Screams erupted everywhere, carts of food tumbling over as armed soldiers dressed in black dragged the boys away.

Aiden walked towards the village, the whole commotion unknown to him, being completely unaware of what was ensuing at the moment.

His lips parted slightly as he drew closer to the village, sighting the turmoil in place.

His legs pushed back, retreating quickly and quietly, but was just too late as a soldier had already spotted him from afar.

With a quick command from the man, some soldiers began chasing after the figure of Aiden, who in turn was already on the run, not daring to look back.

Quick to catch up, the men blocked his path leaving him with not a chance of escaping.

One of the soldiers soon stepped forward, about grabbing Aiden by the arm, when the young man spun around, kicking the soldier hard in the gut, causing him to stumble.

The other two onlooking soldiers, pushed forward quickly, drawing their blades out.

The eyes of Aiden twitched a little, as he also drew his sword out, ready to defend himself, and fight, no matter what it took.

He lunged forward in a swift movement, slashing the neck of the first soldier.

There was a brief silence, as the other two were left in utter shock, with jaws dropped and eyes widened, they watched the man's body slump slowly to the ground.

The fear which rested in their eyes made Aiden confident enough to stand his grounds.

They never thought he would fight back against them. No one stood up against soldiers of Cedric. It was like hugging death itself.

It was scary.

The soldiers stared at the lifeless body of their mate, and with high screams and swords held out, they lunged at Aiden.

His sword met with that of the soldiers, causing a loud cling, and bringing his muscles to a state of shock from the hard impact.

He received a death-threatening blow from one of them, but he couldn't tell who, cause he already felt dizzy at the moment. But there was no giving up. So he thought.

Jumping high immediately, his sword slit the rough skin of one of the soldiers, causing the man falling down, screaming in pain, whilst holding his right arm where he was struck.

The only soldier who was left on his feet turned to look at Aiden, with anger already filling his eyes.

"Leave me alone. I'm warning you" Aiden uttered in a low threatening voice.

"No, we give the warnings to you. Drop your sword, while you still have the chance to, peasant!" The soldier spat.

His eyes shifted to his mate who was laying on the floor wriggling in pain, and as if a message was being passed just through the look of their eyes, the soldier sprawled on the ground, grabbed onto Aiden's legs making him trip.

The other soldier standing, picked Aiden's sword immediately, pointing it at him.

With clenched jaw and dark eyes, he bind his hands behind him, grabbing him roughly by his clothing, and taking him back to the village. Not before turning back to give one last look at their mate who Aiden had killed.

They dragged Aiden with them, while he squirmed and groaned, kicking and trying to free himself.

They finally succeeded in taking him back to the village where the rest of the captured villagers were tied.

back in the village, a soldier was having a hard time binding the hands of Elpida, grabbing her roughly.

"Leave her alone! You said you only wanted our sons" A lady called out.

The soldier gave a low laugh while turning to look at the villager.

"Well.......Did we forget to mention our dire need for a few pretty girls to play with?" He responded.

The rest of the soldiers chuckled, nodding in agreement and enjoying the whole scene.

"Please!" The young lady cried out.

Aiden struggled to get his hands free, wanting to go help Elpida, but the soldiers at his side kicked him hard, pinning him down instantly.

Bellona soon rushed forward, ready to kick the soldier who had her friend, but was caught off-guard as he grabbed her neck, pushing her head to the ground.

She grabbed onto her neck, groaning and looking around trying to find Pavlos anywhere.

Her eyes moved around quickly, searching for Pavlos, but he was nowhere to be found.

A sheer look of horror appeared on Elpida's face, as the soldier approached her, with tight fists and a devilish grin.

She gave a sharp gasp as he held a rope out, ready to whip it on her.

With closed eyes, she raised her hands in defence while the man got closer.

There was a wild gust of wind, followed by a screeching ear-piercing sound. The man who came approaching her was immediately pushed back by a mighty force.

The whole village suddenly turned quiet, all that was to be heard was the clopping of horses hooves as they got uncomfortable from the wild breeze.

Even the mighty soldiers all turned shocked at what happened.

Low murmurs erupted from the lips of the people, while all eyes turned to stare at Elpida.

"She has magic. Get her!" The leader of the soldiers yelled.

The villagers gasped in shock, as if on cue, staring intently at the girl.

"Please, do not hurt me" She whimpered, dragging the dust with her feet as she shuffled back quickly.

Some soldiers stepped forward, all eager to grab her, when someone came to stand directly in front of the soldiers.

It was the old man who Bellona saw in Pavlos' house. The very same strange man.

This time, all eyes turned to look at him, with the villagers wondering who he was.

"Get out of the way" A soldier spoke.

The man held his fingers out, pointing it at the soldier who was immediately swept off his feet, and pushed far to hit a tree.

The eyes of the old man glowed brightly as he looked at the rest of the soldiers who stood in front of him.

At once, a sword flew from one of the soldiers' hands, going through the guts of another one.

The soldier immediately fell to his knees, coughing, while his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Retreat!"

"There's magic here!" The leader hollered.

All of the soldiers ran back to their horses, riding away without much time wasted.

The villagers cheered loudly, grabbing things and throwing it at them.

Bellona who was fascinated by what just happened stood to her feet, running over to hold Elpida.

"You okay?" She asked.

Elpida gave no response, only panting and looking around.

The villagers all turned their attention back to the old man, who was looking at them while backing away slowly.

"Who are you?" Bellona voiced out, taking a few steps towards him.

His eyes held a bit of warmth, laced with uncertainty, but all of that couldn't be seen so well through the portion of grey hair falling over his face.

The man soon turned his feet around, hurrying away, while Bellona followed along.

"Where are you going?" Elpida called after.

"I need to find out who he is" Followed the response.

"Bellona!" Elpida called her name, but she was already far out of sight.

The young lady chased after the man, following the path he took, but after quite a while, she lost him eventually. She looked around the silent woods, but there was not a single trace of him anywhere.

Following the path which she came from, she ran back to the village to meet Elpida and inform her of the man's disappearance

"He's gone." She panted.

Anessa and Michael, a middle-aged couple, the parents of Elpida, soon walked up to their daughter, their faces bearing looks of utter shock and disbelief.

"How did you do that?" Anessa asked with worried eyes and droopy cheeks.

"I- I don't know. I've never done that before" Elpida replied.

"I've nursed you since you were a baby, and I know my daughter doesn't have magic. Tell me how you did that!" Anessa half-yelled.

"That's enough! Both of you get inside" Michael spoke to them.

Bellona's gaze followed the figure of Eloisa, watching as she made her leave.

Her heart was burdened with worry, watching Elpida leave.

"Bellona!" Someone called from afar.

She turned around to the voice she heard, only to see Pavlos untying Aiden's hands, which caused her running over to them immediately.

"Pavlos!" She called his name, while approaching them.

"Where were you?" She asked.

"All that matters is that no one got hurt" He dodged the question immediately.

"Well, Elpida almost got hurt"

"Thank heavens, a man was there to save her. The same man I saw in your house" Bellona spoke.

"Don't start, Bellona" Pavlos uttered in a low voice.

He moved past her, grabbing a hold of weapons he saw laying on the ground.

"I'm telling the truth, Pavlos. I saw him. Everyone else saw him" Bellona defended immediately.

"There really was an old man. He saved all of us. He's got magic" Aiden stepped in, siding with Bellona.

"And so does Elpida" Bellona stated in a low voice, not breaking eye contact with Pavlos.

Pavlos and Aiden both stared at her with strained eyes and furrowed brows, trying to comprehend the shocking message just passed to them.

Impossible! Pavlos thought to himself.