Chapter 68: Fate

The night had just started to fall when a deep purple light suddenly erupted without any warning on a vast grassy plain of the wilderness. The radiance was so intense that all the small animals peacefully living around this place suddenly decided to leave as fast as they could.

Even more powerful beasts, magical or not, wisely chose to stay as far away as possible from this place.

The imposing and luxurious carriage, symbol of the prestige of the Ryunno clan even deep into the wilderness, was also completely swallowed by this light in a few seconds.

However, the mysterious purple glow disappeared just as suddenly as it appeared.

The two men confronting one another stayed silent long seconds after the disappearance of the light while looking at one another.

The cold air around Alusha was still dense when he finally opened his mouth to ask just as coldly.

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Simply replied the man with a voice much younger than what Alusha initially believed.

The voice of the cloaked figure obviously belonged to a young man but Alusha wasn’t able to say anything more than that.

The situation once more descended into a cold standstill. Alusha didn’t dare to recklessly attack in this kind of situation.

He was a Ryunno clan member and naturally had much sharper senses than any other race with perhaps the exception of the noble Elves. However, he was unable to tell when this man dressed with an incredibly long purple coat appeared and more importantly how he killed his guard.

A single sweep of his eyes on the plain was enough for him to discover the body of his other guard lying dead in the grass.

Even if his carriage isolated the noise from the outside world for his comfort, this didn’t mean that he wouldn't have heard anything if a fierce battle had just erupted.

The fact that this man was able to silently and effortlessly killed his guards was enough proof of his abilities.

Moreover, there was another thing that made Alusha worry and hesitate to immediately attack.

He didn’t recognize this man’s magic.

Every true Saint mage created their own magic based on their comprehension of the various elements. This was the proof of their attainment on the path of magic, but even so, they were ultimately all derived from the various aspects of the four primordial elements.

There weren’t that many different aspects for each element and with Alusha's experience, he already experienced many of them among his fellow clan members.

However, this magic was completely different from any he ever saw. He wasn’t even able to tell which primordial element it originated from.

Was it fire?

Or a mix of several aspects of different elements?

Even after thinking about it for long seconds, Alusha was unable to reach a conclusion.

However, fear was a foreign emotion for him.

He had a purpose and trained tirelessly for it all his life. He wasn’t like many of his fellow clan members who were lazy because of their noble status and natural superior strength.

Alusha already fought numerous battles inside the wilderness to hone himself.

A deep blue glow slowly surfaced on his body and started to wrap around him. The temperature of the air around him quickly dropped even more and reached the man dressed in purple a dozen meters away.

His mouth started to form a mist with each breathing and testified of the new temperature around him. However, his body under the mysterious but thin looking purple cloak didn’t shiver.

The same bright purple glow circled his body while Alusha took a step forward and finally got down from the carriage.

As soon as his foot touched the ground, a dense layer of ice formed.

With a wave of his hand, the door of the carriage was violently closed and sealed with ice. After doing that, Alusha finally turned back his attention toward the man in purple.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I certainly don’t know your noble name but I do know your origin.”

“Then you really are mad!”

“Probably…” Bitterly answered the man without any other explanation.

His voice didn’t contain any wrath or any defiance. Alusha knew that the actions of his clan created resentment from many different people. If this man was motivated by his anger and desire for vengeance then the current situation would make some sense for him.

He could understand that someone who lost everything because of his clan would want to risk his life to seek revanche.

However, this man was different.

He didn’t seem motivated by anger or resentment.

Even so, he was ready to risk his life to confront him.

“I don’t know who you are, but I will let you understand the folly of your act. After your death, I will be sure to slowly investigate your origin and you can be sure that none of your kin will be able to escape my clan’s wrath!” Declared Alusha with his brows tightly furrowed in annoyance and anger.

“I lost my family a long time ago I’m afraid.”

“Good for you then!”

With a violent wave of his hand, a dense freezing wind rushed toward his opponent and quickly engulfed him before the same dense purple light appeared.

Immediately after, the violent sound of confrontation reached Alianelle still crouched on the ground of the carriage with a piece of torn fabric to cover her upper body tightly clenched in her trembling hands.

She wasn’t able to understand what was happening, but the monstrous uproar and dashing lights illuminating the interior of the carriage were enough to feed her young heart with a new kind of terror.

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“Stop, we’re almost there Jazor.”

Immediately after my voice sounded, the large shoulder where I was sitting on trembled before completely stopping. A rushed breathing was the only thing I was able to hear in this complete silent darkness surrounding us.

The light of the moon hidden by dense clouds prevented me from seeing distinctly Jazor’s current appearance and it was probably for the best.

