2 A cruel world

Somewhere in the road leading north 1:00 Pm

Raydon and Avery both have been travelling for quite some time now the only thing they can both hear is the crunching of orange leaves and their own thoughts, Avery was right behind Raydon making sure to maintain some distance between them, she had been eying him the entire journey trying to see if she could find important details about Raydon, one thing had constantly caught her attention however and it was the axe he carries with him, it was sheathed but she could clearly see the blade, it was unusually large for an axe, its surface is engraved with strange markings that she has not seen before "Perhaps he's not from around here" she thinks to herself explaining the reason Raydon doesn't know the path north,

"Hey you still there?" Raydon calls out

"Ah! uh y-yeah" she jerks her head back

"So... Why do you need to go north exactly?" Raydon asked

Avery's thoughts froze for a moment ,she fumbles for the right word to say" well... I uhm...wanted to meet someone"

"Is that so?... Huh, must be someone very important if your desperate to meet them all the way up there"

She shook her head slightly from what she can only assume as Raydon's attempt at humor "Hmph, Well what about you?, Why do you need to go up north,"

Raydon pauses, he looks down before turning to look back at the road" it's...personal"

Avery was about to ask him further but decided against that, she did not want to pry into the man further, instead continued to examine him in curiosity, she has seen mercenaries before and Raydon looks no different, but what caught her eyes is the cape, it was tattered and torned beyond belief but she could still make out a symbol beneath all the stains and holes, it was an oval shape,

"Perhaps its a symbol of a mercenary guild?" she thinks to herself, although it's strange since she's heard mercenaries usually stay in groups rather than go alone

"Hey"

She looks at Raydon, it seems they have come across a crossroad, Raydon slowly turns to her.

"Which way?"

Avery took a few steps forwards to examine, the road, it did not looked the same the last time she traveled here before, she carefully observes trying to remember which path she previously took

"There" she points towards the left pathway with a cocky smile.

The pair continued on their way

Obsidian fortress 2:30 Pm

Outside the immense fortress, Virn gazes upon the construct, wearing a thick cloak to protect himself from the cold, living within the fortress wasn't easy but for Virn it was a home where he had lives for a large part of his life in, he continued to stare at the building letting out a small sigh before sluggishly turning his back to stare at the white snow leading down the mountain, his duty come first.

"I'll miss this place"

He slowly begins to walk down until his ears picked up the crunching of snow behind him, he briskly turns around to see a women, wearing a red robe, Virn squints his eyes to get a clearer view of the figure, he realized who it is and quickly stiffens his stance

"Going so soon" the women spoke, her voice alluring and soft matching her beauty, her long black hair and silver white skin pair well together,

"Lady Alisia...I wasn't expecting to see you"

Alisia looks at him, her eyes raking the man's appearance "You seem a little bit upset"

"It's nothing my lady, I just wish to see the fortress one last time before I leave for my duty" he says trying to avoid gazing into her eyes.

She slowly and graciously turns around to see the fortress marveling at its impressiveness, "Heard you where being sent to Aldrinburg"

"Yes my lady, we need to cover more ground due to significant loss of manpower"

"I heard he's heading to Aldrinburg as well"

Virn's jerks his head and his eyes widened" W-What?"

"An agent of mine has spotted him heading north, on the path that leads to Aldrinburg I do not know why, perhaps he's looking for something or trying to move far from us"

Virn fist clenched, he could feel a hateful heat building inside him "Then he must be stop, I can intercept him my lady."

She pauses, "You two where very close before...right?"

