Chapter 26 - A Man of Thorns

A single man, covered by a silver hooded robe, made his way through the night and into a forest of dense oak trees where he continued until he reached the coastline, where a half moon smiled down at him as the waves washed debris gently along the shore.

Then, came a crow that flapped its wings slowly as it landed on the sandy beach to transform into another man that wore a white gentleman's hat and suite along with a one eyed monocle that complimented his esteemed moustache. In addition to that, he also held a cane within his right hand that complimented his desired look.

"Well, well, seems like you two finally decided to show up." Said yet another ominous figure that revealed himself as he got up from the sandy shores, where he had been lying down peacefully as he watched the starry night sky. This man looked rather normal when compared to the other two. His hair was parted down the middle leaving its front to neatly fall down from both sides of his face which gave that styling a shape of an 'M'. His attire also wasn't very extravagant since he wore but a short set of trousers, which stopped a bit below his knees, and an armless shirt.

"Where's the other?" the silver man asked.

The gentleman replied. "Ah, yes about that." The man paused as he stuck his cane into the sand and rested his hands upon it. "I have recently been informed of a troublesome story, through a line of spies, saying that some of our little goons have been captured and for a while now, they were being tortured for information. But you need not worry, Atlas is already on his way to handle that matter."

The third man gritted his teeth. "Why'd you send that bastard? He'll definitely go overboard."

The gentleman fixed his monocle. "Yes, I know. But that makes it all the more better. What we need right now is a lot of death and chaos throughout Efidel." The gentleman looked towards the silver robed man. "We've tried your method of being discrete in order to use as little lives as possible to meet our ends but that is no longer an option. The Gifted know of us and have already mobilized themselves throughout the country. There is no point in withholding ourselves. So I'd like to think that you have no objections."

"I do not." The silver man replied, his hands folded in a stoic expression.

"Well, in that case, the three of us will take begin to spread chaos. Rouge will handle everything to the west, I will take the east and you, my Silver knight, will deal with the capital and all that lies south of it." The gentleman smiled which caused the ends of his thin moustache to point upwards. "I expect that you show no mercy. For our plan to succeed, we must push the Gifted to their limits." The gentleman then spun around and transformed once more into a crow. "Good luck!" he shouted as he flew away into the night.

~

On the other hand, yet another enticing figure had recently appeared where that one captive had been tied against a tree. As it were now, that man was sleeping. But he soon became dead as the huge, colossal man walked by and a thorn grew out of his left hand to pierce the sleeping man through his chest, killing him in an instant as blood spewed from his insides.

Then the huge man continued through the knight, his dark skin and attire blending in with the darkness as he went by. Only his eyes, that were all white with blindness, were visible through the night. And yet, he was able to navigate through the dense woods with ease until he reached the sloping mountain and made his way up to the village, whose inhabitants had been fast asleep by now with little exception.

And one such exception was the drunkard who came sloppily walking out of the tavern with a jug of beer in his right hand. The man struggled to walk and barely kept himself upright as he continued shakily down the path until he bumped into the huge man and fell to the ground.

"Oi, who's that!" the drunkard yell. "You…" he pointed and muttered madness. "watch where yer walking." He finally managed to say as he struggled to get to his feet, falling back to the ground several times before he actually did so.

"You were the one who bumped into me." The deep voice of the giant man spoke.

"Ha!" the drunkard replied with one eye wide open as he lifted a brow. He then walked towards the huge man and tapped on his chest with a finger. "Now, listen here little man." The drunkard went on. "I….me…something ago I was singing and thi-s-s-s…" the drunkard fell back to the ground. "Me point is…" he said. "you was the one who knock me." He said as he took a chug of his beer.

"That is a lie." The huge man replied as a thorn wrapped around his fist and landed in the drunkard's torso to create a bloody mess as the alcohol induced stranger yelled in agony.

Others were awakened by the drunk man's scream and soon lamps were lit throughout the village as they all came out to see what was happening.

And what they found was a giant standing in the moonlight over the bloodied corpse of a fellow villager.

Some threw up. Other's faces were painted with fear as sweat dripped from their foreheads. Some screamed. One man shouted. "Murderer!" another lady cried. "Someone get Rosal!" And through it all, the dark man's expression remained the same, stoic and unwavering.

Thorns then came out from under his long robe as his hands, too, became encapsulated by the prickly vines. The man peered forward, looking to nothing in particular as his vines then latched on to a woman and pulled her closer.

She was wrapped around by the thorns and crushed to death. At that, the villagers screamed all the more. "Rosal!" cried them all as they scrammed away. "Rosal, save us!"

And in his room at the second floor of the inn, Rosal heard the commotion and with a lamp in hand, he looked outside through a window, still covered in his hooded robe, to the see the giant man standing on the road as long, thorny vines stretched out from his hands to kill one villager after another.

A flame then brew from around Rosal that piloted its way towards the huge man whose vines reacted and blocked the ball of fire with ease.

To Rosal's surprise, the man's vine didn't burn away. As a matter of fact, as Rosal looked closer to the strange plants, he noticed that they were made of metal.

"Who was that?" the huge man called into the night.

What was this? Did the man not see Rosal.

"Show yourself now or I will tear each and every villager apart in your stead." The huge man continued as he walked forward and Rosal noticed that his vines had begun to creep along the walls and roads as if they were hands that felt each and every object in their path.

Then Rosal took note of the man's white eyes. "So that's it, huh?" the young man said quietly. Then he shouted. "Wait there! I will come to you." And at that, Rosal made his way out of the room and then down the creaky, wooden stairs until he reached outside of the inn and stood along the dirt road facing the huge man.

Antos and Elliot also heard the commotion and joined Rosal.

Elliot, in particular, who was now dressed in a pair of green pajamas, was furious when he saw the sight of blood along the road. "Why you!" he raged as his golden eyebrows became fierce and a dagger of light aimed at the huge man who once more blocked it with his iron vine.

Elliot, in response, then conjured several more daggers that now spiraled around in a circular manner. He would have sent them all flying towards the murderer, had it not been for Rosal who stopped him.

"Save yourself the trouble. It's no use for you to fight him. It'll only be a waste of time." Rosal said as red flames began to spiral around him in a chaotic fashion.

"Show off…" Antos said quietly from behind as he folded his arms. He, for one, was almost entirely naked with the exception of his under trunks.

"I know not who you are…" Rosal began as he walked closer towards the huge man with raging red flames to lead the way. "But do know that this entire district was entrusted to my care." The man stopped and sent waves of flames that ran along the dirt road, devouring everything in their path until they slammed into a wall of thorns conjured by the huge man.

Rosal sharpened his eyes beneath the shadow of his hood. "I will not let you do as you please."