Before they started with this problem, a new one appeared. There's something in front of the door. The sound was too weak for the wolf, who knows what's on the door. It can be from the wind carrying branches to an attempt to break a giant spider.
"Is that Neven?" Kalin said, starting to run to the observation post.
A small sign of hope that their friend had survived the impossible and Bogdan followed him.
TUD! TUD! TUD! TUD!
"Is anyone there?" A deep voice said from the other side of the wall.
Hope was already falling a little, it didn't sound like Neven at all and she was completely killed when they looked from the observation post. He was a knight wearing a fur cloak, he didn't see it very well. He was riding a brown wolf with black patterns carrying some bags. He was very surprised by this and scared. Who could this man be? He had never seen anyone riding a wolf and according to his calm attitude, he was trained. Is he perhaps finally the baron's postman, and if so where are the guards and why is he riding a wolf. He could also be one of those just conceited knights who came to collect taxes, there is nothing from them, just a connection, no skills. But again the same question arose, why is he alone? A wolf can be explained in that theory, but he has heard that such wolves always wear metal armor, and this one nothing. The stranger turned to them and said:
“Good morning gentlemen! Can you open the door? My wolf and I are very tired from the trip, if we can rest a little in your village? ” The stranger said with a little accent, barely noticeable.
"Where is your escort and who are you, good sir?" Bogdan asked.
"I am nobody, just a traveler and I travel alone."
Kalin pulled him away and whispered to him:
"Bogdan, something stinks to me here, don't let him in. This is some lunatic, no one who is sane travels alone and rides a wolf. He can still be seen trying to hide his accent, why would he do that if he has nothing to hide. He wouldn't be surprised to go from village to village killing people for fun like that Smiling Freak. I heard from people that he went down to the south. "
"Calm down, Kalin. You may be right, but if you aren't we can't leave him- ”Bogdan whispered, but was interrupted.
“Trust me gentlemen, if I wanted to kill everyone here we wouldn’t have this conversation. He would just go through one of the holes. ” The stranger said.
They were stunned and speechless, they had no idea how he could hear them at all and worst of all, he was right.
"Before we let you go, you have to answer one question for me." Kalin asked.
"Feel free to ask whatever you want."
"Is your wolf well trained?"
"There is no better trained on this side of the continent, can I prove it to you somehow?"
"No need, but if anything breaks or attacks, do you agree to leave the village peacefully?"
"Yes."
Kalin told Bogdan with a small sign of hesitation that he could let him go and with strong and fast steps he went downstairs. Bogdan nodded and walked slowly downstairs and the two of them opened the door together. The stranger got off the wolf and he walked beside him and now they could look at him much better. He was half a head bigger than them. He wore chain armor and over it a lot of leather parts of armor, full of cuts, bite remnants and dried blood, but it was still much better built than his armor. He had iron plates over them, he didn't have many of them, only on his chest, knees and shoulders. They were all sunken, damaged, and on some you could see the sunken remains of claws, he really didn't even want to think what thing did it. He was carrying a knife in his scabbard on his chest. He wore all-metal gloves that used to have sharp tips on their wrists, but now some were worn out, while others cracked. A metal chain with sharp tips was tied around his right arm, he had no idea what it would do to him. He had a small leather purse on his hip. Everything was covered with a brown fur cloak, far from clean it was half red. He wore a metal helmet that seemed a little too high with a thick lattice visor. Behind the helmet was seen the hilt of a sword, considerably larger than any hilt of a sword in the village, it is not some praise because everyone in the village has short swords. He wondered how he could use a sword from behind at all, it was too impractical for him. He came in slowly and Bogdan couldn't see what he was looking at because he didn't see anything through that helmet. He turned his head towards them and said:
"Thanks for letting me into your village and don't worry Mrkan won't cause trouble."
"We couldn't leave you outside, sir ..."
"Akar."
"Mr. Akar, if I may know what your purpose is for coming to Lavander?"
