Frey was walking aimlessly through the woods, a branch resting in his hand, almost shaped like a sword.
He swung it around at random intervals, trying to relief himself of his boredom.
At this point he wasn't even sure he was heading into the right direction anymore.
The same trees seemed to repeat on his path for the last few hours.
If he didn't know any better, he might have believed he was walking in circles.
He began counting the amount of earth particles he saw on the way, strangely enough, they were distributed rather evenly, like nature had taken extra care to achieve this state.
Some time later he found a patch of elements that deviated from the norm he had gotten accustomed to seeing.
They appeared to be strewn about, hinting that something, or someone had come through here before him.
The patch turned out to be the start of an entire line of jumbled earth elements on the ground.
Frey looked past the particles and noticed the shallow footsteps left behind in the dirt.
"Finally." he exclaimed with a sigh.
Now with an actual lead to follow, it was only a matter of time before he caught up with that girl's fiancé.
His feet started to hurt from all the walking, just as he was lamenting his decision to leave out his horse, he found that the footsteps on the ground ceased.
Frey knitted his eyebrows, was he back to square one?
Were there no more traces for him to follow?
He took another look at the earth particles on the ground, but they were still jumbled up.
Did the boy he was chasing attempt to hide his tracks?
As he squatted down on the ground to get a close-up view of the last footstep, he glimpsed upon a speck of red.
He tilted his head, then reached out towards it, assuming that it was some kind of red particle, but what he touched felt much different from what he expected.
The red spot was a liquid.
Frey rubbed his finger against the dirt on the ground, to get the liquid off, his heart began to beat faster as he guessed why there was what seemed to be blood at the end of the trail he was following.
Truthfully, he had somewhat expected this, or at least something similar when he set off.
He knew that Hodwan was a heartless man, killing anyone just for the thrill of it.
Frey was reluctant to search his surroundings, he had seen enough corpses in his short life already, he didn't want to add another to that pile; but he needed to confirm his suspicions.
Every bush in his vicinity was a potential spot of interest, and it didn't take long for him to uncover what he had feared.
The body was pale, but very much intact; albeit disgusted, Frey took a closer look at the boy, to see how he had died, and once he rolled the corpse over using the branch he was carrying, he saw a small hole reaching from the dead fiancé's forehead to the back.
He considered bringing the body back for the girl and both of their families to give him a proper burial but stopped himself from doing so.
Frey feared that he would lose the chance to catch up to Hodwan.
Although he had hidden his tracks well, Frey could still follow him, at least until the earth particles would return to their natural position.
He didn't know when that would happen, or if it would happen at all, but he wasn't going to gamble on that chance.
"Sorry… I promise, I will be back for you." Frey spoke to the dead body, then resolutely followed the jumbled particles again.
… …
At the same time, a group of nine masked men were sneaking through the woods, none of their steps producing any sound.
Their clothes were a mix of various shades of green and brown, almost perfectly blending into the scenery.
They observed their surroundings closely, obviously looking for something, until one of them tripped and fell to the ground.
"Fuck!" the man cursed under his breath, slowly getting up as he searched for whatever made him trip, "String?" he called out as he found some tripwire.
"Shh." another one held his finger over where his mouth would be behind the mask.
All nine of them took cover behind a shrub or tree-trunk, focusing on their hearing; the tripwire indicated that they were getting close, and perhaps their target was already lying in ambush.
"I don't think I invited you…" a voice came from up ahead, the source hidden behind a line of trees.
The nine masked men turned towards it, five stood their ground, the remaining four split into groups of two and intended to circle around the source from both sides.
Both of the duo's approached with quick steps, and swiftly circled around the presumed location of their target, disappearing from the remaining five members' sight.
Their plan seemed to work so far, and the remaining five finally headed out too, intending to close the final gaps in the encirclement, but as they breached the line of trees that blocked their vision, all they could see was a giant of a man with long blond hair gripping one of their allies' neck and holding him into the air.
His second arm was charred beyond recognition.
Next to him was a large, bloody axe stuck into the ground, looking like that of a regular lumberjack.
A loud crack shattered the quiet ambience of the woods, the masked man slumped to the ground once the hand around his throat was removed.
"Hodwan!" one of the remaining five shouted in shock, his eyes quickly falling upon the other three decimated corpses littered throughout their sight.
"That's me." Hodwan flashed a wicked smile as he picked up the axe beside him.
"I wonder, will you tell me who sent you… or am I going to find out the hard way?" he slowly stepped towards the five men that were left.
They exchanged short glances with another, then one of them spoke up, "By the orders of Baron Ironhoof, we are to bring you back."
Hodwan began to chuckle, "Bring me back? That doesn't sit right with me… I quite enjoy my freedom."
