For an Old Friend

Chief Marg staggered backward. He had no idea why his men just started collapsing. He was now starting to believe the tale of the Grim Reaper which he once thought was absurd. "What happened!"

Teisha gritted her teeth after seeing Marg. She revealed her claws and pounced at him. She then slashed him, causing Marg to scream, blood sprayed out from his chest.

Tiesha growled. "I will never forgive you for what you did!"

***

She remembered the moment they were transported to the camp. She had a friend named Aina back then who was timid and who comforted her. They were all chained up at that time. Being caged inside a carriage.

"It's gonna be fine," Teisha said to her friend.

"Teisha, where are they gonna take us?" She was shivering.

"It doesn't matter because as long as we are together, I'm gonna protect you." Teisha's words caused Aina to get courageous.

"Thank you Teisha, I hope I can find my father soon."

"Me too, I'm looking for my sister." Teisha then hugged her.

As they were inside their cages, Teisha could hear the driver speaking. She decided to pry.

"We are entering the wild valley, we need to get ready for a hyena attack."

After some time of travel, a thudding noise of wood was heard. The carriage rocked and they stopped. "Damn it, the wheel got broken."

They stayed on the same spot for several minutes. But after some time, Aina suddenly got weak for an unknown cause. She started coughing and Teisha was attending to her. "Aina, what's wrong?"

"Teisha, my head hurts." Aina was sobbing. She then slowly fainted in her arms.

Her cough was loud that it was audible to the outside. The carriage suddenly stopped. The doors got opened. And they looked at Teisha. "What happened?"

Teisha was crying. "Aina is--- sick. Please help her."

The men were puzzled about what to do. They were scratching their heads. There were rumors of spreading sickness that could become a plague later on. There was even no cure for it, not even the church could heal it.

Chief Marg appeared angrily before them. "What are you fools doing? The hyenas could find us any moment if we stay here for too long."

"Uh, Chief, she's sick."

"Sick?" Chief Marg harrumphed. "Take her out of here."

They were now unlocking Aina's chains and dragging her out from the carriage.

Teisha gasped. "You're gonna help her right?"

"No, but rather, she's gonna help us." Chief Marg then looked at his men. "Hey, cut her to pieces and spread her body out so we could buy some time for this damned hyenas. We can't afford to start a pandemic."

The men complied and took her away.

Teisha's eyes suddenly went hollow. She wanted to help her but the chains were restraining her. She began growling like a mad hound. Her eyes were piercingly burning in rage.

Chief Marg harrumphed seeing her. "Damn, beast-men."

After seeing Aina's arms were mangled up, her body was sliced into pieces. It was then spread out around the areas while they were fixing the carriage to buy them time.

Teisha then fell into depression. After that time, she was just staring blankly on the floor. She couldn't believe she never fulfilled her promise.

***

Teisha roared as she slashed Chief Marg repeatedly. "This is for Aina!"

Marg screamed from anguish. "Hey, wait."

Teisha was panting as rage took over her. With a fierce swing of her claws, she then sliced his left arm off. It fell to the ground, bleeding.

Marg was squirming on the ground as he felt a terrible pain. Minnie and the villagers surrounded him. Their faces were serious and they had no intention of giving him mercy.

"Hey, wait, I can return the money to you. I mean- uh."

The villagers grabbed their rake and began stabbing him repeatedly until they were satisfied. Blood was being gushed out even to their faces. "No!" Marg's wail was like a symphony for the end of the night.

Minnie looked away. She didn't join with the revenge. Knowing he died was already enough for her. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the incoming dusk.

***

It was almost morning, Sting could see the sun rising over the mountains. It seems it took him a few hours to find the correct spot. He felt bad since there were more casualties now. If only he was faster he thought. But in this terrain, it was hard to find a perfect spot.

He shot down most of the bandits but he missed one since he was out of his view. There were still branches and trunks on the way.

It was probably the bandit's leader. Well, since he was alone he could trust the villagers there to take care of him. Perhaps it was the time to return to the village. Oddly enough, despite the altitude, he couldn't call anyone from his country. There was no signal. He thought of looking for a taller building.

His ammo box have gotten lighter as well. He needed to return before he could use it up.

Walking for half an hour, he finally arrived. The village were mourning to the ones who got slew. And staring across, it was Marg's corpse which was bleeding severely. He was almost unidentifiable if not for his burly body.

