Conflict

The hood fell down his head as if time had stopped for Cartern. "You idiot," he tried to run and stop her, but the deed was already done. "After all that I've said."

The man first saw Black's shadowy fumes, then he saw his hollow eyes. "Draw your sword, Birnbaurn," he shouted and they unsheathed their short swords.

They were in a stare-down. "We are going to leave with that horse, Vandervaar." His eyes were fixed on Black. "And what you say next, will determine whether you live or die."

"He has nothing to do with this," Pacificia replied, staff in hand.

"Well, then," his sword tip pointed at her. "I will kill you first, then go at him."

"I found him," Natalia thought. "Why are they pointing their blade at her?"

She was the one who found Black in the woods – while she ran away from her mother. She ran away again – while the old lady stood and protected her. "Am I going to run away again?" her fingers curled into a fist.

She was happy when Pacificia stood for her when the merchant was baffled by her ignorance of the world. "I have to speak up," she thought.

But it was Black that moved first. "Stop right there, you monster," the man dashed towards him.

But Black was faster. "Get out and fight there," Vandervaar screamed, but the fighting had already begun. Pacificia raised her staff, and green lightning ran through her eyes. Birnbaurn saw her eyes and saw her threat.

Cartern didn't see from where, but there were half a dozen rats around Pacificia now. Birbaurn dashed at her, and then the rats climbed on the man's legs. They found gaps in his leather armor, and when their teeth sunk into his skin, Pacificia became the least of his concern. "You damned ratcaller," he sweared and pulled away those animals.

The gaunt man's blade reached Black, but he simply grabbed its edge, as if he was a curious child going to a flame; it seems that blades cannot cut through shadows.

"Go down, you monster," his blade shivered and his teeth clattered. Black didn't know why this man was attacking him, but he pushed him back, like a child throwing a tantrum.

"STOP IT YOU FOOLS," Cartern screamed. It did stop them from attacking, with Pacificia's rats hanging on Birnbaurn's leather armor and the man readying his next attack.

"Get your rats away from him, Old woman," he told Pacificia sternly.

"If I took away my rats, his blade will cut through our guts," the tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

Cartern looked at Birnbaurn, still helm in his head. "There is no sense to this fighting. Please stop this madness."

"There IS sense to it," it was the other man speaking. "There is a monster right in front of my eyes."

"He is not a monster," Natalia shouted. Black had shown her things that she didn't know existed; he had shown her colors.

The man looked at her, with his face tight. "Walk away, girl. I don't want to kill kids."

She started to walk, but she did not walk away. "I said I DON'T want to kill kids," his blade was ready. "I didn't say that I WON'T."

But she walked still, and when he reached near Black, she grabbed his hand, and magic started to unveil again. From the roots of her hair to its tips, they changed from black to red. And in that moment, the man's shoulders loosened. "What just happened?" he was still not ready to lower his blade.

But it was a different case with Birnbaurn. He stood straight, with his gaze straight to Black. Pacificia knew that he would attack them no more, that Black had won him; she withdrew the creatures. He unsheathed his sword and removed his helm.

He didn't look like the other one, he was rather pleasant. His hair was grey, and he was cleanly shaved. There was an air of courage in his eyes. "Deinn," he spoke softly. "Let's hear what they have to say."

"You want to hear what they have to say?" Deinn was still not ready. "After they attacked us? We are the resistance."

"Look at the girl, Deinn," he pointed at Natalia. "Wounds can be healed, anger can be held back. But that – I haven't seen that in all this time."

"Don't be fooled. It could be an illusion."

Birnbaurn walked towards the girl. "Could be," he touched the girl's hair. "But I am tired from fighting. If this illusion is giving me hope, I am willing to hang onto it."

Vandervaar's smithy had only one window that was opened, and it was near nightfall. And with night, comes fear and terrors.

When the clamor, shouting, and arguments were stopped, it was eerily quiet. "It's too quiet," Deinn said, with his eyes still fixed on Black.

Cartern looked around. "Well, no one is fighting now. Isn't that a good thing?"

But Vandervaar's face said otherwise. "Not this quiet. It's never good when it's this quiet," there was an eery air to his voice.

Then they heard a gurgling sound outside. Pacificia's pupils shivered. "They are here."

Something fell on the roof, as if someone dropped a rock from above. But it didn't sound like a rock; it was more like a bag of bones and meat. It sounded like death – it sounded like blight.

And then, it was raining over the roof, with each drop the size of a man. But drops don't crawl or scratch, do they?

Birnbaurn unsheathed his sword, and Deinn went with him to the door. "You there," Birnbaurn shouted to Pacificia. "I saw your eyes, and I saw what you did with those rats. We are going to need some help here."

"It's because of the noise," Cartern scratched his face in fear. "Noise draws them."

The rain kept on going, and Cartern counted nearly two dozen drops on the roof. "Two dozen," he thought. "And we have two men, one hag, a girl, a smith, me, and whatever it is." He was thinking of Black.

And then it was quiet again.