Chapter 22: The Field and The Sky

“Tomorrow” however, was too early for Lillin. She laid in bed for two days before finally regaining consciousness. The three adventurers prepared to set out once Lillin had fully recovered. They thanked the kind woman for letting them stay and bid her and her children farewell.

“So, we’re heading to another village?” asked Leo.

“Yes,” Grunt answered. “We will continue on protecting villages while searching for the other destined children.”

Leo thought about it for a while then blurted out, “What if you are the fourth destined child? We’ve been journeying together and Lillin turned out to be one of the destined children too!”

“What do you mean?” Lillin interrupted.

“Don’t you remember anything?” asked Leo.

Lillin shook her head. “None at all. All I remember was that we were fighting a huge force of undead.”

“You killed most of them in a single attack,” Grunt said.

Lillin was surprised. “Really? I don’t understand. What happened?”

“Do you remember charging up your rifle for one final attack?” Grunt explained. “Instead of your usual electric cannon, a gust of green cloud was released by your rifle. It seemed to be a very strong poison that killed a majority of the undead.”

Lillin remained silent.

“Grunt said you may be one of the destined children. And I think you are!” Leo said smiling.

“I am not yet sure about it but it seems that what triggered your hidden ability was the same as Chris and Leo,” Grunt speculated. “The elements that the three of you were able to control are different. If you are indeed a destined child, then the last one should be the one controlling the element of fire.”

“I’m still not sure about me being a destined child, but if one of the destined children controls fire, how are we supposed to distinguish him from all other pyromancers?” asked Lillin. “Among the four elements, fire was successfully passed on up to our time.”

“I don’t know,” Grunt said. “Let’s just hope that he stands out from the crowd.”

After two hours of walking, they saw sparkles and flashes of white and red in a distant field.

“What is that? It looks awesome!” Leo said with excitement.

“Come on! Let’s see what’s happening there,” said Grunt.

Chapter 21: The Gentle Poison

“Fall back!” Grunt ordered. “There are still too many of them for us to fend off.”

Leo and Grunt started to retreat but Lillin stayed behind.

Grunt noticed it and shouted, “Lillin! What are you doing? Fall back!”

“I’m not letting this village fall!” exclaimed Lillin. “Nature, please give me strength!”

Lillin charged up her rifle with all of her energy. The undead rushed towards her like a horde of wolves preying on a single sheep.

“Lillin, run! Your electric cannon will not work against them!” Grunt said while running towards Lillin to save her.

After completely charging up, Lillin fired her rifle. A strong gust of green cloud went out of the rifle which suffocated the undead. The raiders went down to their knees one by one, then died painfully and slowly. Only a handful in the rear survived the attack. Lillin collapsed due to exhaustion.

“Leo! Take care of her and make sure nobody comes near,” Grunt said. “I’ll kill all the remaining ones.”

Grunt easily defeated all the remaining undead then went back to see Lillin’s condition.

“Lillin is so strong! I never knew she had that ability!” Leo said with excitement.

Grunt nodded. “I was surprised myself. Perhaps, she is also one of the destined children.”

“Really? That’s great!!” Leo got even more excited.

“It’s still too early to say so, but at least we’re safe,” said Grunt. “Let’s go back to the woman’s house and let Lillin rest.”

Grunt carried Lillin and went back to the woman’s house together with Leo. He laid Lillin to a bed while Leo knocked on the floor where the small compartment is located. The lid opened slightly. When the mother saw that it was Leo, she slowly went outside and asked what happened.

“Are you sure?” asked the mother.

“Yes. The village is safe for now,” said Grunt. “The other villagers need not hide inside these small compartments at night and you can also ask the other villagers who left to return.”

The mother let out a sigh of relief and asked her children to go out of the compartment. “Thank you so much, adventurers! We will forever be grateful. You may come here anytime if you need anything.”

“Thank you so much, Madam. We will probably just rest here tonight and leave tomorrow once our comrade has recovered,” Grunt said politely.

Chapter 20: Against All Odds

Night came and it was very peaceful and quiet. The villagers who stayed behind went down to their small compartments to hide and sleep. Grunt, Lillin, and Leo waited near the village gate and prepared themselves for the arrival of the undead.

“Do you think they will come back?” asked Lillin.

Grunt shrugged his shoulders. “I am not sure but it’s better to stay here for at least one night. We might also find some clues.”

The three waited for several more hours. At around twelve midnight, silhouettes rose from a nearby field. Leo immediately prepared his widgets and scattered them outside the gate covering a large area.

“Judging from their figure, it looks like they are indeed, the undead,” Grunt said.

Lillin and Grunt hid behind the village walls while Leo remained visible from outside. The undead saw him and rushed towards him. Their numbers are overwhelming and their faces are terrifying. Among them are the Skeleton Knights, Zombies, and Shadow Bats. When the front was almost near the gate, Leo activated his widgets. A tremendous electric current ran through each of the small widgets, releasing a devastating electrical attack. The raiding undead were electrocuted and couldn’t move, but only the shadow bats died from the attack.

