Knight and Wand

Chapter 11: Heartbreak

".I pray for your blessing with a pious heart. Under your light, my heart is as solid as a rock." Lohak recited the prayer haltingly in his mind. Sometimes he couldn't remember a paragraph clearly, so he had to mumble it over with other prayer words.

It was not that he was not devout enough, nor that he did not believe Leon's warning. It was just that due to his cultural level, he could not memorize the entire long text sung by the church priests.

In the collective prayers of the past, he only needed to pray along with the reciter and did not need to write down everything. After all, he had envisioned a future where he would become a soldier in the city of Rolandar like his father, and he had never dreamed of becoming a clergyman in the church to preach.

The young man picked out the inconspicuous broken stone from the rubble, wondering in his heart, is this thing really useful?
It's not that he doubted it, but the eerie and strange environment around him made him gradually anxious, and the story of this place kept coming to Lohak's mind over and over again.

In the past, it was just a folk tale to fool children, but now it makes young people worried.

Legend has it that countless greedy people have longed for the treasure in the cursed land, but no matter whether they were ambitious kings, noble and brave knights, or greedy and resourceful explorers, they all ended up getting lost in the terrible Plains of Despair and could never return to the world.

Even in some special versions of the story, there are protagonists who can return to the human world with treasures, but no matter how brave and noble those heroes are, they are no longer their original selves when they return to the human world.

Without exception, those people will degenerate into cursed evil demons, which is why the fictional wilderness that serves as the stage for the story is called the Cursed Land.

With his heart pounding, Lohak looked up at Leon who was drawing on the open space not far away, and he felt a little relieved.

If it weren't for the companion he met in the cage along the way, he would probably still be wearing shackles and being ordered around like an animal, or he would have been beaten to death by the slave owner in some reckless conflict.

Although he is still in danger, he still believes that this magical partner will definitely find a way to overcome the difficulties.
But even if I get out, so what?
Lohak couldn't help but frown.

Looking at the meaningless stone in his hand, the boy suddenly felt a strong disgust in his heart.
Yes, I survived, but what about my sister?
The miserable scene he had seen in that village not long ago came back to the boy's mind like a nightmare.

The cruel scene of the girl's body being insulted and killed by the thugs pierced Lohak's spirit like a knife.

Suddenly, the pitiful girl's face seemed to turn into that of her sister.

The head of the headless man turned into the face of his father. The face was twisted in pain, and the decayed eyes were filled with deep disappointment.
I fled from Kantadar and left my sister alone in the hands of those beasts!

How long will it take to find my sister?
Is she still alive?
How long can she survive in the hands of those bastards?
Lohak lowered his head in shame, tears of sorrow flowing out uncontrollably.
I'm the only one left.
My body suddenly felt that familiar warm embrace.

The boy looked up blankly and saw his mother's gentle face.

"Don't cry anymore, my lovely little wild horse, my brave child." The mother called the boy's nickname affectionately and looked at her child with concern.

"Mom, mom." Lohak closed his eyes and hugged his mother lovingly.

The shrill and vicious laughter frightened the boy so much that he opened his eyes in horror.

He suddenly felt himself falling, and countless hands stretched out from the darkness to drag his mother into the abyss. His loved ones were ravaged before his eyes, and their broken bodies were cut by the sharp blades of the thugs.
Lohak howled ferociously, but no sound came out of his open mouth.

Everything is quiet.
The boy stared blankly at the sister in front of him.

The blood-stained relative just stared at his brother with a sad smile.

"You are the only one alive. Why? Lohak~ why don't you come to save me."

In the blood-red vision, only that back figure seemed so eye-catching and so hateful at this moment.
Yes, it's him.
He is preventing you from saving me.
No. No, he's been helping me.
The boy's face was distorted into a horrible and hideous shape during his struggle.

Because he needs your help, he is so hypocritical. He just needs you to work hard for him~ and you are just a coward who was given a reason to live a miserable life by him.
No! I'm not! I'm not.
The scarred girl hugged the boy from behind, and whispered in his ear with her beautiful and gentle face:

Prove it to me, my dear brother.
"Saint Sol, we bow our heads and look up. Its light is like a torch, blessing all things. The beginning of heaven and earth, the mother of all things. We pray to the sun to see, give wisdom, and give courage. I obey the command of Ilarial, show mercy, and entrust protection. May the light of glory cleanse my soul forever, guide me to be innocent, without darkness, pure as before, and finally reach the temple."

Azerien recited the church's prayers skillfully, and his hands and feet were nimble enough to search carefully for the green stones with the characteristics described by Leon on the rocky beach beside the stream.

