George hummed softly as the cart moved, and the horses neighed incessantly as if complaining about the heavy load they were asked to pull.
It was the second day of the journey and it seemed they were close, as few human settlements were seen.
The merchant was a friendly man, as he chatted with everyone on the carriage, sometimes telling funny jokes.
When he discovered George was an orphan he persuaded him to not go back to the house as it would be risky staying alone, although George tried to refuse, he convinced him.
Along the way, George noticed this place was dry as if it were a dessert, and with the little info he had on this place it wasn't supposed to be like this.
And this perked up his curiosity, so he asked the merchant why the place was like that.
"Oh you mean the drought"? he asked. "It has been around for two years now, it started from Tenzin kingdom and spread all the way to Rumus our own kingdom, usurping town after town, it's a miracle it hasn't gotten to your town yet".
"No one knows the cause of the drought, we've tried all measures possible but to no avail, so most people didn't have any other option but to leave their homes".
"If you noticed earlier your town had been quite populated over this few months, and well the few people remaining are mostly the wealthy people, who can afford the cost of living here".
"Then why do you still trade here if everybody's leaving" George asked him.
"Isn't it obvious, the more difficult it is to get food and other commodities, the higher the price, simple logic", the merchant said with a smile.
"Karesan", "what"!! George said out loud, "what"! the merchant said looking at George. "Oh nothing uhm sorry I've forgotten what i wanted to say", George replied him.
What was Iris talking about, he didn't know how to talk to her without making noise, "don't worry, speak to me from your mind I'll still hear you" she said.
"What was that", George asked. "What was what"? Iris asked him again although she knew what he was talking about.
"What was that thing you just said" George asked, "oh Karesan"?? she taunted George.
"Yes yes karesan what's that"? George asked impatiently.
"He's a demon..., actually a demon of drought, he finds pleasure in making humans suffer by seizing the rain and drying the land. I don't really know if it is him but it looks like the kind of thing he would do".
"So assuming it's him, how can he be stopped" George asked. "He can only be stopped by a god" she replied.
"Well you are a god right, if i get the other artifact and you possess me then do i stand a chance" he asked.
"No i don't think so, You see i'm not really a fighter, do you remember when you first wore the ring, how you were energized and felt fearless and strong, that's what i do in battles".
"In the midst of the other battle gods,I energize and give them a power boost but i don't really fight but if only we could find the other gods we could defeat him".
"But where can we even find the other gods then" George asked.
"Hopefully the same place as the artifact" she replied George.
The merchant stared at George as his facial expressions kept on changing as if he was thinking of something. This was a very weird boy he concluded.
They had finally reached their destination and George noticed it wasn't as lively and busy as his own town.
He saw children on the road with plates begging for food, some with their heads and their stomachs swollen from malnutrition.
Some people were hurriedly leaving, with their children and their belongings not wanting anything to do with this town again.
It was such a pitiful sight, but what could he do, he wasn't strong enough yet, he could only sit and watch.... for now.
Finally they reached Casper's town and George started offloading as agreed, although he was helped by Casper's servants, but he did the job just as fast as he did it earlier, to Casper's amazement.
When they were done offloading, George left with Casper to his house, there he met Casper's family. He never even mentioned anything about his family while they were on their way, and he also looked so young and 'single'.
But what he was seeing right in front of him said an entirely different thing. Casper had a happy family, they were a family of five, Casper, his wife and three kids, one boy being the oldest and two girls.
"Hey dad, what did you get for me"? the youngest ran to greet her dad smiling.
And her elder sister too ran to get her own gift from him too.
"You guys know he's not getting anything for you this time around, it's me he promised a gift" the eldest said.
The three of them started to argue, and their dad shook his head and left them to meet his wife.
When they were finally done with the pleasantries, Casper introduced George to the family, immediately he was done with the introduction, the kids gathered around George asking him about himself, George was happy as he had never in his life gotten this kind of attention before.
The kids introduced themselves, "hi my name is Emily" the last born said, "my name is Mildred" the other one said, "and my name is Gilbert" the boy said puffing out his chest.
The kids didn't let George rest until their mom asked them to give him a little space as he would be tired from the long journey.
The merchant showed George where he would sleep, it wasn't much of a room though but he was grateful, if only everyone was just like Casper he thought.
When everyone settled down, dinner was served and everyone ate to their satisfaction.
Just as they were about to finish the food, a loud knock was heard on the door.
Casper went to get it, when he opened the door he saw a group of teenagers, "yes"? he asked.
"We have have come to collect the son of Rumdree"!!.