The Song Of Sword And Magic

Chapter 58: The Imminent Danger

[Translator — Asuka]

[Proofreader — Karane]

In the evening, they finished dinner and decided to take a rest. In Sara, they wouldn’t dare to put their guard down, so Stan and Rae would take turns to keep guard at night. Fern looked apologetically at Rae, who didn’t mind it one bit.

When the first half of the night was over, Rae stepped out of the house to replace Stan, who took off his cloak and passed it to her. “Be careful. The sky is dark as there’s no moonlight at all.” Both of them subconsciously looked up at the sky.

The moon was covered by the dark clouds as the stars and aurorae were out of sight as well. At that moment, all they could see was endless darkness in the sky. 

After taking a few steps towards the house, Stan whirled around and returned. “I’ll keep guard with you for the latter half of the night. I can’t be at ease in this kind of weather.” He coughed and widened his eyes to stay awake.

Seeing that Stan was exhausted, Rae persuaded him by saying, “Go rest. Fern hasn’t recovered yet. If you also come down with sickness, do you want Niss and me to carry the two of you on our backs?”

Stan heaved a sigh and gave in. “Alright, you have to be careful. If there’s anything unusual, you must wake us up immediately and don’t fight with the enemy on your own.”

Rae snorted. “I’m not Fern.”

Stan flashed a smile at her and went back to the house. Before he closed the door, he gave the magician a worried look. “Be careful, Rae.”

Rae nodded, but there wasn’t much light outside the house, so Stan couldn’t see it clearly. Feeling uneasy, he closed the door.

***

In an instant, the atmosphere around her fell into dead silence. The bare twigs swayed along with the night breeze. In darkness, the other houses in the village were only faintly visible, so the atmosphere was rather horrifying.

After all, Rae wasn’t Stan, so she just took a seat on the chair and started meditating. She was afraid that if she allowed her thoughts to go wild, she would become fearful in the dark.

For that moment, she thought about the fact that she used to have blonde hair and blue eyes; the boy in a neighboring village she was fond of when she was thirteen; her mentor, Moses… All the memories before she started learning dark magic.

Skurd—my hometown—is a poor but peaceful village. What’s that boy called? Is he Rory or Rocky? I don’t even remember his name. Rae shook her head helplessly. Since the day she started learning dark magic, there hadn’t been anyone or anything that was memorable to her.

Maybe this journey is the exception. She thought about her companions. Those guys… At the thought of this, she smiled faintly.

As she meditated, time went by quickly. The sky will turn bright soon. That’s great. She hadn’t been so excited about the break of dawn for a long time. For the past two nights, the moon and the stars were extremely bright. I haven’t been looking forward to seeing the rising sun for a long time. I thought I wouldn’t be excited about anything again. Since time immemorial, I’ve lost hope in everything, but today, I think I can see hope again. Her eyes welled up with tears.

***

Just then, her heart suddenly sank. What’s that? She hurriedly opened her eyes and looked around, but she couldn’t see anything in the dark.

Closing her eyes again, she tried to sense her surroundings. It’s this feeling. Damn it. We’re still very near Doyle. How could it…

Then, she dashed into the house and woke up her companions.

Stan awakened first. “What happened?”

“It’s the Dark Tide. I can feel that they’re now North of our current location.” Rae replied anxiously as she packed up her stuff. “We have to pack up quickly. I’m not sure if we’re their target, but we’d better get ready.”

Fern sat up as well. “We had just escaped from the Doylans. Are we going to confront the Dark Tide so soon? Why can’t they just give us a break?” He then got to his feet carefully as his temples were still in pain.

Niss looked worriedly at him. “Are you alright, Fern?”

Fern shook his head with a smile. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Niss and Rae packed up their stuff in a hurry, after which Fern put out the fire in the fireplace. Stan closed the door and placed a table against it.

“How is it, Rae? Are they coming in our direction?” Fern asked in a small voice.

Puzzled, Rae clenched her fists. “Yes, but it’s not possible they’d find out that we’re here. Why are they coming here?”

Niss gripped her magic cane tightly, trying to ease her anxiety. “Maybe they’re just passing by. We just happen to be here.”

“No. Sara has fallen for a long time, so there’s nothing here that could make them stay. They must have a reason for coming here.” Rae denied Niss’s speculation and closed her eyes.

Stan vigilantly stayed beside the window and gazed out of it, but he couldn’t see anything in the dark either. “That’s not necessarily true. It’s only been two months since the demise of Sara. I guess they haven’t found the thing they need.”

“What is it that the Dark Tide wants in Sara?” Terrified, Niss leaned against the wall and stayed close to Fern.

Fern stroked her head to pacify her. “Let’s not think about it first. We should try to get ourselves out of danger now.” He then turned to look at Rae, who appeared to be solemn. “Can you feel how many zombies there are? Are there any fiends?”

“They’re too far away, so I can’t sense them accurately yet.” Rae frowned and shook her head. 

“Since they’re still far away, we’d better leave now. That would be a safer way.” Fern told them his idea. 

“I agree with him. We can just keep heading East to leave this place before the zombies discover us.” Stan landed a punch on the window frame. “Damn it. It’s too dark outside. I can’t see anything.”

Rae opened her eyes and replied helplessly, “We can give it a try, but whatever direction we’re going, we can’t be sure of what lies ahead.”

“I’d rather come across the Dark Tide on the road than wait here and wonder what would happen next. This is a terrible feeling.” Niss subconsciously hugged her own arms.

***

It was dark in the house, and no one could make a decision. After a moment of silence, Fern said, “It’s decided then. Rae, can you identify the direction before the sky turns bright?”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the area around Nasus. We’ll just head East until the sky turns bright, then there shouldn’t be a problem anymore.” Rae nodded, but no one saw what she just did in the dark.

“Alright, you’ll lead the way. Stan and Niss will be in the middle. I’ll stay at the back. Let’s go now.” As Fern spoke, he carried a bag on his back.

Stan carried another bag and opened the door. Stepping aside, he waited for his companions to get out and said, “I’ll stay at the back. Fern, you haven’t recovered yet, so we won’t know if anything happens to you if you’re behind us.”

Fern wanted to reject him, but he knew that what Stan had said was a better solution, so he just clapped the knight’s shoulder and followed Rae into the darkness.

***

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