As the group followed their new acquaintance, they would be led along the river valley and mountains. The moon shined on the river, illuminating the way, but that was far from their only source of light.

The mountains that surrounded the valley were strange looking. Each was bigger than the last, the particularly biggest mountain was the most imposing out of them all. Most eye catching yet, it seemed like one of the smaller mountains was on fire…

‘Is… Is that normal? Damon doesn’t seem to pay it any mind…’

“Is that mountain on fire?” Kazius asked in concern.

“Buahaha! That’s Mount Eld. It has always been on fire! Want a closer look?” Damon questioned.

“That is probably not a good idea since Alice is hurt… And we are all pretty beat up… Maybe some other time.” Kazius responded politely, taking a look at the knocked out injured Princess in his arms. He was unsure if he would actually ever take him up on the offer or not though. Even when Alice was better.

“But why is it on fire?” Azanor would follow up, clearly knowing little about this area. He even had no clue as to why the mountain was like that.

“No clue! My brother told me it was like that even before our people came.” Damon admitted.

“And how long ago was that?” Azanor followed up, clearly trying to mentally establish some sort of timeline.

“I don’t know… Werewolves are… What was that word my brother used… It was a real fancy book word… Ah! Yeah! No-ma-deck. Yeah, something like that… But then something happened… And then we weren’t anymore. All I know is that we were in trouble. We were starving to death, but we were saved by Vind. She blessed our Tribe and guided us here.” Damon explained the best he could.

“Vind?” Kazius asked in confusion.

“Yeah, The Goddess of The Wind.” Damon explained with a wide grin.

Kazius was genuinely shocked to hear such a thing. He had heard little about other Gods. He knew Elves and Dwarves worshipped some other Gods that were deemed acceptable for their culture in addition to The Oracle. He was naturally weary of people speaking on such subjects though, considering the kind of things Ratier did in the name of The Oracle… But Damon seemed far from hostile to outsiders… He also either did not realize or did not care about the fact Azanor was a Demon…

Before they could ask further questions on the subject, the town finally came into view.

As they approached, the sound of a flute and stomping could be heard along with a chorus of howls. There also seemed to be some clapping and cheering sprinkled in. It seemed like there was some sort of party going on. Before they could even ask, Damon spoke up.

“Buahaha! Fishing and hunting seem to have gone well. That’s good. They tend to party whenever that happens.” Damon explained.

“Seems like they are having fun, will you join them?” Kazius asked.

Damon seemed to freeze a bit, his grin wavering a little.

“No, I will just let them have fun. It is better that way.” Damon assured.

It was then that they were finally entering Vargstam and see quite the massive riverside town. Right by the entrance there were many long row boats by a dock.

Inside the actual town there were many buildings made of lumber and wood with straw roofs. Some of the nicer homes even had some stone as part of their building material and wooden roofs. Many of the houses were big in size, as if to accommodate massive families.

Along the homes were racks full of shields and weapons. None of them with the glow of Damon’s spear though. Still, the symbol on Damon’s spear was visible in one place… And that was on a crude, yet well-made stone statue of a beautiful woman gracefully extending her hands out towards the sky.

As they walked further, there were more homes. One of the homes though was larger than all the others. The larger one almost looked like a clan house for many families. It clearly seemed important.

The townspeople people were dressed in furs and armors. Couples could be seen celebrating with as many as 7 or even more children, confirming Kazius’ suspicions that families in the town tended to be big. Some were even in Werewolf form, standing on two legs while dancing and howling.

The towns people looked like they were having a lot of fun… That was until they spotted the group. Some stopping their drinking, eating, and dancing outright.

The townspeople would give weary looks while whispering to each other. At first, Kazius thought they were suspicious of outsiders… Which was not a new concept to him… But… What he heard, was the last thing he expected.

“Great, HE is back.”

“Shame… When I heard, he was going to investigate whether the people approaching the town were friendly or not… I was hoping that he would die at the hand of outsiders… Just like his father.”

“Why can’t Caleb go ahead and become Chief?”

“The idiot doesn’t even want to be Chief…”

“Disgrace!”

“Can’t he take a hint?’

‘I don’t think Damon is very popular with his Tribe… What is this stuff about the Chief? So, there is a dispute of power? Who is Caleb? They seem to hate Damon’s father too… But wouldn’t that mean Damon’s father was the previous Chief… Why be so happy he is dead?’

