Blaze: The Hero

Chapter 10

*THIRD PERSON's POV*

A few hours had passed already since Blaze and his group has left the Sfaira village, and they are still running their horses inside the vast and green forest. Blaze looked around them and noticed that the darkness is starting to take over the forest as the night come close.

"It's almost nighttime," Blaze whispered to himself, but Scarlette still heard him since she is just sitting right in front of him.

"Yes, you're right. Maybe we should stop for a short while and rest?" Scarlette suggested with a bit louder voice in order for Blaze to hear her properly in the midst of the strong gush of the cold wind. Scarlette waited for Blaze's response but she did not hear anything from him so she tried to look up at him but she couldn't see his face properly since they are still riding the horse while it is running fast. However, Blaze still gave a thought about what Scarlette said and called for Zoleta who knew the forest better than him.

"Zoleta! How much farther to that lodging place you spoke of!?" Blaze raised a question with a loud voice that his voice almost echoed inside the forest.

"Huh!? What!?" Zoleta replied and slowed down her horse so she can be at the same pace with Blaze and Scarlette. As soon as Zoleta's horse is already running beside the horse of Blaze, he asked her again the same question.

"I said, how much farther to that lodging place you talked about earlier!?" Blaze questioned again without looking at Zoleta.

"Oh! Well...uhm...It's a bit hard to locate my signages here, but I think it will just take us another half an hour or so, why!?" Zoleta asked and took a glimpse of Blaze, but then she immediately turned her focus back on the road since she does not want to trip or bump into something while riding a horse.

Blaze did not say anything anymore to Zoleta, but he simply nodded his head, and after that, he increased the speed of his horse which made him and Scarlette, who are both riding the same horse, lead their group.

"Sir! Please slow down! You might exhaust your horse too much!" Henson warned Blaze, but the latter did not listen to him, he just kept on riding his horse at a fast pace. Henson sighed when he noticed that Blaze did not pay any attention to what he just said. Instead, Henson made sure that his horse and Havie's horse are both keeping up with Blaze's horse.

"Hey! Wait up!" Zoleta's loud voice was heard behind the cart that Henson and Havie's horse are pulling. Upon noticing the increase in speed that Blaze did to his horse, Zoleta also increased her speed and raced towards Blaze.

You may be the prophesied hero, but I am a daughter of a village chief named Zagar, and I know this forest better than you do so it is only natural that I should be the one leading this group while we travel inside this forest. Zoleta thought to herself while smirking while leaning her upper body slightly forward, which helped to increase the speed of her horse.

However, as she closes into Blaze, she noticed that the man started looking around the forest as if he is looking for something.

Hah! Are you scared, Sir Blaze? Zoleta asked in her mind while smiling playfully.

Keep slowing down like that and I will surpass you in a second. Zoleta thought to herself again while looking at Blaze. 

"Sh*t! Stop!" Blaze suddenly yelled out loud and pulled his horse in a sudden halt which made the horse neigh in a loud sound, and Blaze's sudden reaction surprised Zoleta, Henson, and Havie as well.

"Sir Blaze, what is wrong? Why did you sudde~" Henson wanted to ask Blaze something but the man immediately shushed him while looking around the forest.

"Hush!" Blaze coldly commanded to Henson who immediately shut his mouth as well. 

Something's not right here. Blaze thought to himself while looking around the forest. He even gave the reigns of the horse to Scarlette who is also confused with what is happening with Blaze right now, but she still took hold of the reigns even though she does not know how to use it.

"Uhh, why did we stop?" Zoleta asked with a hint of irritation in her voice since she was enjoying herself in racing with Blaze a while ago, even though she's the only one who knew about the race.

Blaze did not say anything to answer Zoleta's question, instead, he stepped down from his horse and started walking cautiously while holding the handle of his katana, preparing himself from a sudden attack.

Scarlette is just looking at Blaze while sitting still on the black horse, while Havie is also looking around the forest while holding her crossbow in her right hand. On the other hand, Zoleta also stepped down from her horse and walked her way towards her cousin, and started whispering to Henson who does not even pay any attention to whatever she is talking about.

"Is he searching for the lodging here?" Zoleta asked Henson in a low voice.

"Well, sorry to tell you Sir but the lodging is still a few minutes away from here," Zoleta spoke again but this time it is a bit louder for Blaze to hear.

"D*mn it!" Blaze suddenly uttered as he turned around and lead his horse behind a big tree while glaring at Zoleta.

"What? What did I do?" Zoleta asked innocently but Henson and Havie just shook their heads in disbelief as they looked at her, then back to Blaze who are still looking around the forest.

"You and that d*mned mouth of yours," Blaze coldly spoke to Zoleta while glaring at her which sent shivers down her spine, and she quickly apologized in a hushed tone before she shut her mouth. Zoleta can feel the stares of Henson and Havie at her but she looked away from them and turned her head to face the left side of the forest. 

