Alicent exhaled a deep breath as he exited the bookstore with the "Tyrant" biography in hand.
'That mysterious book in the store is definitely something that shouldn't be there, and it seems like that storekeeper has no idea what it is. He probably thinks that it's a normal book...
What would have happened if I touched it? Would I have died or become a vessel for it? Perhaps I would have gained an understanding of the supernatural or answers to all the questions I have.
Whatever it may be, it's not something I can handle at my current state. Perhaps King Aegis could have, but not Alicent Gregris.
This has made me realise that the supernatural is not to be treated lightly, no wonder my memories were locked... Speaking of memories, the Vision I had just before was not coincidental, I might have garnered the attention of some unknown existence like a demon or a devil. Perhaps that book was the source of my visions and not this book... '
He thought as he looked at the book he held in the small pouch, he was getting visions from this book, and knocking over that mysterious book was definitely not a coincidence as well. he made a mental note to stay as far away from that book as possible to avoid any unwanted consequences.
He sighed again and walked towards the southern gate. His horse, Betsy, was tied up in the stable region near the barracks. He untied her and rode towards his home.
The highway had been constructed well, even galloping horses and rolling carts would probably take a hundred years to damage the paved stone highway.
The "Arden II" highway passed above the Red River to the east of Grunard and wound up to Hermit town to the east. Hermit town was perhaps the most developed city in the north since it was connected to the Sea of Valion and the nearest port city to the prosperous Cackos archipelago.
The large pine forest came into view, and the highway wound towards the left. A road deviated to the right, which went towards the farming district, to be specific, towards Alicent's home.
Alicent rode his horse to the right and slowed down on the underdeveloped road. The mighty forest was to his left, and the herding plains to his right. The horse travelled slowly through the uneven terrain, and Alicent struggled to keep it under control.
About a hundred or so meters of traveling on the road, a junction appeared, there was a road that led to the forest and one that went straight ahead, and a sign came into view as well.
"Landslide Ahead"
The main road was closed, and he couldn't risk going through a hazardous area. In the south of Grunard, there were very minimal cases in which a landslide could happen and the road could get blocked.
Most of the region had firm soil, but in the winter, the soil could get dry enough to cause landslides. More often than not, dry landslides would be more dangerous than those caused due to other factors because a large region of soil was affected.
This was one of those areas where he needed to pass through narrow roads in the hills, as well he doubted someone would play a silly prank like this.
'Am I just that unlucky today?' He thought, he wondered if he had offended the God of Luck in any way.
He decided to go through the long path through the forest since it was safer than going through such hazardous roads. Bandit attacks were known to happen in the forests, but they usually only attacked rich caravans and fancy-looking people.
The evening sun shone through the forest, creating a dappled tapestry on the fallen leaves. It looked peaceful, yet danger lurked inside the forest. Bears usually hibernated during this time, so it was mostly just giant elk, which could attack when feeling threatened.
There was also the supernatural...
Betsy slowly walked through the unpaved road, pinecones covered the forest floor, awaiting to form new saplings, the forest was quiet except for a few birds chirping, and even they flew away when an unfamiliar animal, a man mounting a horse, walked through.
The pine trees were tall, taller than anywhere besides the far north. The forest was known as the Ond forest by the locals, or just the Black forest.
It spanned from the foot of the mountain in the west to the foot of the mountain where the red river intersected it, just around the midline of the mountains. After which, the red forest spanned from the Red River to Hermit town.
As the horse walked through the roads, Alicent couldn't help but notice the several rocks erected there, a red paint covering them, There were several of them located in that place, where at the centre of the stones, a stone carving of a woman wearing a tiara was located.
'One of the many sacrificial altars inOnd...' He said inwardly.
During the worship of the Harvest or forest goddess, an animal was sacrificed in the Ond forest. For that reason, the forest became blessed by her grace, becoming what it is now.
Every year, a lamb was sacrificed to the altar after being killed on a clean rock every time; this was the reason for the surrounding rocks coated in blood.
Although Alicent prayed to the Divine lord of light, his father was a believer of the Goddess of Forest and harvest. He had witnessed such a sacrifice when he was little.
He silently prayed instead of his father and walked along the roads again.
After some time had passed, and it was already 4 pm, the sun started to set. The sun sets faster in the north in the winter.
The forest had already dimmed quite a bit, and since he had no way of travelling in the dark, he needed to hurry.
Fifteen minutes passed.
As Betsy galloped through the rural road, he noticed movement in his eyes. It was from a shadow roughly ten meters away.
In the road ahead of him, there were a couple of branches that appeared to have fallen unnaturally. It was most definitely a hole that was concealed by the leaves. A trap.
He tugged the harness with force. Betsy stopped just a meter before the laid out leaves. Alicent was on guard, his hand moved over to the shortsword that was hanging from the horse's saddle.
"Save Me!! Save M-" A voice of a woman shouted about 20 meters away, it was cut short at the end, as if someone had muffled her or stuffed something into her mouth to stop her cries of help. Alicent pulled out his sword from the saddle, his mind was racing through the different possibilities.
'I shouldn't get involved. Should I just pretend I didn't notice it and ride home normally... No, they will most likely track me to the farm... ' He thought, he had a tight grip on the short sword.
"Should we just let him go? He's just a kid." A voice said from behind the bushes. It was a high-pitched voice of a man, it sounded scummy, and it had a hint of intoxication, likely from alcohol.
"He's already heard the woman's shouts. Soldiers of Grunard will find out sooner or later." A rough voice said from behind the bushes.
Two men appeared from behind the bushes, one of them held an axe meant for cutting wood, and his buddy held a metal tube with some intricate details.
"Nothing personal, kid." The one with the rough voice said he was average height, but his arms appeared muscular; he wore the attire of a woodcutter and held his axe firmly.
"Shit..."