Still, despite the sneers and harsh words, Damon did not react. He acted like he did not hear a thing and instead kept smiling. His smile was goofy, but just like when Leo and Alex insulted him… Something about his smile was… Fake…

Kazius had a feeling he was deciding to pretend the words did not affect him… Which was why it was clear Damon was actually quite saddened at the words.

“I don’t understand a word… But it is obvious these are a rude bunch... Even without wasting the energy to try to actually understand them.” Azanor would tell Kazius as he eyed the crowd with a look that Kazius knew well. It was the same malicious look he had given Alice when she called Azanor a liar.

Azanor was nice to them, but he was still a Demon.

“Don’t you dare. We are guests here, we have to behave.” Kazius would scold with a stern look, feeling like Azanor yearned to mess with the townspeople.

“How boring.” Azanor stated with a scoff and eyeroll.

“They seem mean… Do they not like us?” Eve asked in concern.

Damon yet again, pretended not to hear a thing.

“We are almost there.” Damon would call out, not acknowledging their conversation either.

‘Damon seems like such an earnest guy… Why is he so hated? Sure, he is loud… But the way they talk about him…’

As they walked, they approached the largest home that they saw from a distance.

Now that they were close, they could see it was decorated elaborately. The wood was carved into an intricate design. The exterior of the home was also adorned with round shields. Each shield having a different crest. This definitely was an important building.

“This is the Chief’s house. It has plenty of room. You are my guests so don’t worry about food or anything! You get to experience good old Damon hospitality! I just need to check with my brother first, but I am sure he will be okay with it!” Damon would boast, making up for any ill feelings by acting even happier and louder. After saying that, he headed to the door of the large home.

‘He was so eager to help and now he is even inviting us into his house… I can’t blame him for being so excited to talk to outsiders… The way he is treated is not unfamiliar though…’

“Thank you, we really appreciate your kindness… Does that mean you are the Chief?” Kazius asked, wanting to make sure he understood the situation.

Damon paused, hesitating a bit, his hand still on the door.

“Kind off.” Damon responded; his tone surprisingly quiet. He genuinely had sounded prouder talking about his lack of ability to read than being Chief.

‘I don’t understand… Is it bad to be Chief? Then again… It sounds like they want that Caleb guy to be Chief… So that can’t be it… I am too drained and exhausted to even begin wrapping my head around this…’

As Damon allowed them inside, the group would be greeted by another man.

The new stranger had midnight blue hair that was tied up in a ponytail. His ears were somewhat pointed, like an Elf’s but not as big. His eyes were yellow, just like Damon’s. Unlike Damon though, his build was quite lean. He stood at 5ft 7in(1.70 meters). He held a book open, reading quite intently. He wore glasses and a robe made of cloth, a different style from what others wore in Vargstam. Kazius had seen people with glasses occasionally in Ratier, but few had the skill to make them. So, it was surprising to see them used in such a small town. The man looked like a total outsider, just like them.

While Kazius was focused on how much the man resembled an Elf and his attire… It took a bit for Kazius to notice Azanor’s expression.

The Demon was rather pale normally, but… He looked like a Ghost… Or like he had seen one. On his pale face was the most mixed expression Kazius had ever seen. Azanor looked genuinely confused, as if unsure of whether to feel anger, grief, or shock.

He looked so unwell that Eve was concerned, but before she could do anything or say something, the stranger finally noticed them. He finally looked up from his book. The stranger’s own expression looked fairly shocked at the sight of guests.

The stranger seemed like a particularly timid person in general… But his fearful expression when he spotted Azanor was unmistakable… He knew what Azanor was.

Not reading the room, or perhaps not understanding what was going on, Damon was still grinning.

“Hey! This is-” Damon began contently, intending to introduce them and the stranger.

As this occurred, Azanor seemed to finally decide on the emotion he was feeling… And that emotion was rage. The Demon gripped his cane with a death-like grip with one hand while his free hand closed into a fist. Kazius was shocked that Azanor even had the energy to show that much anger after what they dealt with today. He looked just as enraged as when Eve was attacked.

Before Kazius could say or do anything, Azanor spoke up while giving the stranger quite the nasty glare.

“Zelphar…” Azanor hissed out with pure venom in his tone.