Page 348

There was a strange chill as dusk approached. The cold struck Erin like thousands of needles pricking her skin. It was just a light prick but the point was extremely sharp. She shivered and quivered whenever the breeze brushed past her. Her senses were acute, which was detrimental to her under this circumstance.

“Fall is still a month away,” Lilian mused. “It shouldn’t be this cold.” The Dryad was walking alongside Erin on this lonely and narrow path that ran through the woods.

“We should have gotten ourselves some horses and a carriage,” Nivia grumbled as she trailed behind the two. Her face was flushed but not from the cold. The cause was something more personal and intimate. Her eyes struggled to gaze ahead. Her blush intensified whenever her gaze landed on Erin’s back. More than ever, she became aware of how shapely and wonderfully formed Erin’s curves were. It had only been an admiration before but now, it had turned into infatuation.

Sensing the Elf’s gaze, Erin glanced behind her.

Nivia turned away before their gazes could meet.

Erin tittered softly and turned her eyes forward.

Nivia’s gaze returned to spying on Erin, or at least that was how she felt considering her furtive intent. She had been this way ever since she shared her passion and love with Erin, Lyra, and Aedan in the same bed and at the same time. All of her preconceived notions of virtue and grace had been shattered. Her view had changed. She would feel warm and hot whenever that recollection surfaced. There was also some wetness whenever she recalled those sensations. Nivia never knew that she was capable of such debauchery.

While the Elf was plagued with such dilemmas, the three were slowly approaching yet another nameless village. It was even smaller than the ones they had passed by.

Lilian sighed. “I hope the others have better luck than us.”

“They are taking the known roads,” Erin said. “There are to be inns and taverns along the way. They would surely be faring better than us.” It was just the three of them, Erin, Lilian, and Nivia. Until Erin learned to fully control her lust, they would have to travel in such a fashion. Currently, it was Lilian and Nivia’s turn to travel with Erin.

“Speaking of faring better, how fares your mastery over your… desires?” Lilian asked.

“Are you feeling aroused right now?”

Lilian giggled. “Dear me, I’m always aroused when I’m with you, Erin. Your beauty itself is a huge temptation, even without your Lust.”

“Well, are you feeling more aroused than usual?”

Lilian shook her head and shoulders. “Nope, not really.” Then, she showed a sly grin. “Do you want me to be, dearie?”

Erin rolled her eyes and pretended as if she didn’t hear the Dryad’s question that was laced with desires.

Gradually, the village grew as they neared. There were only around twenty houses or so. There was a low fence that circled the small village. No doubt to ward off the simple beasts such as wolves, coyotes, foxes, and the like. However, the double doors that stood over ten feet tall were losing half of its pair and the remaining one was dishevelled. It was barely hanging on to its hinges.

The trio had a mild reaction in response to this suspicious sight of the village. They had known about the state of this village but they did not expect it. After all, this was what could be expected of a small nameless village in the middle of the forest.

“Another one,” Nivia muttered. The state of the village had temporarily suppressed the shame of her debauchery. It was no time for her to be embarrassed over a bygone memory. “Don’t the humans learn?”

“The wood used for the doors is old,” Erin observed. “Times are changing. This place must have been peaceful until recently.”

“Where is everyone?” Lilian asked. Everywhere she looked, she saw no sign of life.

Erin stared at the ground. There were plenty of tracks but there was no telling which was which and whose who. “Whatever happened here, it can’t be good. I smell blood and death.”

Nivia frowned. “Only now have you picked up on those scents?”

“I was fighting the chill. I was trying not to… sense so much. Moreover, these scents were faint. The villagers weren’t massacred. Only some were killed. Possibly the old. The young and able males are taken as slave labourers while the females are taken as sex slaves.”

“Bandits,” Nivia growled. “But we didn’t see any sign of bandits along the way.”

“We might start seeing them as we go further ahead.”

“Bandits, huh… What kind of bandits shed so little blood in a pillage?” Lilian questioned with her head tilting to one side. “The Spirits are frightened but not repulsed or shaken. Whatever happened here, it wasn’t violent or gruesome enough to repel the Spirits, which is usually the case when bandits pillaged.”

“Perhaps the villagers were compliant?” Nivia suggested.

“Villagers are always compliant but it rarely lessens the bloodshed. Whoever these bandits are, they are different from the ones we are familiar with. We must tread cautiously forward from now on.”

“We’ll make camp here,” Erin said.

Nivia frowned. “Here? In a village where its people were just kidnapped and killed? Won’t the bandits come back to make sure they didn’t leave anything of value behind?”

“I look forward to the bandit’s return,” Erin said and ended the discussion.

Night soon fell and the trio were now huddled inside the largest house in the village, presumably the house of the village chief. A swallow, glowing a faint cyan radiance, flew into Erin’s hands through the open window. The swallow disappeared into hundreds of light drops and a parchment fell into Erin’s hands. Sitting in front of the fireplace, she unrolled the parchment. She quickly devoured the contents before tossing the parchment into the fire.

“They’re doing well,” Erin relayed the message.

“Good for them,” Nivia mumbled. “Will we be getting any sleep tonight?”

Erin’s nose twitched a few times. “Probably not. There’s a lot of them.”

“They’re here already?” Nivia asked with an eyebrow raised.

“They never left. They kept watch and they waited until dark.”

“And you know of this since when?”

