Chapter 62: (11: 30 P.M.) Chaos Rises.

[Northwest Central Zone of the Central Continent. Blue Leaf Village (Wasern Kingdom). 13th day of the 2nd month. Year 20,125 of the 5th age. 11:30 PM]

The Blue Leaf village owed its name to the tree in the center of the square, whose leaves, oddly enough, were blue. The tree had been planted by the founder of the village after returning from an expedition from the northern part of the continent.

Unlike other trees and plants, the blue-leaved tree only blossomed in late autumn and its white apple-like fruit ripened in mid-winter.

The most curious thing of all was that no matter whether the fruits were eaten raw, made into jam, or used to make liquor, they would always taste sweet and refreshing like a gentle icy breeze. As if they somehow retained the essence of winter, ice, and snow.

The Blue Leaf village was located far south of a mountain range and a few miles northwest of the capital city of the Wasern kingdom. Which was affiliated with the Solar Empire.

The village had a population of about 1,500 people and was dedicated to simple things like growing fruit trees and raising cattle.

Despite being close to the mountains or the forest, monster sightings were not too frequent. The only thing the villagers had to watch out for were bandits lurking on the roads and some wolves or wild boars.

The worst crisis the village had suffered was more than 50 years ago when they were attacked by a tribe of about two hundred Goblins led by a Hobgoblin. However, both the leader and the rest of the monsters had been quickly killed by passing mercenaries and the village hunters.

After that, the village had only suffered a few minor incidents among them some Goblin attacks but not of such magnitude. So generally the village was quite peaceful.

It was for this reason that the village (like many other settlements of that size) did not have a wall to protect it or other defenses. The only fighting force in the village was a couple of dozen hunters and those who could lift a hoe or a wood chopping ax.

In the south of the village was a two-story, log-walled, thatched-roof hut. Upstairs there were two rooms. One with a good-sized double bed and the other with a single bed and a bunk bed.

In the single bed, a young man with sun-tanned skin and brown hair slept comfortably covered by several woolen blankets to keep out the winter cold.

Julian was a boy of only 16 years old who lived with his father who was a shepherd, his mother, and his two younger brothers.

He did not have many ambitions in life.

As a child, he had once dreamed of being a knight of the kingdom or a wizard in the king's court.

To leave that remote village in the middle of the forest and have adventures, become a high-ranking mercenary, defeat monsters and evil wizards, get all kinds of riches, and have a beautiful wife. The typical life that any peasant would dream of having.

But as he grew older, Julian became aware of reality and forgot all his dreams. After all, he was just a peasant who lived in a remote village.

Apart from being able to read and write, having a little talent with the bow, and being good at strategy games, Julian had no other special qualities. So now his greatest aspiration other than being a shepherd or a hunter was to be the village chief.

Julian woke up suddenly, perhaps because of a bad dream. He got up and as he uncovered himself he felt the cold of the room brush against his body. He looked over to the bunk and noticed that his two brothers were still sleeping peacefully, although they were shivering a little.

Julian opened the closet next to his bed, grabbed two more sets of blankets, and tucked his brothers in. Then he pulled out an extra blanket for himself and went back to bed.

But after a few minutes, no matter how hard he tried, Julian was unable to fall asleep. He kept trying to fall asleep until he finally had enough.

He then got out of bed again and put on his warmest clothes along with a pair of boots and a wolfskin cloak. He went downstairs to the first floor, grabbed his bow and a quiver full of arrows, and left the house.

That night it was snowing. Outside the snow had begun to accumulate on the roofs of the huts and the village floor, forming a thin white layer a couple of centimeters thick.

Julian walked along the village paths until he reached the place where the village bordered the forest. He continued walking for a few more minutes, going more than a mile into the sea of trees until he reached a small glade in the forest.

Once there, Julian positioned himself about 15 meters (16.4 yards) in front of a tree that had several cloth sacks tied to the trunk or hanging from its branches. Each of the sacks was filled with straw and had a crudely painted target.

