Once again, a light surrounded Harwin with a dark throne infront of him. Occuping it was the same figure of dark and light in equal halves. His face was not visible as always, but one could feel that this figure was grinning from ear to ear. It was truly creating a horrid sight, like the devil smiling.

  “So human, I see you have completely forgotten about your family. It is quite fun to live in this world, is it not?” The mage mocked.

  “I—” Harwin was interrupted.

  “No need to explain yourself. I had sent you to this world so you could live your dream, so you can enjoy it however you like, but how about I tell you something?"

  Before Harwin could assent to it, the mage already began:

  "Your family has already perished from existence. They tried to find you first, but soon after realizing that you were not coming back, your mother took her life. This left your father heart-broken which eventually lead to his demise as well. Your siblings, of-course, could not survive on their own. The last thing that was on their tongue was a curse on you for leaving them in this state. Would you like to see or do you believe—"

  The evil-mage did not complete, as he had already attained what he was looking for.

  Harwin felt as if the ground had been snatched from under his feet. His heart pounded rapidly —his mind was on the verge of madness, while his body about to collapse. He did not speak, neither did a tear drop, but his eyes had gone crimson as if they would bleed out.

  Seeing this expression and change of state, the mage finally spoke, not out of pity, rather he was not amused by the reaction:

  "Oh come on, I only jest. You used to lash out on me before, but now you are no fun."

  Harwin did not understand anything for a few moments. He was still in a state of shock, and confusion, but soon enraged he lashed out:

  "YOU DEVIL! EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THAT FILTHY MOUTH IS NOTHING, BUT CAUSE OF TROUBLE FOR OTHERS. YOU ARE THE MOST VILE CREATURE!"

  "That is the reaction I was hoping for. Anyways, your family still is in great distress so better hurry, and get back to them. Their golden child abandoned them —what a cruel fate." He did not care for insult, but just mocked again.

  Harwin knew that it was foolish to argue any further, so he decided to keep quiet.

  "Let me make it upto you by giving you an advice," the mage offered, but Harwin did not even look in his direction.

  None the less, he advised anyways:

  “Stay with the elfin village for the while. Those elves, Alisa and Landel, will be quite vital in your journey. Remember, you can still return to your world, but for that you will need to find the path yourself. Now then, I bid you farewell.”

  The mage did not do this out of the kindness in his heart, but it was for his own entertainment. He did not want his test subject to lose heart, and become depressed, atleast for now.

  Harwin woke up with a furious expression, but still there was also worry in his heart. It was true that he was a great support for his parents which he had hoped to be, but now they were living the same difficult life which he had hoped to get them out from.

  This did not demotivate him, but only added to his resolve yet the dark corner of his heart was only expanding further and further even when he tried to block it.......

  It had been a month since the plans and strategies were put forward by Graftel. All preparations were complete — the scouts also had the best positions discovered. Only the final council was to be held after which both parties were to leave.

  Harwin had been training rigorously with Landel since the last month. It was either due to the genius of the master, or due to the handwork of the student, but he was now a much better fighter — almost as good as an average soldier. He could now deflect the strikes of Landel several times before getting defeated. His endurance had also improved significantly.

  This development might have been due to the newly rekindled ambition of his, but only time will tell how far he could get on training alone.

  However, in the other department — magika, he was still lacking. He could not perform a single spell, and it was finally breaking his resolve.

  Alisa was also at her wits's end. She had tried everything. It was extremely unnatural. She even suggested to have him checked with her own mentor, but that fellow, Iquaral, had rejected the request on charges of being busy. He claimed to be following the orders of Graftel.

  Iquaral was the chief-mage of the village, but there was hardly any need of him in the current plan according to Alisa. It might just have been an excuse so he did not have to meet Harwin. Elves were still not so keen on accepting a human.

  It was in the early hours of the morning that a meeting had been called.

  The chief, elders, Harwin, the battle commander, few captains, Landel and surprisingly even Alisa were part of this strategy meeting

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  “Have all preparations been made, chief-commander?” The chief asked from Graftel.

  “Yes, we have prepared to the best of our abilities. Fitz will be leading the second party, and taking majority of the forces with him. I will be taking a few men with me to the main camp, that is if all goes accordingly.”

  “What about the wagons? Have they been built and loaded with the required materials?” The elder asked.

  “Indeed, they are ready with the help of the village craftsmen working tiredlessly.”

  “Glad to hear. Now then, Sarial any new reports regarding the bandit camp or the outposts?” Lief asked.

  “There has been no unusual movement from the enemy camp. The outposts are still occupied by the bandits, and the path that we will be following is clear of any obstruction or hurdles while stilling having their eyes on the caravan.” Sarial gave his final report.

  “That is a relief. Anything else, that any of you would like to report or add?” The chief asked the room.

  “I would like to join the party of the chief-commander as well,” Harwin requested rather confidently.

  “That will be too dangerous, but if the chief-commander agrees, you may do as you please,” The chief replied.

