Chapter 45

The village chief waddled as quickly as he could towards the strange man on the horse. He soon bowed down as deeply as he could as he spoke:

Village chief: "Messenger of the lord how may we of this humble village assist you?"

Man on the horse (Messenger): "Have you not heard? the kingdom is at war!"

Village Chief: "At war!? Who dared invade us?"

Messenger: "We were not invaded, its a rebellion."

Village Chief: "Is this why the lord hadn't visited last time?"

Messenger: "It is probable, after all the rebellion started two months ago after a failed kidnapping attempt of the princess cause the unveiling of the rebels plans."

Village Chief: "That what do you require of us? do you require supplies to suppress the rebels?"

Messenger: "The lord has decreed that he requires men of your village to fight for him. he knows you don't have much supplies to offer and dose not expect you to provide what you don't have, after all he is a kind lord is he not?"

Village chief: "Men!? we have no men fight for combat we suffered losses against the skeletons who appeared again. the village is guarded by men too young to be considered adults."

Messenger: "As I said the lord is a kind lord, he requires only 3 men of your village. They needn't even be adults just close enough to a adult to be able to fight. if you lack even those than children will suffice but we may need a extra one due to their lower combat potential."

The chief gulped before he spoke again.

Village Chief: "I see, it will take time but I shall prepare thee men."

Messenger: "Good. A carriage will arrive in tomorrow from one of the nearer villages. It will pick up them up. Now i better move to the next village."

Vincent: "Wait!"

Village Chief: "Don't disturb the messenger!"

Messenger: "No no it is fine, let him talk."

Vincent: "I am Vincent son of James. and I-"

Messenger: "James as in the kings right hand? You dare make such a claim?"

Vincent: "I AM VINCENT. I was with the princess in the carriage two months ago as we returned from Hadrooga. If you don't believe me send a message to my father say some one claiming to be his son is in this village."

Messenger: "Kid your lucky I'm not as hot blooded as you or your head wouldn't be on your shoulders at this moment. I'll treat it as the imagination of a kid but don't do this again. as i won't be as kind next time you see me."

With that the Messenger rode off into the distance. Vincent expected to see the village chief staring at him angrily but instead he was nowhere to be seen.

As Vincent looked around he finally found the chief talking to Shak.

Vincent: "Seems like their disguising about who to send..."

For the rest of the day the villagers where tense. Eventually the sun set yet Vincent struggled to sleep. No matter what he did he just couldn't sleep. she tossed and turned, he closed his eyes, he tried clearing his thoughts yet nothing worked. He got more and more restless, it got so bad he just outright left she hut. he walked out of the village carrying both a spear and his trusty hunting knife. he nodded to the two villagers on guard on his way out. They seemed confused but it wasn't the first time Vincent has snuck out at night.

Vincent stretched his muscles while breathing in the wild air of the forests around him. Vincent would sometimes hunt nocturnal birds and bats at night since he started living in the village. Vincent didn't know why but wondering the forest at night was relaxing for him. it was as if having a village to retreat to made wondering alone out at night completely safe. Back when he was alone he was always on edge when he was in the woods yet not it was relaxing. Just as Vincent was pondering about it he notice something moving in the distance.

An owl. Vincent slowly moved to put a tree between him and the own as he raised his spear even slower. he hadn't caught a owl before but he was intrigued by the prospect. Yet before he could throw the spear the owl flapped its wings and flew into the distance. It clearly hadn't seen him thus Vincent wondered why did it fly away. after a short chase he saw the own on another tree with a rat in its mouth.

Vincent: "Ahh, So that's why..."

Before Vincent could raise his spear again he heard rustling near him. He was about to turn around but he fell aside in a loud thud. The owl saw Vincent and immediately flew away. when Vincent looked up he saw a wide open mouth full of razor harp teeth. Vincent recognized it as the open maw of a wolf. Spears were ineffective weapons in this distance thus Vincent was forced to use his Knife. He tried to swing it at the wolf but another wolf charged in and bit his arm. Vincent let out a yell of pain as his are was pulled by the second wolf as if it was trying to decapitate him. Vincent desperately cast water ball to distract the first wolf as he than used his free arm to punch the second wolf in the nose causing it to let go of his arm.

Vincent ran away from two wolves but they were faster than him. Vincent got tacked again as he rolled on the floor he found himself Infront of a familiar cave.

Vincent: "I'm already here?"

He couldn't afford to be stunned for long as one of the wolves bit his spear breaking it in half with a loud snap. The other wolf grabbed his foot and started pulling him away from the cave. Vincent tried to arm hurt to badly for him to effectively use his knife yet if he couldn't afford to do nothing. Than the other wolf above his face. It has a wide scar over its forehead. At that moment Vincent remembered the pack of wolves that ambushed him before he reached the village. It looked like it was about to eat him alive when Vincent herd a sigh. He couldn't tell what direction did it come from before his arm raised up by itself and did...

Vincent: "Nothing!?"

It was too late the wolve came in for the kill Vincent closed his eyes in fear, he could feel its fangs on his throat. Yet... he didn't feel anything beyond that. Instead he heard to confused howl of the two wolves. As Vincent opened his eyes to peek he felt his hear freeze. what he saw was even more horrific can a couple of wolves. Infront of him stood a skeleton.

Vincent: "I thought we destroyed them all!?"

Vincent didn't waste time. He got up and ran away as fast as he could. For some reason the wolves and the skeleton were fighting each other. Vincent decided to never do this again clearly the woods weren't as safe as he believed and this cave was definitely abnormal.