Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 34: Grief

Chapter 34: Grief

"Father, I have detected a group of humans heading toward the north. It seems they are trying to escape through that way. Should I pursue them?"

Alastor, in his beast form, was riding the skeletal dragon. After finishing off these so called heroes, he was waiting for the main character of tonight' spectacle to show up. Yet so far there wasn't any sign of the person. Could this be a trap? He wondered. A God should protect his people right? Then why hasn't he come yet? If that was the kind of game he wanted to play then Alastor would play along: he would kill more.

"No. Let the horde continue their invasion! Bring me to the northern gate! I will take care of this myself!"

* * *

Viviana was leading a group of citizens of Caelum towards the northern gate. So far the area has not been invaded yet so it was relatively easy to guide everyone through this route.

Arriving at the gate, she recognized father Maxime holding a baby together with a dozen commoners.

"Father you made it!"

"Yeah but I didn't manage to save all of them. We encountered some undeads along the way and some men decided to stay behind to give us time to get away..." Maxime replied sadly.

"You can't blame yourself for this, Father! These people made it back thanks to you!" Viviana encouraged the bishop.

"Yes I know. Now it's not the time for mourning. Did you see Lucas?" The priest asked.

"No I haven't seen him. He went to the southern region so he might take a bit more time. I reckon he is fighting some undeads again. That idiot!"

Before the priest could speak, the cries of the little girl he was holding has interrupted their conversation. Even when Maxime pat her on the back and tried to reassure her that she was safe, her cried would not stop. It was natural as she just witnessed her parents being killed right in front of her. Lucky for her, Maxime came just at the right time to bring her away.

Alas Maxime had no experience with children so he did not know how to calm her down.

Everyone was exhausted and the cries were not helping at this point. Not only that it could attract the attention of nearby undeads or spiders.

"Father let me help!" Viviana said as she took the baby in her hands.

Strangely the moment she held him, the cries stopped. Was it due to the weird faces she was making to the baby? Or the hymn she was singing to her? Either way it worked.

"How did you do that?" Asked Maxime in awe.

"I used to do the same thing to my sister whenever she cried. Work every time! Hihi!"

"You have a sister?" Maxime has never heard about this. He thought she was alone when they found her on the streets. But then he noticed she spoke in past tense. Did it mean.....

"A young sister yes! But we got lost from each other a few years ago and I have never heard anything about her since......I am sorry! This is awkward. We should focus on what is happening now first!" Trying to change the subject, Viviana forced a smile on her face.

Realizing he should not press further, Maxime decided to stay quiet. Not it was not the time anyway. And so they continued marching forward.

The gate was still intact, which was a good sign. Seeing the civilians coming, the soldiers took their own initiative to open it, allowing them to escape. They then proceeded to come down from the wall and helped Maxime and Viviana to lead them out.