"..." Caesus stood, his head hitting the frame of the door in the dark messy room of the hut at the top of the mountain that the elder mentioned.
Poof
A black bag dropped to the floor, it looked like a suitcase but chunkier and made of leather.
The foul odor of death did not move him even a bit as he entered; his eyes state that he had seen a much worse fate than the mother and child in front.
The house was ravaged, with the coffer searched and charcoal scattered across the house, with some even found in the hay mattress that the corpses lay in.
Maggots have already burrowed through the mother's body while her child's corpse is still fresh and intact.
Caesus searched the hut before going outside in the cold, kneeling on the snow and searching for tracks on the ground, but he found nothing, not even his footprint.
"I apologize, I couldn't find the culprits," He muttered, looking at the breathing leather that he carried in a single arm.
He paused for a bit before standing closer to the bed
"I'll take care of the child." He said "Both of you can rest"
He dropped the leather that was holding Rina down before grabbing the corpse of the mother and child, carrying them outside, and throwing them in the snow.
"...How do I?" He mumbled to himself, looking around before spotting a wooden handle tinted with red in the shape of a palm. "...."
He grabbed the handle and lifted it, brushing away all the snow it collected and revealing the rusted blade underneath.
"An axe..."
He started digging when the sun was already down digging blindly with the limited light, having difficulty in using the axe,
Improvising with the tools he was given.
He finished with sunlight hitting his drenched back and the axe no more, the crooked blade of the tool had already fallen off somewhere in the hole he dug but must have been buried as Caesus couldn't find it.
A large hill of dirt is behind him, the testament of his work, and in front were the two holes, one small and the other big enough to fit an adult.
He took a long look at his hard work and took a deep breath before carrying the corpse of the child and going down the hole, gently placing the child at its very bottom.
"...good...." He climbed back up with a relieved smile before grabbing the haft of the bladeless axe and starting to bury the child.
It would have been faster with hand, but he continued to use the stick to bury the body until a voice coming from the hut took the attention of Caesus, "...you're awake," He said, covered in dirt with the corpse of Rina's mother laying close to his feet.
Rina stood at the door with his thin shirt unable to hide the glowing shard in his chest.
He rushed to the man but was slowed by snow as his knee sank in, making every step look like he was dragging his own body, yet Rina continued forth until he was closed enough to put his hands on the man's thigh that was smudged with dirt.
He tried to push Caesar away from his mother, but his little strength did not even make the man budge.
"Something wrong?" Caesus asked, and Rina stopped on his track, sandwiching himself between Caesus and his mother.
He shouted gibberish, opening his arms and shielding his mother's corpse from the unknown man.
"... you've misunderstood child." Still, Rina stood between him and the mother, not moved by the man's words.
".....do what you want, " Caesus said as he continued filling the hole where the child's sister now rests.
It took him a minute or possibly more before he could fill it with dirt and surround it with rocks to mark it as a grave.
'It will just be covered by snow, should I have just stuck a stick?' he thought looking at his work
Rina is sitting in the snow, still shielding his mother from the man; it is but a miracle that he still breathes when he's wearing nothing but rags in this freezing weather.
If that miracle is brought forth by the childs now glowing body, caesus have no idea.
Not able to resist it any longer, Caesus headed to the front of the hut and opened his bag revealing heaps of the suit that he wears.
"Child, you understand words?" Caesus asked, "..Attachment isn't always good,...I think they'll want you to live on." He put a suit up to the child's face.
'I also promised your safety I can't have you dying,.....not now at least' Caesus thought to himself staring at the child handing him clothing that could keep him warm
But his eyes were met by the guarded look of the weak child and he didn't try to push any further and leave the suit by the child's side.
"move a bit; I need to bury this woman," but the child didn't react to his words.
"I'll bury her.....let me do so if you care," Caesus said; he tried to say it nicely, but it came out..... rude.
As the rough way he speaks wasn't so easy to change.
He grabbed the child by the armpit, moving him to the side; the child tried to struggle, but flailing his tiny arms was of no use.
"You can watch," He said before throwing the suit to the child's face "You proved your strong will....now wear-
Caesus paused as he saw a shadow from afar. It was miniscule but he was able to spot it, getting closer each second.
"Is it one of those bastards again?" He muttered, annoyed, raising the stick like it is some deadly weapon.
Caesus stepped forward from Rina, and as the creature came into view, he heard a deafening roar.
"Wha?" He lowered his arms confused.
behind the mist, several bear heads showed up what came after was their upright body as they ran to caesus on two feet
"...it's Bearkins"
He dropped the wooden stick and stood his ground.
"Good, it's Civilized creatures"
Caesus cleared his throat before screaming words, words that were drowned by the deafening roars.
Yet Rina could hear the said voice; he jolted awake, slowly, standing up in front of Caesar, staring up at him, visibly shaking as he stood to protect his mother.
The Bearkins continue running in two feet; they look human from afar, bulky ones, the type that go to war. But as they got closer, their hideous appearance came into view; they were as tall as a withered tree with white fur, some spotted with brown. Their claws are crooked yet sharp.
They could maul Caesar to death, and he couldn't do a thing, well, if the man could die anyway.
Caesus took a deep breath as he waited for them to come close, and suddenly, he remembered the child.
He quickly grabs the kid by the collar and throws him like trash into the pit where his mother would have rested.
In response to that the child grabbed onto his mother's corpse dearly as he plunged into the hole.
"Stay there," Caesus calmly said to the child as the Bearkins reached close enough to hear his voice.
"Stop good Bearkins!" He voiced out, and the Bearkins all halted, with some even hitting their face on the ground because of how fast they were going.
"Would you mind kindly going around? This place is.....Sacred"
To his words, the Bearkins remain frozen, bewildered by the man, with a quarter of them even going as far as obeying his words, slowly turning tail.
"You have my gratitude," Caesus said politely.
A high-pitched echo sends the ground shaking; it was not coming from the Bearkins in front of him; the voice was from afar, miles behind another group of fleeing Bearkins.
The separated group of Bearkins reacted to the sound with the first group, the one in front of Caesus starting to panic
The words of Caesus were no longer in their mind as one swiped him to the side using its big paws as the group charged forward.
All Caesus could do was protect his face as the Bearkins trampled all over him.
"Calm yourselves!.... Bastards with no guts!"
The creatures were unorganized; a lot of them tripped on their own feet or their comrades that had already fallen, sending powder snow up that hindered the other's vision.
One tripped head first on the hole that Rina was hiding, followed by a scream, and the scream was followed by the pained wail of the Bearkin as he struggled his way out.
The creatures they feared weren't even close yet they already lost a quarter of their members.
Not even a minute had passed, and the panic-stricken charge ended, leaving six Bearkins behind. Five limped away while the other one wasn't as lucky.
One of the said Bearkin was stuck in the hole that Caesus dug, screaming so loudly.
Caesus could only see the scene as 'stupid'
He turned his attention to the second group of Bearkins; another group was coming to charge at them.
Behind the second group of Bearkins, was another creature...
It has a fluffy brown tail in a curl, and a long nose filled with whiskers. The being was so far, yet its silhouette was bigger than the Bearkins that was in front of him.
"How come, the desert should still be far east ...." Caesus mouthed before looking at the snow he was standing on
"..."
He then looked at the Bearkin stuck on the hole
".... This place is cursed"