Aftermath. part two.

…Slurp, slurp, slurp, ah.

I emptied a bowl of porridge and set the bowl aside and I saw dad staring at me.

"A-Albeom" he stuttered, his eyes questioningly searching the kitchen.

"H-how did you get up there?" He picked me up and asked, his eyes darting here and there, looking around the kitchen.

"You were hungry huh" His gazed settled on the empty bowl on the table.

"it seems that's been taken cared of though. Was it granddad?" He gently rubbed on my stomach with a smile.

"Blurdghhhh"

"That's good. That's a good boy" He continued to rub on my belly

Bledge.

-

Dad cleaned me up and took me with him to outside.

'warm' I felt the weather for the first time in two days and realized it was different from before.

Snow was falling but the weather didn't feel cold. It felt comfortable warm which made me surmise that perhaps this was the result of magic. Granddad's magic?

His barrier was active again, shimmering luminous gold every now and then despite being transparent.

Once again I marveled at what magic could accomplish.

We greeted and responded to greetings as we went our way. Strolling through the village as Dad instructed the villagers on their duties.

After that we made our way to the gate where we saw Dreau again.

Dad inspected the walls. Making sure there were no shenanigans among the gatekeepers or the security of the wall. It was after all the first line of defense against the monsters in the forest.

Mom and a contingent of men were in the nearly destroyed forest tracking the orcs but that wasn't an excuse for us to not do our due diligence or so Dad said.

A couple of hours passed by and Dad's rounds was almost done when a villager arrived informing him that the elders and priest were waiting for him.

There apparently was a meeting.

Dad wrapped up what he was doing and made his way to the church. The location of the meeting.

"Andros" Granddad called out to Dad when we got to the church.

"Grandine" Dad responded.

"I see the boy is with you" Granddad said, looking at me.

"of course. Would you like to hold him?"

"no it's ok- on second thought, I should like to hold my grandson" he suspiciously.

Dad handed me over to him and straightened his shirt.

"It's wonderful to see the little one awake" one of the elders, his name was Hild, said with a smile on his wrinkled face.

"I must say, it's a miracle none of the little ones were lost in this disaster. It truly is" another elder, Evans said sincerely.

"Indeed. The shield of HeavenFather protects us all" The priest joined the conversation. His presence soothing as he carried with him a meaningful smile.

"Thank you everyone. This disaster was a sudden and terrible one but we survived. Sorry for being late by the way. I was on a bit of a patrol you see" Dad took his seat.

"Young Andros, no. Chief, even you need to rest too. The young ones can handle the rest of the work. They're more resilient you know" elder Fareth, the third elder on the council spoke.

"True. You did plenty during this incident. Without your leadership, things would have been much dire than it is"

"it is we who owe you thanks, Chief"

The elders spoke in turn, praising and commending Dad for his effort during what happened.

When Granddad returned from the forest with the order. Dad had already started evacuating the villagers into the church basement.

His quick thinking saved a lot of lives in that moment. He even went round carrying the old and sick to the basement. After which he worked with the priest to stand guard around the church while mom and her team took care of the stampede caused by the fires in the forest.

With his defense no monster was able to get get into the church's perimeter. He used a bow and arrows while being equipped with a pair of iron daggers to take care of the monsters.

Earlier on patrol, I saw the admirable looks the villagers gave him and I felt their respect for him as we greeted each one and was greeted in turn.

"Fortunately the disaster has passed but sadly that is not the end of our problems. It seems even now our Gwen is out there with the men to ascertain the threat of the orcs. And while they do that we can't ignore our duty to the dead. We've lost our families, friends and neighbors. It's time we send them off with a proper burial" spoke elder Hild, beginning the meeting.

_

"I wonder if Albeom is awake yet" I worried aloud as we tracked the orcs through the nearly destroyed forest. The air was easier to breath in than we'd expected. It wasn't thick with as much magic power as should have been.

"An effect of the magic storm" something strange happened with that one. Personally I've never witnessed a magic storm before, I mean those are rare but even so, what happened here was nothing I'd heard or read about.

Magic storms rampage, destroy and warp reality, terra forming the plane. But the one that occured here was different. It was powerful but nothing like what I'd heard and read about. Confusing still was why it had my Albeom in it. Almost as if he was the core of it but that's impossible. Even if what Dad said about him was true, the storm went away, taking with it much of the magic power from the battle between the Arch wizard and Arshüdehem. He shouldn't be able to do something like that. Not even granddad can.

Albeom had fallen into a long sleep after that and from what I examined of him he was fine. Unnaturally unhurt but that could be explained. The village did fix itself and the villagers health restored. Even Dad said his magic was replenished, so him coming out unscathed didn't mean he was responsible. In any case I am just glad that nothing serious happened to him. I wouldn't know what to do if the unthinkable had happened.

Dad said he should be awake when I return, so I'll investigate the orcs and make sure that no harm comes to my son.

I pinned my worries for later and focused on our advance. The trail of the orcs led deeper into the forest and fortunately we hadn't encountered any monster that gave us trouble but I was saddened by the state of the forest.

