"So, what is it you wish to speak to me about?" Gal queried.
Eryth folded back the sleeve of his shirt and sighed. "On my first day here, you mentioned that this village is protected by the gods so you do not get attacked by external evil."
"No," Gal replied.
"I said we have protection against Hex, attacks from other beings are still plausible, some of our villagers have even been disappearing recently."
Eryth nodded understandably before shifting his eyes to the man with the wound on his face.
"Also, I believe someone in the village wants me dead."
"Nonsense! I will not tolerate such accusations against the people of my village. Know your limit."
Eryth held his stare for a moment before replying. "Right, apologise for such words. I will watch what I say from here on."
Gal nodded. "Thank you."
"But I will be honest with you," he paused for a second and gave a subtle signal to the man behind him.
The man nodded before running into one of the huts.
"It was I who ordered the kill on you," he revealed, but the look on Eryth's face didn't shift.
His lips remained curved, and a small smile lingered on as he looked at the chief of the village.
"I'm sure you know your friends' sudden illness was not just a coincidence, I ordered that your meals be poisoned," he revealed.
"But somehow, it didn't affect you."
Eryth sucked his teeth while rubbing his index finger over the back of his ear.
"Why did you? Might I ask?"
"You see, a group of people we call the Collectors have been terrorising our little village for the past ten full moons… they come and take any person with much energy," he continued. "I planned to offer them your team and save my people till the next full moon, but you being fine ruined everything, and our physician convinced me not to do it anymore."
The man Gal ordered away returned with a long sword and passed it to Gal who collected and stabbed it into the ground.
Eryth turned to see the physician with the Green eyes staring at them with her arms crossed. The villagers began to gather around as Gal plunged his blade into the ground.
"I see."
"If these— Collectors only take people with much energy, then it seems Hex is using others to get into your protected village."
"Hex." The man stayed quiet for a second before placing his hand on his face.
"I should have known that was it." He sighed and looked up at Eryth.
"You must be powerful to be resistant to the poison, and that is why I want to ask for your help to fight and defeat these Collectors."
Only then did Eryth's face morph cold and his brows arched up into a frown. He dropped his hand by his side, brushing over the handle of his sword.
"You poisoned my friends."
"Sent your second to murder me at night.'
"And now you hold your blade and threaten me?"
"I will not help you."
Eryth stepped forward. "We leave this place before the full moon and that is the last you will see of me—" he let his words trail off as he locked eyes with Pelee, the girl he had shown a little about the Energy Act.
He then turned his heels and started away.
Gal pulled his sword out of the ground and made his battle stance. "Then I guess I'll have to kill and deliver your body to the Collectors myself."
He bolted forward and swung the long sword at Eryth but the latter, without turning back, ducked, letting the sword fly past his head. He spun around and forced his attacker back with a punch.
Eryth didn't waste any time as he pulled out his sword and parried Gal's next attack.
Gal furiously swung an attack but Eryth effortlessly parried and glared straight into his eyes while pressing back his sword. "
"You don't have any Act, do you?"
"I don't need any."
He pushed back Eryth's sword and swung again but Eryth hopped on the sword and propelled himself up. While in the air, he pulled out his dagger and hurled it at his opponent.
The Chief of the village moved his head just in time to let the dagger fly past his head. He swiftly hurled his heavy sword at Eryth while he was still in the air, but Eryth suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Gal with the dagger in his hand but he didn't attack, he placed the cold tip of his blade on Gal's neck, forcing him to surrender in defeat.
"If you are this strong, why didn't you fight the Collectors?"
"Stay and fight them then you'll find out why"
Gal swiftly turned and attempted a sneaky attack at Eryth but the latter easily dodged and tackled him to the ground.
"I will help fight the Collectors, but if you do anything to hurt my friends or anyone in this village, I'll kill you."
"You have my word."
Eryth sheathed his blade before walking into the woods.
He continued until he reached a lake and stopped in front of it. He sighed and dipped his hand into it, splashing the water over his face. He then dipped his hand again and rubbed it over his head before rising to his feet.
"Are you gonna just stay and watch me?"
"I just might," Syrie's soft voice said from behind.
"You make me want to watch you till the last hour."
Eryth chuckled and turned to face her. "Is that so?"
Her eyes flickered down to his neck then back up to his eyes.
"Yes."
Eryth noticed the look in her eyes and shook his head. "You are here to feed on me, yeah?"
She was quiet for a split second before replying. "I don't know what is wrong with me anymore," she started. "Before you came along, I used to have control over it… It took many full moons before the desire to hunt and feed resurfaces again."
"But since you, the desire to kill hasn't levelled, I am barely keeping myself from going on a rampage… or perhaps it's because I didn't kill you while I fed."
"Well," he paused. "Do you want to try again?"
Syrie didn't waste any second more. She immediately closed the distance between them and bit deep into his neck.
"Damn it!!" Eryth groaned as she dug her claws into his back. The wound from the enchanted blade closed up as she swallowed.
She stayed that way for a long moment, stealing groans and winces from Eryth before pulling back. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Thank you."
Syrie leaned back in, but this time, she pressed her lips against his, kissing him passionately. She held his hand and guided it to the arch of her back before wrapping her hands around his neck.
Eryth turned her against a tree and pulled down her clothes, kissing down to her neck and lower.
.
.
.
That night, the moon was brighter than anything the villagers had seen since the Collectors began collecting. The new priest, a disciple of the last priest, a Priest of Anitehr, claimed it was because the faith of the village and the villagers was about to change.
The villagers all stayed in their homes, peeking out the window, watching as Gal, and Eryth both stood still with their swords in hand, waiting for the Collectors. They had torches surrounding the village, lighting the place up in a warm orange glow.
"Look at you, standing all brave beside me while you've let these Collectors slaughter innocent lives for months." Eryth turned to Gal.
Gal stepped back. "I used to be an Illusion Act user, but one of them had the Green Eyes and he stopped the flow of energy in my body, now I'm just Gal with the long sword."
"That doesn't mean you just wait till they return every full moon to kill more of the people in this village. You should have come up with a plan to fight them instead of blaming your wife for giving birth to a cursed child. Perhaps it was you who was responsible for the child being that way."
Gal clenched his fist, hurt by Eryth's words. He turned to meet Eryth's gaze.
"They are coming!"
The scout's voice cut through the tension.
"The Collectors are coming!"
....
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