“Just now. They have eluded my cognition until the moment they decided to strike. Safe to say that the bandits are formidable to some degree.”

“More formidable than our dear Erynthea?” Lilian asked with a small yet confident smile.

“For their sake, they better be. I haven’t been feeling very… clement for these past few days.” A sword manifested beside Erin, embedded into the ground.

“I don’t hear them,” Nivia said as she drew her swords and stood up.

Erin shrugged. “I can barely sense them myself. I wouldn’t have sensed them at all if they didn’t have any ill-intent towards us.”

“Where would you like me to be, sweetheart?” Lilian asked, giggling.

“Stay here.”

Lilian nodded without arguing back.

“Are you going to ask me to stay too?”

“Nonsense,” Erin answered. “You’re not a dedicated caster like Lilian is. You’ll serve no purpose in the backlines. Your position is in the front.”

Nivia stared. “You have changed, Erin.”

Erin smirked. “So have you, Nivia.”

Nivia blushed and turned away even though it did nothing to hide her shame from view.

“People change. It is the nature of all things, especially people. Come on, Nivia. Let us rid ourselves of these abominations that are no better than beasts.” Erin walked out of the house in stride with her sword in hand. She made no attempt in concealing her presence as she blatantly approached the bandits who were creeping up on them.

Nivia followed behind Erin, eyeing her brazen behaviour with a mix of curiosity and concern. She didn’t know what to make of Erin’s change. Not yet, at least.

The forest was quiet with nought but the cries of the nightlife of the wild. Erin strode confidently towards where she faintly sensed the bandits were.

“Erin.”

“Yes?”

“You look very excited.”

“Do I?”

“More so than I have ever seen you being.”

“I suppose I may have suppressed my carnal desires but not my cravings for violence and a good fight. Besides, it has been more than a week since we last got into any conflict. The gods have delivered these wicked folks right to me.”

Nivia said no more and simply watched Erin walk past the broken gates and further into the darkness of the forest. Right at the edge of the forest, the leaves began to rustle and a silver gleam flashed across the darkness.

Erin twirled her sword and raised it above her head. Something struck the blade and it bounced right off. The arrow fell beside Erin. Another streak of silver gleam flashed across the darkness. Erin tilted her head and the arrow flew harmlessly past her.

Branches snapped and the leaves rustled louder. The bandits had descended from atop the tree after seeing the ineffectiveness of the bow.

“Should I use my bow?” Nivia asked.

“Can you see them?”

“No.”

“Then don’t. Don’t waste your arrows.”

Suddenly, the ground under them trembled violently but only for a short second. The air whistled but there were no silver flashes. Still, Erin swiped her sword in front of her, cutting down projectiles that were almost impossible to perceive with the darkness behind them.

“What was that?”

“Rocks. They have a mage who uses the earth element.”

The ground shook once more but Erin dashed into the darkness before the shaking stopped. Gasps could be heard, accompanied by the sounds of steel clangours. Then, there were whistles of the wind and air. Groans and throes followed shortly. Soon, everything fell silent.

Nivia didn’t even have time to join in. She could only stare into the darkness and wait for Erin to return. After a short while, Erin did return but she had company. She was dragging one of the bandits with her. The bandit had no legs and the loss of his legs was recent, quite recent.

Erin tossed the bandit between her and Nivia. Erin flicked the blood off her sword before dispelling it. Then, she knelt on one knee before the bandit who was struggling to crawl away from the Fox-kin. With a smile, Erin impaled the right thigh of the bandit.

The bandit screamed at the top of his lungs.

Nivia recoiled from Erin’s brutality but she said nothing. This was necessary, she told herself.

“Where are the villagers?” Erin asked, ignoring the bandit’s agony. “And please note that if your response is anything else but the answer that I want, I will make it hurt a lot more. Answer me truthfully and I shall give you a swift death. Do you understand?”

The bandit nodded rapidly.

“Splendid. Now, again, where are the villagers?”

“I-I don’t know. We sold them off.”

“Where and who?”

“It’s some wealthy merchant. He comes to meet us in this forest. We just sell whoever we have in our captivity. Only the able ones. The old and invalid are of no use to them, so we just kill them on the spot. That’s the truth, I swear.”

“What can you tell me about this merchant?”

“Not young or old. Tall. Brown of hair. He’s not skinny but he doesn’t have a pot belly like most merchants. He has armoured guards with him.”

“Do these armoured guards have a crest on their armour piece?”

The bandit shook his head.

“I see. Thank you,” Erin said and picked the bandit up with her tail still impaled through his thigh. She then flung the bandit into the darkness all the while hearing him beg and scream for mercy. The hungry beasts of the night would surely devour him before the break of dawn.

“...Was that necessary?” Nivia asked.

“For my satisfaction, yes.”

“...You have truly changed, Erin.”

Erin smiled wryly. “Do I frighten you?”

Nivia contemplated Erin’s words for a while before stepping closer to her. “I am afraid, not of you, but for you. I fear the path you are currently treading down. You should be worried.”

“As long as I’m with you, with all of you, I’m not worried. After all, I’m not alone, am I?” Erin reached out her hand and stroked Nivia’s cheek.

Instead of shrinking away or slapping Erin’s hand away, Nivia cupped Erin’s hand and caressed herself on Erin’s hand. “No, you are not alone. We will always be with you… m-my love.”