Whenever they would encounter an obstacle, be it human bandits or wild animals, they were seen by the two apostles as nothing more than a nuisance. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to not encounter any more wolves of their way. Unfortunately, on their fifth day, they stumbled upon a small camp of Nalrtis. Those creatures hissed and cursed them. Their jagged weapons thrusting in their direction. But the group lacked any synchronisation. They had no patterns and the attacks were random. It didn't took long for them to clean out the small camp. There, among the foul smell of cooked human flesh and bones thrown in a small heap, they managed to find two cages with a few people.
Neither Aldryn nor Ylvis wished to delay their journey, but after breaking the lock and setting the prisoners free, they couldn't leave them alone. Those people were defenceless. It was Ylvis who suggested that he will escort those people to the nearest village or city, while Aldryn should go ahead. After a bit of arguing, the blonde relented and agreed with Yvlis. In that moment, the two of them parted ways. Without hesitation, the blonde apostle let the Thrae take over his body, boosting his speed. With a strong leap, the fox begun running. The time that the Thrae could possess Aldryn was only for a few minutes if it used its powers, so it had to make the most of the time and cross as much distance as possible.
At first, the snow made it hard to advance, but as they moved toward North, the snow would melt gradually. A few days into the journey, the empty trees and the white fields became more familiar. In their place green grass and lush trees decorated the scenery. The temperature became warmer, the cold no longer biting the bones.
In record time, the blonde reached the forest of Morien. It looked normal, he sighed in relief. The forest looked just like it always did. The birds could be heard in a distance. Despite this, Aldryn both anticipated and hesitated going into the forest. He wanted to believe that everything is all right.
"No use in standing here and doing nothing", the Thrae panted.
'Let's hope its just as peaceful on the inside as it is on the outside' the blonde sighed, still nervous.
The fox would possess the blonde whenever it could, causing a strain on its powers. With one final glance, Aldryn nodded and stepped into the woods.
Despite it looking normal on the outside, it felt more glum once the apostle stepped into the forest. He tried to reassure himself and would repeat: [It'sOnlyTheRepellingSpellIt'sOnlyTheRepellingSpell] over and over in his mind like a mantra. He already knew full well just how the spell felt, having travelled through the mines many times. It felt nothing like that one, but Aldryn kept denying the feeling.
Even the Thrae didn't bother to comment how there were no Yakards or Greenyards around. It was not necessarily a bad omen, as the two of them were not always met by someone while on their way to the village. But taking everything into consideration, the two of them couldn't not help but be worried.
Each step Aldryn took was hesitant, he kept looking around, as if expecting some to jump from behind the trees. At the same time, he was carefully to hear any sound around him.
It was only when the overbearing stench of something burning reached his nose did Aldryn's steps falter. Images of the burning mansion begun flashing in his eyes. With a deep breath, the apostle calmed down his racing heart and sprinted forward.
The sight he saw was even more horrible than what he imagined. The small village was burning. Many building were destroyed, while corpses could be found all over the place. The once green grass was soaked in blood. The Greenyards who could stand were running around, helping the injured, carrying them to safety, throwing water and dirt on the fire.
The Yakards were there, which surprised the blonde, since they avoided fire at all cost. Despite their race being strong and even immortal, in the end, they were still trees. In the village, their branches were moving at a fast pace, or what could be considered fast for them. Some of them were pulling out the ground and dropping it on top of the buildings, others helped the humans carry the water. There were even those who risked their own limbs and lifted burning logs off the Greenyards trapped under them. The blonde saw some of the Yakards quickly shoving their burning branches into the water, while others were using vines to tie their peeling bark and cambium back to the sapwood.
'...!'
"Aldryn", someone shouted, but the blonde remained unmoving.
It was not until someone grabbed his shoulders did the apostle snapped out of it. His eyes quickly found the face of the person who called him. A Greenyards in black clothes greeted him. It was Barion, the blonde's mind slowly registered. Gone was the man's usually arrogant aura. His face was littered with cuts and soot covered his face.
"Did you just arrive?" the man tried again, looking for injuries upon the blonde.
"Do you think you could help us?" he asked again and for the first time ever, Aldryn saw his eyes filled with worried.
With a single nod, the blonde quickly followed the man and started helping where he could. He helped lift the heavier rocks and trees to save those trapped under them. He used his magic to the point of exhaustion to try and heal those he could, all the while silently cursing his lack of magical power. In his mind, Aldryn swore that if he ever found an item that can increase his magic, he would not hesitate to spend his last coin to buy it. He even went as far as promising to himself to borrow any money that he lacked from his friends just to get it.
When the blonde was nearly at the point of collapsing, Barion gently grabbed his arm and led him away. Despite resisting, the man didn't lessen his grip, but only tightened it, all the while assuring Aldryn that he did good.
It was funny in a way, the blonde could not help but think. The man whose family was most likely heavily injured, or even dead, could speak so calmly and reassure him, while for him everything was so surreal. At the same time, when Aldryn was looking around, he could not help but remember his own past.
While everyone saw Aldryn moving around like a pupped pulled by the strings, they sympathised with the blonde, because they felt the same way. But for the apostle, it was much more different. In his mind, he was not in the forest of Morien, but in a field. A burning camp was around him, while the smell of blood was invading his nostrils. There was blood on his hands, blood that Aldryn could never seemed to be able to wash off, even after 60 years.
Logically, Aldryn knew that he was moving. A part of him was aware of every action that his body took. Yet, at the same time, he wondered if it was truly him who was moving his body. He could not feel it, among all the things that were happening, he could faintly discern reality and memory. But at the same time, his body felt numb. He even wondered if the Fox has somehow gained possession of his body and was using it in his place. He could also faintly hear the Thrae speaking to him, but the words were muddled.
'It feels like a lucid dream' he looked at his arm, tempted to pinch himself, just to see if it was truly real.
At some point, the blonde was grabbed by the arm and taken somewhere. The blonde was brought to the biggest house in the village. He saw Zevram there. His arm was bandaged from his fingers to the shoulder. Brown patches visible on the otherwise white bandages.
When his eyes caught Aldryn, he quickly went to him and helped support the blonde. He shouted at someone and led him to sit down on a bed. The usually empty reception was now filled with beds and mattresses littered around the floor.
"I'm sorry", the blonde said in nearly a whisper.
"Thank you", Zevram told him, after hearing that ever since he arrived, Aldryn has been healing people and helping move heavy objects.
"I'm sorry", he repeated again, feeling useless.
At this, the other Oracle was unsure what to do. Despite hearing in advance about the whole deal with the Scavengers and their quest to destroy Apostles, Zevram was confident in his safety. It was his own fault that they failed to defend their home.