17 The Night Which Began All

The cave trolls, now drenched in the sanguine aftermath of Sigrid's dark magic, stood in a nightmarish display of agony. Their once imposing figures were now reduced to staggering, crippled forms, each troll desperately clinging to the fading embers of life. In this dark theater, an onlooker might envision a sinister deity, cloaked in veils of shadows—a malevolent goddess whose breathtaking beauty belied the overwhelming power that now subjugated the feeble mortals beneath her.

"I'm quite sad that the troll did not manage to kill you off,'" Sigrid mocked Jerome, who was still looking at the miserable trolls. "Be thankful, if Oliver wasn't here now you would be one-armed, Jerome," Sigrid continued poking fun at the large black man.

Jerome fixed his sight on the emerald eyes of Sigrid, blood pumping inside his body as he continued looking at this now-married captivating woman, his predatory gaze lingering on Sigrid's graceful physique hidden under dark mage robes. Jerome sneered, in response to Sigrid's taunts, his eyes never leaving her body.

"I knew my best buddy Oliver had my back. So, I let myself be a little wild, little witch." Jerome countered Sigrid's taunts as he cracked the knuckles of his healed arm.

Oliver, who rushed to his wife's side, hearing Jerome spouting such things, joined in the altercation.

"Jerome, first of all, who let you call Sigrid like that? And, also, I'm not your buddy you bastard." Oliver spoke calmly with some irritation mixed in his voice. "I know you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, but you should still understand that if I did not heal that injury, you would have lost your arm for good. Even the most skilled healers in my family wouldn't be able to fix such an injury after a few hours have passed."

Sigrid continued her attack on Jerome. "You heard my husband, shut the hell up and be quiet Jerome…"

Jerome just crossed his large arms on top of his chest and looked at the miserable corpses of their attackers, cave trolls. Looking uninterested, he looked even a bit bored, like nothing of major importance had happened at all. Ignoring the attacks from the couple, Jerome mused to himself for a second, taking a glimpse at Sigrid who had a flushed face and was tapping her feet overly energetically on the ground, kicking a bit of dust. Jerome still crossed his arms and flexed them even more, which accentuated his rippling muscles hidden behind his black skin.

"Sure… I can shut up. But I see that you have a lot of energy, kicking up so much dust, I know I'm quite hot, if you wish for a dance so much you could just ask, you know." Jerome just laughed, ignoring the presence of Oliver as he teased Sigrid.

Seeing that Jerome was not only backing down and apologizing but instead even teasing her in such a way made Sigrid perfect eyebrows rise as she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles began to whiten.

"I wouldn't dance with you in a thousand years, you brute." Sigrid spat out.

"Are you sure about that?" Jerome smirked.

Oliver, feeling like the situation was spiraling out of control, decided to stop the arguing. He stepped in front of fuming Sigrid, taking a protective stance and looked straight at Jerome.

"Next time don't be so sure about your buddy having your back." Oliver calmly stated and then directed his eyes to his wife. "And you Sigrid, calm down, now is not the time and the place."

Sigrid sweetly smiled at Oliver for a quick moment and continued looking past her husband at Jerome with a deadly stare, waiting for his response.

Jerome just shook his head a little while raising his hands as if he was giving up.

"Come on guys, I'm just joking, we are in this together, right? Just like my buddy Oliver just said we should calm down and reorganize. So, I suggest we set up a camp around here as it is pretty late and wait for the dawn. What do you say?" Jerome's deep voice reverberated through the dark forest.

"Humph." Sigrid turned around "Let's go set up our tent, Oli."

As Oliver and Sigrid started choosing the spot for their tent, Jerome spoke once more, now in a more serious and direct voice. "After you set up your tent and rested for a while, come to me, Oliver, we need to discuss what just happened and what we shall do from now on."

Jerome turned his back to the couple and moved away, his dark frame absorbed into the chilly darkness of the night.

Sigrid in an aggressive manner also spun around, now facing Oliver, anger and frustration etched on her mesmerizing face. "He still orders us to come to him now... but I guess we don't have a choice…" Sigrid furrowed her brows, seemingly lost in her thoughts for a second. "This encounter was quite unexpected. It seems like grandpa Aldis pushed us here for a reason, and no wonder he even thought of grouping us up with that intolerable bastard."

Oliver nodded to his wife, who now cloaked in the embrace of darkness, looked like a princess of demonic beauty. "Indeed, I thought it was weird that Elder Aldis would give us a mere task of helping some farmers. He knew this would happen, and that's why he also invited Jerome, as both Sigrid and I are ranged mages and we have trouble if nobody takes the front for us." Oliver mused to himself before letting out a slow and loud sigh. "Listen, Sigrid, something shady is definitely brewing here; you should rest, especially after condensing so much of your magic, and regain your mana." Oliver lovingly whispered to Sigrid as he petted her silky black hair.

The husband and wife embraced each other, examining their eyes full of deep love for one another, their lips meeting in a soft kiss.

From then on, Sigrid grabbed some rations to munch on, Oliver swiftly constructed their tent, providing them a warm recluse from the cold winds of the night.

Unfortunately, as Oliver and Sigrid entered the tent, which they had started to consider a home while on their travels, slight exhaustion crept into their minds and bodies. Understanding the grievousness of the situation and one missing enemy, even if he really did not want to do it, with the support and encouragement of Sigrid, Oliver went to Jerome's tent where they agreed for an unprecedented and unexpected agreement to join forces which, when revealed to her, shocked Sigrid like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Holding her dear husband's hand, Sigrid's mind went through a journey of her memories caused by the shock of a newly formed alliance between them and Jerome, the man of tall and broad stature and black skin who stood in her memories only after Oliver. When she realized this, Sigrid could not comprehend why he occupied such a part of her mind... But she dared not to venture into these thoughts, as she was confused, embarrassed and even angry at herself for thinking of Oliver's nemesis in a high regard. But as she felt the loving warmth of Oliver's hand in her own and looked at his handsome face lost in deep musings just as she herself was moments ago she smiled and told Oliver in her melodious voice. "I love you, Oli."

Oliver, as if woken up by these words, formed a sly smile and pounced on top of his lovely wife.