Return of the Fallen Volume 3 Chapter 6
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Author: Blue_Rat
ch6
As a few clouds drifted further south, a large moon lined with a bit of silver light, shone down on a little village below. A cold breeze swept over this small mountain village. This village consisted of slightly more than a hundred homes, all with a fresh layer of snow atop their roofs. Though each one was attacked with a freezing pounding, inside, a warm and cozy fireplace was lit and served as one of the only comforts these people had. One such home was occupied by a single family.
A small child lay asleep in a bed a shivered slightly.
“Oh, my sweet child.”
A mother gently pulls the coveres, tucking her one and only in with a smile.
“Is she awake?”
A deep voice called from behind.
“Honey, should you be up? You and the other men are going after it in the morning, you need your rest.”
The man sat down beside his precious daughter and stroked her cheek softly as to not wake her.
“I can’t sleep. My nerves are completely shot. First fishermen Bradley’s son was taken a few weeks ago and not even a day later, the Caffer’s daughter went missing as well. Seeing the amount of blood left behind…there’s no doubt she’s dead. We’ve already called for some adventurers but who knows when they’ll arrive. After all, we’re about a month out from the nearest town or city. Yesterday though was the last straw when Henderson’s twins have both disappeared. He supplies almost 70% of the meat the village eats. If he asks us to go looking, we have too. Besides, he’s right. After the first kid vanished under those circumstances, we all should have pulled together as a village and found that beast and slain it once and for all. I’m just afraid it’s already too late for those kids.”
The woman felt bitter. People’s children were disappearing left and right and everyone was terrified, their child would be next. Grabbing her husband she hugged him and held him tight. Trying to stay brave she wept behind his back.
*Sccc Scccscscscs!*
The man pushed his wife away and stared at her questioningly.
“Did you hear that?”
The women quickly wiped her tears away from her face, trying to hide them.
“Hear what?”
*AHHHHHHHHHHHH!*
A sudden scream filled the cold night air alerting everyone in the village.
The man jumped up from the bed in fright.
“That’s!”
The man stared at his wife for a second before he raced out his door, grabbing a long ax on his way out.
The small child in bed had already awakened after the scream but her mothers after the fact terrifyed her to the core.
“NOOO DON’T LEAVE!!”
A crowd gathered outside and a battle ensued. Screams echoed out into the night and a terrible smell enveloped the village as many people were slaughtered, painting the fresh snow red.
What seemed like hours, in reality, was only a few minutes.
The woman from before sat quietly on her bed with her daughter. The girl had been sobbing and the mother was left with no choice but to cover her mouth to prevent any noise.
*Bang*
Their front door was kicked open and a man covered in blood ran in. At first, the two did not recognize this man as his entirety was covered in blood from head to toe.
The two instinctively screamed but the man ignored them. He quickly grabbed a bag loaded with supplies and a few other things from the home. The woman thought he was robbing them but after a few seconds though, the small girl finally recognized the man and called out cautiously.
“Da…daddy?”
The man turned to the two and realized his appearance was in shambles. Grabbing a nearby cloth, the man wiped his face revealing his identity as the woman’s husband and the child’s father.
The women now recognized him as well and stared in shock at his current state. She too could barely speak.
“Honey, is that you?”
The man ignored her dumb question as he continued to rummage through stuff.
“Where is my spare ax? The creature is wounded and we’re not waiting til morning to go after it. Were going after the beast right now and I need my other ax as my first one shattered.”
The women stared blankly at the man.
“What! you’re covered in blood, arent you ijured? You can’t leave in that condition. Besides what happened out there, is anyone hurt? What happened to the creature?”
The woman fired off question after question but the man was in no mood to answer, rather his mind was currently full of one thing and one thing only. Hearing her go off a mile a minute the man couldn’t help but snap at her.
“Dammit, woman! Where the hell is my ax? I don’t have time for this shit!”
The woman was left flabbergasted but the man was still rummaging through all of their belongings as though he were a common bandit.
“Daddy, your extra ax is hanging on the wall still.”
The man turned to the wall and found his ax exactly where his daughter said it was. Grabbing it, he also threw a sack over his shoulder and wrapped himself in a thick fur before kissing his wife and child on the forehead and running out the door.
—————————————————————————
A wagon pulled by two horses slowly made its way down a snow-covered dirt road. Sitting inside, was a cozy Kimi as she nestled up against a fur-covered Sam. The two shared one another’s warmth like a true lovey-dovey couple. Around them though were the eyes full of envy. Not for their love, as no one cared about that, instead for the warmth they hogged all to themselves. Since they went further and further north, the temperature decreased rapidly and they were forced to put the top cover over the wagon.
That however barely helped as a slight breeze would flood in like a cold hateful demon of sorts. Everyone had a fur but for some reason, the heat from those two increased. In the end, everyone buddied up with someone else. Nunully and Asuna shared a fur, while Danny and Shin shared another. Naturally, Asuna’s eyes flashed with jealousy seeing Mei sitting in Kazuki’s lap and Tsura leaning in close to him sticking to him like glue.
Asuna would have gladly taken their spots in a heartbeat but unfortunately, she couldn’t stand the piercing wind, that seemed like needles stabbing her face. Mei and Tsura were not affected much by this weather and were left feeling as though it were only a bit cooler than normal out.
Because of their special bodies, these types of conditions were still considered ok. Still, they enjoyed sitting with Kazuki and chatting. The others inside were too busy being cold to have a decent conversation. Kazuki on the otherhand, using both his ki energy as well as the fur around his body, allowed him to maintain a pretty even temperature and he had no problems so far.
Days passed like this until one morning they came upon a village.
“Heads up everyone, we’ve got a village in front of us.”
Asuna and a few others perked up hearing this news and stuck their heads out to look but were quickly left wondering as their wagon slowly entered.
Kazuki guided the horses to the main square of this village, stopping in front of a large building.
Asuna jumped down from the wagon and stretched her back with joy. Danny and Shin as well felt great once they began to stretch.
Kazuki though, was silently looking around.
(This is weird.)
There was not a person in sight. Not just here but entering the village all the way up to now, not a soul was seen nor heard. Kazuki slowly drew his sword.
“Everyone prepare yourselves.”
His words weren’t loud and seemed calm on the surface but Asuna clearly felt a bit of nervousness or so she thought in his tone.
Asuna and the others unsheathed their weapons while Sam hopped down from the wagon. His storage ring glowed and a large heavy Warhammer appeared in his grasp. Nunully and Kimi stayed on the wagon but held their staffs firmly in place and began to gather power.
Forming a large circle, the group surrounded the wagon and took up defensive positions, preparing for the worst.
Shin scanned the area around him but couldn’t find any danger.
“Ryuta, what are you playing at, there’s nothing here.”
Danny almost slapped his forehead when he finally noticed the problem.
“No Ryuta’s right something is off. Look around, where are all the people.”
Only now did Shin and everyone else recognize the problem.
“Damn, this isn’t funny. Ryuta what do we do in a situation like this? Do we just get the fuck outta here? I vote we get the fuck outta here. Anyone else?”
*Thud*
A wooden window flexed momentarily but it was enough to catch everyone’s attention.
Kazuki leaped forth and punched through the window. Grabbing something on the other side he forcefully pulled it out and threw it to the ground.
“Eh!”
Mei was surprised by what she saw and ran over. Patting the thing lying on the ground, she called out in bewilderment.
“Mama! it’s a boy!”
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)