Unexpected Circumstances

The tavern had grown quiet, Idris's words lingering in everyone's ears. Everyone had turned to pay attention to the conflict. Even the bartender was quiet rather than trying to break up the fight.

The man had grabbed his gut with a grimace clear on his face. His hazel eyes flicked up to Emre and Idris as he pondered his next actions. While in most cases, the other party members might come to their friends' rescue, his were not. They were simply watching with hidden expressions, save for one who was not wearing a hood. That one actually looked amused.

"Are you deaf?" Idris's cold voice was impatient.

Emre crossed his arms as he looked down at the man. His brows were raised in amusement.

Ragan then stood up, also revealing his true aura in the process. Emre kept his hidden, but seeing as how two people as strong as the man were now pressuring him, he took a step back at first. He only turned around to sulk back to his party after clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Good riddance." Emre muttered as he turned and sat back into his seat.

Emre crossed his legs as Idris also sat back down with a grunt. Ragan let out a sigh and followed suit. Both of their auras quickly reverted back to average levels and Killan happened to let out a small laugh.

"I've never seen you get that angry before." He commented to Idris.

"He simply gave the man what he wanted." Emre spoke up before Idris could respond. "A fight."

"I wouldn't call that a fight. It was more like Idris and Ragan showing him who is boss." Gerrar added on with a laugh.

Idris shrugged in response. He seemed to not have much to say now. The hostility he was showing was completely gone and he had returned to his aloof nature. To be honest, Emre was feeling quite ecstatic about the situation. The amusement he felt as the guy crawled back to his party was almost laughable.

He had never really gotten into fights in his past life, but when he did he would usually fight with his words rather than fists. Of course, now that things were different, fighting with his fists might not be so bad. Unfortunately, he had lost his chance because Idris had got irritated quicker.

Emre was curious as to what they were snickering about in the first place, but he wouldn't dare go wondering now. As he turned his attention toward them once more, he could see the man Idris had kicked glaring straight at them as his team members began to talk to him. Heh. A smile graced his handsome features and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Emre, let's not provoke them more." Ragan spoke up, noticing Emre's smiling face.

Emre put his hands up. "I only smiled."

Ragan let out a sigh in response and simply took a drink of his ale. Looking around the table, almost everyone was finished eating already and Conin was still slowly eating some fresh bread. Conin kind of gave Emre shy kid vibes, but it was hard to actually tell what his age was.

The situation didn't seem to taper their energy. They all seemed to be in pretty good spirits, aside from the nervous Nalia. Then again, Nalia always seemed nervous. She probably fought okay despite her nerves due to her mana pool. It wasn't that much lower than Killan's but it wasn't very high either.

In fact, Conin's mana pool seemed a bit stronger than hers now that Emre was really looking. He could see Gerrar's mana was actually the lowest, but then again, he seemed more like a tank than someone who would cast magic. Given by the shield he wore on his back, he was likely the one who used his large frame and big muscles to guard his party during battle.

Little things like this were nice distractions to the looming danger that was likely going to be here any day. Plus he managed to get along with these people as well. He just hoped that when it did come down to battle that they would all come out of it okay. They seemed like strong people, after all. He shouldn't worry much.

"Hm, well I think it's about time we got back into training!" Killan said, stretching out his arms as he stood up from the table. "Besides, I want to see Idris and Ragan spar." A grin formed on his face.

"Well, aren't you eager?" Ragan chuckled as he followed suit.

It didn't take long for them to arrive back in the same spot in the clearing as before. Emre sat in the soft grass and much to his surprise Conin plopped down next to him with Gerrar on Conin's other side. Conin turned his head to smile up at Emre before paying attention to Ragan and Idris.

They had both unsheathed their swords. Ragan's was wider and looked heavier while Idris's was thinner and looked more versatile. They took up different stances, and to be honest, Emre was mostly watching to see Idris's moves. He knew Ragan could handle himself so he wanted to see how well Idris would fare against him.

Giving each other a nod, the two got started without hesitation. They both sped forward, meeting in the middle with the thudding sound of the two swords clashing after being dulled with mana. Each clashing was so quick that Emre was barely able to see their movements.

