Ouroboros

Chapter 15: A Quiet Village

"So...Yohan," Frea pondered, "where are we going? You never told us."

"Ah, yes." Yohan tapped his chin with his index finger, "I forgot to mention that."

"Ever plan to?"

"Will of course m'lady." Yohan stopped and reached into his pack. He pulled out a large map and pointed at a dot roughly three inches away from the spot labeled as Altea. "We are headed here." The dot was named Quentil.

"Quentil Village?" Frea raised her brow.

"Yes, there have been reports of odd occurrences."

"That's all? Odd occurrences? That's vague."

"Well odd is just what could describe it. People disappearing, animals dying and rotting, houses on fire, you name it."

"So they're cursed? Can't be. I was just there recently they seemed fine."

"That's exactly my reason why." Yohan pointed at Solaris. "Remember how I said some kind of dark energy was leaking out of our Lord Vigil? Well it just so happens that, that exact energy reading was found in that village."

Frea's eyes widened.

"Exactly," Yohan nodded at her expression. "That means that it must have some sort of connection to Solaris. The same energy was gathered from the ruins of the South District as well. This means that the invasion of the behemoth army and this village, BOTH are connected to Solaris. Normally, I would have just written this off as a coincidence, but the timing makes it too convenient. Not only that, but that energy. It seems like it's a disastrous anomaly. However, it's our only lead so therefore-"

"We head to Quentil Village." Frea finished Yohan's sentence. "That's about half a day's journey."

"I make a pretty mean bard," Yohan joked.

Solaris and Renge rolled their eyes. They noticed that they did the same act and squinted at each other.

*ONE LONG WALK LATER*

The gang arrived at the entrance to Quentil Village. It was nice and serene. The same feeling one would get with a warm gust of wind in a plain of wild flowers. It was a small village, roughly only 10 square miles. For a moment, all was silent.

Then, they heard a scream in the distance. They ran quickly to the origin of the scream, near the outskirt of the village. There they saw a woman about to be kidnapped by a group of goblins. Solaris acted swiftly. He grabbed the folding sword at his waist and engaged it. Almost immediately, he launched it at the goblin closest to the woman, impaling its head. Then, he teleported to balde, suspended in mid-air. He rotated his body and kicked another goblin's temple with enough force to make it flip and twirl. While the goblin was spinning, Solaris grabbed its ankle and used it as a flail to swat the remaining goblin. The downward smash smushed the two goblins' bodies together into one bloody paste. All this was done before Frea could even draw her blade.

The woman stared at her savior, more petrified by him than the "monsters" he had just slain. His body was stained with the purple blood of the goblins and his eye looked like a human's but it was soulless, as if this was merely just another day to him. His breaths that he exhaled seemed cold with death. They made eye contact, and she flinched in response.

Frea ran up to woman. "Are you alright?"

"Y...yes. I think so."

"My name is Captain Frea of the Altean Army." Frea handed the woman a healing tonic. "Don't worry you're safe now." She smiled gently at the woman.

The woman took the tonic and drunk it. The scratches and scars on her body inflicted by the goblins quickly dissipated. She took a breath of relief and handed the vial back to Frea. "Captain Scarlett. I know of you."

"Who doesn't," Yohan chimed in as he approached.

Frea scowled at Yohan who giggled in response. She turned back to the woman, "I don't believe there's a goblin hive near here. So do you happen to have any idea why they were so far out?"

"Yes I do." The woman pointed at a church on the hill in the distance. "That place is cursed."

"The church?" Yohan raised his brow, "How so?"

"Three days ago-"

Three days? That's when I was still unconscious, Solaris thought to himself.

"There was a miasma that floated over the church. It was dark and the energy that it emanated, it wasn't pleasant." The woman shivered, "Something must've happened there. Ever since that day, this town has been plagued with all sorts of things."

Solaris observed the church from afar.

"Where's the village elder?" Frea asked.

"In his house not too far from the town hall. He's been held up there since his son passed."

"His son died?" Frea exclaimed. "Why wasn't any of this reported to Altea?"

"The elder wanted to mourn the passing of his kin."

"Still-" Frea was about to press for more but Yohan silenced her with a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head and Frea bit her lips.

"Thank you," Yohan slightly bowed to the woman. "Please get some rest. We'll pay a visit to the elder on our own."

The woman nodded and bowed in response. She turned and entered her home.

"Why'd you stop me Yohan?" Frea was annoyed. "We could have-"

"Done nothing. That woman has already been through enough Captain." Yohan's voice was stern. "Are you that inexperienced in the field? We will get our answers from the elder."

Renge approached Solaris, who was still eyeing the church. "Do you smell that?"

"Yeah." Solaris turned to Renge, "If that's the reason why this town is so quiet then it makes sense."

"I know you have the will to do what must be done." Renge looked over at Yohan and Frea, "Do they?"

"We'll find out."