Ash sensed something was wrong before the last of the trees fell behind him.
No children's voices. No sound of hammers or saws that should still have been audible from that distance. Pinedale in the middle of the day should have been loud, but what reached his ears was only silence, broken by sounds he did not recognize coming from the direction of the village hall.
He raised one hand and stopped. Wren, Dano, Raldo and the rest stopped behind him.
"What is it?" Wren whispered.
Ash did not answer, only gestured forward with his chin and crouched into the bushes at the edge of the path leading into the village.
From there he could see the village hall. The people of Pinedale stood huddled in front of it, shoulders tense and heads lowered. Several soldiers in Vindale uniforms lay on the ground, their bodies unmoving. People in tactical clothing stood surrounding the crowd, each holding a weapon aimed at the villagers.
"Who are they?" Dano whispered at Ash's elbow.
Ash gave a small shake of his head, his eyes sweeping the open ground. Those weapons did not belong to ordinary village soldiers, too advanced, too powerful. The grey aircraft that had landed in the western area of the village earlier crossed his mind.
In the middle of the open ground, a man stepped up onto a stack of wooden crates, simply to appear taller and draw the attention of everyone present.
His body was large, his stomach pressing out from beneath the long black coat he wore. A leather cowboy-style hat covered part of his scarred face, his thick beard looked unkempt.
He stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the crowd below with the expression of someone who was used to waiting and did not enjoy it.
"Good afternoon, people of Pinedale," his voice was heavy and carried all the way to where Ash was hiding, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Jacker, Commander of the Aegis unit from the city of Ironfeld." He paused for a moment, letting people hear his name clearly.
"I apologize about our friends from Vindale. I suppose they were never taught manners when it comes to welcoming guests."
Aegis, Ash knew that name, everyone in the region knew it. Aegis was a monster hunting group that was usually called in when a threat had surpassed the ability of local hunters. Their arrival should have meant protection for the villagers.
"I am here for one thing." Jacker lowered his tone slightly, but that was precisely what made it sound more serious. "When the Oars pack attacked this village a few days ago, there was one among them that was different. Blue neck, gleaming scales, nearly twice the size of an ordinary Oars."
He let the sentence hang for a moment. "I want to know the whereabouts of that creature."
The people were silent. Several heads turned toward each other, small whispers that were not clear enough to reach Jacker's ears. The man waited. One minute, two minutes, his face unchanged.
"Very well." He drew a short breath. "Anyone who provides information about that Oars will receive 500 Virel, in cash."
The sound of the crowd rose at once, people speaking to each other more loudly, but still no one stepped forward. 500 Virel was not a fantastic sum, but it was enough to buy 100 sacks of rice in the village of Pinedale, however, apparently no one had the information he was looking for.
Jacker waited again, this time his patience had run out.
BANG!
A shot fired into the air and everyone fell silent at once. Jacker slipped the pistol back to his hip with a casual motion.
"Please," he said, his tone dropping to nearly a whisper, "I am trying to be civil here. But I hate waiting, and I know there is someone among you holding the information I need."
From within the crowd, an old man stepped forward. His back was slightly hunched, his hair white at the temples, but his steps did not waver.
"Forgive me, Sir, allow me to speak. The situation during the attack was chaotic," the old man said, his voice loud enough for Jacker to hear. "Everyone was running to save themselves. Surely no one had the chance to pay attention to a single Oars out of so many that were attacking."
Jacker stepped down from the crates. His pace was slow as he approached the old man. "Who are you?" Jacker asked.
"I am the Deputy Head of Pinedale village." The old man did not step back. "Our village head died in the attack, so I am the one replacing him."
Jacker stood directly in front of him, taller than the old man's head. "Listen carefully." His voice dropped to a low tone, but from behind the bushes Ash could hear every word clearly.
"The information I am looking for concerns something far larger than your village. So I need all of you to dig deeper into your memories ...," his jaw hardened, his voice rising suddenly. "And give me whatever information is in your heads, you bastards!"
Several people in the crowd drew sharp breaths. Children cried beside their mothers. Aegis was supposed to protect them, not threaten them.
Ash gripped the tree trunk in front of him. Beside him, he heard Wren draw in a long breath.
