John let out a sigh as he rounded up the intensive training exercise that he had left the village for. Usually, he trained with a few other men, but this time, they had returned to the village earlier than he had.
Ever since the incident seven years ago where David had sacrificed himself for them to return safely, John had felt a sense on inadequacy building up within him. It pushed him to train harder than ever, pushing himself forward again and again. But it yielded marginal results. He could feel that he was stronger than he was years ago, but ultimately, his lack of talent and potential hindered him from ever making any reasonable progress.
"I wonder what I can eat for dinner tonight. Maybe I should try catching something." He muttered to himself as he made his way back to the village. He eventually decided to try and catch something small to use in his dinner.
A couple of hours later, John reached the village. While he was still a small distance away, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Why is it so quiet? And why are there clothes all over the place?" He asked himself and broke into a joke. Normally, by this time, the village would be quite lively as the men hung around and discussed about various matters. The women would cook while the children helped. Also, as far as he was aware, there had been no strong wind, so where did these clothes come from?
It was only when he stepped into the village proper that he noticed the black ash sprayed everywhere. The ash was even piled up in some of the clothes.
"Are these not the clothes that Gerald was wearing earlier today?" James picked up a shirt and trouser. "Even his underwear is with the clothes?" James was stunned. He began to pick up the clothes, shocked to see that they seemed to be arranged in a way that would look as if they had been worn before suddenly being emptied out.
'Something is wrong...'
"Hello?!" James ran over to the nearest house and slammed the door open. As he looked around, he found some clothes of children with ashes inside them. Finding no one inside the house, he turned around and surveyed the surroundings. That was when he also noticed the number of weapons and sharp tools that were scattered about. The bad feeling in his heart intensified.
For some reason, the majority of the clothes and weapons seemed to be heading in one direction.
'Lady Elizabeth's house? What happened here?' James thought to himself as he hastily made his way in that direction. Soon, he reached the house, and indeed, the vast majority of the clothes were gathered there, along with many weapons. Swords, spears, knives, pitchforks, and even some torches that were unlit.
As James investigated, he soon came to find a lot of blood by the side of the house. It was just a short distance from where the clothes and ashes were gathered. The blood seemed to have pooled on the ground before drying up partially. It also was not a long time ago that it had happened.
James stood up with a pensive expression.
"They are all dead." He came to this realization. No one in the village was alive. These ashes might be what was left of them.
"Only one thing could have done this..." He said, stepping back slowly. "High level Fire Magic... or Dark Magic... But for all these weapons and torches, I think it might have been Dark Magic."
He looked at the dry blood once again and then the house where Elizabeth had raised her son alone. Then he made his way inside. He had noticed that some ashes had mixed in with the blood, which meant that someone must have turned to ashes there. But for some reason, he did not find the clothes that Elizabeth or Raven had been wearing earlier on in the day.
"If they are alive, then maybe they can tell me what happened here. Maybe one of them is responsible." James' eyes were steely as he swept through the house.
As a hunter, James' senses were quite sharp. His intuition was also something that he relied on a lot. As he went through the house, he noted that it seemed to have been searched in a rather hasty manner. He had been in the house many times after David had passed away, and he was able to note that a few things were not in place.
"The wolf skull is gone." He noted when he finished searching through the house. The wolf skull was something that was cherished dearly by Elizabeth, so for it to be gone, with no sign of both mother and son was too suspicious.
"They should be alive, but they must have left the village. I need to find them." James decided and turned to leave the house. He went over to his own small house that had remained untouched in his absence. He packed up some rations, money and clothes, before leaving. He already had his weapons and was confident in his ability to survive in the wild through the night. He just had to catch on to the mother and son duos' trail.
James returned to Elizabeth's house and inspected the surroundings. As a skilled hunter, it did not take him long to find a trail that led away from the house. But unexpectedly, it was just a single trail. One that belonged to a child.
"Raven?" James was struck by another wave of confusion. He did not understand. What about Elizabeth?
He looked back at the dry blood and seemed to realize something. Raven might have set out alone. Perhaps Elizabeth was no more, just like the remaining people of the village.
James quickly followed the trail that led away from the house. The trail led to the dirt path that led away from the village, but abruptly disappeared when they passed the boundary of the village.
"What?"