Lore/Story Angels And Demons: Chapter 12

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Chapter 12: Legend of Bob
~Nicolas~

The man suddenly shakes his head. He then looks up and sees me and Katherine. "G.... A-ah, what a c-coincidence."

Weird. "I'm sorry we startled you... and for the soup."

The villager frowns. "S-soup? What...." His eyes widen. "My soup!"

He turns to us again. "You see, um... I am out of... red mushrooms. The soup h-had the last... mushrooms."

Katherine smiles kindly. "We'll collect them for you. Mr..."

The villager look up at Katherine. "A... An elf, huh?" He says. "I... My name is Y-Yahya. Mushrooms... I-... I can't be called "The Mushroom Man" if I don't have any!.. Mushrooms."

Yahya chuckles to himself. "Mushrooms." He repeats. "W-What are you looking at? Hur... Quickly, get m-me some M-mushrooms!"

Yahya shoos us away. We leave him talking to himself. Katherine's smile fades, and she says, "I don't want to be mean, but he's kind of...."

"Strange, I know." I nod. "I saw some mushrooms growing near the trees around the path, by the way."

I wondered if this was what soldiers were supposed to do: help a man who is addicted to mushrooms, is out of his mind, and lives in middle of this creepy woods? Wasn't there a war being fought in this province?

We collected about three dozen mushrooms, both red and brown. When we were satisfied that we had enough, we brought the mushrooms back to Yahya. "Who are you?" He asks when we walk up to him.

"I..." I stop. I didn't know what to say. Suddenly, Yahya brightens up. "Oh... right, Mushrooms!"

Yahya snatched the mushrooms out of me and Katherine's arms. He sniffs them for a second, then frowns. "I-I can't have my soup without... bowls."

"Oh, good god." Katherine covers her face with her hands. I reach down and pick up Yahya's bowl. "Here, your bowl."

Yahya frowns. "T-that is not my bowl. You better... keep it."

"But..."

Katherine nudges me. "Look." She says and points at the bowl. On it is a series of glowing Wynnic Runes. It read in Common Speech, "EARN". Under the word was the number "1".

"What does it mean?" I murmur. Katherine shrugs, but says, "I have a feeling you should keep it." I nod and wipe the remains of Yahya's soup from the bowl, which has been stained. I place it in my pack.

"There is a village hidden in the woods. I-I remember they sell bowls there." Yahya says.

"Well, we better go, then." Katherine says. "The sun's setting, and we can spend the night there." Feeling too tired to argue, I agree. Using the map Ragni King gave us, we guide ourselves through the Nivla Woods, towards the South. The forest is cold and dark, and many spiders lurk under the shadows of the trees. We slay any that attacks us.

We slowly come in sight of a small village. The houses are suspended in the air, circling around numerous trees. The village itself is illuminated by lanterns hanging from the trees.

"It's beautiful." Katherine says next to me. The village is busy, at least, as much as it can be with only a few dozen people. There are children running about, and adults talking to each other. There is a big bonfire in the middle of the village, and a few villagers have small stalls, selling food and mushrooms.

Only a few people look at us as we enter the village. We walk around the village, and find a large tree with a sign saying, "Bowl Merchant". A series of wooden stairs lead upwards into the tree-house at the top. Katherine starts to shrug her cloak off, until I stop her. "Don't." I say. "Remember what Ken told us: we shouldn't go around showing our wings to everyone."

Katherine pauses, then nod. The wooden stairs are physically tiring to climb, and after we make it to the top, we are sweating a good deal. A villager looks up, seeming startled when we come in.

"You used the stairs?" The merchant asks. "Up to the challenge, were you?"

I wipe my face with my sleeve. "Why would you make such an obstacle?"

The villager smiles. "I didn't. This village existed for a long time, and the stairs were made for the original inhabitants, who have all moved away. We villagers like to use this thing called, 'ladders'." He points to a rope ladder dangling down towards the ground. I groan. How did we miss it?

Katherine sighs. "Anyway. We are looking to buy a bowl."

The merchant nod. "Of course. 24 emeralds." I take out 24 emeralds from the bag we obtained from Witherhead's chamber, and hand it to the villager. In return, he gives me a clean bowl. I thank the villager.

"Do you know anywhere we can spend the night here?" Katherine asks the villager.

He thinks for a moment. "There is one abandoned tree house at the corner of the village, maybe you can use that." He says. "Anyway, today we have a gathering in honour of Bob, celebrating the date when he first came to this village to learn the Wand Lore!"

Bob? "Who's Bob?" I ask. The merchant only smile and says, "You'll find out. Follow me: the gathering starts soon."

The three of us make our way down the tree-house using the ladder. A few villagers have made a bonfire in middle of the village: and many people, from children to elderly sit around it. A villager clothed in purple robes sit separated away from the others. We seat ourselves amongst a group of young villagers. They look up at us curiously.

The purple-robed villager clears his throat. "Welcome, my fellow villagers. Today, we gather, on the very soil where Bob trained in his magical arts, and celebrate the day when he first came to this village. I shall retell the legend of Bob to all of you. Though all of you have heard this story before, it is still an exciting story."

With that, the storyteller starts on his story. He talks about long ago, when the corruption was at its worst, a largest horde of monsters ever recorded found its way inside the fort of Ragni. Many lives were lost that day, and the citizens evacuated into the sewers. An unknown woman gave birth inside the sewers system the raid, to a boy whom she names Robert. The mother dies shortly after, and Robert grows up to be adopted by another woman, named Momo. Despite being poor, Momo teaches Robert to read, write, and to fight.

A decade later, another horde found its way inside Ragni. There, Momo was killed, and Robert sets out on a journey across the province, following a map given to him by his foster mother. He first travelled to Almuj, and trained in the arts of Knavery for five years, under the guidance of a man named Chak. After, he travels to a mansion deep within the icy woods of Nesaak, and trains in the skills of Archery under a man named Mael.

The storyteller goes into a deep depth on Robert's time in the Nivla village, where he trained in the Wand lore under the guidance of Ethe.

He then tells about how Robert travelled to Troms at last, and trained in the ways of Spears under a man called Fier. Robert renamed himself to Bob, and set out on a journey across the Wynn Province, using his powers he acquired over twenty years and destroying threats.

At the age of seventy, Bob disappeared. He was rumoured to have gone to seek a great beast that was promoting the corruption. There, he never returned.

"It was then, though, just one year after his disappearance, Bobs tomb appeared in the snow, marking the place where he was buried. By whom? No one knows. Perhaps it was the killer? Or maybe it was his master’s magic? It still lies there today, holding his body. One thing is for sure, Bob truly was the master of the Wynn arts, and will forever go down in our history as the mightiest solider."

A silence follows, then the crowd erupts into claps and discussions. I stay silent, still digesting the story.

I look up from the fire, and I see a man in the distance, holding a great wand, decorated with jewels and gold. The man smiles. Choose your path well, soldier. A voice whisper in my head. Don't surrender to the Darkness.

A small stab of pain hit my mind, and I flinch. As I blink, the man disappears. Nobody else seems to notice.

My Soul grows warmer in my pocket.

Katherine yawns next to me, and stretches. "That was a good story, I guess." She says. I nod, but I still look at the spot where the man had been standing. Why did Bob disappear? Was he taken by the darkness? The voice's warning echo in my mind.

Don't surrender to the Darkness.


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