Chapter Text
Cold.
It had always been so cold and dark.
Then, one day, the mist that surrounded the territory near the restricted area of the Castle of Light disappeared.
Just like that, the inhabitants of Misthollow Village, a place that very few knew of, could see the sky. It was… beautiful.
However, it was like something was missing.
They weren’t the only ones to notice.
Nature did too.
The trees had always been pure white, all plants and animals, the soil as well. It was the so-called curse of the invisible castle that hadn’t allowed the light to sweep through, and the environment had adapted to be undetectable while reflecting and devouring any glimpse of light that happened to reach the ground.
But they were unprotected against large amounts of it.
So, when the first rays of light hit the plants, they curled and crunched like they were being burned by the sun. And maybe they were.
This caused losses to an environment that wasn’t ready for such a sudden change.
The scarce food that they grew died, the fish in the ponds twisted and floated on top of the water like the sun was a plague, and the people that hadn’t left the village before got severe skin conditions as well.
But humans have always found a way to survive in adversity. The ground was rich in nutrients as it was used to feeding plants that couldn’t reach the sky, finding ways for them to grow. So when they planted new plants they grew quickly, the animals they brought in were suited for the cold and the sun, and the village was becoming prosper, selling food of good quality and growing in profit.
The curse left behind a blessing.
But, even a blessing was a curse.
Misthollow Village wasn’t a territory protected by any kingdom. After all, who would ever want a territory in one of the three forbidden regions?
That changed as soon as they noticed how rich the earth there was, how the white desert was slowly turning into fertile lands with exploitation potential. Every kingdom of the Eastern Continent with borders near this territory sent a small team to infiltrate the village in order to investigate the secret of their lands. Not that they could find anything they could steal though.
They started getting attention from everywhere, from people who would want to steal the goods produced in an unprotected village, to the ones who would want to claim their territory.
It was discovered that the ground of the Castle of Light didn’t just happen to be rich for plants.
It had large amounts of mana as well, pure mana, the mages on the team had felt such a presence and wanted to advise back to their kingdoms.
The small village was half ignored. Instead, mages from everywhere went there for a small amount of pure mana.
The village installed inns and the mages who didn’t want one kingdom to just hoard such a treasure had managed to mildly stop anyone from claiming the village.
Meanwhile, the village people had made money, and they would defend their territory as well. But they couldn’t request help from any of the kingdoms or they would be taken advantage of.
So they contracted the only truly neutral people of the continent.
The Mercenary Guild.
Of course, they didn’t just do it for the money.
For one, this village had the potential of becoming a free city, like Leeb Ahn City. Free cities were paradise for organizations like the Mercenary Guild, as those were places where they could move freely.
And second, Bud, the Mercenary King, knew what had once been there and what was underground. And he wanted to keep an eye, maybe gain some influence in order to keep the people away from the location of the underground Dragon Slayer City. Just out of respect for its history and the Dragon Lord.
But, different from Leeb Ahn City, the strong and scary presence that once existed there had disappeared before the humans could take full control of the zone.
Soon, the monsters appeared. Large and destructive, strong and relentless, attracted by the mana rich ground and the lack of a stronger being. The mages who came to the city weren’t enough and lots retired as they would rather not lose their lives.
They came in waves, large waves that forced people to stay back.
Then, they got bolder, attacking people in the middle of the day and invading the borders of the city, sweeping away anything on their path that could be destroyed.
A strong presence was necessary to remind these creatures that the territory wasn’t theirs.
There was nobody to actually aid them for free, they would want the lands to be given away, taking advantage of the situation. The village rejected the deal, and the kingdoms took away their investigators and mages, in order to pressure the people of the village into giving into their demands.
As the monsters advanced and destroyed a part of the village, the Guild decided to send a group of strong people, some to defend, some to attack, some to help the population.
The mercenary king himself arrived to help, forcing the monsters to give a step back and return to the zone past the treeline.
Unfortunately, damage had already been done that day.
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“It is so cold!”
“I already used temperature regulation magic…"
“It's still cold!”