While looking at the left side of the dark forest, Zoleta noticed something that moved in that direction, and it is followed by a sound of someone clicking his tongue, so Zoleta looked at Blaze and saw him standing in front of the black horse where Scarlette is still riding on while he is throwing his icy glares at the same direction where Zoleta noticed a movement so Zoleta looked at that direction again, and it was just then when she finally realized why Blaze has been on his guard since a few minutes ago.

A loud and deep roar echoed from the left side of the forest. It is a  sound that seems like someone screaming out of agony from the depths of the earth.

"A demon!" Scarlette screamed and after that, a red bulky demon was seen running towards them while its teeth are glowing under the moonlight, and its claws are raised in the air already. The demon kept running towards them, no, it kept running towards Zoleta who was frozen on her spot as she realized that the demon was targeting her.

"Hey! Snapped out of it!" Blaze yelled and pulled out the blade of his katana while gripping the handle firmly. After that, he did not hesitate to take the opportunity that the demon still has its eyes on Zoleta. Blaze run towards the demon and used his katana to slice the head of the demon, who was about to attack Zoleta, from its neck.

"Eh?" was the only word that Zoleta could muster as she watched the demon's body burn to ashes.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Blaze roared at Zoleta as he pointed his flaming katana at Zoleta who are still speechless while looking at Blaze.

"S-Sir Blaze! Please have mercy!" Henson quickly stepped down from his horse and pulled Zoleta away from Blaze who is still glaring at his cousin.

"You think this is just a mere field trip or something!?" Blaze mockingly questioned Zoleta again who is still unable to answer him. 

"I-I'm sorry," Zoleta whispered as she clenched her fists tightly, and bit her lower lip to stop herself from talking anymore.

"If you are here to play around, then I suggest you turn around and go back to your village," Blaze emotionlessly uttered to Zoleta before putting his katana back into its sheath, and turning his back at Zoleta.

Henson looked at Zoleta but the latter did not even meet his eyes and just remained silent.

"Let's go!" Blaze firmly spoke as soon as he got on his horse.

"Come on," Henson said to Zoleta and jogged his way towards Zoleta's horse and pulled it towards his cousin.

"Here," Henson said and handed the reigns to Zoleta who did not say anything and just grabbed the reigns. After taking a deep breath, Zoleta climbed on her horse and so did Henson. Then, the three followed Blaze and Scarlette again in silence.

After another fifteen minutes, Blaze finally saw a post where a lamp was lit up and signage below it that says Katalyma. 

We finally reached our first stop and resting place, huh. Blaze thought to himself and slowed down his horse. He made his horse walk towards the entrance of the lodging where they must cross a wooden bridge above a crystal clear water that surrounds the lodging place. Blaze controlled the pace of his horse while scanning the area as well, making sure that there are no demons around the area.

"I don't think a demon will show here, Sir Blaze," Scarlette uttered as she noticed that Blaze kept looking around the area.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Blaze asked in return as he took a glance at the other three warriors behind them.

"Because of this water," Scarlette said while looking at the water that surrounds the lodging place. The place looks like an island in the middle of the ocean as it stood firmly in the middle of the water that shines under the moon's light that shines upon it.

"The water?" Blaze questioned, wondering why the woman mentioned the water.

"Yes. I think this water is a holy one, something that the demons dislike the most," Scarlette answered.

This water is holy water? Isn't it too many? I mean, it looks like a lake of holy water. Blaze thought to himself as he stared at the water as well, but then he suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at him so he immediately averted his gaze in front of them and saw a man wearing a plain white robe that reaches his ankles and the man is also barefooted while he carries a long staff on his right hand.

"Fifty gozos for one night," the man spoke in a cold but stern voice while extending his left hand in front of him.

Gozos? 

"Oh! I have some money here," Henson spoke and started rummaging in his brown bag. And after a while, he pulled out a bag of coins, and he took fifty coins from the bag. The coin looks like a silver coin that has round-shaped. 

So gozos is the money in this world. Blaze thought to himself as he watched Henson as he hand over the silver coins to the man standing in front of them. 

When the man confirmed that the money given was indeed fifty in total by counting the coins on his hand, the man looked at Blaze and motioned his head towards the door of the lodging space.

"Leave the horses there, Paro will take care of them," the man spoke again and suddenly a house-elf appeared out of nowhere and looked at Blaze while nodding its head. Blaze stared at the small creature just beside his horse before stepping down from the black horse, he also helped Scarlette to step down from the horse. Then, Blaze gave the reigns to the creature who simply took the reigns and started pulling the horses at the side of the lodging place where a small stable is found.

Blaze is still occupied by the thought of seeing a house-elf in person as he only knew those from the movies that the humans from his world are talking about when Scarlette suddenly tugged the hem of his sleeve which caught his attention.

"Let's go inside," Scarlette said and smiled at Blaze who simply nodded at her, but as usual, the man still did not show any emotions on his face. Blaze walked inside the lodging place while the other four simply followed behind him, and as soon as they got inside they saw three women cleaning inside and the man who spoke to them before they got inside is already standing behind a wooden desk while staring at Blaze.

"Your keys," the man spoke again so Blaze approached the desk and saw two keys on it.

