The Path of Ruin

Kael studied the guard as he followed close behind him on patrol.

He must have been in his mid-twenties. Maybe late twenties. He had black hair cut very short and green eyes. He had a well-built body but... a short body. It was obvious that he was one of the guards, for he was wearing light armor and a small crest.

But it was none of this that caught Kael's attention.

Even though his back was turned, the man's attention was still on him. As if... as if he was ready to jump or protect himself if he tried something wrong.

'He didn't trust me completely.'

It would have been absurd for him to trust, frankly... so he didn't really care. But it had caught his attention.

He lowered his eyes to the sword hanging at his waist. He remembered again what had happened a few minutes ago.

When the sword had been pointed at him, a strange feeling had come over him. As if... as if the person in front of him was his enemy. His reflexes had suddenly kicked in, forcing his body to prepare for any attack. He sensed that the man had hostile intentions for him.

Was it a habit he had picked up in the forest? He was not sure. Though, in the end, he managed to suppress his feelings and himself, and he communicated with the man properly.

This time, however, another question arose in his mind.

What if... if they were to fight...?

The man in front of him was a normal human being. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he could feel it, he didn't have any blessings or curses.

Before, he had thought that no matter how strong he had been in the forest, in his current state, normal adults would be able to defeat him.

But looking at the man in front of him... he didn't feel that way. At the very beginning, when he had drawn his sword, the feeling that had grown inside him had told him to fight, not run.

He sighed deeply, pushing such thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to think such things about someone who was not his enemy.

And...

"Ahkan?"

He finally tore his eyes away from the guard walking in front of him and focused them even further forward.

They were right in front of the entrance to the town now. And... there were two other guards in front of them.

They were both looking in Kael's direction.

"Who is this guy?"

"He's a kid who's been trying to survive in the woods for a week, at least that's what he said..."

The two guards let their eyes linger on him for a moment. Then, they looked at each other, and then... back at the man called Ahkan.

"It's even more likely that it's just some kid you spawned out of nothing..."

Ahkan rolled his eyes.

"It is, but it couldn't be more unrelated. Anyway... I won't bother too much, I'll probably leave him at the orphanage for a while. Then he can go on his way."

The guards said no more, stepping out of the way for Ahkan and Kael to enter the town. And so the duo made their way into the town.

The first thing Kael noticed was... the houses were quite disorganized. Unlike the buildings in the palace, there was no 'order' here. They had left a few slightly wider roads for the carriages to pass, and these formed the streets. But... the position of the houses was still strange.

Even the houses themselves were strange! Most of them seemed to be made of wood. Some were a mixture of stone, clay, and mud. There was plenty of variety, but they all had one thing in common. And that was... none of them were of above average quality.

'I think it's normal...'

This was not a palace, after all. Nor was it an extremely large city. It was just... a town of some size. No more, no less.

After the buildings, the people were next.

Kael could see a few people walking along the road, coming out of houses or shops. Just like the houses, the quality of their clothes was generally not that good.

Oh, and... for some reason, they were looking at him as if he was an animal they were seeing for the first time in their lives.

It was a very... strange feeling.

"Stop."

He stopped in an instant. He turned his eyes to the building they were standing in front of.

It was made of wood. It looked big compared to the other buildings in the town, even three stories high. On top of that, it even had a small area that could be used as a garden. There was writing on the door, but Kael couldn't read, so he didn't focus on it.

"This is...?"

"The only orphanage in town. You can try to reach out to your family if they have survived, you can choose to stay here, you can choose to leave and make your own life... or whatever you want to do. It's up to you from here."

Kael nodded in understanding. He hadn't thought he would have so many options. In fact... he had believed that he would probably have to run away. If he could leave on his own, he would gladly accept that.

But, right now, he needed a clean change of clothes.

"Follow me, again."

When Ahkan walked towards the building, he snapped out of his thoughts and started to follow him again. When he opened the door without knocking, he thought he might be someone well-known in the orphanage, but he didn't think much of it. Instead... he looked at the interior design of the building.

