It didn't take long to reach the village, Zeresha was swift since she wasn't pulling a wagon.
She slowed down when they passed the sight of the battle from the night before.
It was Uriel's first time taking a proper look at the carnage he had wroth.
It all felt like a haze when he thought back to it, the feeling of Eldrin coursing through him and practically commanding the world to follow him.
During the ride to the village, he tried to call upon the power many times, but it was completely unresponsive, after a while he couldn't help but wonder if he had used up all his power.
He was certain that he died last night.
The more he thought about that arrow going through him the more certain he was that he died, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the power saved him but in exchange he lost the power to wield it.
But he knew next to nothing about Eldrin, nothing but what the stories said anyway, which was basically about how powerful Eldrin was and that it could change all things in the realm.
Uriel shifted his thoughts onto the battlefield seeing the thousands of earthen spikes sticking out of the ground pinning dozens of soldiers to the earth, his eyes shuddered when he noticed that it wasn't just soldiers who had been killed by his attack.
Unlike all the other attacks when he used that one all that he wanted to do was die, it seemed that the spell didn't differentiate once he had given up on living, it shredded everything and everyone.
He couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty but he could only comfort himself with a sickening thought, that even if he didn't kill them then the soldiers would have killed them.
As they got past the gory scene, the village came into full view, at least what was left of it.
Uriel got off Zeresha's back and walked through the burned ruin.
The village used to have a simple set of wooden gates but it was nothing but ash now, just after the gates were the first houses, but just like the gates they were nothing but boxes of ash on the ground.
In random places charred walls stood, that looked ready to drop with the first passing wind, and the same held true the further he delved.
On the ground, he found a random decorative string with origami that was tied across the rooftops for the celebration, by some miracle it had managed to survive the fire.
A short while later he reached the section of the village with stone houses, they were the only structures still standing from what he could tell, but their walls were as black as the night and the doors were burnt like the rest of the wood.
Uriel made his way up to the mayor's inn 'The Thirsty Tooth Inn' not that it mattered anymore since there wasn't going to be anyone that would come to it ever again.
Surprisingly it was the only building left untouched, the sign still hung outside on an extended post and the door stood firmly in place, seeing it intact gave Uriel hope for the shed behind.
He walked behind the inn and quickly found the familiar shed, with its doors wide open.
Just last night he had packed the shed with all the other boys but now it was completely empty and barren the stacks of produce that nearly reached the roof had all been taken away.
Uriel suddenly had an idea of why Lambert left the inn alone, it was likely because he didn't want to risk damaging the food.
He cursed them in his heart, for the wretched murderers and thieves that they were, acting as if it was all for a noble cause.
Then he continued into the shed and found the stalls for the horse but all of them were empty, he looked around and turned to Zeresha wondering how she managed to escape from there.
The soldiers must have taken all the horses when they cleared out the shed, horses were valuable, worth their weight in silver, so it was odd that she managed to escape.
Uriel could only turn down his head as this was the only place he could find Lopper, and if the stallion was in the hands of the soldiers then he couldn't save him, because he was too weak.
"I'm sorry Zeresha," he muttered and rubbed her head with affection.
Uriel returned to the task at hand, to find a wagon but as he looked around he found that everything was taken, and once more he started to curse the Rothwart soldiers, they had literally left him nothing not even breadcrumbs to get by with.
Uriel's eyes hardened as he left the shed in disappointment and made his way to the inn, the door opened with ease, but the interior had been completely cleaned out.
He left Zeresha outside and went inside the room which had always been nice and cozy, memories filled his eyes as he remembered the past, it was here that he had stayed when his parents abandoned him.
He walked over to the fireplace and crouched down as he remembered sitting there for weeks barely moving each day as he waited for his parents to come back.
Geana Burton the late wife of the mayor would make sure that he ate at least one meal every day and even resorted to force-feeding him a few times, and it was also here that he made so many of his friends, and where he would play hide and seek with the other children.
He got up and walked to the stairs and made his way up the narrow stairway and up to the mayor's study, most of the drawers on his desk were opened and emptied out.
All that remained on the old mayor's desk was a few books a pot of ink and an old map of the region.
(Map)
He had looked over the map many times over the years, and despite its old age he always found it fascinating.
The village of Old Meadow was so tiny that it didn't even qualify to have a spot on the map, it sat in a pretty empty region where one town stood above it and another below, 'Sodum' and 'Geath', although it could take up to two months to get to either town from the village.
To the west was the vast Green Wood Forest where many creatures resided as well as some druidic tribes and eastward lay the Felter River.
He had spent quite a bit of time up here, especially whenever old man Jonah or his wife fell ill, they were the only two people in the village that were fully literate, so when they fell ill they would call upon him to help.
Most of the villagers knew how to read to a decent degree but when it came to writing very few ever gave it a try, it wasn't like it was essential for their livelihood.
But as for Uriel, he had learned from a very young age, and whenever the mayor asked for his help he was more than happy to help, though since there weren't all that many books in the village he was a little out of practice.
Uriel sighed in regret as he left the study, and made his way back down to the kitchen, he knew that it was probably emptied out, but he knew that there was a hidden pantry, it couldn't hold a lot, but it usually had some food.
He discovered it when playing hide and go seek, and ended up eating some of the baked goods that were inside, and with his belly full he fell asleep.
In short, he won the game and got the scolding of a lifetime as well as several paddles to his bottom for eating the food.
He rubbed his rear as he thought fondly of the late Geana, she was a nice elderly lady, but as strict as stones.
As he opened the secret pantry, he found that there was a fair bit of provisions, enough to last him a week, maybe two if he ate it sparingly.
As he gathered the items he heard Zeresha outside suddenly making some noises.
Uriel hurried up and raced back down to see Zeresha looking into the inn, the moment he appeared she started to stomp her hooves in urgency.
"What is it girl?" he asked racing up to her.
But then he heard it, there was a noise coming from outside, he trained his ears and recognized the rhythmic pattern of footsteps, and there was more than one, upon closer inspection he could make out the sound of hooves striking the ground along with the sound of people's footsteps.
Uriel paused with a racing heart, a glimmer of hope flickered through his heart as he thought that it might be the surviving villagers who had returned, but at the same time, there was a chance that the soldiers had returned.
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