Retribution

Dalos POV:

Darhiel, we never thought he would return, he had sacrificed himself to distract the others or so we thought, contrary to what we thought he not only returned but had murdered some, his body covered in blood while holding a rusty and deformed spear, radiating a terrifying aura with clear murderous intentions.

His words made it clear that he was only looking for the one responsible for what had happened to his grandmother, fearful before these words invaded my body.

Darhiel, the one accused of being a monster by the others who had proven not to be one by his constant help to us, I owed him my life like everyone else in this group, I had failed him. Looking at the others I realized I was not the only one afraid of Darhiel, Lark making excuses only made it worse.

When his gaze landed on me. I confess right away it was Lark, my fear speaking for me, running away from whatever it was that would make Lark.

As the conversation between them unfolded, the realization of Lark's death settled in my head. The unrealness of it was that a boy barely 13 years old could cause so much fear in a group of adults who outnumbered him was even worse.

We had discovered that he was a very capable boy, with monstrous stamina and strength for his age but knowing that he was a good warrior was another matter, none of us were idiots to believe that we could take on a group of orcs even if they were goblins and come out of it alive, let alone without any wounds.

"I totally understand you, rage is a very dangerous feeling, it's explosive and one doesn't know what one is doing, but I have some bad news for you Lark, right now I'm full of it" each word being uttered by an even more expressionless face as if what he was about to do was the most natural thing to do.

"wah... mom what's going on, Darhiel is scaring me" the children looked like they still didn't understand the situation, frightened by the aura surrounding Darhiel.

....

"come on kid, you should calm down, let's discuss this calmly, you are not a murderer" Lorda came out from among the group as someone who was always known for her interactions and strong character, but she was always good at talking.

"Anyone who prevents what is about to happen will die by my hands" at his words everyone around her backed away securing the smaller ones.

"what, what are you doing running away from a brat, come on we must face him, you are crazy, surely he only killed an unsuspecting one. come on pl-please friends don't leave me alone" his steps moved further and further away in fear from Darhiel who was following him step by step.

"Stupid bastards, Darhiel they are also guilty of what happened to the old woman, none of them offered to help her, they didn't even turn to look at her when they left her behind. They are as guilty as me, please friend forgive me" his words hit all of us and we looked away, while due to fear Lark fell backward and Darhiel a step away.

A flash of light and a loud sound was all we could notice before we saw the spear hit Lark's legs, the blow was so heavy that his legs bent in unnatural ways.

"aghhhhhhh!!!!" Tears were Lark's only reaction.

"cheer up Lark, I was able to save my grandmother, today you won't die" were his only words before grabbing a bag on Lark's back and picking up the rest of her bags, and leaving for another location.

"Hey, where are you going? It's not a good idea to split up" Lorda shouted as she watched Darhiel walk away from the group with their belongings, the abandonment was obvious.

Darhiel's only response was silence, he continued on his way.

"Please, we're sorry for what happened, we didn't mean it" the others in the group decided to stay quiet, me included hoping he would manage to convince him.

"shut up, have some dignity." her husband was the one who got tired of looking at his wife, and he grabbed her arm, preventing her from going after him.

"dignity what are you talking about, without him we could die, we should all try to convince him" she insisted as she let go of his grip.

"So what, you will go and ask him to forgive us, go alone because I won't risk suffering the same as him." no one utters anything after that.

.....

"We have to decide what to do with Lark" were the words of someone in the group, he had fainted from the pain.

"We must leave him "John was the first to respond, his words surprising everyone.

"What? We can't leave him" I protested, I felt I couldn't with the guilt of abandoning another person.

"So what, you'll carry him? you're in charge of carrying him and helping him until he can escape?"

"No, I'm not saying I will, I just think it's cruel, we can carry him together, we still have time and they won't follow us, there's still a lot of time before the sun goes down."

"That's what you didn't say when you abandoned Rita when Darhiel asked you for that favor" he pronounces while his finger taps my shoulder "It was your responsibility".

"you could also have helped her!, you aren´t less to blame than I am" I defended myself against the multiple accusations.

"calm down everyone, it's not time to find the culprit, we should leave it to a vote, raise your hand to those who agree to take him".

My hand was the only one raised.

...

Hey, where is everyone?" her sobbing cries weighed on everyone's mind, "Please don't leave me, please, my legs hurt so much. Please my legs hurt so much" We continued on our way still despite hearing the cries, all the way without uttering a word.

"He did it with this intention" sounded a voice after a few hours interrupting a heavy silence that had ensued.

"What are you talking about?"

"He wanted him to suffer the same as his grandmother or worse, he knew we would leave him behind."

"I always told you, he was a monster".

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Darhiel POV:

I arrived at my grandmother, where I saw her still unconscious, she had lost a lot of blood and I don't think she will wake up soon. The problem was that I needed to replenish it, but feeding an unconscious person is a problem which I don't have the means to solve now. I could only hope that he would not last for days like this.

My plans must change, I can't risk facing an army, a weak dozen goblins left my mana reserves depleted and I had to use terrain, distraction and different tactics to be able to get out of there unscathed, open field and against orcs in conditions I'm dead.

The only reason I didn't think of the option of climbing the mountains was that a group of farmers could never do it, but I'm sure I can do it while carrying grandma even if I have to abandon some of the luggage.

After an hour's rest, I set off with Grandma on my back as I headed to the foot of the mountain, hoping to find a cave to settle in while I prepared to climb the mountain.

I needed to prepare enough food and drink for two days of climbing. I also needed to prepare to continue hunting the goblins, leveling up would make things easier for me. Climbing the mountain range with more strength would make it faster or the ability to respond quickly to any situation. doing it in the forest would be my tutorial in this world.

There were still at least 30 goblins left, enough to level up a couple more times.

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hello, from now on I will start to publish this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday about this novel, always at the same time, for all those who want to read early chapters I will upload them on my Patr*on

patr*on.com/neisdark