He pauses, before reluctantly nodding

"So you know exactly how dangerous of a foe he is"

Virn tilts his head forward, his eyes glare at her almost bearing his teeth, "...Then what are we supposed to do!?, We can't just do nothin, he must pay for what he did to them!, What he did to her-"

"Patience Virn" she quickly holds her finger on his lip silencing him and his fiery anger, "I suggest we study him first, see what he does and if you find anything of... Interest... Report your findings back to me"

Virn pauses , he takes a deep breath as he loosen up his stiffened stance ," very well... My lady.. I shall relay this to his lordsh-"

Alisia grabs his arm, the force she pulled caused Virn to narrowly stumble and he almost let out a gasp "No... Virn," she stares at him with her jet black eyes as his muscles tense up and stiffen like stone "you must only relay this information... To me,.. your lord wants him dead, but I... I have more ambitious purpose in mind for him"

Virn tries to pull his arm from her, she was deceptively strong "What?!, No! I cannot hide information from my own lord"

She looks at him smugly,

"How pitiful, you call him your lord yet he has already replaced you,"

Virn stops, he suddenly felt cold despite the warm cloths" W-What..."

"Your previous failure proved to him that you are no longer worthy of Serving him and thus he had replaced you... Why do you think he sent you to aldrinburg?"

"I....he...he can't possibly ..." Virn mutters, looking at her with accusatory eye as he struggles to form words out of his mouth

"I am offering you a chance to prove yourself" she tightens her grip as Virn continues to stare at her smirking face

"He does not believe in you anymore virn, to him your but a dissapointment,.. perhaps it's time for you to serve a new master"

She lets go of his arm causing him to alm

Tumble in the snow

"Either way... It's your choice in the end"

Virn slowly regains his posture removing the snow off his cloths and he looks on at her with an empty expression as she enters the fortress, her form disappearing within the dark interior

Back to raydon, 5:30 pm

The sky was lit bright orange almost blending in with the autumn foliage, it was about to get dark soon

Avery could feel her legs going limp as a rope, the weight of her own body becoming unbearable to carry , she lets out a small groan

"We've been walking for almost the whole day now ughh, we haven't even took a quick break!"

Raydon continued to walk with no hint of fatigue burdening him, he ignored her complains

"Hey, do you not hear me!"

"We will rest soon enough, we need to make haste,"

She couldn't even say anything, she could only grunt, she was very much on the verge of just dropping on the floor, he stopped, but not for the reason she hoped

A broken carriage was before them, it's wheels where destroyed and its frames are bent, the chassis was full of holes and cut marks dry blood can be seen both on the ground and on the vehicle but no bodies,

The tiredness from her body left upon seeing the wreckage, she froze for a brief moment until she notice raydon nonchalantly stepping forward

"W-what are you doing?!"

Raydon payed no mind to her, he approached the wreck and examined it, many of its components have either been stolen or damaged beyond repair, the inside was no better, it was empty save for the torn cushion where the driver was supposed to be

"Hey what the hell are you doing?!"

Raydon quickly turns to look at her

She took a step back,

He pauses

"We make camp here" Raydon spoke

"What do you mean make camp here!?, Whoever did this might come back"

Raydon grabbed a broken peice of the carriage and propped it up as a makeshift chair, "they won't, he replied

"There isn't anything left here for them to comeback and besides, weren't you the one complaining about being tired of walking earlier?"

Her face reddened, she wanted to say something but find herself at a loss for words, he was right after all,

She sighed "I'll... Start the fire"

Few hours later

Night had finally settled in, the blue sky was illuminated by the pale light of the silver moon, while the forest shined with the iridescent flame of a campfire, they where able to quickly start one using the salvaged wood, they didn't even needed to gather sticks off branches ,Raydon sat comfortable, leaning on the carriage while gazing at the dancing embers, he looked at Avery, she's is fidgety and is constantly looking over her shoulders with an anxious expression on her face

"...hey"

She jolted her head to turn to him, "uh.. yeah?"

"There is nothing there..."

"Well maybe!, but maybe their are bandits out there in the darkness! Or even worse!, animals!"

