Child of War (Tales of Autcrem)

Chapter fifteen, One Last Goodbye

"Who was that guy?" Hensei said after a time of walking in silence. "Mezzo."

"He's a horrible and twisted man," Dodd said, twisting his mouth at the thought. "He led a special unit of fifty men. They were former criminals, expandable and dangerous. They tortured the soldiers they captured and normally killed them. They pillaged and raped are own people, elf, dwarf, or orc. It didn't matter. I don't have any like for that man and tried many times to stop him. The higher-ups never listened, and I couldn't just kill him outright. He knew I wouldn't, so he never gave me the excuse. I always wanted him to attack me. Even if it was a weak attack, a ploy. I would cut him down in an instant. I think I still would."

"You hated him that much?" Hensei thought never hearing Dodd sound so angry about someone.

"I hated his evil actions, his twisted pleasures. He did horrible things. He's an embodiment of evil. I don't know how he got there, what drove him to such pleasures. I do not hate the man but the evil that has corrupted him. Though I tried, I don't think he can be purged of it by any means other than death. Sometimes people are so far gone that no one can get through to them.

"I had seen him cut down a son in front of his mother just to prove his point. Feed people to dogs to make a statement, he took pleasure in all of it.

"He did horrible things that I can't forget. Evil things that change a man forever. I tried to believe somewhere I could find him, but no matter where I searched, I didn't find the man who he was before... Just more evil.

"He loved to test my faith. My preaching. By expressing such evils to put what I believed to a test. It may have been my greatest trail."

"I guess evil is a just thing to fight." Hensei said.

"It almost sounds like an excuse, doesn't it?" Dodd said, shaking his head, "Maybe it is, I can't tell. All I know is evil is not something to be taken lightly."

"I can understand that," Hensei said, nodding, then squinting as a form sat on a log off before them. Dodd stopped for a moment until he realized who it was. It was still too dark for Hensei to see very well, but Dodd seemed to have no problem.

"What are you doing here!" He yelled as they got closer.

"I came to see Hensei off," a girl's voice said. Hensei realized who it was as they came closer. It was Kyn dressed in hunting clothes, and her bow strapped around her back.

"What?" Hensei said, sounding confused.

"You don't want me to?" Kyn said, a little annoyed.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I guess I never really thought you liked me much." He said, thinking back. They had talked a little, but she seemed very focused and not the most friendly or talkative person.

"Walk with us to the jungle border. We need to make progress." Dodd said, walking away. He really wanted to get Hensei back, it must have been Mezzo and his unit.

"Thank you," Hensei said with a smile as they began to follow. "I appreciate you coming to see me off."
"Well, I'm the one who wanted to thank you," Kyn said a little reluctantly.

"Why?" Hensei said, frowning.

"You may not realize, but you did something amazing," she said with a little smile. "You really did some good at the monastery." She stopped for a moment, and Hensei stared at her, confused. She then began to speak again. "See like everyone else I was an orphan, but unlike everyone else, I was the first child Dodd saved. He hadn't even built the monastery yet. At the time he and Egrof had even split until about a few months before building the monastery, we found him so he could help.