章節 85: Mlewyn's Test

The tunnel was dark, Ra waited for his eyes to adjust to the sudden lack of light. When he extended an arm he could feel the guiding curvature of the wall.

Each step brought him deeper into the catacombs, the sloping ground quietly descending into its depths.

Using the curving wall as a crutch for his missing sight, Ra descended quickly.

Having lost all track of time and sense of self, He didn't know how long he'd been moving when light suddenly entered his retinas, blinding him. A man stood with his back to him facing a village on the verge of collapse.

Ra shielded his eyes attempting to get a better look at the man who stood like a dazzling mountain, in gleaming silver armor, two swords stabbed into the earth at his sides.

Without looking at him the man spoke,

"With my left hand," he said, wrenching the sword on his left out of the ground, "I control," he finished, balancing the sword in his palm before swinging it sharply downward. he glanced to his other side, "With my right..." he reached down and jerked the sword from the dirt stabbing it toward the sky, "...I command!"

A pillar of light struck the ground before him, only then did he turn around. His startling red eyes forced Ra to take a step back.

"When a soldier takes the field, he follows orders, when a commander takes the field he guides his men," he said these words with heavy intonations, punctuated by his footfalls, "but when the General takes the field, he has already lost. Your duty is not to fight for them, but to allow them to fight for themselves." he said calmly, capturing Ras eye's with his own.

"Do you understand?" Ra shook his head yes, "Good," he held out his twin swords to Ra hilt first, Ra didn't take them. The man nodded, satisfied, and sheathed his blades.

"My name is Mlewyn, when I lived, they heralded me a protector, a guardian, a hero." Ra's eyes shone, but Mlewyn closed his eyes and shook his head, "I am none of these things,"

Ra's face fell, "Then, what are you?"

Mlewyn shrugged, "A murderer? Perhaps, a slaughterer? Definitely. When I walked these lands I inspired fear, not devotion, hatred and not love, my path is not one you should seek, young hero. I believe there are ways to achieve the same things I wrought with more...just... solutions." he said quietly and turned back to the distant village.

"Your test is there," He said, his voice ringing powerfully, "Guide them, protect them, be everything that I was not," he whirled on the spot his eyes ablaze, almost pleading, "Teach them to rely on themselves, for you cannot always be there to defend against their enemies." He said this as if to himself, Ra could perceive a profound sadness hidden in his eyes.

Mlewyn sighed once more and, taking several steps forward, he disappeared.

Ra inhaled deeply before placing one foot in front of the other, each step fueled by the impetus of his conviction.

He had been thoroughly inspired by Mlewyn's words, and more so by his dedication to what it truly meant to protect others.

The settlement was made almost entirely of wood, but Ra noticed several parts of the structure bore a distinct resemblance to...bone.

The framework of the fences, for they could not be called walls had been heavily abraded by time, dust, and what appeared to be claw marks. It had sustained heavy damage, Ra shook his head in wonder as to how it remained standing at all. He entered the small village by way of the high arched entrance that seemed as if it would fall to the ground and kick up a cloud of dust.

The buildings were dilapidated, their roofs sunken and hanging from the eaves, a large building in the center of town was in better shape but even this was in varying degrees of disrepair, rather than calling the place a town it would be better to name it a ruin. "Who could possibly live here? he thought, this question was soon answered, as one by one doors opened, and creatures taller than he stepped out. He had never seen anything like them before but a word came unbidden to his mind, he felt that it fit. "Ogre." They were Ogres, each of them no less than 15 feet tall, they would cut quite an impressive sight if they didn't look so...so weak...

The smallest of them looked like she hadn't eaten for some time, her skin sagged from her bones, hanging from her slim frame.

The males were no better, with no muscle definition to speak of, they moved almost lethargically as if on the verge of death.

Ra stared at this race of Ogres with a look of profound pity as he fearlessly approached them, they were big but clearly were in no shape to harm him. Ra stopped in front of one, and spoke loudly and clearly, "Who is your leader?" The Ogres were startled, glancing down at him, their teeth had lower tusks that jutted out of their mouths and upward, completely exposed.

They eyed him curiously, "Leader?" Ra repeated, "Bring me to your leader!" He repeated this sentence several times before he conceded that they were not able to understand him.

Ra forcefully blew air from his mouth and rubbed his temples, "It seems that the test this time isn't simple," he groaned inwardly.

But he didn't spend much time wallowing in self pity and got to work.

The village was flanked on either side by dense forest, the trees in this forest were strange, the wood was remarkably hard as if they were made of stone, but sweet-smelling with gorgeous blue leaves, the trunk of the tree was also a grayish blue, but they weren't very tall. Ra came to the understanding that these trees formed something of a natural defense for the village which is why it was still standing, as such he didn't wish to uproot too many.

He carefully chose 50 of the trees for his use and left the rest alone, wrapping his powerful arms around the trunks, he ripped them out of the ground root and all, and carried them back. Back inside the village, Ra mimed an axe striking wood, and was delighted that they understood, while he waited for the axe he gathered them up in a circle to watch him work, rolling up his sleeves.

The female Ogre returned dragging a huge black axe on the ground with great effort, sweat beading down her brow.

Ra quickly went to assist her, and hefted the axe onto his shoulder. It wasn't an axe made for cutting wood but one made for killing, nevertheless, it would do.

Ra struck the wood with powerful, heavy blows, working furiously. He soon had a large stack of blue-tinged wood im a neat pile. He then began digging a trench around the village while the Ogres looked on. As he went, he impaled the lengths of wood in the ground, establishing a walled perimeter. When he'd finished, he wiped the sweat from his eyes and surveyed his handiwork. Satisfied, he mimed at the ogres to repeat his actions.

Ra then ran off into the distance to find something to hunt.