Chapter 424: The forgotten ones

"How can you say such a thing?!" Hearing his partner's unconcerned, apathetic tone, Hephas snapped at his friend. "They are kids, Ovid, kids! How can you be so indifferent! They might be in grave trouble right as we are talking! Show some compassion to the young ones!"

"Pfft, why would I, or for that matter, anybody care for a group of strangers strolling into their deaths?" Ovid scoffed, shrugging his shoulders with the same indifferent look as before. 

Placing his hand over Hephas' shoulder, he shook his head as a small sigh escaped through his lips.

"The world is like this. Cruel and cold, nobody would give a crap about some group of teens that was way too naive and green behind their ears venturing into their shallow, unmarked graves despite the clear signs and even warnings they were given, Hephas!" Ovid lectured, reminding his friend that they indeed tried to warn and alert the group not to take on the quest.

"Remember, we did try what we could, yet they were ignorant and way too arrogant for their age. The kind gesture they were offered, was ignored, and they walked in, fully aware of the dangers lurking beneath the surface."

Ovid then glanced at the silent, and eerie darkness before shrugging his shoulders yet again and taking a step back, returning to his post. 

"So, tell me, what reason do I have to bother with them? In fact, I could bet you that neither Mikol nor Lydo could even recall that group. They have already forgotten them, just like I did."

Ovid's words were, while quite cruel and harsh, were in fact, the plain, and dark truth, the rigid, hard reality of the world and the nature of its residents. Indeed, why would anybody care about if 5 unknown people would go missing, be it adults, elders, or as it was the actual case this time, young men and women. Why would anybody give a damn if these young budding seedlings, that were about to tackle the life that was ahead of them and cultivate a better future, would vanish from the face of Eora?

The answer was painfully obvious. Just taking a look at Ovid's unmoved, apathetic expression about the matter, anybody could come to the same conclusion: Nobody.

Well, almost nobody. No matter how he looked at it, or even knowing that Ovid was ultimately right, he couldn't just ignore this feeling inside him. Was it because he was a father of children of the same age and mindset? Maybe without him being aware, he saw his own son and daughter in those kids? 

He couldn't think of an answer to these burning questions of his, nor could he quell his rapidly beating, thumping, and worried heart. He knew what he was doing was foolish, nor could he offer any meaningful help to them, yet he just couldn't calm down.

By the time the two came back from their lunch break with satisfied expressions on their faces, Hephas was back to his regular worries, and concerned checks and glances. He once more tried to pierce the dark veil that covered the grounds below with his penetrating gaze. His [Battle Sense] working on overdrive, he tried scanning the grounds below and around for any familiar, youthful life, sadly to no avail.

However, still, there was a clue, a change that he amidst his worries skipped over before. Something that could either be a hint, or a piece of evidence; depending on the conclusion of the matter and the fate of the teens, no matter how dark and gruesome it was. 

The fact that he could scan absolutely no life, no matter if it was animalistic, instinct-driven, or more evolved, he could not feel anything but a vast space of emptiness. Normally, as being one of the trained and experienced soldiers surviving many skirmishes and even campaigns, he should be able to perceive the lingering intent of any life forms around quite a large distance centered around him. 

This sense, this ability honed through years of effort, blood, and gore, could not be blocked by regular means, there were no walls or barriers that could withstand it. Every life form in Eora, be it whatever size or shape emitted some form of presence, some 'signal' that those with similar skills could perceive and process.

Even the undead, although not animated through the strands of nature, through the dark and twisted necromantic magic could be felt by those that trained themselves. After all, their imprints of necromancy were rather unique after all.

Yet, Hephas could feel absolutely nothing. The tunnels around them were absolutely empty, barren, void of any life.

This initially guided him to believe that the group ventured deeper, however now, thinking a bit more about it, he couldn't shake the feeling that there may have been something else in play.

He furrowed his brows, as Hephas kept his alerted, vigilant state throughout the rest of the day. 

As the hours went by, his worries only continued to grow. Eventually, it reached a point where he decided that after the next shift comes and relieves them so they could take their much-needed rest, he would take the matters into his own hands and look for the gang himself. At the very least for a bit. Even if they have met their cruel fates, he wanted to at least confirm this fact and report it to the captains.

With his plan and decision now finalized, he returned his attention to his duty, his agitated disposition shifted towards a much calmer, collected outward look. His friends seeing the change of state in their friend thought that he finally moved on from whatever was eating at him, and returned their attention to guarding the entrance.

Returning to the late afternoon, or early evening of the day, as the sun slowly began to set, Hephas looked much more vibrant, bursting with energy, something that seemed rather uncanny to someone who has just survived 12 hours of duty.

With a confused stare, Ovid looked at his friend, not sure of what to think. Even the other two, Mikol and Lyno felt that something wasn't right with their partner, though they couldn't grasp what exactly could it be. Why was he so fired up, and ready for action when they were just about to finish their day and return to their homes for the night?!

Suddenly, as if realizing something, the three of them smiled at each other with that 'knowing' look. Their eyes glimmered with the understanding of what was sure to come for the concupiscent man.

As they were about to call out and have some fun with this overzealous father of two, suddenly they all trembled and froze in place. 

Their attention slowly turned towards the closed grated gate, more precisely to the vast and empty darkness that blocked all vision from the outside. 

Each and every one of them, even Hephas who was mistakenly believed to be full of lust towards his wife, turned their full attention to the sudden change they all felt coming from below.

Several life signs suddenly appeared, stepping into their range of detection, as they paced towards the grated entrance with a steady, but slow pace. 

However, their faces were cold and stern, as unlike one particular member of them, they couldn't recognize the approaching entities…

All but one, whose face slowly curled into a smile.