Elden Monarch

Chapter 21 - Castle Morne

Godwyn, Rennala, and I crossed the great stone bridge over the sea after clearing it from Godrick's men, thus giving the refugees safe passage.

Speaking of refugees, we passed a long line of them, men, women, and children of all ages, dirty, wearing worn clothes, and carrying what they could into wagons and horse-drawn carts.

Everyone talked and argued simultaneously, creating a cacophony of voices.

As soon as they saw us pass, they flinched in fear, raising their hands towards anything that served as a weapon, or just stared at us with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.

I left the refugees behind and looked at the region around me; the peninsula was rocky, made of a gray stone, with humid ground and air, probably due to the constant rains that occurred in this place.

The sound of waves crashing against the peninsula could be heard in the distance, but it was mixed with the sound of something else. A sound I knew very well, the sound of fighting.

Riding further into the peninsula, I came across a familiar sight, corpses strewn across the road.

There were two types of corpses, one type was of humans wearing armor and the other type was of humanoid creatures with strong animalistic features, some of them reminded me of Hewg.

"Hey, Godwyn! What are these beings? They look like Hewg." I asked the demigod floating beside me as we advanced.

However, Godwyn remained silent, the only noise being those mentioned before and Torrent's gallop.

I saw several expressions flit across Godwyn's face, anger, sadness, doubt, and more as he made a series of grimaces.

"Godwyn?" I called again.

This snapped Godwyn out of his stupor as he slowly turned towards me, a serious look on his face and lips pressed together in a thin line. After a few seconds of silence, the demigod disappeared.

What was that? I may not have known Godwyn for that long, but this behavior is unusual.

"Godwyn?"

But there was no answer. Damn it... I guess I can only hope that he returns.

I rode in an uncomfortable silence, and as I kept going. More corpses covered in wounds littered the road.

I continued like this for a long time, until something that didn't fit this death scenario got in my way. A girl sitting on top of a rock, next to a site of grace.

She had light blonde hair and wore a bloodstained dress and a band over her eyes.

As I approached, the girl turned her head in my direction.

"Hello? Is somebody there? Lend me your ear for a moment, please." The girl spoke worriedly, almost pleading.

I left Torrent as Rennala came out of her moon and landed beside me, and then we approached the girl.

"Yes? How can I help you?" I asked.

The girl jumped a little in surprise after hearing my voice, but placing a hand on her chest and letting out a relieved sigh, she spoke again.

"My name is Irina. I escaped from Castle Morne to the south. The servants there... rebelled. I don't know what happened; my vision has been weak since birth... But I swear I heard scary howls from all sides. My good father sent me away from the castle, but he decided to stay. He says it's his duty as commander."

Rennala and I stared at each other for a few seconds with an understanding look.

"Looks like we found the site of the demihuman revolt." Rennala spoke seriously.