Chapter 21 - Chapter Twenty: No Bloody Trail No Dead Bodies

Gerald climbed up the flight of stairs that led to his hallway, with a smile on his face. He was so happy that he had been able to talk with his daughter before the meeting had started.

The last time he had spoken to his daughter, he was so stressed and frustrated because of the recent happenings in town.


He had been so caught up in the town affairs that he had no time for his daughter...


He knew he would never have forgiven himself if he had left without seeing his daughter, he was glad to have cleared the air between him and his daughter...


He was happy she had forgiven him also...

Earlier on, he wasn't sure how she was going to react.

He had thought talking to her wouldn't be so easy...

But...

Fortunately, she had responded to him and had forgiven...


A quick Flashback of his last moments with his daughter played in his head as he walked.


He heaved a sigh of relief as a smile appeared on his face.....



Finally, the guilt he had always carried had been lifted off him.




As he walked through the hallway, the servants who had seen him earlier on knew immediately that his countenance had changed, As they could see his face lit up with a smile.



As Gerald got closer to the big door, he adjusted his clothes and wore a straight face...

The door was flung open by the two guards who stood afront the door on alert as he approached them.



He walked into the hall and everyone turned to look at him.



The meeting hall had a long table stretched out from one end of the hall to the other, there were chairs around the table.

Some of the chairs were occupied and the occupants just sat looking at him all with different thoughts.....



' It's been a while since I have seen him this shiny '


' Is this Gerald??...he looks different today '


' See how bright his robe looks '


' He seems happy'


They were so surprised at Gerald's appearance...

This wasn't the Gerald they were used to seeing.


Gerald who had just walked inside seemed to be oblivious to the stares...


He just walked on towards his seat at the end of the hall, unaware of the people who were gazing at him admiringly.



" I know you are all wondering why I had called for you to this meeting"


They all nodded.



" Yeah, we all want to know why you sent for us," The oldest of them all said.


" Yes Darius" Gerald replied


" You all know that for a while now, Brila my guard hasn't been around"


" You said he went to see his family" The only female who was sitting among them all said.


" Yes, Serena... I did"


" But that wasn't the truth..."


" Due to the recent happenings in this town, I had sent him out to scout the area and to return with adequate information"


" I needed to know what was happening and how to go about it, but I can't do anything without really knowing what was happening"


" So I sent him "


" Why are we just knowing this now??" Liam asked


He was so confused and had no idea why Gerald was just telling them


' What if something bad had happened to him ' he thought



" Yes, we ought to know about it... We have been in this together " Daryc added




" I know I should have told you," Gerald said...


He could sense the atmosphere changing and knew that if he doesn't explain everything to them, he might lose their trust...


" I wasn't sure if my plan would work out well and besides I knew if I have told you....you would all want to be part of the journey " he continued trying to look for a better way to explain to them.


" Okay, so where is Brila now...isn't he supposed to be here with us?? " Darius asked


" He had just gotten here not quite long. I had told him to go rest "


" But he will be here soon" Gerald replied then raised his hands, signaling to the guard who had been standing close to the door.

The guard nodded then turned to leave the meeting hall and returned a few minutes later, he walked towards Gerald and whispered something in his ears.


Gerald nodded.


The guard walked back to his former position at the door.



" He will be here soon, just..."


The door flung open as a burly man with a large scar running through his bald head to his temple, he was in a guard's uniform walked in.


But his aura would instill fear in anyone without a strong will...


" oh..uh...he is here," Gerald said smiling nervously.


He had told Brila to keep the information till when the meeting was being held, so he had heard nothing about Brila's mission...


He felt a little nervous as he had no idea what the outcome will be...



" Speak " Gerald Continued.



Bila nodded

"A few weeks ago, My lord here had sent me to scout our town and the neighboring villages for any trail of monsters"


" He wanted to know if the reports of our townspeople were true, and also to know what is out there " Bila continued.


" So I took off alone to the neighboring villages... " He paused for a moment and looked around to make sure all their attention was on him...


Pleased by his observation, he continued...


" While I was leaving this town, I saw no sign of any monster"

" No bloody trail, no dead body " he continued


" Everywhere seemed quiet and the people were busy with their work, this is also applied to the neighboring villages "



" But as I ventured on towards other villages, I realized there were blood trails and I had found dead bodies littered on the roads "

Brila bowed...

As Gerald heard the last sentence he could feel his heart stop beating for a little while.


While Brila was narrating all he had seen, deep down he had hoped for the best.


But now his hope went crashing...



" So we have heard what he has to say...uh..what do we do now "


" We prepare to leave the town and go out there ourselves " Darius the oldest of them all had said.




They all nodded in agreement with him.



" So go home and talk with your loved ones and be here in two days for departure " he continued.



" Why do we have to come back in two days??.....isn't it too early?" Serena who was the only female amongst them all asked.




" The earlier the better, Like Brila had said he had seen dead bodies littered everywhere in other villages"


" Who knows where will be next? " Darius continued.....




* * * *


The serenity of the meadow made it more relaxing and the scent of flowers filled the air.

Children could be seen all around the place all sitting on the shiny grass, they all seemed calm when suddenly...


The atmosphere had changed and two horrid creatures appeared on the field.

In less than a minute cries and wails could be heard all around the meadow....




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