Vol 1 Chapter 32 (1/2)

Chapter 2

Slayn softly chanted his spell Far-seeing spells nified the user’s vision several times beyond ould normally be possible for a huics were tricky, requiring ht place Slayn looked up in the air, repeatedly opening and closing his eyes as he adjusted his vision to see down the road

“It’s awful!” blurted out Slayn when at last he could clearly make out the desired location

The scene Slayn looked upon was soround was stained black, and in that blackness lay many, many burnt corpses A white smoke rose fro flesh filled the air

Slayn turned his gaze, looking towards the carriage On the carriage stood a wo orders to the nearbyin one direction and the other, and rapidly gesturing with her hands

That woht Slayn She wore an old kingdom artifact, a circlet, across her brow, and bore a nuers — surely not for decoration Of course, the staff in her right hand was not a sage’s staff, but it was made of fine oak, and there were ancient runes carved into its surface, though Slayn could not tell which

“Well, how it is?” asked Parn

Thinking that if he looked away, it would be difficult to find the spot again, Slayn kept his eyes on the woman as he answered

“It was hts of Valis have been defeated I can see four of the carriage’s guards, and one woe But what terrible power, to destroy the knights of Valis with a single fire spell”

Parn could not believe Slayn’s words “There’s no way,” said Parn in a strangled voice

“But it’s the truth,” was Slayn’s cold reply

Once he had surveyed the situation around the carriage, Slayn focused his attention on the woer than Slayn Of course, any uise her appearance, but her y Even with an illusion, disguising ones’ ht be as young as she appeared In any case, she was a reat and terrible power But Slayn had never heard of such a powerful witch Yet… he had seen her before, and recently

Slayn stared at the sorceress, probing his memory

“I’ve got it!” yelled Slayn when at last he reht now is the one from the portrait in the old house in Alan Between her purple clothing and that circlet, there’s noit Her naht? You were fascinated by that painting”

“…no idea I don’t recall such a picture And I can’t very well confir She’s our eneet away” Ghi his battle axe from his back

“That’s right! They’re working for Marhts were chasing the this out, Parn broke into a run

“What’s the idea, just rushi+ng in carelessly like that? Do you plan to fight theet that they wiped out five holy knights”

“But…” Parn turned his head, preparing a retort But seeing Slayn’s unusually stern expression, he was unable to continue

“If you want to throw your lives away I won’t stop you But dying needlessly is not courage What’s ioals I advise you to hold out for now and wait for your chance”

“And if we can’t find that chance, we’ll just watch them run away?” The reply came not from Parn, but from Ghim He slowly approached Slayn, and his quiet but powerful words e tremble

“Of course not I’ that now is not the time But why are you, of all people, so worked up about this? I find that strange, though not if it was co from such an unexpected source

“I… I have my reasons,” said Ghim in a subdued voice, then he turned and ran down the road Parn gave Slayn an apologetic glance and ran after hi in his wake

“Seeht Let’s follow them slowly, from a distance,” whispered Woodchuck, who had quietly approached from behind, shadow-like His voice sounded to Slayn like the murmurs of his own inner demons

“That- that’s no good!” Slayn took off running without turning back He felt like if he turned, he’d be caught by his own shadow

“I won’t ether so tightly that they turned white, Slayn gripped his staff He threw back the hood that li his face to the su towards the horizon, burned into his eyes, and the heat soaked into his skin Narrowing his eyes against the light, Slayn ignored the heat and ran hard after Parn and the others, trying to catch up

What a bunch of happy fools, thought Wood, starting into a slow run some distance behind them

Whether by good fortune or ill luck, Slayn’s fears were not realized By the tie had vanished

Ghim pleaded for thenore the wreckage without doing soe on foot would be quite difficult

When Slayn argued that their eneave in

Seeht Slayn with resignation He decided then to use ic for destructive purposes He, too, kne to cast fire spells

Parn was speechless as he gazed upon the horrors that reh hiding froht, only her face visible The hands that rested on Parn’s epaulet tre, she ue

The earth had been blackened by fire On that blackened earth lay seven bodies Five of thehts of Valis

Eto had bent down and was checking each of the bodies for signs of life His norer and pity

All the knights of Valis had been burned by the intense fla It must have been a terrible heat Their skin had puffed up, and on touch, bits of blackened skin would pull away, revealing the livid flesh underneath Of course such a sight would plant the seed of anger in Eto’s heart We ment of Pharis on those monsters’ heads! Eto screamed in his heart of hearts

When he touched the body of the last knight and realized it was still warer cooled for a moment When he looked closer, he could see that the man’s chest still rose and fell “This man is still alive!”

At Eto’s yell, the other five adventurers ran to hi him