Chapter 42: Who?
The Blood Knight...
It was a renowned name the people of the Notos Empire were very familiar with. A legendary knight who's valor excelled brilliantly in battle.
'The Blood Knight!' Leon's eyes glistened in awe as he heard this. It was a legend almost as popular as the legend of the great Hero from four hundred years ago.
And this particular legend held true for the people of this particular village, for this legend was amongst them.
Skylar's face slowly lit up in realization. Leon and Kyle shared a glance, seemingly coming to the same conclusion.
'He's here.' they gulped down.
"Y...you mean that man was..."
Roan simply smiled at the young man's baffled and awed expression. He nodded in confirmation.
Ridge sighed.
"Yes, so there's no need for you to—!!" Cutting his word's short, Ridge's attention was brought to a mild tremor that quaked the ground underneath their feets. A ghostly light flickered in his grey eyes, his expression stiffened a little.
He shot a glance at Roan sitting on a rock.
"Did you hear that?"
The kids and Skylar all raised their gazes in a question at Ridge's statement. They hadn't failed to notice the quake underneath their feets but that was all.
Roan raised his eyebrow.
"Hear what?"
"Raise your spirit." Ridge simply said to his colleague.
At the same time he did, Leon noticed a ghostly green glow flicker in Roan's eyes, vanishing as quickly as it appeared. As soon as it did, the air around the amiable guard shifted. His presence holding more weight in the next second.
Roan's eyes narrowed.
"A scream? Or was it a cry?" He got up from where he sat, a stern expression on his face as he gazed off towards a certain direction along with Ridge.
"A strange cry in a dark forest at midnight... that's not unsettling at all." He remarked sarcastically, no hint of amusement in his sharp eyes or expression, however.
"A cry?" Skylar bobbed his head to the side in confusion. "I can't hear anything though?"
Ridge turned to Roan, casting a quick silent glance at his colleague.
"We should get the kids back home," he said.
At the same time, Lia quickly got up and Interjected.
"No we can't leave him!"
"Hey, Lia -!" Leon called out to the girl.
Roan and Ridge cast a glance at the little girl. Ridge was most familiar with Lia as she was a member of his son's friend group. It could even be said he treated the members of the 'hero's party' as his own kids.
"Leave who?" Skylar asked. He had been lost for a while now.
Slowly Lia's shoulders trembled and she broke into her first sniffle, fighting back the tears as she remembered that faithful moment and Reo's final gaze.
Watching the beads of tears role of he tender face, Ridge approached the girl and lowered himself on one knee.
"What's wrong?" Placing his hand gently against her shoulder, Ridge asked in a soft voice.
It was Trise who hesitantly stepped up and replied.
"One of us...died."
At the same time, a strong draft of breeze blew passed them under the cold glow of the moon.
"Reo isn't dead!" Lia almost instantly rebuked. "He's not dead, yet. We haven't seen his body, there's no way we can come to such a conclusion." She protested.
"But you saw what happened to him," Leon stepped up. "The tunnel collapsed and the ground ripped open, pulling him in. As if that weren't enough, the ceiling crashed after him..." The more he recalled the event, the somber and heavier his heart became as he spoke.
Lia shot hims a watery glare for a short while before wiping the tears and turning around.
"Reo is...Reo is still alive. You said you heard a scream right?" Her gaze shifted between the two guards."th... that's Reo. I'm sure of it. Shorty probably got to him! He's still alive, I know it?" Lia earnestly persisted.
She refused to believe Reo was dead. He couldn't possibly be.
But facts remain facts, neither do her eyes lie. The memory was still vivid, it was only just a few moments ago after all.
But Lia selfishly held on to hope. It was her only way of protecting herself.
During this heavy exchange, Ridge's eye glinted at the mention of Reo's name.
'I see. He did mention his son was among the missing kids, but I only assumed he was one of the three other kids here. But to think he's...' Ridge stopped his trail of thought there.
He returned Lia's passionate gaze equally, and proceeded.
"I understand where you're coming from, Lia. You're right, we can't make assumptions that Reo is dead, not until we find his body..." Lia's eyes slowly began to lighten up at Ridge's words.
Getting up from his knee, Ridge stood up and squared an equal firm gaze at the rest of the kids.
"I assure you, if Reo still is alive, then he'll be brought back safely and in one piece. There's no need to worry. All you just have to do is head home and wait for his return." Ridge said with a small smile.
His words lit up a strange spark of hope in the eyes of the kids, and they couldn't understand why. There was just something about his tone, something that made the others who had given up on Reo regain hope once more. But they couldn't tell why.
How could he be so sure.
Observing the small exchange from the sideline, Roan spoke up and said:
"So we're not exploring the mine tunnels now? And what about Reo?"
Before Ridge turned around, he glanced at his colleague, then into the distance.
"No, there's no need to," he paused. "And if we could hear that scream, then so could he."
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Back deep into the forest, deep underground.
The cloaked man forced his footsteps to a halt as the sound of a reverberating cry pierced into his ears sharply. It was loud, the cry forced powerful tremors through the ruin walls, threatening to pull it all down in a collapse.
An inexplicable feeling of dread washed through the man's whole being. The weight of the air became thicker, an overwhelming feeling pressing down on him. An overwhelming oppressive pressure dominated his senses almost completely.
As quickly as the pressure hit, a strang ghostly force coiled around the man's whole figure, and just as quickly vanished. For a quick second, the man's figure glowed in a translucent red hue.
He grabbed his sword tightly and kicked off the ground, into the direction his heightened sense determined the location of the disgusting oppressive pressure.
His figure bolted through the passage and corridors of the ruin structure, the weight of the oppressive pressure growing heavier and denser the further he went.
'Reo!'
He was close.