The Path of Ruin

After twenty minutes had passed, Kael realized a few things.

First, the forest was indeed full of soldiers. All over the place.

Second, they were now prepared for him. They had learned of his presence.

And thirdly... he was being trapped.

'This... is not good.'

Each of the last soldiers he encountered appeared at a certain point, positioned in such a way as to direct him to a certain place.

This was largely because he was trying to avoid groups of more than four soldiers.

But... there was nothing he could do.

'Maybe I can try to hunt them down one by one.'

The soldiers he had encountered so far were all normal people. Yes, there were some really strong ones among them... some he could have sworn were even stronger than Laen.

But being 'normal' was still a disadvantage for them. A big one, even. Because Kael was not normal. He was much faster than they were, and despite his tiny size compared to adults, he could win in a battle of strength with most of them.

But when they traveled in groups, the risk was too great.

And they must have realized it too, because every group he had encountered in the last three minutes had consisted of at least three, on average four.

'So... I have to be more careful.'

And so, Kael kept running, hiding, and killing whoever he could.

What if there were too many of them? If they were scattered everywhere?

He knew this part of the forest almost by heart. He had been wandering around for more than two months here, killing creatures and animals.

He could tell where he was wherever he looked, he could accurately predict what he would encounter. On top of that, weeks of practicing silence and stealth were paying off.

All of this made him a very difficult target to find, to detect.

And indeed it was.

Yet, he was making a big mistake.

Kael was a novice, and he was up against... real professionals. No matter how skilled he was, his training was inadequate. Even if he realized that his movements were being manipulated, there was nothing he could do to counter it.

He was simply inexperienced, very inexperienced. And although this was not apparent in the first few minutes, it became more and more obvious as time passed.

With each passing minute, he was becoming more and more trapped. He couldn't help feeling like he was facing more and more soldiers.

And after only a few more minutes... he finally stopped moving, running away. He paused as his steps gradually shortened. His head, often bowed, straightened and his eyes became even sharper than usual.

In the end, he only sighed lightly. His lips parted, and his voice was cold despite what he said.

"I am aware."

At first, nothing happened. The abnormal silence of the forest lasted for a few seconds. But at the end of those few seconds... an abnormality other than silence made itself known.

A figure jumped down from the trees, a few meters away. He was dressed in black, looking like a real assassin. His face was obscured by the mask he wore up to his nose, but he had black eyes.

"How long, then?"

He answered the question calmly.

"Since the third or fourth group."

"Oho?"

He could see that the man before him was surprised, but he didn't care. He continued, keeping the same tone of voice.

"And... I'll die if I take three more steps."

The man before him raised his eyebrows even higher. But... it was not only that. His lips curled slightly upwards, visible even under his mask.

"No, you're not going to die."

"I don't feel that way because of those who are hiding."

The man in black shrugged his shoulders.

"It's up to you whether you believe it or not. You can do what you want. But... if you're aware of the situation you're in, I think you realize what you have to do to live."

Kael did not answer, he remained silent.

Even though he had stopped moving, he was still searching for ways to escape.

And... he couldn't find any.

Because he was surrounded. In every two or three trees in his field of vision, someone was hiding. He couldn't see it, but he could almost feel it. Their gaze was on him, filled with a deep killing intent.

But that was not the only reason why he hesitated to act. He was confident that no matter how many people were hiding, he would be able to slip through the forest and lose them. After all, he knew exactly where he was right now.

But... he couldn't try anything.

And the reason was the man in front of him.

"First... let's answer a few questions, shall we?"

This man in black... was a bearer, just like himself.

And he was strong, much stronger than he was.

"Why are you in this forest?"

"I'm a mercenary working in the town not far from here, I was wandering in the forest to hunt creatures."

"Why did you attack the soldiers for no reason?"

This time, instead of telling the whole truth, he squeezed in a sweet lie.

"Because you attacked me first and I got scared. I thought you might be looking for me because..."

"You are a bearer."

The two were silent for a short while.

"Then... let me ask you one more question, my young friend. Do you know a man named Tharon?"

Kael's brow furrowed as he looked at the man with a blank expression.

Tharon?

"Who is he?"

It was obvious from the expression on his face that he had no connection to the name.

The man in black sighed deeply.

"Well, it seems you don't have much to do with us. But... you killed almost fifteen of us. And you're a bearer. So... you need to come with us."

Kael's sharp eyes narrowed even more, his expression hardening, ready to reach for his daggers at any moment.

This did not go unnoticed by the man in front of him.

"Calm down, my orders are not to kill you. So I have no intention of harming you. But I will not hesitate to hurt you if you give me any trouble."

He wasn't sure if he should trust the man's words.

What choice did he have, though? He had a pretty clear guess about the answer to that question.

"Don't give me a hard tim-"

But he paused before he could finish his words. His eyes suddenly shifted upwards, towards the sky. Following him, Kael also slowly looked upwards.

Immediately afterwards... a drop fell in the center of his forehead.

At first, he couldn't understand what it was. But then a second drop fell on his cheek, then a third...

Unexpectedly, the rain began to fall quite rapidly.

But the most surprising thing was not so much the rain itself... but the change in where it came from.

"Oh..."

The man's voice echoed in Kael's ears, but he had difficulty focusing on it. Because... he didn't know how to react to what he saw.

The dark clouds that caused the rain... were gathering together much faster than normal.

So fast that it was almost impossible for it to be something natural.

"Oh, shit."

He heard the man cursing, then swearing in a low voice.

Soon the man's eyes left the sky and refocused on him.

"You are coming with me, my young friend. And... I'm sorry, but you have no choice."

This time, the meaning behind his words was much clearer, he wasn't trying to be polite.

He didn't want Kael to run away. But he also knew that if he left, his men would not be able to hold him where he was.

So he would drag him after him.

'There is really no escape from this...'

No matter how much he wanted otherwise, Kael was aware of the facts. The man in front of him was much stronger than him. He wasn't sure how he could do it, but he could feel it. Looking at this man, he felt almost paralyzed, as if... he would be unable to do anything if he tried to do anything.

He had tried to escape, but he had failed. Now, he had to obey this man.

The only thing he didn't understand was why this change in his attitude had happened.

Well... it was clear that the rain had triggered this change. But what was this man's connection to this abnormal natural phenomenon?

Kael paused for a moment, his eyes widening slightly as a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Follow me and don't try anything unpleasant. At least not if you value your life."

With those words, the man in black started moving without a second glance behind him. But Kael knew that he would die the moment he tried to escape, so he had no intention of trying anything.

There was only... one thing on his mind.

And that was the phenomenon he had witnessed about two months ago, just before he found this town. The storm that didn't feel natural, just like the warmth he could create in his heart.

And now... that storm and this rain, which was getting faster and faster every second, had exactly the same feeling.

'What the fuck... is going on here?'

He was pretty sure that it wasn't anything good.

*(A/N: The end of the free chapters is near... and there will be more chapters tomorrow. As I said, I will make up for the day I took off.)*