CHAPTER 8 Part 1: I’m Begging You

--God POV—

Somewhere in the lush forest of the Archean Grove, Luke is pulling an old-worn-out wagon they found somewhere outside of the village, they don’t know who owns it but someone left it out in the open. Although it could’ve been a trap set by someone Luke still decided to look into the wagon, careful of any potential danger. Thankfully it only contained some basic supplies like food and water. 

Yuna and Sura were inside the wagon, still grieving over the death of Griffin and their separation from their families. Luke followed a stone path as he pulled the wagon, remembering the demons that came for their village, and the death of his best friend, Griffin, blaming himself for everything that happened. Luke is the leader of the guards, responsible for protecting Gadvell but he failed. Luke was scarred from head to toe because of the battle last night, his clothes were tattered, his body weakened and his Ki nearly empty.

*Flashback*

Luke tried to protect the village but was unable to, during the whole night, he was preoccupied with 50 demons which led him outside the village separating him from his subordinates and his beloved village. In the end, he was barely able to dispatch the demons and he almost ran out of Ki. The moment he got back to Gadvell, the fight was already over, no one left standing, all guards lay on the ground either about to die or already dead. 

He scouted around the village in search of anyone alive, he saw both Yuna and Sura together in front of a lifeless body, he recognizes who it was from the body structure alone, however, he had no time to weep as a group of demons were about to ambush the children. With no Ki left, all he could do is carry both children away from danger. 

He carried both Sura and Yuna away from the village and took refuge in a small cave, Luke gathered firewood and dried leaves, though he has little amount of Ki left, he grabs some of the dried leaves and use his Ki to burn the leaves and place it on the wood to create a campfire. He had lots of experience creating campfires before, even with 2 mages in Ashadow he always volunteered to make it as it gave him some peace of mind.

He noticed that Yuna is already asleep inside while Sura was still awake with a sorrowful expression, sitting on the floor against the cold stone walls. Luke shared the same feeling, the feeling of losing his best friend, the complete destruction of the home he was supposed to protect, and the endless worries of the whereabouts of his wife, Ophelia who he cannot find during the whole mayhem. Despite the fact that he failed to protect the village, he was still responsible of taking both Sura and Yuna to safety and look for his missing wife. 

[I should leave him alone... But still…] Luke thought.

Luke covered Sura with his tattered black cloak, while Sura only glanced at Luke

“Get some rest kiddo we’ve got a long day tomorrow,” 

Sura looked down for a moment, his expression unreadable and crawled near the campfire next to Yuna, and laid down, trying to get a good night’s rest. Luke stood up and watched the blood-stained moon from inside the cave.

“Ophelia… I hope you’re safe”

A tear rolled down his cheek as the moonlight shined down on him.

*Present*

Luke continued to pull the old wagon and noticed a village afar. 

The village was small, wooden houses dominated the village, a single blacksmith stand stood out from the little market place of the village, woodcutters shouting, promoting their services to the citizens, vegetable and meat stand owners yelled, announcing their fresh products to customers. 

Humans populated the area, no demi-humans, dwarves, nor elves lived in the tiny wooden village. A few unexperienced adventurers stood out from the crowd, guards with little-to-no equipment surveyed the surroundings lazily and some sat on corners playing cards. 

Despite being close to Gadvell, the village seems to be safe from harm. 

Luke looks at both Sura and Yuna who are both still depressed and exhausted despite them being able to sleep last night.

[They still look exhausted, might as well let them get some rest while I get some way for us to travel around. A horse-driven wagon would be nice.] 

“Yuna, Sura, we’ll be staying in the village only for tonight, we’ll eat and leave first thing in the morning after I secure us a mode of transportation.”

Luke then proceeds to pull the wagon towards the village, wondering why it’s completely intact. When they arrive, Luke began to search for an inn and found one.

The Inn was 2 stories high, a signage saying ‘Innight’ was displayed on the front above the entrance door, it looked affordable to Luke so he decided to rest there. He parked just outside the inn, went inside with the kids, and paid for a room for one night using the skin and hide of monsters he killed for food. 

They entered their room which had a single twin-size bed and a side table with a lamp on top, a curtain blocks the window. Luke then told the kids to stay inside the room while he goes around the village looking for a cheap horse-drawn wagon, he left the two with food of what they have. 

When Luke is walking around the village looking for a stable he heard the villagers’ conversation about the destruction of Gadvell.

“Ey! Have you heard a demon raid happened in Gadvell?” said the man who looked like a blacksmith, terrified.

“Yeah, hope they won’t raid us here.” a woman manning the vegetable shack said with a trembling voice

“Did their guards even stand a chance?” curious, the sickly thin man asked

“Nah, they couldn’t have handled something like that” the blacksmith proclaimed

“Nobody even survived, the guards are a joke! if I were there, I could’ve defeated every last demon that came FUWAHAHAHA… haaa… they’re all so useless and weak.” A burly man joined the conversation from the street, flexing his muscles. 

Hearing about the conversation not far from where he was, veins became visible on his clenched fists, winds danced around him, unable to suppress his emotions, subconsciously releasing some of his Ki, but he was not in the mood to start a rumble. He tried to remain calm as he kept walking, passing the startled crowd.

***

Yuna let Sura sleep first as she sits on the opposite end of the bed, she was also exhausted mentally and physically, she knew that he couldn’t sleep for the whole 2 weeks they’ve traveled, right now, she’s thinking about how she could cheer him up, he was her first friend, which she slowly respected both in combat and as someone she could rely on, she saw something in him, something she couldn’t describe, and now they share the same circumstances, she was able to move on because of Ophelia and Luke and she wants to help Sura overcome his emotions, lonely, desperation, heartbreak, frustration, everything she experienced the day she lost her real parents. She had a feeling that Ophelia lived and was with Aishita and the others, so her mind is focused on the boy that she called her friend.

Hours passed and she still couldn’t think of a way that could cheer Sura. She laid down beside him and closed her eyes, thinking to herself that she could think of something after a short nap.

Due to their accumulated exhaustion, both Sura and Yuna fell asleep side by side.