"Just passing through."
"Ahh just that, then nothing." Bogdan's little expression of hope disappeared as soon as he appeared.
"Is there an inn here?"
"Have. Just go straight, you can’t miss it. The biggest hut in the village. ”
"Thank you."
And with that he left. They waited until they could no longer see him and then Kalin said:
"I do not trust him. I've never heard of the name Akar, where did my mother get it from? Did you see what it looks like? He's covered in blood and I think I even saw a piece of his intestine hanging from his cloak somewhere. He is dangerous, we need to watch out for him.”
"I totally agree."
"Who do you think he is?"
"I honestly don't have a slight connection. I thought he was a knight, but according to his behavior, I wouldn't say that anymore, he doesn't radiate pride and arrogance from his armor. He's hiding something, that's for sure. "
"It's not a question anymore, but we'll have to talk about it later."
Bogdan nodded and they headed for Dejan's house. They stood in front of nothing special hut and could already hear the sobbing roar outside. They inhaled and entered and saw a black-haired woman wearing an elongated brown tunic and was visibly pregnant. She knelt over the table and cried and kissed Dejan who seemed to have just woken up. The two of them entered just as Goran and Obrvko were preparing to leave. They went to Dejan and he saw them, so he told them something in tears:
“Sorry Bogdan! If I had been more careful, Neven would still be with us, I-I just wanted to take revenge on Mirko and Stjepan. They didn't deserve that. " He sobbed more and more as he spoke.
"It's not your fault, you're our best seeker, it was just bad luck. It could have happened to anyone and Neven- ”Bogdan was interrupted by Kalin.
"You know Neven. He always yells and gets angry at us and gives us no peace, and when a situation like this comes up, he would kill himself a hundred times or more, in the most painful ways, if it meant we would all survive. So rest, Neven did his part, now do yours and survive. ” He spoke as his eyes narrowed and he wiped them every now and then with his sleeve.
"Thank you, both of you."
"Rest until you can hear us at the inn." Bogdan said.
Dejan laughed and said he would and then everyone came out. They went to the inn, where they saw a wolf snoring calmly beside the inn. Goran and Obrvko got a little scared and pulled out their weapons. Mrkan opened one eye and growled loudly. Kalin and Bogdan calmed the two of them until a loud whistle was heard. Mrkan raised his head and ears and ran slowly and lay down by the hut from where the whistle had come. They couldn’t believe their eyes and finally managed to explain to them that it was the guest’s wolf. They calmed down and put down their weapons. They went inside and everyone greeted the Innkeeper and quickly entered the room behind, Bogdan squealed a bit around the inn and saw Akar alone in the corner. He was eating some soup with his helmet closed, very strange. All the villagers were now sitting on the other side of the inn, even pushing for seats. Not some best welcome. Then he went in and sat down. They sat and looked around for a while, they didn’t know how much time had passed, no one knew how to start. There was a snort and a soft cry in Obrvko's upper arms.
"Calm down,Obrvko." Kalin said in a low voice as he rose.
"I-I know I can't act like this so as not to scare people, but I can't anymore! Three of my friends I know from childhood died today. I can't pretend like nothing happened anymore! It's eating me inside! It hurts, I can't ignore it. I don't know mo- "The Obrvko was cut off.
"Cut it out!" Kalin yelled.
"How can I-" Nobody interrupted the eyebrow. He stopped when he looked at Kalin, who was above him. Drop by drop it fell lightly on the floor from Kalin's face.
"What do you think? Only you feel like that. You think we won't miss Mirko's horrible jokes, Neven's nagging and Stjepan's grumpiness. None of us can imagine life without that."
Suddenly Kalin and Obrvko felt something grab them by one shoulder and draw them to the table and to each other.
"We all grieve and suffer from within, but we can't show it now. Hold on a little longer and let it go in whatever way you know and can." Goran said with a teary face as he hugged them both.
