{Bad Things Happen In Threes PT-3}  

In the village square, a group of roughly 15 people lay on the ground covering themselves with hairy blankets. 

As they slept several people watched them from a distance. 

A man knocked on the door of a two-story house. It didn't take long for a red-haired man to open up revealing a room lit by a fireplace. 

"Sorry to bother you at this hour chief, but there's something not quite right. When the dragon hunters first appeared I counted 18, however, now that I recounted there seems to be two people missing." 

The chief's expression became serious and he led the man to enter his house.

"Are you certain that you didn't miscount?"

The man scratched his head as he replied in a conflicted tone, 'Well with all the commotion that had occurred when they appeared it is possible I might have made a mistake.' 

The chief sighed and nodded, "If you are not sure then we can't accuse them. If we were to mistreat the survivors we might anger Njord who brought them to us. That said have some of our people look around and see if they can find the missing men. But first, move the young ones into Neil's burrow and position men nearby, let me know when that is done. Whatever happens, we have to assure the safety of the young ones." 

The man nodded and before he walked out he turned around and with a playful tone asked, "Chief what about the copper coin per head charge of using the young boy's place?" 

Vaxner grunted as he grabbed his boots, "That money-hungry brat doesn't need to know and if he asks for it then he can pay the charge himself. Seriously how can the chief's grandson charge for his own people's safety? Just wait till he's older I'm going to....."

The man smiled and closed the door leaving his chief mumbling. 

After waiting for a bit he heard the door knocking again. 

"It's unlocked Hogvar."

'Now that the children are safe I can go and ask our guests. If they deny the having any missing men then they will have no one to blame but themsel…."

He froze when he saw that the one who had opened the door wasn't Hogvar but his grandson and Ruan. The gasping kids dropped to the floor as they tried calming their breathing. 

"Men…Raid…..They want….to raid….They tried to kidnap Ruan….and use him as hostage" 

Vaxner felt his blood boil when he heard these words. To think that the people they had rescued were thinking of harming them.

After his grandson had regained his breath he calmly explained what had occurred. While he was surprised that his grandson had killed two men what surprised him even more was the men clad in black that had knocked him out. 

"So those bastards were not spared by Njord, instead they have escaped his grasp and we have helped them. This is a mistake that we will set right, as for those men that you spoke of I have heard rumors about them. They are a very mysterious bunch that are said to be friends of dragons. I wonder if they had anything to do with these men." 

Vaxner gave his grandson a pat on the shoulder and helped him up. "For now I want you to go to that burrow of yours. The village's children are there, make sure that they are calm and safe."

Neil shook his head after hearing him, "Granpa I want to help you. If I help then it's less likely that our people will get hurt."

He laughed proudly at his grandson's bravery but he shook his head. "Don't worry if all works as I'm planning then there will be no need to fight." 

Vaxner could tell that Neil was curious but now wasn't the time. He shooed the two kids away and looked at them as they walked away into the shadows. When they could no longer be seen he walked to a nearby guard. 

"Go and wake the healer up. Tell him to prepare a sleeping potion for 16 people, one that is strong enough to knock out a whole herd of yaks." 

 A smile appeared on the guard's face once he somewhat understood what the chief was planning. "Yes chief, consider it done." 

As the man ran away the red-haired man looked in the direction where the 16 people were sleeping and he tightened his fists. 

"Just wait, I'll show you what happens when someone makes a fool out of me." 

.

.

.

Once Neil and Ruan reached his hideout a guard let them in. There they found many children rubbing their eyes after they were woken up. 

"Who is it?"

Neil looked around and found multiple silhouettes looking in his direction, "It's us, Neil and Ruan."

"Neil?"

"Neil your back!"

"What did you hunt?"

"Shhh don't be so loud people are sleeping. I was able to get some rabbits and birds but then I was scared out of the forest by two wolves. I can tell you more about it tomorrow after we finish a game okay?" 

He could see the silhouettes of the children tilt their heads as they asked almost in unison, "A game?" 

"Yeah, it's called whisper. Until Grandpa opens the door we can only whisper okay? The winner gets a drawing of...anything they want." 

"Okay!", They all replied. 

"Okay then now go to sleep, we are tired from hunting all day." 

As they were all lying down Neil looked at the ceiling door wondering what was going on and what could be happening outside. 

After a long sleepless night the door finally opened, Neil and Ruan, unsheathed their daggers. Thankfully the face that greeted them through the blinding light of the sun was his dad's face. 

"It's okay, everything has been taken care of you can all go to your homes now." 

Once they were all out the children stuck to Neil looking at him with puppy eyes. 

"Neil who won the game." 

Since they had all been silent he had no other choice. He hadn't expected that the issue would have ended without any fighting like his grandpa had told them.

"Well all of you won, looks like I'm going to be a bit busy these next few days haha. For now, you guys go home with your parents okay, start thinking about what you want me to draw. 

The children nodded and began making their way home. Neil was about to head home as well and bathe but his father stopped him. 

"I need you to follow me….your grandfather has something he wants to show you." 

As they walked towards the docks villagers dragging men through the ground could be seen walking in the same direction. Their hands were tied behind their backs with thick metal cuffs and heavy metal collars. 

He was curious what was going on but seeing his father's serious expression he kept silent. They boarded two ships and began sailing through the ocean. 

After his curiosity got the best of him he asked a villager near him. "Where are we going Galot? Are we going to sell them as slaves or something?"

He had seen merchants show up with slaves more than once so he knew that it was a thing but the village didn't agree with owning slaves.

The villager used his head to signal towards Vaxner's direction, "That's something you should be asking your grandfather." 

After sailing for nearly an hour they put the sails down. By now the men had woken up and they were struggling as they tried to get free but their legs were chained to their cuffs. 

Once the ships stopped the people gathered around their Chief who began speaking loudly. 

"Njord we have taken you offerings from you, for that we beg your forgiveness! We are here to return them as well as our compensation for our meddling!" 

With this men began to spill barrels of booze into the ocean. Then his grandfather brought out a pouch and untied it. When he flipped in spilling its contents into the ocean Neil felt like his legs nearly buckled underneath him. 

'All those gold coins!!!! What the hell are you doing!' 

After all the booze was spilled the chief signaled to have the men thrown into the ocean. Neil was about to turn around but his grandfather stopped him and told him to watch. 

"From now on you are a warrior of Reioi, death is something that you must get used to. While I don't enjoy this form of killing it must be done. One must not anger the gods no matter what."

Only after the last man drowned did the ship start to sail back to the village. As they turned Neil looked at where the 'offerings' had taken place. He could push through the killing since the men did deserve it but that wasn't what bothered him the most.

'That was a total waste of money.'