Bud and Glenn walked on a light layer of snow, Bud dragging the gigantic corpse of a dangerous beast whose bones were as sturdy as the steel and whose horns could make holes in mountains. If they got to sell that, they would at least be able to cover some of the expenses of helping the village people as they were sure their money wouldn’t be enough to cover all the damages.
As they entered Misthollow they could see the affected people moving for refuge, complete families and not so complete ones. There were also the mercenaries that had volunteered to come to help. One of them approached.
“Briana, could you take care of this?”
Bud didn't really wait for an answer before dropping the body on the ground, stretching and yawning. “Report?”
“Houses in the north area of the city were destroyed, we are taking the people out and helping move them to the camp. We suspect some are still under the rubble” Briana answered, waving to another mercenary to come and pick up the beast.
“Do we have a healer?
“A doctor and a priest of War that accompany us, they are doing what they can, but it's still a harsh situation.”
Bud sighed at the situation, nodding.
“We'll help you get the people out, the quicker they're attended the more possibilities they have.”
The sky was growing darker with the time, and it would only get colder as snow was starting to fall on them.
Unfortunately, not everyone could make it out, while some were lucky to have taken cover on time, others had been crushed by their own homes when the largest monsters had attacked them.
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Bud could see his warm breath in the chilly air, dissipating after a few seconds. It was truly cold.
“What's the count of missing people?” Glenn was asking Briana who was coming back from the camp in the plaza of the village.
“Aside from those in the medical tent, the villagers have recognized three of the bodies we found, but there's still four people missing.”
It was a devastating sight, but death was part of daily life in harsh places where humans had never been truly welcome. This was one of them.
His boots crunched on the snow and debris under his feet, the wind picking up on speed making it feel like a snowstorm was approaching, the smallest pieces of hail coming down as well. It would be necessary to put everyone undercover soon and Glenn went to install a magic barrier over the tents to keep the people there safe from the storm.
Bud was familiar with the wind. It brought everything with it.
Sometimes the scents were overwhelming, and he would drink himself off just to block them with the scent of alcohol
The scent of death and blood was quite common in this kind of environment. But, in moments like these, it was what he needed, to know where the scents were coming from. It could be a bit messy, but it was useful.
And he could smell it, the scent of fear coming from a crumbled church by the end of what once was a street. Dead people did not feel any fear.
“Over here!”
He commanded over the wind, calling the attention of the nearby mercenaries as he ran in that direction. They had already registered those ruins, but they could have missed something. The structure had been compromised by the horde of rhinotaurus (For reference, think of the rhinotaurus of Narnia, just physically) that had tried taking down everything on their way to push the people back, so it wasn’t easy to move anything without the risk of the rest of the building crumbling.
But now that he was close, he could hear it as well. Faint, too faint for his liking. A heartbeat, soft and slowing down, but still fast. He was sure now.
His hand touched a brick wall that had stayed up, testing the sturdiness and looking for the space where the door could have been, but it was covered by an already collapsed wall.
“Can you hear me?!”
The hail and wind made strong noises, so he elevated his voice to the point he was sure the person on the other side could hear him if they were still conscious, his ear pressing on the wall.
The smallest shift in the heartbeat made him know they were still awake, but they couldn’t give a verbal response.
“Don’t move, I’m coming for you! Stay with me!”
His voice echoed in what was left of the church, the two mercenaries that accompanied him looking for a way in as well. The half broken down ceiling was out of balance, the pieces of ice falling becoming bigger, making it waver, some pieces falling to the ground near them, Bud barely dodging one while knocking on the wall.
“Shit.”
He cussed under his breath, looking up at the ceiling that would come down any second now. Then, an idea.
“Hey, I need you two to get out of here.”
“Sir?”
He nodded at them reassuringly, making sure his hair was tied securely while measuring the height of the wall.
“Bring me the mage.”
Without waiting for a response, he climbed to the top of the wall, pushing away a piece of roof that fell to the ground, getting on the ceiling, the cold and hail hitting him while he searched for a zone where he could access the crumbled zone. He could finally find a proper spot, moving some of the tiles to where he could see the inside of the blocked zone.