Entire areas was burnt to ashes and the parts that survived were in pathetic conditions.

"The black flames of Arshüdehem"

I'd read about it back in Knightward Academy. A school for aspiring knights.

[The black flames of Arshüdehem, a hybridized flame of demonic and spirit magic. The black flames incinerate everything in its path and burns continuously by fueling off of the residual magic power in the air. It is almost impossible to put out and burns out once the magic in the atmosphere has been exhausted]

During one of my studies in the 3rd wing library, I'd read Monster's unique. An encyclopedia of Monsters whose existence was unique or possessed unique abilities.

I can remember how terrified I became when I read the chapter, terror of the black flames.

According to the book, some 200 years ago, a kingdom called Candasal, well vest in the study of magic became interested in the unique existence of the hybrid Arshüdehem. Their curiosity to learn about the fusion of demonic and spirit essence, which was the origin of Arshüdehem led them to try and capture the creature but instead angered it. Arshüdehem merciless encased the city in black flames and watched it burn to the ground.

Not even a single stone was left standing.

The images in the book captured the scene terrifyingly that it sent the message across. The terror of the black flames.

It was from that incident that the rumor of the black flames being capable of devouring souls was born. It stated "Not even the cries of the people was spared. The black flames consumed all"

"hah" I exhaled the tension out of my body. Our tragedy was the price for Arshüdehem's life at least. It could have been much worse.

'halt' I signaled with my hand bringing everyone to a stop.

"I sense something ahead" I whispered to the team.

We were currently deep in the forest, southwest to the village, a place that not even Black rank hunters of the guild will easily venture. Not until now at least.

I signaled again for the men to be very quiet and stealthily went ahead to get a visual on what I sensed.

"Kros mar'c leivid oun os met" a huge orc wearing a bears coat, with a terrifying appearance and a commanding presence was seating on a felled tree among a group of other orcs. Before him knelt an orc, who was speaking in a shaky tone.

"GROM'GOK AK TAK. HHU HHU HHU HHU" The huge orc replied in grotesque laughter that boomed in the air.

They were speaking in the orc dialect, one I couldn't understand. Perhaps if Dad was here he'd be able to interpret for me but for now I'd have to conclude that the one kneeling was giving a report on our village to the big guy. Which means he's their leader. Maybe a chief.

An orc chief. Then this was a tribe.

'a tribe of wild orcs' shivers run down my spine.

Orcs are one of the physically strong races. Their innate strength exceed that of a human. They are naturally strong so it takes a very skilled human(s) to take one down but even among orcs, wild orcs are too monstrous.

They are the ones banished from the tribal nations because of their tendencies for violence.

They kill not for survival or food but for the fun of it. They've abandoned coexisting with other races, reverted back to their primal desires and hunt for sport, killing indiscriminately.

"Returning nature's own".

That is what the tribal nations call the custom of banishing a creature to the wild. Like this forest.

'This is what we are up against'

Fortunately the kingdom has sent soldiers to us, with their help, we may be able to take this tribe out. But in event that we can't, we'd at least buy time for the cavalry to arrive. The wizards from the association.

It bugs me that they haven't arrived yet but I know they will show up soon. They owed Dad that much.

I calmed my nerves and continued to observe the group for any weaknesses that could give us an advantage over them. That was when I noticed their dirty dark green skins.

Normal orcs have bright green skins, which could only mean that this group has lived in this forest for a very long time. They weren't recent inhabitants of this dangerous environment.

Any yet it appears that they not only survived here but thrived.

'they're dangerous'

It speaks to how they survived the black flames of Arshüdehem and chose not to flee like the other monsters did.

I quietly let out a breath and prepared to leave when suddenly the orc chief broke a branch from the felled tree he was sitting on and threw it skyward.

Fwoop Bam.

He hit a bird circling the sky and caught it before it touched the ground.

'deadwatch' I recognized the bird. It was also a type of monster here. Looked more like an oversized vulture with spiky feathers and sharp claws. And he killed it just like that.

'so much power from a single throw'.

I shuddered.

The chief brought the bird to his mouth and bit off half of it, wetting and staining his mouth with it's blood.

Crunch. Crunch.

The disturbing sound of his chewing grated my ears which disgusted me but the orcs appeared to look up to him.

"URK TUK" He boomed and threw them the half eaten bird.

They instantly jumped at it bumping into each other to his amusement as he chuckled to himself.

'time to leave'

I quietly turned around and was about to leave when the sound of a twig breaking echoed out.

I froze up and immediately looked down to my feet but it wasn't me.

'thank god' I sighed inwardly but quickly looked up.

'if I am not the one then who' that was when my eyes made contact with Feuges, one of the men I'd come with.

"GURRE-MERRUK"

A grunt erupted from the orcs and a shiver run through my body.

'this is bad'

my hand moved to my rapier and my body instinctively leaped towards Feuges.

Clank.

The next thing I knew, my whole body shook to an impact force that rattled me to the bone. The ring of metal on metal echoing in my ears.

Zing.