“Are they here?”

“They should be beyond this hill.” I slowly muttered.

“What do you mean by 'they should'? Can’t you use your strange mana vision thing to sense them?” Immediately rebuked Jazor.

The fact that he was able to complain in this kind of situation reassured me as it probably meant that his body, after the overuse of his magic, wasn’t beyond repair.

I kept these thoughts to myself and simply replied.

“It’s not that simple. This man is different from anyone else I previously met. It’s difficult to explain but he clearly sensed me when I tried to feel his presence inside the town. If I try to pinpoint his position, it would probably alert him and we would lose our only advantage.”

“That sucks…”

“Yeah. Let’s find out if I’m right.”

We desperately rushed against time to follow this carriage transporting Alianelle to a terrible fate, but when we finally managed to catch up with it, we didn’t dare to be reckless anymore. The strange mana that brought us here was extremely dense beyond the hill but I couldn’t say anything more than this.

We cautiously walked beyond the hill while staying hidden.

The light of the moon and the stars finally became strong enough to partially illuminate a vast grassy plain a few hundred meters in front of us. The details of this plain were hidden by the darkness but the wide and majestic golden carriage couldn’t be mistaken.

“Finally…”

“Looks like they stopped to camp for the night.” Quietly added Jazor who was crouched beside me.

“Yeah…” I slowly mumbled more to myself than to answer Jazor.

Something wasn’t right.

I wasn’t able to clearly explain this strange feeling, but I kept my doubts to myself. I certainly couldn’t afford to waste any more time because of this.

“Let’s go.”

However, Jazor immediately shook his head in denial after my declaration.

“You have to go on your own from here.”

“You lost too much strength while rushing here, didn’t you?” I slowly asked while looking at his pale face with strange brown scars spread across his body.

“There is that but that’s not all. There is not many dwarves inside the town and many people saw me leave after you. I’m not like you, a good part of the officials of the town know me and from where I’m from.”

His quiet explanation immediately convinced me.

Although I was disappointed that Jazor wouldn’t be able to directly act with me, I understood his fears in this situation. They didn’t know who I was so I could escape any kind of reprisal as long as I didn’t get caught.

On the other hand, Jazor was well-known inside the town and his figure as a dwarf was too easily recognizable especially since the Advanced town had so few dwarves living inside it.

Jazor gave me a large piece of cloth torn from his own dark cloak to cover my face and my noticeable hair to prevent me from being recognized.

“Go save her and join me back here. I will lead us as far away as possible with my remaining strength.”

I nodded and slowly stood up when Jazor massive hand caught my shoulder from behind in a forceful manner.

“Don’t forget, no matter what happens, you mustn’t attack him.”

After this last serious advice, Jazor let me go and I finally stepped beyond the hill to rejoin the majestic carriage incredibly out of place in this simple grassy plain.

When I once more looked around, I finally understood why I had the feeling that something was amiss.

We were deep inside the wilderness, far from any town or civilized camp but this grassy plain was devoid of any life. After so many sleepless nights inside the wilderness, I was more than aware that this kind of place was bustling with life even at night.

However, this wasn’t the case here.

It was as if every animal, intelligent or not, understood that they couldn’t come closer to this almost sacred carriage.

Even the most primitive animals understood the danger this carriage and the man inside represented. Nevertheless, I was walking toward it with ill thought against its owner.

My steps subconsciously slew down as I realized the folly of my actions.

I wanted to save Alianelle but this realization started to make my determination waver.

Jazor obviously never confronted a member of this clan and couldn’t inform me about their true abilities, but the strong image of the blinding light overwhelming my sense was the only proof I needed to understand the kind of risk I was taking.

So many things could go terribly wrong tonight.

A single attack against him could condemn the entire town along with me.

A single glimpse at my face could threaten my only chance to see my family ever again.

Was I this confident in the few abilities I had to take this kind of risk?

Was there really any hope left to save Alianelle without losing everything or was I simply feeding myself with lies to escape this sad reality?

Fear was like a poison.

Once it enters, it slowly spreads and finally becomes unstoppable when it reaches your heart.

This was my last chance to turn around and forget everything that had happened.

Turn around and forget or move forward and face the consequences.

I knew that this choice would determine the kind of person I was going to be for the rest of my life.

My small hand touched the elegant ring on my thumb that saved my life so many times before reaching for the simple necklace without any usefulness that Alianelle gifted me. A simple gift from a simple girl that I was soon going to leave forever.

Once my parents arrives, I will leave and probably never see her again.

We were already destined to live our lives far from one another. After a few years, even the memory of this month together would become blurry and distant.

Was I really ready to risk everything to save someone who will soon have nothing to do with me anymore?

