CHAPTER 15: THE LITTLE VILLAGE

The black soil that was boiling had stopped boiling since Amata finished her spell. The corpses of the fairies were scattered on their feet, looking gruesome and pitiful. The animal carcasses had stopped exuding the unbearable stench. Grell told one of the protectors to burn the carcasses with holy fire while Amaya walked towards Michael, the other protector, and tried to heal his injuries. The rest of the warriors were busy piling up the bodies of the fairies to let Amaya deal with them afterwards. Kiin, on the other hand, was scouting the huge area.

The land spanned for about 5 hectare, all dead. There were a few structures scattered in the edge of the land, closer to the jungle. Those were the houses of the fairies. Walking further away from the group, Kiin seemed to have found something and immediately leapt up and forward. He arrived at the furthest corner of the land, near the edge of a wide river. Before him was a series of structures resembling a dwelling of their old world. There were about a dozen as big as a house for a small family. The houses were clearly made for humans based on the size. Some courtyards have a small garden with vegetable plants and some flower plants of different varieties. There were also a few courtyards with a fruit tree. They were taken care of well, unlike the land where the soil was black and boiling, the land here was very rich and fertile.

Walking further, Kiin also found a few other structures. They were bigger so he gathered that they were used collectively by the people. They were simple but very well-maintained. Walking even further, he arrived at a clearing half the size of a basketball court. In the middle of it was a stage about three meters high made out of woods. The steps were made out of stones. The four pillars also seemed to be made out of white stones, but when Kiin walked closer, he found that they were made out of bones. Humans or otherwise, he had no clue because the bones were fused together to create a sturdy and big pillar of about 10 centimeters in diameter. But they were definitely bones. Looking at me sent shivers down Kiin's back and he turned to climb the stairs.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw in the middle of the wide stage was a huge cast iron cauldron. It was clean, however. He couldn't even spot a speck of dust on it and he couldn't help but to frown. Whoever was in charge of this clearly didn't want him and the group to find out about what they were making. He looked around to find any semblance of ingredients on the stage but found nothing. There was also no odor coming from the cauldron even though he could still feel the remnant of warmth from the bottom of it, indicating that it had just been used very recently.

Taking out the communications device, Kiin wrote a long command for backup and the situation on their side as he strolled around the place once more to check whether or not the people here had left behind anything at all.

Not long after Kiin had gone around the village for the third time, Amaya and the rest of the people in their group came over. Michael was still pale but otherwise intact. He had stopped bleeding and his wound had been closed by Amaya. He just needed to rest, so they found him an empty house and set him up in the bedroom.

"My Lord, My Lady," Kiin approached Grell and Amaya who just put Michael to bed. Both of them turned to him and gestured for him to follow them outside.

"There are remnants of black magic here. Very thick," Amaya said with a frown. Her fingers were playing with the piece of crystal which emanated soft silver light. "What have you found?" She turned to Kiin who gestured before leading the two towards the stage.

"I found a stage with a huge cauldron over there," Kiin pointed towards the stage, "when I checked it, it was still slightly warm, but there was no indication of the things made or even the remnant of any ingredients in, on, or around it.

"I have checked all the buildings here, there were indeed some magical tools and ingredients, but they were scattered and varied, not indicating one specific thing. There were also no written documents left behind, only some household materials and clothes and food and the likes used for daily necessities." Kiin explained.

When they got to the cauldron, Amaya studied it carefully and tried to find even the littlest clues. She indeed could feel the thickest trace of black magic from the cauldron, but even then she couldn't gauge what the magic was used for. However, knowing that they had such a huge cauldron, and the fact that they cleaned it up almost spotless even when they were pretty much being ambushed, she knew perfectly well that it was something significant. Something dangerous.

"Have the research team from the Kingdom come," Amaya immediately made the decision, "cordon off this whole area, including the dead land and a few miles around it. Search every single inch of the place. I will perform a cleansing ritual afterwards," Amaya told Kiin.

"Yes, My Lady," Kiin bowed before going off to contact his subordinates.

"What are you thinking about?" Grell asked after a prolonged silence from Amaya who was looking at the cauldron without blinking.

"The person who spoke in the beginning…." Amaya said, her frown deepened.

"A lunatic," Grell spat, clearly disgusted, "don't think too much about such a person. Anyone associated with black magic is evil," he said almost in rage.

Amaya said nothing about that remark. But she also felt quite the same way. Black magic and earth magic are essentially standing opposite each other. Earth magic, like its name, was borne from the earth itself; from nature. It was gentle and nurturing. Meanwhile, black magic was borne put out evil; hatred, jealousy, pain, anger and every negativity in this world.

Amaya, having more things to consider, walked towards Kiin and said to him, "also send some scouts and protectors to check every inch of this jungle. Find out if there are any discrepancies in data collected in the last decade. Find out which jungle creatures, living and magical have been in decline rapidly. Also check the quality of the air, soil, and water," she said to Kiin.

All the while, Kiin nodded like he was a pecking bird and recorded every word Amaya said before he asked, "what are we going to do next? Shall we wait for the backup?" he asked unsure. They did still have the matter of the portal to deal with.

"That is also my concern," Amaya admitted as she sat down on one of the bigger rocks near the bank of the river. "This place is in the opposite direction of the portal from the entrance of the jungle. But it somehow formed a very straight line with each other…" she contemplated.

She had an inkling that it meant something. But she couldn't figure it out yet. She had a nagging feeling that she was missing something. She stood up and looked towards the small village once again. It was very humble but neat and tidy.

"Let us settle here for now," Amaya then decided, "I'll perform the cleansing ritual after the backup comes. How long will it take?" She then turned to Kiin.

Kiin looked at his communicator and told her, "it will only take less than a day for the team behind us to pack the camp and reach this place. As for the team from the headquarters… If nothing impedes them, they shall be here in two days at the latest," Kiin said, feeling slightly dispirited.

Amaya fell into thought. They probably really need a teleportation device at this rate. Or a flying device? She thought for a while but she couldn't really bother with it because there are more important things. She could just throw this matter to the research team. It was their job in the first place anyway.

"Good," Amaya said finally, "we will be dealing with the matter here first before we set off to deal with the portal. No matter what, the portal will still be there."

"How would you like to proceed? Shall we clean some houses?" Grell then asked, looking towards the houses, which were actually in a very decent condition. But still, he was really unwilling to use what was left behind by black masters.

"Yes, thank you," Amaya nodded and Kiin hurried off to find the biggest and most decent house for Amaya and Grell to stay temporarily. Amaya looked at Grell who was clearly displeased and chuckled. "I think it is not so bad…" Amaya said slowly as she walked towards the village, leaving behind the river that was sparkling under the late afternoon glow of the sun.

"What do you mean 'not bad'," Grell was visibly pouting now, earning him another chuckle and  a head pat from Amaya. He also rolled his eyes as he stared in distaste at the small houses.

"I want to find out how they lived. If they were truly black masters. Maybe I can conjure a remnant of black magic from one of these houses and give us a clue as to what they were going to do," Amaya explained to Grell slowly. Without explaining further, Amaya chose one of the houses and walked towards it.

With a huff, Grell finally followed behind Amaya when he saw she was about to go inside the house. No matter what, Amaya's safety was first, Grell thought as he also went inside the house.