Burn (Part-9)

Gyuwen. Age 9. Dead.

Momo. Age 11. Dead.

I chuckled under my breath as I pushed the shovel into the ground right beside Momo's grave.

"I just realised... We never even got their last names." I said turning to my team with a sad painful smile, a lone tear dripping down my face.

They had been watching me bury Momo, sitting quietly as I put the 11 year old girl into the ground.

"The brother... Gyuwen. He tried to protect his sister..." Sylvie said slowly.

"Which is why they killed him so brutally. Her only wish as she held on to her life... was to tell him not to worry about her." Elaina said, her head hanging low with sadness.

Sylvie looked at Elaina with a pained expression. Her eyes got teary as she imagined what Elaina just said and she dug her face into her hands at the thought of it.

Once again everything fell silent. The only sounds one could hear was the crackling of flames and the burning of wood as the village continued to burn right beside us.

"What did you find out about the village?" Ren asked, breaking the silence.

Luca tapped Elaina's shoulder as she finally looked up. They were the ones who went over to investigate what happened in the village.

Elaina was still seemingly in a daze, Luca spoke up on her behalf.

"It is as we suspected. The village was attacked by a large group of goblins."

This seemed to bring Elaina back to focus. "It is all wrong. So wrong. The attack... it was far too quick. Far too organized. This wasn't a simple rampage of bloodlusted goblins. It's clearly apparent. They knew exactly where to attack, how to close them in. The destruction of the village was a premeditated attack. They burst in, went right upto every house and dragged every person out in the open. And it wasn't just to kill them..."

Wait.

"Wait." I turned to Luca and Elaina, looking them right in the eye. "You can't possibly mean..."

Luca met my eyes with a grim expression of his own. "The bodies in the burning pile of corpses. Those are only the bodies of men. The women and children... They have been taken away."

....

THOSE DESPICABLE PESTS.

Waves of hostile magical aura started bursting out of my body as pulses. Marks on the ground started to appear in the form of ripples around me.

My sword hand trembled with rage as I reached for Lightbreak. My body itself was glowing as pure light magic started to leak out.

The feeling of Momo's cold dead body had barely left my hands and now I find out even more have been taken to suffer the same fate?!

HOW DARE THEY?!!

I was on the brink of losing all control. My body was shaking with pure rage. I could feel my wrath forming in the chaotic turmoil of mana inside me.

I rescued her, but she saved me.

My head hung low as I remembered those words. Momo, the young girl who held on to her life until the very last moment. Her smile as she left a final message for her brother.

I remember the rage she saved me from. I remember the happiness I felt when she opened her eyes to look at me.

I can't let myself be consumed by rage again.

I looked back at her grave. Even if everyone else could come to terms with what happened, I couldn't. I can never.

I can't let myself be consumed by rage. But I also can never allow myself to forget it.

"Where are they?"

The hostility of my burst of magical aura had left Elaina stunned. She finally returned back to her senses when I asked her again. "A trail of blood and footprints leads back into the forest from a different direction. That's where the villagers have been taken."

I nodded and started walking. "We are going to save them."

Luca reached out and grabbed my shoulder. "Calm down Liam. This has gotten way out of hand. We need to assess the situation. It's midnight and if there are corrupted monsters-"

How the hell can he say something like that at this point in time. I could feel my anger starting to rise up again. I couldn't believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

I turned to look back at him slowly with an expression of utter disgust and disbelief.

"Shut the fuck up. Wasting time is all you can think about. If you had just let us rush into the forest instead of wasting time carefully looking for the monsters, we could have saved the boy's life. We could have saved the girl from such a terrible end."

Luca's face hardened. "You don't know that."

"Maybe, but let me tell you what I do know. I know where the enemy is now. I know how brutal they can be. I know how many innocent lives are at stake. I know the fear they feel. And I hell as well know, I will no longer wait for anything."

"Have you fucking lost your mind?! Look around you. This mission is no longer for us. It's way above our level. There is nothing more we can do. Our mission is over. This is not what we signed up for."

I grabbed Luca by his collar. "Not what we signed up for? Is this all about quests, missions and money for you? You don't care who dies, do you? There take all my money as well. Happy now?" I threw him away and flung my money bag at Luca's face.

"That's not what he meant! Liam stop it!" Elaina cried out.

"How dare you?!" Luca lunged out with his knives, but I somehow managed to draw out Lightbreak, barely parrying his strike and pushing him away.

Swift on his feet, Luca quickly turned the momentum and dashed straight back at me for another strike. I launched toward Luca as well, going for an upward slash.

Just as our blades were about to meet, Ren appeared between us out of thin air, deflecting our blades off his metal arms and pushing us back.

"Back off Luca." He said as both me and Luca recovered our stance.

Luca turned around and walked off with a tsk.

Ren turned to me. "And Liam, clear your head. Are you sure about this?"

I put Lightbreak back in its place. Rage still burned inside me, but it wasn't because of Luca. I wanted to destroy each and every one of those monsters. "Don't doubt my resolve Ren. I can still feel the weight of the little girl's body on my arms. I can still feel her warmth on my hands. I can still feel the moment that young girl died right as she smiled at me. Tonight, I will kill each and every one of those monsters. I will do it alone if needed. I don't care if none of you join me."

With this I walk back towards the forest, following the new trail.

.

.

.

***Back in the village***

The party watched as their leader entered into the forest alone.

"That fucking idiot! Ahhhh!" Luca raged and kicked away an empty broken barrel.

Then taking a deep breath, Luca sheathed his knives and went after Liam.

Watching Luca walk away as well without another word, Ren turned to the two girls. "What do you two want to do?"

Sylvie was visibly nervous but looked at Ren with unwavering resolve in her eyes. "I don't want anyone to suffer anymore. I want to save them too."

Elaina showed no hesitation either. "We can't be adventurers in good conscience if we abandon innocent people in crisis. I am an archer, I know what I am supposed to do, and I won't fail. We were chosen by the Hero's party members. If its us, I believe we can pull it off as a team."

Ren let out a deep sigh and scratched his head. "A team huh? Hmm... I was already planning to save the villagers, but there is no way I can back down now, seeing all your resolve."

Such a flurry of emotions and resolve. This has gotten rather interesting. But even more importantly...

It was time for indiscriminate monster killing. He had been waiting all night to truly let loose.

Ren turned to the forest with a fresh smile. "Come on. Liam isn't exactly thinking straight right now. Let's go join up with him."

This will be fun, Ren thought to himself as the three of them followed after Luca and Liam.