Chapter 5 : Awek

The baby suddenly stopped crying after he heard footsteps, as it curiously listened in to the new traveller that had arrived.

Since it had never seen its mother, it would be a lot easier to tame.

However, their instincts are strong.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WheNZTM-RO0)

it would pose a problem for him when it grows up, but for now, Ajel sighed and walked over to the mother's corpse, which had blood seeping from it on each side.

The hunter was an expert, it seemed.

Going and attaching the one-handed crossbow, Ajel examined the body and determined what type of materials he could fetch from it.

Collecting some of its meat and a large portion of its scales, he placed it in the backpack the hunter had before picking the baby up.

The foreign person made the baby cry, which made Ajel groan out in an annoyed manner.

He hated children.

It was ironically poetic.

His parents were killed by Silverwing, and yet now he finds a Silverwing without a parent and decided to keep it.

He's going to be sent to hell one day.

But he still has a lot more to do ln this life.

His eyes darkened as he looked down and fed some berries to the little Silverwing raptor.

And yet the crying had to cease.

This made Ajel rub his head in confusion as he slowly got an idea.

Maybe it wanted to sleep?

Picking it up, Ajel cradled it like a baby as it finally started to calm down and fall asleep.

Slowly sighing, Ajel cut more cloth out of the man's shirt before bundling up the Silverwing like a baby and putting its small body bundled on him.

since he had the backpack on and it was full of materials, it had no room for the little Silverwing.

For now, he just needed to continue alongside the mountain and-

the sound of whistling caused him to stop in his tracks, as he slowly used his spear to inch behind a tree and observe.

It was an old man.

His hairs were grey and he walked with a cane.

He observed the corpse of the greying, before going and examining the body of the Silverwing.

"Mhm..." The old man observed the body, before finally saying. "Come on out."

Ajel's body went cold as he instantly got saw through.

FUCK!

if he would have gone another route, he could have possibly saved himself.

He looked down to his leg, before hastily attaching the spear to his back and finding some stick to use.

Ajel propped up his body, before coming out of the treeline.

"Hmmm, too young to be a hunter, the wound is quite old, and ugh, your eye." He savagely critiqued his injuries. "Where are you going, boy?"

"To Everpeak, sir."

"And what's that you got on that bundle?"

"A Silverwing. I found it here, crying. It seemed its mother got hunted."

"Mhm.." The man's eyes sharpened.

"Are you..... a mage?"

"No."

"Have you ever killed someone?"

Ajel's body froze again, before shaking his head.

"Yes."

The man's eyes sharpened, with a red gleam in them that made Ajel's body shrivel up.

"Was it justifiable?"

"Absolutely."

His cold expression suddenly turned warm again, as he said. "Come with me, I will escort you to Everpeak. I live there with my daughter."

What type of person escorts somebody that had killed someone?

it seems sketchy, but if he detected him...

"You were lying about not being a mage? weren't you." The old man said. "Us Hillby folks don't care about that."

Although what he said was plausible, it did nothing to soothe the suspicion in his heart.

"How did you detect me, sir?" Ajel asked with intent, seeing if he could get an answer to improve his skills.

"Now is not the time." The old man suddenly said, before changing the conversation. "I nearly forgot to introduce myself! I'm Awek, Everpeak's doctor and crafter."

"Im-" Ajel cut himself off before Awek cut him off.

"Just tell me who you are. I seriously don't care. Aslong as you are not a threat to the village, we won't do anything to you. That's the rule of the village."

"Ajel."

"Good, good," Awek said before from the direction he came from.

"Now, now, what about that spear at your back? was it aimed at you?"

"No."

He must have some power relating to lies, and if he detected him, he's either someone highly trainer or a mage. Probably both."

The fact he could see the spear that was completely concealed scared him, and he started to think about it.

If he wanted to, he could probably kill him.

Saying that it was a low bar to kill a cripple with one leg and no eye.

"I see," Awek muttered.

Awek was certainly nothing too out of the ordinary.

Green eyes and dark brown hair, which were classic highlands features that even Ajel and Elan-

...

"We are here now."

Everpeak wasn't certainly a small town, but it paled towards the larger Uwendale, which had been split into two sections.

This was just one of the sections.

It was built on a cliff, and had natural coal, iron and-

"Petricide mines are around here," Awek muttered. "Luckily they are on the other side of the mountain, but you should be careful with that spear."

The culture of Everpeak was much like one of the merchant villages of Uwendale, with stalls and stores set up alongside the cliff.

Strong metal held the village up, with stone steps carved out to get to the higher points of the village.

"Let me help you."

Awek got carried up the cliff by the man , who didn't even use his walking cain.

Little Silverwing didn't appreciate the sudden movement, so it cried.

And Ajel wanted to join it.