“Grunt! Lillin! Help!” cried Leo.

Lillin and Grunt immediately went outside and saw what happened.

“Since when did the undead become immune to lightning attacks?” Lillin asked in confusion.

“I don’t know but we have no time to waste!” Grunt said. “Kill as many of them as possible while they still can’t move.”

Almost immediately after Grunt said this, the undead started to move.

“Leo, can you activate the widgets again?” asked Grunt.

“I’ve only used it once at the most, but I’ll try it again,” Leo said.

The widgets then released another strong electric current.

“Lillin, continuously fire at them with or without the electric current!” Grunt ordered. “They are electrified for ten seconds at the most. I will kill as many as I can near the gate and return inside before they can move again. Leo, activate it once they start running again!”

All three followed Grunt’s strategy and were able to kill a quarter of the enemy force. However, when Leo activated the widgets for the fourth time, the widgets shattered into pieces. The undead rushed towards the gate with frenzy.

Chapter 19: Dusk and Darkness

The mother cried, “Oh my beloved husband… is he still alive?”

“We don’t know. But you should evacuate now since there are nobody else here,” answered Grunt.

“Not all villagers left the village. Many houses here have small compartments so there should still be a number of people here who are just hiding,” said the mother.

“Can you tell us what exactly happened?” asked Lillin.

Wiping her tears away with her hands, the mother replied, “We were sleeping very peacefully last night. Suddenly, we were awoken by screams from nearby. We found out that the undead was raiding our village.”

“Undead? I thought most of them perished a few years ago,” Lillin said with surprise.

“And we were gravely mistaken,” added the woman. “My husband and some other men quickly took their swords to repel the undead. Some of the villagers ran away while others hid in these small compartments.”

“I see,” Grunt remarked. “With all the recent happenings, I can only say that someone or something must be controlling them. Forest animals attacking other people, enemy captains and leaders with tainted eyes, and the undead being resurrected, we’re up against one tough foe.”

“God Chaose from the prophecy?” Lillin asked.

Grunt nodded in affirmation.

“We’ll wait here and see if the undead will come back. You should take this time to run and find a safe place to stay,” ordered Grunt.

The mother continued to cry. “There is nowhere else we could go. We’ll just try and live our normal lives on day time and hide here at night.”

“Poor lad,” Lillin said then hugged the woman. “Isn’t there anything we can do, Grunt?”

“We’ll stay here until midnight and wait if the undead are coming back,” Grunt said. “If they arrive, we have to defeat them and banish them from Uld forever!”

“You’re really a brave guy, Grunt. Let us prepare, then, for this huge battle,” Lillin remarked.

“Count me in!” shouted Leo.

The three adventurers stayed with the mother and her children inside her house and comforted the family from the loss of a husband and father. It was a very touching scene, very different from the vicious battle that’s going to happen that same night.

Chapter 18: Journey to the Village of the Humans

“I’m surprised that for a young kid like you, it didn’t take long for us to convince you to accompany us,” said Grunt.

“My destiny is to save Uld! How can I not want that?” replied Leo. “I will do my best and be a hero! My father is watching over me. I’ll make him proud.”

The three adventurers peacefully crossed the Field of Grasswind. It was a nice escape from the grueling battles and experiences that they have had during the past few days. The blades of grass are dancing beautifully with the wind, swaying their tips as if greeting the adventurers.

“It’s good that this field remains untainted by the filthy hands of the Discordians!” remarked Lillin.

Grunt nodded. “Indeed. It would have been a waste if such a calm land will be ruined by the enemy.”

“Hey! There’s the village of the humans!” Leo interrupted.

“It looks like the village is still safe,” Lillin said with relief.

When they are near the village, they noticed something is amiss. The village is extremely quiet and the smell of blood travels with the wind.

Lillin gasped. “It can’t be! Are we too late?”

“Seems to be that way. Let’s search the village and see if there are any survivors. Hurry!” Grunt ordered.

“Wait! These widgets can detect the electric current running from a live body. Let’s follow these.” Leo said.

The widget floated in the air and released a weak electric flash. It started to move forward so the three adventurers followed. The widget turned right after the second corner and went inside a small house. Afterwards, it went under a wooden table and stayed there. Leo and Grunt looked at each other in confusion while Lillin moved the table aside and knocked on the floor.

“Anyone there? I am Lillin, a Satyr travelling alongside my friends. If anyone is in there, please answer me.” Lillin said.

A few moments of silence passed, but after a while, the floor was lifted revealing a small compartment. A female human peeked and then went out, followed by her two children.

“Who are you? What happened outside?” asked the mother.

“We just came here and found a number of dead soldiers in your village. It seems that the village has already been abandoned.” Grunt replied. “Can you tell us what happened?”