Jiro snorted as his carriage crossed the border of the small village of Wicklebrow. He had spoken to the village chief, and the information that he had been able to get was too little. According to what the old chief had said, they had indeed, seen a child of unknown origins lingering around, but because of the recent happenings, they had not wanted to entertain any strangers and resolutely chased him away.
"That old bastard could have tried to keep the boy here. It would have saved me a lot of stress." Jiro lamented. Now, his journey was being extended even longer than it needed to be.
"Keep on the path that I told you of. The scent of Dark Magic is strong. We will be able to get him within a day." Jiro raised his voice and told the coachman. The sound of a whip cracking rang through the air as the carriage sped up.
.
.
Raven washed his face in the pond where he had run into the robed figure the previous day. He had been unable to rest ever since the encounter, his body filled with a restless energy.
'Jiro Court. Jiro Court.' He repeated the name of his target every once in a while. He was not able to get rid of the name from the forefront of his mind. So he kept on repeating it.
'I need to get a move on. I need to figure out a way to find this person.' Raven finally decided and got up. He made his way through the forest at a steady pace. He stuck to the shadows as usual, avoiding unnecessarily showing himself.
Before long, Raven had made it back to the main pathway where people, wagons, and carts, passed through from village to village. At this moment, there was a carriage parked not far away, with several armed guards on horses surrounding it. From where he was, perched on the high branch of a tree, Raven could hear the voice of a man, swearing angrily.
"I lost track of him, dammit! From this point on, its as if all my senses are just smudged!" He heard the man say angrily from within the carriage.
'Is he... looking for me?' Raven's first instinct was to suspect that this person was searching for him. After all, he was a wanted person at the moment. Raven could also recognize various symbols on the carriage, and the one that stood out the most was that of the White Empire. It was a large, white insignia that was emblazoned onto the sides of the carriage.
'Child, the one that speaks now if Jiro Court. Act now.'
All of a sudden, a voice that Raven had long since suppressed spoke up in his mind, startling him. Thankfully, he did not alert the guards around the carriage. He quickly composed himself and fell into thought.
'The one who is after me is Jiro Court? This cannot be a coincidence.' He gulped. At first, he thought that Jiro Court was some random person. But now, it turned out that the person that he had been pitted against was none other than the person that had been sent after him from the White Empire. Surely, this man was not ordinary. To be put on this case and sent after a Dark Magic practitioner, he was surely capable and had multiple ways to limit Dark Magic.
'I will be at a disadvantage if I face him head on. But it would be difficult for me to do it any other way. This is the best chance for me to take him out. The guards are relaxed now and it will be easy to jump them.' Raven's mind ran rapidly as the darkness in him began to stir. He pulled out his small dagger and took in a deep breath.
'Now, time to do this.'
With his heart beating wildly in his chest, Raven jumped from branch to branch until he was right above the guard that was closest to the forest. Thankfully, the way that the guards had fanned out to guard all sides of the carriage caused this one to be fairly isolated from the rest.
Raven jumped down and the Dark Magic within him poured out, causing him to be wreathed in a dark aura. The sound of the wind around him rustling died out and he became as silent as a feather falling through the air. He swiftly dropped down and in a moment's notice, he had reached the soldier.
"Ughh!" The soldier grunted as Raven dropped on his shoulders, but the darkness around Raven extended to him, muffling all the sounds he made. His grunt was as silent as a puff of wind from someone's breath.
The guard realized that he was being ambushed but was too slow. Before he could try to throw Raven off or unsheath his sword, Raven's dagger sunk into his neck that was exposed between his helmet and the shoulder. The dagger dug in deep before sweeping around and slicing through everything in its path. Bolstered by Dark Magic, even the man's bones were like paper in front of Raven's dagger.
Raven quickly moved to the next guard. He had no doubt that the man sent after him, Jiro Court, would have picked up the use of Dark Magic, unless his perception was as messed up as it actually sounded from his complaints. Then Raven would have a few more seconds of grace.
With surprising adeptness, Raven crawled under the carriage and reached the other guard. With quick movements, he slashed at the Achilles tendons of the man's legs, bringing him down to his knees before pouncing on him and beheading him like the other guard.
Raven was about to move to the next guard to continue when the door of the carriage suddenly slammed open.
Bang!
"Let's mov-?!" Jiro paused in his statement when he was met with the headless body of the first guard that Raven had taken down. His eyes widened in horror as he realized that the muddled Dark Magic traces that surrounded the forest had grown slightly more active.
"Guards!"