Elden Monarch

Chapter 24 - Exploring the Peninsula

I rode along the peninsula with Godwyn floating beside me, next to Rennala who remained on her miniature moon.

The first thing we noticed was the lack of bodies scattered along the road. The bloodstains and ruins were still there, but both sides of the conflict had already collected their dead.

The Misbegotten we met on our way did not attack us, but they were wary, eyeing us suspiciously, ready to draw their weapons.

I did not pay much attention to this; it will take time for Kenneth and the Leonine Misbegotten to put their part of the negotiations into practice, so I stayed out of the way of the Misbegotten and focused on exploring the peninsula.

We explored the route to Castle Morne calmly since we had not had the chance on our unfortunate previous visit to the great fortification. I obtained smiting stones, a golden seed, a complete map of the peninsula, and an ash of war ash for my bow carried by a scarab beetle.

Looking at the map, Rennala and I determined that our next stop would be Ailing Village, near the Morne Tunnel, where we might find some survivors of the revolt, or at least something useful.

With our destination in mind, we headed towards the Forest Watchtower, following the dirt road until we reached the outskirts of the village, close to the tree line. We spotted the houses roofs and a church at the top of a hill.

Therefore, I dismounted Torrent, sending it away, and Rennala stepped out of her moon. We approached the village, talking about what questions we should ask its inhabitants, but our conversation died the moment we set foot in the village and found a dreadful landscape.

It was as if a dragon had set fire to the village, plants, buildings, trees, and animals became grey ruins or charred, unrecognizable corpses. Strangely, there was a group of people amidst the bodies and slowly crumbling ruins.

The people prostrated themselves around a huge bonfire, with a crucified person burning in the scorching flames, covering their faces and screaming incoherently as they struggled.

Rennala and I exchanged a serious look, nodded, and drew our respective weapons.

I pulled the Grafted Blade from my bottomless bag and readied my staff, darkness rushing through the spinning rings, simultaneously; Rennala summoned her staff with a blue flash, its tip glowing faintly with magic.

We approached the group of people with slow, careful steps, the burnt grass and ashes crackling slightly under our feet.

One of the people rose from his prostrate position, throwing his head back amid screams. I spotted something shiny between the gaps in his fingers that hid his face.

However, the person stopped their bizarre actions as soon as his head came back down and he had a view of his surroundings, staring at Rennala and me.

Suddenly, the person let out a shrill scream, uncovering his face, and revealing a pair of flaming eyes, enveloped in a yellowish-orange flame that burned out of their sockets.

"Alden, kill him, now!" Godwyn shouted, manifesting himself unexpectedly, with a fear and concern I rarely saw.

The shouts drew the attention of the people nearby, and soon all the survivors of whatever had happened in this village stood up, revealing their pale, slender, and worn forms, and picking up various tools to use as weapons, kitchen knives, woodcutters' axes, pitchforks and much more.

All these people shared one characteristic in common, a pair of flaming eyes. The first one who saw us earlier raised an axe as he shouted, but I cast a Dark Orb in his direction before he could finish his action.