“You really think we should just leave them like that?” - Noa asked, seeing Rolyn and his daughter waving at the distance as their wagon left the city gates.

  “It’s not our decision to make!” - replied Soreq, comfortably sitting on the inside of the wagon, where Domnus checked their supplies.

  As the two had struggled trying to convince the man to join their journey, he shared his story with them. Having left his daughter with his parents while he tried working as a mercenary, fate left him barely alive on a distant land, hoping to see his family again. Being rescued by one of the Children of Syrus, the same group that Noa and Soreq belonged to, he was offered the chance to return to his family.

  “Not many would have accepted the gift…” - Noa spoke solemnly, knowing very well the implications that came with joining the group.

  “Learning to accept death has always been the most difficult lesson of all,” - sounding like an old wise man, the boy didn’t seem bothered with the situation at all - “the man’s decision just shows his dedication to his daughter.”

  “Even if it means he’ll have to watch her grow old and die, while he remains as he is forever?”

  “She could join him in the future, if she so desires.” - turning to face Noa, whose face was filled with worry, Soreq could still sense his own personal fears affecting his judgment - “He’s more than welcome in the Citadel, as is his family.”

  “You know very well that it’s not that simple…”

  Keeping his eyes glued to the road, while Dahlia handled the reins, Noa could feel the growing proximity to the Citadel start to affect his resolve. Having decided to undergo the Soul Baptism, the only missing step into fully joining the Children of Syrus, the young man knew that was a decision that could never be changed.

  Leaving his own mortal body, becoming an immortal living spirit and inhabiting special vessels created from the bodies of his followers, the Baptism was their final display of faith in their god. And yet, despite all the reassurances from his teachers and colleagues, he still hesitated and postponed the ritual as much as possible.

  “You’d better face your fears while you’re young,” - closing his eyes as he tried to get comfortable, Soreq decided it better not to pry too much - “else you’ll turn into a bitter old man, full of regrets.”

  As the wagon travelled quietly for the next couple of days, Noa and Soreq took turns being awake on the coachman’s seat. While Domnus and Dahlia didn’t require sleep and could keep watch alone most of the time, their inability to talk could prove to be a problem in case they came into contact with others.

  The road leading west was older and much more empty than the ones they had taken before, with grass overtaking the way at some points, and barely any other traveler going in the same direction. As they started coming closer to the far away mountains, a constant cold breeze could be felt during the nights, making it harder to keep a strong fire when the group stopped to camp.

  “Wake up!” - a hushed but urgent Soreq called, while Dahlia shook the man awake in the interior of the wagon.

  “What?” - waking up suddenly after not having any surprises for a while, it took a moment for the man to fully recollect where he was - “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure…”

  A few meters ahead of the group, a group of four wagons stood blocking the road completely, spreading on the way almost as if they had been suddenly forced to stop. Somewhere ahead of them, the glow of a fire could be seen from between the vehicles, as well as the sounds of many loud and angry voices.

  “Bandits? In this region?” - Noa asked quietly as he joined the front of the wagon.

  “Could be, we’re still far from the city.” - taking the reins and pushing it onto Noa’s hands, Soreq moved to the back, once more putting on his childish facade - “We must tread carefully!”

  “Very well…” - guiding the horses to follow the road, Noa tried keeping his senses in check.

  “Keep him tied… No, gag him…” - a man’s voice instructed others loudly, his tone hurried and commanding.

  “Kill him! Kill him quickly!” - begged a female voice, crying as she shouted.

  “Is everything alright?” - sensing that something was not right, Noa called out loudly enough to be heard by the unseen strangers - “Is anyone hurt?”

  On the inside of the wagon, Domnus stood beside the boy while holding a large iron rod, an improvised weapon received from Rolyn. Looking just like an ordinary scared child, Soreq held his hands together, expertly hiding a dagger on the inside of his sleeve. As Noa’s voice echoed into the night, and their wagon stopped, a group of angry looking men and women appeared from the other side of the road.

  “Who are you?” - pointing his sword at Noa, the blade looking to be completely dull, the man shouted in the same commanding tone from before - “Don’t come closer!”

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  “Easy friend.” - trying his best to appear as harmless as possible, Noa raised his hands, while giving the best gentle smile as he could - “We’re just travelers, your group is blocking the road and I heard shouting.”

  “No one travels this far west, where are you heading?”

  “To the village on the edge of the dark forest,” - pointing to Soreq, who looked absolutely terrified of the sword wielding man, Noa watched as the man’s surprise seemed to ease up a little - “taking this one back to his mother. You?”

  “To bring food and supplies,” - deciding that the group was not a threat, the man put his weapon down, followed by the others - “we’ll resume our trip soon, just have to deal with an evil spawn amongst our midst.”

  “An evil spawn?” - getting up quickly, forcing the best expression of shock and urgency that he could, the boy pulled his beads from his pocket - “I’m a member of the clergy, please allow me to see this person!”

