Kapitel 34: Banished Village (1)

Swish!

Two shadows hid under the trees as two simple wooden carriages passed by. It followed the shadow of the carriages under the afternoon sun. Inside the two carriages, two pairs of eyes followed the shadows silently - one was black and the other red.

With a glance from the man in black robes, the girl with red eyes squinted and tried to sharpen her gaze. She could faintly figure out the two outlines. One of the runners was an animal and the other is a human.

Four legs, reddish fur, sharp nose... Yllana gave a quick look at Lucien in front of her and they darted out of the carriage in a flash. They were so quick that Theoden only saw two streaks of light exit the carriage.

Thud! Thud! Awhooo!

On the roadside, Lucien and Yllana stood atop the two silhouettes. The two carriages stopped when they noticed the commotion. There was a puff of smoke from where Yllana and Lucien stood.

"No worries! It's just a young girl and her pet!" Yllana shouted. When the people from the carriages alighted, they saw a small round face with freckles on her cheeks. Her orange eyes were puffy with tears. She was hugging her pet fox tightly. Her orange hair was messy and with bits of snow and mud.

"She won't bite, I promise! We just w-want a little money." the little girl's small voice was trembling.

"You were running just a while ago. Mm...something doesn't feel right." Yllana looked at the frightened girl who was about ten years old.

"Look out!" Lucien grabbed Yllana and hugged her from the back quickly. A loud thud then followed before Lucien fell down on the ground. With another thud, Yllana's vision turned black.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"You have to release her... I beg you. She is not someone ordinary. We c-could just find other p-people to rob." The trembling little voice brought Yllana back her consciousness.

Her nape feels sore. Someone must have hit her from behind after Lucien fell. She heard the continuous pleading of the little girl. They were being robbed. And that little girl was pleading for somebody's freedom. Shouldn't robbers just get the items they are interested in and then let them go? Why does she feel like that girl was just a bait? And they fell for it?

She opened her eyes slowly trying to adjust to the dim light of the room. She breathed in and smelled the cold hard wooden floor. She could feel that it was a roughly made hut and the wind could still get through. It was so cold that she felt herself shiver.

"Yana..." she heard her sister whispering to her from her side. When she was about to open her mouth, she couldn't move her lips. She saw Lucien on her other side and the others are at the back, all of them tied and lying on the ground. She gave eyed Lucien trying to give him a sign but he also couldn't speak. There was somewhat kind of seal preventing her lips from opening. Before she could glance at her father, she heard a man with a rude voice.

"Heh! It's been years since I've seen a pretty creature. And with their looks, they are certainly just some mere common folk. The strongest one is only a Low-Saint Ranked Mage. Since the leader isn't here, I shall make the decision for these prisoners." The burly man can't seem to fit in the word fine nor handsome. His upper physique was bulgy and his legs were short, he looks almost akin to a dwarf. He had weird beady eyes and warts growing below his chin.

Her eyes met his as he scanned her body like a specimen that he was investigating. Yllana gulped. She also felt that something even colder than the weather beside her. But she didn't turn her gaze away. She glared back at the dwarfish man.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Garron." All eyes instantly turned to the little orange girl. Her eyes have turned all white and there was a faint white glow from all over her body as she walked away from the crowd. When she was on Yllana's side, she smiled and mouthed her a message, 'You will be okay." Then she pointed her small finger at Lucien. He looked so calm beside her as if nothing bad is going on.

"Tch, says a foolish young oracle. She was wrong last time, she could also be wrong this time around." The man called Garron smirked then he laughed. There more than five other people who were dressed in animal skins and scraps of cloth inside with them.

Yrah squirmed over to her side. Their hands were tied behind their backs and even connected to the ties on their feet. They couldn't stand and could only squirm. "Why can't you talk?" Yrah whispered softly. She couldn't reply.

