- ...A Hunter Returns [2]

They walked through the forest, not a word said between them. Some were injured, others were exhausted, and some were too afraid to speak.

The goblin King had left his mark on these people, with only his appearance to justify their fear. Yet in some ways, many of them were glad it only amounted to that. Worse, they would have had to face him, had it not been for that lone man.

The silence was deafening, as the memories of that man - Lia's summons - fighting off against such a powerful opponent seemed to strike different cords with each of them.

But as Lia walked amongst these people, the sun rising over the peaks of the mountain tops, she felt her own heart clench as she thought back to the scene.

Cain's power had not yet left her, but the closer she got to the Outpost, the farther his power and reach seemed to be. But she didn't let this deter her as her mind was currently focused on much more, 'important' matters.

As of now, the Hunters present shared looks of disdain, and hatred whenever she came into view, though she knew it was well earned on her part, she felt regret clenching her heart with every step she took.

With Rian and Lukali at her side, she knew she could find comfort in them, however, she couldn't' shake the fears of the possibility they too hated her.

Unbeknownst to her, a voice in her head, different from Cain's spoke, a silent form of words and sound like the mist floating in the night air.

'They hate you.'

'No, they don't.'

'They're cursing you inside.'

'They haven't said anything.'

'They're silence speaks enough!'

She shook her head, trying to throw out the voice, and affirmed herself to have confidence in her friends and their trust in her.

But the voices wouldn't stop.

'They hate you. Disdain you. They're disgusted.'

'Stop.'

'How can you, a little girl barely old enough to become an experienced Hunter, ever hope to lead a group like this.'

'I never wanted that.'

'You did, you just never said so!'

Let me be!'

Lukali noticed her change in demeanor and elbowed Rian, who looked back with curiosity, which soon turned to worry.

Lukali shifted his gaze between Lia and Rian, mouthing to the latter what they should do.

Rian took a long look at Lia before shaking his head, mouthing off a series of words to Lukali, letting no sound escape his lips.

'No. Leave her be. She blames herself for this.'

'Then we should help her.'

Lukali motioned to Lia, gesturing to her burnt hand and several scars earned from the goblins. His patient was wearing thin, so he kept his voice down below a whisper.

"She burnt her hand helping us escape. She shouldn't feel like this is her fault."

Rian shook his head again, showing his own scars along his forearm, dealt by the goblin's daggers, slipping past his metal gauntlets.

"I've earned my own scars, just as you have. It isn't about who protected them, or who did the most for the group. What matters to her is who brought them into that situation in the first place."

When Lukali heard this, his voice grew silent until it was merely a faint whisper in the wind. Something even Rian had to lean in to hear.

"But how could they blame her for that?"

Once Rian got wind of what Lukali had mumbled, he shook his head solemnly, sighing.

"Lukali…"

"You know it's true!"

While his voice didn't rise above a whisper, the tone in his voice showed Rian that if they hadn't been trying to hide their conversation, Lukali would have yelled it to the gods in her defense.

"They were all too afraid to do anything. How could they blame her for -"

"Lukali."

Rian's voice was stern and instantly shut Lukali up.

By this time they had fallen back several steps behind Lia, who was walking towards the back of the group. Leaving them to speak freely between one another, though their voices never rose above a whisper.

"I understand why you're upset, and I get it. Truly I do. I would be upset as well, but you must learn to control yourself. Those people aren't doing anything wrong."

"They're blaming Lia for something she didn't even do."

"Did she? Did she not?"

His words caught Lukali off guard for a moment, as he struggled to find an answer.

"I-..Well…"

"Lia forced our hand by running in there blindly. I know she didn't lead us there, and I know our decision of infiltrating the fortress wasn't her idea. However, it doesn't matter to them."

He gestured to the backs of the Hunters, some who had their arms wrapped around the shoulders of others.

"To them, they just want someone to blame, not caring who it was or what they did. In the end - and yes I admit it - there were some things that they could have done better. But still, Lia was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

When Rian's words settled in Lukali's mind, a certain phrase he had heard once before, though he could not place where, resurfaced in his mind.

"It doesn't matter how close the man is pushed to the edge, or who pushed it…"

As Rian nodded, it became known to Lukali that he had also heard the phrase before.

"...all that matters is who pushed him over last."

