Author's Note: I'm glad to see the number of people viewing these chapters! I honestly was thinking of seeing maybe 10 or so people, following along. There are so many great story-tellers on this site, so definitely feeling happy that there are people who think my writing is decent.

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On the horses were various supplies, such as extra clothes and cloaks for the Ladies. After Malera had calmed down from her crying, he grabbed one of the extra cloaks on his horse and gave it to her. Right before morning, the air had gotten colder and so he told her to wrap herself and try to get some rest on one of the ground blankets. Fortunately, the exhaustion from last night had caught up to her and she was able to quickly drift off to sleep. Sitting down next to her, he stayed vigilant of any dangers. The ruins of the outpost were a grim reminder of what lay out there in the darkness.

The arrival of morning was a great relief for Kendrolgo, as he kept watch for any Daemonis. Malera’s stirring made him glance down, her expression looked strained like she was having a nightmare. Placing a hand on her head, he gently ran his fingers through her hair trying to comfort her. Almost immediately her face relaxed, and nuzzled the cloak that she used as a pillow and blanket. Seeing her peaceful face made him smile, he wondered if this was what she looked like every night when she slept before the attack on the village. A moment like this, where they were not running for their lives and trying to stay alive, would hopefully last and they could safely reach the nearby village. The problem was what they would do after reaching a village. Earlier, the Lady had said that he was the cause of the attack on their village. Could the fact that he had demon-blood coursing through his body, really be the cause of all this? If he was the cause, then could they be tracking him and if they could then why weren’t they here?

Even if they were able to reach a village and the villagers allowed them to stay, the fact that he would be there could cause events to repeat. With the security patrols wiped out by the Daemonis attack, the situation could be even worse than what happened to their village. Kendrolgo didn’t know what the Ladies had planned for them, like where they were headed, but he figured there was a reason why they wanted him to come with them. There was a good possibility that he posed a danger to all those around him. If he stayed with Malera then she could get caught up in another dangerous situation and he would be to blame. Considering the fact that they really didn’t socialize and know each other that well in their own village, him leaving her at another village wouldn’t be such a problem.

“Did you think that my feelings for you were that weak?” Malera’s voice echoed within his mind. Even after demonstrating his demonic heritage, she still wanted to stay by his side. Even if what she said was true, the overwhelming truth was that she didn’t know much of a danger he posed. Those words were said in the heat of the moment and so couldn’t be taken seriously. If she had known what would happen later that night, then she wouldn’t have hastily said those words. The peaceful look on her face fit her better than the terrified look she had in the forest. He knew that leaving her at a nearby village would be for the best. With everything that had happened, Kendrolgo needed to learn more about what’s happening and why he was a half-demon. Where was his birth father and why had he left his mother and him behind. Hopefully, somewhere out in the world there would be someone with answers to his questions.

“Kenny…” Malera’s voice tore him from his thoughts. She apparently woke up while he was lost in his own darkness. Getting up she looked at him with tired eyes, though her face was slightly less fatigued than last night.

“Don’t worry you’re safe.” He told her, the way she looked around after she got up seemed to remind him of an animal, afraid of predators, in the forest.

Shaking her head, Malera simply said, “Did you stay awake the entire time.” Looking at him, her eyes conveyed her worry and gratitude.

“Don’t worry; I was able to grab a moment of rest while you were sleeping.” He lied, from the look she gave him she didn’t believe a word of it, but accepted his lie.

Getting up onto her feet she rolled up the blanket and carried it over to the horses. While Malera was sleeping, the horses were able to rest and recover energy.

Kendrolgo hoped that today wouldn’t involve any running since the horses needed to last. The worst thing that could happen is for the horses to collapse from exhaustion. Since they have the time right now, he should probably try going into the ruins and look for any supplies left behind. What they needed right now was food and for him he needed something other than a dagger. If they did get into a situation, having a sword or two would be great in increasing their chances of survival.

“I’m going to be right back. You should stay with the horses in case of an emergency.” He called out to Malera. Malera looked at him and seemed to want to say something, but just nodded her head in confirmation. Most likely she was still exhausted and getting a chance to take things easy, would be desperately needed. Since they weren’t attacked at all, he figured they might be safe for now.

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Walking over to the ruins, Kendrolgo was careful of any collapsing sections. He chuckled to himself about how ironic it would be for him to get injured after facing ancient creatures to only be killed or injured by an inanimate object. The overall structure was seven times the size of his house, the bodies scattered in the rooms were definitely from families. The outpost must have housed the soldiers, and their families.

