Death's Favorite Child

48. Ripples

"Get everything ready; we are leaving. Paceas, plot a route for the nearest city with an adventure guild." Daniel said to the group and observed the well-trained bunch scattered off to get everything ready. Alis and Alan gathered the tents while Anis went to prepare the horses.

Paceas quickly opened a map and identified the nearest city and the fastest route. Then, he approached Daniel and set the map down on a nearby rock.

"Sir Daniel, the nearest city with an adventure guild is Asteria. It's one of the frontier cities near the western border with the Endless Forest. The Asteria family has ruled it since its founding, and I think the current head for five years is Baron Volte Astoria. If we take this route here, we should pass from two villages under the protection of the Baron. We should arrive at the city in 2-3 days." Paceas explained to Daniel.

"Good. Let's do as you say," Daniel approved.

Within 15 minutes, the camp was packed and loaded on the horses, and everyone was ready to go. They took the western route, closest to the border with the endless forest, and headed north towards the nearest village.

Several hours into the track, Alis raised her hand, causing everyone to stop and remain silent. Then, she raised her nose to the air and concentrated for a few minutes.

"Blood. I smell blood up ahead. Probably 1-2 kilometers." Alis said. It wasn't strange that only she could smell the blood so far ahead. Her senses were far above anyone else's in the group or any human in general.

"Human or monster blood?" Daniel asked.

"Mix of both. But mainly human," Alis responded.

Daniel turned to the knights, "Get the horses and stay 500 meters behind. Alis and I will scout ahead."

"Yes, sir Daniel."

"Yes, Master!"

The prince and his knights immediately replied as they dismounted the horses and took the reins of Daniel's and Alis' horses.

The two scouts moved quickly ahead, erasing their presence. For Alis, it was an innate ability honed from years as a hunter in the Endless Forest. For Daniel, it was abilities developed from years as an agent, with assistance from his unique skills.

One kilometer ahead, the two found a vantage point that overlooked a small valley formed around a river. In the middle of the valley, there was a village. Or, for better wording, there used to be a village.

There was an eerie stillness looming over the valley and the village. The fences around the village were trampled and destroyed, but the houses were not burned or collapsed. Instead, it seemed like everything was frozen in time. There was dried blood, maybe a few weeks old, trenching the soil around and inside the village. Some human and monster body parts were scattered inside and outside the village. Altogether, the view told a story of despair and slaughter.

"The beast tide," Daniel said with a trembling voice.

"Many monsters came from the forest," Alis explained as she tracked the footprints, hooves, and blood.

"They were unprepared and weak. I guess that some of them had some early warning because I see tracks heading towards the city. Others tried to ride it out in the village, but..."

"Any survivors?" Daniel asked, gnashing his teeth.

Alis shook her head, "Any tracks moving out are from before the tide. Moreover, I see monster tracks following them. So, even the ones that left..."

"Are probably already dead." Daniel completed her sentence.

Alis made a sign for the rest of the group to come to the village. There was nothing here but death. Even the bodies were devoured by scavengers and wild animals.

Walking through the village presented a different dimension to the tragedy: broken doors and smashed windows. Walls were demolished, probably by enormous A- or B-rank monsters, and their residents were dragged outside by smaller beasts—blood and body parts on the trees from flying monsters that caught anyone trying to leave. Children's clothes and toys were scattered in the streets, drenched in blood.

Prince Alan and the two knights arrived and walked toward the center of the village. The prince started retching at the sight of the scattered body parts and the smell of blood. Alis ran to his side, leading him to the village entrance to recuperate.

Daniel asked the knights, "Why didn't the city send help? I heard in the city of Alaiza that the adventure guild nearest to the event sent a warning as soon as the monster tide started. So the rest of the towns must have had at least a few days of warning."

"Sir Daniel, we don't know what happened. The capital is far from the Endless Forest, and we only got second-hand reports. Protecting the village should have been the local lord's responsibility." Paceas replied.

"I see. Let's move on," Daniel said, but there was a deep chill in his voice.

The group moved quickly toward the second village finding corpses and destroyed carriages along the road. The scene was the same in the second village as well. Daniel's gaze was terrifying as he took in the nightmarish scenes. Yet, there was nothing to be done, not even bodies to bury.

"We'll ride another hour and then make camp," Daniel announced.

When he was alone, Daniel whispered, "Did all this happen because of me? Because the church wanted me dead? All these people dead... How many more?"

But nobody replied.

~~

Daniel stirred inside the tent for a long time before finally sleeping.

Alis's eyes opened, and a green hue permeated the tent.

"Hey, you! Wake up!" she shouted in a deep and imposing voice. It was a voice that ears couldn't capture, only the soul.

"Hmm..." a tired response came from Daniel, who opened his eyes that were purple and tired.

"What is going on? What are you doing? I can feel his power stirring. And if I noticed, others will as well!"

"Oh, it's you, Goddess? Finally, showed up?" Jon replied, using Daniel as the medium.

"Did you expect me to come to tack you in every night?"

"That would be nice!" Jon's replied.

"What is going on? You know what is at stake!"

"I am fading, Goddess. I'll not be around for long."

There was silence for a few moments before the Goddess asked again.

"What do you mean? How is this possible?"

"The artifact they used to start the beast tide was made using a divine fragment from the Creator. Since then, I have found myself fading... disappearing. I don't think I'll be around for long. And after I'm gone..."

"His memories will be back. All of them? What can we do? How can we stop this?"

"Thanks for your concern," Jon said in a mocking tone. "I... I don't know if I want this to stop. It's cathartic, reaching the end. He doesn't remember anything, but I do. Thousands of years, the pain, the destruction... I cannot, not anymore."

"Don't you care about him?"

"Don't you dare say something like that! I have been by his side since the beginning; I will stay until my end! I am trying to destroy the memories forever."

"That is impossible!" the Goddess shouted, only to add in an almost inaudible tone, "Or, ... Unless, ...".

"Yes, I am burning the last of my power to take the memories with me," Jon confirmed her suspicions, "But, the memories from before I joined him... Those, I cannot touch."

There was an absolute stillness for a few minutes.

"Well, shit."

"Exactly."

Finally, the tent turned to darkness once more.