Chapter 228: Chapter 228

“Do we really have to leave, mama?” asked a young cat beastman.

His mother put her hand over his head and moved to stroke it. “Don’t worry, son, it’s only for a little bit. We will be back before the harvest, I’m sure of it.” The middle aged cat beastman pulled her son close. In her eyes could be seen the reflection of soldiers moving towards her family’s fields. Her husband, a limping beastman with a few fresh bruises on his face, hobbled after one of the soldiers speaking a few words very quickly. The soldier turned around and smacked the beastman once more, sending him sprawling onto the dirt.

The soldiers stabbed at the crops with their weapons and dug into the earth, uprooting saplings and bushes. The soldier who had struck the farmer walked over to a bushel of early harvested grain and made a signal with his hands. He walked past the grain as it was carted away, and he stopped next to another cart full of unripened food that had been harvested too early. The soldier made another signal and the cart was set on fire. The soldier lifted his foot and kicked the fiery cart towards a wooden shed. Embers flew in the air as the cart made a crunch sound and slammed into the shed, setting it ablaze.

The soldiers’ leader walked off to the next house in the village but before he could get there, he stopped. The soldiers were rabbit beastmen, with long ears and surprisingly menacing eyes above their puffy cheeks. The rabbit beastmen twitched and looked up at the sky. Arcs of lightning reflected in their beady little eyes. Thunder rumbled across the village. The heavens opened up and it began to rain.

The rain doused the fire that had only just begun and also fell on top of the rabbit beastmen, soaking them through. The beastmen soldiers tried to run for shelter under one of the unburnt houses but they were too far away and they ended up wet anyway. Their supply wagon was drenched and their weapons—long spears with curved ends—slipped from their hands as they ran. The fact that they slipped from everybody’s hands had to be a coincidence, right?

The leader looked around. He had to blink the water out of his eyes multiple times and he should not be able to hear anything over the rain. His ears were drooping from all the water that had been caught in his fur. He reached up with hands that looked unnaturally long on a rabbit beastman, and he began wringing the water out of his ears like they were wet towels. The leader’s eyes finally returned to the family of cat beastmen he had just tried to kick out and steal from, and he froze.

The family was standing together near the edge of their fields with shocked expressions on their faces. The mother and child were standing where he had left them, which was strange enough since they had been ordered to evacuate and knew what would happen if they failed to listen. But the father whom he had beaten up and left in the dirt a few feet away from what should have been a burning house, was now kneeling next to his wife and son, his mouth agape. The house had been saved, but that could have been a coincidence.

But the rain had stopped on the edge of the fields. The fields should have been ruined by the heavy rains, since these were not crops that could survive so much rain right before harvest. The food that the rabbit soldiers had harvested had also disappeared from their carts and was now resting next to the cat beastman family. But no, something wasn’t right. The rain was unusual enough, but the farmers should not have been so stunned by it. Happy, confused, maybe even thankful to the God of Music, but stunned? No, something was up.

Up?

The rabbit beastman looked up.

And I looked down at him with a smile.

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I knocked out the rabbit soldiers with magic hands. All of them collapsed before they could even realize they had been disarmed long ago. I waved my hand and the heavy downpour changed to a light drizzle. I began descending slowly through the sky, and a particularly long arc of lightning illuminated one part of the sky. Kelser and the others received the signal and appeared from behind the trees in the distance. Paris was carrying Kol and Taoc, since those two were still tired from their training. Kelser also looked tired, since he was breathing quickly and walking slower than usual.

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I touched the ground next to the rabbit soldiers and faced the cat beastman family. The parents flinched, and the mother held her son closer to her. The father scrambled to his feet, putting the rest of his family behind him as he stared at me with a quivering bottom lip.

I scratched my head. The entrance had been a little dramatic, but wasn’t this kind of reaction a little much? I was used to being welcomed and revered among the people of this world, so this was a first. I had already learned that the beastmen also told stories of elves and thought of elves as legendary beings. Had the Horde been telling people about me for their propaganda? Was I now some kind of evil monster coming to take their lives and livelihoods?

I looked at the young beastman boy who was glancing at me through his mother’s arms. Unlike his parents, the boy was staring with a face full of wonder, his expression much better than it had been in front of the rabbit soldiers. I smiled back at him, and although the parents took a step back, the boy almost tripped trying to stay in place.

The mother flinched yet again as she finally heard something. Her ears flickered towards my party, but she only glanced at them for a moment before returning her gaze to me. The father, on the other hand, turned to my party and almost fell on his back again. His eyes widened with the reflection of Paris, the massive Fil Tusker. The boy also turned to Paris and Kelser, and he gave them an excited, curious look. Paris, perhaps sensing the boy’s gaze, lifted her head a little, pointing her massive tusks like skewers towards the family, and she let out a cry that shook the rain and gave the thunder a run for its money.

I stepped forward as the family was surprised by Paris’ cry. The parents turned back to me, the father on the ground again, and the mother tightly clutching her son. I raised a hand and waved it. The thunderclouds broke and the rains stopped. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds before filling the area with its warmth and light. I made sure it was especially light around me and my companions. If the Horde wanted to tell people I was some sort of evil being, judging by the cat beastmen’s reactions, then I would have to counter that with a little bit of propaganda of my own. But there was another reason as well, one that I thought would be a bit of a moonshot, but was worth a try anyway.

I raised another hand. The family held their breath. Something flew out of one of the packs on Paris’ back and landed on top of my open palm. I clutched the little flute, brought it down to my mouth, and took a deep breath.

I played a tune that day for the family that had almost lost their house and crops. The song wasn’t anything special, I wasn’t the best flute player ever. But with a little bit of air magic, I got the sounds to come out the way I wanted them to, and played a couple of nursery rhymes from my old Earth. The cat beastmen wouldn’t know the lyrics but the good thing about nursery rhymes was that the melodies were simply but catchy. Their simplicity came with innocence and comfort. They sounded happy and optimistic, like you had your whole life in front of you and did not have a care in the world.

Later that day, I would teach the boy the lyrics to the rhyme, and give him his own flute that I fashioned with magic from a reed-like plant that grew nearby. I would teach him how to make more flutes on his own, should the one I gave him break, and I would also teach him how to play other songs that I had not shown him before.

I would apologize to the parents for not being able to save all of their crops. I would wave away their thanks and offer some more food for their journey. I would tell them there was an army coming, and although these soldiers had been harsh and cruel, they were right in trying to get them to leave. The family would understand and make their preparations. I would lift up the soldiers with magic and drop them on top of Paris, much to the chagrin of the still incapacitated Kol and Taoc. We would drop the soldiers off near a barracks, but they would be out cold for a while.

And as we would leave, the beastmen would ask once again for my name, because I had told them that I would not introduce myself before it was time for me to go. The boy had been the first to ask, coming up all the way to the edge of the fields to say goodbye.

I would smile and raise the flute to my lips and play a happy tune. And as the tune ended, I would raise my voice and say, “I am the God of Music.”

Everything went according to plan, including my sudden disappearance among a wall of fog.