Chapter 7: Horror
Before his thoughts could be confirmed or anything of that sort, Morden noticed the cat twitch and then rise from the seat before strolling away.
He turned to look at the two men that were currently kneeling on his two sides to check for a change in expression, but their faces remained the same. They only looked anxious.
Seeing no hope of getting any information from the two, Morden turned his head back towards the throne, and that was when he spotted it.
He noticed a shadow slowly creeping out from behind the throne accompanied by sounds of heavy footsteps, but the throne was just too big for him to actually see the person.
’Judging from the sound of these footsteps, the Mountain Lord must be someone extremely massive,’ Morden thought.
And his thoughts were quickly confirmed when he noticed a head peeking out from behind the giant chair.
"Shit, that person is absolutely massive," he couldn’t help but say out loud.
The person finally moved away from behind the chair into the open space, allowing Morden to have a full view of him.
The Mountain Lord was a gigantic man wearing some sort of primitive leather armor, but it still looked leagues above those of the guards.
The armor left his chest open, exposing the gigantic scar that ran across his chest from the top left side to the bottom right side.
While Morden scanned the Mountain Lord, the Mountain Lord was also doing the exact same to him, the only difference being the difference in their gaze.
Morden’s eyes were more cautious and analytic, but the mountain lord, on the other hand, showed nothing but excitement.
After having his fill of staring at Morden like some sort of gift, he finally opened his mouth to speak.
"You have done well, Young Dale; this outsider looks extra robust; he should be able to serve us well," the Mountain Lord said in a low but confident tone.
"Thank you for the praise, Lord," Dale responded while lowering his head even further, not daring to look the Lord in the eye.
’Serve? How the hell am I supposed to serve you?’ Morden thought.
Am I going to become some sort of errand boy or what? That actually won’t be too bad; I will be free to move around while also being close to my target.’
"All I have to do is just kill him, right?"
Despite not knowing how strong his opponent was or how strong he himself actually was, Morden knew he absolutely had to kill his enemy.
There’s absolutely no way he was dying here.
"Take him to the cage at the village square; he will be entertaining us tomorrow, but tonight let the people feast their eyes," the Mountain Lord instructed dismissively.
The instant those others popped out of the Lord’s mouth, Morden noticed the two guards holding him down tighten their grip on him, their smiles widening.
But he didn’t share those emotions at all; instead, he felt something entirely different, but he couldn’t actually place a finger on it.
Not only were his plans of staying close to the Lord completely foiled now, but he was also supposed to be some sort of entertainment for the people.
"These bunch are really sick in the head."
Unknowingly, thoughts of struggling were slowly crawling into his mind, but he forcefully cleared it out.
’We must see this to the end,’
Having received final orders from their leader, the two guards wasted no more time and immediately stood up on their feet and turned around to leave.
The sun had already mostly set at this point, which means Morden could barely see his surroundings, but from what he could see, he knew they weren’t heading back the way they came.
Their new destination was much closer, and after about twenty steps they arrived at what appeared to be the village center, and to the left of that place was a conical wooden cage.
It was big enough to contain Morden if he were standing and lying, but it was also small enough to be uncomfortable.
The guards proceeded to open the door and throw Morden in without any pity or joy and then lock it behind them.
At this point, Morden was now alone in the cage, while being almost completely surrounded by excited and curious villagers, leaving a space in his back that wasn’t facing any tent or house.
Morden quickly got himself together and sat quietly while he watched the villagers do their usual activities while stealing occasional glances at him. And when it was finally dark enough, they put some firewood on and lit a fire at the exact center.
The fire blazed fiercely, illuminating the surrounding area except the blind spot behind Morden. And that was the exact spot someone used to their advantage.
Psttt! Psttt!
A thin voice called out from behind Morden, prompting him to turn around and check who it was.
Kneeling behind Morden with a face that carried a mix of fear and hope was a blonde girl that appeared to be Morden’s age.
Seeing that she had successfully grabbed Morden’s attention, the girl quickly opened her mouth.
"Outsider, can you fight ghosts and evil spirits?" the girl asked with hope-filled eyes, which was strange to Morden.
Everyone he had met in this place looked at him with excitement and curiosity but not hope like this girl was.
The first thought that came to his mind was to say the truth and tell her he couldn’t, but he looked at her face again and decided against it.
"Yes, I can," he responded in a low voice.
Hearing the response, the girl was immediately over the moon. Her eyes immediately brightened and a smile tugged at her lips.
"Ohh really? Then you shall save us then," she said while still maintaining her excitement.
"Save you? From what?" Morden responded.
"E...Ev...Evil spirits," the girl managed to say out loud after stuttering for a while.
Despite hearing her response, Morden was still as confused as he previously was, so he decided to ask another question before he could even open his mouth.
The girl suddenly turned her head towards the back and bolted away, saying nothing and giving Morden no information as to what was going on except the absolute horror on her face.
The night deepened, but there was no sign of that girl at all; this resulted in Morden’s dread deepening as he analyzed all he had experienced since coming here.
The villagers’ sulky and scared face, the children’s inactivity, their weird excitement immediately after seeing him, and finally, the young lady’s words.
They all came together and culminated in one single question on his mind.
"Just what the hell is going on here."