When Angels Sin

39. A Better Brother

Vilfred

Women screamed and children ran as the winged guardsmen stormed through the city streets with their Pegasi, sweeping everything on their way. Market stalls were torn down to the ground, goods burnt, humans trampled.

Mounted regally atop his Pegasus, Vilfred suppressed a smirk of triumph as he now walked where Mikal should have, followed by a dozen of Mikal's guards. His own guards now.

"There is nothing here as well, my lord," Brad, who became Vilfred's personal guard, said as he and his men came out from another house, again failing to find anything of value.

"Next. Keep searching," Vilfred ordered his men.

When more than one thousand pieces of gold were discovered missing from the treasury earlier that morning, Bernard called for urgent council, summoning every guard in the castle. And soon, it was known where the gold had gone. It was no secret that Lucian had been going out to the city frequently during Bernard's absence, giving out gold to the humans. And so, Bernard had given orders to Vilfred to capture each and every filthy human that had been seen with Lucian.

"This one seems deserted," Brad said as they stood before an old tavern in a quiet side alley, studying the dust covered wooden door.

"Just get inside," Vilfred said and again the men broke inside. It was almost deserted indeed, as they found nothing except for a harmless drunk man sitting alone at a broken wooden table, and a terrified tavern owner standing with his hands raised in surrender behind an empty bar.

"Search the cellar," Vilfred ordered, but his men seemed to hesitate as they looked with unease towards the dark narrow staircase. Vilfred only gave them one long stare, and they quickly, though unwillingly, casted Angel Light to find their way downstairs. 

Vilfred remained upstairs, listening to the loud cries and struggles that echoed below. A short while later, Vilfred's men returned with seven wingless men and a woman.

"This girl was seen with Lucian quite often," one of the guards said as he pulled the woman before Vilfred, but Vilfred did not care to look at her. Instead, his eyes were narrowed at one of the men whose face he knew very well. Liam the Blacksmith. And Vilfred knew at once that there was more to Lucian giving out gold to the humans than merely helping them. And Liam was behind it all.

"Did you find anything else down there?" Vilfred asked Brad, while his eyes were still narrowed at Liam.

"No, my lord."

"Alright. Burn the place," Vilfred simply said before he turned to go outside.

"No! My lord please," the tavern owner squealed only briefly before he was silenced by Brad's sword. And Vilfred could hear the crackling of rising flames behind him as he and his men led the eight prisoners away.

"Take them to the castle," Vilfred ordered his men. "Brad, Gustav, you two come with me."

Leaving the prisoners to the rest of the guardsmen, Vilfred flew with Brad and Gustav towards the outskirts of Nordenvania. They passed above a few barren hills covered in dead trunks and tangled branches of leafless trees. Far in the distance, beyond the desolate stretch of hills, a lone house stood in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by an even more desolate barrenness. Only a few blackened trees stood scattered around like ancient guardians that looked both weak and useless.

Vilfred dived towards Liam's house, followed by his two guardsmen. As he expected, no one was there. Inside the house, it was almost as unpleasant as its surroundings. Long cracks crawled up the grey walls and debris covered the tables and floor.