'Shiiba!' Yllana remembered that Shiiba could turn into a white wolf. 'She could...' Yllana's trail of thought faded when she saw the unconscious white wolf in the corner of the room. Its snout and feet were bound by chains. It seems these are not ordinary robbers.

She scrutinized the people with Garron. He was now talking to someone named Alek, as she heard earlier. These people who captured them all looked the part of hooligans. Axes, spears, huge hunting knives hang about by their waists and their light footsteps, when they walk around the room, tells how skilled they are.

"Your young oracle has told you to release us. Maybe you should have researched who we are before trying to do anything stupid." Midel suddenly spoke up with a beaming smile across his face. The way he was tied coupled with the way he confidently smiled made Lucien wrinkle his forehead.

"She's just ten. Who would believe in a ten-year-old?" Alek spat. He was so tall and thin that you might mistake him as a walking bamboo.

"Careful eyeing something that doesn't belong to you." Again, Midel smiled. But his smile this time contained something sinister.

Yllana felt a familiar devilish aura beside her.

"What belongs to me or not will be decided by me. Tch, I hate pretty boys like these. It's their fault we are in this state. Alek, you get first to watch these prisoners. We need to clean out their belongings and stuff." Garron walked away but before closing the door, he gave Yllana's body another glance and he clicked his tongue then closed the door loudly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mariek, you never should have run with Elisha. Then you wouldn't feel so conflicted today." A young man with the same orange hair called out to the little girl who was standing by the door. Their eyes were of different color but the bright color of their hair gives a sign that they are blood-related.

The little girl turned around. "I only saw a glimpse of the future. She will bring down Garron and his men. And the leader..will also fall." She clenched her chest as she thought of their steadfast leader. Silver hair, fair skin, and deep blue eyes, he was the hero that all of the villagers here idolize. He brought them freedom and hope. He was the only one she and her brother will follow for the rest of their lives. He was the one who saved them from the depths of hell they called life.

"Don't think like that. You got mixed up by your last foresight, right? You saw a demon arriving at our village. But what Garron's men caught is a demonic fox. It wasn't even as dangerous and powerful as you saw. So... I hope, that nothing big would also befall our leader." The young man scratched his head. He doesn't want to say that he doesn't trust his sister's talents now but it would really spell disaster for them when something happens to their leader.

"Kareem, I too hope that I am wrong. I hope that none of the people whom we Garron have taken today is a demon." It was Kareem's turn to see that white glow from Mariek's body. She was having another foresight but she quickly shook her head to disperse it. Her thoughts cleared and her eyes turned into bright orange again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's not that I don't want to say anything bad against the people here but...they all look somewhat...peculiar." Midel yawned as he tried to adjust to his side. The uncomfortable feeling of being bound by ropes was starting to dawn on him. "And these mystified ropes are as annoying as their faces," he continued.

"I looked around at the people we have passed by through. The exceptions I think are the orange-headed siblings." Theoden answered. He was laid down beside Midel and on his other side was the prince, also unable to speak.

"It doesn't concern us but it is bothering. Now that they have captured us and we are inside their village, we might also contract that disease." Midel pouted. There was one thing he would always care for most in this world...his face.

"Are you saying we are all 'ugly'?" Alek was listening to their conversation and his face turned sour after realizing that the villagers are being labeled as disease-stricken people. "This is how all of us were born. If you have any problem with that, I might be happy to give you all marks on your body to make all of you just like us." Alek emphasized the word ugly nearly spitting saliva on Midel's face as he stepped nearer and nearer to him. His warning made Midel's eyebrow shot up.

"Oh, is that natural then? Why...I would never question again how the heavens have placed such a look on your face. It seems like a curse," Midel slightly shifted away. His movement looked to Alek that he was afraid.

"Curse...yeah, we are cursed! Cursed to live out here in the wilderness while you good-looking and normal ones get to live inside the kingdom!" Midel's eyes widened in surprise. A thought passed by in his mind and he looked at Theoden. His eyes were carrying a hidden message as Theoden slightly nodded in acknowledgment.

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