Idris's footwork was unique as he tried to get through Ragan's defense. It had easily turned in Idris's favor due to his quicker speed. At this point, Ragan was just mostly defending as he waited for an opening. It was quite interesting to watch, especially as Emre was trying to memorize Idris's movements.

As he was focusing, the battle was definitely at a standstill, but neither were breaking a sweat quite yet. It was more of a battle of analysis right now. They were each trying to pick out their weaknesses with each meeting of the swords. It was very hard to tell who would win at this point.

'...oming…' A faint voice drifted into his head.

He tensed up and he watched as Idris's movements faltered all the sudden. There was shock prevalent on his face. Unfortunately, Ragan saw this as a strange opportunity to finally get a hit in. Emre scrambled onto his knees.

'Stop!' He called into Ragan's mind right before his sword went to strike Idris.

'...hey're comi…' The voice whispered into his head once more.

A feeling of dread pierced his chest as he hurriedly stood up. Ragan had quickly stopped and lowered his sword and looked toward Emre in surprise. Idris, as well, was looking toward Emre with an odd look on his face that no one in the party had ever seen before.

'What?' Ragan asked with the Telepathy still connected.

He ignored Ragan as his eyes locked with Idris's. The voice… it was trying to say 'they're coming' right?

'Emre, you heard that, right?' Idris asked with Telepathy.

'Yeah…' He responded.

The party seemed confused at Emre's panicked actions and the sudden halt of the spar. Idris's flustered face was even more confusing to them. What had happened to cause Idris to falter during a spar?

That was when they started hearing yelling and shouting from a distance. What the hell was going on?

"Something is happening." Emre voiced out as he turned his head toward the village.

The yelling was coming from the village, or perhaps the other side of it. It was hard to tell. The soldiers were stationed outside the village so it wouldn't be surprising if they were the ones yelling. Was it about to start? Were the corruptions finally here?

"Emre—" Ragan was cut off.

"I'm going."

With those quick words, the wind began to form at his feet and he began to speed across the clearing toward the village. He needed to know what was going on. Without any additional words to the party, Idris followed suit. Although, he was much slower since he wasn't using wind magic to aid him.

"What the hell?" Killan voiced his confusion as he watched the two begin to run off.

"Let's follow them." Ragan's voice was gruff as he also sped off using the wind to his favor.

The party began to run after as Emre already arrived at the village. Soldiers were coming in telling all the villagers to go back to their homes and hide. Yes, it was definitely happening. The dark creatures had finally arrived.

The villagers were ushering their families to their homes as fast as possible. Luckily, due to the calmer demeanors of the soldiers, no mass panic was ensuing. They were doing their job well as they urged people to barricade their doors and windows until the danger was gone.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the village, the soldiers had already begun to take up battle formations to protect the village. 300 people and yet Emre couldn't help but think it wouldn't be enough. With the strength of the larger ones, surely they could take out several normal soldiers with ease before being taken down.

Using a boost of wind and the aid of some crates, he propelled himself onto a roof. With a higher vantage point, he stared out toward the quick-moving soldiers and to the forest beyond. His blue eyes scanned the foliage and tree line, searching for the familiar sight of the dark forms.

Then he saw something running out, but it wasn't a dark creature. It was a human wearing leather armor as they sped toward camp and beelined for a heavily armored man just inside the formation. Emre could tell by the white feather on the helmet that it was Carlowe even from this distance.

Emre then heard the tapping of shoes as someone joined him on the roof. He decided not to look over as he continued to scan the treeline. He knew they were coming, but they hadn't even left the treeline yet. It was very annoying not being able to see their forces.

'We're staying back here to protect the villagers.' Idris reminded him.

Idris was able to see Emre's restlessness as he stared out toward the forest.

'I know…'

'Will you use your radiant magic?'

'No. Not unless I think I need to.'

He had to trust that these soldiers could fight well and were strong enough like Carlowe had claimed. Hanging back was the safest option for him and the others.

