The Four

Welcome

A group of guards stood at the entrance and looked to be talking to the village elder but Enrich was so far back that he couldn’t tell what was being said.

After what seemed an eternity, the column of people started to move forward again. This was a good thing to Enrich’s thinking, as it was now fully dark outside.

Ankel’s head was all a swivel as they finally approached the village gate, a man there asked their names and professions then added them to a list when Enrich replied. Ankel jumped a bit at being named as Enrich’s apprentice, but wisely said nothing.

When they were clear of the gates and heading in the direction the guard had pointed them in, Ankel finally spoke in a low voice.

“Am I your apprentice, Enrich?” his question was timid, shy, as if he was waiting for Enrich to strike out at him rather than answer.

Enrich harrumphed, “Well of course you are, boy! You spend so much time following me about, you might as well make yourself useful.” He didn’t look at the boy so he didn’t see the expression on his face, but he felt the lightness that came over the boy’s heart at this answer.

A scoff, “Well of course, old man, what was I thinking? You surely need someone to keep you out of trouble!”

Enrich could imagine the smile the boy was sporting but played his part by harrumphing again and pretending to focus solely on the road ahead of them.

The guard had pointed him towards a large field in the distance that currently lie fallow for planting in the next year, he supposed. The villagers all were flowing in a slow trickle towards it.

Letting his shields down but a little, Enrich let the feel of the village seep into him, ‘tasting’ it. The evil was there, he could feel it like a muddy river, but there was more. He sensed a rot that spread from the center of the village out but couldn’t even guess at its cause.

Pushing aside the pervading stench of the evil, he tried to feel what else the village had to offer.

Somewhere in this village he sensed a light. A shining beacon of faith, fragile, but there. He knew that it wouldn’t take much to snuff out this light, knew that he had to do everything he could to prevent that from happening. Although the light was faint, it was there, and it gave him hope.