Dawn- An age of Darkness

Chapter 58 - What’s More Valuable, My Life Or My Pride?

Gorgan was the shining star. In fact, he was literally glowing. His armor and sword gave off a faint aura and he was our lifeline. Without him, we'd probably be half dead by now. And that wasn't an understatement. His humble attitude made me want to punch him even more though.

It was odd how these undead could still see us even in broad daylight. I'd heard it before from Jocaur, back at the palace but I didn't really want to believe it. I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

It was like I had an invisible radar and the statue was the beacon. We slew countless undead and goblins in our path and finally reached the center, covered in rotting flesh and blood in the process. All three of us had wounds all over but none of those wounds were serious, and we didn't have time to treat them with the undead continuously charging at us.

The center of the forest looked the same as the rest of the forest and there were undead here as well. But they remained surrounding the area, without intruding the center. The statue was there but it was broken. Not in half, but in pieces.

I punched a tree nearby. "Damn it! No wonder this is happening!"

"You know something, don't you?" Jocaur became excited. "You even led us to this place? Surely you know something!" He was right. I did know more about the statue than him. But there wasn't a point in grooming over it.

"This statue protected you guys from the undead. Now that it's gone."

They looked at me with doubtful eyes but seeing how serious I was, they didn't say anything.

After a brief few minutes the old knight sighed. He was rather pale. He probably believed me. "My granddad used to say something like that too. But what about the town!"

"This is no time for worrying about the statue. We need to get back and put up a defensive barrier around the city wall. We've searched and found the reason behind the surge but there's nothing we can do here," Gorgan explained. "We also couldn't find the elves in time… they must have really perished…." He trailed off. Meaning he wasn't here to find the elves in the first place. So why did he come? Just to find the cause? Somehow it didn't make sense to me.

"With just the three of us? You do know, that she ordered all the knights to protect only the castle, right?" My tone was a little sarcastic. The mere thought that I couldn't find Lianne, put me on the edge.

"I'm aware of that."

We stayed quiet for a few seconds. The undead around us groaned and moaned. I didn't really care about them but if push came to shove, we'd have to do a lot more than just fight off undead. Besides, I got the sinking feeling that something was off. And was fighting them even possible with what little forces we had?

"Wan…"

What was that? "Did you guys hear that?" I glanced around.

Gorgan looked sharp. "You mean the restlessness of the undead? Yeah, I heard it clearly. We must hurry now!"

"That's right!" Jocaur added.

I see. I sighed. Only one of my goals had been fulfilled and the other one remained. "You two can head back, but I need to find those elves first," I made my declaration clear. I didn't want to spend another second in this forest, and yet I couldn't go with them either. It took a lot of willpower from me to resist the urge to get out of here and not be alone.

But I couldn't abandon the elves, not Lianne; not until I had definite proof of them being dead.

"I don't know what you owe to them for wanting to risk your life this much, but I pray for your success." Jocaur slapped me on the back.

"Thanks old man."

"And I took the trouble of getting you out of there too, you know." Gorgan came close to me and whispered. He almost sounded disappointed but then smiled and walked away. "Don't lose focus and keep your head straight." Gorgan turned around. "I trust you'll make it back in one piece. Don't make me lose face to my lady. And thanks for allowing the lady to save face earlier. I really owe you one."

I smiled. Just how sharp was this guy? But it did make sense. He was here not because he wanted to find the source of to find the elves. He was here because he owed me a debt and he wanted his so-called lady to save face. I didn't know what he had for that woman but I didn't judge him. The guy really was a nice guy.

But neither of them stopped me: it was odd and yet made perfect sense.

They knew they had bigger fishes to fry. Besides, the undead might have been surging but they didn't really pay all that attention to us: as if they were somehow dazed. Some were still the same though, attacking us, the first chance they got. If all of them came at us with full force, the three of us would have had a much harder time. Even so, I didn't think they'd let me go without making any fuss. I guess I was wrong.

"You too," I said while staring at an undead in front of me.

It was staring at me instead of attacking. Actually, none of the undead attacked us near the statue. They had us surrounded and glared from a distance for a time now. It was creepy. Maybe some part of the statue was still alive.

"Oh and don't forget about that," Gorgan gave me another lady killer look. Did that guy swing the other way? I was really starting to doubt it.

What the hell are you talking about, dude?

Both of them left. I couldn't think of anywhere to go.. The torch in my hand was burning bright, but soon it too would run out. Would it be better to head back and protect the town instead? But Lianne…