When the words finally struck a chord with Lukali, and his mind finally accepted what had happened, and what would no doubt happen in the near future, another phrase of words resurfaced in his mind.

'The faster you let the ragged cloak fall, the easier it will be to move forward, otherwise, you won't move forward at all.'

Cain.

Lukali realized who it was that told him this odd phrase of words, though at the time, he had mistaken it as letting go of the past. As no doubt that was also part of the lesson to be learned, it also had something to do with letting the present fade away, and let acceptance set in.

'To learn to let go of the past, and accept the present for what it is or was, is how humans shall move forward through all wars.'

Sighing, Lukali wished he could share this knowledge with Rian, but he had been sworn to secrecy by Cain before they left. And the last thing Lukali wanted was for these words to somehow reach Lia's ears, knowing that Cain would come visit him for the last time of his own miserable life.

"All right. I guess the best thing to do now is wait and see what happens."

Nodding, Rian expressed his own opinion that wasn't too far a match from Lukali's.

"Right. And if she needs us, and we think it's best to step in and defend her, we will. We won't stay and sit idly by while all this happens, you know?"

"I do."

Soon, their conversation drifted back into silence, as the group of Hunters moved on with their journey, no one uttering a single word amongst themselves, too stone shook by what had just happened to find the mood to speak.

Except one.

As Lia was in the midst of questioning herself and the voice in her head again, a shadow passed over her shoulder, and joined her on the ground beside her own.

With the sun at their backs, Lia didn't need to look up to see who it was, deducing who it could be just by the form of his body, and the heavy armor he was wearing.

"Randolph."

Lia didn't bother to look up at him, her face grim with regret, and her voice heavy with the burden she believed she bore.

Randolph, of course, noticed this easily, but said nothing, as he knew what was going through her mind at the moment.

"Lia?"

He finally said after several minutes of silence, allowing her to regain her thoughts enough to speak with him.

"Yes?"

"When we get back to the Outpost, I plan on having a talk with the town speaker - the woman in charge of everything."

He didn't once lower his gaze to speak with her, nor did she raise her head to meet his eyes, both knowing full well that this was where the boundary line had been drawn.

"I plan on having a talk with her, and organizing a group to head back to the fortress in search of anything that might remain. Corpses of Hunters they might have taken, prisoners - gods know how many they could have captured."

He glanced behind him at the rising sun as it peaked over the mountain, painting a bright and brilliant canvas over the burnt and ashes colored forest where the fortress once stood. A scene he could just barely see through the gaps in the trees.

"I also plan to go looking for that goblin again, in case it lives."

It took a while for Lia to respond, but when she did, she instantly attracted Randolph's attention to every detail of her words.

"It didn't survive."

"Hm? How do you know? In my mind it's better to be sure rather than believe. Truth always worked better than belief in my book."

"Then let me tell you this bit of truth."

At her words, Randolph grew quiet, his ears taking in everything she said, and his mind analyzing every word she spoke.

"I know my summons, as well as you know your men. I know him as well as the ax on your hip. I know him well enough that if I took belief - his belief - over truth, I would do so every day of the week."

With this, she tilted her head just enough to give Randolph a side glance, her voice low so as to not attract attention.

"And I know he didn't fail."

Deeply sighing, he nodded, finding it hard to believe himself that whoever her summons was - Cain was it? - he didn't sound like the type to fail.

After all, to Randolph who only got barely a glimpse of her summons true power, he knew it was somewhat unimaginable to believe he would fail.

Little by little, his truth shattered, and the pieces of belief began to form a new picture. An even bigger shock to anyone who would view it.

'That man must have been the one to kill those titans and shamans. He probably used some frenzy spell on them - made them all go mad.'

Scratching his chin, Randolph dove deeper into this thought, following the trail of blood that seemed to follow this mage Lia had summoned.

'He went after the goblin beast hoping to keep it occupied and off its master's trail. However, we must have interrupted him at the wrong time, since Lia scurried out of there with us after having a few words - did it look like words? No, it must have been deduced by her what he was planning.'

The idea that a summoner and summons were that close in bond they could tell the other something without directly speaking somewhat amazed him.

But it wasn't what he needed to be thinking about right now.

"Be that as it may, while I do believe you, I'm afraid the town speaker might not. So whether we like it or not, we'll be coming back here."

