Forging A Demon Empire

Chapter 5

On the way home I had kept turning back, hoping to confirm whether the Troll died. I put my worries to rest as the villagers mounted the Troll King’s head in the center of the village. The villagers had been chanting my name for days after its defeat. Their melodies were sweet upon my ears for mere weaklings. They had even served a purpose, especially Caremila.

Seth lay in bed above me. He had not muttered a word to me since that night. That ability of his I wasn’t able to tell what exactly it was I had seen. The mage had said he ran out of stamina so it wasn’t magic, a special power of his, perhaps. Mother had been worried, even though the sun was fully out. She insisted we stay in and not work.

A knock came on the door.

I heard mother deep in discussion with someone at the door. I got up and Seth followed behind me in nothing more than his brown patched tunic to find the mage from last night standing at the door. His white gown was now battered and darkened. Now with in the light I took noticed of him. For a young man his hands were wrinkled and his tan skin seemed sagged.  The effects of a magic spell perhaps? His eyebrows arched slightly as his oval chest nut eyes regarded my mother.

“They are only children, Mr. Maracar,” Mother said her thick eye brows rose as she spoke.

The men behind the man kept their hands steadily on their weapon it was hard to read their expressions hidden behind the helms but their intentions could not be anything well meaning.

Mr. Maracar raised his hand in a pointing manner towards her his face filled with disgust. “I assure you, Mam, that they have a lot of potential and the guil---.”

“Mother,” Seth said, “I would like to go with this man.”

“So will I.”

Mother’s face looked like she was about to say no.

I whispered, “Controlled Mind.”

“Are you sure this is what you want to do the both of you?” Mother asked reaching down to us with tears in her eyes. She held us both in her arms.

We both nodded our heads as the mage watched on.

“Your father isn’t here you could wait until he gets back and make a decision after we talk about it.”

“It will be fine Mother,” I said.

“Don’t worry we will be okay,” Seth responded.

 “Are you sure they will be safe?” mother asked as she turned towards Maracar.

“Yes, I give you my word, it is only to the town of Pieranato only two - three day’s journey,” Maracar replied.

“Make sure any chance you get to come and visit or send word to let us know you’re okay.” Mother placed a kiss on both of our forehead and hugged us. It was soft, but yet firm.

We left our home flanked by the adventurers.

Seth and I had a few glances at each other. Did he want to say something to me? I wondered.

“We should get, Caremila as well,” I said to the mage.

He nodded, unaware that it was my suggestion to him through Control Mind. What a weak fool.

We had merely taken a few steps and already we had become the talk of the village everyone was whispering to one another.  The adventurers didn’t seem to like it in the slightest. It was either the fact that they had failed in the task that they had been sent out to do or that the village itself had managed to defeat the problem albeit everyone deferred to me as the one that defeated the Trolls entirely. Had it not been for Caremila intervention I might have been dead, again.

We came to a stop as the bald elder came to greet us with his family in tow behind him for one last goodbye as we both came to a stop by the well the mage Maracar muttered, “Your granddaughter, Caremila? We would also like to take her with us.”

The elder hesitated for a moment as he brought his hand to his chin. His gaze shifted from the Adventurers to his granddaughter.

I contemplated using control mind on him but I had used it twice already for the day and if I took it of Maracar now things might not go so well. Control mind was merely a suggestion for the person to believe that it was their own intentions.

“She saved us back in the forest. If she didn’t come, I wouldn’t have been able to beat the troll,” I said.

Seth nodded in agreement.

 “I see.” He turned from the man to Caremila who was standing behind him, a smile on her face. “Would you like to go with them, Caremila?”

“Yes grandfather, I believe Reno is my destiny.”

What did she mean by her destiny? The words caught me off guard as everyone else seemed to giggle about it. We were celebrated further I looked to see if mom had followed behind us but she had never left home.

Everyone in the village seemed happy despite the walk out of the village was short, the travel through the forest along the road on horse felt long. The sun baked my head as I was seated in the horse cart. Caremila was snuggled on to my shoulder, making it difficult to breathe. The others rode on horses beside us and the mage Maracar sat looking through a book, glancing with an inquisitive eye as he conjured an apple. Seth held tight on his wooden sword as he looked down at the ground. So many eyes I just didn’t want to see. I was uncomfortable. I didn’t know how much of this I could endure.

The wagon suddenly came to an abrupt stop as a man dressed in what appeared to be tattered armor blocked the path with a dagger in his hand. He pointed it towards us and held a grin on his face. Others dashed from out of the shrubbery, baring arms in hand. They had ambushed us.