3-23 Campfire tale

“My father’s name is Rayor. I’m sure you have already realized that by now. He’s probably one of the most despicable men you’ll ever meet. His level is in the forties, or so he claims. If that’s true, he’s probably in the mid-range by now. He’s very adept at Wind Magic for a human. He is the head of the local bandits from my homeland. Even before he came into the service of the one known as Marduk, he was already an established man, not in a benevolent sense. The locals fear him and the bandits revered him for his ruthlessness and his strength. He had bested many who challenged his rule over that small land.”

Aedan, Lilian, and Nivia listened attentively despite having different reactions to Aera’s story. Nevertheless, they kept silent and let her words flow.

“I was born in a village that thrives on its own thanks to the fertile soil and the river nearby that has never run dry for a hundred years. However, my village is far from towns and cities. We were often attacked by monsters and bandits. My f-father took the liberty to offer the village protection from the monsters and the bandits not under his banner. In exchange, he demands payment from the village every month.”

“What kind of payment?” Aedan asked, giving Aera a cup of warm water. He had released her from her binds prior to the beginning of her tale after deeming her to be of no threat to them. But of course, Nivia had voiced her rejection but was woefully ignored.

Aera gently sipped from the cup before answering. “Money, food, liquor, or women...” her voice trailed off.

“Monstrous,” Lilian remarked with her teeth gritting against each other.

“Humans’ depravity never ceased to make me shudder,” Nivia muttered.

“Women… could it be...”

Aera nodded to Aedan’s musing. “Yes. My mother was one of the women who got offered to the bandits. It is how I was born,” Aera explained.

“That must have been dreadful, to find out you were the child of a loathsome man,” Lilian said. “I hope you weren’t being given terrible treatment by the other villagers.”

“Actually, they were quite sympathetic to me and my mother. I wasn’t treated terribly but...” Aera gripped tightly on the hem of her robe. “Their sympathies can be… overbearing at times— ah, forgive me. I have derailed from my story.”

“It’s alright. Just take your time,” Aedan said.

“Things were peaceful...” Aera continued her tale.

“Peaceful?” Nivia questioned.

“Relatively speaking,” Aera replied. “But it got worse when Rayor went into the employment of Marduk. I don’t know how that happened but that was when the descent started.”

“How did it get worse?” Aedan asked.

“Since our soil is fertile, we were tasked to grow something for Rayor’s new employer. Before you ask, no, I don’t know what it is. They did not tell us. We were just “asked” to grow the flowers.”

“You at least remember what the flower looks like, don’t you?” Nivia asked curtly, incurring a reprimanding glare from Lilian.

“It’s red… The leaves are similar to clovers and… the flower itself is… shaped like a horn.”

“A horn? An animal’s horn or the instrument kind?”

“Instrument.”

“A morning glory then?”

“What’s a morning glory?”

Nivia gave a stare of disbelief before turning her gaze away and sighed. “Forget I ask,” she muttered.

“But aren’t morning glories purple?” Lilian pointed out.

“Obviously, these aren’t normal morning glories,” Aedan said. “Anyways, please continue, Aera.”

“Because they wanted to grow these flowers, our supply of wheat and barley dwindled. The village began to starve. The hunger slowed and sometimes blundered our efforts in growing the flowers. We failed to make the assigned amount and Rayor got berated by his employer. He and his men visited the village the night after. All of them were drunk. He lashed out his anger on the villagers. A few fought back and that only made Rayor angrier. He killed those who fought back and that in turn caused all of the villagers to run. Some stayed and fought. My mother and I weren't so fortunate. My mother, in order to protect me, offered her to the bandits. They have their way with her and Rayor… my own blood father… turned his lust on me...”

“This is sickening...” Nivia muttered, infuriated.

“Your father raped you?” Lilian asked in a direct manner.

“He tried and he came close.” The last word left Aera’s trembling lips and a tear flowed down from the corner of her eye.

“And then what happened?”