"Where's the other three?" Blaze questioned but the man just created his forehead as if asking what Blaze means by his question.

"There are five of us, so where are the other three keys to the other three rooms?" Blaze asked again, but this time in a more detailed way.

"Every room is occupied already. These are the only ones left," the man in white robe answered without much of an emotion seen on his face.

Upon hearing those words, Blaze sighed and simply nodded his head at the man and turned around to face the other four accompanying him.

"One room for the men and the other for the women," Blaze said plainly and gave one of the keys to Scarlette before walking towards the stairs and up to the second floor.

"Well, see you, ladies, tomorrow morning," Henson said and followed Blaze upstairs.

"Uhm, we should go upstairs as well," Scarlette said and Havie just nodded her head at her, while Zoleta simply followed behind them.

Blaze and Henson entered their room and found saw a wooden bunk bed inside with one table and one chair inside, there is also a wooden cabinet inside and one window. Blaze looked at the right side of the room and found another door so he opened it and found the comfort room.

"Nice. Such a big room for two men," Henson commented in a sarcastic way.

"We'll stay here for tonight and leave by dawn," Blaze instructed and Henson just nodded his head as an answer.

"That's fine with me, but for now, let's order some dinner from that old man," Henson said and grabbed his bag of money again before stepping out of the room. When he noticed that Blaze did not follow behind him, he went back inside the room and knocked on the door before opening it. 

"Are you coming or not?" Henson asked Blaze while pointing his thumb towards the stairs. Then, Blaze simply nodded his head at him and left his bag on the bed, but Blaze still brought his katana with him before stepping out of the room and locking it with the key that the man gave to them. Then, they saw Scarlette, Zoleta, and Havie stepping out of the room just beside theirs .

"Oh, perfect timing. Would you like to join us for dinner?" Henson invited the ladies.

"Oh, so it's you're treat? Thank you for the meal," Zoleta said with a smile on her lips, her playful expression has finally returned on her face which Henson noticed as well.

"Fine. But just for tonight. Also, don't buy something expensive," Henson said to Zoleta while pointing his finger at his cousin.

"Oh, sure!" Zoleta replied with a grin on her lips which made Henson glare at her, but she simply laughed at him before linking her right arm to his left arm.

Meanwhile, Scarlette is just smiling while watching Zoleta and Henson talking to each other.

"She seems to be fine now," Havie spoke while looking at Zoleta as well.

"Yes, and I like this side of Zoleta rather than that gloomy face," Scarlette replied to Havie who just nodded her head.

"I guess what you said to her made her realize her own mistake as well," Havie spoke again while they are following Zoleta and Henson downstairs, and Blaze is simply walking behind them without saying anything.

"I just told her that she must be careful when outside their village, especially during at night since that is the time when demons are so active so she should be more on guard as we proceed with our travels," Scarlette said shyly to Havie.

"Well, you are right," Havie agreed while looking at Zoleta. 

After a few more walks, they finally reached the bar area where some of the customers are already sitting around their tables with drinks and food on them. 

"Woah! Look at that! They have beers," Henson said and grinned as he saw a waitress serving some beers to a group of female customers.

"Come on, let's eat and drink," Zoleta said and drag her cousin towards an occupied table that was good for 6 persons. Scarlette, Havie, and Blaze simply followed the two and sat down on the chairs around the table. 

"Hi! Welcome to Katalyma's resto," a female waitress approached the table where Blaze and his group were seated. Blaze looked at the waitress and he first noticed her huge b*ssom and her blonde hair that suits her angelic face as she smiled sweetly at them.

"We would like to order one whole roasted chicken, five rice, one for each of us, and one big pitcher of beer," Henson ordered for their group and the waitress happily took note of his orders. After that, the woman gave them a small bow and left to give their orders to the manager of the resto that was standing behind the bar counter.

While waiting for their order, Blaze is also silently observing their surroundings and then he suddenly heard an interesting conversation from a pair of men that were sitting behind him so he secretly leaned on the backrest of the wooden chair and listened to their conversation.

"There was another attack last night," a grumpy voice spoke behind Blaze, then he heard a gulping sound when drinking something.

"Another one? Tsk! Tsk! This country is doomed as well. Where was it this time?" another man's voice spoke.

"The train station. I heard three were killed and one was missing from the victims," the grumpy voice answered.

"Missing? Nah, I bet that one was eaten whole," the other man replied.

"Yes, most likely. But the weird thing is the place is not as ruined as the other places where those things attacked before," the grumpy voice spoke again.

"Huh? What do you mean?" the other man inquired.

"They said there was no blood around the area and there are no leftovers of bodies around the area," the grumpy voice answered.

"Ha? You don't make any sense at all. You said there are three who were killed but there are no torn bodies left in the area?" the other voice questioned to confirm.

"Yes, because those three did not die from being eaten, but their skin is purplish and their veins are showing clearly on their body," the grumpy voice spoke again and Blaze heard another chugging sound.

There were three dead bodies but it was not a torn body? But bodies with different skin colors? What the hell does that mean?  Blaze asked in his mind as he creased his eyebrows.