He sighed and looked down at the fire, the orange light reflecting off his eyes

"you know.... There are things far worst than bandits and animals that lurk in shadows" he says

This did not help her unease, mental images of horrors from myth and stories told to children flashed in her head, she didn't want anymore of this,

She quickly stood up "Well I'm going to sleep now!, And since you seem confident, you can stay up all night and watch if any spooky ghost approach" she says in a mocking tone, in truth she didn't want to admit that she was trying to hide her fear

she got inside the carriage, it was damaged with holes everywhere "better than sleeping out in the open" she thinks to herself, it was dark but she noticed a sheet that can be used as a makeshift blanket or mattress "hah even better" she grabs the blanket to inspect it, but it was wet, she looked and she noticed blood, her spine ran cold and she quickly got off the carriage falling on the dirt,

She opened her eyes to see Raydon, looking at her with a bored expression, she quickly got up, flustered and her face was red,

"guess I'll be sleeping in the dirt" she sighed

Somewhere deep forest

Deep in the forest a campsite had been set up in a clearing, old tents surrounded a campfire bathing the camp in an orange hue, objects scattered around, tools, cloths and personal belongings strewn about unorganized,

"Damn, those shitheads didn't really have alot" a disheveled man bearing a messy beard grunted,

"Aye, those fuckers even tried to fight back" another man spoke, he sported a fat belly and nasty expression,

"Heh, dumbasses must've valued their property more than their own lives" he grinned as his comrades laugh

"Well then, whats the plan for tommorow"? One of them asked,

The bearded man held his chin buried beneath a clump hair, "hmm lookouts told me that a pair of travelers are passing the road on foot"

"Hah! Just a pair of them, not even on a carriage? Well then this would be just too easy" the fat man exclaims says raising his fist excitedly

"Oh you fat Buffon, if they can't even afford a carriage then they probably barely have anything of value, their not worth the time"

"What the hell did you say to me you old goat?!"

He stood up clench fist, his veins look like their about to pop ",I'm going to bash your skull in-!"

Before a fight could ensue a someone shouted

"calm yourselves!" They stop and looked to find a man approaching them, unlike the. he appeared more organized and properly well dressed

"B-boss!?" The fat man shouted

"Gentlemen... There is no need for us to squabble.. save your energy because I've found a better prey!"

They all stared in anticipation

"Tomorrow...we will raid norkcwood!"

They all sported shock expression, norckwood was a small settlement that can't even be called a proper town due to the miniscule population, it's underdeveloped and mostly exist as an outpost for travelers to stay in temporarily,

"W-what of the guards boss?", One of them asked

The boss grinned with a smug expression, "pfft!, There are barely any of those poor sods, we outnumber them greatly"

Hearing this they erupted into cheering, soon the poor town will be under their control, all their wealth and all the unfortunate people, they cannot wait to launch their raid

A sudden sound snapped through the air, resembling the noise flesh and bone make when cleaved by a knife

They stopped, blood had splattered on the boss's face

for a brief moment they stood frozen until a thud struck their ear

A dismembered corpse had collapse onto the ground, it's blood gushing out from where the head should be

"WHAT THE FUCK!!"

Panicked erupted in the camp, where they being attacked?, but by what?? They had no time to think as the same sound was once heard again followed by another decapitated body going limp followed by another, and another

Every time they hear it, someone dies

All the survivors form a defensive circle around, blades and firearms pointed in every direction, their arms trembling uncontrollably and their eyes dart everywhere looking for the unseen attacker

The ground around them is stained red, their boss was one of the unlucky victims who was cut down

"Damn it! Damn It! Damn it!" One of the man muttered to himself, struggling to keep his gun leveled,

A thud came from behind, they felt a stinging sensation in their chest, they could hear the Overwhelming beats of their hearts,

They turned their head slowly, gripping their weapons with such intensity they would appear to almost break, they hope it would just be another victim to the thing attacking, they hope it was just that and nothing else.

It was not a corpse

It was worst

Screams filled the night, they echoed throughout the forest, slowly getting fainter and fainter until their was nothing but silence

End