with excruciating pain. I lifted my hands from the ground, and my eyes widened when I saw my palms glowing gold. The same color as Miss Mallory when she froze Nor and the man. I shook, confused about who I was and why my hands glowed. I got off the ground, my eyes still locked on my hands. I heard one of Nor's people running up to me, and instinctively, I lifted my hand. Immediately the head of the person deformed and started to crush with blood spurting out. I could hear the disturbing sound of bones crushing and blood gushing out of that person's head. They soon dropped onto the ground, dead.

My heart thumped even faster. How did I do that? What is going on?! I asked myself.

Before I could wonder more, I heard loud and painful screams from Alea inside the cave. I could see her being knocked to the ground by one of those people, she tried to crawl away, but the person yanked back her braided blonde hair. I ran to them and did the same thing again, lifting my hand at the head and watching the skull explode. Blood flowed through the air and landed on Alea, and I. Alea froze momentarily; her eyes widened, and her mouth slightly opened, but no words could form. She looked at the dismembered body on the floor, blood pouring like water. "How did you..." she trembled.

"There is no time to explain; you must hurry and find a hiding place!" I pulled my arm out towards Alea, her eyes on my glowing hands. She paused for a moment, fearful of touching them. But eventually, she dragged her shaking hand out, and I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. I frantically looked around and pointed at the bushes far away. "Alea, hurry and hide behind those bushes!"

"But..." She shook. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me; I know what to do," I said. Alea looked at my hands and the dismembered corpse beside our feet. "Okay." She turned around and dashed at the bushes, disappearing behind them.

And at that moment, I knew just what to do. I charged at the people, lifting my hand at their heads and seeing their skulls twist and explode. Bodies met the ground one by one. My people were shaking at the corner of the cave; Andre and Signey in the front protected them and looked at me with whitened faces. They watched as I murdered the people individually with only my hands. Some could strike at my arms or legs, leaving deep cuts left to bleed. But their heads would have been crushed before they could do more to me.

After that massacre, the walls and the floors in the cave were nothing but blood, and the ceiling dripped blood onto the ground. I stood in place, bodies upon bodies of those people lying next to my feet. I tried to catch my breath and tried to understand the situation I was in. But nothing I could do would make me fully comprehend that I killed all of these people, and I had no clue how.

I slowly looked at my hands; fear and disbelief shook me. My hands were covered in blood, and the golden glow lingered in my palms. What did I do? Did I do all of this? The bodies on the ground stared back at me, and I felt nauseous and dizzy. When I started killing those people, my mind was clouded with rage that I didn't care how many of them I killed. But now, I simply can't wrap my mind around the fact that I killed them, and simply using my hands that suddenly started to glow sounded even more unbelievable. I heard Andre speak in the background, "I don't believe it... how was she able to do this?"

Tears flowed down my cheeks as that feeling grew. "Am I a monster?" I mumbled. My shoulders shook, and I fell to the bloody ground and whimpered loudly. My cries echoed inside the cave, and nothing but silence followed. As I cried, I could hear someone approaching me, and I could also listen to them sniffling.

Finally, I looked up and saw Alea standing before me. So many tears flowed down her cheeks that they glistened. "You saved us, Clovius. Without you to protect us, we all would've been dead!" Alea fell to the ground before me, hugged me, and started crying on my shoulder. "I don't care how you did it, but you saved us!" She whimpered. I hugged her back, crying with her. Then, my people at the corner of the cave walked up. I could hear Signey say, "Thank you, Clovius. You're our hero." Andre said the same thing, along with everyone else.

After hugging Alea, I got up, and we all started to head out of the cave. I held Alea's hand tightly, and comfort filled me. Not long after, my hands no longer hurt. I looked at them and saw my hands return to normal. They weren't glowing anymore but were still covered in those people's blood, which gave me a sick feeling.

When we left the cave, Alea asked Andre who was behind us. "So, where are we going now?" Andre thought momentarily, "Well... we have no choice but to find another faraway cave."

"I don't think so."

A familiar voice spoke behind the trees before us; I pulled Alea behind me to protect her. We all stood silently, waiting for whoever was inside the forest to reveal themselves. Tree branches and snow crunched beneath the boots of whoever was walking from behind the trees. When that person stepped out of the trees, my heart dropped, and my skin crawled at the sight of Nor. He held his hand out, which was glowing the same golden color. His palm was tattooed with the same mythical designs on Miss Mallory.