Entering into what looked like the kitchen, from the size and stoves lining one of the walls, he carefully looked for any food supplies. The Wayward Traveler kept all their meats, vegetables, and spices in a root cellar, so he hoped that this place had one that escaped the fire. In one of the corners he found a pair of charred bodies, from the clothing style they were most likely servant girls. They probably tried to hide from the monsters but instead got caught in the fire. He imagined that they were kind and gentle girls, who didn’t deserve to die in such a brutal and savage manner. Bowing his head, Kendrolgo prayed to the Light that they found peace in the next life. Bitterly he chuckled at the prayer, a half-blood demon praying to the light was definitely something never mentioned in the history books. He wondered if his own body would be able to find comfort in the light after his death. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he continued to look for the root cellar. Making sure that Malera had food was more important than his crisis in faith.

Only a couple of feet away underneath one of the massive stoves, the edges of a cellar door could be seen. The reason the two girls hid in the corner was most likely due to the stove blocking the door. Bewildered by the idiocy in blocking a means of escape, he braced himself against the stove and shoved it out of the way. The stove was immensely heavy and the weight most likely required several strong men to push it into place. Suspicion started to make its way into his mind; with the way time and effort were put into hiding the root cellar. Cautiously, he pulled the dagger from his boot and gently lifted up the door. With his ability, looking into the darkness was an easy task for him; the root cellar took on a shade of blue. Carefully going down the ladder, he saw how massive the cellar was. Most of the food was gone, but the remaining amount was still greater than what he had seen in his own village Inn. Shelves were lined with a variety of vegetables and hanging for the ceiling were smoked meats. Sheathing his dagger and quickly grabbing one of the empty sacks, he began to shove vegetables and meats for both him and Malera. Thinking about how her face would light up from the food he would bring made him happy. This would be something to be happy about especially how both of them were starving.

Sound of movement in the back made him stop, his mind exploding with alarms. Looking towards the sound all he could see were casks of ale for the soldiers. “Who’s there?!” He yelled out grabbing his dagger and crouching down, readying to pounce on the opponent.

In the back corner, a young girl stood up holding both of her hands up, in surrender. Seeing the tears running down her face and lack of emotions, the girl was obviously traumatized. He slowly sheathed his dagger, and opened his left hand to show it was empty, while making no sudden movements. He tried to look as non-threatening as possible.

“Come over here.” He said, while exaggeratedly motioning her over, with his hand. The root cellar’s only source of light was from the opened door, so seeing his face was probably difficult, let alone his hand. Continuing to stand there, the girl made no movement with the only movement being the tears streaming down her face and dripping onto the ground. “Is it okay for me to come over to where you are? I’m not going to harm you.” Since the girl didn’t back away or show any change in emotion, Kendrolgo decided to walk towards her slowly. Once he reached her, he gently laid his hand on her arm and tried to coax her away from the casks. Like some kind of doll, the girl let herself be guided by him and stood next to him. “My name is Kendrolgo. I’m from a nearby village. What’s your name?” For some reason the girl didn’t say anything and continued to look at him. Looking at her outfit, she must have been from a well-off family. Nobody from his village wore the outfit she wore, or even had the money to afford one. Before the Deamonis had killed off the patrols, the family must have hid her inside of the root cellar and moved the stove to block the entrance. When everyone realized the patrols had been overrun, the two girls in the kitchen ran to where the cellar was. Since the cellar was blocked and the fire begun to spread throughout the structure, and the girls hid in the corner from both the monsters and fire, where they eventually died holding one another. Since everyone burned or died, there was no one left to come get this girl. Who knows how long she had to hide in the darkness, while listening to the screams of those being burned alive.

With one hand holding the bag of supplies and the other holding the girl’s hand, he slowly went up the ladder and got out of the cellar. Getting out of the cellar, the girl raised her hand to shield her eyes from the intense light. Being in the dark for so long, she needed time to let her eyes adjust. For Kendrolgo, moving from light to dark was easy with the help of his eyes, so he forgot to have her cover her eyes. He silently cursed at himself for his stupidity, and positioned himself so that she wouldn’t see the two girls in the corner. At least he could shield herself from some of the horrors within these walls. Motioning her to where he entered the kitchen, he then asked, “Would you know where the soldiers kept their weapons?”

