The scorching heat of the sun and the walk exhausted Shui. He was almost nearing the only place between that village and the capital. Before he moved further he rested for a few moments under a tree that stood by the road Shui was walking on. A thought crossed his mind. Why does the area seem deserted? Well, he doesn't have anything to do with that, he concluded dismissively. He stood up and walked on.
But, soon he stood frozen. A chill ran down his spine. A slight pungent smell crossed his nose. He didn't know why, but, the place gave off a very ominous feeling. Trying to get rid of that thought, he somehow got moving. After all, his destination lay just the other side of this village. He looked around, the houses were obliterated. There was a spooky feeling in his heart. He tried to dismiss his thoughts with the idea that, maybe he was thinking too much. It is possible that the village was caught in a wildfire or something. But, then felt really stupid. Though, he didn't want to admit it and tried to search for other possible reasons until he saw that.
A spear stood firm on the ground as its tip, buried in the ground. It passed through the abdomen of a boy, a young one at that, painfully bearing his weight. The body was almost rotten by now and the flesh was burnt. Shui trembled. This had confirmed where he was. The village obliterated village matched Kali's description. It must've been the place that went under the flames of rebellion. As he tried to look away, he found himself cornered by the heaps of rotten bodies. The smell grew extremely strong. He sped up, almost running away, as if he was responsible for this incident somehow. But, he tried to chain down the train of thoughts of what, why, why. He raced against the road, by now forgetting his purpose and going to whichever direction.
Soon, he was running. And for some reason, tears flowed down his eyes, but, he couldn't think of anything. His heart filled with unknown guilt and pounding crazily. He pictured the terrible situation over and over again when he bumped into someone.
He looked up. A man twice his size, was towering over him. His eyes felt like they looked down upon everyone.
The man laughed. A laugh that would easily run shivers through your spine. "Oy oyoy!!" the man thundered. "We found a new plaything mates." He laughed that eerie laugh again.
Shui stepped back. By now he had already forgotten why he was there, or that he was out of breath due to all that sprinting. He looked around. The man was not alone. He had a few people along with him. And none of them looked like they meant any good. But Shui knew he couldn't fight so many of them nor that he could easily fend them off. So, out of instinct, he held a defensive stance, with his hands in the front, while his body slightly backwards. Now that he observed, the area was in shambles. From its looks, it seemed that a large building stood on here. The palace, probably, guessed Shui.
The men drew nearer. One of them grabbed his hands. Though the hold was firm, it wasn't strong enough that Shui couldn't shake it off. But, he complied. As the man pulled him and led by the huge man earlier, they were under the rubble. The huge walls fell over each other and so, the inside was much like a room.
The huge guy sat down on a seat; the seat was almost completely torn. Evidently, he was the boss. He signalled a man who moved forward and started to analyse Shui's body thoroughly. After checking and rechecking his body, the man was somewhat disappointed. He tried to punch Shui but, Shui instinctively averted the punch.
The man held his chin in his hand and brought his face close to Shui's. Releasing a nasty breath on his face bawled, "Why don't you have anything worth on you, runt?" he punched Shui again, but this time Shui didn't budge. Blood gushed from his nose as he defiantly stared at the man. By the looks of it, the man disgusted or actually intimidated, let Shui off.
"Boss! He doesn't have any gold on him. Seems he isn't some merchant." He reported.
"I see," came the reply. The huge man stood up as the others motioned, ready to follow him. "Then, we've no use for him. I'm heading out."
"Yes, boss!!" The man grinned as he was certainly given the green signal of 'he's all yours'. After the boss and the others were gone the man turned towards Shui. He was ready to brawl with him and, in truth beat him to a pulp, he grinned as he visualised the sense of pleasure he'd feel.
No sooner did he turn to face Shui, a punch landed across his face, smashing it hard.
"Ouuu...." he tried to yelp but soon enough another fist pushed his abdomen inwards. Before he realised, the simultaneous storming of punches dashed him onto the ground.
As he tried to look up, Shui was already standing above him.
"I have a question to ask you," Shui spoke for the first time. The tone was cold enough to wet the man, down to his pants. The man who stood like a wild beast a while ago was now a little bunny being hunted. He quivered as he saw Shui roll up his sleeves.
"Where is the capital? And what is this place?" inquired Shui. The man, now humbled looked rather submissive. Shui allowed him to sit up. The man was shaking tremendously as if he was seeing a huge lion out hunting for prey.
"A...Are you new here?" the man struggled to ask.
"Why does that matter?"
"N...n...no... it... is j...just that, since you don't know, I thought..." The man sheepishly grew quiet.
"Just come out straight, I don't have time to mess around here."
"R...right," he replied timidly. "Actually, this used to be the capital of the kingdom until the rebellion four years ago." He stopped but, Shui's demanding gaze made him speak at a faster rate.
"As the civil war destroyed the palace and the area around, the capital was shifted. It is to the west of this place. If you take the road straight from here," indicating the path leading to the west, where the capital was, "you could make it there in less than half an hour. By the way..." as he was about to say something, Shui interrupted. "Well, that's great. Thanks, I'd better hurry,"
Shui ran off.
"But, why would he come by this way if he wanted to go to the capital? The capital was shifted to avoid this village after all." The man thought aloud. The blood on his face started to dry up. Why did he feel like a monster, the man wondered.