"How about we start preparing for their funeral, I don't think they'll be able to do anything more today." Bogdan said as he tried to hold back his tears, but it still flowed a little.
Everyone agreed and calmed down, so they started going out.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
They looked at each other and Bogdan said:
"Forward!"
The door opened and the innkeeper came in and closed the door.
"What is Luka?" Goran asked him.
"Nothing special, just Mr. Akar asked me to ask if he could join you?"
When he said that there were confused faces and they started sweating a lot.
"Let him in."
"Captain, is that a guest?" Obrvko asked with a strong confused expression on his face.
“Quietly Obrvko. We'll talk about that later. " Kalin whispered a little louder.
Now everyone was looking at the door until it opened. Akar came in and stood in the middle of the door and just stared at them. >Why is he here and what does he need from us?< Bogdan thought.
"Good day to you. I hope you don't mind. "
"No, no, not at all. How can we help you? ” Bogdan said.
“The village chief sent me here. He told me that you would be able to catch up with me with all the information. "
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What information? ”
"Sorry I didn't clarify, with this information."
He pulled out a scroll of various joined skins and placed it on the table. It was an ad for help.
"Don't worry, I've arranged everything with the chief about the salary."
"You told me you were just passing through."
"I was, until I read the ad on the bulletin board at the inn."
"Ah, I see, any help we can get is good. It will be our pleasure to work with you, Mr. Akar. ”
"Me too, gentlemen."
They introduced themselves and told him everything from all the problems they had for months, to this morning’s mascara and the failed tree mission.
"Ah I see, it was not easy for you. My condolences, but you haven't buried them yet, how was it… Marko and Slavko?
"Mirko and Stjepan and we didn’t. Why are you interested in that? ”
"Without offending anyone, would it be a problem if I saw their bodies."
"I do not know, it does not depend on us. You will have to ask the families. ”
"I understand, can someone take me to them?"
"I can." Kalin said.
“Great. Will we then? ”
"I see you're not wasting your time." Kalin said as he got up.
He went out with Akar and after a short time Goran and Obrvko asked Bogdan what he knew about the guest and he told them everything he knew. After that, they went out and went to the fields to prepare the funeral, but Bogdan told them that he would join them later. He went behind some hut where no one was and cried for his friends. He can’t turn out weak in front of them. He calmed down a bit, rubbed his eyes and went to them. Some time passed and Bogdan picked up a small piece of wood from the floor and placed it in the pile he was holding. He collected until he began to try not to drop a piece and took it to a large pile and dropped it. He looked to the side and saw a large pile that looked like a pyramid made of all sorts of pieces of wood and branches, and behind it fields. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to collect it. A conversation slowly formed as they worked.
"Captain, why don't we patch up the wall with this?" I know it's not a tree, but this one is better than nothing. " Obrvko said.
"We could, but it wouldn't help much. Honestly, I think this is much more important, because the dead should be respected. "
"I understand that, but we should at least patch something up, at least for tonight."
"That is without question. We will do something to last through the night, and tomorrow we will go with Akar for a tree. ”
"I really don't like him and his pet." Obrvko said.
"Neither do I, but any help is welcome."
A tree was heard being thrown and Goran joined the conversation.
"You judged him too fast. You can't condemn a man until you drink with him. ”
"I don't think so because Kalin thinks the same."
"True. He is the most careful of us all. ”
Suddenly a roar could be heard from the village. Everyone turned and saw someone running towards them and yelling. He was too far away to understand him.
"Is that Kalin?" Goran said.
"We're talking about the wolf, and he's running towards us." Obrvko said.
"What made him so upset?" Bogdan said.
Now they could already hear something he was saying.
"Akar i .. s .. v…!"
"What Akar !?" Bogdan yelled as he took his bow.
Obrvko was right behind him. Who knows what he could have done. Goran calmed them down until Kalin ran up to them. He stood in front of them and grabbed his knees and spat all over. He inhaled and said:
"Akar is going out alone and asks who's going with him."
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