Beyond this World - Dragon warrior (Book 1/?)

Chapter 20 (Part 2)

Keir stopped and puckered his lips. "I mean..." He dragged on. "...One can never be too sure, you know? He might be?" Keir went on a rant how they should have felt it before even embarking on a trip in his cart. Farenon scoffed and dragged his ass quickly to the inn

Meanwhile Aaron searched for Tundra all day and half night long. There were no signs of her and he was becoming depressed knowing had he stopped her back then she would still be with him at the moment and he wouldn't have to worry so much.

He traversed a lot of terrain in these past six days. He wondered if Conlead was getting along with the werewolves. He passed through towns asked around for anything unusual; nothing that fit what he was after was spoken about.

This particular place he entered was a mining outpost and a village by the same name; it has been around for so long no one knows which came first. The glum faces of the people that passed by gave off an eerie feeling. Dragging their feet across ground they moved and wandered aimlessly at first glance.

Aaron asked whether there was something strange that happened. The poor middle-aged woman Aaron happened to stop, bursts into tears. "They came in the night..." She whimpered, throwing herself into Aaron's arms. Aaron felt uncomfortable and unsure how to comfort both himself and the woman.

Aaron asked for clarification; who was "they" and what exactly went on. The woman composed herself for a brief moment. "People in hoods, they came and took people away; they took my daughter Lucy away!"

She cries some more, the crying brought trouble for Aaron. Men on horses rode in and stepped down drawing their swords. "Surrender cultist; give up and sell out your cult members and you will receive a swift death."

Aaron's soul quivered, he almost didn't recognize the young man in front of him, or the one behind him. Both have grown out and changed so much since he left his hometown. "I am no cultist."

"Sounds like something a cultist would say; why hide your face then?" Lloyd asked, Aaron was glad to see his personality hasn't changed but now was not the time to bicker with him.

"Sounds like there is some trouble with cultists. I'm here to find someone; she might have been taken by them." Aaron crossed his arms. "In hindsight we have a common enemy. Or worst case, I could help and not find the one I'm after..." He spoke in a hushed whisper filled with desperation.

Elias looked at Aaron with a sceptical look; Lloyd said nothing, noticing how deep in thought Elias was. Finally Elias sheathed the sword in his hand and looked at Aaron with a steel gaze. "Fine, we can work together for a while. What's your name?"

Aaron almost said his real name. What a shock it would have been if he had suddenly appeared from the dead. "Oxiris. You can call me Oxiris."

"Pff, how fake..." Lloyd mumbled.

The crying woman begged Aaron to find her daughter. Aaron didn't promise anything, but should he find her he'd make sure she returned safely. He turned to the two of once his best friends gave him a cold treatment; it wasn't unusual for Lloyd but Aaron had a hard time grasping that kind attitude from Elias, the boy who always smiled.

"I don't suppose you have a horse." Elias spoke from atop, looking down at Aaron. Aaron was heartbroken to see Elias treating him so coldly; he couldn't know who he was but he remembered of the day where he would treat every living being as equally warm as he has sunk into coldness now.

"I'm faster on foot. You don't need to concern yourself with that." Aaron replied, keeping calm in the situation. Elias simply huffed, turning his horse around and leading the way. Lloyd followed and they entered a gallop. Aaron remained unsure whether they did it to make it difficult for him to move but Aaron kept up with their pace, even exceeding the speed of Lloyd's horse and drew in close to Elias.