Although he didn't know what he was going to do with these things, he still didn't dare to be negligent. After all, everyone's hope of leaving this strange forest rested on Leon.

After escaping death twice beyond imagination, although Azerien silently avoided talking about the power displayed by his partner and did not make it clear, he was already convinced in his heart that Leon must be a wild sorcerer outside the church's magic circle.

The power it uses is not some miracle of the Holy Sun appearing, but a spell released using magic power.

As a descendant of the nobility, Azerien was not as ignorant as the commoner boy like Lohak. He had a general understanding of what spellcasters and magic were like, and he knew more clearly what the attitude of the church was towards folk sorcerers outside the circle of magic in Serrian.

In Serrian, regardless of social status, gender, age or seniority, anyone found to have the ability to cast spells will be forcibly taken in by the church and sent to a church organization called the "Ring of Magic" for recruitment and supervision.

Those who disobeyed were all guilty of death and could be executed on the spot. As for those who did not resist and were obediently taken into the magic circle,
I heard that some people seemed to be able to return to society as church clergy many years later, while others were never heard from again.

Azerien now understood why Leon had suggested heading north to Orland when they had discussed the escape route.

The Northern Kingdom heard that unlike the harsh and tough treatment of spellcasters in the Kingdom of Seirian, the Kingdom of Orland, which did not believe in the Holy Sun, was more lenient towards warlocks. After wrapping the dark green stones with water-marked features in rags, Azerien stood up and prepared to return to his companions.

But as soon as he looked up, he was so frightened by what he saw that he widened his eyes and shouted loudly: "Leon! - Watch out behind me!!!"

"?"

Leon, who was squatting in the woods and drawing runes with stone powder, suddenly heard his companion screaming at him. He was stunned at first, but reacted instantly.

He fell to the ground, rolled to the side, and dodged in a very awkward manner.

There was only a "puff" sound, which was the dull sound of the sword blade cutting deeply into the mud, and the rune pattern that had just been drawn was also destroyed.

Leon, who was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat, then noticed that Lohak, who was originally looking for materials by the stream, had stood silently behind him.

If it weren't for Azerien's exclamation just now, he would probably have had his shoulder blade cut open by Lohak's sword.

".Are you crazy? Lohak!"

Leon rolled and crawled to the side, still in shock.

Compared to all the dangers he had faced along the way, the sudden backstab by his companion just now almost cost him his life.

However, Leon's rebuke was turned a deaf ear to Lohak. The strong young man raised his head with a ferocious face and stared at Leon, with two lines of blood and tears flowing from the corners of his red eyes.

Those angry and unfocused eyes were as if he was staring at his enemy.

"Lohak!"

Leon shouted loudly at the mad boy in front of him and was forced to retreat continuously, and was finally blocked by the tree trunk behind him.

Seeing the slash coming towards him again, Leon was so scared that he quickly ducked to avoid it.

There was a terrifying, teeth-grinding sound of metal and wood colliding, and sawdust flew everywhere.

The ordinary armed sword actually cut the tree trunk behind Leon, which was thicker than his thigh, in half.

With a loud bang, the trees fell down, shaking up fallen leaves and dust.

Leon and Azerien looked at Lohak's right arm in disbelief.

The boy's arm was bent and deformed dramatically because of his inhuman strength.

But then, Lohak's twisted arm, which was tightly grasping the hilt of the sword, made a crackling sound, and in the blink of an eye, the bones twitched back into place and were corrected to their original state.

"Tsk~ You came so quickly. Hey, if you don't want to die, run away. He is no longer your friend."

The girl's voice suddenly sounded a warning in Leon's mind.

Leon always listened to advice. He shouted to Azerien, who was at a loss and had not figured out the situation, and fled into the forest: "Lohak is possessed! Leave him alone!"

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!” The angry young man with blood and tears on his face roared and chased after him.

Hearing the life-threatening roar from behind, Leon quickened his pace to escape.

At the same time, he asked anxiously in his heart: "Do you know what happened to him? How could he suddenly go crazy without any signs?"

"This is what I told you before, a danger worse than death." The girl sighed, "The child's soul has been targeted by the demons of the spiritual world."

"Demon? Can it be exorcised? Can he still be saved?"

"You can't even save yourself, and you still want to save him? He almost cut you in half."

"It was a demon that attacked me, not Lohak. Tell me if there is any way to deal with it first."

"It's easier to get rid of him. Oh, never mind. Just focus on escaping. It won't hurt to help you a little more." The girl said with relief in her voice.

(End of this chapter)