CHAPTER 78: THEN SOMETHING IS BOUND TO GO WRONG (5)

K'nor and I are running as fast as we can. The captain said that Vodun was up north. Using the compass bracelet I received from the prince Demether Floras, I follow the north direction it is indicating. We reach the place in less than one hour. I am running using physical, wind, and lightning Angas, after all. K'nor is also using physical and wind Angas. He is even faster than me, and I feel like he could go even faster. The village is down a hill, and the forest is connected to a wall of the village. All the other walls are surrounded by fields. Ah, this nostalgic odor in the air: corn.

I don't know if I can enter the village just like that. Also, there is the possibility that this village is full of assassins. Entering normally is not an option. I am also dress up poorly, with blood on my dirty and torn up clothes.

***

"K'nor, you stay here and watch, okay? If I whistle, you come running."

"Woof!" K'nor sits down next to a tree and starts scratching his back on it.

I go down the hill and reach the small wall of the village. It is a two-meter-high wall so I can easily jump over it. But, there is a watchtower near the wall. It is not too close, so I can't jump to it directly. There is a guard at the top, holding a crossbow. He doesn't have any helmets on.

Taking him down with a dagger is risky; if I miss, he will alert other people. I have to use the crescent bullets, I suppose. I create a bullet, and reduce the power as much I as I can. Then, when the guard is not leaning against the balusters of the watchtower, I shoot. His head explodes with a little noise, but I don't think anyone noticed. I put on Selene's cape and jump over the wall. The village has some houses and a big building with a cone-shaped roof. I know those kinds of buildings: it is an attic.

I go behind a house, and I see a man walking while carrying two bags to the attic. I follow him inside, there is no one else. While he puts down the first bag, I place the dagger I took from the captain on the back of his neck.

"Hii!"

"Shuttt. One noise and I kill you. If you understand, nod."

The man nods once.

"Good. I am looking for the village chief. What is his name?" I use the mind-reading script.

"The village chief is Colrad VENEDIM. His house is the big one with a red roof at the center of the village. He is working with us in the field right now, but we will finish soon, the sun is setting." He doesn't seem to be lying. Venedim? Is it not Kalor? He must have changed his name.

I knock the villager down and drags his body to the watchtower, they will have a harder time finding him there. Looking from the watchtower roof, I see two other watchtowers and a house with a red roof just like the villager told me. What should I do? If I try to sneak in now, I might be spotted, but Colrad is not home now, it is a good chance to check his house for clues about Excafol and Selene. Fuck it, let's go. I jump down on a roof. Using silent steps, I land and jump again, from one roof to another.

Thankfully, there was no scream or anything of the like all along. I reach the chief's house rooftop and enter by a window that is opened. It is the bathroom window. I hear only one heartbeat. Right below me, there is only one person inside right now. Going out of the bathroom, I search the first floor of the house. There are two rooms aside from the bathroom: one bedroom and a study. Inside the study, I don't find anything useful. I search the books silently, but there are no letters, nothing talking about Excafol. While going through the documents, I make a book fall.

"Is someone there?" A woman's voice? His wife probably.

As the heartbeat get closer, I hide behind the door. A woman opens the door of the study. She is tall, almost two meters, a very dark skin, black hair tied with a scarf, big round eyes, a not too flat nose, big red lips.

"Why are the books-"

"Don't move." Taking out my raizen, I place the tip behind her neck. She shudders a bit, feeling the coldness of the blade. She raises both her hands above her head.

"P-please don't kill me. I am just a maid here. The village chief will be back soon, I swear I don't know anything. Please!!"

She is lying. I checked her mind while she was talking, and she lying all the way through. She is another assassin, she knows where they are, no, she is the one keeping an eye on them. And… she is about to try and kick me then take the hidden blade in her chest. Why do all those women keep it in their chest?

"Is that so? Then why do you have the Kalor symbol on your wrist?" When she raised her hand earlier, I saw the same symbol as the one on the captain I killed in the house. That symbol is a mark, it seems.

"Tch! And here I was playing the nice little maid." Knowing that she was going to kick me with her left leg, I moved to the right before.

When she turns to kick, she executes a powerful motion that would have most probably prevent me from killing her instantly, but sadly for her, she only kicks air. Before she can even look at me, I grab her face and smash her head on the floor. A big crash resounds.

But it is not over yet. She tries to grab the knife in her chest after I have slammed her, but before she does, I place my raizen on her neck again. My other hand is still covering her eyes and nose so that she doesn't see me.

"You won't be fast enough. Trust me. And don't try to bite, you will lose your teeth."

"Who are you? And what do you want?"

"Excafol Ditorria and Selene Caracas. Their exact location and state."

"Ah, you are the kid they were supposed to kill today. So, my brother has failed. How did you manage to flee?"

"Flee?"

"Obviously, you wouldn't win against him in a fair fight. Let alone if his men are with him."

She seems to misunderstand, but I don't care. I cut the side of her neck a bit.

"Hmm!!"

"Stop wasting my time and answer my question."

"When Colrad comes, I hope he will mess you up go-" I press the blade against her throat and blood flows out a bit.

"Last chance."

"Tch. They are outside the village; we have a small hut built there." She is lying, they are in the basement of this house. And two other assassins will come in one hour with the village chief.

Reading her mind, I hear that she is about to punch me. Her hand suddenly moves, I pierce her throat violently before her hand could reach me. She shakes vividly when I do, so I press even harder, blood springs out and covers everything: the floor, my hands, my raizen. After one minute, her body is not moving anymore. When I remove my hands, it is wet. She was crying.

***

Going down, there is a door in the kitchen. I open it and there are stairs going down. At the end of the stairs, three more doors, each of them has blood traces on them as well as on the floor. I can hear one faint heartbeat from the door on the left. When I enter, there she is, hanged like a vulgar piece of meat.

"Selene!"

"Ugh."

Selene is tied to the wall; her feet are not even touching the ground. There are wounds everywhere on her body. Her eyes are punctured. How could they?!! I feel rage boiling inside me. Everything is turning red. I cut the rope, which tied her and hold her. When I place her on the floor, her mouth opens, but there is no tongue. They cut it.

"Selene, Selene! It's me! It's Kevin!"

"Ugh." I start healing her, but her heartbeat becomes fainter, slower.

"No! No! No! Please, stay with me! Please don't die!!" while I am healing her, I read her mind, hoping she is thinking of surviving. But I only hear her last words:

'I didn't even get the chance to cook him my spec…'

Then nothing. Her heart stops, no more thoughts. No more nothing. Just the silence of death.

"Arghh!!!"