Harbinger Of Doom: The Attainer

3. An Explorer

"Vicksen." He called and exhaled in solace.

"You're safe now. Idrissa and the vigilantes have subdued the wolves." Vicksen comforted and assisted him back to the village so that he wouldn't faint from the trauma.

"What about mum, Joanne and the rest of our family." He suddenly gasped with tensed curiosity.

"They are all fine. But Zyno got hurt."

"What?" Lores asked with bulging eyes.

"Don't worry. Idrissa will see to it." His saviour assured him.

They reached the village to find smouldering smoke sailing randomly over the empty environment. The ruckus had been stamped out and the villagers were back to their abodes.

-

Few days after the disruption of the ceremony, Vatmos was beginning to recover from the shock. Security in the village had tightened since then. Hence men and women worked freely.

Lores found that what vicksen had told him awakened his bothersomeness, and for some days he had been spending a moment of solitude in a cave he discovered while he was hunting. The blazing afternoon sun smiled on him on his way to his cave.

Eighteen years ago-

Lukas and Vicksen were on their way to the south. Following a long run, they ceased to advance for the sake of resting.

"It's dusk already. We'll call it a day and continue our journey tomorrow." Lukas stated while harnessing his horse to a tree.

"Okay." The knight agreed and imitated Lukas' action. They searched the ground for twigs in other to enkindle a fire.

Vicksen stood with a perturbed mien after picking up a few twigs.

"Your highness, our enemies are aware that we could possibly head to Southern Mirpurt. I'm having a feeling that we may be walking into a trap."

"We are already in the trap. This is the reason why we must be on guard." Lukas admitted as he crouched to grasp a twig. The knight was taken aback. He asked in disbelief.

"What? Are you saying that we intentionally walked into a trap?" Lukas had already made up his mind. He was reluctant to throw a glance at his subordinate. Instead, he peered swayingly at the ground for more twigs.

"The earlier I'm captured, the better for Vatmos. What is it now? Are you already panic-stricken when the woe you promised to share with me has not even surfaced?"

"I must commend your decisiveness. Even if I am panic-stricken, I'd rather die here than leave you alone." The Knight replied with sincerity. They moved to the designated spot and enkindled a fire. In complete silence, they paid close attention to everything around them including the rustling of leaves and continuous chirps of crickets.

Soon, a plonk was heard. The two men swiftly directed their gaze to the source as they sprang up from their sitting positions.

A squad of skirmishers raided them all-around. They were flaunting their weapons in the air with a raucous hail of menace thundering from their mouths.

Swords unsheathed and a fight cropped up. Right now, two men were trying to ward off more than three decades of skirmishers. However, the skirmishers were not as skillful as their preys. The two men were almost done with killing their ambushers when Lukas suddenly staggered fromward before slumping with his rear.