Two of the five stepped forward, brandishing their hidden weapons, but before they managed to question why they stepped out alone, they felt cold, hard steel stabbing into their backs.
They gasped and drew in their final breath, before dropping dead on the ground.
"General Hodwan… is it truly you?" one of the last three questioned, all of them removed their masks.
Hodwan recognised their faces, with each one his smile grew brighter, "So we meet again! Haha!"
The three fell to their knees, tears of joy ran down their cheeks "General Hodwan, your unfaithful soldiers wish to return to duty!"
"Pah, stop that. We all know you didn't get a say in the matter… neither did I. But here we stand. Reunited." Hodwan gestured for them to get up.
"Gather their bodies, it's better to get rid of the evidence." Hodwan followed up with another order.
"About that Sir, on our way here we encountered some lost villager, should we recover his corpse too?" one of Hodwan's new entourage asked.
"Yes. The lord of this land is hunting for me, better safe than sorry."
"Cykrus Aventia? How did that happen?"
"It's a long story." Hodwan scoffed, "I'll fill you in once we have arrived at my hideout. Now go."
The three nodded, two began piling up the corpses in this area, the third left to recover the dead fiancé.
The two finished their task under Hodwan's supervision, but the wait had only just begun.
Minutes upon minutes passed in silence, all of them waiting for the final body to begin the clean up, "Did that bloke lose his way?" one of the former masked men questioned with annoyance.
"The place we offed the civilian wasn't that far away, he might actually have." the second covered his face in shame.
Just then they heard the sound of branches breaking under someone's feet.
"You took long enough." Hodwan shouted over, just as annoyed as the other two.
"Huh? You were expecting me?" a young voice responded, causing the three to go on their guard, casting observant gazes at the direction it came from.
Confusion was the predominant emotion in everyone present, but Hodwan's laughter broke the awkward tension, "I am not dreaming, am I?" he pinched himself as he sized up Frey.
"Wow! This day is just full of reunions!" Hodwan spoke with light contempt, taking some steps towards the boy, but his two new soldiers placed themselves in his way, unsheathing their weapons, "Leave this to us, Sir." one of them said.
"Wait- Isn't this…?"
"Subject number five." the two recognised Frey as well.
"You two, stand down. That's an order." Hodwan pushed them aside and continued walking with his axe in hand.
"Sir, killing this boy will have severe consequences, even we were warned of this." they informed their general.
"I am aware. In fact, I know the value of his life much better than you, or your former masters do." Hodwan mused.
Frey began to frown, not only had he been expected, but Hodwan looked at him the same way as back then.
He considered him as no more than a means of entertainment.
"Well, well, well… Little demon. I assume you have some new tricks up your sleeve. Either that, or you are conceited, believing that you stand any chance." Hodwan licked his lips in excitement.
"I will kill you. I will kill you and take revenge for all the deaths you have caused. My family… my village… after today, they will rest easy!" Frey declared while clenching his fist.
"Hoho, you have become more daring. Show me everything, or I will make you regret appearing before me so soon." Hodwan raised his axe and pointed it at Frey.
The former masked men stepped aside, moving outside of what would become the two's battlefield, and positioned themselves to stop Frey from running, if it came down to it.
At the next moment, spike after spike came hurling at Hodwan from below.
Frey's eyes were bloodshot, completely focused on avenging those that haunt his nightmares, to appease them, to free himself of the burden he is carrying in his heart.
"Tsk, too slow." Hodwan frowned after a while of side-stepping and cleaving apart the incoming spikes.
"I am missing an arm boy! How much more of a handicap do you need?!" he roared.
After sending one spike followed by the other, Frey finally decided to switch up his strategy: four spikes rose out of the earth at once, causing Hodwan's frown to turn upside down, "That's more like it!"
For the first time since the start of the battle, Hodwan focused on the few fire particles around him.
Their numbers couldn't even be compared to the near limitless amount of earth particles, but it was seemingly enough, as a small wave of red flooded out, with Hodwan at the centre, which turned the approaching spikes into dust, as well as the grass surrounding him.
Frey took a step back to try and evade, but Hodwan's spell dissipated right before him, only hot wind brushed past him in the end.
The boy clenched his teeth, frustrated beyond belief.
It was obvious that Hodwan held himself back, not nearly perceiving Frey's attacks as a threat.
Frey took a deep breath, the fresh air helping him regain his cool, allowing him to tap into those plans he had prepared beforehand.
He waved his hand, and the ground beneath Hodwan's feet liquified, causing him to slowly sink in.
Hodwan noticed right away, prepared to raise his foot, but had to shift his attention because of another incoming spike.