He took an arrow from his quiver and drew the bowstring taut.

That night the clearing was illuminated by a silvery-white glow. So Julian did not need to carry a lantern or torch with him and his eyes were soon accustomed to the darkness of the forest.

Julian stood still for a moment, his gaze fixed on the tree, the bow firmly in his hand, the string taut and the arrow between his fingers. He exhaled, relaxed his grip on his fingers and the string slipped from his hand.

*Xiu...*

The arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself in the sack of the trunk, just an inch from the center of the target. Next, Julian took another arrow from the quiver, placed it in the bow, drew the string taut, and repeated the process. Again and again.

*Xiu...*

When Julian was restless, angry, bored, or simply tired of working in the village he used to come to the glade to practice with his bow to calm and clear his mind.

He would forget all his problems, ignore all the sounds of the forest and let his body and mind become one with his bow.

*Xiu...*

Julian reached out to the quiver on his back for another arrow but noticed that it was empty and the 25 arrows were all embedded in the sacks. Some had gone through the targets and fell several meters from the tree.

Julian walked to the tree, began to gather all the arrows, and put them in his quiver. When he finished he returned to his previous position and prepared to shoot another arrow.

*Crack*

But the sound of a branch snapping sounded behind him and Julian turned around with the bow still drawn in his hand.

For a moment he thought it was some rabbit or other animal passing by. But just as he was about to relax his grip and lower his bow, Julian noticed three pairs of small bright dots of light just a few meters away from him.

Slowly, the dots of light began to move toward him. But Julian decided not to wait to find out what they were.

*Xiu...*

The arrow shot out of the bow and whistled through the air as it approached the two dots of light in the center.

"Kiekh!"

A high-pitched screech echoed through the forest and the two glowing dots fell to the ground. At that instant, the remaining four points rushed up and ran towards him.

*Xiu...Xiu...*

Two more arrows whistled through the air and the two pairs of light dots fell to the ground. One of them let out a whimper as it tried to stand up. But Julian fired again, and the arrow embedded itself between the two dots, which fell to the ground and stopped glowing.

Julian remained in the glade hidden behind a tree. His hand was firmly on the hilt of the bow and an arrow on the string.

After a moment, Julian decided to move deeper into the trees, towards where he had seen the bright dots. After a few steps, he came in front of two bodies of humanoid creatures.

One of the bodies was lying with its face against the ground. One arrow had pierced its right thigh and the second had embedded itself deep in its skull. The second was lying face down, with an arrow protruding from its neck.

A few steps away from the two bodies, there was a third corpse that had fallen backward. The arrow seemed to have pierced his chest and was sticking out of his back.

As Julian got a little closer he was able to make out the appearance of the three corpses as well as the clothes they wore.

The creatures were short in stature, about 1.20 to 1.30 meters (3.9-4.2 ft) tall. Their teeth were sharp and somewhat misshapen. They had long claw-like nails and pointed ears. Their skin was rough, dark green and their eyes were yellow.

They were all equipped with worn light leather armor and all carried a short, curved-bladed saber.

"Goblins!" Julian exclaimed. Although he had never seen a Goblin in his life, the description of the creatures matched the books he had read or the stories he had heard from the village elders.

At that moment, a smell of burning reached Julian's nose, causing him to instinctively look up from the ground. There in the sky was an orange glow and several plumes of smoke rising in the direction of the Blue Leaf village.

Fearing the worst, Julian forgot about the goblin corpses and began to run back towards the village. He ran for several minutes, hoping that his family was okay and that everyone in the village was safe.

But when he reached the edge of the forest, Julian gazed in horror at the scene before his eyes.

The huts were on fire and the cries and screams reached his ears mixed with the sound of the monsters' roars and howls.

Without a second thought, Julian grabbed his bow and started running towards the village. He had to find his family even if it meant risking his life.

Julian ran through the village paths towards his home. Along the way, he had seen several mutilated bodies of villagers and animals. He had also run into some Orcs, though he had managed to evade them and had taken out a Kobold that was eating the body of an old man.

