Pierce looked down at his map, searching for his next village.
The closest one to this one was... Taron.
Pierce had heard stories about Taron, but couldn't remember what it was. All he remembered was that people tended to avoid it.
Pierce sighed.
Looks like I have no choice but to go to... Taron.
Pierce peered out from the tunnel and around a tree to see a village about thirty paces from where he was.
What?
He climbed out and looked around.
There were no signs of any human activity there, just old homes.
He stepped towards the buildings, and he noticed some movement in a building.
"Hello?" he called out, "I'm a Vaequilian guard. I've come to-"
He heard a rustling behind him, and he instantly turned around.
It was a villager, armed with a sword.
What...?
The villager attempted to strike him down, but Pierce easily blocked it with his shield.
"Why do you strike when I haven't posed a threat?"
He was wearing nothing other than a fur coat and pants. No armor or anything that could have been hiding a weapon.
Without answering, the villager just grunted and swiped at him again.
He heard people coming up from behind him.
Crap!
He turned around to see several armed men walking towards him.
"You meet your end here, imposter!" he heard a voice call.
"I've only come to share some news!" he cried as he ducked to dodge another attack."
Damn the gods...
Pierce remembered why people avoided it.
Taron was well known for having killed travellers. They didn't trust anyone from the outside beside Altina or the other higher, more popular commanders.
The people who tried to come here always ended up dying.
The people here were twisted, and the emperor never bothered to fix their ways of life.
This was the only part of Vaequiles that Altina didn't "control".
Pierce decided he would at least try to share the news as he retreated.
"I am working to-" Pierce blocked a strike from behind, "To overthrow Queen Altina!"
Pierce jumped around a tree as another villager attempted to stab him.
Pierce began running towards the tree that the entrance was hidden behind.
Pierce looked behind him to see that the villagers were pretty far behind him.
Suddenly, he felt the sound of an arrow flying past his head.
Whiz!
"Spare me!" he yelled. He felt something sharp hit his back..
His eyes widened as his foot caught on a branch, and he yelped as he tripped forward.
