Shadows Within

The interest of the bandit leader in Draven's power level makes Arthur wonder about it, but he does not lose focus on the important now: the bandits.

Those two members of the group tell everything they know about the village to their leader, but he continues to look at them with an expression of disappointment.

"Why did it take you so long to come back??" He asks, angry. "Is it because of these guys?"

"Yes, yes,"

"Well that,"

The two nod quickly. "We were fighting... a tense battle!"

These men do not realize how bad they are at lying

"And how did you come out alive?" the leader asks.

"..." The duo can't think of anything quickly.

So, the leader draws his own conclusion. "They let you out, didn't they?"

"..." The lack of response from the duo makes it clear what happened.

At that moment, the leader looks at the trail in the direction that Draven and Arthur are, making the father and son duo think they have been discovered.

"How would this guy know??" Arthur is confused but does not make any movement, still hidden behind the trees.

But they calm down when they realize that the bandit leader did not notice them and just looks at the trail.

"These guys might be following you," The bandit leader comments and casts an even more disappointed look at the trio.

His gaze falls especially on the third member of the group, still lying on the ground due to his wounds.

"Look at you, a useless son of a b…" The leader finishes speaking and spits on the injuired man.

The other members of the trio try to help their friend get up. "I think the boy hurt his internal organs, Boss..."

"Yes, Boss, he can't do anything." The other also tries to defend his partner.

"That's what it looks like," the leader speaks in a cold tone and then grabs his spear that is stuck in the horse's saddle; it's evident what he's going to do.

"No, Boss!"

"Please, Boss!!"

The two thugs beg for mercy for their friend, but the bandit leader plunges the spear into the wounded man's skull.

The blade enters easily like a knife in butter and kills the poor man instantly.

"I'm not going to waste the few remedies we have on this trash!" The leader speaks in a loud tone for all other bandits to hear.

Then he points the blood-soaked spear at the other two members of the trio. "Take his body to the camp... and you'd better not disappoint me again."

"Yes, Boss!" Both nod and quickly begin to pull their friend's body along the trail.

They know that opposing their leader in any way will only result in their death or worse.

From behind the trees, the father and son duo see the whole scene.

The usual sparkle in Draven's eyes fades a little as he can't help but wonder how that guy's life came to this end.

"What kind of things he went through… what kind of things were done to him… and what he did to to others… to end up like this?"

Draven wonders if something could have been done for that man not to become a bandit, or if his destiny was sealed when he was born with something dark inside him.

When thinking about such a thing, he can't help but look at Arthur and also wonder if there is something dark inside his son that could lead him to a similar path.

Arthur notices his father's gaze, but he can only get confused. "???"

"This is the first time you've seen someone die, you idiot." Nyx comments in Arthur's mind.

"Oh!" Arthur now understands why his father is gazing at him, probably looking for some sign of pity or empathy in his eyes.

Arthur would like to be able to pretend to be sorry for the dead bandit and appear like a normal person, but he does not have such ability.

He is sorry indeed, but he is sorry for not being the one who took the life of that man with his own hands.

"What did it help me holding back if his destiny was already sealed anyway?" He asks Nyx as if asking himself.

"If you can't seem sorry, try to look angry then," Nyx suggests. "Just don't show your most cold side to your father, or he will only get more concerned."

"Since when did you start giving me family counseling?" Arthur asks in a teasing tone, although he is really grateful to her for caring about him.

"I got tired of seeing you messing up because you don't understand the people around you," She also responds in a teasing tone. "I am inside you, but I understand them better than you, baka!"

Arthur feels like laughing, but he manages to stay serious because Draven is still looking at him.

"Look," He whispers to his father and signals with his head in the direction of the bandits.

Draven looks there and sees the bandits on alert, looking at the road and the surroundings while the leader does the same.

"Have they really been followed, Boss?" One of the bandits asks.

The Boss looks carefully at the forest, but you can't see anything inside because the moonlight is blocked on the top of the trees, only illuminating the middle of the trail.

"If they come to us alone, they will only be seeking death," The leader comments arrogantly.

Then he looks at some bandits. "Stay here and watch the trail."

Those men are not stronger than the trio, so they are afraid to face the people who left their partners like that.

"A bunch of useless..." The leader sighs and points to more bandits, totaling a group of ten. "Try not to be scared of your own shadows, cowards!"

The group feels more confident being ten, so the leader leaves them and follows the trail with the rest of the bandits.

From behind the trees, Draven approaches Arthur and whispers to him. "We need to understand what's going on here before anything else."

"Isn't it obvious?" Arthur asks and quickly continues. "They are bandits and will certainly want to pass through the village to steal what our people have!"

"Or maybe they are leaving and going far away from here," Draven comments. "We need information, not assumptions."

"I see," Arthur agrees because, as Liam, he also preferred to trust facts rather than assumptions. "What's the plan?"

Draven quickly responds. "We need to interrogate one of them."

"Nice!" Arthur agrees immediately; after all, Liam was a master in the art of interrogation.