He jumped in, carefully landing in and rushing to the zone between the wall that was still up and another crumbled wall. Where the heartbeat was stronger. He pushed away a heavy wooden pillar and large pieces of brick that had covered a table that served as refuge to a child.
Judging by the trail of blood that led to the spot he was hiding in, and that his clothes were torn and sticking to red raw bleeding flesh, he had dragged himself out from under the wall to the left before the rest of the building had started to crumble and he ended up trapped, his insides must be terribly damaged by the bricks falling on him.
The young boy’s eyes were half closed, the tears having left a trail on the dust covered skin.
“Hey, buddy, hi…”
Bud’s voice was gentle while crouching under the table, taking off his cloak and gently wrapping the boy in it. He would rather avoid touching the raw flesh as he didn't want to hurt him more, but the blizzard was cruel outside and it wouldn't care for the boy's state.
“You are safe now, don’t worry.”
The boy was small, probably not bigger than Eike back home, his brown eyes drifting to the crumbled wall to their left as Bud cradled him with one arm. Bud’s gaze instinctively went there once more, this time noticing something else under the rubble. A human hand, motionless, barely sticking out.
But Bud couldn’t hear any other heartbeat in the building, the closest being that of the mercenaries he had sent out.
He sighed, his heart clenching at the sight.
There was nothing to be done.
“Stay awake.”
His tone softened more, if that was even possible, while he carefully started moving out through the same hole in the roof he had jumped in through, trying not to shake the boy too much and protecting him from the harsh ice falling from the sky.
As soon as he landed on the firm ground the hail had stopped hitting his back, a magic barrier appearing over them as the mage approached, frowning at the state of the boy Bud was carrying. At the same time, the sound of the church that had barely managed to stay up giving in could be heard.
“Potion.”
Glenn did not hesitate to give away one of the potions gifted by Saint Jack they kept for emergencies. Bud took it, trying to get the boy to drink the potion, throwing aside the empty bottle and extending his hand to receive a second one, pouring this one on the boy’s raw flesh while carrying him into one of the large tents installed in the plaza of the village.
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A while later Bud stood at the edge of the magic barrier, looking up at the dark sky and the hail hitting the shield.
Glenn stepped out of the tent, approaching the magic circle that he had installed around the camp.
“How are the people?”
“Alive.”
Bud nodded, his gaze now following the mage that made maintenance to the shield. Magic was always weaker than real nature. Even if a magic barrier from a highest grade mage like Glenn could hold its own against attacks of spells and weapons for hours, they would require to be constantly looked after when against any force of nature.
Glenn glanced at Bud, noticing his gaze before focusing back on restoring the circle.
“There’s only two people missing now-”
“One.” Bud interrupted, turning his gaze to the path he had come from. The church had finished crumbling the moment he had been out. “The kid hadn’t been alone.”
“Ah…”
Glenn looked in that direction as well.
“I’ll have someone dig them out when the blizzard is over.” Bud mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.
“And then?”
“We’ll look for a way to keep the monsters at bay. They’ll have to learn that just because the dragon is gone that doesn’t mean this place is theirs. That’s what we’re here for, my friend.”
Glenn huffed at being harshly patted on the back when Bud said that, but did not comment on it.
Instead, he took a glowing communication device out of his spatial bag. A wide smile appeared on Bud’s face as he dragged the mage towards the back of the camp, where the large body of the beast he had defeated before now stayed. Meanwhile, Glenn connected the call.
“They must be busy-”
“Hush! Look!”
On the other side of the call were two young faces that resembled their parents.
“Goodnight.” Their oldest, Ulric, 7 years old, greeted from behind his young sister, Eike, 6 years old, who was covering most of the sphere with her face, energetically waving her hands.
“Goodnight.” Glenn answered back, smiling at them.
“Are you two ready for bed yet?” Bud asked, leaning in to appear in their range of vision, watching as both children stepped away from the sphere, showing off their pajamas like it was a fashion show. Bud snapped his fingers and gave them both a thumbs up. “Purrrfect!”