Looking at him, one of the first signs of life she gave him, she raised her hand to point left of them, down a hallway.

Going to here she pointed, he moved down the hall way, occasionally passing rooms with the doors open, housing various bodies and blood splashed all over the walls, most likely from the Daemonis attacking the inhabitants. Whenever he passed a room with bodies inside, he looked at the girl to make sure she was doing fine. Luckily, the girl kept her face staring straight ahead, though her tears had stopped. Since she had not said a single word, Kendrolgo worried about her mental state and whether this would be permanent. He couldn’t leave her alone, but at the same time he didn’t know if he should take her with them. Protecting another person in the group, let alone just Malera, was something he highly doubted was within his capabilities. Trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, he needed to find weapons for himself.

At the end of the hallway was a broken down door with trails of blood, the most likely result of the remaining family members barricading themselves within the armory. The blood had dried but this didn’t stop there footwear from occasionally sticking, the sound curdling his stomach. Killing a Daemonise, for him, meant that it would explode in a powder of stone, but with human… just thinking about the number of bodies needed for this amount of blood almost made him empty his stomach. He didn’t dare follow the trail of blood, for fear of what he would see. At that moment, he realized the lucky ones were the two girls who burned in the fire and were spared the pain of being eaten. Entering into the armory, he saw the remaining swords, shields, bows, and various other weapons the patrols used. The room was very large and contained enough weapons for the entire force here, with some to spare.

“Stay here. I’m going to grab some weapons for myself and then we can head back to where my friend is staying.” He didn’t even remember if he mentioned that Malera was waiting for them, the sight of the dead bodies and all that blood made thinking for him difficult. He was probably telling the girl just as much as he was telling himself. The girl simply nodded when he let go of her hand.

From the previous battle, he was going to need something long to swipe at any monsters that surrounded him. Using a dagger didn’t give him the length needed to really immobilize the monsters. Also the image of Malera being chased by a Daemonis came to his mind, reminding him that he needed something with long range. He wouldn’t always conveniently have a horse, so being able to eliminate attacker from a distance would be necessary, more so with the additional girl. Scanning the room, Kendrolgo grabbed himself a long sword, testing the weight and the balance. Even though he had never wielded a long-sword, the sword felt as natural as his own body. With a few swipes of the blade, he grabbed an accompanying scabbard and placed it on his back, securing the belt diagonally across his chest. Heading to the opposite side of the armory, there were several one handed swords. The length was three times that of the dagger, while not being long enough to really be called a sword. He wondered if these were what they called a short-sword or maybe a long knife. The drawings in the books were never very accurately done, so all he had to go on were the descriptions. Considering the style of the blade and the length, he figured that having two on either side of him would be perfect. Arranging the swords was difficult since he had to make sure that the two swords didn’t get in the way of the long-sword. The configuration he decided on was to place the short-swords on either side his body, hanging from the belt. Checking to make sure he would be able to fight with the current setup, he grabbed the short-swords with on either side and unsheathed them. The point of the battles would be for speed and accuracy, not to be bogged down with multiple enemies. He would need to move quickly in order to protect both of the girls. Sheathing the two short-swords, he proceeded to grab the long-sword with his right hand. Holding the long-sword with both hands, the blade would be useful if he were to get surrounded. Double checking all the weapons, he carefully sheathed the long-sword, careful not to cut himself. Remembering to grab a long-distanced weapon, Kendrolgo went over to the section with the crossbows, bows, and arrows. Considering that a crossbow would take time to reload and a long-bow would be too tall for him, the decision to go with a short-bow seemed appropriate. Probably due to the soldiers needing to carry a variety of weapons, the short-bow was designed to be attached to the quiver, using a clasped. The clasp would release the bow, if it was pulled allowing for the speed necessary against the creatures. Having the quiver over the long-sword on his back, he allowed himself the ability to quickly grab the bow and needed arrows. The weapons were designed to be very functional, allowing him to carry all the weapons while not constricting his movements. Giving thanks, and a prayer, to the soldiers who lost their lives, he headed back over to the girl.

“What do you think?” He asked her. A slight twitch of the lip suggested a smile, which he took as her approval, hopefully. Gently grabbing her hand, he headed back to where they came from. With the new weapons and food from the cellar, he was sure that things were beginning to look on the Brightside.