  At the sight of the silver beads, a tool often used by clerics and shamans to perform rituals and grant protection to the people, some of the armed people seemed relieved while others remained worried. The apparent leader of the group, the one shouting orders to the others, gave Noa a silent signal to approach.

  “Be a good boy and stay in the cart,” - turning to look at the boy as he got out of the wagon, Noa tried his best not to laugh at his own poor acting skills - “I’ll try helping this nice folk and I’ll be right back!”

  “Okay Father…” - replied Soreq, his scared voice trembling while a single tear rolled down his face, watching carefully as the strangers led the young priest away.

  Passing between the stationed wagons, who seemed filled with grains and other everyday necessities, Noa reached the source of the light he saw earlier. A small fire seemed to have been built quickly, while a much larger unlit bonfire appeared to be halfway done. On the opposite side of the wagons, tied with a thick rope to a lone three and with his head bleeding, a young looking boy stared at him in panic.

  “There he is…” - said the men’s leader, pointing to the scared boy who tried to speak despite the rope on his mouth.

  “What has he done?” - analyzing the surrounding situation, as well as taking account of the group size and weapons, Noa could sense a strange leftover energy in the air - “He seems just like an ordinary child.”

  “Don’t let his appearance fool ya!” - shouted a nearby woman, a butcher’s knife firmly held in her hand - “He’s a little monster!”

  “You, quiet!” - said the leader while giving the woman a cold glare, before turning back to the priest - “Sorry father, things are a little tense around here.”

  “I can see that..” - giving the now sobbing woman a gentle smile, Noa kept his eyes on the pleading boy - “Why don’t you tell me what happened here?”

  “The boy and another child were playing while we were camping, when they went too far away from the group and were attacked by wolves.”

  “By the gods, was anyone hurt?” - already able to tell the answer, Noa tried to push the man to give him the information he desired.

  “That’s the problem…” - rubbing his hands as if the very recollection of events was enough to scare him, the man looked uneasy - “The boy carried the other unconscious child back, telling us of the attack and saying he fend off the creatures, but wouldn’t tell us how.”

  “And you believe he used some evil means…”

  “We didn’t have to,” - gesturing to a trembling girl about the same age as the boy, hiding behind the loud woman from before, the leader continued - “once the girl he saved woke up, she told us about how the boy used a dark mist to scare off the wolves.”

  A dark mist, strong enough for a child to send away a pack of hungry adult wolves. That description alone sounded more like the wild imagination of a scared child than the machination of an evil being, but was probably enough to create panic amongst such a group of scared travelers. Without saying a single word, Noa began moving closer to the tied boy, watching as his eyes widened with fear as he approached.

  “Has the boy said anything about the accusations?” - he asked the leader, without turning around.

  “Well, no…” - his voice loaded with fear and guilt, the leader’s shame could be felt with every word - “We thought he would curse us, so we knocked him out and got ready to burn him…”

  “Without even hearing his version of the events, you just decided to burn him?” - trying his best to control the anger growing inside him, Noa’s mind raced thinking of ways to undo this situation - “What does his parent’s have to say to this?”

  “The boy has no parents, he joined as an apprentice hoping to become a merchant.”

  “And on the first sign of trouble you decided to strike him, brand him evil and burn him?”

  “He could have harmed my daughter!” - the woman screamed, her voice mumbling as fear and panic seemed to have blocked her reason.

  “If the boy was truly evil, why scare the wolves?” - turning to look at the leader’s face, Noa could see the man’s resolve fading as the weight of his actions started to sink in - “Why carry the girl back to the camp if he wished to harm her?”

  “That… That is…”

  “I sense no evil in the child…” - placing his hand on the boy’s chest, Noa looked him straight in the eyes giving him a reassuring smile - “Just a brave young man who tried his best to protect someone, and an imaginative young girl.”

  “But… But we…” - the leader started to speak, his expression turning from one of confusion to pure panic.

  Grabbing the rope that was gagging the boy, Noa started undoing the knot, under the careful watch of the rest of the group. Looking down with their faces filled with guilt, no one spoke or tried to stop the priest from undoing the bindings, and one man tried to keep the frantic woman quiet.

  “There you go!” - as the ropes came loose, the boy’s body came crashing to the ground, being caught right on time by Noa. Despite looking to be around the age one’s considered an adult, the boy looked weak and malnourished - “It’s okay now, no one’s gonna hurt you…”

  “Look… We didn’t mean to…” - with panic in his voice, the leader began coming closer, causing the boy to flinch.

  “I’ll be taking over the boy, I believe that’s the best for both parties.” - holding the boy in place, Noa’s voice was no longer gentle as before, but a straight order - “Have someone grab whatever belongings he may have, now!”

  “Right away…” - turning to the rest of the group, the leader quickly left towards the nearest wagon.

  “You see?” - Noa leaned closer to the boy’s ear, whispering so that only he could hear him - “That’s what you get by using necromancy in plain sight!”