“I prayed. I couldn’t fight back. So I prayed. I prayed and I prayed. No gods answered my prayers. Then again, I never had any favours with any god.”

“But you wore the cloth of faith, no?” Nivia asked, dubiously.

“These weren’t mine. I had to wear something after Rayor tore my clothes apart when he… when he...”

“It’s alright. You don’t have to say it. We understand,” Lilian assured.

Aera smiled, or at least she tried to. “As my fate seemed to be at its bleakest, a goddess answered my prayers. She didn’t care if my belief in her was true. She appointed me as her apostle anyway. I was instantly bestowed immense power in exchange for my sanity, as you have seen. I-I… I killed my father right then. I didn’t stop there. I killed them all. They ran when they realized they stood no chance. They led me to their base and they ran again. And they led me to their other bases. Just like that, I ended up destroying their bases one after another. As I wreaked havoc on their bases, it was then I discovered about Marduk and the faction he leads, an underground organization he called, the Covenant. I had an aim from then on. After that, I chanced upon you two.”

“You gained power in exchange for your sanity? What were you thinking?” Nivia rebuked.

“I was thinking I want to live… and I want to punish the ones who wronged me,” Aera retorted without meeting the Elf’s eyes.

“And that’s a good reason to exchange your very self for it?”

“Nivia, that’s enough,” Lilian chimed in.

“No, it’s not enough. Don’t stop me, Lilian. She didn’t just put herself at risk. Her loss of self also came this close to hurting others, especially the elderly couple who tried to help her.”

“I don’t expect you to understand my reasons. I was told empathy is the privilege of the ones who share your pain.”

“No, you don’t understand my reasons for reprimanding you. Power without guidance or inhibition is an invitation to catastrophe. For purely personal reasons, you are willing to garner collateral damages. How are you any different from the ones who wronged you?”

Aera lifted her gaze and met Nivia’s glare. “You’re saying I’m the same as the shite that is my father?”

“A few decades ago, there was a small kingdom in the southeast. The sole daughter and child of the king was terribly ill, and there was no cure. The king made a deal with some dark forces to save his daughter's life. And his daughter's life was indeed saved but in doing so, he doomed his own kingdom. All of his people became experiment prisoners of the dark forces. The king's daughter committed suicide after knowing she was the cause of her father's decision. You pursue your own goals without caring about the damages you inflicted to your surroundings. Is that any different? Well, is there?”

Aera put down her cup and clenched her fists. Taking a deep breath, she released her clenched fists. “Take that back,” she said.

“No,” Nivia retorted.

“Nivia, stop it,” Lilian raised her voice. She turned to Aedan. “Aedan, would you kindly please mediate?”

“There’s nothing to mediate,” Aedan said with a shrug. “Nivia speaks the truth.”

“You agree with me?” Nivia threw him a question with a befuddled glance.”

“Why are you so surprised about it?”

“I thought you… despise me?”

“Despise is a strong word. Even if that’s the case, why would I refute a mutual perspective?”

“You also think I’m just as evil as my father?” Aera directed the question at Aedan.

“I won’t say evil but your uncaring attitude about everyone else but yourself is very similar to how you describe your father.”

“I am not my father,” Aera said firmly, gritting her teeth.

“You’re right, you’re not your father, yet.”

A crease formed on her brows. “I won’t become like him.”

“But you will if you continue down this path.”

“I am not evil.”

“Not yet.”

“I won’t sink that low.”

“Hard to see that when you already have your feet in the puddle and eyes tainted by mud.”

“Shut up!” Aera screamed and threw the cup at Aedan, in which he let it break against his face.

Nivia rolled her eyes whereas Lilian gasped with her hands covering her mouth.

“Oh my god...” Aera gasped. She looked down at her trembling hands. “I’m so sorry. I-I… I don’t know what came over me...”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Aera,” Aedan said, wiping the small pieces of the cup’s fragments off his face. It went without saying his face did not sustain any wound or scratch from the cup. “You know what came over you. The decision you made without considering the consequences, that’s what came over you. Imagine if it was someone else, with your strength, the cup could have killed them.”

