1 Return

The sky was as clear as a blank slate. The mountain peaks in the distance seemed to reach for the skies as the sun set slowly in the west of the outer lands. A shadow landed on the mountain peak dyed by the sunset. With a long sword by his side and a hammer-like weapon on his back, a man shrouded under a dark cloak stared intently at the setting sun beyond the horizon.

"Twelve years…"

His eyes burned with a myriad of emotions, anger bristling from his shaking form.

"Moon Empire…"

He spat the name of the empire that sat before him. The sparse lands might be its' outskirts, but he had finally reached it.

"It's been twelve long years since I left. And now I've finally returned," he let out a growl. "This time, I'll make everyone pay for what they've done to me. I'll fulfill my promise to you, Sister Elena… I will have my revenge for your sake."

Nobody had known that his revenge was going to decide the fate of the entire realm.

Jumping down the mountain, Don began walking on the only path before him. The greenery surrounding him was just as he remembered it almost a decade ago.

"Looks like outer lands didn't improve at all," he mused. "This part of the forest was inherited by White Elves. I wonder if they are still here though."

Walking through the path, Don took in his surroundings. Looking up, the setting sun beyond the horizon seemed to glimmer from where he stood. 

"It's almost night. I need to camp out in the forest and find someone to ask about the current state of the mortal realm before I make any moves…"

With a breath, Don closed his eyes as he raised his hand. Drawing the general structure of a camp through the air as the earth in front of him moved to take on an identical shape to what he set it to be. A basic mud hut erupted from the ground alongside a fire pit.

"A little clumsy-looking, but it will do for now," he scratched his head before turning his attention to his hand. Raising his knuckles to eye level, he addressed the one ring that was in between his fingers. "Hey, Knight. You done sleeping? If you don't hunt for food. we will be sleeping with empty stomachs."

In response to his words, a bright light emerged from his ring. Materializing in front of him, the light coalesced into the figure of a massive white lion with a majestic mane and angel-like wings. Muscles that screamed power and authority greeted him as the lion lazily ruffled its mane.

"Knight, shrink your form a little. I'm pretty sure if someone sees you in this size they'll freak out."

"You humans are small-minded," the creature chuckled, his deep voice reverberating through the air as he shrank his body down to the size of an average lion. "Imagine the audacity! Asking the king of the forest to hunt for you." The lion shook his head with a sigh. "And I'm an idiot for actually hunting for you..."

Knight disappeared into the forest while Don patiently waited for Knight to return. And almost an hour later, he returned carrying a bleeding beast in his mouth. The lion scoffed as he dropped his prey unceremoniously to the ground. 

"These Horned Bull Deer are pretty weak," he commented.

Don shook his head, "This place is dangerous. Don't let your guard down." 

Knight slightly nodded before sitting on the ground.

"I'll nap for a while. Watch the area for me,"  said Don,

Knight grunted an affirmative and sat near his master. Before they knew it, four hours have passed. The last vestige of the setting sun had been completely replaced with the glow of the moon as Don rested on his camp. However…

"Don, wake up. I've just heard battle sounds and cries from the deeper forest."

Knight stood up as he alerted his friend through their telepathic link. Spreading his wings and bearing his teeth, the lion waited for Don to wake up. And sure enough, Don quickly rose and sprang into action. The man rushed towards the sound, making sure to remove any traces of his dwelling before doing so.

"Don, I've searched the nearby areas with my sense of magic," Knight whispered from the back of his mind. "It appears that the sounds and heat waves are coming from afar. I'm guessing some village is being destroyed by bandits."

Don grunted in affirmation of his familiar's assessment.

"If I save that village, I'm sure they will help me get closer to my promise and revenge," he said to himself. "Knight, how far is that place from here?"

"If we fly there, we'll be there in minutes"

Without a second thought, Don hopped onto Knight's back and the lion immediately took off. Soaring through the night sky with the speed and agility of an eagle, they reached the village in no time.

"It seems like this is a White Elves' village" Don could see the elves down as well as a few humans.

"The attackers look like humans."

From their vantage point, it was clear that the humans were overwhelming the white elves. The White Elves might be skilled archers, but even they cannot hope to defend their village and children against sheer numbers.

Simply put, the elves had no hope of winning this battle.

The bandits were attacking the village from all sides. A few groups were setting the houses on fire, while the others seemed to focus more on herding the elves into the slaughter. And amid the battle, a group of elven children seemed to be looking to fight back.

"If you take one more step, I'll kill you all!" A brave elven child screamed, waving a stick that they had clearly just picked up from the ground.

"You filthy brat! What're you gonna do with that small stick?" One of the bandits grinned. "Let me show you a real weapon before I kill you!"

The bandit then drew his longsword, its bloody edge still dripping with the blood of his victims. The children shivered at the sight of the weapon, immediately praying to the gods as they seemed to accept their fate.

"This is where you're gonna die, brats."

The bandit was about to swing when suddenly, a swirl of wind crossed the bandit's face. Looking down the unaware criminal saw a hand holding a sword rolling on the ground. It was only then that he started to scream as the pain came in full force.

"You should have picked someone of your own size, instead of these children." A calm yet murderous voice reverberated the area

The other bandits were clueless about what just happened while the bandit that lost his hand clutched at his stump screaming bloody murder. In front of them, Don had appeared seemingly out of nowhere between the bandits and the children.

Don turned towards the children and patted the head of the brave child with the stick, "You did good, kid. Now let me deal with them" Don said

"and stay behind this wall."

The children were relieved but at the same time, confused. After all, where was this wall that the man was talking about? 

As if to answer the unspoken question, Don lifted his hand, like the camp from before, a wall sprang up from the ground to shield the children from the coming dangers.

"Being strong does not give you the right to bully the weak," Don turned to the bandits, waves of killing intent rolling off of him with each word. "This is why I hate your kind the most."

The newly one-armed bandit was intimidated. Looking around, the rest of the bandits seemed to have gotten the memo as they all gawked at Don.

"W-what are you idiots looking at?!" the handless bandit screamed in panic. "K-kill him and the brats! Slice them up!"

The bandits hesitated for a brief second before wasting no time to try and kill the offending warrior before them. However, the moment they came closer, a giant fist made of earth seemingly came out of nowhere and blasted the bandits through the trees. With the force of the attack, the bandits stood no chance.

"W-what in the world?!" The bandits were stunned. They had never seen such spell and shocked by the speed of his casting.

As the bandits were in disarray, Don looked up at the sky to see Knight flying towards him

A command formed at the tip of his tongue, a sense of assured satisfaction forming as he moved his lips.

"Knight, attack all the bandits. Don't show them any mercy."

At his command, the two of them immediately sprang into action. Slaughtering and maiming every bandit they came across, they swept through the village with a vengeance. Eventually, Don reached the center of the village where many of the men and women were bound and gagged. Beyond the group, a rather large man with a cut on his face seemed to be fighting with a lone elf.

Wanting to assess the situation, Don hid in the shadows.

"Hmm... Looks like he is the leader of the bandits," he inferred. "And who's the white elf fighting him? He might be good at long-ranged combat but he surely cannot win against that guy in a melee." 

Don watched on as the fight seemed to deteriorate against the elf's favor. 

"Based on his shape, I'll have to intervene if I wanted this guy to live. I'm counting ten bandits including the big one. Although, their equipment looks different than the rest of the bandits I've killed…"