Even so…

Even if he knew that he still felt something tugging at him. Like a rope tied around his waist, pulling him to go forward instead of staying back. The feeling was going against his thoughts, and it made his skin prickle. Perhaps it was the bitter knowledge that the urge was only caused by the fact that he was most likely brought into this world just to help kill these things.

'Let's go down.' Idris said as he turned around.

Emre nodded despite his thoughts and started to turn. Then it was dread. Like a wave of death had just smacked him from behind. Turning back, he watched the tree's part followed by the loud sound of snapping wood. With a groan a tree plummeted to the ground, a giant print of blackness sizzling off its bark.

Idris had turned back as well. His hand was pressed on his chest and his face held a look of grimace. Emre felt his own heart begin to thud and for the first time in a while, he felt fear bubbling up in his chest. With his eyes glued onto the trees, he watched as a massive form began to push aside another tree.

Black oily smoke roiled off of it like it was a dense flickering fire. The leaves that the smoke touched would start to wither and the grass around its feet began to die.

Emre had been expecting the 7-foot pug-faced monster. He thought that was the biggest dark creature that he would have to worry about. But no… this creature exerted such a strong feeling of death that Emre and Idris could feel it from here.

It was at least… 9-foot tall. It stood on four long, thick legs. Shaggy black fur covered its entire being and its tail was at just about the same length as its long body. It had versatile hands and wasted no time in pushing another tree to the ground through brute strength.

The cavalry's horses began to panic at the appearance and even the foot soldiers wavered as the wave of pure dread met them. Emre couldn't even see any dark creatures behind it. It was only making its presence known for now.

'Emre…' Idris's voice was uneasy.

Emre was about to respond as the dark creature opened its mouth, a long muzzle parting to reveal rows of sharp black teeth. A loud booming cackle emitted from its maw. Its red eyes squinted as if it were happy.

"What a pitiful show of force…" Its deep, rough scratched voice echoed throughout the area.

A cacophony of shock and horror spread throughout the soldiers. Morale was quickly crumbling.

"Don't listen to it! It is just trying to cause fear!" Carlowe's loud voice quieted the people. "Do not let your guards down!"

Another deep laugh escaped its jaws as it took up a solid stance in front of the treeline. A toothy grin curled upon its features and its gaze tilted toward the village.

"I will be waiting here. Come when you are able." It spoke again. "For now… I shall get the rest of you all started."

A bellowing roar suddenly came from inside the trees behind the large dark creature. Another roar followed it from another direction and another. Roar followed by roar, soon all one could hear from the forest was one big immense sound.

Then the trees began to shake as movement inside began. A wave of dark shadowiness emerged from the darkness of the foliage. Body after body, hundreds of smaller dark creatures were pelting toward the defense line with teeth bared. Black-winged creatures took to the air from the leafy trees and began to soar high above.

300 people… It wasn't enough. The black wave soon met the soldiers and the sound of battle immediately exploded into the area. Even despite this Emre and Idris were staring at the 9-foot one. It was still standing still, watching the carnage begin without even lifting a foot itself.

"Emre!" Idris's voice pulled his attention away.

Turning, he looked at Idris who had replaced his grimace with a stoic look of seriousness. His hand was placed on the hilt of his sword and he motioned with his head toward the plaza.

"We need to meet up with everyone else. We need to help defend the village." Idris said.

"It said it was waiting, who is it waiting for? It was looking toward—" Emre was cut-off.

"It doesn't matter right now. Just do what you said you'd do. We'll hang back and protect the village."

Idris was right. They should meet up with the others and get ready for any creatures that slipped through. Now that he knew for sure that the dark creature's force was larger, it was more possible for them to get through the soldiers and come for the villagers. There was one problem though…

"Idris, there were supposed to be at least three of the larger dark creatures in this group." At least that is what he saw through the vision. "I didn't see any in the hoard."

"They might be going around. For now, let's meet with everyone else and come up with a plan."

"Okay."

There wasn't anything else he could do other than do what they had originally planned unless he wanted to completely reveal himself. Getting a nod, Idris turned around finally and hopped down onto the crates, heading to the plaza alongside Emre.

It was time to regroup and make a plan.