Chapter 17: Chapter 17- A Shared Hatred

As the battle between Han Min and Adalhard raged on overhead, Sol managed to avoid the many Paladin Warriors killing the adults in the village by masking his presence. Despite being less proficient, Amon also hid his presence.

The screams of people were still echoing out as they reached the village entrance.

“Wah-What are you doing Big brother Sol?”

Amon asked when he saw Sol was leaving the village.

“Sheesh! Amon, I need you to be quiet, okay? We’re leaving the village.”

“What? NO! Alma and Farlon are still trapped inside the temple. They’re trapped with everyone else!”

“I know Amon, but we have to leave.”

“But… But I promised I would come back for them… No, I’ll listen to Big Brother Sol. I’m sure your father will save them!”

Hearing this, Sol felt his heart restricted inside his chest.

“Amon, my father, he… he won’t be able to save the village.”

“…”

Little Amon froze when he heard Sol’s words. His hands that were gripping Sol’s clothes suddenly began trembling.

“Big brother Sol… let me go.”

“Amon, just-”

“I SAID LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!!”

With tears pouring down his face Amon hit Sol’s back as he thrashed around.

“Amon, listen, you need to be quiet.”

Sol tried to calm Amon down, but he wasn’t listening and kept on yelling to be released. However, his yells abruptly stopped.

Sol hearing him suddenly stop, turned his head slightly to see what had happened, only to realize Amon was staring blankly at something some distance away.

While Sol kept running, he followed Amon’s gaze to see what he was looking at. But immediately, his face became ashen.

“Amon don’t look!”

Sol hurriedly said, but Amon had already seen the scene.

“D-Dad?”

On the ground several meters away, lay Amon’s lifeless father.

Sol gritted his teeth and sped up to get further away.

“No! Big Brother Sol what are you doing?! That’s my father, turn back! Dad, he might be… he might be injured so we need to turn back!”

Despite Amon’s yells Sol only continued to speed up.

“Amon that’s not your father! That’s-”

“Liar! That’s my father! He’s wearing the same clothes as the ones he wore when he sent me to midday prayer!”

*Sobs… Sobs…*

Amon’s cries became even louder. No matter how much Sol tried to calm him down, everything was just too much for little Amon to handle.

“I hate you Big Brother Sol! I’ll never call you Big Brother again and I’ll never forgive you!”

“FINE!!”

Sol roared as he leaped onto a tree branch in the forest.

This shout from Sol caused Amon to flinch.

With a vexed expression, Sol began to leap from tree branch to tree branch.

“I don’t care if you don’t call Big Brother anymore, and I don’t care if you hate me for the rest of your life. But I made a promise to your father that I’m going to save you, and I’m going to save you, Amon. Even if it kills me!”

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

The only thing Sol could hear after his yelling was the wind blowing against his ears. Amon’s yells had died down to sniffles.

Sometime later, Sol felt Amon wrap his hands around his neck before burying his head in his back.

Amon was doing his best to lessen the noise he was making.

Sol tightened his grip around Amon’s legs as he increased his speed even more. Despite the exhaustion he was feeling, Sol didn’t allow himself to slow down one bit.

From tree branch to tree branch, Sol sped further and further away from the village. He didn’t even know what direction he was running in, just as long as it was away from the village.

However, after nearly thirty minutes of nonstop running. Sol’s foot suddenly slipped on a tree branch and he and Amon almost fell.

Luckily, Sol was able to react quickly and grabbed onto the branch before completely falling.

After climbing up, Sol began breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

“Are you okay?”

Sol turned and asked Amon between his heavy pants.

“I’m fine, Big Brother Sol… and I’m sorry…*Sniffle*…”

“It’s okay Amon, I know it’s hard, but you have to be strong in times like this, okay?”

Amon nodded, while his head was still buried in Sol’s back.

Sol took this time to examine his surroundings. He didn’t recognize the shrubbery of this part of the forest, meaning they were lost. That wasn’t a good thing.

Inside the Ibbian Mountain Range, there were safe havens that were protected by Guardian Spirits in the Mountain Range. These Guardian Spirits were also known as Ibbian Beasts.

Some of them are friendly and allow villages to be built in their territory while protecting them, but some are violent and would kill humans on sight.

Sol was praying he hadn’t run straight into a hostile Ibbian Beast’s territory.

After recalling the many territories that were outside of their village that his father had told him about, Sol continued forward and began looking for any signs that could tell him where he was.

The best thing right now was to find another village. However, even Sol didn’t like that idea.

If that massacre happened to his tribe, what was stopping it from happening to other tribes nearby?

Ever since the barrier weaken two years ago, outsiders had invaded their Ibbian Mountain Range.

As Sol continued to leap from branch to branch with Amon on his back, his hatred for those outsiders continued to increase.

It was because of them that his village was destroyed.

And it was because of them that his father might be dead.

“I won’t forgive them Big Brother Sol. I’ll never forgive those Outsiders.”

Amon suddenly said, drawing Sol out of his thoughts.

After a moment of silence, Sol responded.

“I won’t forgive them either… If I have the chance in the future, then I’ll-”

Sol was about to swear revenge, but his words were cut short by a loud explosion. This happened right next to them, all the trees in the surroundings were suddenly uprooted as the ground rose into the air.

Amon’s screams were heard as both he and Sol were sent flying away.

Reacting quickly, Sol grabbed Amon and shielded him from the wooden splinters of the trees. With a loud bang, he then landed on the ground hard; his body still covering Amon protectively as destruction unfold around them.

The loud explosions happened for a few more breaths of time, before eventually quieting down.

When Sol opened his eyes, he wondered how they were still alive. Luckily, the uprooted trees blocked the large boulders from crushing them.

Sol unfurled his hands from Amon and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes.”

Amon stuttered a little shaken up.

After checking he was really okay, Sol began looking around.

The evening sun’s light rays that were once blocked by the massive trees were now pouring through the makeshift canopy, they were under.

Thanks to the large trees falling over them, Sol and Amon were able to survive, but now they were also trapped by them.

After thinking for a moment, Sol released an exhale before he extended his hand upwards.

The bracelet on his wrist detached and shot toward the sky. With several loud bangs, it destroyed the many tree branches overhead.

Sol didn’t hesitate to grab Amon and leap up through the opened path. After reaching the surface of the fallen trees, he quickly put the bracelet back on, but after escaping Sol and Amon’s eyes suddenly widen at the state of their surroundings.

What they saw was a long trail of destroyed trees and raised ground. They had a clear view of how long the destruction was from standing at the end of the trail, but even then, they couldn’t tell where it started.

“What attacked us? Was it Ibbian Beasts?

Amon asked as he continued to gape at the scene.

Sol, however, narrowed his eyes and looked off into the distance of the trail. It started in the direction of the village.

“It’s Dad.”

Sol said as he leaped down the uprooted trees and approached the crashed sight.

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