"Hey, Otto! Bring me three more beers!" a bearded man shouted. He was at a table with two more men: one had a thick dark moustache, and the other was bald.
"Got it!" The tavern keeper rushed to fill three more cups and brought it to the table.
He placed the beers on the table. "Here are your drinks, enjoy!" And then returned to his balcony.
Because of the possibility of a war, the tavern was almost abandoned. Dust was building up on the tables and balcony, spider webs could be seen everywhere, and the smell of mold was getting stronger day after day.
Otto wasn't even thinking about opening his establishment today, but his friend insisted for him to do it to celebrate his wife's pregnancy, which would last for some more weeks, so Otto decided to do this favor.
However, after some cups, they've started to talk about the problems.
"I hope this isn't the last beer I will drink in my life… It would be horrible to have survived the war against the Angels just to die in another war caused by the stupid actions of our king." the bald man sighed.
"Don't worry, Peter, I'm sure that the Council and the Vigil will spare us. After all, this is a problem caused by the king, and we have nothing to do with all this mess." the man with the moustache said.
"Exactly! Ardos would never allow the death of innocent civilians! Also…"
The door of the tavern suddenly moaned, attracting the gazes of the four men to the entrance, and they saw a young man with traveling clothes approaching.
He wore a long mantle, making it impossible to see what he was wearing under, except for his gray boots slightly dirty with dry mud.
The face was the only visible part, and he was extremely beautiful, with subtle and gentle features. The eyes had a light blue color like ice, and his dark straight hair was long enough to cover his ears.
"Finally! An open tavern!" he exclaimed as he approached the three men. "Is it okay if I sit here?"
"Of course! Make yourself at home! Hey, Otto! Bring me one more beer!" the bearded man shouted to the tavern keeper.
"You'd better pay me later, Rolf!"
The bearded man turned to the traveler.
"This one is on me, but you'll have to use your own money if you want to drink more."
"Thank you. I had a really hard time finding an open tavern… Also, the people seen really agitated, what is happening?"
"You don't know? By your clothing, I assume you must be from another kingdom, right?"
"Exactly, I've arrived today. I thought I wouldn't be able to get in the kingdom, the guards were really strict."
"So, you don't know... Well, if you did, you would be far away from here." The tavern keeper placed the beers on the table. "Here is your drink, enjoy!"
"Are things really that bad?"
When he said that, everyone, including Otto, sighed together.
"It's terrible… Everything thanks to our stupid king who raised a female Angel for twenty years after the end of the war…"
"Ardos discovered about this and obviously ordered the king to hand her to him, but the king said he would never abandon his daughter… Can you believe it? We were almost extinct by her kind, and he calls her daughter?" The bald man got worked up as he explained.
"You are exaggerating! A beautiful woman like her would never be able to hurt someone!" the man with the moustache said.
Once again, everyone, except for the man with the moustache, sighed together. The way that they were capable to sigh together was almost comical.
"Ugh... you should fix this habit about you, Thomas. You Forget about every important detail once you see a beautiful woman."
"Am I lying? If you had seen her, you would understand she would never be able to hurt someone."
"Ah, of course! It's not like Ardos is willing to send the most powerful army of the entire world just to deal with her." Rolf said ironically.
"Ardos intends on sending the Vigil?" the traveler got surprised.
"Yeah, after insisting for so long, Ardos lost his patience and threatened to send the Council and the Vigil to get her if the king didn't hand her over until the end of the month."
"Oh, now I understand the reason behind all this agitation… And why the guards were so strict… They probably thought I was from the Vigil since there's only five more days for the end of the month."
"That's why there's rebellions happening everywhere trying to overthrow that stupid king! If I could, I would invade that damn castle and drag the Angel by the hair!"
"You would've to fight with me first!" Thomas answered.
"With pleasure! That's a great opportunity to put some sense in your empty head!"
Rolf got up from his chair and threatened to approach his friend, which he was obviously acting, since he would never fight him, although he hated that side of Thomas doing anything to every beautiful woman he laid his eyes on.
"Hey! Wait! I was just joking! Haha…" Thomas laughed nervously.
Rolf sat down once again while he stared at his friend.
"Anyway, we are still in the middle of this mess… Ah, how I wish I had money to leave this kingdom… You should do that, it's better to leave before things get worse." Rolf advised as he looked to the traveler.
The traveler remained silent and thought for some time. After a while, he drank the whole bear in one sitting, and showed a decided expression.
"You're right, I'll leave right now." The traveler stood up and walked to the door. "Goodbye! And I pray to Goddess Kura that luck is bestowed upon you!"
"Thank you! Also, what is your name?"
"Sariel." The traveler walked through the door.
******
"Thank you for choosing us, I hope to see you again!" A woman handed over a wooden basket with some fruits to a pregnant.
"I should be the one thanking." another woman said, who was pregnant of eight months. "If it wasn't for your discount, we wouldn't have anything to eat this night."
"That's for our friendship." the seller said. "But are you sure you don't need help? Where is Rolf?"
"My husband is hanging out with his friends, he said he wanted to drink…"
"And he did that as you wander around at nighttime?"
"It's alright, you know how his work is going bad. Well, I have to go now."
"Ok, be careful!"
The pregnant woman left the fair, which had only a few people with their stalls open, then walked back to her home.
She walked through the tiled streets worn out by the constant use of the people and the knights of the kingdom, and soon reached the outskirts of Fordurn, the place where her house was located.
Some guards patrolled the main streets while making sure the people could see their swords, showing they were always ready to act.
When it comes to the narrow ones, there was no guards, and the streets were deserted and scary.
To make it worse, not only were they narrow, but they were dark and had a strong smell of waste, a place totally not fit for a pregnant woman.