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All this did nothing but make him even more anxious. This was not a normal attack. It wasn't normal for so many monsters to be prowling the area, let alone so many species of creatures to be together.

Finally, Julian reached his house. But to his misfortune, it was already in flames and the shattered bodies of his family were lying on the snowy ground stained crimson red.

Julian fell to his knees on the floor and burst into tears. It all seemed like a nightmare.

His father had been cut in half. His mother had half her face smashed in and his two brothers had been stabbed to death.

All around him could be heard only the crackling of flames and the roars of monsters. It seemed that almost everyone in the village was dead or had fled.

Julian didn't know how long he was on his knees in the snow, but he was fortunate that none of the monsters had attacked him as he mourned the death of his family.

At that moment, the whinny of a horse brought him back to reality and made him get up from the ground. Julian took one last look at his family before grabbing his bow and running to where he had heard the whinny.

Julian ran toward the square. There the blue-leafed tree was ablaze and the ground was covered with corpses.

A couple of huts away from the square a saddled horse was struggling against two goblins who were trying to knock it down. The horse's owner lay dead on the ground with several black arrows sticking out of his back.

Julian took two arrows from his quiver and quickly shot towards the Goblins. The arrows whistled through the air, killing the two monsters before they could react.

Without wasting another second, Julian ran to the horse, grabbed it by the reins, and mounted it. The horse didn't seem to mind someone other than its owner getting on its back. Especially since Julian had just saved it.

Julian spurred the horse and it started to run until it got out of the village and into the forest. Heading to the capital.

That night, along with Blue Leaf Village, more than a dozen villages and small towns were razed to the ground and tens of thousands of people were slaughtered.

That was the night that the fall of the Wasern kingdom and the kingdoms of the Northwest Central part of the continent began.

****

[West Central Zone of the Central Continent. Whispering Forest ( Jadar Kingdom). 13th day of the 2nd month. Year 20,125 of the 5th age. 11:30 PM]

The Whispering Forest was a huge sea of trees that stretched for hundreds of miles, passing through several cities and kingdoms.

Now that it was winter most of the trees had shed their leaves and their branches, as well as the ground, were covered with snow. When the wind blew through the bare branches it sounded like a faint, sad, mournful whisper.

A group of seven hooded people dressed in black walked through the forest leaving their footprints on the snow-covered ground.

The seven walked for a few minutes until they stopped in front of a large rock. Sitting on it, a figure wrapped in dark red cloaks was deep in thought as he seemed to contemplate something in his hand with a melancholy look.

The man had a long tail and a pair of curved horns protruding from his forehead. His skin was a dark gray color and his eyes were completely white.

"Lord Vicar" Said the seven as they knelt on the ground to pay their respects to the man.

The vicar did not answer them and remained silent, contemplating the black orb in his hand.

"Lord Vicar." After a while, the hooded man closest to the vicar stood up and spoke. "We have counted a total of 25,701 souls in the town and preparations are now complete. But... perhaps we should hurry. Our messengers have confirmed that the Dawn Inquisitors are on our trail and if they catch up with us then..."

"Silence... Do you hear it?" the Vicar asked. His voice sounded sad and broken as if he was about to burst into tears. "They're all suffering - every breath they take, every second that passes is agony!" He said, raising his arms to the trees around him.

The Vicar stood up and turned to the seven hooded individuals. His face was covered with tears.

"They are all afraid. Because they know that every second that passes they are one step closer to disappearing, to dying. But rest assured, you need not fear! For today we will lead them to the paradise of eternity!"

The Vicar stepped off the rock and began to walk through the forest, with the seven hooded ones following in his wake. Every time the Vicar took a step the surrounding trees turned black and withered.

They walked for a few more minutes until they came to a hill at the edge of the forest. Further down, a couple of kilometers from the edge of the forest was a town surrounded by a large log wall and multiple watchtowers made of wood.