"Fine, it seems you are not interested in money, let us try another way." Jacker turned away from the old man and nodded to one of his subordinates.
A young man was pulled out of the line, shoved until he stumbled to the ground in front of Jacker. His face was pale, his knees trembling as he tried to get up.
"You." Jacker stared down at him. "Do you know something?"
The young man shook his head quickly, his lips moving but his voice barely coming out. "I was too busy running, Sir. I was only looking for somewhere to hide, so I did not get the chance to see anything."
Jacker stared at him for a few seconds. Then gave a small nod toward his subordinate.
BANG!
The young man collapsed to the ground with a hole in his head.
The crowd erupted at once, screams and cries mixing together, several people ran in every direction but Aegis subordinates had already lined up surrounding them. Repeated shots fired into the air forced everyone to stop in their tracks.
Behind the bushes, Wren pulled Ash's arm back as Ash was about to stand.
"What are you thinking? Look at their weapons," Wren whispered, his voice flat but his eyes serious. "Are you going to fight them with your axe?"
Ash stopped. His mind calculated quickly, the number of Jacker's subordinates in sight, the distance between them, the weapons they carried. The axe in his hand suddenly felt very small. He sat back down, but his eyes did not stop moving, scanning the faces in the crowd one by one, hoping not to see Elira there.
Shots continued to ring out every few minutes. Each time the sound fired, another body fell. Jacker's face did not change through all of it, flat and cold, like someone carrying out something tedious.
Beside Wren, Raldo had been standing with rigid shoulders since some time ago. Ash noticed it but did not manage to do anything before the man suddenly straightened.
In the open ground, one of Aegis's subordinates pulled a teenage boy out of the crowd. The boy stumbled as he was shoved forward, his eyes turning immediately toward the bushes where Raldo stood.
Raldo was already running before Ash could stop him. His feet hit the ground hard, his body crashing through the bushes without slowing his stride.
"Let him go!" he shouted. "That is my brother, let him go!"
Jacker did not turn. He only stood with his back facing Raldo, staring at the trembling teenager in front of him. "Do you know something, boy?"
The teenager could not answer. His mouth was open but no sound came out, his eyes fixed on his older brother running toward him with tears already streaming down both cheeks.
Raldo was only a few meters away when the tip of a pistol pressed against his brother's temple.
BANG!
Raldo's steps stopped at once. His body froze in the middle of the open ground, standing without moving, staring ahead with an empty expression.
One of Jacker's subordinates approached him from the side. "Hey. Do you know about the blue-necked Oars?"
Raldo did not answer. His hand raised the axe. "You bastards!" He swung it.
The Aegis subordinate stepped to the side, dodging the swing with ease. The muzzle of his weapon rose and pressed under Raldo's jaw.
BANG!
Raldo's body fell to the ground.
The remaining crowd stood trembling in silence, no more screams, no more running. They stood with heads lowered and eyes that did not dare to look up. Several people cried without sound.
Ash was trembling too, his hand gripping the axe handle as though trying to crush it, but not from fear. Beside him Wren and Dano were silent, their eyes fixed on the open ground.
Ash happened to glance at one of the windows in the village hall. One of Jacker's subordinates walked past the window, his hand gripping the hair of a woman he was dragging behind him. The woman tried to walk upright, her hands attempting to ease the pull on her hair.
Ash recognized the figure, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.
Elira was herded to the middle of the open ground and shoved until she stumbled and fell in front of Jacker. The heavyset man glanced at her briefly, then raised his head and looked at the remaining crowd.
"We repeat the same question," he said.
Ash was on his feet before that sentence finished. Wren grabbed his arm but Ash pulled free and stepped out of the bushes, his legs already running toward the open ground.
"I know where the monster is!"
His voice broke the silence of the open ground. Jacker's subordinates on watch raised their weapons, but Ash did not stop. He pushed through the middle of them, shoving aside two people who tried to block him, and stood directly in front of Elira.
"I know what you are looking for." His voice came out calmer than he expected.
Jacker stared at him for a few seconds. For the first time since arriving in Pinedale, the corner of his lips moved upward slightly.
"Finally." He let out a long breath. "Tell me, where is that damn blue Oars?"
Ash held the man's gaze directly.
"I already killed it."
***