Before Rey would know what was happening, Eragon dragged him by the wrist and waltzed towards their hut.
Eragon had done this to keep what he was about to say from reaching the ears of others and as soon as they entered their hut, he released his hold on Rey.
Rey looked at his reddened wrist while massaging it to numb the discomforting sensation he was feeling.
Eragon was not lagging in his physique. He was also built for his age but not as much as his son was.
He also had a full grey beard and hair that announced his experience and longevity in the world.
Eragon walked toward one corner of the hut and stood there, folding his arms and sighing.
He had to get this over with so they could join the others in preparation for battle.
"How long has it been?" he said, not particularly referring to Rey. Instead, Eragon was reminiscing.
The last incident of such magnitude like the one they were currently about to face had happened a long time ago.
"Twenty-three years," he said again, answering his own question.
"We have lived through twenty-three years of peace. We were stuffed so much with the tranquil years that went by that we grew foolish enough to believe that they have stopped trying to find us."
Rey was even more confused as he listened to his father talk.
"They?" Rey commented, walking towards his father. "Who's this they, Father? Are they the ones we are preparing for?"
Eragon looked down briefly and sighed.
Silence followed this downtrodden expression, and then after a while, he raised his head and nodded, affirming Rey's question.
Rey couldn't fathom why but at this point, he was gradually boiling up inside of him.
He was growing angrier by the second, toward an enemy he had yet to see with his own eyes and didn't even know.
He folded his hands into tight fists."
"Who are these people, Father?" he sternly asked, Eragon immediately detecting the resolve in his son's voice.
His eyes were glittery and mildly wet with tears as he recalled the incident from over two decades ago, all the way to what had led them to this day.
Eragon never wanted his son to know the truth just like his peers. But now that this had happened, he felt stupid for supporting that notion.
Nonetheless, he couldn't neither the fact that it made so much sense back then.
If the younger generation did not know about the oppression their kind faced, there would be no room for any sort of revenge and thus, the peace they sacrificed so much for will be preserved.
But today, even that peace was now heavily threatened.
"Humans, Rey," Eragon mumbled, much to the green-eyed boy's surprise. "Humans are the enemies we faced in the past."
Eragon walked towards a corner of the room where a mat sat idly.
He squatted and lifted the mat, revealing a black symbol on the cold ground of the room.
Rey was still trying to digest the information that had just been revealed to him when Eragon took out a small black box from under the ground.
The black marks had served as a form of lock that safeguarded this item.
Eragon opened the box and inside it was a pair of black gauntlets.
"Put yourself together, my boy," Eragon urged his son as he wore the gauntlets. "Calm your mind."
The black gloves slid over his forearms in quick, practised measures as he approached and patted Rey on the shoulder.
"Once we survive this… if we survive, I will tell you everything you need to know. It seems like there is no point hiding it from your generation any longer."
Rey remained rooted to the spot, saying nothing as Eragon walked out to join the others.
*********
"Eragon! Where the hell have you been?!" the village chief yelled immediately he saw Eragon outside.
Eragon showed his gauntlets off to him.
"I won't fight barehanded now, would I?" he retorted, causing the village chief to scoff.
They walked side by side as the village chief tightened his armour over his torso.
"The shield is down, chief," Eragon informed him as they walked.
As much as he expected it to happen, the village chief was very much surprised by this news, considering the calibre of mana shield it was.
"To take down a mana shield of that level," the chief muttered. "Then it must mean…"
"We are dealing with one of those people or someone on their level," Eragon added.
The village chief grit his teeth in anger and frustration.
"We are left without a choice now, my friend."
Understanding what this statement meant, Eragon nodded.
The battle was inevitable.
*********
Lancelot and his army had successfully pulled down the pentagon-patterned mana shield that guarded the village in the south.
And as the knight rode forward into the village, the number of soldiers behind him seemed to have increased.
His troop was very much complete and easily outnumbered the members of the village, but even Lancelot knew better than to assume his numerical advantage would guarantee his victory.
The fact that there was someone capable of erecting a mana shield of that strength kept him at the peak of his alertness.
Such a person could turn the tide of this war against him and he was not going to have that.
"Monsters are to be slain," he declared to his soldiers. "And slaying them is what we must do!"
"Hyaaahhh!" the soldiers yelled at the top of their lungs as they charged at full speed into the village.
There was no doubt about it.
Even if there was no guaranteed victor at this moment, it was going to be a bloodbath.
The villagers were not going to go down without a fight and neither was Lancelot ready to return to his liege with the news of a defeat.
"Take everything you find! For the glory of our Empire!"
The soldiers let out massive battle cries in response as they headed onwards, brandishing their weapons and preparing to equip them for battle.