All I had to do was to get rid of this useless necklace and turn around.

Get rid of it and forget her existence.

I squeezed the necklace as strongly as I could but I didn’t pull at it.

I was afraid to fail and lose everything I fought for.

However, I also knew what kind of person I would become if I turned around now. Everything I did to change would disappear and I will return to being the same kind of man I was in my previous life.

The kind that prefers to run away.

The kind filled with everlasting regrets.

The breeze of the night helped me cool my head. The pressure on the necklace slowly diminished before my hand completely opened revealing the simple small white stone probably found on the ground near the farm.

I would like to be like a hero, proudly declaring with confidence that I will save her without feeling the least bit of fear or doubt.

However, I wasn’t like that.

I couldn’t deny the thoughts crossing my mind or the fear coursing through my veins.

Even so, I didn’t turn around.

Courage wasn’t the absence of fear but the conviction that there was something more important than the fear I was currently feeling.

And I was sure that saving her was the most important thing I had to do in both of my lives.

I strengthened my resolve and once more took a step forward.

Jazor couldn’t help me this time but that was alright.

I could do it on my own.

I had to.

As soon as my choice was made, the fear acting like shackles disappeared.

I silently crossed the distance separating me from the plain.

However, the deathly silence around me took another significance than what I initially thought when the clouds of the night obstructing the light of the moon finally completely dispersed.

The state of the plain and the carriage just a few dozen meters ahead suddenly revealed itself with a frightening clarity.

Traces of battle.

A single glance was enough to understand that a terrible fight had happened not long ago.

Large patches of grass were covered by a dense layer of ice emitting a strong cold even from where I was standing. The rest of the grass not covered by ice was simply bearing numerous scars with many parts of earth completely overturn by a violent force.

I stopped in my tracks but quickly swallowed back the gasp threatening to get out of my mouth in front of this disturbing scene of chaos. It took me a few seconds to overcome the shock and ignore the questions tormenting my mind.

I carefully resumed my walk toward the carriage but this time with my right hand raised and ready to unleash my strongest magic at any moment.

Only the sound of my steps on the frozen grass could be heard around me for long seconds.

Finally, I stopped a dozen meters away from the right side of the carriage, where the door was located.

A body in silver clothing was lying face first against the ground. A bloody hole near his chest was enough proof that he already passed away.

My gaze wandered to the front of the carriage where another body with silver clothing was lying in a massive pool of blood created by the bodies of the four vrapy near him.

Whoever attacked this carriage didn’t even spare these four beasts.

I stayed completely silent, but this realization was enough to plunge my heart into turmoil.

What was Alianelle’s fate after such a bloodbath?

Until now, there was no trace of her and of the Ryunno clan member.

Did he escape together with her?

Alianelle was completely defenseless. Unless he had decided to rescue her, her fate in this terrible situation on her own couldn’t be a nice one.

Moreover, I had trouble to believe that this overbearing Ryunno clan member would risk his life to save a useless young girl.

Then, Alianelle was probably already…

I quickly shook my head to chase away these thoughts.

The door of the carriage was slightly open. A dense layer of ice was covering a large part of the door, but someone or something had purposely destroyed enough ice to free the door from its hold.

I gathered my mana while walking closer and slowly opened the door to discover what was waiting for me beyond this point.

I was ready to enter when I noticed something.

A very subtle sound far more discreet than my careful steps on the grass covered with ice and frost. It was coming from the front of the carriage not far away from the corpses of the four vrapy.

I stepped back from the carriage door to walk toward this strange regular sound. My slow and careful steps finally lead me toward the source of this noise.

The light of the moon didn’t illuminate this side of the carriage , so I created a tiny flame in the palm of my right hand. The weak light wasn’t strong enough for my purpose, so I quickly strengthened it.

“Huh!”

This time a barely suppressed muffled sound of shock escaped my mouth as the light of my magic illuminated this side of the carriage.

The four massive corpses of the vrapy were just a few meters away, but the shocking amount of blood around them or the collapsed guard bathing in it wasn’t what drew my gaze and forced this sound out of my mouth.

It was what I saw on the carriage just a few steps away from me.

A figure was pinned to the luxurious carriage by a long spike of ice coming out of his chest.

Blood was slowly flowing along his body before dripping on the frozen grass creating this regular noise.

A long purple piece of cloth on top of this man’s head prevented me from seeing his face.

With a wave of my hand, I created a gentle breeze of wind to make this piece of cloth fly away.

A face covered with bright fresh blood immediately welcomed my sight. The expression on this face was twisted into one of pain and unwillingness. This disturbing expression on this young and pale face further strengthened this horrifying scene.