  “No, Gor. You will be staying behind in the village. We can not be sure if our enemies knows about us or not. The village will be vulnerable in my absence, and that is why I will be leaving two captains in the village. You are to act as their advisor. Landel will also remain back. We have a great force of younglings, but still they are often unruly so it will be best to remain vigilant and careful,” Graftel ordered him.

  “Very well if that is your command. I will protect the village with my life, but I must urge you to be as careful as you can be.”

  Harwin looked at Graftel's party anxiously. The commander was just taking a party of six. Though, it had already been proven that the men chosen by Graf could withstand a force much larger than their numbers, but the risk still remained.

  “No need to worry. Concentrate on your duties. With that, I would like the permission to leave now.” Graftel sought the approval of the chief.

  “Do not put your life in danger, and try to avoid unnecessary fights. The village needs your leadership to survive, alot of people depend on you. Your life is not only yours alone — it inspires the villagers as whole. I pray for your success, and wish you the best fortune, You may go now.” The chief gave the final assent.

  Both parties departed.

  Fitz had about fifty or more men with him, five of whom including Fitz were captains. He was also a very capable man when it came to battle strategies, and maintaing the morale of the troops.

  Sarial was ordered by Graftel to monitor Fitz's group from a distance. Sarial himself had commanded his scouts to get rid of any hidden enemies in the forest to minimize the losses if, and only if there was an ambush.

  They were also ordered to report to Graf if the situation became dire, and all the enemy forces were gathered on their side alone while the camp was empty, this was highly unlikely, but not impossible.

  The party had departed from the village. Their journey was going smooth, and they were following their planned trek without any hurdles yet. There were no reports or warnings by the scouts either.

  Fitz, however, was not relax for even a second. He knew that they would soon come across the enemy’s ambush.

  Sarial had already noticed a few bandits leaving their outposts — probably to report back to the camp for the sighting of this huge caravan. Of-course, it would take some time before they could assemble so Fitz had decided to camp after they were significantly away from the village whilst still inside the forest.

  It had been a few hours now, and no enemies were in sight. There was also no sound what so ever which stressed Fitz even more as this was a clear sign of a battle approaching.

  To his surprise there were still no attack even though they were well into the evening.

  He decided to camp at their current location as dusk was approaching fast.

  His soldiers were laughing, bantering and enjoying themselves without a worry in the world. He did not appreciate their carefree attitude, but did not want to lecture them now as it might alert the enemy.

  Time passed slowly for Fitz. He could not catch even a wink of sleep during the night. The swaying of the tree branches caused abit of a distress as well, but he did not let it get to his nerves — trying to remain as calm as he possibly could.

  He had been second in command several times, but not at a time when it really mattered the most. He could not afford to mess this up. Fitz was confident in his abilities, and trusted his men as well, but the stakes were far too great this time — they had almost everything to lose in this plan.

  The night passed without a single incident. At the first light,.it felt like their plan had been a kaput due to no move from the enemy forces, but they could not simply afford to retreat back to the village as this will only create more problems, and possibly foil any future plans.

  Thus they readied to move forward again — not to the exit, rather in a random direction to give the impression as if they were lost.

  Fitz was almost at his wit's end. If the enemies did not attack then they will not be able to get rid of the main camp, and if they can not do that, then the village will never be able to prosper.

  It was just about when he was completely hopeless that a single arrow was shot towards the caravan. It was stray one that was directed towards the ground — a signal from the scouts that the enemies had finally arrived.

  Fitz instead of getting worried wore a devilish grin.

  'Finally the time has come,' he thought.

  Soon dozens of bandits surrounded the caravan from all directions. There must have been more than hundred as predicted.

  “MEN, READY YOURSELVES! WHOEVER KILLS THE MOST WILL BE GIVEN THE RANK OF CAPTAIN!” Fitz motivated his men.

  The bandits were shocked to find their prey not in distress, shock or panic, but it was actually the complete opposite. Fifty elves were staring at them with blood in their eyes. The battle had begun.

  Sarial had already sent one of the scouts to inform Graftel's group of the latest development. Now he was providing support from above.

  Soon all the outposts that were occupied by the bandits were cleared, and were now taken over by the scouts who shot arrows at anyone who showed even a hint of flesh hiding in the vicinity. They did not, however, shoot at the enemies below as to not scare them into a retreat. Sarial wanted to leer them in as close as possible.

  Fitz and his group began the slaughter. He wielded dual blade as his weapon of choice — given the place it provided maximum efficiency.

  All was going according to plan. The elves were dominating in the fight, but then someone rather something appeared.

  A huge being appeared. It had great horns popping out of its forehead, red skin-tone, and sinister eyes. Its torso was as large as two men combined, and he was also as tall as the giant Farelen.

  It was not a beast-man, rather it was more furious — more evil and overall more hideous. The thing that stood in front of the elves was a demon. It was a hell-spawn which put fear in the hearts of anyone who laid eyes on it. Only time will tell what the outcome of the battle will be after the appearance of such a great threat!