The Graveyard (5)

Lura laughed, seeing me pull Fiona away from them. "Don't worry, the other races aren't what you humans have described. We aren't crazy, maniacal killers of the horror stories you tell to scare little kids, and even going the way of banishing us here. We're civil and have respect for humans. Those prisoners are, well, became prisoners after they tried to attack or shame us. We can't just sit idly by and let that happen, can we?"

I nodded warily, still maintaining a safe distancing from them as they walked led the way into the graveyard. The surroundings reminded me of the forest earlier, the lack of vitality. Instead of black, the ground and skies were a dark red. Black gravestones decorated the place and increased in numbers the further we entered, but the fog only cleared up. Coupled with the dead wildlife, the place reminded me of hell. Very disturbing.

Lura seems to have misunderstood us, mentioning those stories. She must've thought I told Fiona about them... haha, either way, those tales and this place won't scare Fiona, who is more curious about you, or thinking about robbing some of your things. Treasure hunting, as she calls it.

What a cute little thief. She stole my heart already... not that I gave it away to her willingly. I glanced at Fiona, who was tottering along in front of me. Sure enough, her eyes were wandering to Lura's quiver that held her glistening, silver arrows.

I miffed a laugh. "Fiona, don't even think about it. Focus on getting out of here alive first."

"But daddy, I've never seen arrows so pretty before..." she muttered under her breath. Her face pouting and on the verge of tears as she looked up. "Daddy, let's return when we finish all of our matters."

How could I dare reject her request when she looked like that? Her puffy cheeks, watery eyes that glared at me... so cute. "If we get out of here alive," I whispered, hoping those rumoured elf ears weren't so amazing.

"Daddy, you became so pessimistic now."

"You have become more shameless now, eyeing the treasures of others. I thought you only enjoyed treasure-hunting as caves and such, but this is downright thievery, Fiona."

She snorted and muttered some along the lines of, "these graves must have treasures too, right?" which rendered me speechless.

Fiona, where did your pure and innocent self go, now even vying to become a grave-robber? You'll... their ghosts and your ancestors will curse you! You're disturbing their piece!

Well, Lura and Rajah did mention they threw prisoners down here, so the ghosts really don't deserve the respect from us, but this is promoting unethical habits from Fiona. Is this why they say that spoiling your children is bad parenting?

I opened my mouth, wanting to rebuke her, but Fiona turned around and gave a naughty grin. Sigh, I don't even know what she's thinking now. Are all 7-year-olds so smart, teasing their parents like this?

Lura turned around for a quick glance, but Fiona was faster. She ran up to her with her eyes beaming with excitement. "Elf sister Lura! How do you know where to go in the Graveyard? Will there be scary ghosts? Or treasures?"

Her sparkling eyes at the end were irresistible as Lura's gaze softened. "We can only rely on sir Rajah's nose for now, and one of our elves that's trapped here is also a navigator. She can detect us and send a signal. Yes, there will be ghosts. Don't worry, we can take care of them."

Rajah let out a growl as soon as Lura finished speaking, as we stopped in our tracks. Fiona pointed ahead, to the translucent body of an old man. "T-that's the ghost?"

His eyes were a lifeless black, and his body oozed a black mist that covered his limbs, making him seem like a puppet controlled from the shadow. He raised his arms to the air as he floated upwards and let out a low-pitched wail. Other wails from around the Graveyard joined in as if they were a pack of wolves.

"Little girl, that's the ghost," Rajah said, polishing his claws. He looked up, waiting for the ghost to descend on the ground. "Watch sir Rajah take care of him!"

The ghost was only a few metres above the ground when Rajah pounced. His claws extended, he swiped them down across the ghost's chest and snarled. Brutal and savage, as expected of a tiger.

I didn't want Fiona to watch the ensuing violence, but thought over it. I'll probably kill a lot in the future either way. Might as well let her get used to it.

Rajah landed with two feet and one hand on the ground as he turned around to Fiona, his eyes glittering as he expected her praise. "Was your tiger sir Rajah handsome there, little girl?" He asked with a laugh.

"Tiger sir Rajah! Watch out—!"

Twock. Twock. Tack.

Three streaks of silver flew past my ears as Lura walked to Rajah and kicked him. The ghost fell to the ground with three arrows pierced into his vitals with a loud thud from behind them; so did Rajah, covering his head.

"Did the lord not say that physical attacks do not work on ghosts?" She scolded, pulling his ear. She pulled out a glove and threw it in front of Rajah. "Use the claws provided by the dwarves. They spent a long time working on it, just for this trip."

"They make my claws uncomfortable," he muttered pitifully. He looked up at Lura with his ears down and tears forming in his eyes, unfitting of his actions as a majestic, savage, tiger.

I turned to Fiona, who covered her mouth with a hand, trying hard not to laugh. Ah, she's just so freaking cute, and reminds me of that sad little kitten over there whenever she's pouting.

"Do you want to be bashed by their hammers?"

Rajah shut up instantly and put on the gloves that covered his claws. He flexed them while sighing. He brightened up as he turned to Fiona. "Was your tiger sir... Don't laugh, little girl! Ah so embarrassing..." he cried out as he hid his face.

Fiona couldn't hold it in anymore. She laughed heartily as she squeezed out her words. "You're so cute, sir Rajah." Lura nodded in agreement.

"No, I am not!" He glared at Lura in protest.

"You are, right daddy?"

I looked at the joke of a tiger and then to the smiling angel that was Fiona. "You're the cutest, Fiona," I answered with a straight face.

Her smile crumbled as Rajah and Lura both let out a 'pffft.' Ears flushed red, Fiona stomped over, trying to give me a slap, but I caught her hand and threw her into another embrace. She could only tremble in my arms, feeling wronged.

My body suddenly tingled as we all stiffened. "Daddy?" Fiona asked, noticing the change, her fingers loosening in the pinch. Lura's ears twitched as she sent another kick to the still laughing Rajah.

"Hey, what are you doing—oh..."

The wails of the ghosts grew louder, killing the joyous mood as we all turned our heads. The fog cleared away steadily, as I felt an impending sense of doom that sent shivers down my spine. Fiona couldn't even stay angry anymore as her eyes widened. "That's a lot of ghosts," she muttered, as she tightened her hug around me.

Rajah's eyes narrowed as he stood up, his battling intent flaring. Lura grabbed a handful of silver arrows from her quiver. "The lord never mentioned anything like this," she murmured. "Were we too late?"

I looked at the oncoming tide of ghosts, their translucent vengeful spirits bringing another kind of fog, and did not hesitate to brandish Heartbreak.