But, before he could do that, the first thing he noticed was a herd of children looking at them with great curiosity. Most probably... they were playing. Because a few of them were on the ground, and a few others were just staring blankly, as if they had been chasing the others and froze in place when they saw the intruders.

"Hi, guys."

At the sound of Ahkan's voice, the children's eyes widened. A few of them suddenly started running backwards, out of the building's rather large entrance hall and into a room. The ones who stayed inside were relatively older than the ones who ran away.

"Where is Jenne?"

The question was answered quickly, but not by the children... but by the stairs leading upstairs.

"I'm here."

Kael quickly turned his eyes to the stairs. Then, he saw a woman in her forties coming down the stairs. Her face was wrinkled and her brown hair was in a bun. She had a slight, sweet smile on her face.

As she descended the stairs, her eyes focused first on Ahkan, then on Kael, who was right behind her.

"Oh, a new child?"

Ahkan moved out of Kael's way.

"He'll tell you his story, I met him on patrol. You guys can handle it... right?"

The woman named Jenne nodded in agreement. And Ahkan sighed. He turned away quickly, as if he didn't want to deal with it any further, though he gave Kael one last glance before leaving.

He said nothing. Kael didn't say anything either. Ahkan just walked out, closing the door behind him. His work here was done, he had more work to do.

"Why don't you come upstairs with me?"

She pointed to the stairs and Kael nodded meekly. The smile on her face widened.

"Follow me."

She didn't look at any of the children as she started back up the stairs she had come down. Kael found this strange, but he followed her anyway. Another thing he noticed as they went upstairs together... the orphanage was very quiet.

He had expected the orphanage to be a little... louder. Had he thought wrong?

'Anyway...'

When they finally reached the second floor, they entered a very large space with many doors. The woman went to the door directly opposite the stairs. She entered a room with only a large table and many cupboards.

"You can close the door."

Kael closed the door as he was told as the woman moved to the table. When he turned around, the woman was looking at him with a slight smile, as she had done so far.

"Don't stand, you can sit down."

She gestured to the two chairs in front of the table. Kael gladly accepted. Then, the woman took out something like a piece of paper from under the table.

"First of all... what is your name? How old are you?"

"Kael, I am two months away from sixteen."

The woman nodded, keeping her smile. Still, she looked a little surprised.

She picked up a pen and scribbled a little on the paper she had taken out. Then, this time, she focused completely on Kael.

"Now... tell me your story."

Kael told her exactly what he had told Ahkan. Only this time he gave a little more detail. He had to convince the woman in front of him, after all.

And... when he finished, he wasn't sure if he had done that.

"I more or less understand."

The woman stopped writing on a piece of paper on the table, put down the pen, and clasped her hands together.

"You will be considered an adult in two months, Kael. And if you want to stay in the orphanage as an adult, you have to work. But... you can also choose not to stay in the orphanage at all in the first place. If you choose the latter, I can at least give you some clean clothes, but no more than that. What do you want to do?"

Kael had already decided.

"I... don't want to stay in the orphanage."

The woman did not seem surprised. On the contrary, she nodded in understanding. But, she still tried.

"You are a calm boy. You managed to survive a week in the forest. You're always looking around, you don't seem to make rash decisions. And you'll be an adult in two months... If you belong to a merchant group, you must know something about the world."

Actually... no, he didn't.

But the woman in front of him didn't need to know that either.

So he kept silent.

"If you want, you can stay here for two months and then leave. I'm not forcing you, but it would be the most sensible option."

If he was a normal person, if his story was really true, that would have been the most logical option indeed.

But there was something she didn't know, even if she meant well.

Kael was not a normal person.

He was someone who had to take lives constantly, and if he didn't, he would lose his own life.

So... he couldn't waste time in an orphanage like this.

His work in this town was different.

"Thank you for your offer, but I will decline."

And that was the last thing he said about it.