The kids then moved back in close, Ulric having to push back his sister for a place on the screen.
“Report!” The two of them demanded at the same time, imitating the tone their parents used when speaking to other members of the guild.
“Aye-aye! I just took down the largest monster of the group.” Bud had now snatched the video communication device, lifting it slightly to show off the beast behind him. “Ain't your dad the greatest? Hehe.”
Of course, the kids were amazed by their fathers’ abilities, they always were, and they were very expressive about it, especially Eike.
“And papa?” She then asked.
“Haha!” Bud then spun the sphere, showing them the tents and the blizzard surrounding them being stopped by the large barrier that covered the whole plaza. “Your papa is keeping everyone safe and sound. He also pushed back so many monsters, you should see him sometime!”
“Not yet.” Glenn told him, nudging his side to shush him down. In his opinion, he did not want the kids to be presented on a battlefield until they were both at least seven. Ulric was already there, but Eike wasn’t, and they would rather them be together than alone for moments like those.
“Papa is so great!” But, of course, flattery could get them so far, and the young girl had a knack for using it.
“Yes, impressive.” And her brother always followed along.
Glenn finally got back the communication device, Bud’s chin now on his shoulder. “How was your day?”
“Fun. Uncle Sorros stopped by.” The elven warrior who ended up tangled and tied to the guild, and the family, by a supposed misunderstanding yet always stopped by to greet his godson and spend time with them.
“He brought me this!” Eike was now showing on camera a sheathed dagger with silver designs, making Glenn raise an eyebrow.
“Did Nanny allow you to keep that for bedtime?”
Ulric then explained. “It has a magic lock. She cannot take it out of the sheath without help yet.”
Well, that was good enough.
“When are you coming home?”
Bud hummed, shrugging. “Around two days. But your papa might stay longer.”
“Why?”
“Because-”
“I’ll be working on a barrier for the town. It shouldn't take me too long.”
The children seemed satisfied with the response, leaning in on the magic orb for a goodnight.
“Try not to turn off the lights too late, you have school tomorrow.”
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
“Gute Nacht!” They answered, holding back a giggle that seemed to hold a mischievous underlining, but nothing they did could be too bad, right? As always, being the first ones to hang up.
.
“They are definitely staying up late.”
“Please, they’ll drop on their backs before midnight.”
“That’s still late.”
The both of them were walking back towards the tents, moving the flap aside and stepping in.
The injured people were surrounded by relatives or friends, the chilling air from the outside not reaching the warmth inside.
It should be safe to rest for the night, even the monsters would rather take cover during a blizzard, and more work awaited in the morning. Some mercenaries would stay up to keep guard outside, some were taking any free bunks or cushions to catch a nap, a couple sat on a side of the medical tent, tending to each other’s injuries with the medical knowledge they had gotten from years of this line of work. Everyone kept their voices low, not wanting to disturb the others.
Glenn sat his bag under a free cot near the entrance.
“Do you want to take turns or will you just lay back for tonight? Bud?”
Glenn turned around when Bud didn’t answer right away. The blue haired man had walked past him, standing in front of one of the beds that wasn’t surrounded by anyone.
The kid he had taken out of the rubble before laid there, now bandaged for the external injuries that the potion healed more slowly, but his insides should be mostly fine by now, even if he shouldn’t move much to not feel pain.
He was asleep, his eyes closed and wrapped in Bud’s cape that he hadn’t taken back.
To his mind came the conversation he had with the chief of the village when he had asked if anyone was looking for the child.
“We counted them as missing because their neighbor mentioned them. It’s only him and his mother, Ariadne, they lived alone.”
The female hand he had barely seen sticking out from under the bricks.
“No attendants?”
“Ariadne had a sister, but she died six months ago during another attack.”
His jaw clenched slightly, brushing his hair back as he felt Glenn approach.
“Nobody gave him a goodnight.”
His tone was grim and Glenn stopped next to him, his attention also focusing on the sleeping boy. He sighed, turning to the swordsman.
“Do you think- Bud, are you crying right now?”