Rebirth

Chapter Seventeen

Both of them stayed together in the cottage throughout the night and no one spoke after the mini quarrel.

The sun was already up before Gray, and he didn't find the mermaid in her spot. He quickly got up and looked around until he found a letter.

*Stay and wait for me, I will be back.*

"Every second passes and I've not gotten anywhere and she still says I should wait, I'm not waiting, this is my curse and I will have to break it, I don't need the help of anyone, not the vicious gods, not the mermaid."

He thought in his mind and quickly moved out of the cottage and headed to Elivse.

He walked through the small forest where the cottage stood, not sure where he was going but he remembered the narrow pathway that led them there in the first place, so he followed.

The sun was slowly getting to the center of the skies and it scorched even more. Gray still wandered in the forest and it seemed he was lost, yet he still moved on.

He had forgotten about many things Sybil told him and the book which Gwen wrote in—he left behind in the cottage. He had forgotten everything about accent, and dressing style, that will make him fit in.

He just walked in the lewd modern clothes he wore from the beginning of his journey.

He continued to walk then he heard yelling from a bit ahead. It sounded like a little girl, he quickly run to see. He got closer to the place; a slightly bare land in the forest.

He concealed himself stealthily and didn't fiddle. He watched what the horsemen tried to do with the young girl and it seemed like they were going to have their way with her. He couldn't stand it anymore and burst into the scene.

They were astounded for a bit and their whole attention got to him. He didn't look like one of them telling from the ambivalent clothes he wore.

One horseman mounted his horse and for that span, he thought he was winning. He rode on his horse waveringly toward him.

The other horseman began smooching with the young girl who was the victim and it looked like she willingly indulged in the act this time.

It was then that he realized he had been enmeshed.

Before he could look back at the approaching horseman from the smooching couple, he had a head-on collision with the hilt of his sword, blacking him out at the instance, he could almost acquire a dent on his head.

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The mermaid returned to the cottage, where she left Gray. The cottage was void and she found no traces of him.

"Argh, Gray!"

She sough disappointedly knowing well enough that he was going to fall into great danger that could slow down his mission, eventually leading to his downfall.

She rapidly ran out of the cottage, into the shallow forest in pursuit of him.

She ran until she got to the exact spot he was knocked out. She bent and studied the tracks on the ground for a while and then stood and continued.

By now the sun was high up in the skies and she was filled with disappointment as she continued the search for Gray.

She followed the tracks until she got to a little hamlet. The place was small but crowded with people of many cultures, the place was a no man's land.

How is she going to find Gray here?

She maneuvered her way through the market-like crowded village asking people where they had seen a young man like Gray, she described, but no one agreed to have seen such a person with her description.

Nevertheless, she went on with her search. She got to a little howff and saw two horses tied to a post. She went close to examine their shoes, because she had seen horse tracks earlier, and they were familiar as she examined them.

She quickly budged into the inn and diverted all attention to herself.

"Who are the owners of those horses outside?!" She asked loud enough for everyone in the taphouse to hear.

"Who's asking?"

A heavy hoarse voice responded disrespectfully from the other side of the room.

"Dumb ass! Come out wherever you are, you've got something of mine."

A thick-tall man made his way out of the people who stood before the woman to watch what she had to deliver.

"Who do you call dumb ass?" He asked askance and walked slowly towards her.

She stood her ground and clenched her fists, ever ready to put on a fight.

The giant man kept his path and came closer. Upon reaching her he swung his left arm to hit her, and she agilely jerked back, missing his strike. The man was pulled by the force of his punch and she countered an attack on him. He was down, and his face had turned red from hitting the post which stood strongly before him.

"Where is he?" She asked ferociously—she was getting furious.

"Who are you talking about," he asked and received a dirty kick to his right face. She continued with the onslaught when a thick hand grabbed her from behind and threw her across the room.

All the people present made way for the fight to continue, jubilated, and cheered the it.

She forced herself to get back to her feet when she felt a sharp pang in her rib, accompanied by a crack sound.

She yelped in pain allowing a shallow tear to drop from her eyes.

Her body became cold and sweat began surfacing, her eyes turned red from the agony she felt.

She was almost defenseless and ever after the kick in her ribs, was making an effort to get back up.

She saw the same heavy foot coming in the direction of the already disarmed rib and closed her eyes to brace the impact.

At this point, she was supposed to feel an agonizing pain in her ribs but she didn't. Instead, it was replaced with a masculine voice wailing in torment.

She opened her eyes to see what exactly was happening and saw that her kicker's leg was detached from him.

She tilted her head upward to see who her savior was. It was a black-brown hooded figure, who held in his hand a professionally forged two-edged sword, made out of gold and silver luster, and glittered when the afternoon sun struck it.

The hooded figure bent down to glance at the mermaid.

"Why did you come to a place like this? A place with no order," the hooded figure asked, making it difficult to hear what it sounded like—male or female, because of the mask on its mouth.

"They abducted a person I was assigned to," she said in pain, as the damage in the ribs hurt the more.

"And so you thought of fighting them in their domain?" The hooded figure asked.

She kept quiet and didn't want to continue the arguments.

The hooded figure walked up to the amputated man who lay in agony and still no help came.

"Is what she's saying true?" He asked.

"I don't know what she is talking about," he answered with fear and trembling.

Then the hooded person inclined his head to watch her.

"Liar," she spat bitterly and quickly responded to the discomfort her ribs brought her.

"I will ask for the last time, did you take any lad internee?" He asked and raised his sword to end his miserable life as he hesitated to speak back. He watched him with no pity and released the force that kept the sword from coming down. Upon reaching his head he shouted,

"Wait, I took a boy from the forest, but I don't know whether he is the one or not," he said.

"How was he dressed like?"She asked from the distance she lay.

"The most unusual way I'd ever seen, it was like what the prophecy described," he said.

"Prophecy...?"