"Haven't we been through this already?" he scowled in response, lifting his axe to split this one apart, like most of the others before it.
The cleaver descended, but even before metal hit rock, the spike blew apart, detonated.
Hodwan managed to turn in time, blocking much of the exploded debris with his charred arm, but not all of them.
Several sharp rock pieces penetrated his skin and flesh, now firmly stuck within his body.
His gaze towards Frey changed, he was no longer acting as carefree as previously.
"That one is rather annoying… reminds me of that icy bitch." Hodwan's face darkened as he was reminded of the person who took his arm.
"Don't call her that!" Frey shouted, several more spikes rose up.
"Try to stop me then!" Hodwan roared, his aura suddenly flared up, with a wave of his hand the fire particles of the surroundings began to rotate around him, quickly turning into another familiar sight for Frey… a fiery inferno.
Each of the spikes detonated, one after the other, but the small rocks were burnt to smithereens upon entering the zone around his opponent.
Frey clicked his tongue; he had no way of bypassing this formidable wall of fire, or so he thought, until he observed his nigh unlimited stock of rocks crash against and destroy many of the fire particles that were fuelling the storm.
It had become clear to him that he held the advantage in a drawn-out battle… sooner or later Hodwan's available particles would run out, at that point he would win by default.
All he had to do was buy time, but Hodwan had also caught onto Frey's sudden defensive stance.
"Didn't you want to kill me?! Where did that ferociousness go?!" Hodwan meant to taunt Frey, goad him into attacking mindlessly, but it was ineffective.
"If you aren't coming to me! Then I will come to you instead!" his axe had long been burnt to a crisp, but he still felt vastly superior when it came to close combat, how strong could a mere child be?
Each of his steps caused a low thud to echo out of the inferno, which followed him as he moved.
Frey's heart dropped, he turned to run, to keep his distance from this lunatic, but several meters later he was faced with one of Hodwan's lackeys.
"Out of the way!" he ordered, causing the man to shudder, he had no intention of abiding by this child's will, but his muscles performed without consent, stepping aside as commanded.
Frey exhaled, seeing that the man obeyed, he was not anywhere near Hodwan's level, and thus not a real threat.
His chest ached, he felt bad for robbing this man's free will this way, even if he was obviously some bad guy.
He probably had tons of blood on his hands, but even then, Frey felt he had no right to take away his freedom, this was an emergency, the only reason that Frey broke the promise he made to himself - to never command anything of a human ever again.
This cursed ability of his shouldn't exist, no human should have that much control over another.
If he could, he would get rid of it at any moments notice, this way, he would never have to worry about accidentally misusing it again.
The thought of another human having this ability caused him to shudder, what if they made full usage of the curse?
The amount of misery in the world would probably skyrocket.
His mind flashed back to reality, just in time to feel a scrape at his ankle.
Frey's leg went limb shortly after, causing him to lose his balance and fall.
His head shot down towards his ankle, only to find that it was bleeding, something had cut it.
He looked around himself and spotted a short knife stuck into the ground.
"Sorry Sir, but I worried that he might have a spell to escape, since he is an earth mage and all." the second lackey spoke from within the treetops.
"Poison?" Hodwan waved his arm, the inferno stopping at once.
"A muscle relaxant, Sir. Initially meant for you." the first man answered, he was holding his head in pain as the effect of Frey's words had stopped.
"But… what just happened to me?" he asked has he held his hands in front of him and looked at his palms.
"It's the Little demon's ability. Quite the scary thing, but it seems like it can only affect those of equal or lower power." Hodwan explained as he stepped closer to the young boy.
The muscle relaxant was spreading throughout his body, blocking all movement within moments.
"Anyways… this is perfect." Hodwan continued speaking, "Take him along, it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for him… hopefully it will be her."
Frey could only watch and listen as the man carried him away.
In the corner of his eyes, he witnessed Hodwan incinerating the piled-up corpses before they headed off deeper into the woods, towards the man's hideout, in order to prepare for more visitors, and to get the rocks out of his body.
… …
Vince, Ronny and Bobby stood in a semi-circle around a man, who was fully cloaked, wearing a mask, and motionlessly lying on the ground.
"Did we just… kill a man?" Vince mumbled as he stared down at the man they had gotten the jump on.
"It wasn't me! I ain't going to jail!" Ronny lifted his hands into the air.
Bobby was scratching he back of his head, sadness and worry painted on his face, "I didn't think he would be so weak…"
"Oh shit!" Ronny gasped.
"What is it? Did you have some lifesaving idea?" Vince turned to him.
"No, but what if this guy is a friend of that guy." Ronny hinted at a possible connection between the man in front of him and Frey.
"Whose friend?" Bobby and a cold female voice asked at the same time.