But thinking about his memory of that, he realizes that Draven definitely would not like Liam's methods.

He tries not to think about it now for the group of bandits on the trail. "Them?"

"No," Draven quickly denies. "They are ten and scared; there is no way we can grab one of them without the others noticing, and it would get out of control."

Arthur is sure that Draven could handle those ten bandits with just one swing of his sword.

But he is not upset with his father for not wanting to massacre people in cold blood; in the end, he would not want his father to be broken like Liam.

"So?" He looks at Draven curiously.

"I'm going around to find one of them alone," Draven explains. "Can you keep an eye on these ten?"

Arthur nods. "Sure."

But Draven seems thoughtful and concerned. "I mean, just watch and not kill, do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure," Arthur nods again.

Draven can't understand how Arthur is so calm after seeing a man die.

He is increasingly sure that there is something dark inside his son, but that only makes him concerned about his well-being and does not make him love Arthur less.

"Alright," Draven pats Arthur's head affectionately before leaving.

He goes deeper into the forest to bypass that area and approach the bandit camp without being seen.

Arthur keeps his senses alert, but as the group of bandits is not going anywhere, he sits behind a large tree and just listens to them.

"Damn, why did Boss leave us here..."

"It sucks indeed, but nothing can be done..."

"Ahhh, I'm hungry..."

"I don't know how long I can last eating squirrel bones..."

"I doubt there are any more squirrels around here."

"Really? So what are we going to eat then? Grass??"

"We are men, not animals..."

The bandits' conversation is quite ridiculous, but then one of them says something that catches Arthur's attention, not in a positive way.

"Are you guys idiots? Didn't those two mention a nearby village?"

"Oh, really... I bet the Boss is already planning to pay them a visit."

"Hehehe... it's going to be a mess like in the last village..."

All ten men react the same way, showing sadistic and malicious smiles.

Arthur is not seeing those expressions, but he can feel the wickedness in the tone of those men.

"Ah, I can hardly wait... it's been so long since I ate real meat."

"I don't care about eating grass as long as I have a woman to warm my bed!"

"Don't you have one already??"

"That one? Oh, no, she's already broken..."

"What a pity, but it's your fault for lending her to everyone."

"What's my fault? We only took twelve women from the last village, how could they last long being used by eighty men every day???"

"I guess so..."

"No problem, we'll get more in this village, this time at least more than twenty!"

"Ah, I can already imagine..."

Those men won't stop talking about their cruel and sadistic desires without knowing that every word spoken by them is bringing out the darker and more violent side of Arthur.

Behind the tree, he tries his best to keep his dark side from taking control, but at the same time, he feels that this part of him is not irrational.

On the contrary, the more he listens to those bandits, the more he is sure that they deserve to die.

Arthur loves his current life and doesn't want to lose it by becoming someone like Liam again.

Liam only killed because everything was taken from him, and only shadows and violence remained in his heart.

But Arthur has the love of his family, a new life, a new chance, so things don't have to go that way...

But while listening to those bandits talking about the cruel things they want to do to the women of the village, which includes the sweet Margaret, Arthur becomes increasingly furious.

"You want to kill them, don't you?" Nyx's voice sounds in his mind.

"So badly…" Arthur responds honestly.

"So why don't you kill them?" Nyx speaks in a calm tone. "They deserve it."

Arthur wonders about that. "Liam killed because he had to... I don't want to be like that..."

Nyx materializes her body in front of Arthur and starts to caress his face. "It won't make you like him..."

"But-" Arthur tries to argue.

But Nyx seals his lips with a gentle kiss before looking into his eyes. "Liam was like that because he had no one... you can kill as many as you want; I will never leave your side."

As Liam, he never thought that someone would accept his broken and dark heart, but even having that part of his still inside him, Nyx accepts Arthur as he is.

He can't help but like her even more...

"Nyx!" Arthur exclaims her name mentally and kisses her lips.

She feels her heart beat faster, and shyness begins to become a problem, but she contains the urge to flee and responds to his vigorous kiss also with a passionate kiss.

"Also, don't worry about what your family will think of you," She says in his mind while kissing him. "They are your family, and they love you."

"Even though Draven has his solid morals, he would never reject his beloved son just because you don't mind killing this trash that shouldn't even be considered human…"

Nyx's words make more and more sense to Arthur. And he becomes more and more grateful for her being with him, helping him so much.

"Liam killed out of hatred..." She comments in a kind tone. "You may kill out of love… because you love your family and the good people of the village..."

"Yes..." Arthur agrees. "This is killing to protect... to protect life... of those who deserve it."

"Exactly," Nyx stops kissing and holds Arthur's face, looking into his blue eyes. "You don't need to fear being who you truly are."

"I made my decision," He speaks determinedly. "I'm going to kill them."

"I'm with you… the whole time!" Nyx exclaims and then brings their faces even closer, containing her shyness to whisper in his ear like a true demoness.

"So... kill them all!"