Wolf Among Sheep

Several houses of the village are surrounded by small fields of crops that are ready for harvest. As a result, some of the men are currently working outside and immediately notice the two of us coming from the depths of the forest. Although they are still far away from us, I clearly see their buzzing and hesitation at our sight. Some of the men now go backwards in the direction of the rest of the village, while 3 others with the most impressive build stroll in our direction. I squint at this sight, but Nila does not stop, which means that there is no space for me to back off.

The tallest man and visually oldest comes forward and extends his hand towards Nila, he cautiously says, "It's you again, elf. Do you need more food?"

"Rude as always, Derek." she sighs while shaking the hand of that man, "But you are right, we need food and preferably a carriage to the city of Wiskoschia. Is there anyone who is planning to go there?"

"You are right in time, we are collecting harvest and old man Zanuff will go to the city in a few days to trade our goods. But may I ask, who is this young fellow?"

He suddenly turns his heavy gaze at me. I stand my ground, but his muscular body indicates the clear disadvantage I have if it comes to fighting. I involuntarily step back, to which two other men laugh heartily and pull Derek towards himself by his shoulders.

"Come on, Derek, can't you see that you are scaring this boy?"

"If he is with Nila, then he should not be a problem for us."

Derek shakes off their hands and turns away from us, but waves with his arm for us to follow him, "I am just being cautious, in the end, this bastard Dusk got lost around this forest."

As their chat continues, my soul nearly leaves my body and I freeze in place. Right now, he has mentioned my name, as if he is fully aware of what I have done. Fully aware of my crimes! I peek over Nila, whose listless expression now turns into a curious one with a hint of doubt. She looks at me, but once our eyes meet, her gaze runs onto Derek's back, and she asks, "Dusk?"

"Yeah, that arsonist bastard from Wülgenville… he killed the family of Na- a member of our community."

Immediately, Nila's teasing expression drops, giving the lead to the stone-cold one she showed when we first met. I clench my fists and cold sweat runs down my spine. This is not good, Nila knows my name, and it would not be a problem to put two and two together. How in the world does the news about my doings spread so fast? Isn't it a mediaeval world where hillbillies such as them should be out of the loop about what happens in cities and the outskirts?

"Is that so?" finally says Nila, however, her tone is not sincere. There is no resemblance of surprise coming from her. Derek turns his head to us, revealing eyes full of determination, and he finishes his explanation or rather a threat, "If I ever catch him in this village, I swear to Farhen that I will behead him on the spot."

Nila slowly nods, "It will be very unfortunate for this Dusk fellow."

Suddenly, Derek stops and lands his eyes on me, he narrows his brows and asks, "You look pale, is something the matter?"

I try to swallow the coarse lump in my throat and answer quietly, "This is just… awful. To think that someone would do such a thing."

For the rest of the stroll no one says a word. We walk slowly, first by the field of wheat or some kind of similar grain, go past farmer houses and step onto the road that stretches through the whole village. From up the forest, this place looks quite dull and small, but once I end up in the middle of busy pathways, I realise how wrong my assumption was. Houses are rather long, but short, their windows do not contain glass, but instead they are sealed with the white cloak, although some are open. While men are mostly working outside, tend to crops, cattle and do other forms of hard labour, women are busy cleaning their houses, cooking and watching over infants. The older kids are running around the town, chasing roosters or playing tag. Upon seeing us, they all are now crowding around the farmers and especially Nila.

"Lady mage is here!", "You are so pretty!", "Can you show us your tricks?" are some of the things I overheard from their babbling. Nila does not seem to listen to them, she is lost in thought, most likely about me. There is no helping it, all this time she was helping a criminal whose name is seemingly known all around the Schöltum region now.

I huff at their futile effort of seeking her attention, but then suddenly, she raises her staff and murmurs, "Polaris."

Above our heads, a sphere of light forms, the same that used to float above Nila's tent in the forest. Not just kids, but also the farmers and all other villagers nearby, glanced at Nila and the sphere in bewilderment. Polaris slowly descends on the ground and one of the kids swiftly kicks it away, taunting others to seek it. Two farmers laugh at this sight, even Derek breaks a smile and points in the direction of the hut that appears to be the most isolated building in the village.

"Drop your items off in that house, you can also skip a night there. Once you are done, either consult Zanuff about the carriage or come to me if you need food. Rest for today, and I will assign your task tomorrow."

"Pragmatic as always, no wonder you became the chief at such a young age."

Derek sighs and crosses his arms, "I am at an age to have grandkids, so you know."

Nila breaks a smile, but it immediately fades once her eyes catch me in sight, "I see, but for me, you are still a kid."

"Yeah, you, old hag, did not change whatsoever either. Anyway, if you want to visit the church, the priest is still well and sound."

"Good to hear."

Finally, Derek departs while waving to us, the two other farmers follow his lead while we head towards the hut. I did not expect her to know this village. In the end, she is the one who said that elves are solitary creatures, so why would she bother to bond with country people in the middle of nowhere?

"For how long have you known them?" I ask casually, to which Nila coldly replies, "20 or so years, I happened to stumble upon this village quite a lot."

Her pace suddenly increases, and she barges into the house without waiting for me. I narrow my brows, but let it go without saying a word. She has all the rights to be mad at me, and I am a tiny bit thankful that she did not snitch on me. But I really can't help but wonder what is going on in her head. In her place, I would immediately announce my name, leaving me to the mercy of those hillbillies. She is not dumb enough to doubt my crimes, right? So what could be her motives to keep my identity a secret? I should be very cautious from now on, if they know about Dusk, then they must also know about Simon, my cover-up name I used to deceive the Crawley family.

I follow Nila and enter the hut as well, but she is nowhere to be seen in the hallway. I step further into the house, observing the wooden furniture that is covered with dust. This whole thing is just one giant room with no kitchen to speak of and as a result, I immediately notice Nila who is sitting on the bed.

"What will you do now?" I ask while coming closer with caution. Her staff is on the bed, but I remember how Michael summoned a fireball with his hands alone. Staff is not a requirement to use magic, perhaps, it is necessary for control and more complex spells. But if she is ought to kill me, then she can do it with the same fire or wind that she used the other day. Thus, my hand is clenching her own knife in my pocket, in case things will turn ugly.

She slowly turns to me and tilts her head to the side, "Why did you lie to me?"

"About what exactly?"

"You said that you fell from that cliff because of betrayal, but now I feel like it happened because you were captured by guards, correct?"

I nod slowly and say, "Indeed, that's what happened to me."

She sighs and turns her head to the side, "Then you will be useless in battle after all, how unfortunate."

"Huh?" I raise my brow and hold my mouth open for a second before speaking, "Wait, no, I did kill that darewolf! But whatever! Are you concerned about my made up story and not the fact that I… pillaged and killed?"

"It is concerning, yes, but there is nothing I can do about it. I am not the one to discipline you about it."

Her expression suddenly becomes melancholic as she lightly lowers her head on her hands. I squint at this sudden change in air and present a blunt question.

"Have you ever killed humans?"

She narrows her brows and replies, "I did, long ago, but it is none of your concern. I can't trust you with words now. After we are done with the journey to the Dlayla region, it would be better to part our ways."

She turns away from me completely and fiddles in her suitcase without actually taking anything out of it. I huff at her words and stamp my foot, but I do not say anything. Instead, I just leave her alone and enter outside. Just what is the problem with this woman? I do not want to travel with you further either, my only goal was to escape the Schöltum region anyway, thus there is no point in trying to anger me with this statement! You are useless anyway, Nila, I would be better off travelling alone!