“I-I… I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know... I truly didn't know.”

“But now you do. You might have saved yourself from a horrifying experience but in doing so, you might have put others into the same plight you escaped from. Your vengeance will do more harm to the ones uninvolved than the ones who wronged you. Bear that firmly in mind, or else you come to regret it for the rest of your life.”

Aera nodded. “I will...”

“Good.” Aedan clapped his hands. “Now, let’s get some rest while we can before our enemies come knocking on the door.”

“There are people on our tail?” Nivia asked.

“Not at the moment but I wager they aren’t the type to give up so easily. So get some rest while the enemies are most likely still licking their wounds.”

****

As night fell, the taverns in Quinteburgh became rowdy and merry but the opposite was the woe of the dungeon beneath the town. As one would expect of a place called a dungeon, it was used as a prison that housed the unruly ones and the outlaws. Amongst the wicked-permeated bunch, a boy by the name of Velkan sat in the darkest corner of his cell, weeping in grief and sorrows of his loss. His world crumbled and his hope shattered when he heard of his sister’s passing.

Despair claimed his emotions and senses. Ever since then, he had shut his soul from the outside world. His stomach growled for sustenance due to the days he went by without touching his meals. Even so, he continued to dwell in his desolation and solitary.

Another night came and another day went by without any acquaintance with the material touch of the world. His shadow was his only company every night safe for the guards that patrol the dungeon but that was about to change tonight.

“Child,” a voice called out to him from the other side of the cell door.

But like all the other times he had visitors, he did not pay them any heed.

“Velkan Corvas,” the voice said his name.

But he offered the same response.

“Erynthea,” the voice said another name.

This time, Velkan raised his head to meet his visitor’s face. He gasped at the sight of his visitor’s appearance but no voice came out from his dry throat. It was dark but he had long been accustomed to it. He could vaguely make out his visitor was a man in his thirties, dressed in a tailored suit only nobles would wear. But what made him gasp was the aura the man exuded. Velkan didn’t have Appraisal but he could tell the man was at a level unfathomable by the average individual.

When the feeling of awe and fear subsided, Velkan cast his gaze back down, staring at his chain-bound hands. “What of her?” he asked with a hoarse voice. He could remember the last time he had tasted water.

“I know you resent her. It is to a point where you give anything just to see her suffer.”

Velkan did not respond. His gaze stuck to the floor as he listened.

“She caused your sister’s death. Had the Fae not spur your sister, she would have lived.”

Velkan stayed silent.

“Don’t you want to get your revenge? To right the wrongs? I can make it happen.”

Velkan was still silent.

“You don’t believe me?”

“You’re not the first one who tried to exploit my emotions for personal gain. So why don’t you just fuck off?”

The man sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Well, can’t fault me for trying,” the man said and took off his waistcoat. A pair of grey feather wings sprouted from his back.

Velkan jumped up from where he sat and recoiled from the man. “W-what the f-fuck?”

A glint streaked over the feathers as the wings hardened. The man twisted and his wings sliced through the iron door of the cell.

Velkan yelped. He tried to use his magic but the chains were constantly sapping away his Mana. “What are you trying to do?”

“Questions questions questions,” the man said, entering the cell with his wings tucked behind him. “This would have been a lot easier if you just gave me the answer I wanted to hear.”

Velkan charged at him but the man’s wings moved at a speed that surpassed his cognition. It hit him and he went slamming against the wall. The man produced a small horn-shaped trinket out of his pocket. He lifted Velkan off the floor with only a single hand. Velkan flailed about but the difference in level caused all of his efforts to be futile.

“This is going to hurt a lot but have fun with it,” the man said and plunged the horn into Velkan’s chest.

Velkan gasped but he only gagged. In an instant, dark veins spread from where he was stabbed, rapidly enveloping his whole body.

The man had let him go and before he knew it, the man had disappeared from his sight, leaving him to writhe in pain alone as a transformation underwent on his entire being.