46 The Trustworthy Voice in the Mist

Belze threw another rock at the white robed man. Before it hit his face, the rock froze in midair an shattered like glass. The shards flew around and past the man.

"Belze!? What are you doing here!?" Nia shouted.

Belze was about to throw another rock, but Nia shouted, "Wait! He's with me!"

Belze froze in confusion. The silver merchant shook his head in disappointment.

"Do you really believe that this monster is 'with' you? If you plan to have that thing around you, you're a fool," the silver merchant said.

The white robed man sniffed again trying to figure out what the silver merchant was. He could smell the silver armor, but the scent inside was unknown.

"The one in silver armor... I haven't smelled your kind before. It's strange. What are you exactly?"

The silver merchant didn't reply.

"I know that this creature is dangerous, but I can control it," Nia insisted, but her voice shook. There was a sign of disbelief in herself. Within herself, everything about the white robed monster was wrong, but the small sliver of a voice that trusted in the monster's words was amplified. Its voice grew louder, but everything about it seemed wrong.

She looked back at the white robed monster. It's hideous aura. The peeling rotting flesh. His shark-like teeth gnawing themselves in insatiable hunger. The cold wind blew harder. It's hunger growled wanting to consume more. More bodies.

It's hunger could not be controlled. The moment that creature strolls into King's City, the fog would drown everything. The sun would never show itself, again. Not just over the city, but over every step that the monster takes. Letting this monster walk, let alone exist, would bring horrors to this world.

But then a voice came to her. A soothing voice.

"Do not trust the silver one. You only need yourself and the white robed man. Only togethor can you save the ones you love. Only you can save Nera," the voice said within her head.

She shook her head. It was her own voice, but she couldn't believe it.

Nia closed her eyes and remembered. Remembered the horrors she witnessed 30 years ago. Remembered her current quest. To protect her big sister Nera. She can only accomplish that by bringing that monster with her. Then, after, if she needed to defeat the dragonslayers, she would need power like the one that the white robed monster has. And the demon. The demon that wore black and red armor. She needed power to defeat it. And that power was right nex-

"Big sister Nia! Big sis, that monster is obviously trying to trick you! Even I can see that!" Belze shouted.

She opened her eyes and her thoughts of using the monster vanished. She suddenly realized that her big sister wouldn't let a malicious creature stay alive like the one next to her. It would be just another monster that needed to be hunted. The young boy was right. Belze was right. The silver merchant was right. The one voice that trusted the white robed man's words faded into the mist.

Nia looked back at the white robed monster. The fear she felt was the same when she encountered the red and black demon 30 years ago. But she couldn't run away and let fear take over her life again.

She quickly unsheathed her blade and as she did so, spikes of ice grew from the ground in front of the monster towards Nia's head. She jumped back and gave herself some distance between her and the white robed monster.

He made no sudden movements besides saying, "So, this is the choice you made. Instead of using my power to fulfill your dreams, you insist on death."

He sniffed once more and sighed in disappointment.

"So be it. Bandits, kill the boy and that silver armored thing! I will make sure that this little dragon is stacked onto the rest of the bodies, myself," the white robed man said as he turned towards Nia.

Miranda froze in fear among the mist. She didn't want to let a strong warrior go to waste, but fighting against that monster was suicide. The other bandits charged at Belze and the silver merchant. Nia turned and shouted in fear, "Belze!"

As one bandit approached, the silver merchant grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up with ease. The black void within his armor stared directly at the bandit. He threw the bandit at a group of other bandits. A whole group fell of bandits fell to the dirt, and they tried to get themselves back up. However, Belze continued to throw rocks at the fallen bandits. The boy picked up more rocks on the ground and began throwing them at the other bandits' heads.

"Don't worry about the boy, Nia. Worry about the wannabe emperor in front of you. His strength hasn't fully recovered," the silver merchant said as he shot a small ball of light at Nia. The ball hit Nia's forehead, but it didn't hurt. Instead her eyes saw clearly among the mist.

Upon hearing this, the white robed mage froze and turned his head towards the silver merchant. Questions raced in his mind. He questioned how that unknown being knew who he was. Even if he read somewhere in a history book about the white robed emperor, how would somebody thousands of years later know be able to recognize him. More importantly, how did the silver armored being know that he was in a weakened state? The white robed man knew that he himself was nowhere near the same level of power that he once had, but if the silver armored being was able to sense his magical abilities, then he would have had to compare his original self to his previous self thousands of years ago. More and more questions were raised, but with no answer. But to the white robed man, there was one question that was the most important of them all.

"What are you?" he asked quietly. As he did so, Nia charged ahead with her red blade throwing away her cloak. No longer needing to worry about Belze. No longer feeling the chill in the air. She had to remind herself that what she was facing was nothing more than a monster or a pest that had to be killed, otherwise terror would take a hold over her, again. Even if she knew that what she faced was worse than any other monster, she wouldn't acknowledge it for the fear of freezing up in the middle of the fight.

"Just a monster," she said as she leapt holding her blade tightly above the white robed monster as she burst down from above.