Entering the forest wasn't too different from the mud-ridden outskirts; the path was just as soft and wet. The foliage was odd though. Creaking trees that stretched to the sky, and entangled brambles that swayed on their own. Expectedly the wildlife was quiet, except for the occasional chirp or scuttle from the brush.
Strangely though, the border of the village was… empty...
The few cottages didn't look lived in for years either. Dilapidated thatch roofs, thick damp log pillars, and the cobble walls were fitted with moss and vines.
They stood between two of these structures; pondering the environment. Garrick, who was on Aurin's left, picked between the rocks with the tip of his blade. Then, Elia was next to the right building… Stood there stiffly fiddling with her belt pouch that would chime a metal clinking every other second.
Aurin though; he was ordered to stand close and stay quiet, but that worked well for him: Keeping silent was a good way to stay out of trouble. While he looked around, he spotted a rather damp wood pillar that collapsed near the left building.
'Finally...'
Nearly crumbling to the ground, he dribbled closer to it with his arms dangling. But before he was able to reach it, he was blocked by Garrick's outstretched arm as he asked, "Where are you going?"
He slowly shifted his gaze to meet Garrick's. The man narrowed his eyes, and his lips grew tense.
'Does it look like I can go anywhere?'
Aurin lifted a limp arm towards the fallen wood; though Garrick shook his head abruptly, and sternly said, "No."
Returning a blank stare, Aurin didn't care much for his demands at that moment. Internally he giggled to himself with a stupid expression painted on his face. Instead of listening, he continued his dreary march to his lavishly dreamed resting place. Though the crooked stones spread across the path, had other plans for Aurin. The third step he took was especially sloppy, and uncontrolled, resulting in a rather abrupt trip from one of the stones.
In the split second of falling toward the muddy ground, he was imagining having to use the rest of his Ather.
Though right as he was about to impact into the ground, he felt a rough grip tense around his hood that planted him in place.
Shocked still, he tilted his head backward and met with Garrick's distasteful and annoyed gaze. But within that hid a sliver of worry.
"We can't rest yet, I'll carry you if I have to, but we can't stop…" His voice sounded relaxed but his body language really said otherwise...
Elia glanced from her tools and nonchalantly mumbled. "Why not? We can give the kid a break."
Lifting Aurin by the hood, he then pointed towards the forest, and responded, "You hear that?"
While Aurin tried to listen to whatever it was, he stopped struggling against Garrick's hold. His tired charade he was entertaining himself broke. That familiar pit of angst gutted through his stomach.
He darted his head side to side.
It was quiet...
In that moment time felt still, and the woods reflected that in its agonizing stillness. Garrick sighed breaking that oddity, and he followed up with, "It would be nice to take a break, but you see… There isn't a trace of smoke or recent camp nearby, nor is there any activity. So we hurry on until we reach the village center. Xyph, let's hope this isn't the only destroyed part…"
He shuffled his scabbard to the waist; it dangled across the ground as he sheathed the blade clicking it in place. Leaning his back down to Aurin, he sighed, "Brat, let's go, I'll carry you if you can't walk."
'It's a trick isn't it!'
"Get on."
Slowly, he wobbled to Garrick with a tense body. By the time he stood next to him, he hesitated. Garrick was continuously waving his hands behind his back; insisting him to hurry. While he crawled onto Garrick's back, he tugged his hood over his face. The moment he did, Garrick shot up with his arms under Aurin's knees. Whilst he did, Aurin clasped the orange tufts dangling in front of his face.
'Is he going throw me to the ground for not listening? No, maybe something later... No food?'
When Elia looked over to Garrick, the corners of her mouth broke in a humorous angle. She clicked her tongue and mumbled, "Getting protective with the merchandise are we?"
With a grunt, he said, "Of course, Xyph knows how long until we can reach those damn aristocrats. Quit being a nuisance, let's go…"
'Aristocrats? Please... words I know...'
Hunched across Garrick's back, the desolate cabins faded behind them into a cloud of trees. The further they went in, the more the path narrowed. Strangely enough, even the trees and brush stood still. Not a single croak from the wavering trees, not a single rustle from the thorns. But the usual jabbering stopped too...
"Go back..." Aurin weakly whispered tugging on his shoulder.
Continuing to walk forward, he grumbled, "Quiet... We keep going, it's just because we are getting closer to the village…"
He figured the same, but the straining silence, along with the black-coated figure he saw earlier gave him other impressions.
It was a rather quiet walk.
Garrick seemed to always have a hand on the hilt of his sword, and Elia's head was spinning. She twitched to any crack of a stone or stick under their feet. Despite their intensity, Aurin was actually quite entertained by them being on edge. He even went as far as to pick twigs in passing. Then while she was looking away, he would secretly chuck them at her feet to watch her reaction.
Besides Elia, there wasn't much for him to look at, because the clouds were dimming the already dark forestry.
It was a journey that would put one to sleep, and it did. Methodically being carried without much worry except for the unusual silence was nice. Too nice…
His eyes became heavy countless times, and almost every time he blinked, he swore they traveled so much farther. After a while of this repetition, his senses grew numb. The sound became dampened, and the air felt cool yet warm. His anxieties, worries, and fear all seemed to be fading out into obscurity; like none of it mattered anymore.
Shutting his eyes once more, he faded into a mindless pitch-black scape.
No dream, not even a sound to wake him.
This was short-lived...
Being violently shook awake by a sudden change in Garrick's pace, he slowly looked up. Thunder rippled through the distant clouds, after a split-second passed, it released an ear-piercing screech. He nearly leaped off Garrick's back! It felt like his spine was going to leap out too! His chest was thumping up and down rapidly. Cold sweat drifted down his neck.
As he looked around, the two were just as startled. Because while they stood on a steep cliff, ahead of them stretched a giant clearing. The village.
It seemed so vast that you could barely even see the edge of it!
'This is considered a small village?'
He strained to see it at all. Some of the buildings were two stories, built of stone bricks and proper shingled roofs. Others were built just like the pathetic huts they saw before, albeit a bit larger.
Some of the wider twisting roads had structures next to them too, but those were all flattened? It looked as though an inundated horror tore its way through... Along with all the destruction, there wasn't even a single torch, lantern, or smoke trail among the wreck. Nothing. A ghost of a village.
The place was built with a chaotic amount of buildings, with only the neatly paved brick roads keeping it together. It was like the designers had built the roads for viewing afar at their exact location. Because they all led to the center of the village, luringly...
'That's… out of place…'
In the middle of the village was a massive clearing that housed a gigantic cathedral.
The tall glass windows were cracked head to toe. Vines crept across the decrepit walls, and the grand door entrance was crashed inwards. The towers weren't connected to the base anymore either. Instead, they were lying on the crushed cabins farther out. Like someone ripped them off and then tossed them to the side.
None of them said anything, none of them seemed to move, but the drifting storm was indifferent. Past the village was a vast empty field, and the storm was above it. Rows of lightning struck across it every second, it was devastating. They got to see the front of the storm, but that wasn't the sickening part. Since it was blowing south, the wind carried something foul. The smell of rot and iron was coursing through the air.
End of Chapter 2