Civilization

Loud explosions could be heard from the front of the village, as each time an explosion could be heard, a loud echo vibrates throughout the surroundings. Climbing on top of a tree with the help of Sylvia, we both position ourselves near the back of the village. Unfortunately for us, the wall is slightly taller than the tree, but it isn't a problem for Sylvia to jump across, the problem was me.

"I can't make this jump, Sylvia. There must be another way for me to get inside the village." - Nina

"Trust me, it is not that far of a jump and I can still grab onto you, so long you are close enough." - Sylvia

"That doesn't make it ANY easier. What if I don't get close enough for you to catch me? I just fall down to the ground, right?" - Nina

"Uh… I guess so?" - Sylvia

"No, no, no. I'm climbing down the tree. I'm going to find another way. Maybe I should blast my way through? That can't be hard, right?" - Nina

"And let everyone know we are here?" - Sylvia

"Sigh… I know. It's an idiotic idea. You think I didn't think of it earlier before I climbed this stupid tree with you? How about you just tell me the situation inside the village first and then I'll decide what to do." - Nina

"Alright…" - Sylvia

Turning away from me, Sylvia look below the wall, into the village, while I glance in the direction of the front gate. Seeing clouds of dust below the moonlight, with just a couple small torches lit up for the few people at the front gate to see, I could guess the state of the battle, however, I did feel like something was missing. I just couldn't put my finger on it, and instead choose to ignore it. Glancing back in Sylvia's direction as she tries to grab my attention.

"Nina! I think we might be lucky. We should be able to blast our way from the ground if we need to. There isn't a single person or monster here. I think they are all at the front of the village fighting everyone else." - Sylvia
"Huh? What do you mean? Is the village just empty?" - Nina

"Well, from what I can see, yes. However, there is are two separate gates. One closer to the front, which I can assume is a second layer of defense, and another toward the back of the village, which leads into a cave. In front of the cave, I can see two lit torches on either side of the entrance, but even in that area, I don't see anyone." - Sylvia

"That's very weird. No matter what kind of attack befalls on a village, there should always be civilians wandering around, trying to escape or run to shelter or a group of soldiers preparing the defenses. Yet, you say there is no one? Not a single soul?" - Nina

"No one. I can't see over the wall that is closer to the front gate, but even then, I would assume that where would be people positioned on top of the gate. There isn't even a single torch lit in that direction, with only the light produced by the moon and the two torches at the cave being the only light in this whole village." - Sylvia

After Sylvia told me the situation in the village, it finally clicked, what I felt was missing, the sounds. If a place is being invaded then there would be a lot of noise of people scurrying away, panicking at the attack, or the sound of monsters growling at the presence of the enemy. The shouting of orders from superiors, telling others to defend a place or even the cluttering of weapons and armor, bouncing against on another as they prepare their defenses.

However, there was no sound. As silent as a ghost town, the village stands in front of our attack, just waiting for its invaders to come closer. Like a crocodile, lying in wait for its prey as the fish swings right in front of its long mouth, brushing against its yellow teeth. A trap? No… It's too quiet even for a trap and for a trap to work, there would still be traces of movement right before prey arrives, but there was nothing throughout the whole time we have arrived here.

Did they leave and are now attacking the Krepost? I know, they know where the Krepost is, but there was no sign of them approaching the Krepost, especially since we were late arriving here. We should have seen signs of a large army detouring around to attack the Krepost. Then what is it? Think, Nina. What else could be the reason? The biggest unknown is the cave.

Where could the cave be heading? What is inside the cave? An ambush? A safe retreat? A method to attack the Krepost? Too many possible solutions and too little information to properly estimate their plan of approach. Looking up at Sylvia, who had been waiting for my response, I prepare myself for a jump. Leaping unexpectedly at Sylvia with all my strength. Her surprised face turns to panic as she lunges forth to grab my outstretched hand.

"ARE YOU STUPID? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING BEFORE JUMPING?" - Sylvia

"You said you would catch me. I only trusted my friend to catch me, plus I was busy thinking about things." - Nina

"I can see that, god dammit. Come up here, Nina." - Sylvia

Pulling me up bit by bit with her Herculean strength, Sylvia eventually helps me onto the wall. Breathing heavily after the task was done, Sylvia stays on the side while I took a good look around the village from the top of the wall. Much like Sylvia has said, it was empty without a hint of a human or monster life, however, what Sylvia didn't realize is that it this place was like this for a while.

Half constructed buildings and materials were spread out, with large boulders in places next to walls to reinforce them. I could count the amount of finished buildings on my hands, and to my surprise, there wasn't even an area to house the monsters. The only completed part about this whole village is the wall itself. A three stage defense, with a cave at the end, which could lead to anywhere.

"So, what do you suggest we do? Do we head toward Celine and Rebecca? Help them push through the front gate?" - Sylvia

"No, since there isn't even any enemies here, I doubt it will take them too long to reach the end of the village. They will slow down slightly as they realize that there are no enemies and will proceed with caution, slowing down their advance as an ambush might happen but with no real danger, they will be fine coming here. Instead, I think we should investigate the cave. I'm curious about the interior and if there is any danger, the both of us will be able to handle it." - Nina

"Alright, well, to get down I see a set of stairs on the far right side, closer to the third wall. It looks stable enough, but just in case, do you see any other way down?" - Sylvia

"Hmm… No, I don't. Let's go to the stairs." - Nina

Wandering over to the stairs, we find that it was stable enough for the both of us to traverse down, however, we used the wall next to the stairs as points of contact. Lessening the strain on the stairs by applying some of our weight to the wall as well. Slowly we reached the ground, and once against we were greeted with silence. Not a sound could be heard within the village, but there was an increasing sound of explosions in the direction of the front of the gate, with momentary pauses.

Sylvia takes the lead as we travel along the wall, searching for a way past it. Not long on our travel, do we see a small opening, tall enough for a standard sized adult. Long at me with a slightly worried face, Sylvia glances between me and the opening. Shrugging my shoulders, I urge her to take the lead, taking out my small wand just in case.

Making her way through the opening carefully, Sylvia stops to look around before signalling me to follow with her hands. The space in front of the cave and between the wall was just empty. Nothing but the dirt ground and the two torches, however, I notice that the ground was man made, as if a group of people had bought more dirt to the area and compacted it tightly into the ground, building a small dirt mound, leading to the cave.

Sylvia approaches the mouth of the cave, slightly crouching down and in battle position as she grabs onto the left torch and throws it into the cave. Bouncing off the ground and rolling slightly down, the torch lights up the interior, revealing blood-red sigils, writing, and lines along the ceiling of the cave. Waiting just in case something appears from deeper in the cave, Sylvia stands on guard, but when nothing happened she glances over her shoulder.

"Do we head inside?" - Sylvia

"Of course we do. The writing on the ceiling doesn't seem to be a language I am familiar with, and it didn't look like the writing of the elves. What's more is that there are small symbols in between the writing and lines, and these are most likely all along the ceiling, travelling deep into the cave until the end." - Nina

"The blood-red color does make my hair stand on end." - Sylvia

"It's just a color, and it could be made by mixing monster blood with water to thin it out, but it doesn't matter much since we don't understand it. I'll take this torch, so grab the one you threw into the cave and let's get going." - Nina



And just like that, we venture into the cave, with the many blood-red sigils and writing still lingering in my mind as I slowly scan through them, hoping to understand even a little of it.