Looking at the alt-mage, Minni, she was crying as their team leader, Rezan was dying on her arms. There was an arrow on his back and it was too late. He lost a lot of blood.

"Leader, I don't know what I'm gonna do now! With everyone gone, Hekki, Shi, Mera, and even you. It's been 8 years since we started out our adventure." Minnie said.

Rezan sighed. "Minnie, it was my fault, if I didn't underestimate the Vogius, this wouldn't have happened. Vogius was truly a different creature." He was groaning from pain.

Minni gasped. "Please wait, I still haven't talked to you about some things."

"Minnie I feel a bit tired. Besides, you've seemed to have found a new friends didn't you? I can't believe you slept in the same room as those guys." Minnie looked over her shoulders, and she saw Sting and Teisha helping the wounded.

"Them, huh?"

"We looked pretty lame right there, huh? We said somethings to them and I can't believe he was still the hero of this time. I think we should apologize."

"Huh? There's no way, we should apologize. I don't think I can get along with them."

Rezan held to her hand. "This is my last request as the team leader. That could at least relieve me from my shame. Please..." He then slowly closed his eyes and leaned lifelessly.

At that time, Minnie could see that Rezan was now left this world. She cried her heart out and held him to her chest.

Afterward, Sting and Teisha gave their thanks to the Village Governor before their departure.

"I could never describe how thankful the Crossheart village is to you." The governer said with sincerity.

Sting gave a brief nod. "It's within my duty to protect the lives of the innocents."

The governer then pointed at Teisha whose head was covered with his jacket. "Hey, I have something to talk with you." He was smiling.

Sting was slightly worried since it looks like they found out that she is a beastman. Teisha was concerned. "Huh?

The governer then handed her a leather hood. "You're a beast-man aren't you? You need this if you want to visit a city."

"Uncle, aren't you scared?"

The governer smiled warmly. "The people gave these rumors that the beast-men are a bunch of savages. But when we got attacked by wolves a long time ago, one beast-man protected us. We owe him a lot. Others may be scared but we, the village of Crossheart, don't."

Teisha then smiled back. "Thank you uncle."

As they were walking away, the villagers waved at them. "Thank you Grim Reaper, please come back soon."

They then went to their horses with their supplies, but on their way Minnie blocked their paths. She was looking shy as she faced the two. "Uh, guys... You see..."

Sting sighed. "Tell her she can come with us."

Teisha was in disappointment. "You heard him, he said you can come."

Minnie lowered her head. "Then I apologize on what I said to you last time."

Teisha could not help but smirk before her. "That's right, I'm glad you know your place."

"Huh? That was only for the Grim Reaper. I never intend to take back what I said to you last time." She burst out on Tiesha.

Teisha bounced back. "Then you're not welcome in our team!"

Sting was already on the horse. He cleared his throat. "Teisha, we need to go."

Teisha stuck out her tongue at her, she then mounted the horse with him.

"Hey wench, tell the Grim Reaper that I have another horse." Minnie said to her.

Teisha laughed haughtily. "Unfortunately, Lord Sting only wants to rides with me. Good bye." She shook the halter and the horse galloped away.

"Huh?! You animal! Wait for me!" Minnie leaped on the back of her horse and followed them.

About a few days passed, Sting was travelling with the girls. He could almost understand the Silian language which Minnie was speaking. They were having a camp in the middle of nowhere. He asked the girls to look for sticks they could use for a campfire.

When they returned, they then sat in front of each other.

Minnie spoke. "Lord Reaper, I'm sorry but I can't start a fire since I have no fire affinity."

Teisha smirked. "Useless."

"Then why don't you do it?!"

"It's fine." Sting grabbed a match. He then set one on fire and dropped it on the shredded wood, which he made using his military knife.

They then had a fire. Which the girls were amused. "Oh, as expected of the Grim Reaper." Minnie laughed. "Anyway, Lord Reaper where did you come from?"

Sting sat back and leaned on the trunk. "I came from a different world."

"Can you tell me what that world is like?"

Sting could remember the loud honk of vehicles and the chaos of traffic. "Noisy."

"Then what are your intentions on the capital?" Minnie was worried since she thought the people would have a hard time if he were to turn on them. But she knew he was a good person.

"I heard there was a tower there, high enough so I can use it to contact my people."

Minni gasped. "Could it be that your people are found on the heavens?"

"Huh? Where did you get that idea? No, but I have a feeling I will come in contact with someone I knew in there."