Demons?
A creature that impersonates a vile creature that comes from hell. Something so grotesque and scary, that it was used in countless fables to portray the villain.
So right now, Leigh was hearing that he and his people are the villains in this story. Naturally, this displeased him immensely.
"Please do tell, why is it that demons live up there?", he said with immense effort to try and not show his emotions.
The Emrys are the villagers and the villagers are the Emrys. Any insult to the villagers is an insult to him and vice versa.
"Little boy, this is a story as old as time itself. Something passed on in this village of ours from our oldest ancestors. They told us of the demons that lived in the mountains, and of the fog that the great heroes of legend created to keep them there."
Shocked from what he was hearing, Leigh continued to listed.
"The heroes of the past painstakingly made it so that they we could be safe from any danger! The only thing that they implored us to do, was to keep anyone and everyone away from the mountain. Telling us that if even 1 person stepped in, the gates of hell would open up and the world would be drowned in blood."
Leigh had a hard time taking in what was said about him and his people.
'But if we were really that dangerous…'
"Then why not just lead your greatest warriors and try to exterminate that dormant threat", Liera asked before Leigh could get a chance.
"Little lass, do you think we wouldn't have done that if we were able to? I already told you, the ones that went and sealed the demons were already the best we could offer. No one can defeat them, so we can only seal them."
Anger started to form in Leigh's heart. It seemed to originate from somewhere deep, but he couldn't tell from where exactly.
"We will make sure to steer clear from it then.", he said to shift the conversation and calm down simultaneously.
"But how do we go about finding the prince of Hezra?", Liera followed up perfectly.
Remembering what made him so agitated in the first place, the old man made an ugly face again. After some contemplation, he said:
"If you want to find that godforsaken prince, then you can just go to the capital, it is their home after all. Just go follow the road that you will find a little to the south of this village, than head west. You will pass 2 cities before ending up in the capital."
As if he couldn't bear to think about that pompous bastard any longer, the old man picked his carriage back up.
"Alright kids, I need to get to the fields now. Our stomachs wont fill themselves, especially after that despicable storm."
With that, the old man left for the fields, not even waiting on the 2 to bid their farewells.
But the duo understood. They made the man relive some things he didn't have the time to digest yet, so of course he would want to leave.
Staring at the limping man that dragged his tools with him, Leigh felt that the man looked pitiful. His hunched back from the years of work seemed to be hunched a bit more from the shame of being beaten by a stranger.
The anger he felt towards the farmer vanished from his heart, and instead pity and a longing to help was born.
'Where did this sudden feeling come from', he thought to himself.
Is it because he was used to care about everyone around him, that he instinctively tried to care for this stranger as well?
Puzzled by his sudden change in emotions, made his way back to the camp with Liera.
***
The army marched on.
It had been a day since they left the little village, and Leigh had just heard from the advance team that the city was half a day away from them. It was currently early in the morning, the first rays of sunlight had just hit the lands a couple of minutes ago.
The lands in this region were truly irregular.
The army still went through the forest at the mountain base because of necessity, but they would not do it again unless they absolutely had to. The only path that wouldn't take the army an extra 3 days would be by walking straight trough the upcoming city instead of taking a detour. Leigh didn't want to give Ilis a chance to regroup, so he wanted to reach the capital as fast as possible
'But would any sane person believe that we just want to pass by with a massive army?'
Truly, Leigh had no intention of fighting anyone that didn't fight for Ilis or his king directly. So if they let them pass, he would leave them be.
As he made his way, it took them another 5 hours before they saw the city far away up ahead.
The city was on a flat clearing that stretched several kilometres outside the city walls. In other words, they would be able to see the army coming from far away.
This made things difficult for them, but it was something they had to do if they wanted to reach their destination faster.
As the army came to a halt, Leigh beckoned Kayra to come over.
"Yes my lord?"
"Kayra Egri, the words I am about to give you is a message from the Emrys to the people of the city we are looking at right now."
Kayra got on her knees immediately and perked her ears up. A direct message from the Emrys had to be said word for word. Sending a message in the name of the Emrys was a privilege only bestowed to the Egri family, so Kayra had to make sure everything was conveyed correctly.
Every time an order was given in the name of the Emrys, there would be this pressure in the air. As if an overbearing giant was staring you down, intimidating and full of danger. Kayra felt it before when receiving messages from Harkon, but it was only recently that she started receiving them from Leigh too. For he had only recently awakened his dormant powers, and with it came the unconscious domineering aura he gave off when giving an order.
After listening to her lord's message, she memorised it to heart and stood up again.
"Your words shall be heard my lord."
"Good. Go now and may you find your kids back in good health."
"Yes my lord."
Kayra stood up, and she wore a serious expression. This was the first message she received from Leigh, and it will be delivered without fail.
She tied her fiery hair in a ponytail, and stretched her muscles.
And then she ran with a speed a normal human could never achieve.
***
The city of Misto was as bustling as ever. That is to say, it was calm.
Or rather, too calm.
The city had known better times, but after the terrible storm that swept the whole country a while ago, a damaged city was all that was left behind.
People were working hard to repair the broken buildings, but the damages to the crops caused a rise in food prices in the surroundings, and the people didn't have enough money to spare for a total restauration.
They could only partially repair it, one piece at a time, until everything was eventually back to its peak state. Or at least to a humanely acceptable state.
The ruling noble was cruel and greedy, so no help would be received from him. He preferred receiving money over giving it to his people. And the pleas for help fell on deaf ears.
As people were starving on the sides of the street, Kayra made her way into the city. She looked around, and saw a huge building in the centre of the city, deducing that the big shot ruling this place had to be there.
Nodding her head and making her way over, she was suddenly stopped by one of the guards that was passing her by.
"Hey there beauty, I haven't seen you in these parts of town before. Care to join me for a drink?"
The guard reeked of booze, and was already tipsy enough to have a slur in his words. The guard beside him fared better in that department, but lacked in other aspects…
"Hey bitch! Didn't you hear what my buddy over here said. I'll have you know that it's an honour to be wanted by one of the city guards, as this position is highly respected no matter where you go!"
At first annoyed, and now thoroughly displeased, Kayra kept it short.
"I'm married."
She wanted to walk away then and there, but before she could take her second step, the second soldier went to stand in her path.
"I don't care if you are married to some peasant, it will be his honour to please us with you!"
He then tried to grab her by her hair, but just as he was about to grab it, his vision blurred and he found himself on the ground.
Before he could react, he heard a loud noise.
CRACK
Kayra had hit the man's arm on several places, and all of those places were now fractured and bleeding.
Turning to look at the first soldier that was now sobering up due to what was happening, Kayra looked him in the eyes.
"Where is you boss?"
"You mean the captain of the guards?", the soldier said with hesitation.
"No, the one who rules over you."
"Lord Sief!?"
"Yes, where is he?"
"He should be in the great dining hall right now, as it is his time for lunch right about now."
She let the arm she was holding go, and sighed deeply.
Seeing the guards not taking their duties seriously must have disappointed her, or maybe talking about her husband made her long for him. No one could tell.
Kayra began to make her way to the castle, where the soldiers were being notified of an intruder making her way over to them.
It seemed that delivering the message was going to be harder than she thought.