“How is it possible?”

Just like the blood flowing uncontrollably out of this man’s body to continue gathering in a pool of blood under him, these words finally escaped my mouth against my will.

It was the Ryunno clan member who took Alianelle away.

The complicated tattoo covering his face with an elegant circle had strangely turned completely red and made it harder to recognize him immediately. However, this cold but beautiful face, deeply ingrained into my mind, made it impossible for me to confound this man with another.

After the initial shock, a hundred questions immediately assaulted my mind.

I didn’t know who did that.

I didn’t even know if the culprit was human or not but I was sure of one thing.

I had to leave as fast as possible.

Therefore, I didn’t bother to be discreet anymore and rushed toward the door of the carriage. Despite my noisy steps, nothing could be heard inside.

The knot in my throat and the terrible premonition I had about Alianelle’s fate made me stop just in front of the door with my shaking hand suspended above the golden handle.

With fear in my heart, I finally opened the frozen door.

If not for the thin rays of moonlight bathing a small part through the window, the interior of the luxurious carriage would have been completely dark. This light was enough to illuminate a slim figure lying down completely motionless face first against the floor.

My gaze was immediately focused on the long blond hair scattered around and preventing me from seeing the face of their owner. The beautiful hair on the floor was the only part properly bathed by the silver rays of the moon while the rest of her body was almost completely swallowed by the remnant darkness of the carriage.

Even so, there was still no doubt.

As soon as I realized this, my mind and body froze together in horror in front of Alianelle’s motionless body.

I tried to prepare for any eventuality when I convinced Jazor to help me, but I never thought that I wouldn’t even get the chance to defend my friend. The hand that I raised to confront any hidden enemy was powerlessly put down.

It was too late.

With a remnant of hope in my heart, I slowly started to walk toward her.

One step at a time as if I was carrying a mountain on my shoulders, but with my eyes glued on the darkness to notice the slightest movement.

Anything to let me know that I was wrong.

My slow, almost careful steps, suddenly stopped when I noticed her naked back. Ripped pieces of clothes were scattered around her while a large bruise could be seen on her smooth white back.

My mind was filled with horrible scenes about what she had to endure as I noticed this while the hope I kept hidden in a part of my heart quickly dispersed, seemingly also swallowed by the shadows of the carriage.

Unable to bear this sight confirming my darkest thoughts, I quickly turned my gaze away. Tears began to gather into my eyes and threatened to fall while I forced my body to move toward her.

Sadness was quickly replaced by anger and indignation as I clenched my small fist as hard as I could. My mind in disarray was only filled with wrath and desire for vengeance in this instant.

I didn’t bother to control my mana and restrain my presence anymore.

I tried my best to suppress my mana sense by fear that the Ryunno clan member would feel my presence, but now it was pointless.

However, as soon as my restraint was gone, I felt a fluctuation of mana.

My heart skipped a beat while my body momentarily froze.

I closed my eyes and spread my sense.

A bright foreign light, completely out of place in this situation, quickly appeared and immediately melted the anger and sadness invading my heart like snow under the hot sun.

With a couple of hurried steps, I joined Alianelle and put one hand on her smooth white back.

A faint movement was immediately transmitted to my hand.

Without any care for her lack of clothing, I carefully grabbed her and forcefully turn her body to hold her head in my embrace.

An impressive bump with traces of blood running slowly down her forehead was the only wound I found on her with the exception of the numerous bruises on her body. The faint but peaceful breathing I was hearing now that I was this close to her was probably the most beautiful sound I ever heard.

I calmed my raging emotions and shook her to wake her up.

After a dozen seconds, she finally gave a grunt noise and slowly opened her blurry and confused blue eyes.

Our gaze met and, after pulling the clothes covering my face away, Alianelle’s eyes immediately started to be filled with tear flowing down her cheeks.

“Sillath… You came…” She weakly muttered between two sobs.

“It’s alright. I’m here.” I immediately answered while tightening my embrace. She returned the hug as strongly as she could for long seconds while crying to expel the fear that had clenched her young and innocent heart in its cold grip.

I quietly waited until her emotions started to settle.

When her cries receded, she finally noticed her naked upper body pressed against me and quickly struggled out of my embrace to hide her bosom. I immediately handed her my jacket to cover herself.

She was older and taller than me so my jacket was a little too short and tight but it was enough to cover herself for now.

I didn’t ask her why she was naked. Even if she didn’t seem to have been assaulted, she still underwent a traumatic experience.

The kind of experience that could make you crumble with the simplest sentence.

The time for the questions and the tears will come.

However, now was not the time.

“We have to leave, now!”