OH! My Lady |FAIRVERSE Book - 2|

Chapter • 49

ZYLITH.

The night was gradually sinking, and thick fog surged, veiling everything in view as we neared the Dusbry wasteland.

Right when we thought that there was nothing but rocks and sand surrounding the wasteland, a bustling little village came into view.

The wasteland was nothing sort of a wasteland, it looked more like a lush greenery than a lump of degraded forests, eroded valleys and drought-struck pastures. Several signs of life were spotted as our horses galloped with our carriage deeper into the said-wasteland.

When our entourage slowly reached the village, Reuben's eyes suddenly condensed, he tightened his grip on the long sword on his hip as he slowly lifted the curtain up and looked outside.

I had my eyes closed until the carriage slowed down and he lifted the curtain to look outside. I got curious as to why the look in the man's eyes in front of me suddenly changed, and so, wanted to look at what lay outside as well.

I neared Reuben and peeked through a gap hole to the outside of the carriage to see a long sea of procession with drums and gongs.

The Dusbry wasteland was one of the bordering lands of Revendron which was more of a no-man's land between Reveldron and Theodore. And as such, it was a mix and match of the various cultures of Reveldron and Theodore and many of the rural customs of the nation of Theodore were still practiced by the commoner residents of the Dusbry country even if it was a part of Reveldron.

And so, what seemed like a wedding procession ritual from another nation was seen taking place in this God-forsaken place, but there was something very peculiar about all this, because mixed in all this chaos was the foul smell of blood.

Several torches of fire were held by the villagers as they carried a red sedan chair, walking slowly towards the direction of the nearest mountain forest.

If not for the procesion being held in the middle of the night and the sad sniffling voices of a few people in the procession, it would really seem like a happy event. But now, on the contrary, it seemed rather weird than festive.

When I looked closely, all of the villagers had blank expressions on as they carried on with the procesion. Compared to the general joy or sadness on the wedding day of someone, it looked more like all of them were injected with some kind of numb medicine which made them look cold and expressionless on the surface. Only an old couple walking right next to the sedan chair were seen with sad tears in their eyes. As if, they were the only normal people in the mob.

Our entourage stopped on their spot as the long procession continued to pass by us.

Something about this whole thing just did not sit right with me. I consequently squinted my eyes as I looked on, wondering if it was only my illusion or if the pace of this mob of people had intentionally slowed down as they passed us by.

Suddenly, the red curtain of the wooden sedan chair was blown away by the passing wind and a pretty woman in a wedding dress could be vaguely seen sitting inside, she seemed to be weeping very miserably with her head down. It seemed both sorrowful and pitiful.

"What kind of happy event is taking place in the middle of the night?" I couldn't help probing as I tried to poke my head out of the carriage window. However, Reuben suddenly pushed me further into the carriage as he gestured to me to shut my mouth. Then he signalled his commander to go probe the situation outside.

Alexteris jumped out of a carriage in front of ours, and with a frown on his face, he went on to approach the noisy crowd of people to enquire what exactly was going on.

"Excuse me, may I take the liberty to ask what happy event is going on in the middle of the night?"

The villager who was questioned, looked at Alexteris with a blank expression on and spat out two words, "You outsiders, it's better not to be so nosy." And Lexter's demeanour became ashened all of sudden.

While I, from inside the carriage, almost leaned against Reuben's body to scrutinize the current situation with inept interest shining in my eyes. I wondered what hidden scenario was triggered by this new situation at hand.

However, before Lexter could lose his temper, the tearful old couple rushed towards him and instantly knelt down before him and grabbing his fancy trousers, they cried out with snot-filled faces, "This noble lord, please please, we beg you to save our little girl."

'Oh oh! A plot-twist! Now it's getting interesting.'

Lexter was suddenly caught off-guard and looked simply flustered at the sudden turn of events. And if Commander Erzieth had not come to the rescue, I reckon he would just stand there petrified, like a statue with no idea how to handle the situation.

"These two elderly people, please get up quickly, we can sort out any misunderstandings that might've been created." The commander bent down to help out the two elderly folks kindly.

The old man who supported his equally old wife, stood up tremblingly, and finally started solving this strange turn of events for us, "Esteemed Sir, as you might have already guessed, this is not some happy event taking place in the middle of the night. My precious little daughter (sniff!), ah! my little girl! She is being taken to be a sacrifice to the river monster that resides in the Helen river which flows through the middle of the Dusbry forest."

'!!! Monsters!? What monsters?' I frowned at the words 'Monster', and couldn't help pricking my ears to listen better.

"...Please calm down and explain in detail." Commander Erzieth asked with a solemn expression.

To sum it all up, this village suffered severe drought and life was hard for many many years until one day a creature who claimed to be the river God appeared out of thin air. And as a result, it brought with itself rain and altered the course of the Helen river, consequently alleviating the drought of many years. As such, the head of the village built a temple by the Helen river in the middle of the now lush forest, and all the people of the village went to worship for prosperity and wealth in the temple.

However one day, the river God really spoke to them. He said that he would fulfil all their wishes if they sent him a beautiful little girl as a sacrifice every month. It was alright if they did not send the sacrifice, but if a calamity were to befall the village in the future, he would not help protect the people and they would have to fend for themselves on their own.

As soon as the people of the village heard what the thing said, they were not stupid enough to still believe that this creature who claimed to be a God was not really what it pretended to be. It was most definitely a monster posing as a river God.

TO BE CONTINUED.............