"It can't be...." Andre mumbled. I felt her fear like everyone else.

Nor walked forward slowly towards us, making everyone step backward. "Well, Well, Well... you thought you could run away from me, didn't you, Clovius?"

"Screw you! You are no match for us. I killed your men. Now, what can you do?" I yelled.

Nor looked at the corpses on the ground. The ground was covered with the corpses of his people, mixed with the bloody corpses of my people as well.

A flash of anger was visible, but he quickly returned to a tiny grin. "I didn't need them. It's clear to me how useless they were. But I can give it to them; they did kill some of your people."

"You..." I tried to approach him, but I was held back by Alea.

Nor chuckled at me, "Well, I think it's time I kill you and your pathetic people."

"No!!" I ran to him at full speed; Alea fell to the ground, trying to stop me. "Don't hurt them!" I screamed as I launched at him, but he dodged to the right and aimed his hand at my people, and I met the ground. Before I could get up...

It was too late.

"Tsidbadr!" He shouted.

A blinding white light exploded from his palm and dashed at my people full force; the loud sound burst into my ears, deafening me a little. The light met them like a giant sword, cutting their bodies in half. They screamed in agony as they were sliced by that mysterious light summoned by Nor. And blood added onto the ground beneath; their limbs met the ground with a loud thud. Alea met the same fate as everyone else. Her body was cut in half, and her dull eyes stared at me. Her fingers twitched, and her bloody lips moved; it almost seemed she was trying to say my name.

I stared at what could only be a nightmare before me; no words escaped, and my limbs were frozen in time by the sight of my people... dead. Massacred by the hands of Nor. There was nothing I could do at that moment but stare and feel my heart beat faster every second.

Nor looked at me, that grin still glued on his face. He looked as if he had finally accomplished his goal, my hands clenched onto the ground, dirt dug underneath my nails. He walked towards me, and I backed up without thinking. I was terrified of this man as much as I didn't want to admit it. "Stay away from me!" I begged, throwing a handful of dirt at him. He continued to walk towards me unphased.

He pulled out his sword, the blood from Miss Mallory still stuck on the blade. "No! Please, stop!" I cried. The fear of dying controlled me. Nor bent down, his face meeting mine. He stuck the sword's tip on the ground, leaving it be while he spoke to me. My chest moved up and down; his dark aura made me fear him more. "Before I kill you, I want you to answer something." His red eyes stared at me, and sweat rolled down my forehead.

"How did you kill my men?" He asked, his eyes only staring at me deeper as he waited for me to answer.

I swallowed and muttered, "That's none of your goddamn business."

Nor's face stiffened, and that same flash of anger was visible.

"I see."

He stood up, grabbing the sword swiftly. He turned around and walked away. I sat on the ground, looking at him. And before I knew it, he threw the sword at me in what felt like a second, the sharp point aimed directly at my heart. And before I could react in time, the long sword pierced through my chest and out of my back. Blood escaped my mouth.

The pain was unbearable, and warm blood poured out of my chest and back. In shock, I slowly moved my hand up to the sword. I fell onto the ground sideways, and the soil underneath became moist with my blood. I gargled the blood in my mouth. My body began to feel heavy, and I felt cold again. Nor walked towards me and bent down again to take the sword out of my body. Only resulting in more blood flowing out.

He walked away in silence, disappearing from my vision. All I saw was my dead people a couple of feet away. A sight I only saw in my nightmares. Tears poured out again, only wetting the soil even more. I'm sorry. I thought This was all my fault.

This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't left the cave to go to Clacton to meet Hannah that night. So Hannah and Cora wouldn't have died, Miss Mallory and Alea wouldn't have either, and my people wouldn't have to die the way they did.

I wondered why this man came for my people and me... why he did all of this. So many questions arose as I lay on the ground. But none could be answered.

My eyes began to feel heavy, and my breathing slowed.

I heard faint footsteps approach me; they were soft and light. They stopped somewhere near me, but I couldn't get a sight as to who it was.

But none of that mattered because before I knew it.

...I closed my eyes.