Lia grew silent once again, staring at the road that passed beneath her feet.

Taking a deep breath, Randolph got to his main point.

"I'd like you to come back with me."

His words made Lia stop anything she was thinking, the voice in her head disappearing like the night to a flame.

"You want me to come with you?"

Nodding, Randolph didn't meet her eyes, taking careful note of the other Hunters, in case any of them happened to overhear their conversation.

"I know your summons was powerful, and I have no doubt he beat that monster back then. However, considering that little circle of yours hasn't changed yet…"

He gestured to her rune circle on the back of her right hand.

"...he must still be out there. And seeing your expression, you're worried about him."

Raising her right hand to get a better look at the dull colored red rune circle, Lia scoffed.

"You deduced all that just by looking at me and this little thing?"

"Well, I can't have you running off in fear for your summons and throwing us into another fight."

Randolph noticed the drop in Lia's expression all too late, as he suddenly felt a pang in his chest, feeling guilty for having brought it up, even when knowing full well that she was blaming herself for this already.

"Sorry. Too soon?"

He said scratching the back of his head, a small grimace on his face for what he said.

"A little, but it doesn't matter. The past is the past, and I should let those things fade away."

"Oh? I'm somewhat surprised you're letting go so easily."

Smiling, she shrugged and quoted a phrase she knew.

"You can't make bread using yesterday's stale flour."

Chuckling, Randolph found it somewhat humorous that such non imposing words had such deeper and meaningful lessons behind them.

"I suppose you're right. But about the mission -"

Lia stopped him before he could answer, knowing what she would say even before hearing the final argument on Randolph's part.

"I won't. I know Cain will come back to me soon, and I know he isn't dead. So you and your Hunters can go alone."

"Are you sure? I don't doubt we would need you there, your spells and all."

He said, mentioning the flaming flower he had seen her use against the goblins, that had now caused her hand to become somewhat charged and -

'Huh?'

As Randolph's eyes fell on her right hand, the one hand gestured to when talking about her rune circle, he was surprised to see that it was completely fine. What's more, he was somewhat shocked how he didn't notice it before.

'I swear her hand was as black as ash before. How could it heal so -'

Interrupting his thoughts, Lia's words pierced his mind like a cold knife to his stressed mind.

"I don't plan on contributing much. We were only passing through in the beginning, and now it's evolved into something greater. But even though I am grateful for this chance you have given me Randolph, I know better than to lie to myself."

The last part of her words were somewhat grim, and instantly Randolph found out why.

"I doubt I would be welcome anyways. So, it's best to move on now, where we are unwanted."

Knowing that Lia was serious, and that she wasn't willing to listen to lies, no matter how truthful they appeared and seemed to be, he kept his mouth shut from anything that could persuade her.

"I understand. But I ask that you don't beat yourself up for what happened. We didn't lose a single person amongst us. Other than a few cuts and bruises - which we've handled worse before - we're fine."

He softly pounded his chest, signifying his pride as a Hunter, and his thanks in Lia.

"We were too afraid to do anything, yet it was your fear for someone else that made you step first into battle. Honestly speaking, I think that's what's unique about you Lia. Other people would overcome their fear, or succumb to it. They would either flee, or charge forward with some false sense of courage. But you…"

He trailed off as the sun glinted off his chest plate, lathered with silver and blood.

"...you use fear to overcome the horror. It is something I have not once seen in a Hunter before - never once in my life. And for that, I thank you."

He slightly bowed his head, signifying his thanks, his words holding true.

Lia didn't know what to say, so she said nothing, other than nod her head, and shift her gaze back to the path beneath her.

But Randolph knew he had struck a chord with her, and had chased away even a small bit of fear in her soul.

But one question in his mind was still left unanswered, as he thought back to the battle that had transpired the night before.

"Lia, if you don't mind me asking?"

Lia nodded her head, allowing for Randolph to continue speaking.

"What rank is your Mage? To be honest, I thought he would be the same rank as you, when staring out. Rank C."

Lia's small but subtle happiness suddenly disappeared, replaced by seriousness.

It was a while before she answered again, her voice stern as she continued walking ahead of Randolph, the latter catching the words just by a bit over the wind's howl.

"He's not a Mage."

"What?"

But Lia was already gone.