Except for the guards on duty and the few houses where there were any lights on it seemed that everyone in the town was asleep.

The Vicar stood silently, contemplating the town for a few moments. Finally, he raised his arm and the orb in his hand began to radiate an ominous light.

A dark mist began to emanate from the orb. The mist gathered and drifted down the hill towards the town. Within the mist, terrible and sinister shapes began to emerge, approaching the gates of the town.

A few seconds later, the gates were torn down, the buildings began to be destroyed, and burst into flames. Great columns of smoke began to rise in the sky and the screams and cries of the townspeople began to spread in the surroundings until they reached the ears of the hooded ones and the Vicar.

"But what a beautiful symphony!" The vicar exclaimed, in a tone that showed both joy, sadness, and madness at the same time. "They have been saved and we are a little closer to the Marquis." He said in a whisper and a huge smile formed on his face.

As the screams of the people died down the Vicar continued to contemplate the black orb in his hand. A huge eye of black, violet, white, green, and blue fires appeared inside the orb and his restless vertical pupil looked in all directions impatiently.

****

[West Zone of the Central Continent. Fragat City (Ruagon Kingdom). 13th day of the 2nd month. Year 20,125 of the 5th age. 11:30 PM]

The place was a tavern (albeit a bit more elegant and cozy) with no windows and rustic brick walls. Full of circular and square tables, with upholstered walnut chairs.

There was a large shelf full of books on the right wall and the floor in front of it, a large Persian style carpet on which there were several armchairs with small circular tables.

The left wall had a large fireplace with an orange fire burning in it.

On either side of the fireplace were several shelves attached to the wall filled with ornaments and decorations and, just as at the other end of the room, there was a large Persian-style rug with several armchairs around the fireplace.

Each table in the room had a lighted candle and on the ceiling above them hung numerous chandeliers that illuminated the place giving it an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

On the central wall, there was a polished white marble bar behind which there was a large shelf full of wines, whiskeys, liquors, and other exotic drinks.

The tavern was dominated by silence, interrupted only by the crackling of the flames.

A shadow was resting in one of the armchairs near the fireplace. The shadow appeared to be reading a green-covered book and to its right was a small circular black wooden table on which was a half-finished glass of whiskey on the rocks.

Suddenly a vibrating sound echoed in the room, causing the shadow to stand up. It marked with a bookmark the page on which it had lingered and set the book down on the table. Then it picked up its glass of whiskey and made its way to the white marble bar.

The shadow turned out to be a woman dressed in a long black dress, a pendant, and silver rings. Her skin was very pale, almost white. Her hair was black except for a silver lock on the right side, her full lips were a crimson red and her eyes were a deep purplish dark.

The woman moved to the back of the bar at the same time a man came through the door of the tavern.

The man was of average height, and although he was wrapped in a brown hooded cloak to conceal his identity the impeccable state of his clothes gave away that he was not a commoner.

"Good evening, how may I help you?" The woman asked in a sweet and friendly tone.

"I... I require your services." The man said nervously as he set down a small leather pouch that was crammed with low-grade Rehi crystals.

"I assume this covers the fee." Said the woman as she inspected one of the crystals and stowed the rest under the bar. "What kind of services do you require?"

"I need whatever kind it is to silence. And it has to be discreet... Or that no one suspects... That no one can link... That's all" The man took another leather bag and set it down on the bar. This time the grade of the crystals was higher. Inside the bag was a piece of paper with something written on it.

The woman inspected the crystals and the contents of the paper in the bag. When she confirmed the writing on the paper and that the amount of the payment was sufficient, the woman smiled and put the leather bag away with the other one.

"Very well. The amount of the first payment is enough. You will have one week for the second payment once the job is finished." Replied the woman with a smile and a cheerful tone.

The man merely nodded and quickly left the tavern, closing the door behind him.

When the man left, the woman picked up her glass of Whiskey, returned to her seat, and continued reading the book on the page where she had left off.

"So, who should I entrust this job to?"

****

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