At that point, she was already feeling tired after walking and carrying the weight of the fruits on the arms and a life in the stomach. Her steps were slow, and she had to stop often to catch her breath.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her.
Thinking it might be a bandit, she turned rapidly and saw a young man of average height, dark hair, blue eyes and wearing a brown mantle approaching. That immediately made her realize she wasn't in danger.
"Excuse me, do you know the directions to the Fordurn's palace?"
"Oh, of course. If you go that way, you will get there." She answered pointed to the north.
"Thank you. Do you need help with these fruits?"
"Yes, please." The woman smiled gratefully.
The traveler approached his hand to grab the basket.
However, his hand suddenly changed direction and advanced into her neck.
The woman, surprised by that sudden movement, didn't even have time to react and was lifted into the air.
"Release... me... Please..." she muttered while trying to break free.
"Hm? So, you can still talk?" However, the man ignored her appeal and applied even more strength into her neck, making impossible for her to even beg for her life.
The woman's vision darkened slowly as her entire life repeated in front of her eyes.
Today was supposed to be a day like any other. She would buy food and welcome her beloved husband. Both would prepare the dinner, and then sleep together, but that was being stolen, and she was too weak to fight against that cruel fate.
Tears escaped her eyes, and her face acquired a red color. Her legs flailed frantically as she tried uselessly to break free from that superhuman grip, but it was in vain.
"Can you die already?" the traveler said angrily, applying even more strength and breaking the woman's neck.
Her head tilted weakly and lifeless, and the traveler placed her on the ground carefully.
Then, suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through his head, making his consciousness weaken.
Voices full of malice echoed through his head, voices of people he didn't know.
"What should we do?"
"The sudden attack surprised us, but, fortunately, we were able to resist and survive. We are free now to do what we want and work on our objectives. For now, we shall focus on acquiring resources, recruiting more members, expand our influence, capture more sacrifices, and upgrade the gates."
"But won't we attract problems after everything ends?"
"When that happens, we would've already recovered our losses. We'll disappear from the maps for now and, when we return, we'll reach our pinnacle once again! Even if they find some of us, they won't be able to defeat us. It's just a matter of time and patience."
"Exactly, and we have enough materials to follow the orders of our master. Since we are at a secluded place, we can build a great army. We shall hurry up."
"Yes... Let's go..." the traveler whispered, forgetting entirely that the only person who could hear him was the dead mother right next to him.
His pain faded away, and his consciousness returned. He almost passed out because of that sudden pain.
"Dammit... Not this again..."
Meanwhile, the three men at the tavern were talking about the traveler.
"A weird man, don't you think?" Thomas asked a while after the traveler left the tavern.
"Yeah..." Peter groped his pockets to grab a tissue and wipe the sweat from his forehead.
However, he felt something different in his pocket.
"What is this?" He removed from his pocket a small object and looked at it against the light. "A gold coin?! How did that end in my pocket?"
"What? I thought your work paid you only a couple of copper coins."
"But it is! This coin is not mine!" He bit the coin to test the material hardness. "And it's genuine gold! How?"
"This is..." Rolf also reached his pocket unconsciously and felt something different. When he pulled out the object, he noticed it was also a gold coin.
"What? How?"
After everyone noticed that, Peter and Otto also checked their pockets and, once again, they each found a gold coin.
"But how is this possible?"
"Maybe that man did something."
"How? I've only approached him to deliver his beer, I would have noticed him putting this in my pocket."
"No wonder I thought there was something weird about him… Why did he come to Fordurn from all the places? Is he from the Council?"
"I've never heard of anyone with that name."
"Maybe he's using a fake name, or he's one of the obscure members."
"But why did he ask so many questions? He certainly would know the answers if he was from the Council."
"Maybe he was trying to tell us something secretly, like an enigma!"
"If that's true then we are all saved! Also, he gave us these coins that are more than enough to leave this kingdom! Now, hurry up and leave this place! I'm shutting this tavern and leaving Fordurn today!"
Otto, who would beg his customers to stay a little more, was now basically kicking out his only three customers after days.
You couldn't blame him for that behavior, after all, he wanted to leave the kingdom as soon as possible to protect his family.
"Hey! At least let us finish our drinks! Why don't you seize the opportunity and drink with us? You won't use this tavern anymore after all."
"Well... You know what, you're right!" Otto rushed to his balcony, grabbed his most expensive drink, and shared it with his friends, feeling an indescribable relief of finally having a hope of a better life.
******
A couple of hours later, Rolf said goodbye to his friends, and walked back to his home cheerfully while feeling a little tipsy. On that same night, he would pack his things and leave Fordurn with his wife and child.
As he walked through the streets of the kingdom, he noticed a group of people crowded next to something. His curiosity triggered, and he approached to check what was happening.
When he got close enough, he saw his worst nightmare realized.
His wife, with whom has lived at his side for decades, was lying dead on the ground.
"MIA!" he shouted desperately as he rushed to his wife. "WAKE UP! PLEASE!"
Rolf shaked his wife, with the false hope that, somehow, it was only a sudden illness because of her pregnancy, and she was just unconscious.
"Please..." Tears started to escape from his eyes. "This can't be happening... Not now… WAKE UP, PLEASE! IT'S ME, MY LOVE! IT'S ROLF!
But it was completely useless. Rolf gently touched her face and noticed it was already cold.
Unsatisfied, Rolf touched the body of his wife, as if he didn't trust his eyes and had to confirm what he was seeing using his hands.
When he reached her belly, he noticed something bizarre.
Her belly, which was big a couple of hours earlier, was flat. There weren't any signs of cuts, blood or even that a childbirth operation had been made.
His child, who was carried this whole time within the abdomen of his wife, had disappeared completely as if it never existed.