In this dark foggy night, the group of travelers sat their heavy harts on the bonfire, the orange hue reflecting on their soulless eyes, their anxiety showing on their faces, till a young man parted his lips and broke the silence of this solemn gathering,
"Let's head to margrave Clifford domain.."
Vincent raised his head to take a better look at the young man, Damian had a somber look on his face,
'not like him'
Then his eyes drifted to his long-time friend Conner, He saw his face scrunched up and his agitated hands ready to strike Damian at any moment, he moved closer to Conner and placed his hands on his shoulder lest this man does something unbecoming,
"and why do you propose we do so"
Vincent glared at the young man with all the pressure he could,
'the old man told me the eyes are the windows to the soul, and a man who can project his emotions to his eyes can subdue any mortal man or beast,
I don't claim that I am a master at the art of coercing using my eyes, but I can make children cry with but a look so that should amount to something'
Damian faltered at the look Vincent gave him, but he soon steadied himself and answered,
"at this point, if we look any further we will be easy pickings, if we head to the city and request help from the council, or the guilds.. maybe the lord since his praised merchandise will be left here will-"
A growling shout intercepted him,
"GOOD REAL GOOD.."
Then it transitioned to a calm gentle reprimanding
"you will just abandon your comrades like this, I did not take you for such a coward"
'here He goes again, Mr bipolar'
Vincent cupped his chin in contemplation,
Well Damian has a point, but he should know better, no guild will send their hunters to the plains this time of the year, people with Chris level navigation are not like common pebbles you find on the sidewalk, no one besides us will be mad enough to go into the plains to search up some piss poor bastards who did not know better to not traverse this road,
The other thing, though I cannot blame him for, is that old coot Clifford will never help us, he does not know this old codger, but I do'
Vincent thought to his dismay,
The old margrave Clifford is a fossil, a rare relic of human history, this man is a Great advocate to the Gibberish nobles use as a pretext to hold more wealth and power, "the noblesse oblige", that the nobles are given power for a greater cause that in proportion to this power comes great responsibility,
His bible is the book of Durain, a book written by Durain the first, the forefather of the grand Gaelatia Empire, the book holds records of the first emperor insights into governing, his ideology stands that every noble and royal should consider his position as a responsibility, not a privilege,
For your average noble all that book is good for is to decorate their drawing halls, but old man Clifford studied every word, every verse, in great zeal,
That means under no circumstances will he endanger the lives of his vessels for a bit of merchandise,
Even if he does agree to help, the old man is sure to wait till the fog clears, he will most likely wait for two more weeks, it will be the beginning of the marching of Crytonus heralds, by then all would have kicked the bucket if they haven't by now,
To be honest, I am not that interested in saving Milo nor his lackeys, but no one besides us will mourn Chris and Avian if they have died, I still would like to save them in the off chance they are still alive, If they are not I want to give them a proper burial'
While sparks were flying between Damian and Connor, Vincent cleared his throat to draw their attention,
"although saving our comrades should be a priority since their chances of survival will be lowered if we wait for help, but Damian has a point"
Connor interrupted quickly,
"But Vincent .."
"let me finish ..
We will wait for a few more hours till sunrise to have better visibility within this accursed fog, as one group we will look for them by the day and if we cannot find them, we will proceed to Clifford domain the day after"
Both of them grumbled somewhat unhappy with this decision but did not argue further.
=====
I have but myself to blame for this, I achingly touched my open wounds, this jarring cut, I can see some of my innards spilling out as the cold spread inside my belly real quick,
The only thing illuminating my sight is the hazy visage of the moon from the fog above,
It was a full moon, what a night to die,
I peered into the dark foggy distance,
the whistling damp cold wind penetrated my core,
and my heavy eyelids were giving out,
I could feel the sloshy texture of the muddy ground on my right cheek. As my hair got entangled into it,
I shouldn't have acted on my own, that damn punk took me out first since I have the better nose, I would have caught on to him if he was any slower,
Now now there is no crying over spilt milk, I was bested and should have no qualms about death, as a Bokhan I lived true to my self and regret nothing, but I still felt vexed, this fucking trai-
"sloush"
What was that ..
I could hear a crawling sound from behind me,
Slimy,
As if a gigantic slug was contracting its underbelly while secreting mucus over this muddy ground,
Mind you I might be a boorish brute of a man, but I still wish to die in a more poetic style, what manner of godforsaken deformity is making its way here, I still want to die while in one piece you little shit,
It was getting closer,
..
..
And closer
..
..
Even closer
..
..
Until I can hear it right behind my head,
..
..
Right close to my ears
..
..
The hairs on the back of my head all stood on end,
Goosebumps covered my entire back, till it was damped with cold sweat,
These shivers are not due to the cold I could tell,
Whatever god is up above, I have been an infidel my whole life, but I want to believe now,
Please snuff the remaining embers of my life before my body gets defiled,
I seriously prayed, I never did before, but if I was ever the person to do, it would never be as sincere and hard as I am doing right now,
I can feel the something wet gliding over my left ear,
No ..
Not like this,
I opened my eyes wide and ...